//------------------------------//
// Chapter 32 
// Story: Are You Ready? 
// by Dirty Bit 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 32


Let's spin this sh*squeak*t!


The interior of the club was not what Dr. Facilier had expected. There were flashing lights of different colors, ponies dressed up like common thugs and thieves, and the music playing was driving him to find the musician responsible and making them suffer. He and Fluttershy cringed at the music's volume as they awkwardly strolled inside, moving through the crowd of dancing ponies to find a spot to sit down. Before they could move to a vacant table, Pinkie Pie hopped in front of them out of nowhere with a wide grin on her face.

The party pony got near Fluttershy's and Dr. Facilier's space and began to jabber incessantly while the music was playing "Oh my gosh! I never expected you guys to come here! Oh, this is so super-duper awesome! You really should've dressed in something more better for this place, but it's great to know you at least have a good set of clothes on! I never wear a thing when coming here, well except for the one time I borrowed some of Dashie's bands-" Pinkie's talking, along with the loud music, began giving the Shadowcolt a serious migraine, and he simply shoved a hoof in Pinkie's mouth out of pure instinct.

"It's nice t' see you, too, Pinkie Pie!
We're on a date, me an' Fluttershy!"

After taking his hoof out of her mouth, Pinkie continued talking "That's nice! If you're looking for Dashie and AJ, they're at that table over there!" She pointed a hoof to the left of their direction towards a table where Rainbow Dash and Applejack were found enjoying some drinks. Pinkie then smiled "Well, I better get going back on the dance floor! They're playing my jam! See ya later~!" She bounced onto the dance floor and joined the building crowd. The Shadowcolt shook his head and grumbled at this, wondering why he felt it was easier to try and kill Pinkie than it was Fluttershy.

The timid mare gave Dr. Facilier a comforting nuzzle to try and lift his spirits, smiling at him when she got his attention "Sorry if Pinkie is bothering you like this, Dr. Facilier...Let's go over and see Rainbow Dash and Applejack. This is a double date after all, right?" Dr. Facilier stared, and nodded in agreement, though he was still lost in himself on what he was thinking about Fluttershy. As they trotted, Dr. Facilier's mind was warped with his affection and villainous ambition colliding with towering fury, causing him to stare at his marefriend with unease. What is he going to do?

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash downed another drink and smiled "I think I got another plan, AJ! You ready to hear it?" Applejack sighed, having enough of what Rainbow was thinking and decided to speak her mind "Rainbow Dash, Ah think we're goin' a bit too far with this. Dr. Fa-cee-lee-ae has done absolutely no wrong other than that time with yer little race! While your's an' Zecora's opinion still stands, Ah jus' can't see this stallion do any more damage! He's already made Fluttershy th' most happiest mare in Ponyville an' was already responsible for helpin' out Nurse Tenderheart in her time o' need! We're makin' foals outta ourselves!"

The cyan pegasus could not believe what she was hearing, thinking that her own marefriend had a different opinion on the Shadowcolt after believing her story and Pinkie's crazy thought. She shot a disapproving glare "You mean to tell me we should stop what we're doing and let this guy run around and cause more problems behind our backs! What is with you, AJ? I thought you were my marefriend!"

The cowpony shot back a remark "Ah AM yer marefriend, Dash! But this is becomin' some kind o' wild goose chase with how far yer pushin' this! This guy was even truthful on learnin' the Magic o' Friendship, fer Celestia's sake! If that's not enough t' convince ya he's jus' another rough colt, then Ah don' know what is!"

Rainbow Dash went to reply, but quickly silenced herself when she noticed Dr. Facilier and Fluttershy coming into view. She put on a smile as they approached and took their seats, turning to see Dr. Facilier rubbing his head with his eyes closed, sighing a little. Was he sick? Remembering who she was talking about, she broke the ice while trying to hide her intentions on exposing the Shadowcolt "Hey, you two! So what do you think of this place? Pretty awesome, huh? This music is so cool, it's sick!"

Dr. Facilier groaned at the blurting, replying to it with what bits of patience he had left in himself.

"This junk is really grindin' my ears!
Do those ponies enjoy this while shakin' their rears?"

