Doctor Whooves: Revisisted

The smells of hoof sanitizer and disinfectant polluted the air of the small flat. Colgate enjoyed the security of now knowing that her flat was 100% germ free, easing her nerves a bit at least. Celestia’s sun had risen over the hills and shone its warm light across the fair Canterlot. Colgate smiled in her sleep as the warm rays slowly crept over her bed. The clock on the bedside table begun to hum loudly as it flashed with the time 7:00. Colgate opened her eyes with as much difficulty as a barn door and reached over to silence the infernal device. Sighing deeply, she sat up in her bed and looked out the window opposite her. Not a single cloud in the sky, another brilliant day to enjoy, inside, in a cold office, and germs. Colgate’s grin slowly faded as it dawned on her the reality of another Tuesday morning. She made sure when getting out of bed not to crease the sheets too much and carefully laid the blankets back down in a neat fashion, smoothing the surface with her hooves. When she was satisfied, she went to go tackle the morning routine.

‘Breakfast, breakfast is essential.’ Colgate quickly whizzed through her mind as she made her way to the small cramped kitchen. The contence and layout of the cupboard were in many ways odd. Aside from the loaf of bread she grabbed most of the food inside were canned, placed in appropriate sections and categories. Moving on Colgate grabbed a small carton of soy milk from the fridge (which was just, if not more, organised than the cupboard) and set two slices of plain white bread in the toaster. Finishing off her breakfast with a touch of Organic Apple Jam, Colgate proceeded to complete the single most important task of the day. Entering the bathroom she grabbed her toothbrush and a small tube of Dentist recommended toothpaste, making sure to use the exact amount required, and brushed her teeth. She did so always with a smile and a strange enthusiasm, often humming and even giggling at times. Colgate watched herself in the polished mirror as her face made the strangest expressions while she brushed. ‘Thirty top left, thirty top right, thirty bottom left and thirty bottom right.’ Colgate had developed a well thought out system of sectioning out the areas of her mouth and dedicating a certain amount of time to each, making sure to use the proper technique appropriately. Tongue brushed and cheeks cleaned, she rinsed and spat. Colgate smiled at her reflection and admired the twinkling of the pearly white smile being shot right back at her. Now to shower up and loosen up a bit before work.

“Who is awesome? You are awesome.” Colgate held a stern look of determination as she spoke. “You are a proud, smart and gorgeous mare. Yes you are.” Her reflection gave her the same look of grit as Colgate continued her self-motivation. “Take on this day as if it were your last. No pony is going to get in your way. No pony would mess with you. It’s just another day at work. No surprises, nothing out of the ordinary. You have done this a thousand times and survived.”

Colgate instantly jolted back in surprise and uttered a slight squeak when she heard the phone ring from the kitchen. Colgate came to her senses and rushed to answer it. She trotted up to the answering machine and took a deep breathe. Colgate reached for the phone but retracted suddenly and reached for a small packet of tissues in her saddle bag. Taking one she covered her hoof and picked up the still ringing phone.

“Minuette speaking.” Colgate said calmly and flatly, avoiding giving away too much tone.

“Ah, Miss Minuette. Sorry to disturb your morning but this is the Canterlot Help Center just calling quickly. There has been a slight change with your regular appointment tomorrow and next Wednesday. Your Councillor, Mr Turner, is going south to Manehatton for the next week and will not be able to see any clients. However he will be in early today and we can allow you to reschedule for this morning, if that is convenient. If this is too short notice then we can see about making a catch-up immediately when he gets back.” Colgate thought hard on this. She enjoyed talking things over with Mr Turner and was sad she wouldn’t see him for the next couple of weeks. I, well, guess I could call in sick today. Reception duty at the Hospital could wait for one day at least.

“I’ll see him this morning if that’s alright.” Colgate replied but instantly regretted her hasty decision.

“Excellent, I’ll let him know you’re coming. You’re penciled in for 10:15. Have a nice day Miss Minuette.” The reception mare said warmly.

“Thank you.” Colgate quickly slipped out before ramming the phone back on the answering machine. She knew it was rude to hang up in such a way but her mind was quickly spinning through what she had just done. She threw away the protective tissue and then begun to think aloud.

“I’m going to have to call in sick now. I’ve never lied to my work before. What if they don’t buy it? I’ve never called in sick, I’m usually so thorough. Not a single ailment.” Colgate begun to increase her breathe rate, her chest rising and falling rapidly. “Too late now old girl, you’ve made a decision and you shall aim to go through with it.” Colgate made a rather loud gulping noise. A lump painfully slid down her throat.

“Even if it means lying to your boss.”

