Are You Ready?

by Dirty Bit


Chapter 14

Chapter 14

It is ON!!!

The next day, Dr. Facilier made a trip to the library and back with more books to take in. He decided to borrow some medical books and plant books since he felt like he should be making potions and the like again. The Shadowcolt hated to admit it, but even though he hated the very sight of Zecora, she reminded him that he should get back on his feet and put the 'Doctor' part of his name to use. He was halfway through a plant book, and before he moved to the next page, he saw Fluttershy walking out towards the door "Dr. Facilier, I'm going to go out and spend time with Rarity at the spa. Can I trust you to keep the house in order while I'm gone?" The doctor looked up at Fluttershy, then around at the animals who wanted him to leave right now. He wanted to decline this very request, but he clearly had no choice in the matter, not wanting to deal with Fluttershy acting either completely paranoid or completely pissed. The Shadowcolt shuddered at the thought of a pissed off Fluttershy, then looked up at the timid mare.

"You can count on me, I'll hold the fort.
This'll be a task of an easy sort.

Fluttershy smiled and opened the front door "Oh, thank you, Dr. Facilier. You really are a good help to me when I need you most..." She looked away "M-Maybe we can talk later on tonight...If you want to, that is..." She blushed a little, but then perked up as she parted from her home "See you later!" She said as he trotted off. Dr. Facilier's shadow only stuck a tongue out at the timid mare as she left, making its master chuckle as he went back to reading his book. His reading was interrupted by a carrot being chucked at his forehead, making him look up to see a cross Angel bunny performing an 'I'm watching you' gesture with his paw. He scoffed at the warning and could only glare back at him before going back into his plant book, getting fed up with dealing with an animal that had more brains than Fluttershy 'I already have enough crap to deal with thanks to that Zecora bitch...' While he read and thought, there was a knock on the door that interrupted his reading again. He got up and answered the door by moving it with his magic, and lo and behold, the same zebra mare he thought about was standing on the other side of the door with a boquet of flowers and a look of kindness on her face 'Speak of the devil...' Dr. Facilier raised an eyebrow as he looked upon her with anger and curiousity.

"The hell you want? Can't ya see I'm busy?
You here to get me in another tizzy?"

Zecora didn't seem to respond to the harsh questions with a grimace, as she still donned the same look of kindess as she offered the flowers to the Shadowcolt, who took them reluctantly. The flowers were blue like Rainbow Dash, and seemed elegant enough to be presented in a boquet. Zecora was smiling after offering the flowers and spoke in a term alien to the feelings she held for him before.

"I wanted to stop by and apologize
For judging you solely with my eyes..."

Dr. Facilier tilted his head in confusion, thinking she was up to something when she spoke so sweetly. Was there something in the boquet of flowers? A snake perhaps? No, then he would've heard hissing the moment he had it near him. Zecora continued speaking to get his attention and tried to make small chitchat.

"Those flowers you have are a gesture of peace,
and you should catch a good scent before they decease.
Your muzzle should touch the petals blue,
So it could dictate a truce between me and you..."

The Shadowcolt rubbed his chin, wondering what Zecora's game was, but was impressed with how she tried to patch up their petty arguments with a simple boquet of flowers. Normally, he would shove the boquet in her mouth and slam the door on her face and go back to reading, but Fluttershy's company began to rub off on him as he smiled and replied to Zecora's words.

"Maybe we both got a little on edge.
I'll consider our war water under the bridge."

Zecora beamed at his statement and turned to trot back to her hut.

"It's good to know we could talk well like this!
Enjoy the rest of your day in bliss!"

He took the flowers and shut the door, trotting back over to the couch and taking a good look at the flowers. He went to go sniff, but heard several sounds as Fluttershy's animal friends stared at the boquet in fright, looking at them all in confusion. Was there something intimidating about this flower? Whatever it was, he had half a mind to exploit it and threaten the animals with it, but he just wanted to get the whole peace gesture out of the way 'Better late than never if I wanna deal with that girl on a better level...'. He buried his muzzle into the boquet and took a deep whiff, paying attention to Zecora's words and then coughed when he inhaled too hard 'Them flowers are strong! Wonder if it's some kind o' drug or aphrodisiac...' Why that last part came into his mind, he'll never know, but he decided to go outside real fast to toss the boquet in the forest after smelling the flowers. There was no point in keeping them, especially when Zecora said that they were bound to wither away. He was trotting back, and the thought dawned on him: He knew that Zecora hated him and vice versa, and thanks to being around Fluttershy, he grew soft and weak. And that boquet of flowers seemed awfully suspicious. He could only groan as he trotted back over to the couch, but then suddenly tripped and fell without warning. The shadow jumped in surprise and worry as it swooped over and lifted up his master, who groaned in minor pain.

"What the hell jus' happened there?
Is this the doin' of that zebra mare?"

Before he could think further, his legs wobbled like tuning forks as he tripped and fell again. He felt like a newborn deer trying to stand on its legs after being born for a good time, and it was beginning to irritate him slowly. For every step he took to the couch, it ended with him tripping as if the living room floor were decorated with invisible banana peels or virgin olive oil. When he finally reached the couch, he reached the book with a hoof, and it began to wobble when touching the book and it jerked a bit, causing the book to slam shut. He snarled as he glared at his hooves.

