Are You Ready?

by Dirty Bit

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Apples to Apples

Fluttershy and the Shadowcolt made it to a path that lead to a house and barn surrounded by acres of farmland, a majority of the land covered in apple trees of different kinds. The doctor couldn't remember the last time he had himself a good apple, but focused on the matter at hand as Fluttershy led him to the one she called 'Applejack'. They reached the house, Fluttershy giving the door a small knock as they waited patiently for the door to open. While they waited, Dr. Facilier continued to stare at his shadow, and Fluttershy took notice to it and wanting to ask him why, only to remember his words from earlier:

"Don't worry dear, it ain't your fault.
Jus' grind your curiousity to a halt..."

Why he said something like that, Fluttershy could only wonder if he were hiding something from him, not wanting to open up to her just yet. Perhaps after meeting all of her friends, he could be more open to all of them, and even be a different pony on the inside. Before she could ponder the thought further, the door opened to reveal a small yellow filly with red hair and a bow, looking up at Fluttershy with a smile "Howdy there, Fluttershy!" She then notices Dr. Facilier staring at his shadow, not acknowledging both the mare and filly "Who's your friend?? Is he new here??" The doctor could only turn to Applebloom and was tempted to give her a look that said 'No shit, Sherlock', but smiled as he looked down at her with his purple eyes.

"Well, aren't you just the cutest gal!
Are you supposed to be Fluttershy's pal?"

Applebloom smiled "Well, yeah! Mah name's Applebloom! What's yours?" Fluttershy giggled at the look of bemusement on Dr. Facilier's upon hearing her name. Apparantly, he jumped the gun into thinking the little filly was 'Applejack', only to realize it wasn't. It was kind of his fault after hearing that the two were friends, but then wondered if everypony in Ponyville happened to be friends with everypony else. It's a possibility, given how messed-up this place was to him. The timid mare trotted a couple steps forward and smiled down at Applebloom "Do you know where your sister is, Applebloom? We need to see her." Applebloom replied inquisitively "Ya wanna see Applejack? Ya'll should've just checked the trees! Ya know how hard mah sis works!" Fluttershy blushed in embarrassment and bowed in gratitude "Thank you..." She turned to the doctor
"Dr. Facilier? Shall we?" The doctor snapped out of his train of thought and turned to Fluttershy.

"Looks like I've got a lot to learn,
Or else I'm bound to crash and burn."

Fluttershy looked panicked as she examined the Shadowcolt frantically "Oh no! You aren't burning yet are you!?" Applebloom could only laugh at what was going on, and soon enough, two more fillies came up to the door to see what was going on. One of them was an orange pegasus filly, with a fuschia mane and purple eyes, who only stared down at Applebloom in confusion "Applebloom, why are you laughing?" She asked, then looked to see Fluttershy and Dr. Facilier together "Wow! Cool hat!" She said with a smile as she looked at the doctor's tophat. The other filly was a white unicorn like Rarity, only her mane was curly and colored two shades of light purple. She looked at Fluttershy and the doctor with her curious green eyes after seeing Dr. Facilier calm Fluttershy down and reassuring what he said was a figure of speech "Hi, Fluttershy! Is this zebra your coltfriend?" This only served for Fluttershy to hide in her mane with her face as red as a cherry, while the doctor gave a good chuckle at the child's question.

"We're only friends, and nothing more.
Though, only the future knows what's in store..."

The unicorn filly tilted her head at him "Are you a fortune teller?" Dr. Facilier felt a pang of familiarity with her question, and began a small wave of nostalgia in his mind, thinking back to all of his tarot readings, each one flawless in their readings.

...All up to that fateful day...

He gritted his teeth at the memory and growled audibly, but remembered that horrible song and the fact that he was back in this life, turning to Sweetie Belle and grinning at her

"Why yes, little girl, I read some hooves,
But not before I bust some moves..."