Rainbow Dash glared at the Shadowcolt and replied "Duh! I already told you, this stuff is awesome! If you wanna change the song so much, request a song to DJ PON-3!" Who the hay was DJ PON-3? Was it the one responsible for playing the audible drek coursing through his ears? He decided he should get some alone time and look for the offender and give him a piece of his mind. The Shadowcolt rose from his seat and gave Fluttershy a peck on her cheek as he went to go search.

"I'll be back, Fluttershy. I won't be too long.
Imma find this DJ and make 'im change th' song!"

Fluttershy blushed a little when she was kissed, but then nodded "It would be nice to have a different song play...Maybe it would be something we both like. Oh, I hope you make the right choice, Dr. Facilier." She did not notice that he was already gone while she was talking, making her ears droop "Oh..."

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes at the obvious gesture of abandonment and decided to get down to business "Okay, while Dr. Fa-silly-a's gone, what say we try to teach him another lesson on friendship tonight for the hay of it?" She said friendship lesson, but she had other plans.

Applejack groaned "Ah hope it don' involve that song again...We heard it too many times an' Ah think he'll probably build an immunity to it sooner." Rainbow Dash nodded in agreement "Good point, AJ. But this one's sure to make that doctor le-" She forgot she was in front of Fluttershy, who was staring in curiousity to her words. The cyan pegasus recovered from what almost slipped "-learn friendship faster! Yeah, that's it! But we're gonna need Pinkie Pie in order to pull this off..." She rose from her seat and hovered in the air, scouting the dance floor for her pink friend.

She noticed Pinkie knocking away some ponies while she was in a crazed dancing frenzy, reminding her of the party she threw for her pet alligator Gummy. Wincing at the last mare that flew to a walll after making contact with Pinkie's flank, Rainbow then whistled for Pinkie Pie, whose ears perked up at the sound and turned to the sky to see the cyan pegasus signalling her over to her seat. Pinkie grinned at this and hopped to her friends' side.

Dr. Facilier was busy pushing through the crowd of dancing ponies in search of DJ PON-3, his shadow helping with most of the pushing as he trudged towards the stage. While he was pushing his way through, he noticed a unicorn colt dressing in a black leather jacket performing a light show with his magic. When he reached it and turned over to the large metal devices amplifying the songs at great volume, his jaw dropped at the familiar face in front of him. The same white unicorn mare with shades was the same one responsible for playing this music. He facehoofed, not realizing this sooner, but then trotted over to her side to catch her attention.

"Hey, Ms. DJ, mind changin' th' song?
My head's gettin' dizzy an' I can't last long..."

Vinyl Scratch was bobbing her head to the current song's rhythm while wearing headphones and grinning. When she heard the faint sound of Dr. Facilier's voice reach her ears, she turned to face him and jumped a little in surprise, but then smiled widely upon recognizing his face, taking off her headphones "Hey! Doc! Good to see ya! Never expected a stallion like you to come here! Enjoying the song?" It was as if she was more than oblivious to the mixture of deadpan and annoyance on the doctor's face. She tilted her head, then giggled "Wow, Doc, I'm liking your impression of Tavi! Good on ya! So, what's up?" Giving a sigh, the Shadowcolt repeated himself to save him the trouble of smiting the wrong mare.

"It's not so much I hate this diddy,
But th' way it sounds don't make me giddy."

The DJ frowned "Not a fan of the good stuff, huh? Well, maybe we can try to work things out! What kind of music are you really into, Doc? Are you a fan of that boring classical stuff like Tavi? If so, you two would so get along together." While Dr. Facilier was a classy man, he really was not all too fond of regular classical music unless he actually felt like waltzing. He clarified his preferences and hoped they did not fall on deaf ears.

"I hope you'd make a wondrous feat
An' play me off a jazzy beat!"

Vinyl poked at her chin, then gasped "Jazzy! I can do that! And I just so happen to have some music that'll appeal to everypony else, too! You just head on back to the dance floor and let good ol' Vinyl here sort out your problems!" She began searching through her set of records at a determined pace, with a grin covering her muzzle. Rolling his eyes, Dr. Facilier decided that his work here was done as he trotted away from her and dove into the crowd of dancers. It was a miracle he hadn't done anything horrible to Vinyl Scratch, but he had bigger problems to worry about.