"What kind o' sick joke is this!?
Whatever it is, it's makin' me pissed!!"

He began to hear the song, and gasped as he quickly tried thinking happy thoughts as the song continued playing. The fearful doctor was cradling himself in a fetal position with his shaky hooves as the song slowly receded out of earshot, then sighed in relief as he laid on the ground like a corpse. He groaned in defeat, but then remembered he could move things with his magic, as he levitated the book in front of him and began flipping pages to see if his theory involving Zecora was true.

...He was correct.

The page he saw presented the same flower that was given to him in a large picture diagram with the words 'Poison Joke' written over it. As he read through the page, he noticed the nasty and varying side effects of any physical exposure to said plant and was conflicted on whether to be mad as hell or scared as the animals when they saw the flower. That mare played a trick dirtier than his verbal onslaught the other day and felt like he was between a rock and a hard place, but stopped as he growled not in anger, but in frustration and renewed confidence.

"That mare ain't bestin' me today!
No one makes a foal outta Dr. Facilier!!"

He levitated the medical books and plant books to his sight as quick as a flash, opening every book simultaneously and looking for cures and possible ways to get back at Zecora and her trick. The doctor's shadow cringed at his flaring vigor, but showed a smile as it saw his master tackle both the cure and the ingredients needed. He felt lost as to where to begin and look for each one, so he began looking around the living room, and remembered that Fluttershy kept a medicine cabinet in her bathroom. He tried to get up again, only to fall down on his stomach, remembering his predicament. There was no other alternative but to crawl his way to the bathroom, though his hooves shook with each contact to the ground, making him grimace at his sudden misfortune.

When he finally reached the bathroom, he noticed that Fluttershy kept assorted medicines of many kinds, and couldn't be happier when he noticed a box that said 'In case of Poison Joke'. He crawled over with more effort, his shadow slowly following his master with a slowly crooked smile 'Almost there...Almost there...' He finally reached the box and carefully opened it with his shaky hooves, only to have his jaw drop at what was inside of it.

...Nothing...

The box was completely empty, devoid of his only chance at getting the cure back. Knowing Fluttershy, she would make sure that every medicine in her stock was accounted for, but here he sat holding a box without his ticket to being relieved of this curse. He darted his head all around the bathroom, until he heard a cough, turning to the door to see a certain smart rabbit hold a bottle in his paws, a taunting smile on his face. Dr. Facilier saw this, and slowly clenched his teeth at Fluttershy's pet and glared, but then quickly donned a kind and pleading grin on his face.

"Well ain't this a little coinkidink...
Ya'll mind tossin' me that there drink?"

Angel could only give him a 'How stupid are you?' look and began hopping off with Dr. Facilier's cure. He widened his eyes at this and growled, crawling after the furry bastard with his shaky hooves. It was like an old-fashioned cat and mouse chase, only more random and silly as every attempt the doctor gave at catching Angel was futile. He growled in frustration and yelled.

"Ya'll better give me that cure superb,
Or I'll kick your cotton ass to the curb!!"

Angel only stopped and turned back as he stuck out his tongue and blew as raspberry at the Shadowcolt and stayed out of grabbing distance when they were back in the living room. The birds in their cages chirped with laughter at how silly Dr. Facilier looked, and he felt like an idiot not realizing he had just the correct tool for reclaiming what he had lost. While Angel looked victorious in front of the doctor, he didn't realize that a certain shadow yoinked the cure bottle's shadow and caused the bottle to lift out of the surprised bunny's paws. The shady fiend swooped back over and plopped the bottle open and fed it to his master, as he slowly began to regain his leggings. When he finished, the doctor could only laugh in triumph sounding as evil as ever as Angel stared in disbelief. But he didn't have time to scurry off when he had a hoof coming down hard on his chest, holding him down and making him suffocate a little as the villainous zebracorn hovered over him with a sinister smile.

"Ya shoulda gave me that bottle right then...
Now ya'll jus' opened up the lion's den..."

He added the last part with dark anger, his smile turning into an ill-minded frown as he slowly pressed his hoof down on Angel, making him wriggle and writhe as he began to choke. When he was about to do the deed before the song in his head played, the front door opened to reveal Fluttershy walking in with a smile on her face "Dr. Facilier! I'm-" she stopped and looked at the scene in front of her, her eyes widened and her ears drooping "H-Home?" she squeaked the last part in fear and confusion. The Shadowcolt felt like he was about to get smacked up worse than his time feeding the animals, but quickly recovered as he removed his hoof off of Angel, who held his chest with a paw and caught his breath, and smiled as he prepared a good lie for Fluttershy.

"It's not what ya think, we were playin' is all!
We were up to the hero and his tragic fall!
He was coughing, but showed that he was still brave,
And could only glare at the villain before he entered his grave."

Angel, after regaining his breath, glared up at the doctor and hopped over to his side, kicking one of his hooves and scurried back into his little home. The two ponies watched this, and Dr. Facilier added to his lie with a grin.

