Dentists and Demons

by Final Draft

Rating: mature
Tags: Scootaloo, Gore, Apple Bloom, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Colgate, Dark
Length: 5471

Colgate, the Ponyville dentist, has been experimenting with a new type of anesthetic. It has absolutely no adverse side effects (that she's aware of).

Apple Bloom goes to the dentist with a toothache and is treated by Dr. Colgate. The doctor would like to try out a new anesthetic that she made herself...from hallucinogenic mushrooms, various narcotics, and Poison Joke. Without any time to pack her bags, Apple Bloom goes on a trip.

Published 2014-01-03 18:10:07 UTC
Last updated 2014-01-05 09:48:08 UTC

Part One: Laughing Gas

“But I don’t wanna go to the dentist!” Apple Bloom protested.

“Yer goin’ and that’s that!” Applejack said, dragging her sister along side her. The filly had been complaining of a toothache all week, and Apple Jack would be damned if something wasn’t done about it. Together, they approached Ponyville Dental and the receptionist greeted them when they entered.

“Hello, can I help you?” the young mare asked. Her smile was blazing white, as if she brushed her teeth every waking moment of every day.

Apple Bloom looked around the cramped waiting room as her older sister conversed with the receptionist. There were big posters with smiling ponies and dancing tooth brushes decorating the walls. A small coffee table with some dental health magazines was the only piece of furniture aside from three chairs.

Applejack gave Apple Bloom a gentle nudge and the filly jumped. “C’mon, let’s grab a seat while we wait,” the elder of the two ponies suggested. They sat quietly and listened to the faint buzzing noise of the fluorescent lights.

From somewhere beyond the reception desk came sudden, blood-curdling screams. Both Apple Bloom and her sister looked up in fear, but the receptionist remained undistracted from polishing her hooves. The screaming went on and was only interrupted by the loud sound of drilling and an occasional gurgle.

“Sis,” Apple Bloom said, tugging at her sister gently. “Ah’m scared!”

“Ain’t nothin’ to be scared of,” Applejack said, trying to reassure both her sister and herself. “Ah’m sure they just have lots of cavities is all.” She winced as another scream rang out through the small building.

After a few moments, the screaming stopped and there was only the furious buzzing of the unseen drill. Apple Bloom craned her neck, trying to see past the receptionist. There was a metal door that was slightly ajar, and she could see the back of a blue pony in the crack. The pony disappeared and the drilling stopped.

All was quiet except for the ticking of the clock behind the receptionist. At long last, a stallion walked out from the treatment area, shaking with each step. He made it to the receptionist and looked around with glassy eyes.

“Apple Bloom?” a friendly voice asked. Standing in the doorway the stallion had come from was Dr. Colgate. The cheerful blue and white maned unicorn mare smiled out at the filly. Apple Bloom acted like she hadn’t noticed the doctor; pretending she was suddenly interested in the oral health magazines.

Applejack gave her sister a nudge and coughed. Apple Bloom looked up and fidgeted in her seat. “Well go on,” AJ said. The filly slowly got up from her seat and walked to the doctor. They silently made their way to the treatment room and Colgate’s magic closed the door behind them.

“Now, what seems to be the problem?” Colgate asked, helping the filly into the cushioned patient chair.

“Mah tooth hurts,” Apple Bloom said shyly.

Colgate strapped a bib around Apple Bloom’s neck and began bringing the chair up. The chair jerkily brought the filly just below eye level, and the dentist put on her protective glasses and face mask.

“Say ahhh,” Colgate instructed. Her aura surrounded several sharp instruments on her tool tray and they levitated into the air. Apple Bloom looked at them nervously and refused to open her mouth. “I can’t help you if you don’t open up,” Colgate said.

“Ahhhh.” Apple Bloom opened her mouth and several of the dental tools worked their way in. As they poked around, the dentist contorted her face in concentration. Apple Bloom closed her eyes and braced for her cavity to be discovered. She winced as a sickle probe hit a large spot of decay on one of her molars.