He forgot about his body, but his mind instinctively told his body to show how good of a dancer he was, performing a small set of dance moves before tipping his hat in a pose. The fillies and mare around him awed at the sight of his dancing, the orange filly speaking up "Wow! If your hat wasn't cool enough, your dancing's up there, too! Maybe Rainbow Dash might like your moves as well!" the white filly followed with a wide grin on her face "Maybe you'll dance well at Pinkie's party, since you're new here!" Applebloom got up, but instead of bringing out a sentence in an impressed tone, she tilted her head and asked "Say, are ya related to Zecora at all? Y'all look like you might be related!" Where he came from, that would've been considered an insult worthy of a beating, but he wondered at the name he heard and the term 'related'. Could this Zecora be the same mare he had a bad run-in with back at the forest he woke up in? He wanted to ask Applebloom some questions, but then Fluttershy came around "That small dance of yours was...nice...but maybe we should go find Applejack..." Though his current thought nagged at him, she was right. He had to get down to business somehow. The two made their way into the field of apple trees and searched for the workmare.

The search was thankfully short as they heard the sound of hooves to a tree. They caught an orange mare a few feet away from then bucking at a tree with her hind legs and sending every apple on it to the ground. She wore a Stetson hat, and both her mane and tail were blonde and tied. She noticed Fluttershy and Dr. Facilier with her emerald eyes and smiled at their company "Why howdy there, Fluttershy! And who's this stallion?" Fluttershy smiled warmly as she introduced the doctor to her "Applejack, this is Dr. Facilier...he's new here in Ponyville...I hope you can make him feel welcome here." Applejack looked over at him and took one of his hooves, and shaking it with strength and speed that shook the doctor all around his body other than his grabbed hoof "Howdy there, Dr. Fa-cee-lee-ae! Nice t'meet ya! The name's Applejack, and welcome to Sweet Apple Acres!" She stopped shaking, and sadly, Dr. Facilier couldn't stop shaking himself, and his hat fell from the extreme shaking. Fluttershy obviously gave a helping hoof and stopped his shaking and placed his hat on his head as his eyes moved in circles, giving a moan as he wobbled in dizziness. He shook it off and looked at Applejack, amazed at how one mare in this world could hold THAT much strength. He had hoped that the zebra mare he encountered wasn't this strong, otherwise furthering his plans could be harder. The Shadowcolt could only rub his hoof, feeling how warm and sore it was from the extreme hoofshake, then turned to Applejack and spoke:

"You're really strong for a grown mare!
I felt like I almost lost my hair!"

Applejack chuckled and tipped his hat to him "Sorry there, sugarcube. Ah jus' don't know mah own strength sometimes!" He looked back at Dr. Facilier "Y'know, Ah wonder if yer related to Zecora. Or maybe y'all are friends?" Friends was nothing more than a sick joke when it came to him and this Zecora. He never expected to be rejected so easily upon first contact, nor did he ever want to befriend her to begin with. The orange cowpony decided to look at his body and notice how slender he was "With a body like that, ya remind me of Carrot Cake back at Sugarcube Corner. Have ya ate anythin' since ya came here, Dr. Fa-cee-lee-ae?" The Shadowcolt could only grimace on the inside with how this pony was pronouncing his name with her drawl and how atrocious it had sounded. This pony reminded him of Charlotte, only with not enough money, but enough strength to wrestle some crocodiles.

"I jus' had a quick snack with Fluttershy,
But all these apples really catch my eye..."

It was true. A daisy salad wasn't enough to fully satisfy his hunger, and he could use more sustenance if he ever wanted to keep a properly focused mind. Applejack could only smile at this and held an apple to him "Y'all haven't lived til ya tried an apple from Sweet Apple Acres! This one's on the house, since you're new here an' all!" Being the new guy really had it's perks as he went to go grab the apple, only to have some blur shoot in between the two and snatch the apple from Applejack's hoof "Hay!" The doctor only wished it wasn't the pink mare from before, and got his wish as he looked up into the tree and spotted a blue pegasus munching on an apple while sitting on a tree branch. She had a rainbow colored mane and tail, and her cutie mark appeared to be a cloud shooting rainbow-colored lightning. Out out of all the messed up things Dr. Facilier had seen in this world, this pegasus takes the cake, especially with her remarkable speed. But he got angry when he noticed the apple in her hoof being eaten. As he went to speak, Applejack yelled up at her "Consarnit, Rainbow! That apple was for Dr. Fa-cee-lee-ae!" It was a good thing she didn't catch his visible grimace among her saying his name. The blue mare looked down and finished the apple, then noticed the displeased zebracorn, giggling in embarrassment "Sorry, dude. Got kinda hungry..." She looked at his hat and hopped down "I'm liking the hat! Way cool! But not as cool as me, of course." She said as she puffed out her chest. Dr. Facilier had half a mind to put her in his place, until Applejack stepped in "Do ya have to just waltz on in here jus' to pilfer mah apples? Did ya ever think to take it easy an' ASK for once?" the blue mare raised an eyebrow at Applejack "Geez, I said I was sorry. I gotta eat, too..." Fluttershy, who made an effort in being invisible to the scene, trotted up to the blue mare and smile "Hello, Rainbow Dash. I see you've already met Dr. Facilier..." The one called Rainbow Dash turned to the doctor and tilted her head at him "That's your name? Sounds kinda wierd..." Applejack added "More like fancy, once ya hear it a few times..." Dr. Facilier couldn't bare much more of this, as he remembered the book he rented from the library. The sooner he could get introductions out of the way, the sooner he could tap in the the possible magical secrets in this world and put them to use.

