“And we’re done here!” Minuette proclaimed and finished up the procedure. And in that exact moment, her timer rang. “See? Exactly eighty-seven minutes and forty-five seconds.”
The colt lying down in the chair sat up and ran his tongue across his new braces. After accepting his fate, he let out a disgruntled grunt.
“Aw, come on, braces aren’t that bad.” Minuette tried to be reassuring.
“How do you know?” The colt said. “You’re a dentist; I bet you never had problems with your teeth.”
“Quite the contrary; I used to wear braces too.” She said while filling out forms related to the operation.
“Really?”
“Oh, I had terrible teeth back then. But now, because of the braces, I have the perfect smile!” She turned around and showed a smile so brilliant it could be measured in carats.
“Whoa!” The colt’s eyes widened with awe.
“Don’t worry about the teasing at school. Give it seventeen months and twenty days and you’ll be the fillies’ favourite!”
“Really?!” The colt’s spirit came back.
Minuette giggled. “Oh, you have no idea! Here, I’ve got something for you.” She gave him an encouraging lollipop.
“Aren’t these supposed to be bad for your teeth?”
“Yes,” she chuckled, “they are.”
“Wow, nopony told me the dentist was going to be so awesome.”
The little colt trotted happily out of Minuette’s office, with the sweet candy already in his mouth. Minuette stayed behind for a bit to put away some papers and reorganize the shelf accordingly. She then stepped out and called for the next patient in line.
“Next one, please!”
The answer came in the form of an ear-splitting roar, as a foul mix of smoke and saliva blasted into her face and filled up the entire office. This next patient wasn’t a pony, you see, it was a full grown dragon. Minuette had no time to react. Who could even prepare for something like that? All she could do is scream, as the dragon grabbed her and pulled her out of her office. And in the matter of seconds, she was already way above Canterlot, trapped in the clutches of the dragon.
Lyra and Bon Bon were just outside, planning to pay a visit to their friend when they saw her fly above their heads, screaming for help. They ran after them; Bon Bon moved through the streets with ease and kept her speed up no matter what was in front of her. Meanwhile, Lyra stumbled over the first trashcan and fell down a flight of stairs. Bon Bon got to a street filled with curious and scared ponies, looking at the dentist being taken away by the dragon. With the speed she has already built up, she ran across the side of a building, onto a roof of a taxi, landing on the tops of shorter buildings. Minuette could just see her running after them, but the dragon was too quick. The buildings eventually ran out from under Bon Bon as well. She slid down a lamppost, spinning around it to keep her speed and she kept running as fast as she could. Soon, she was on the outer rims of the city, in front of a fence that kept her from falling off the mountain’s side. Lyra arrived shortly afterwards, safely trotting off a taxi and tipping the driver well. They watched the dragon fly towards the horizon and slowly blend into the sunset.
“We gotta get her back!” Lyra panicked.
Bon Bon took out her binoculars, which she apparently carries everywhere. “I think they’re heading towards the Dragon Lands.”
“Oh fluff, why’s it gotta be the Dragon Lands?”
“Probably because it’s a dragon, Lyra.”
“There’s no time for sass, Bon Bon! We must go!”
“How do you plan on getting there, anyway?”
“Step one: We get going. Step two: We arrive!”
And with that meticulously detailed plan, Lyra immediately set off to Canterlot’s exit, with Bon Bon following close behind. Their destination: the Dragon Lands. Their intention: to save Minuette.
***
Minuette travelled through the night in the dragon’s clutches. At some point she passed out from exhaustion, but a violent whoosh shook her up right at the beginning of sunrise. The dragon was still gripping her; its fingers tightened as she was frightened awake. They were now in the Dragon Lands.
They flew between towering mountains, each with a majestic but fearsome dragon perching on top. Several smaller dragons were chasing each-other in the air, some of them inspecting the pony. It was one of these curious dragons that woke Minuette up.