The dentist scraped at it repeatedly, sending jolts of pain through Apple Bloom’s mouth. “Ooh, that’s a good one,” she said, setting her tools back onto the tray.

“Is it bad?” Apple Bloom asked, free to speak now that her mouth was empty of the torture devices. The doctor nodded and removed a large syringe from one of the room’s many cabinets. “W-what’s that?” the filly asked nervously.

Colgate took a small vial of a clear liquid and filled the syringe with it. She squirted a little out and tapped the end of the needle with her hoof. “It’s very deep, and it’s in a sensitive area,” she said, approaching the filly. “I need to numb your mouth before I start drilling.”

Apple Bloom’s eyes went wide with terror. “Drilling?!” she asked with bewilderment, accidently applying pressure to the sore spot in her mouth. Her gaze shifted to the plastic rack connected to her chair. There was an assortment of drills and suction tools hanging there, none of which she wanted anywhere near her mouth.

“I promise you won’t feel a thing,” Colgate said, lowering the needle toward Apple Bloom’s mouth. The filly’s lips shut tight and she refused to open them. “It’s just a little prick, and then you can relax,” the dentist said softly.

“No,” Apple Bloom said, crossing her forearms. “I want my sister!”

The dentist sighed and removed her face mask. She set the needle down on the tray and left the room. The door slammed behind her and Apple Bloom sat up to look around. There was a small trash can by the sink overflowing with bloody latex hoof gloves. She shuddered and looked up to the ceiling. Pinned to the panels were pictures of kittens and puppies, placed there to help relax patients.

Muffled voices could be heard on the other side of the door, and Apple Bloom strained to listen. It was clearly her sister and the dentist having a discussion. When the door opened, she thought she’d see her sister, but instead, it was Colgate.

“I spoke with your sister, and she’s given me permission to try out a new anesthetic,” Colgate said happily. The news did not please Apple Bloom quite as much. “I call it Laughing Gas,” Colgate went on to explain. “It will make you forget all about your pain, and fill you with good, happy feelings. I invented it myself!”

“H-how’s it work?” Apple Bloom asked out of curiosity.

The dentist rolled a large pressurized gas container out of the supply closet and placed it next to the chair. “You just breathe it in normally, and let yourself relax. You’ll be conscious for the whole operation, but you won’t feel a thing.”

Apple Bloom didn’t mind the idea, and felt she was more relaxed already. “That doesn’t sound so bad,” she said, laying her head back down. Colgate smiled and began setting up everything she would need for the procedure.

She lined up all the drills, suction tools, and filling material neatly on her rack before turning to Apple Bloom. They smiled at each other before the dentist covered her mouth with a new mask. Her horn began to glow and a rubber nose piece with an elastic wrapped around Apple Bloom’s head.

“Just breathe in deep through your nose and relax,” Colgate said, turning a valve on the gas tank. There was a hiss, and a purple cloud of gas traveled up the tube toward the filly’s nose.

Apple Bloom watched the fumes slowly enter her nostrils. The gas smelled of berries and other sweet things, and she breathed in deep. Colgate stood over her, watching and waiting for her reaction to the gas.

“That’s right; in through your nose and out through your mouth,” she said encouragingly. “It should only…take…a few…minutessssssss.”

Time began to slow all around Apple Bloom as the gas began to take affect. The doctor began drifting further and further away, as if Apple Bloom was falling. “I feel funny,” the filly said. Her hooves felt heavy and her eyes struggled to stay open. She could feel as her front and back hooves were locked into place by some unseen restraints, but she lacked the ability to resist.

Colgate’s voice came through the haze like she was speaking through a pillow, “This is for your own safety.”

Apple Bloom strained to open her eyes and saw her dentist readying a large needle. At some point, the filly’s mouth had been stretched open by four rubber hooks that pulled at her cheeks. She watched as the needle entered her open mouth, and waited to feel the pain. After a moment, the needle came back out empty, and another pleasant feeling began spreading through her face.

“How’s the laughing gas so far?” Colgate asked in a warped voice. Apple Bloom mumbled something in response and the dentist laughed. “That’sssss gooood. I knew it would worrrrrk.”

