//------------------------------//
// Chapter 29 
// Story: Are You Ready? 
// by Dirty Bit 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 29


Date with Destiny


At Zecora's hut, the zebra mare was recovering nicely ever since Dr. Facilier had taken a break from his voodoo fun, and decided it was best to brew some potions while assuming that Rainbow Dash and her group had things under control. She still couldn't fathom how she had accumulated all of her past scars, yet at the same time it seemed familiar as it nagged at her mind now and then.

While she was making more potions, there was a knock on the door that halted Zecora from her work. She trotted over and answered it to show a worried Applebloom staring up at her with a frown. This could only mean that there was something wrong with what they had planned for getting rid of Dr. Facilier, and Zecora couldn't help but ask what had went wrong from the little filly's point of view.

"Applebloom, you don't look so well.
Is there something urgent you wish to tell?"

Applebloom nodded as the zebra mare allowed her little friend inside of her hut and motioned her to a stool. The filly sat on it and took a deep breath to collect herself and looked over to the Zecora, who was almost about to share her look of worry upon seeing Applebloom hesitate. After she was calm enough, she spoke "We were tryin' t' scare Dr. Fa-cee-lee-ae again ever since we messed up th' other day. It's jus' so hard, especially knowin' that him and Fluttershy are...are..." She gagged with an expression similar to if she swallowed a bug "...together..."

Zecora gasped at this, not even realizing the news. Dr. Facilier together with Fluttershy could only mean that he is bound to gain the trust of everypony in Ponyville no problem. She signalled for Applebloom to continue with a nod, wanting a rundown on what has happened during her absence. 

The little filly continued with worry "Today, Ah heard from Applejack that he was plannin' on learnin' friendship from Twi an' her friends. When she gave us the record player, Ah thought she wanted me an' mah friends t' take care o' scarin' Dr. Fa-cee-lee-ae off, but when we did, Twi an' everypony else was angry with us! If that wasn't enough, we lost Sweetie Belle since she's grounded!" She looked down, ashamed of herself for what had happened today "Maybe Ah was a might hasty in tryin' t' scare 'im off 'round that time. Ah jus' hope Applejack and Rainbow'll be able to t' try an' stop that stallion since we can't use our record player anymore."

Zecora trotted over and gave Applebloom a comforting pat with a hoof, showing her little friend a warm smile.

"It is not your fault, my dear Applebloom.
I'm sure your friends can prevent certain doom.
Though, to keep our wits and morale contained
Will be harder with what he has now gained."

Applebloom looks up at her wise friend as she trotted away from her side back to the bubbling cauldron "But what if he never leaves? Mah sister told me he jus' wrote his first friendship letter to Princess Celestia! This could be harder than we could ever imagine..." Zecora finishes another potion and gets to work on another as she responds to Applebloom's worry.

"Only time shall tell what comes of this problem.
With what lies in store, I hope that they'll stop him..."

Applebloom wanted to stay and see if she could come up with more plans with Zecora, but she remembered that she had to go home so she wouldn't upset her family. On the way home, Applebloom could not help but think about how wierd Applejack was acting while they were working on the farm after leaving the library, seeming unfocused about the matter at hand. She hoped that her older sister did not hold any second thoughts on the Shadowcolt while she trotted back to her home as Celestia's sun began setting in the sky.

Meanwhile, back at Fluttershy's cottage, Dr. Facilier finished another book that he had borrowed from Twilight's library. He grinned to himself, knowing that not only is his magic repertoire is expanding at a grand rate thanks to previous experience, but that his new potions he brewed would be perfect for wreaking misery on those he did not like.

Dr. Facilier wanted to change in order to live freely, but it was still hard to maintain being a whole different being when he was happy with the way he is. He enjoyed mischief and earning a good pay from it, along with all of his past actions save for his last mistake as a human. He only wished he had that kind of power once more along with what he had learned as a zebracorn, so that he could feel much like Princess Celestia without the wings.

As he was keeping a firm inventory check on his belongings, from his potions to his dolls, the Shadowcolt was stopped by his marefriend calling to him "Dr. Facilier, I just finished dinner for us. Come into the kitchen if you're ready to eat, please." 

Knowing he had his items properly organized, he trotted into the kitchen and sat down as he saw Fluttershy looking at him with a loving smile, while her pet Angel gave him a glare that said 'Try anything, I dare you...'. He looked at his plate and noticed a spread of pasta sprinkled with rosemary, oregano, and coriander seed for some kick. Next to his dinner plate was a cup of camomile tea.

Dr. Facilier levitated the fork next to his plate and dug into his dish to sample a taste, and just like his first daisy salad, it was spectacular. Fluttershy noticed his expression and felt more content with herself that the Shadowcolt enjoys her cooking as she dug into her own plate as well. Angel slowly ate his carrot while keeping his eyes locked on the Shadowcolt.