Soon they arrived at a cave. The sun was still too low to light up the cave, but it was illuminated by the gems embedded inside the various treasure. And outside the cave several smaller dragons were lounging in the shade. The dragon threw Minuette into the pile of treasure, sending gold coins all over the place. And with a roar, it chased away all the curious dragons following and the ones who were clearly napping at the wrong cave. It then turned its attention towards Minuette.
“W-what do you want from me?” She said with trembling lips.
The dragon took a few very menacing steps towards her and leaned in close, barring its teeth. After a puff of smoke from its nostrils, it growled. “Pain!”
Minuette was covering as much as she could, but the answer was so vague that she had to ask for clarification. “What?” She said.
The dragon then clarified by pointing at the side of its mouth and repeated, what it previously said. “Pain!”
“Oh, you have a toothache!”
The dragon nodded.
“Oh, of course! A toothache!” She realized that she wasn’t in danger, but the sheer terror failed to fade from her body and mind. After a few seconds of hysterical laughter, she fainted right into the pile of treasure.
***
Lyra and Bon Bon arrived at the Dragon Lands; they were following the dragon as closely as they could, even if it was nothing but a faint dot over the horizon. Thankfully, Bon Bon had her binoculars and saw which mountain the dragon went to.
“I’ve got the mountain, we’re close.”
She began trotting confidently on the reddish rocks of the land. Lyra walked slowly, with heavy eyelids.
“Must... Save... Minuette...” She could barely walk, but her heroism kept her moving.
“Are you sure you don’t want to stop and rest?”
“What? Who knows how long we have, till that dragon devours Minuette. There’s no time to waste!”
“Alright, just try to keep up with me.”
And Bon Bon walked ahead of her again, with Lyra following behind her with all the determination she could muster. They stopped on the side of a small ridge. Bon Bon slid down without hesitation, but Lyra stayed behind.
“Bon Bon!” She shouted as discreetly as possible.
“What?”
Lyra pointed forwards while staying safely behind a rock. Bon Bon looked and saw a group of younger dragons hanging out. She rolled her eyes and turned back to Lyra.
“I said stay with me. What if you get attacked behind that rock and I can’t see it?”
Lyra jumped out upon hearing that. She hesitated to go further, but she gathered herself and took a step forwards... Only to end up tumbling down the side of the ridge. This of course drew the attention of the young dragons.
“Don’t worry Lyra,” said Bon Bon, as she helped her friend up, “I hear the new dragon lord likes ponies.”
“That may be so,” said one of the young dragons, who casted an ominous shadow over the two ponies, “but that doesn’t mean we do.”
Lyra backed away quickly, but Bon Bon remained unshaken.
“Greetings gentle- uh... fellows,” she said, showing as much confidence as possible, “we just came because a friend of ours was kidnapped by one of your massive brethren. I promise we won’t stay for long, if you can just-“
“If you think you ponies can just walk right into our territory,” one of the dragons cut her off very aggressively, “you are dead wrong!”
“Now now,” Bon Bon tried to defuse the situation, “I’m sure the dragon lord wouldn’t be too happy about this turning violent.”
“She’s right, Garble.” Said another dragon. “Ember is trying to make us friends with the ponies, you don’t want to-”
“Whose side are you on, anyway?” The dragon, who’s apparently called Garble, growled at the other dragon. “We both know I’m the stronger one! She can do whatever she wants!”
“Excuse me Mr. Garble,” Bon Bon now started to raise her voice, “we don’t want any trouble here; we just want our friend back.”
Garble chuckled. “You must not know me.” He took a few threatening steps towards Bon Bon, forcing her to back away. “If I see any ponies in our lands, there will be trouble.”
“I suggest you change your habits then, Mr. Garble,” Bon Bon stood her ground firmly, “for your own well-being of course.”
“Did you just... Threaten me?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact, I am threatening you. I am not unwilling to resort to violence, if you don’t get out of my way.”
Garble was taken aback by Bon Bon’s boldness, but once he realized what just happened, he turned to the other dragons and laughed.