Apple Bloom’s eyes began rolling in her head and she glanced around the office. All her friends were there with big smiles on their faces. There was Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle, and Fluttershy, and her sister, and—

A pushing sensation in Apple Bloom’s mouth made her look back up at her dentist. She hadn’t even heard the sound of the drill, but Colgate was already working inside her mouth. Despite the pressure, she could feel no pain, and went back to looking around. Her friends had disappeared and the walls of the little room began to extend infinitely outward.

The room was replaced by darkness, as if she and Colgate were having the procedure done in space. Everything in the room was floating, and if not for the restraints, she would be too.

Barking and mewing noises made Apple Bloom look back up, and she saw the posters on the ceiling had come to life. The puppies and kittens bounded back and forth playfully between each others’ posters. The filly let out a small laugh and felt the pressure in her mouth being released.

Colgate removed the drill and levitated in a suction device. Apple Bloom’s eyes shifted to the transparent tube as it filled with crimson liquid. It took her a moment to realize it was her blood being sucked out of her mouth, and she was horrified at how much there was.

She gurgled and realized her mouth had been full of blood and saliva. Some of it flowed down her throat and she tried not to cough. Colgate removed the suction tool, even though there was still a large pool of warm liquids forming at the top of Apple Bloom’s throat. She closed her airway and focused on breathing in and out of her nose.

The gasses swirled around as she exhaled and condensation formed on the transparent nose piece. Colgate had brought up a new, larger drill and lowered it into Apple Bloom’s mouth. There was the faintest hint of pain as it began clearing away the decayed portions of her tooth.

Blood began spattering Colgate’s face mask and goggles, and Apple Bloom looked back up at the ceiling. The puppies and kittens were still there, but they were no longer playing. They growled and hissed at each other angrily from their respective posters.

All at once, the puppies stormed into the kitten poster and began biting and gnawing on the felines. The cats fought back, scratching at the puppies eyes with their sharp claws. Apple Bloom closed her eyes tightly, not wanting to see the fight. The barking and hissing ceased after a few moments, and Apple Bloom went to open her eyes.

Something dripped onto her forehead. It was followed by another droplet, and another, until it was a steady stream of warm liquid. She opened her eyes to see one of the kittens on the poster with its neck ripped open. Its eyes stared down at her with dilated pupils and its mouth was slightly agape. A stream of blood was flowing from the kitten in the poster down to Apple Bloom’s head, and she tried to scream.

Colgate looked down at her patient and stopped drilling. “Everything alright?” the dentist asked. Apple Bloom tried to speak, but could only gurgle through the liquids still collected in her throat. Colgate’s expression was impossible to tell past the mask and goggles, but Apple Bloom thought it was a devious smile. Without a word, Colgate used her magic to open the valve of the laughing gas container even more.

The purple fumes wafted out in higher concentration and Apple Bloom had no choice but to breathe them in. Shivers racked her body, and when they ceased, she felt an overwhelming calm. The puppies and kittens on the ceiling began frolicking playfully again, this time sunshine and rainbows streamed from their posters.

Something entered her mouth and she felt the pool blocking her airway being sucked dry. She breathed rapidly through her mouth, giving her lungs the oxygen she’d been depriving them of.

“Remember; in through your nose, out through your mouth.” Colgate spoke clearly for the first time since the gas was introduced. Apple Bloom nodded and resumed breathing through her nose. Overwhelming euphoria over took her, and the room melted away into bubbly, warm feelings.

Colgate placed another rubber hook into Apple Bloom’s mouth, only this one was to suck out all the blood and saliva. Once it was in place, the dentist began drilling again. She’d nearly gotten all the tooth decay out, and was almost ready to begin filling.

Apple Bloom got tired of watching the posters on the ceiling and looked around to see what else the room had to offer. There was a carnival to her left and a rocket launch on her right, and she couldn’t decide which one she wanted to watch more. Her eyes became exhausted from trying to watch both, so she looked up at her dentist instead.