"Rainbow Dash? That's a nice name.
Though, a dead giveaway was your mane..."

Rainbow slicked back her unkempt mane and chuckled "Yeah, it can stick out sometimes! But maybe you heard of me? Fastest Flier in Equestria? Best weather pony in Ponyville?" He only had so much patience for braggarts like this one, but the only good side to this was realizing his new world's name. Equestria. Given the folks he met, it had a nice ring to it, and for the most part, why didn't he think of asking sooner? He spoke again.

"Sorry, but I never heard of you,
And I already got so much to do..."

Rainbow felt insulted to realize that some ponies didn't exactly remember her amazing feats, or the fact that she really WAS the fastest flier in Equestria, and then decided to question his motives "Like what exactly? Are you looking for a job at Ponyville clinic?" Applejack followed "Hay, yeah! Seein' as how ya'll are a doctor an' such, maybe the clinic's the best place to look for a job iffin' ya wanna settle here!" Not exactly what he was looking for, but it was something relatable to his talents. But he needed all the right materials for whatever he wanted to make, and this place called Equestria seemed a whole lot different than Earth. He turned to the three mares and nodded in consideration.

"It's a thought, my dears, and thanks for the tip.
But, my little ponies, it's time I skip."

As he went to go walk away he heard a familiar "Wait!" as he noticed Fluttershy follow him like a lost puppy. It almost moved his dark heart "You don't have a place to stay...and, umm..." She moved one of her wings to show Dr. Facilier's book resting on her back "You don't want to forget your book." He smiled at Fluttershy genuinely for the first time as he stated his gratitude.

"It's good to know you got my tail,
Cuz without that book, I'm bound to fail..."

Fluttershy tilted her head "Fail what exactly??" The doctor quickly recovered from his words with another verse.

"Fail to uphold the Library's code!
I don't wanna see Miss Sparkle in battle mode..."

Fluttershy stared, and nodded 'Yes, that's true...Twilight does tend to take her job seriously, be it librarian duty or sending a letter to the princess...Why, one time, she-" The Shadowcolt could only interrupt as he found a new topic.

"Tell me more about this princess, please...
Her info will put my mind to ease."

Fluttershy didn't think for him to interrupt her like that, but she decided to talk about the princess of Equestria as they walked back to her cottage. This left Applejack and Rainbow Dash to watch them go "I forgot to send 'im off with an apple! Shoot!" Rainbow waved a hoof dismissively at Applejack "Don't sweat it, AJ, this Dr. Fa-silly-a guy's got his hooves tied at the moment." he chuckled at them, thinking they were together. She turns to Applejack with a smile on his face "Say, wanna dance together at the party tonight? It'll probably be interesting with that pony around!" Applejack turned to Rainbow Dash and returned her smile with one of her own "Wouldn't have it any other way, sugarcube...Ya mind helpin' me with these here apples?" Rainbow gave a mock salute "You can count on me, girl!" the two went to harvesting more apples as time drew near for the party tonight.

End of Chapter 5

Comments

[Braininthejar]

Just a nitpick> You switch between past and present tense in narration.

[RainingDash]

Oh yes! I came paper!

[fluttercord4ever]

"We're only friends, and nothing more.

Though, only the future knows what's in store..."

Best line in the chapter.