Fluttershy, while enjoying her meal, felt like talking to her coltfriend to better their relationship. Building the courage to speak, she broke the ice and turned to Dr. Facilier "So, Dr. Facilier, how did you enjoy writing your friendship letter today? It was so nice seeing you get engrossed into your writing...though, you never really spoke when writing it, but that was fine..."

Dr. Facilier sighed, but was able to smile to keep the timid mare occupied with her mood and question. While she and her friends enjoyed when the doctor wrote the letter to the one who saved him from hell, he did not actually like being crowded when he was busy writing it. It was a good thing he asked for space and quiet while he wrote out on the parchment so no one could see what he had wrote:

'Dear Princess Celestia'
It's real nice to have all of these mares at my side, helping me learn the ways of friendship so that I would be a good little boy in the near future. I really enjoyed giving off a performance at the retirement village that knocked its residents' socks off, even if they haven't worn any.

To be honest, this whole Magic of Friendship business can be very tiring, even though I'm working hard on making the best of the second chance you have so graciously bestowed upon me. I can't really expect to be a whole different colt once this ordeal has been seen through, but I assure you I'm learning plenty from these girls. I can see why Twilight is your personal student with all of those books she has in her possession.

What really bothers me was that I heard that blasted song two days in a row while I was in the best of moods. Knowing you practically RULE this world, why has that happened? Please explain before I become a spitting image of a certain pink pony without the joy and need for throwing parties.

Sincerely yours,

Dr. Facilier

P.S: Since you're wanting me to learn this so badly, could you maybe toss a few tips my way? You seem like a pretty beautiful genius to know how it all works, and I'm so happy to be ruled by one such as yourself.

Upon hindsight, it was probably a bad idea to throw in that last few set of words in a simple letter, even if it WAS burned by Spike after rolling it up. He thought it was some kind of joke to write a letter until Twilight mentioned that it was how it got to the princess directly. The Shadowcolt wonders if he should learn how messages are sent to the princesses so he could send more personal letters of his own.

Snapping back into reality, he stammered and responded to Fluttershy's question with a regained smile.

"Well, you learn something new every day.
It was good to send a small letter explaining away."

Fluttershy was satisfied with the reply and wanted this conversation to continue "Oh, it was also so nice of you to look past what the Cutie Mark Crusaders have done to you today...I never expected you to have been so forgiving. You really are a nice coltfriend!"

The timid mare was so thrilled with how he acted back then, but Dr. Facilier could only be so forgiving while trying to blot out 'The Song' when working the nerve to accept the apology of the three fillies. To his knowledge, Sweetie Belle seemed to be the only filly that meant it for some odd reason. Were the other two onto his game as well?

"Of course I'd look over on what they did.
They didn't know any better, they're only kids."

Fluttershy bought into his words without hesitation and gave off a swooning sigh as she smiled at the doctor. Angel saw this with a dropped jaw, surprised that a few simple words from Dr. Facilier were enough to make her putty in his hooves. He glared at the Shadowcolt and wanted to go on the offensive for her sake, but then remembered that he was close to biting the dust when provoking him before.

The doctor finishes his plate and asked for a second helping of pasta so he could fill himself up before going back to work tomorrow. While eating his food, an idea snapped into his head so he would not have to deal with learning shoddy lessons every day. He turned to his marefriend after a good bite of his food and grinned his gapped teeth at her, his eyes hiding his devious intent.

"Say, Fluttershy, if it's not too much trouble,
How about a suggestion for our fun to be doubled..."

Fluttershy tilted her head at this, and slowly began to get the wrong idea until the Shadowcolt continued.

"Since that we're both bound by fate,
What say tomorrow we go out on a date?"

The timid mare gave a quiet gasp, but then gave a small grin "That would be wonderful, Dr. Facilier...I thought you'd never ask, since you usually spend your time reading and brewing potions. But what about work tomorrow? You work most of the day, and you have to learn another lesson on friendship." Fluttershy remembered this and seemed slightly panicked as she placed her hooves on her cheeks "That's right! How will you be able to learn the Magic of Friendship when you're going to spend most of the day at work and not have enough time with my friends?"

Dr. Facilier and Angel both witnessed how worried Fluttershy had become ever since remembering the doctor's fated lesson plan, and on a cosmic scale of coincidence, the pair of males gave a simultaneous facehoof and paw. Even the doctor's shadow facehoofed at this little scene with the timid mare.

The Shadowcolt finishes his pasta and trots over to Fluttershy with a confident smile and takes her in his hooves, instantly calming her down as he donned a charming smile, with eyes to match, while they were face-to-face.