There was a warped reflection of her mouth in the mare’s goggles, and she tried to watch the procedure. The drill was at the back of her mouth, making slow circles on one of her molars. Even through the yellow tint, she could see all the blood welling up inside her mouth. She couldn’t turn her head away, so she tried to look through the reflection to see her doctor’s eyes.

There were no eyes; only black holes that seemed to take all the light out of the room. All the brief, happy feelings she’d had were gone. Terror began gripping the filly, and she felt her heart pounding painfully. She pulled at her restraints only to have them get tighter. The metal binding began cutting into her flesh and she could feel blood starting to trickle from the lacerations.

Colgate removed the drill from Apple Bloom’s mouth and began mixing a metallic paste. She applied some to an odd applicator and brought it forcefully onto Apple Bloom’s molar. The filly looked back into the reflection and saw all her teeth had been removed. Her bleeding gums were covered with deep cuts that went down to her jaw bone.

Through the haze of the laughing gas came the only clear thought she’d been capable of since being put under. Something is wrong. She tried crying, but all that came out was a weak gurgle. Colgate didn’t even pay her any mind as she continued applying more pressure.

The metal made its way into the filly’s now-hollow tooth, and Colgate pushed as hard as she could to form it. Apple Bloom was now crying, and she tried to look away. The filly turned to see her sister standing next to her. “Sis!” she tried to cry out, but AJ only smiled down at her.

“You’re doin’ great,” AJ assured her. “It won’t be too much longer.”

Apple Bloom felt the restraints binding her to the chair begin to heat up. They burned her flesh and she cried out, sending a bubble of blood and saliva into Colgate’s face. Both the doctor and her sister began laughing hysterically at the filly’s pain. She turned her head to look at her sister, but the dentist used her magic, bringing Apple Bloom’s head facing forward again.

Blood was dripping from the dentist’s face. The black voids she’d had for eyes were now burning red orbs of light. The ceiling above was now a sea of writhing serpents; their green and black scales glistening as they moved. Several dropped onto Apple Bloom and slithered up to her face. They bore their fangs before sinking them deep into her flesh.

Colgate ignored Apple Bloom’s cries as she took a red-hot poker from her arsenal of torture devices. With absolutely no fines, the dentist jammed the poker into the filly’s mouth and onto the molar. Apple Bloom writhed in pain. The snakes went limp, but held onto her by their fangs.

The room was now spinning out of control and Apple Bloom felt she would throw up. Every loose object in the room clattered against the walls like loose change in a tumble dryer. The snakes were eventually ripped from Apple Bloom’s flesh by the centripetal force, and they splattered against the walls.

Slowly, Colgate removed the hot poker, and took a rusty sickle probe from her tray. It sunk into the pliable metal filling, and the dentist tried shaping it. Apple Bloom began breathing heavier as the onset of pain began breaking through the numbness. The purple gasses continued streaming into her nose with each raspy breath.

Apple Bloom opened her eyes and saw the room had stopped spinning. The puppy and kitten posters had replaced the snakes once again, but they were inanimate. Applejack was still standing beside her with a caring smile. One by one, the rubber hooks in the filly’s mouth were removed, and then the metal clasps on her hooves were loosened.

“Bite together please,” Colgate instructed. Apple Bloom obeyed and realized she still had all her teeth. The filling felt funny, but it was better than the pain she’d been experiencing all week. Colgate put a film between the filly’s molars and instructed her to grind her teeth.

She removed the film from Apple Bloom’s mouth and inspected it for any odd scratches. Her smile was evident even through her face mask, which she then removed.

“You’re all set,” Colgate said, shutting off the laughing gas and removing the breathing apparatus from around the filly’s head. Next, she took the blood covered bib and threw it into the trash with her latex gloves. “I want you to start brushing more, okay?” she asked.

Apple Bloom was still shaken from her experience and sat in the chair looking around nervously. Colgate gently ruffled her mane and magically opened one of the cabinets behind her. Out flew a small plastic bag with a smiling tooth on it, and it landed in Apple Bloom’s hooves.

