Are You Ready?

by Dirty Bit

Chapter 26

As he lounged around in Fluttershy's cottage as the day went by, Dr. Facilier continued thinking to himself ever since Twilight took her leave back to the library. He pondered on the 'Magic of Friendship' that was supposed to be important to him during his time in Equestria, and what it would help him achieve were he to delve into it. After all of his time spent thinking as his body slowly recovered, one question remained:

'Should I really give th' whole 'Magic of Friendship' a try?'

Earlier he would have ignored the idea completely, but after all that has happened, this world did somehow get to him. And if it wasn't enough, his cases of 'heartburn' weren't mended after he had brewed the best potion needed to treat it. The only con to this idea is that he had to keep his identity a secret, even from Fluttershy, and it would be very hard in order to do so. Dr. Facilier sighed and wondered if this was a good idea to give up being the Shadowcolt and starting anew, until he heard hoofsteps from upstairs going down.

Fluttershy had just woken up from her nap, looking rejuvenated and happy to see her coltfriend on the road to recovery. She trotted over and gave him a nuzzle "Are you doing okay right now, Dr. Facilier? Your body seems to be healing nicely today. I hope you enjoyed Twilight's company while I was asleep..." She gave a warm smile to him.

The doctor rolled his eyes at the last statement, but remembered his thoughts in terms of changing his ways. At one point, while he had his shadow, he had to admit that it was good to have company that cared for him while he couldn't even stand. Maybe he should give the 'Magic of Friendship' a try, and turned to Fluttershy for advice on the matter.

"Can I ask you something important, Shy?
It can even stay between you an' I...

Fluttershy tilted her head at the doctor, wondering why he wanted to share secrets like this "Well...sure, go ahead. But what could you possibly talk about right now? Does it have something to do with how Rainbow Dash was acting?"

The Shadowcolt sighed at the questions, trying to maintain a calm mind so he could at least take the first proper step into learning how to be a new colt.

"All I want are just a few tips.
On how to learn the Magic of Friendship"

The timid mare perked up at the thought "Oh! You want to learn that? I...don't really know how to explain it, actually...Explaining a term of this much importance is up Twilight's alley. Why do you ask, Dr. Facilier? Is there something you're not telling me?" She was as curious as a certain monkey upon wanting to hear the Shadowcolt's reasons.

Thus, the first step has begun. He wasn't going to enjoy it, but he decided that after all of those times listening to 'The Song' and hanging out with those ponies, he felt like trying to see if he could possibly change his image completely for the better of himself and the rest of Equestria 'This'll be hard as hell...'. He explained his reasons while trying hard to hide his reluctance.

"Princess Celestia has informed me
On learning this particular subject, y'see...
I jus' want some help so I can live
And show how much care I can give..."

While the words from his mouth flowed like a river, he thought he had swallowed something gross as he grimaced on the inside. Maybe trying to change was a bad idea, but he then notice Fluttershy give an understanding smile "I see...So that's why the princess wanted to speak with you alone that day. Since you're going to be living with us, it's only best that you know how it works. She just wanted you to learn how to be a better pony around others and live a good life. I would be happy to talk to you about it." To the doctor, this was the first time she never appeared naive in front of him.

Able to move a little better thanks to all the juice he drank, the Shadowcolt shimmied a little on his side so he could lay comfortably on the couch as he awaited his first lessons from Fluttershy. Knowing her, she would probably give him bits and parts so it could get him started on his path of knowledge. He was happy it wasn't Twilight who had lectured him, otherwise his behavior would have made him fall asleep.

The timid mare clears her throat and begins telling the doctor what she knows "Now...what's important about the Magic of Friendship is the heart..." She gives the doctor a gentle poke on his chest with a smile. Dr. Facilier resisted the urge to groan in disgust at this, but let her continue "It's hard, but you'll know over time that you can open up to anypony you choose to talk to and you'll be able to experience many great things with those you consider your friends. The joy of being around others you know and love, sharing wondrous moments every day, and being the best you can be. Those things and more are what applies to the Magic of Friendship."

She continued covering what she knew about friendship while Dr. Facilier focused intently on each bit of knowledge, even if it did sound like simple social advice. Meanwhile, the doctor's shadow was resting on the floor in a lopsided position, silently snoring as Fluttershy continued her small lecture "Now...do you remember when I talked about the Elements of Harmony?" While what she said earlier seemed boring, the elements caught his attention as he nodded "Well, the elements are what helped us when things grew very bad in Equestria. Me and my friends saved the world twice with them, and we stayed true to our elements ever since. My element is kindness...but, y-you already knew that..." She looked away, blushing in embarrassment.

Dr. Facilier poked at his chin with a hoof, remembering each element that Fluttershy and her friends possessed. Pinkie Pie, whom he detested, had the element of laughter, which was the only element he would consider covered since he had a good laugh now and then. Rainbow Dash had the element of loyalty, which at a certain point reminded him of his shadow. Applejack had honesty, his Achilles' Heel when it came to conversing with other ponies about certain subjects. Rarity's was generosity, which she had explained to him when she made his suit and could only make him wonder why a pony like her would give stuff away for free. That left Twilight Sparkle, who's element he was already well-versed in: Magic. It was a conundrum to wonder how all the other five elements go into the same subject he studied as a human.