"He was sore to remember how the play had turned out.
But that's what forgiveness is all about!"

He grinned as Fluttershy stared blankly at him, making him grin wider in hidden worry 'Oh, please jus' take the bait already!' Futtershy then looked stern "That was so wrong of you..." The doctor's grin quickly left when she heard her say this, but then she added "...that you decided to make Angel's hurt look so good." The doctor was dumbfounded at this, and notice the timid mare's expression grow better with a smile "But you both stopped at that horrible part, so I shouldn't worry too much...But you're right about another thing..." she trotted over to Angel's home, looking like a mother displeased with her child "Angel bunny..." She said in a firm and commanding tone "Come out here now!" She waited to see Angel hop out and pointed his paw at Dr. Facilier with a glare, trying to point out that the villainous zebracorn attempted to KILL him, but she only spoke once he showed himself "Don't you point at him like it was entirely his fault! You should know better than to act so sore about a simple play and kick the poor doctor!" The Shadowcolt thought it was a blessing for Fluttershy being so easy to manipulate with mere words as he continued witnessing her act assertive for the first time "Now you will march over and apologize to him this instant!" Angel was dumbstruck at the mare's naivete and only crossed his paws and looked away in protest. This only angered Fluttershy as she gave a warning "You have until the count of three, little bunny, or I'll use it..." The 'it' she was referring to piqued the Shadowcolt's interest as he and his partner awaited to see if the snarky rabbit would be rebellious enough to invoke her owner's wrath "One..." This made the two colts lean closer with curious eyes as Angel didn't move "Two..." The doctor's eyes were widening while the shadow felt the same way, wondering what exactly she would do. Angel was too stubborn to apologize to a murderer even if he did piss him off, and wouldn't mind dealing with punishment as an alternative. Fluttershy's eyes dropped for a moment, but then they shot back up as her eyes gave off a soul-piercing gaze, simply known as 'The Stare'. Angel turned to her owner, and squeaked as he was instantly drawn into the intensity of Fluttershy's eyes looking down at him. The Shadowcolt shuddered as he caught a faint glimpse of the angered pegasus' eyes at an angle, his shadow shivering profusely and dragging a hoof on its lower lip in fear 'DAMN that girl's scary! I gotta remember to stay on her good side...' Both him and his shadow looked at each other in worry, hoping that they wouldn't have to deal with that kind of power in their time with her. As Angel stood stupified, Fluttershy pointed a hoof to the Doctor as the phased rabbit hopped over and made a gesture of apology with his paws and a bow of his head, hopping back into his home like a zombie as Fluttershy ended 'The Stare'. She turned back to her guest "I'm sorry you had to see that, Dr. Facilier...Angel can be so stubborn sometimes...I hope you two learned something from this while I was away." She saw the doctor huddled in a corner, cringing in fear at the sight of Fluttershy's short-lived assertive nature, and he couldn't figure out why he could be so scared of a simple look in the eyes from a mare who feared even her own shadow.

"I-I-I learned alright! I'll be careful next time!
I'll make sure that our plays won't look like a crime!"

Fluttershy looked saddened that the doctor spoke to her like that, and probably thought that he had been subject to most of her stare. She trotted over and nuzzled the fear-induced Shadowcolt to try and cheer him up "I'm sorry...I can't really control what you just witnessed. It's my special stare I use when I'm unable to communicate with animals on the same level, and it helped me many times in the past. I hope you won't think different of me after dealing with that..." She looked sad, and she wasn't aware that the doctor was still a little paranoid of Fluttershy, yet he nuzzled back to show that he at least got over the event that nearly shattered his mind completely. Dr. Facilier got up and bowed to Fluttershy as a chivalrous gesture for good measure.

"I'll be sure to make you happy, Flutters...
You really are better than the others."

He meant that line only halfway, knowing he was happy to manipulate Fluttershy to his heart's content and still manage to appear as an everyday citizen to the other ponies, save for the princesses. He trotted back over to his books, unaware that Fluttershy stood frozen in place with rosy cheeks and eyes wide as dinner plates after what he had just said to her, and went back to his reading, preparing for the days that followed ahead of him. He had two thoughts on his mind, one he had to hold back hard enough for obvious reasons, and used it to fuel his passion in reading and mastering the books he had borrowed. He wanted to get a proper lay of the land for his first thought of accomplishing his goal as a potion-brewing magician, but also for what he has in store for Zecora and whatever pony decided to try and make a foal of him as he faintly thought of revenge. He read his books with determination, his shadow on the wall behind him slowly forming a wide and crooked smile as it could sniff the doctor's ambition 'Ya'll jus' messed with the wrong stallion, baby doll...It is ON!!!'

Meanwhile, at Carousel Boutique, Rarity was sipping tea with her little sister while she was on break, then felt a shiver down her spine as she set down her teacup, looking troubled. Sweetie Belle was curious about this "Sis? What's wrong?" Rarity looked down "I...I don't know...I felt like something was stolen from me! But what?" Sweetie Belle shook her head at how crazy her older sister sounded and sipped her own cup of tea.

End of Chapter 14