Are You Ready?

by Dirty Bit

Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Arcana X Part 1

After the little episode with Pinkie and a mistake involving drinking a potion that didn't work, it was time for the good doctor to get a job so he wouldn't borrow so much from Fluttershy despite enjoying mooching off of others easily. Dr. Facilier left Fluttershy's cottage as the sun in the sky showed that it was 5 in the evening.

He felt compelled to take Rainbow Dash's advice and try to apply for a job at Ponyville Clinic for obvious reasons. The Shadowcolt couldn't open a dancing school, that's for sure. When he reached the clinic, he went inside and noticed that almost nopony was present in the waiting room other than the receptionist. Either business must be slow today, or there could be some kind of surprise for the doctor as he casually trotted over to the receptionist's counter, and decided to work his verbal magic so he could get a reserved spot in the work office.

"Why hello there, lady. How ya doin' today?
I wish to apply here, if I may..."

The receptionist looked up at the grinning Shadowcolt and then went back to her book "Talk to Nurse Redheart in the room behind me. She isn't busy today, and she could some company while she's constantly organizing her medical supplies." Not the response he was looking for, but it's a start. Dr. Facilier went through the door next to the receptionist's desk and went down the hallway. He looked around, seeing nothing but physical examination rooms and beds left and right, but no sign of Nurse Redheart. The Shadowcolt thought the receptionist was toying with him until he heard the sound of objects being shuffled about in the room ahead of him two doors down. He made his way over and opened the door to reveal a stressed mare fiddling with medical supplies in the cabinet. The mare had a white coat like Rarity and Princess Celstia, but her hair was light pink, covered in a white nurse's hat, and she had a cutie mark of a red cross on her flank. This must be the one he was looking for in order to get a job, and trotted over, gently poking the mare's back and making her squeak and jump a little, spilling some of the supplies from the cabinet.

Nurse Redheart looked down and groaned in displeasure at the new mess she made "Oh poo!" She then turned to the perpetrator with a glare in her eyes "Why should you sneak up on me like that!? Can't you see...I'm...busy?" She looked at Dr. Facilier, who was grinning at her sudden speechlessness, and decided to seize the opportunity of convincing her to hire him while she was dazzled.

"Y'all must be the Nurse I was required to see...
Do ya think that maybe you could hire me?"

Nurse Redheart tilted her head "You wish to work here? Well, we don't really have any opening jobs at the moment, but perhaps I could turn to you as a substitute if one of our workers isn't present." This made the doctor a little angry on the inside. He felt appalled to be considered a lowly substitute, and when HE has enough medical knowledge in his head to put the current medical genius of Ponyville to shame. He decided to try to not only get himself hired, but get whoever worked here fired for insubordination. But he needed to be specific on who he wanted to get axed and pink slipped if he were to get himself the spot he desperately needed.

"Could ya maybe be a dear,
And fill me in on who else works here?"

The white nurse wondered why the Shadowcolt chose to change the subject after being offered a job as an intern, but then thought that he probably needed a good feel of who he was working with, where he to be summoned to help. She trotted passed Dr. Facilier with a smile on her face "I see you want to be better acquainted with the other employees...Mr.~..." She trailed the last word, not even knowing the Shadowcolt's name, who felt insulted at her ignorance, but decided to enlighten her with his charming guise.

"Dr. Facilier is my name, baby doll,
and when it comes to cures, I can do it all..."

Nurse Redheart turned back to the Shadowcolt while they were trotting, beaming at what she had heard "You're a certified doctor? Oh, this is remarkable! We don't get ANY unicorn doctors here in Ponyville, and sometimes we turn to Zecora for help when we cannot find a certain cure! Seeing as how you're both a unicorn doctor and a zebra skilled in herbalism, you'd be a shoe-in for a spot if there were any vacancies!" He was slowly losing his patience as she wasn't giving him the information he asked for regarding to the other employees he could take down, and decided to repeat his question with a feigned smile on his face.

"Thank y'all kindly for that praise, my dear,
But can ya PLEASE tell me who else works here?"