Fluttershy looked at the doctor and felt worried "O-Oh, I'm not boring you, am I? If I am, I'm really sorry. Please don't be mad at me..." She shrunk while the doctor was snapped out of his train of thought. He gave a smile to his marefriend.

"Don' worry, cutie, you're helpin' me out.
Now what else do ya wanna talk about?"

The timid mare blushed at her nickname, and then thought about what to talk about next "W-Well...There isn't much left to talk about, really...Like I said before, Twilight's better at explaining this than I am, since she's studying it and all...Since you're feeling better, why don't we go talk to her?" He had nothing to lose other than his life as he slowly got up, feeling small fading aches as he stumbled onto his hooves. They were numb for a short time, but they began to feel better, and he trotted over to Fluttershy's side.

"Lead th' way, let's move over there.
With the sun's position, we got time to spare..."

Fluttershy gave a warm smile and nuzzled the doctor "Okay, but I'll stay by your side just in case anything bad happens to you..." She frowns in worry "I don't want you to be that way again like yesterday..." The Shadowcolt heard the tone in her voice, and felt it was best to nuzzle her back to cheer her up. He never really nuzzled before, but this was new to him.

He felt how soft her flowing pink mane was, and how it gave off a fragrant aroma as his muzzle was beside each strand of hair. The doctor had to admit that this felt very good, but then felt another warm feeling in his heart, making him look down at himself 'Guess I better get used to this damn heartburn if I have to learn this friendship crap...'.

The timid mare smiled up at Dr. Facilier after his nuzzle "Thank you, Dr. Facilier...You really make a nice coltfriend..." The doctor could only smile as she opened the door and trotted outside, following after her. His shadow made a gesture of uncertainty as it tilted its head at Dr. Facilier, then followed the couple along the trail.

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash and her group were anticipating the arrival of the two from Sweet Apple Acres. They stood at the gate and noticed the couple trotting along the trail, Rainbow Dash narrowing her eyes as she turned to her pink friend "Okay, Pinkie! You know what to do!" Pinkie nods and trots over to the couple, ready to distract Fluttershy.

When she reached them, the party pony stops in front of the two, smiling at them "Hello, Fluttershy and Dr. Fa-silly-a! How are you this fine day?"

The doctor thought that Pinkie was mocking the fact that he could only speak in rhymes, but tried to take a different approach so he could think better.

"Hello, Pinkie, I'm doin' jus' fine.
Jus' trottin' around with this gal o' mine..."

Fluttershy shrunk into her mane as she blushed, and Pinkie nods "Yeah, you two seem to like each other very much!" Pinkie turned to Fluttershy "Fluttershy, can I talk to you for a few minutes? In private?" She then pointed to a tree a very far distance away from the group "Over theeeeeeere~?" The pink pony grins, hoping she would say yes.

The timid mare tilts her head at her random friend "Is it something that important? Me and Dr. Facilier were just on our way to see Twi-" Pinkie held Fluttershy with her hooves "Yes! And only YOU can listen to this secret I am about to bestow upon you! Let's go!" She pulled Fluttershy and ran off with her to the specified venue she had mentioned earlier.

Dr. Facilier watched as she was pulled against her will and heard her call out to her "I'm sorry, Dr. Facilier! Why don't you go see Twilight by yourself? I'll be sure to catch up with you!" The Shadowcolt shrugged and decided to trot onward to the library by himself, or so he thought as he was being stalked by Rainbow Dash and Applejack.

It felt good having a day off from work and dealing with crazy patients by the by, though he wanted to make a good amount of bits with his profession with each waking day. He wondered if he would probably make a few touches to his collection of potions and dolls. So many ideas ran through the Shadowcolt's crooked brain as he reached Ponyville Library.

When the cyan pegasus was close enough, she went to go place the stylus of the record player onto the haunting vinyl, but was stopped by her marefriend as The Shadowcolt reached Twilight's doorstep. He made his way inside, leaving the couple to watch in disappointment, Rainbow cursing herself for waiting too long "Horseapples!"

Dr. Facilier made his way inside and looked around for Twilight, and caught her reshelving more books with a disgruntled Spike. The baby dragon noticed the doctor and smiled, finding an excuse to stop reshelving books as he ran over to him "Heya, Doc! How's it going with you? Do you need any particular books today? Hopefully one that's already shelved..." He muttered his last sentence as he sneered back at his older sister in the zone with each book, placing them meticulously on each specific shelf with her magic. The doctor watched this and chuckled at her ambition as a librarian.

"I jus' wanna talk with Twi today.
Can she make time, if it's okay?"

Spike crosses his arms and smiles at Dr. Facilier "Are you kidding me? This is Twilight we're talking about here! I can't talk her out of anything when it's-" he holds his hands up in mock enthusiasm "Reshelving day!" His tone of sarcasm could easily be detected by the doctor as he hummed in comprehension.

"So she's busy with books? I can wait.
Not like I have nothin' to do as of late..."

Spike shrugs and waves Dr. Facilier over to a vacant sofa, where he made himself comfortable and waited for Twilight to finish shelving her books. Soon, his first real steps into trying to change himself began...