“You hear that boys? The pony is going to resort to violence!” And they all started laughing.
“What’s it gonna do, hug us to death?” Said another.
“Oh no, she’s going to give us a make-over!” Said a third one and they all laughed even harder.
Bon Bon just raised an eyebrow.
“Alright, so it's a fight you want little pony?” Garble hissed, followed by the sound of cracking knuckles and other young dragons itching for a beat down.
“I didn’t want it, but if you so insist...”
Lyra covered behind a rock again. She knew this was going to end in pain. Bon Bon knew that as well, but she knew it wasn’t going to be herself that would be in pain.
***
“Open wide Mr. Dragon, let me see that naughty tooth of yours!” Minuette said to the dragon, just as if she was talking to a little foal.
The dragon opened up his enormous mouth. The stench hit Minuette hard, but she had worse before. She held her nose and tears and climbed right into the dragon’s mouth.
“This isn’t just an elaborate ruse to eat me, right?” She tried calming the dragon down with a joke.
The dragon could only make a vague whine, but Minuette, being a dentist, could understand what he said. And he said “no”.
She poked at each tooth she came across. Examining teeth bigger than her whole body made her job ever so slightly easier, but also a lot scarier.
“Is it this one?” She asked with each of them.
The dragon could only reply with more moaning that meant “no”.
Finally, she recognized the naughty tooth. The gum around it was badly swollen and the tooth was clearly being eaten away by some sort of infection.
“Is it this one?” She poked it rather carefully.
Suddenly, the dragon threw his tongue back, almost swallowing Minuette in the process, but a large puff of smoke blew her right out, back into the pile of treasure. He then closed his mouth shut and rubbed the side of his face.
“I take that as a yes.” She rubbed the back of her head.
The dragon responded with a whimper.
“Just a question, to clarify things: Is it only the tooth that’s aching?”
The dragon wasn’t sure how to respond.
“Does the pain spread anywhere else? Does it spread to your entire jaw, or your neck, or even your head?”
The dragon thought for a few seconds, then nodded and gestured at his entire head.
“Hmm, then I’m afraid I might have to remove it.”
Upon hearing that, the dragon clenched his entire mouth with his claws and covered in fear.
Minuette tried calming the dragon down. “I’m sorry,” she gently stroke his side, “but it’s been badly infected. If we don’t get rid of it, it might spread.”
The dragon whimpered.
“Hey, I promise, it will be over quickly. And you will be able to chew on all the gems you want again.”
“Will it hurt?” The dragon asked quietly.
“Yes, yes it will.” Minuette answered directly, which didn’t help the matter. “But it’s going to go away.” She continued. “But if we don’t do something, the pain will be even worse and it won’t stop at all.”
The dragon stayed quiet.
“Hey, you’re a big strong dragon, you will get through this. Those teeth of yours are bigger than my entire body; you won’t be any less scary, or strong.”
The dragon slowly let go of his firm grasp.
“Alright now, Mr. Dragon, let’s get rid of that nasty tooth!”
***
Bon Bon got elbow-grabbed by a lanky grey dragon allowing his purple friend to burn her with his breath. But she bit down on the arm and escaped. She ducked under the incoming flames and landed a swift kick under the purple dragon’s flaming maw and knocked him onto the ground. And then she sent the other dragon into a nearby rock Lyra was sitting on, with a well-placed hoof to the jaw. Meanwhile, Lyra was chewing popcorn and cheered her friend on.
A slightly bigger brown dragon stood on a ledge above Bon Bon with a rock over his head. He threw it at her, but she broke it into pieces in mind-air and launched one of the pieces back at the dragon, knocking out a few of his teeth.
