Pony Tales - Buttons Pt. 04

Part 4: Proportionately Disproportionate

By Firefly

"Well, how is he?"

There's a long pause on one end of the phone as Aria waits for a response to come back through. The pause is mildly concerning, but she knew Victoria and knew if there was anything major, she'd have called right away. The pause was likely to figure out how to approach the subject reasonably. Victoria had a rather direct bedside manner at times so she wasn't afraid to be blunt, which was something Aria respected greatly.

"Well. His health in the grand scope of things is good. Minus being egregiously out-of-shape, with no cardio so-to-speak."

"So my initial guesses then were correct?"

"Yes. If you put him in hooves now, you'd be risking a lot more than some aches and pains."

"Fixable?"

"Absolutely. He's in for a very tough year. I've got Lex talking to him about exercise and his history at the moment. With the right diet and exercise, he can certainly get where you'd like him to be. But it's not so much whether we can get him there, it's whether he has the drive to get there. I've seen ponies crumple under less of a regime than what we are about to propose. This will be more a mental and willingness to push battle than it will be a physical one."

"Well. It's a test of his will then. If he can't make it through this, then he doesn't deserve to run with the rest of them."

"Not everyone is as motivated as you were as a pony, Miss Aria."

"True. But why should I bother training someone who can't put in the effort?"

There's a long sigh on the other end of the phone, "Just be careful you don't break him. He seems like a sweetheart. We need a few more of those."

"Oh come now, breaking ponies is what we specialize in."

"That's not what I meant and you know it."

"Mm..." Aria chuckled softly, "Very well. I'll need you up here when you're finished to look over Clover. Hayley mentioned a slightly tacky heartbeat."

"I'll be up within the hour."

The pair said their goodbyes and Victoria hung up the phone, taking a moment to tousle sandy brown hair. Who would have thought she'd end up working at a place like this after med school? But then, a six-figure salary and twice what the local hospital was willing to pay was too much to pass up. Plus, she had an utter fascination with this whole alternate lifestyle. Victoria put on a smile and turned about, heading across the clinic to the curtained-off section where Lex and Dakota were chatting.

Victoria didn't bother to make herself known, pulling the curtain aside and stepping into the curtained-off section where Dakota lay on a hospital bed in nothing but a hospital gown, a blanket drawn over him, "Well? Bit less shaky now?"

Dakota looked up from the raven-haired woman sitting beside him and nodded to Victoria, "Yup! Good to go I think!"

"...Hardly." Victoria mumbled.

Dakota tilted his head, "What was that?"

"Oh, nothing. How's the plan coming along Lexi?" Victoria asked the raven-haired woman, changing the conversation quickly so Dakota would inquire no further.

Lexi looked up and smiled, "Ah, I think I've got a rough idea of where things need to go. I should have a diet and exercise plan ready by this evening."

"This evening...?" Victoria asked, folding her arms across her chest.

"Well...yeah. I've got a lot of others to tend to today..."

"Aria intends for him to start immediately. What would you suggest in the meantime?"

"Tie him to the pole and make him walk the whip circle for a few hours?" Lexi offers a bit helplessly.

Dakota looks between the pair in slight confusion, not noticing the slight grin playing across the pair's lips as they intentionally wind the newbie up.

"You think the out-of-shape stallion can handle a few hours in the hot sun?" Victoria asked with a tilt of her head.

"Not at all, good thing we have a solid vet when he collapses."

Victoria wrinkled her nose, "Stallions stink. I like my clinic smelling nice. I don't need it smelling like roasted stallion rump."

Dakota opened his mouth, "Uhm...what's this about me collapsing...?" He asked almost weakly.

Lexi turned her gaze to Dakota and then to Victoria, The pair of them broke into chuckles as Lexi climbed to her feet and smiled, "I'll have his exercise and diet plan ready by this evening. Give him a meal of fortified mash this afternoon to get his metabolism kick-started, and then leave the rest up to me." Lexi looked over her shoulder and shot a smile at Dakota, "It was nice meeting you Dakota! Be prepared. I'm not going to go easy on you."

Dakota lifted his arms and flexed, "Ready for anything you can throw at me!"

Victoria looked to Lexi, "Confident one isn't he?"

"He won't be when I'm done with him. But give me six months and he'll be the best-looking stallion around."

"...Somehow I doubt that."

Lexi tilted her head, "Hm?"

Victoria waved a dismissive hand, "Oh nothing. Just something Miss Aria mentioned offhandedly. Inquire from her if you're oh-so-curious. Now shoo, you're stinking up my clinic." She gave Lexi a soft push making the raven-haired woman huff.

"Oi! I spent the entire morning washing sweat-soaked ponies, what do you expect me to smell like?"

"Better. Now shoo."

Lexi grumped and stomped off in an over-exaggerated fashion leaving Dakota sitting there in confusion but also smiling. The two were entertaining, to say the least.

"You're not really going to tie me to a pole at the whip circle...are you?"

Victoria turned her gaze to Dakota, "I'd love to. But as much as it's a bit blunt, I doubt you could handle five minutes on that pole. Even if it wasn't the hottest day of the year so far."

Dakota slumped visibly and nodded, "That makes sense..." He said in slight defeat.

Victoria couldn't help but smile, "Keep that chin up. Ponies are proud, not defeated. We will get you where you need to be and you'll be running with the herd in no time. Admittedly, you get to experience the stable in kind of a unique way. You get to see the other side of things before stepping into hooves, I'd argue that's a huge benefit."

Dakota put his smile back on and nodded, lifting his chin and rolling his arm a bit, "All in time."

"All in time." Victoria agreed, "Now how's that arm feeling?"