The nurse flinched as she remembered his question "O-Oh, of course! I'll give you a list of our employees in my office. We're already at the door!" She giggled after her last statement as she opened the door to her office, letting her and Dr. Facilier inside as she motioned for him to take a seat "Wait here while I go through my drawers. I won't be long." She went through her drawers at a determined pace, leaving the Shadowcolt waiting patiently for her to get out his new hitlist. He pondered on how exactly to snuff out anypony on the list with any of his disposable resources. Before he could think any further, Nurse Redheart pulled out a clipboard with paper on it with her mouth and trotted over to Dr. Facilier and presented it to him, the doctor levitating it with his magic. "There you are, Dr. Facilier! Feel free to visit each of these ponies while they aren't on duty so you can be better acquainted with them. I'm sure they'll just love to see how you work your medical magic on our patients!" The doctor only chuckled and replied calmly.

"This thing really has me stoked...
I can't wait to help the pony folk..."

He continued laughing, and Nurse Redheart slowly backed away with a sheepish grin on her face, her ears folded back "E-Erm...yes...well, thank you for stopping by today, Dr. Facilier! We'll be sure to contact you once we've found an opening for you!" The Shadowcolt got up and trotted out of the office with a smile before tipping his hat to the white mare, who tilted her head in confusion as to why he was laughing so much.

On his way back to Fluttershy's, Dr. Facilier was stopped by a certain cyan pegasus as she swooped down in front of him looking excited "Hey, Doc! I heard you broke a Pinkie Promise earlier. I was busy napping while the whole thing happened, but Twilight told me that you ran about as fast as me!" She beamed at the thought, and took a step forward with an eager look in her eyes "How about a race? You don't have anything better to do, right?" The doctor sighed, not having time for this as he trotted past Rainbow Dash and politely declined.

"Sorry, Rainbow, but I'm busy, ya see.
Why would ya even wanna race with me?"

Rainbow felt as if she were being ignored and hopped in front of him again "I just wanna see how fast you are for myself! C'mon, just one little race and that's it! You'll have plenty of time to look over that piece of paper you're holding since you're just like Twilight when it comes to reading!" Dr. Facilier sneered at this remark, not only for being grouped with the lavender bookworm, but also not wanting to disregard his plans for a simple race, and tried moving past Rainbow again, only to have her get in his way once more. He was beginning to growl as she cut him off at every turn of his path, and got more irritated as she did not let up at all. Having enough, he let out a frustrated yell and sighed as he rubbed his temples.

"Alright , I'll race ya jus' one time...
I hope that y'all are in your prime."

Knowing Rainbow Dash's capability, the Shadowcolt knew he was shit out of luck when it came to a race. He was only as fast as her before because he was being pursued by a pink nightmare because of breaking a promise of serious magnitude, and was lucky enough to be let off of it by apologizing. It was nothing more than a situation that brought about fear in his heart, causing him to run as if his life depended on it. He never expected to be put in his place by two mares in one day. Rainbow Dash, upon hearing him accept her challenge, grinned with light in her eyes as she took to the skies "Alright! Follow me!" she said as she went off in a flash. Dr. Facilier only stood as he watched her leave without giving him proper directions, and after a few seconds, she flew back with an embarrassed grin on her face "Hehehe...oops." she said as she flew at a slower pace for the doctor to help get a better sense of direction as he followed.

The two were out in a forest different to the Everfree, it's trees more normal looking and vibrant in color. It was known as Whitetail Woods, where the Running of the Leaves took place every fall. There was a given trail as Rainbow Dash stretched her legs and got ready for her race, Dr. Facilier looking at his shadow with a smile as it returned its master with one of his own. If they were going to win this, they needed to do it the old-fashioned way: Cheating. The shadow quickly swooped into the bushes unseen, and went on ahead as Rainbow Dash readied herself with a determined grin on her face "On your mark!" The Shadowcolt lazily got into a ready position to humor the cyan pegasus "Get set..." He grinned, knowing how exactly this will play out with his servant behind the scenes "GO!" She breezed off with a rainbow-colored trail behind her. Dr. Facilier then simply trotted casually as he knew what was going to happen to Rainbow Dash up ahead.