“There’s a new tooth brush and some floss in there for—”

“AHHHH!” Apple Bloom screamed, throwing the bag across the room. It hit the wall with a loud *SPLAT!* and a trail of red ooze leaked behind the bag as it slid slowly toward the floor. AJ and Colgate just looked at the filly with confusion as she tried to push herself away from the bag.

“What in the hay was that for?” Applejack asked, walking over to the bag. She picked it up with her teeth and blood smeared all over her face. Apple Bloom watched in horror as her sister brought it back to her like a dog fetching a ball. The bag fell from her mouth and onto the chair, and a bloody pony fetus rolled out.

Apple Bloom screamed again as the undeveloped foal made sick crying noises and writhed between her legs. Through the numbness, all Apple Bloom could manage was a series of incompressible mumbles and frantic hoof gestures. She reached for her sister and grasped at her desperately. Her hooves slid down the mare, taking large clumps of flesh and fur with them. She looked at her sister’s exposed muscles in outright terror.

“She may be having some adverse side effects from the laughing gas,” Colgate said, levitating the fetus back into the bag and placing it next to Apple Bloom. It squirmed slightly as it rested against her flank.

“Laughing gas?” Applejack asked with a perplexed look on her face.

“Yes, it’s an alternative to traditional pain killers. I invented it myself,” Colgate said proudly.

“Well, I wish you’d come talk to me first. I don’t like the idea of mah sister bein’ experimented on,” Applejack said with a hint of anger in her voice.

“Didn’t I?” Colgate asked with genuine surprise in her voice.

“No, you just made sure mah credit was good before ya started drillin’,” Applejack replied, recalling their prior conversation. Her eyes went to the gas container that had been pushing the purple gasses into her sister. “What’s that stuff made of?”

“Oh, just a few herbs and plants,” Colgate said honestly. “Twilight Sparkle herself helped me synthesize it.”

That alone was enough to ease Applejack’s mind. She turned to her sister who had her eyes clenched shut. During their whole conversation, all the filly had heard was laughter; loud, demonic laughter. Her face was contorted in a very painful expression and she clutched her hooves over her ears.

“How long is it gonna last?” AJ asked, looking to her sister with concern.

“Likely until tomorrow,” Colgate said, washing her hooves in the sink. “No solid foods for a few days. Stick to things like applesauce and milkshakes. If she starts to feel any more pain, bring her back and I’ll see what I can do.”

Apple Bloom opened her eyes in time to see Colgate burst into flames. The mare smiled down with lidless eyes and pushed a lever on the chair to bring it back to the floor. Apple Bloom felt like she was descending the world’s slowest elevator. Embers and bits of boiling flesh fell past her as she sunk toward the floor.

The flames surrounding Colgate extinguished, leaving a charred, black mess of a pony. She walked toward the door and opened it slowly. A wall of spiders collapsed into the room and scurried furiously toward Apple Bloom. Just as they reached her, she was picked up and placed onto Applejack’s back where it was safe.

Applejack grabbed the fetus-in-a-bag and trotted out of the room, trampling the arachnids with loud crunching noises. Apple Bloom clung to her sister’s back as tightly as she could. At that moment, Applejack was the only thing that was real.

Author's Note

This is part one of three. It will get progressively darker and more graphic, so if this doesn't sate your desire, either wait or leave me some actual feedback. Don't just dislike it and wander off.

Part Two: Next Patient

Applejack trotted out to the waiting room and up to the reception desk. It took a bit of effort, but she managed to shake Apple Bloom off of her back. The filly stood wide-eyed and shaking, making sudden glances all around her.

“Just hold tight, sis,” Applejack said. She turned to the receptionist and began negotiating a payment plan for the dental work. While she talked bits with the mare, the door to the clinic opened. A sullen pair of pegasi walked in and stopped when they saw the earth ponies.

“Appoh Bwoom!” the younger pegasus shouted.

Applejack turned around to see Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo entering the dental clinic. Rainbow looked like she’d done something she wasn’t too proud of, and she shifted her hooves nervously. Scootaloo seemed cheerful, but her face was swollen and her lip was busted open.