Rainbow clasped her hooves together with a devious smile on her face "Alright! We need to get ourselves a plan going! Anypony have any ideas?" Pinkie Pie smiled "Oh! We could make him dance til he's exhausted! Then he'll learn that sometimes you shouldn't use up so much energy in one day!"

Applejack stared at Pinkie as if she were intentionally playing dumb "Knowin' how you handle yer work, Sugarcube, I doubt that'd be a good lesson t' teach." She turns to Fluttershy "Besides, he still needs t' save th' last one fer Fluttershy here!" The timid mare smiles at Applejack's words, thankful to know that he would not use up any energy.

While they were talking, Dr. Facilier returned with a neutral expression, and then took notice to the new addition of the table. He grumbled a little at the sight of Pinkie Pie, and thought it was best to take advantage of his conflict and turn his attention to Fluttershy and place his irritation under control.

"I took care o' business up on th' stage.
She'll play us a song that's all th' rage."

Fluttershy was happy about the news and nuzzled the Shadowcolt in gratitude and affection "Oh, thank you very much, Dr. Facilier. It's good to know you would go this far for the both of us...I'm not really a fan of the music they play here. What song did you have in mind exactly? Will it be something we both like?" Dr. Facilier responded well around the timid mare's company.

"I didn't specify, but she got the gist.
Hopefully it's something that's high on my list..."

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow and began to notice how the Shadowcolt is acting around Fluttershy 'What the hay? I don't see any meanness in his eyes...Is he serious about liking Fluttershy?' this confused her, but she needed to come up with a plan as she decided to grab his attention "Say, Doc! While we're here, I think it's a good time to teach you about friendship at this place! With Fluttershy here at your side, maybe you'll learn something fast."

Pinkie was busy enjoying the light show being caused by the reckless dancing unicorn colt "Ooooh, pretty~!" She was hypnotized by how bright the lights were as they shot upward. Applejack rubs the back of her head "Dash, maybe it's best if we jus' enjoy this night. Ah mean, what could Dr. Fa-cee-lee-ae here learn from a place like this?" Rainbow Dash raised her hoofs in the air "He can learn plenty if he puts his mind to it! He's like a stallion version of Twilight, for crying out loud!"

Fluttershy craned her head back at how Rainbow Dash was talking, not liking her tone as she talked about Dr. Facilier. She turned to see the Shadowcolt thinking to himself thoroughly 'Now or never, Shadowman, now or never! Jus' take this moment to view yer surroundin's an' try t' make use of whatever can take her out easily...' He looked left and right, finding nothing but dancing and mingling ponies, and a bar. A bar!? Dr. Facilier was getting kind of thirsty ever since he arrived. He turned to the group of mares in front of him and wanted to isolate himself once more.

"Imma leave you mare an' let you think.
Right now, I could really use a good drink."

Applejack nods to the Shadowcolt with a smile "Take all th' time ya need, Sugarcube. Jus' try not t' go overboard. Th' stuff they serve here can be real strong even for a stallion like yerself!"

Dr. Facilier rose from his seat, then notice Fluttershy doing the same "Could I perhaps join you, Dr. Facilier? I'm kind of thirsty, too...and it's not so good here without you at my side..." She smiled at him, and this fueled the Shadowcolt's inner conflict even more. The way she was projecting her feelings towards the doctor wasn't really helping his ambition. Seeing as how it couldn't be helped, he nodded in agreement and the couple made their way towards the bar.

The two took their seats on the finely crafted stools and awaited the arrival of the bartender, smiling at them "What'll it be, folks? You feeling ready for some strong stuff tonight?" Dr. Facilier was tempted to drink his troubles away, but he needed to focus on how to cast aside his emotions and kill Fluttershy.

"I'll have me some fine scotch in a glass.
I'm in a bit o' a hurry, so make it fast..."