Rainbow was a good distance away from the Shadowcolt, and growing, but something wierd happened. While she ran, she like she slammed into a rubbery wall as she then bounced back at the same velocity she started from, passing the doctor in the process as he chuckled to himself. Little did Rainbow Dash know that while she was in the air, her shadow was still intact on the ground, and Dr. Facilier's shadow was ready and waiting as it transformed itself into a flexible wall on the ground, anticipating Rainbow's speed and sending her back to where she started. When she landed in a tree, she pulled herself out to see Dr. Facilier still trotting like it was a boring day, and crossing the line with a grin. Rainbow Dash, upon seeing this, had her jaw dropped at the sight of this, but then looked angry as Pinkie earlier as she zipped over and pushed her nose against his, glaring at him "You did something back there! Nopony could simply win a race by just trotting like it was nothing! You cheated!" The Shadowcolt rolled his eyes and then acted like he was being accused.

"What makes ya say that, Rainbow Dash?
We was racin' until y'all decided to crash!"

Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes "You used some kind of unicorn magic to win this race yourself! Admit it!" She wouldn't let this loss go. Rainbow Dash hated losing as much as getting fitted for one of Rarity's clothing designs, and she couldn't deal with some mysterious (to her, at least) force causing her to foul up a good race. The doctor only pointed at his horn with a hoof, ready to poke a hole in the angry cyan mare's logic.

"If I used my magic, my horn would glow,
But all I did was trot, steady an' slow...
Y'all could tell it would be me from a mile away
If I ever decided to use magic today."

He had raised a good point in his words. Rainbow would know if she was being held back by Dr. Facilier himself if she were coated in his magical aura while he focused his magic on her, but she knew deep down that he did SOMETHING to throw her off in the race. There was nopony else in the woods but her and the Shadowcolt, and she was in the air as they raced. The doctor's shadow was rolling in laughter while the cyan pegasus kept her slowly lingering glare on Dr. Facilier, and position itself quickly when Rainbow decided to give the doctor some space between them. She was still sore and was now suspicious of the Shadowcolt for what happened recently, but held out a hoof with a smile "Well, forgetting what happened just then...Thanks for taking the time to race with me, Doc." The doctor shrugged and then held out his own hoof and gave her a firm brohoof. The two then parted ways as they went back to Ponyville, but Rainbow Dash now has something to do other than napping when not on weather duty.

While Rainbow Dash trotted along town, she passed a bush that rustled and sprouted a serious looking Pinkie Pie, Making Rainbow Dash jump and scream. She looked at Rainbow with stalking eyes as she uttered in a dark tone "Soon..." Rainbow raised an eyebrow at Pinkie "What do you mean soon, Pinkie?" Pinkie slowly sunk back into the bush she sprouted from, leaving only her eyes popping out of the bush with the same expression, repeating in a whisper "Sooooon..." Rainbow stared, then groaned in exasparation as she took to the skies and went back to her home in the clouds.

Meanwhile, at Fluttershy's cottage, Dr. Facilier was laying on the couch as he stared up at the ceiling, focusing on how to approach tomorrow with his new plan 'Find the one called Nurse Tenderheart, hypnotize her into quittin', and take the job with no problems at all...' It sounded easy, but with how the entire town was well-connected with one another, he had to pull out all the stops with his craftiness if he was ever going to make his plan possible. He snuggled into the warm quilt Fluttershy gave him and tried to go to sleep while he had butterflies in his stomach about tomorrow.

End of Chapter 18

Comments

Hmmm......not ofter you see a voodoo doctor working in a hospital.......or would it be called a vet?
Anyway awsome chapter as always

[Evowizard25]

Nurse Tenderheart? NO! She barely gets any attention. Not her you big dumb meanie!

[Meta Knight]

♫♥I look forward to reading what happens next in your story♥♪

[TenshuraX]

okay, i like him :3

[AceLord8]

soooon