“Oh, hey AJ,” the older pegasus said looking around, trying to avoid eye contact.

“Rainbow Dash,” Applejack asked, bending down to look at Scootaloo, “what in the hay happened to poor Scootaloo?”

Scootaloo replied, but Applejack couldn’t understand a word she said. “Uh,” Rainbow Dash began, stepping in front of the filly, “her first flying lesson didn’t go quite as well as I’d hoped.” AJ raised her eyebrow and Rainbow Dash laughed, nervously rubbing the back of her neck. “Have you always had that many trees in the south field?”

There were small twigs sticking out of Scootaloo’s mane and it became evident she’d hit a tree. She smiled as best she could at Applejack, revealing a mouth full of broken and chipped teeth. AJ glared at RD for being careless.

“So, uh, what brings you two here?” Rainbow Dash asked, trying to steer the conversation away from her. They both looked to Apple Bloom. The filly’s eyes were fixed on the carpet below her hooves and she was shaking slightly. Scootaloo walked over to her and tried once more to get her attention.

The simple act of waving her hoof in front of Apple Bloom’s face sent the earth pony into a fit of screams. The door to the procedure room burst open and Colgate sprinted out. There was a syringe suspended in her magic aura, and without warning any of the ponies, she sank the needle into Apple Bloom’s neck.

Apple Bloom squirmed for a moment before dropping to the floor. Colgate removed the needle and looked up to see both Applejack and Rainbow Dash rushing towards her. “Wait! I can explain!” the dentist managed to say before being tackled to the floor. Her aura disappeared and the syringe fell onto the carpeting.

“You better!” Applejack shouted.

Colgate struggled to get free, but neither mare was going to let her go anywhere. “Your sister is fine! I just gave her a light sedative! She’ll wake up in a few hours when the laughing gas has worn off,” the dentist explained as quickly as she could.

“Why didn’t you do that sooner?” AJ asked angrily.

“It was my mistake! I’m sorry!” Colgate apologized, no longer resisting her captors. “I had no idea she’d react so poorly to the gas!”

Rainbow Dash and Applejack let the dentist up and watched as she straightened her smock. She turned and looked at Apple Bloom with remorse. Scootaloo was beside the filly, shaking her gently in an attempt to wake her up. Colgate looked away and then turned to her receptionist.

“Listerine, don’t charge the Apples for the filling,” she said. The receptionist nodded and scribbled a note onto her papers. Colgate turned again to look at Applejack, a combination of shame and panic in her eyes. “Please, forgive me,” she went on, “I handled the situation poorly.”

“Yer darn right you did,” Applejack replied, hoisting her unconscious sister off the floor with the aid of Rainbow Dash. She picked up the little dentist bag Apple Bloom had given and turned to leave. Scootaloo opened the door for AJ and looked at her friend as she was carried out.

The door slammed and the room went quiet with the exception of the ticking clock. Colgate cleared her throat and composed herself as best she could. The pegasi looked at her with silent contemplation as she walked back into her out-of-sight office.

“Can I help you?” Listerine, the receptionist, asked. Rainbow Dash approached the counter and Scootaloo nestled under her wing.

“Yeah, we had a little…accident…earlier, and I was hoping the doctor could see us right away,” Rainbow explained as carefully as she could. Listerine looked over the counter and down at the filly. Scootaloo smiled and the receptionist flinched when she saw her teeth.

“Oh dear,” Listerine said. She rummaged through the papers on her desk until she found the one she was looking for. “Now, are you the filly’s legal guardian?”

Rainbow Dash looked down to Scootaloo nervously. “Uh, yeah, we’re sisters,” Rainbow Dash lied, squeezing Scootaloo lovingly with her wing. The receptionist looked back and forth between the pegasi and eventually smiled.

“Ah, the resemblance is uncanny,” she said, passing RD a paper. “I just need you to fill that form out, and the doctor will see her right away.”

Rainbow Dash grabbed the form and a pencil with her teeth and walked to the seating area. Scootaloo climbed into one of the seats and began looking through the dental magazines. RD sat next to her and began looking over the form.