The bartender nods and turns to the timid mare, waiting for her order. Fluttershy flinched and then looked away "Um...I'll have me a small glass of cider, please. I'm not really in the mood for that kind of thing tonight..." The bartender nods at her requests and got right on their orders 'Buncha softies, those two...'. He was light on his hooves as he served their drinks and slid the two glasses as they stopped in front of their eyes.

Dr. Facilier, impressed with this gesture, took some of his paycheck and paid the bartender for the drinks and took a sip of his scotch. It wasn't bad, though it could have been a special brand that would taste better. Fluttershy gingerly sipped her glass of cider, aware that it was the size of a shot glass, and savored the taste in her mouth.

Meanwhile, Vinyl Scratch levitated a record and grinned "Here we go! This oughta tickle the doctor's fancy!" She moved it to the turntable as she switched out the other disc "One jazzy and funky beat comin' right up!" She said to herself as she moved the stylus onto the record as the song began to play. The DJ bobbed her head to the intro.

( Ya know that jazzy sound you were lookin' for? Well listen to THIS! )

The Shadowcolt finished his drink, and cursed himself for focusing on it rather than a surefire way to get rid of Fluttershy, but then turned his attention to the new song that began to play. He found himself tapping his hooves to the faint sound of saxophones playing a good melody. It was almost hypnotizing as he instantly liked the music. He then turned to Fluttershy with a grin on his face.

"Looks like my request has played by chance...
Fluttershy, wanna go o'er there an' dance?"

Fluttershy immediately perked herself upon hearing those words, then nodded her head "Oh, yes! That would be lovely! Let's get on the dance floor..." She was helped up by the Shadowcolt as they made their way onto the floor, lucky to find themselve more room.

Dr. Facilier began to show off some of his moves as the beat progressed, impressing a small amount of ponies around him. He looked over at Fluttershy watching him and nodded, waiting for her to join him. The timid mare took some steps, but this time she was able to build courage faster and join him in synchronized motion when the song began getting better.

Pinkie was dancing herself, but then her tail began to twitch uncontrollably, causing ehr to stare at it with wide eyes "Twitche-twitch! Twitche-twitch!" the party pony's Pinkie Sense was kicking as her tail twitched, meaning something was about to fall, yet she couldn't put her hoof on what it would be. She stopped dancing and darted her head around, looking for the cause.

The two were getting many looks of intrigue and amusement upon their movement, and decided to join them in dancing. The unicorn colt shooting rays from his horn was turning his head at different angles as he was lost in the beat, but was then unaware that one of his rays of light ricocheted off of a glass, then off of a window, then became lethal as it struck a set of the lights on the ceiling loudly, causing it to topple as bits of debris began falling onto the floor.

Everypony looked up at the falling debris and scattered as it got worse. One of the larger bits of debris struck the unicorn responisble for the light show on the head and knocked him out. Dr. Facilier and Fluttershy were busy dodging the debris themselves, keeping weary eyes on where it would fall next. The timid mare was spooked, not anticipating this problem to rise so quickly.

Rainbow Dash was flying across the room as ponies began to clear out of the club to avoid the damages. Applejack was pushing past some ponies while searching for her friends "Rainbow? Pinkie?" She didn't expect Pinkie to jump in front of her "Hi, Applejack!" She greeted nonchalantly as the cowpony looked worried "Where're th' others!?" Pinkie pointed up "Rainbow's up there, but that leaves-" She gasps as she placed her hooves on her cheeks "We gotta find Fluttershy and Dr. Fa-silly-a!" The two galloped towards the dance floor while avoiding more debris.

Dr. Facilier and Fluttershy were getting tired, and the Shadowcolt could just buck himself for not using his magic to fend off the falling bits of the ceiling. The two were at a distance with what they have avoided, and he noticed that there were a set of lights that were dangling over Fluttershy. He looked up and paused with widened eyes at what was about to happen.

Fluttershy looked at her coltfriend in confusion "Dr. Facilier? What's wrong?" She looked up and gasped as the light set came loose and fell down near her at a fast pace.

At this moment, time slowed down as the Shadowcolt found his inner struggle reaching its climax. What was he going to do? Was he going to let his feelings get the best of him once more? Or was he going to let death take its course and grant him a ticket to paradise?

The final decision came as the light crashed onto the floor...


End of Chapter 32