Are You Ready?

by Dirty Bit

Chapter 19

The next day, Dr. Facilier and Fluttershy enjoyed another hearty breakfast before leaving the cottage for their respective tasks. The two left the cottage, and the timid mare stopped the Shadowcolt to let him know what she was doing "Dr. Facilier, I'm going to talk with Rainbow Dash for a while. She said she needed to see me, and with the way she talked, it must be something very important. I'll see you soon!" She said as she hovered into the air and flew off, leaving the doctor to grin. Now it was time to put his plan into motion as he went off in search of Nurse Tenderheart.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy finally reached Rainbow Dash's cloud house, knockingo n the door and wondering if she was home. After a few seconds of waiting, the door opened to show Rainbow, who was happy that Fluttershy made it "There you are, Flutters! Thanks for stopping by today." She leaned her head forward as she looked around with narrowed eyes, then down at the pony folk walking on the ground. She then turned to the timid pegasus with a serious expression "Come on in! Hurry!" She whispered, making Fluttershy nervous as she did what she was told. When inside, Rainbow quickly shut the door and windows to shut herself away from watchful eyes. Fluttershy looked around, shaking "Wh-What's wrong Rainbow Dash? I-Is there something about to approach Ponyville?" The cyan pegasus trotted up to Fluttershy with a look of interrogation on her face "Fluttershy, I wanna talk about Dr. Fa-silly-a..." Fluttershy corrected her after feeling more comfortable about the current topic "Umm, y-you mean Dr. Facilier?" Rainbow waved a hoof "I know what I said. Anyways, I'm starting to get the feeling he shouldn't even be in Ponyville anymore...It's been bugging me since yesterday." Fluttershy tilted her head, wondering why her childhood friend felt this way "You mean ever since he won against you in a race?" Rainbow Dash quickly got in the timid mare's face with indignation "NO!!" Fluttershy squeaked and cringed, making the cyan pegasus feel guilty 'I-I mean, no...not at all...Though I STILL think he cheated..." She muttered the last sentence under her breath, but then turned her attention back to Fluttershy "I mean, with how much he's lived with you, don't you think he's been acting a bit wierd lately? Like, anything out of the ordinary at all? I just wanna make sure you're okay..." Fluttershy, knowing full well what has happened since Dr. Facilier started living with her, felt like she should get her worries off her chest as she spoke her mind "Well...he HAS been reading a lot of books lately, and usually ignores me when doing it...I'm happy he enjoys reading as much as Twilight, but it's almost all he ever does. What really bugs me is that my animals, Angel bunny included, don't seem to like him that much when he approaches them with food. Then there's the doll of Zecora he made, adding more touches to it since last night. I wonder why constantly poking a doll is considered adding more touches to it..." Rainbow was silent, taking in all the information, and tried piecing together a crazy theory that could prove her suspicions of Dr. Facilier as infallable truth. Fluttershy looked down and began kicking her hoof on the floor, looking lost in thought for a minute before talking to the cyan pegasus "Rainbow Dash...Should I maybe...u-umm...ask Dr. Facilier if we could maybe...umm..." She then muttered inaudible dialogue as she hid her face, snapping Rainbow out of her train of thought "If you could what?" Fluttershy hid deeper in her flowing mane as she repeated herself but in a quieter tone, irritating Rainbow "Come on, Fluttershy! What?" Fluttershy whimpered, then blurted out with clenched eyes "I'm asking you if I should talk to Dr. Facilier and have him and I start a relationship together!" She then gasped and held her hooves to her mouth, blushing with wide eyes. Rainbow Dash wasn't surprised, and groaned as she facehoofed "I'm talking about how suspicious that zebracorn is and all you can think about is trying to be his marefriend!? Focus, Fluttershy! He could be trouble!" Fluttershy took a deep breath, but then smiled "But Rainbow Dash, he's only been here for more than a week now, and he's been very nice around us all...And he's trying to get a job at Ponyville Clinic, and that really makes me happy to see him try and make a life for himself helping other ponies in need." She looked down "If only my animals would accept his care..." Rainbow Dash growled "Maybe a bit TOO nice..." she muttered under her breath, but then opened the windows of her home and opened the door, turning back to her childhood friend with a smile "C'mon, Fluttershy! We're going out!" Fluttershy gasped at her words 'B-B-B-But what about Applejack!?" Rainbow groaned "Not like THAT! I mean, we're going out and finding the facts about Dr. Fa-silly-a! We'll talk to everypony he's come into contact with, and we'll document his every move to make sure he isn't doing anything sneaky!" She swooped out and took off, Fluttershy following slowly after "I-It's Dr. Facilier, Rainbow..." she fluttered after her brash friend.