“Ah, Miss Minuette. Good to see you again.” Mr Turner greeted the young mare with a cheery smile. His chestnut brown coat and dark brown mane was neatly groomed, although the front of his mane seemed to stick up at the front. He wore a very old fashioned coat and red bow-tie, reminding Colgate a lot of her Grandfather in many ways, and his cutie mark was in the unique shape of an hourglass.

“Please Mr Turner, Colgate’s fine.” She trotted in and gave him a welcoming smile in return.

“Of course, of course, do sit down Miss Colgate.” He chuckled and invited her to have a seat in the coach opposite. Colgate willingly threw herself down on the soft pillows and laid there staring at the ceiling. Mr Turner pulled out a pair of glasses from his pockets and slipped them on before taking a look at his notes from the previous session the other week.

“Now down to it. You obviously don’t have too much time this morning, because as I’m fully aware you do have your job to get-“

“Don’t worry. I called in sick this morning.” Colgate interrupted. She smiled brightly in the direction of the colt who had sat down on his armchair.

“Ha ha. Well it is good to see you venturing a bit out of you comfort zone. I don’t condone it, but I think we can give it the slip this time. You could have simply said you were going to come in late today you realize?” It suddenly dawned on Colgate how stupid she had been.

“Oh feather, I‘m an idiot.” She picked up the pillow from the coach and planted on her face to hide the shame.

“Well we have learnt something for next time, haven’t we?” Mr Turner smiled. He drew his concentration back to his notes. He was soon then distracted when he realized that Colgate was looking at his bookshelf with a look of desperation and unease. Mr Turner knew he kept his books in a rather untidy fashion, and made no effort to fix it, but he didn’t realize how much it would affect Colgate.

“Colgate.” She instantly looked back at the colt but shifted her eyes between him and the bookcase. “If you want to fix it be my guest.” He didn’t need to say anything else. Colgate was up in a flash and rushed towards the shelves. She begun to take out book, quickly scan it and place them in the most appropriate spot. Colgate sped through the job as fast as she could.

“Please try to avoid damaging my copy of Hellion’s “Theory of the Mind”. Its signed.”

Colgate didn’t take time to notice the old colt speak and was soon done. She took a breath and laid back down on the sofa with a look of complete satisfaction.

“Feel better yet.” Mr Turner asked with a smirk.

“A bit.” Colgate made herself comfortable but making sure to not make a mess of the coach.

“I guess I can continue then.” Turner shifted his gaze back to the clipboard. “Let’s see, I trust you did your motivational talk in the mirror as usual, hope that’s still helping you. Okay, last time we talked you were having some issues with that Lyra girl over the matter of, let’s see, filing company financial statements. I trust you did what I suggested and talked it over with her?”

“Oh yes, I, um, apologized as well. I kinda know that biting her was a bit over the top. Heh.” Colgate faked a smile and gave a small chuckle to in some way lighten the mood.

“I don’t think she particularly liked it. You know perfectly well the situation she’s been going through.” Colgate knew what Mr Turner was talking about. Lyra had started seeing him nearly a year ago after her employer recommended she seek help over her sexual conduct. She tried not to take this too offensively but couldn’t help but feel a bit rejected by society. Mr Turner had helped her for a while to cope with people’s judgments, and she seemed to be doing okay. Colgate was certainly not friends with Lyra, she occasionally saw her at work or in the street but that rarely talked. She seemed happy with her marefriend, Bonbon.

“Now there is till the matter of finding a flat mate. You seemed very keen last week to find someone to rent the spare bedroom to, but how did that go?”

Colgate beamed proudly. “I got an ad in Equestria Daily. I managed to get three ponies who were interested in the first week.”

“And how did they go?” Mr Turner leaned forward a bit on his seat.

“Heh, not all too well. A couple said it was far too clean and the other I scared off when I tried to fix up his suit.” Colgate gave a nervous grin to the colt who sat with a new look of confusion.

“You will keep trying though? I think I would still be best if you found someone else to help make your life a little less stressed. You are still on top of your rent, aren’t you?”

“My parents sent down a bit of money from their new home in Fillydephia. They moved there last spring when their company shifted its HQ south. I should be fine for the next month or so.”

“Well it’s good to know that you still have a place to live and time to find a flat mate. This brings us to my next point. How is communication with your parents going?” The colt now wore a serious expression and removed his glasses. Colgate suddenly lost the tone in her voice.

“They sent me the money when I asked for it. They just wanted to know how my studies were going and how the job was treating me, the usual sort of talk.”

“Still planning to pay them a visit for Hearths Warming Eve this year?”

“Meh, probably. Well see if I can pay for it when the time comes.” Colgate sat up from the coach to fluff up the cushion under her head before lying back down slowly. Turner looked back at his notes and crossed out a good portion with his pen.

“We only really have one last thing to look at and then you have the day to yourself.”

“Yes?” Colgate shifted her gaze back towards the brown colt.