Dakota lifted his right arm and rotated it a few times, "Still a little sore. That last shot hurt."

Victoria nodded, "Yeah, that's a rough one. It's a combination of all your major inoculations as well as a booster to community-specific bugs you could pick up. It's a bit rough on the veins at the site of injection. A fairly recent innovation actually."

"Recent? Is it dangerous?"

"No no. It spent quite a while in development and testing before it was ever released. Worry not. I would not put anything in your body that I would not put in my own. And that's saying something because I am overly cautious with most things." Victoria said this as she wrote a few notes on her clipboard holding Dakota's medical information. Overall he was in decent health, he was just...very out of shape and had some habits that needed changing. She glanced idly over Lexi's assessment and questionnaire giving a few nods.

"Well then. I do believe I'm done with you for now. You're off to meet with the house tailor to put the finishing touches on your uniform."

Dakota nodded and turned, hanging his legs over the edge of the bed.

"Easy when you get up, you may still be a little dizzy from that series of shots."

Dakota hopped to his feet and held the edge of the bed just in case, but found he wasn't dizzy at all, "Don't feel dizzy at all." He nodded confidently.

"Good, means I don't have to send an escort with you to the house. Back to the main house, Third door on the right when you go in. Arielle should be about in there."

Dakota turned to grab his clothes from the nearby table, flashing Victoria a lovely view of his backside.

Victoria stifled a chuckle, looking up at the ceiling to save Dakota's dignity, even though she'd just spent the better part of two hours giving him a very thorough exam.

Dakota turned about, clothing bundled under his arms, "Do I just change in here again?"

"You do. Change, and be on your way. Arielle does not like to be kept waiting. Not generally anyways. I've got a pony to check on up at the house, I'll be seeing you, Dakota." She offered a polite nod and without further words headed out, back to all-business mode as she headed off to the main house to check up on the still unconscious Clover.

Dakota was quick to change back into his basic clothes, heading out of the clinic. Luckily it was pretty much a straight shot back to the house from the barn. However, that didn't make the one-and-a-half-mile hike in the boiling sun any easier. He did take a bit of extra time. It was his first time alone and he couldn't help but stop to admire several ponies training or to wave back at Eden who offered him a bit of a wave from her circle of training ponies.

The whole place was a sea of activity, even on an extremely hot day like this. How any pony managed to keep working in weather like this was beyond him. It put what Lexi and Victoria said about him working hard in perspective. Right now, he struggled just making it from the barn to the house. If he stepped into hooves, he'd be expected to perform even in heat like this. Something that was well beyond him at this point.

"But it won't be." He told himself. He had to do his best if he ever wanted to find a place here.

With a smile on his face, he finally made it to the house, sweat-slicked and groaning as he stepped into the air-conditioned interior of the house. It was like stepping out of an oven and into a freezer, accented more by just how hot it was outside today. He leaned against the wall for a moment to catch his breath, a passing maid with a pastel rainbow mane of hair offered him a curious tilt of her head and a soft, "Everything ok, Dakota?"

It wasn't so much the concerned question as it was the fact that the maid knew his name that struck him. He blinked a few times and then nodded, "Eh...yeah. Just a bit winded coming back from the barn."

The maid nodded, "Need a glass of water?"

"No no. I'm ok. Say, which room is Arielle in?"

The maid wrinkled her nose at the name and looked Dakota up and down, "Two doors down on the right. But..." She paused and then waved a dismissive hand, "...Actually, never mind! Best of luck with Arielle!" She offered a polite curtsy and headed off down the hall without another word, her ponytail swaying behind her cheerily.

Dakota had to wonder how many knew who he was already, he'd only just arrived after all. But then, Aria seemed the type to circulate information fairly quickly. So perhaps she was just ahead of the game. Dakota shrugged off his thoughts and headed down the hall two more doors and stopped, knocking on the door and waiting.

It didn't take long before the door swung open, inside the door was a tall, rather dainty-looking man with chocolate brown hair tied back in a thick ponytail, he was wearing a rather formal-looking outfit and as he stared at Dakota he offered a look of disgust, "No no no! This will not do. I cannae invite a canvas so covered in dirt and sweat into my hallowed workshop. You will shower! And scrub! And change clothes before you return to me! Shoo shoo!" The door was then unceremoniously thrown shut in Dakota's face leaving him standing there very confused, and even a little bit upset at how rude that had felt.

From down the hall came a slight giggle.

"Try to take Arielle with a grain of salt...he's rather particular about cleanliness." Said a brown-haired female, leaning against the wall and nibbling on what looked like a granola bar.

"I..." Dakota tried to find the words.

"...Need to go shower. He's not going to let you step foot in that room unless you do. Trust me, we've tried. You'd likely have been fine if it wasn't so bloody hot outside, but alas, it is." The woman pushed off to the wall and walked over to Dakota extending a hand politely, "Hayley by the way. Personal assistant to Mistress Aria and senior assistant to household staff. Sorry about Arielle though. I figured Victoria would have warned you."

Dakota extended a hand to shake the girl's hand, "Nice to meet you, Hayley. I'm Dakota. Victoria didn't say anything but show up at the room..."

"She's like that, You'll learn the ins and outs given time. Anywho! I've got a pony to watch over. I just wanted to introduce myself before Arielle got his claws on you. Best get along to shower, despite his choices being what delayed you, he still won't be impressed you've wasted his time..." She wiggled her fingers and headed off down the hall leaving Dakota to consider her words.

"What a confusing place," Dakota mumbled, trudging off towards the room he'd been in to shower earlier.

"Guess I'll bloody shower."