"Girl, ya don't know how I handle my work.
The end of th' day makes for a real good perk.
We'll have us a dinner under th' starry sky.
All I need is a proper place for you an' I..."

Fluttershy's face was as red as Big Macintosh's coat as Dr. Facilier proposed this idea to, and right in front of her face with their muzzles centimeters apart. Regardless, she smiled at his creativity and responded with a nod "I-I-I would really love that. Maybe I could set us up for a picnic on the hill where we saw a meteor shower last year. We could gaze up at the stars and enjoy a nice quiet evening to ourselves with no one around..." She paused, then quickly pulled herself away upon listening to herself "N-Not like that! That came out wrong, so very wrong! I'm sorry doctor!"

Dr. Facilier could only laugh at her display of affection, especially knowing full well that she did not really mean the last bit in that certain way. It was as if her innocence and adorable nature is beginning to take effect on him. He stopped laughing at this and contemplated on how he actually felt this way, but then noticed how ashamed Fluttershy had looked as she had her head turned away. The Shadowcolt comforted her and recovered from his laughing fit.

"I'd like somethin' like that, an' it won't cost us one bit.
With how fast my days fly, I'm looking forward to it."

Fluttershy looked up at Dr. Facilier and smiled at him, knowing that he was there for her even if she were to screw up on certain things. She looks over at the dishes, as well as a glaring Angel and then turned back to the the Shadowcolt with pleading eyes "Dr. Facilier, could you maybe take care of the dishes and table while I take a bath? I would really appreciate your help since you really don't have much else to do around here..."

The doctor nods with another winning smile as he earned himself another peck on his cheek and a smile from his marefriend "Thank you very much. I better get going..." She trotted to her bathroom and got herself ready. Dr. Facilier made it an easy effort to handle the dishes with his magic, even doing it with his eyes closed. While he was doing them, a half-eaten carrot bounced off of his head, causing him to lose his concentration and dropping the dishes into the sink. He turned to see the offender glaring at him and giving an 'I'm watching you gesture' with his paw.

Dr. Facilier merely glared back at the rabbit to assert his dominance as Angel cringed a little and then scurried back to his little home. The doctor gave a triumphant smile and then went back to finishing his dishes, and on cue, there was a knock on the door that puzzled him 'Who th' hay would be comin' here at this late hour?'

He walked over and answered the door to find the pegasus mailpony Derpy smiling with a wrapped scroll in one of her hooves "I brought you a letter~!"

The Shadowcolt stared at how this one mare could be as crazy as Pinkie Pie showing up out of the blue to give him a simple letter. Upon recognizing the royal seal in the wrapping, it must be Princess Celestia possibly replying to his friendship letter. He levitated the scroll out of her hoof with his magic as she then took off into the sky with gusto, shutting the door as he unraveled the scroll and read it to himself. What he had found could never be more infuriating:

'Dear Dr. Facilier'
It is such a surprise knowing you have actually learned something good for once since your stay in Equestria. I, for one, am very happy with your endeavor as to trying to change your ways for a better chance in life. I'll bet your heart even grew three sizes thanks to Fluttershy, but who am I to judge?

When you bring up socks, you probably think about her in bed, don't you? You silly, silly perv. But don't let me invade you mind like I have before.

Barring that last statement, you probably should be more optimistic on what you have learned so far when I bequethed this request upon you. With what my student and her friends have had to teach you so far, you are bound to change sooner.

As for your statement upon your 'problem', I'm afraid that is not for me to asnwer, although it WOULD be rather nice to see you as a second Pinkie Pie. You'd make her happy knowing she has a clone of herself living in Ponyville, and also save yourself the trouble of changing your ways completely.

In conclusion, you really are doing a good job, and you have made me proud as a ruler to send me your very first friendship letter. I look forward to hearing more on what you have learned and see your experience, as well as your heart, soar into the sky.

Sincerely,

Princess Celestia

P.S: Knowing your progress, what would you need a beautiful genius like me for? Your charm doesn't really work on me, as you could obviously tell when we had first met. You have a better chance charming Twilight into helping you cheat.

P.P.S: You mad~?

Upon reading the scroll, he noticed a picture of a head next to the words 'You Mad~?'. It looked like a wrinkled face giving off a mischievous grin and squinting eyes, staring back at him as if it were feeding off of his anger and malice and enjoying every bite.

The whole letter caused him to burn it into a small pile of ashes at the front of the door. He opened it up and let the ashes get carried by the outdoor wind and slammed it as he tried to block out the faint melody in his head. Did that princess have a history of provoking her subjects on certain occasions?

All he could do was shrug off the thought and try to focus on tomorrow while opening the same book he finished and read it over again for good measure. This date of his could take a lot of planning, and he needed to pull out all the stops to make it right, even for himself.


End of Chapter 29