“Your studies for College. I would just like to be able to touch base quickly. Your parents were adamant when they said that you special talent was history. You never felt the same?”

Colgate let out a deep sigh. “No. Well, my cutie mark says so (stupid hourglass), but what is that to dictate my life. I mean, why I have to conform to the certain rule that I can’t change my interest? I’m not even that interested in history.” Colgate rolled over so that she faced the back of the coach.

“You haven’t considered leaving?”

“What!? No, no, I can’t drop out. My parent would, you know? Ahhh!” Colgate rolled over onto her back and threw up her hooves in frustration. She rubbed her eyes and looked back up at the blank ceiling. “Why can’t I just run away?”

“Could you?”

“Yes! I mean, no. I don’t know anymore. I want to.” Suddenly her eyes opened widely. She sat up and set her eager gaze on the brown colt. “You know what I’ve always wanted to do?”

“I always imagined it would have to do something with cleaning.”

“What? Wait, yes and no. Look come closer.” Mr Turner leaned in towards Colgate. “Closer!” He sat on the edge of his seat and peered at Colgate in confusion. She leaned next to his pricked up ear and whispered,

“I want to be a dentist.” Turner leaned back seemingly unsurprised and quickly responded,

“So go be a dentist then.”

“No, I couldn't."

“You could if you wanted to.” He pulled his glasses out of his pocket again and grabbed his clipboard, tearing away the old session note. “Colgate, Miss Minuette, I believe that you can gain nothing else from our weekly sessions. I feel that you are ready to face the world and to make your own choices with confidence.” He filled out a small green form on his clipboard and handed it to Colgate.

“What are you talking about?”

“Hand this in to Mary at the desk to cancel our future appointments. It was nice enough of the hospital to cover the costs. Afterwards I want you to have a serious think about what it is you want to do with your life.”

“But I can’t just drop everything and start studying dentistry! I have rent to pay and, and a flat to keep clean!” Colgate’s tone became one of confusion and desperation. She looked for any sign on Mr Turner’s face that suggested he was simply having her on. Turner trotted over to his desk and flicked to the job section in the paper. He grabbed it in his mouth and handed to Colgate (who seemed a little concerned why a pony would carry anything in their mouth).

“By the looks of it there is small part time job on offer at Pearl’s Dentistry. Well paying, good work experience, just assisting check-ups and such.” Colgate looked nervously at the paper sprawled on the coach.

“But this job is in Ponyville. How would I work in Ponyville and live in Canterlot? How could I drop out of College without my Parents noticing? You’re failing to make any sense of the situation.” Mr Turner put away his glasses and set the newspaper back on his desk.

“Look Colgate, you have been seeing me since you were a filly, and you thought you saw a blue box in your garden. Since then you have grown into a strong and proud mare. I’m not telling you what to do with your life, but I try to help you make the right choices.” He trotted to the door and opened it for Colgate. She got up off the coach and slowly made her way out.

“Good luck, Miss Minuette.” Said the funny dressed brown colt she knew so well.

“Thank you.” Colgate said quietly. The two exchanged a final hoofshake before he closed the door. Colgate took deep breath. She needed to think. She walked up to the reception and handed in the green form.

“Such a shame we won’t see you again.” Mary said looking at the cancellation form. “Well, good luck out there.”

“You too.” Colgate said before trotting out of the building and looked up at the sky; it was still bright and sunny with not a cloud to be seen. Exhaling deeply, Colgate thought to herself as she walked back to her flat,

'You could do it. You could quit your job, drop out of College and sell some of your belongings. Hitch the next ride to Ponyville.’ She shuddered at the thought of the filthy public transport system.

‘It’s a crazy idea. You would be leaving behind you friends. Think of Berry Punch, how would she react? It’s a stupid idea.’ Colgate came to the building where her flat was. It was at least ten floors high and was not in the best of conditions. Its wooden exterior had begun to gather mold and moss, the windows were in a serious need of a clean (except for hers on the fifth floor she noted) and the side alley was filthy. I swear some drinking idiots urinate in there when noponies looking. She shuddered at the thought. She thought of the filth that might be in Ponyville. The dirt roads, the rural area, the animals! Who knows what they could spread! Plague, a flesh eating virus! I simply can’t do it. My place is here in Canterlot and it is in Canterlot I shall remain. Colgate raised her head in pride and trotted up the stairs to her flat. Unlocking the door she entered her room feeling sure of her well thought out decision.

‘I’m getting good at this whole decisive thing. Ha, who needs to go to Ponyville? Certainly not this mare.’ She took a wet wipe from her saddle bag and polished the door knob till she was sure it was germ free. Colgate trotted to into the living room and disposed of her saddle bag on the coffee table.  She lied down on the coach and looked at the ceiling, the same ceiling, the exact same one, the same one she had looked at for years.

“Screw it, I’m going..”