Garble stepped up to her, with several bruises already lining his face and the flame of anger in his eyes. Soon, flames engulfed the battlefield and the reddish rocks of the ground began glowing with heat. Garble then spat out enormous cones of fire towards her. Bon Bon just barely escaped the attack and waved off a burning strand of her mane. She took up a rock and just when Garble was about to take a breath, she threw it right into his mouth, sending him down onto the ground. The rock was just small enough to fit between his jaws, but just large enough to be impossible to pull out. And with a stomp, Bon Bon shattered the rock using Garble’s own teeth.
Soon, all the young dragons were writhing in pain across the rocky floor.
“Woo, that was awesome!” Lyra cheered.
“I told you to get out of my way.” Bon Bon said to the dragons. “Let’s go Lyra, we’ve wasted enough time already.”
And so they left the scene of the battle and headed straight towards the mountain. Bon Bon, still had the thrill of the fight pumping in her, while Lyra bounced behind her jauntily, no longer caring about being seen by any dragon.
***
A large pillar of smoke shot out from the cave, with an enormous roar accompanying it. Almost as if the mountain erupted. The dragon inside was writhing and crying from the pain. Minuette was thrown into the pile of treasure again and the aching tooth landed right beside her, almost crushing her. She was all covered in black dust.
“I’ve got it!” She exclaimed between coughs of smoke.
The dragon stomped around for a bit, but upon seeing the removed tooth, the pain started to fade away and his grimace quickly turned into a relieved smile. The operation was successful.
The dragon then began to head for the cave’s entrance.
“Keep to soft foods for a day, then gradually add solid foods.” Minuette explained, while she followed him. “The pain should go away in a few days, but you can speed that up by getting some painkillers. There is a pharmacy close to my office, you can get some there.”
The dragon nodded and licked the still aching place of his missing tooth. He then took off.
“And remember,” she shouted after him, ”take the medicine! Not the pony!” She then saw Lyra and Bon Bon standing next to the entrance with their mouths agape. “Oh hey guys, what are you doing here?”
“We came to rescue you?” Bon Bon said, not sure if the rescue mission was even necessary anymore.
“Oh rescue me?” Minuette giggled. “The dragon just had a toothache. Look!” She levitated the massive tooth next to herself, to show it off to her friends.
“Cool!” Lyra was very impressed.
“I know, right?” Said Minuette. “So... I just realized I missed my flight,” she giggled briefly, “don't suppose you gals know how to get back to Canterlot, do ya? I kind of lost track of where I am on the flight over here."
Lyra and Bon Bon were a bit surprised by Minuette’s nonchalance, but ultimately, they were relieved that she was okay. They were also slightly annoyed, that their journey turned out to be pointless and now they have to go all the way back.
***
By sunset, possibly days after the incident, they were all back at the office. The entrance was still blasted open and the building was no longer in usable shape. But that didn’t ruin Minuette’s mood; not many things can do that.
“You know,” she said, “when I decided to become a dentist, I didn’t expect to operate on mouths I can fit into.”
“That must have been pretty scary.” Said Lyra.
“Eh, the smell was the scariest part, honestly.” She said and they all laughed.
“You can’t really go back to your old place now, huh?” Bon Bon looked at the ruined office building.
“No,” Minuette replied, “I need to open a new one. After I clean out this infected dragon tooth, I’ll be sure to put it in a very noticeable place.”
“Ooh! Ooh!” Lyra chimed in. “You could call your new office something cool! Like: the Dragon’s Fang!”
“Haha, yeah! Just wait till I tell Moondancer about it!”
Suddenly, several loud thuds could be heard behind them. As if something landed really hard onto the concrete. It was Garble and his thunder of young dragons. They were all clutching their jaws, not unlike Minuette’s unexpected patient.
“What? Is there some sort of toothache epidemic for dragons?” Minuette wondered loudly. “What happened?”
And all the dragons collectively pointed at Bon Bon.
She responded to the accusing fingers with a nervous giggle.
“Let’s just say,” Lyra put a hoof over Bon Bon’s shoulders, “that we had our own dragon related adventure.”
Minuette just rolled her eyes and sighed with a giggle and got to work on the young dragons' kicked-in teeth.