Dr. Facilier was trotting in Ponyville searching for his target and drawing up blanks wherever he looked. He growled a little, but calmed himself knowing he would find her eventually 'Can't be hard to find somepony in a small town like this...Maybe I should ask Pinkie...' He felt a tug on his suit, then looked down to his shadow trying to get his attention. The Shadowcolt tilted his head at his shady partner as he then pointed to an alley to the left of him, hearing sounds of pushing, shoving, and muffled screams. He trotted into the alley, the sounds growing as he came across an unexpected sight, even in a place like Ponyville. Not only did he find Nurse Tenderheart, but he found her in the hands of a larger stallion, struggling for her life in his arms. The stallion had a look of lust on his gruff and disgusting face as he tried to pin her down to either the wall or the ground. Dr. Facilier, upon witnessing this scene from a distance, had his jaw dropped in surprise at what was happening, stalling for a few seconds only to jump for joy. He trotted away, thinking his work was done without lifting a single hoof, his shadow following with a crooked smile. Before he almost got out of the alley, he heard the handled nurse shout "HELP!" making him turn back a little, chuckling a little at her predicament. He took an extra step, but heard her shout for help again, making him turn back more and watching her struggle under the stallion's grip. The more he watched, the more he felt another alien feeling course through his mind. He growled, wanting to turn and walk away from this scene, but couldn't look away at how helpless she was, and the unknown feeling began growing. The Shadowcolt gave out a frustrated grunt as he rubbed his head and sighed 'Bleedin' hearts o' the world unite...' He thought as he nodded for his shadow to swoop along the wall.

The stallion finally had Nurse Tenderheart where he wanted her, grinning as he looked down at her with hungry eyes "C'mon, babe! Nopony's watching, and you'll be doing me a favor! Just hold perfectly still and let me do all the work." The pinned mare gave more futile efforts of struggling out of the stallion's grip, but then gasped with widened eyes as she looked up, stopping completely. The stallion chuckled as he leaned down "That's more like it! Now let's get starte-" Nurse Tenderheart then blurted out "Behind you!" The stallion drew back and tilted his head "What, is somepony watching us?" He turned around with a glare "Hey! Whoever it is, beat-" He looked up with widened eyes, squeaking the last work "...it?" He noticed the shadow of a giant manticore, and when it opened its maw, it gave out a lousy roar, but it was enough for the stallion to hop off of Nurse Tenderheart and run off screaming "MANTICORE!!!!" when the mare was free, she tried runnign herself, but tripped when she recovered. She then looked back, whimpering at her fate, until she saw the shadow recede into pony form, making her confused "Who's there? Hello?" Dr. Facilier then trotted up to Nurse Tenderheart after hiding, thinking why exactly he did this as he held out a hoof and helped up the confused mare.

"Y'all should be more careful, lady.
Folks in this town can be loads o' crazy..."

Nurse Tenderheart quickly hugged the Shadowcolt with a relieved smile "Oh thank you so much! I never thought I'd be caught in a situation like this! You saved my life, and I could never be more grateful! How can I ever repay you??" Dr. Facilier could have simply hypnotized her while she wasn't looking, but after hearing the words 'repay', he decided to make a rain check and grinned at his chance.

"If y'all are serious about returnin' your debt,
Get me a job at the clinic and we'll be set..."

The happy nurse nodded at this without hesitation "Of course! You have my word that I'll try squeezing you into the fold! Goodbye, sir!!" She galloped off, leaving the Shadowcolt alone in the alley, with the familiar feeling of warmth coursing through his body after performing his actions. He glared down at his chest in irritation 'I swear, this next potion I make better get rid o' this heartburn! It's gettin' really annoyin' right now...'.

Deciding that he'll turn in early and make some more potions back at the cottage, he made his way back through town, but was then tackled by Pinkie Pie again, only to see her with a beaming grin on her face "Wow! Dr. Fa-silly-a, that was super-duper SPECTACULAR!! I never thought a meanie like you would save another pony when you really wanted to get rid of her! You really are getting used to living in Ponyville and becoming one of us!" The Shadowcolt was annoyed with not only being tackled again, but thinking that he would actually want to act just like everypony else when he wanted to be who he was. Sure, there's a certain con to try and stay the way he was, but acting like everything's all sunshine and rainbows wasn't really his style. The heartburn ever since his time with being hugged and saving Nurse Tenderheart was bad enough. The pink mare on top of him hopped off and pointed with a grin "I am SO throwing you a 'I just saved another pony' party and inviting EVERYPONY! See ya later~!" She zipped off, leaving the Shadowcolt to brush his suit with a hoof.

"That mare is makin' me lose my mind,
To throw a party over doin' somethin' kind.
She was caught in a jam an' wasn't even that bright!
I jus' did it cuz I felt like it...right?"

The doctor's shadow tilted its head, then swooped around Dr. Facilier, examining him on all angles to see if there was anything wrong with his mind. The Shadowcolt was confused as to why he felt compelled to actually save the same mare he wanted to fire (Possibly kill) and actually get a party out of it, but shook the thought out of his head as he went back to Fluttershy's cottage.