“Uh, when’s your birthday?” Rainbow Dash whispered quietly after looking at the form’s first question. The receptionist glanced up from her papers to look out at the pegasus. Scootaloo mumbled something, as if she’d been insulted. “Oh yeah!” Rainbow Dash said, remembering the filly’s birthday was in a couple weeks. “I was just testing you! Ha ha.”

Listerine’s eyes went back to her papers and Rainbow Dash drew a sigh of relief. She filled out the rest of the form with Scootaloo’s assistance (lying where she had to). When it was completed, she stood up and gave it to the receptionist.

While the receptionist looked over the info, Rainbow Dash peered past her and into the procedure room. Colgate was sterilizing her tools and lining them back up on her tray. She glanced out into the waiting room and smiled at Rainbow Dash.

“Everything is all set,” Listerine said back to Colgate. “Little Scootaloo is all yours.”

Both Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash had their dispositions about the dentist after what they’d witnessed with AJ and her sister, but she was the only trained oral hygienist in all of Ponyville. With Scootaloo’s mouth as bad as it was, they really didn’t have an option unless Rainbow Dash wanted to be known as grossly irresponsible.

Colgate walked out into the waiting room and knelt down to look at Scootaloo. “Come on back and let’s see what the problem is,” she said cheerfully. Rainbow Dash hovered over the dentist and was nose to nose with her when she stood up.

“None of that gas for her, you got that?” Rainbow asked with her brow furrowed. “Only painkillers if they’re needed. She’s my tough little filly, and she can handle the pain.”

Scootaloo looked up to the pegasus and gave her a big hug. Rainbow Dash continued to glare at Colgate until Scootaloo released her embrace.

“Understood,” Colgate said, still smiling. She gave Scootaloo a small push toward the procedure room and left Rainbow Dash standing at the entrance to the hallway. Scootaloo looked back one more time before the door shut behind her.

Colgate helped Scootaloo into the big, cushioned patient chair, waiting for her to get settled before pumping the hydraulic pedal. It jerkily rose to the height she needed it and Scootaloo began staring at the ceiling. The puppies and kittens above her brought a little ease to her mind, and she allowed herself to relax.

“Now, open wide,” Colgate said, levitating a mirror tool. The filly opened as wide as her swollen mouth would allow, and she winced in pain. Even at first glance, it was a bad sight. The front row of her teeth had all been shifted inward, only hanging on by the roots. The bottom row was chipped and several teeth were completely missing. Blood continued to pour from her gums and her tongue.

Colgate shook her head and dreaded the work she had ahead of her. It was on days like this she wished she had a helping pair of hooves. She lowered the mirror into Scootaloo’s mouth, only to confirm it was as bad as it looked. When she removed it, the filly looked at her with worried eyes.

Scootaloo mumbled, but Colgate understood what she said. “Yes, it is very bad,” she replied. “I can fix it, but it’s going to take a while, and it’s going to hurt…a lot.” The filly’s eyes welled up with tears and she tried to talk, but the dentist stopped her. “The only way I’m going to be able to do this is with some kind of anesthetic.”

The dentist used her magic and brought her mask and goggles down over her face. Scootaloo tried to object, but the pain in her mouth was too much to bear. Colgate levitated a bib onto the filly and adjusted her overhead light. The posters on the ceiling were now impossible to see past the blinding bulb.

“Was that little filly Apple Bloom your friend?”

Scootaloo nodded. At this point, Colgate was just trying to make small talk as she got everything she needed for the procedure into place. She opened several drawers and shiny metal clamps and braces flew into the air. The instruments landed neatly on the sterile tray beside the drills and other tools.

“And is that your sister out there?”

Once again, Scootaloo nodded, even though it was a lie. A lie she’d like to indulge in occasionally, but a lie nonetheless. Colgate eventually brought out a pressurized air canister and set it next to the chair. She saw Scootaloo eyeing the tank, and tried to ease her mind.

“Don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll take the laughing gas better than your friend did.”