fan fiction Medicine is Magic

[WinterBolt 56]

Finally finished with this monster of a fic. One shot, suggested by Zoop :3 Enjoy~

 

 

(decided in the end not to spoiler it lol xD There are some spelling errors in here, so please overlook them)

 

 

------

 

"Spike, can you fetch me the book entitled..." The lavender coated pony

paused to glance through her notes before continuing, "ah, here we go-

'Occupations for all Occassions throughout Equestria'?".

 

Twilight barely had time to turn her head to direct the ink dripping

quill that was magically floating in midair in front of her back into

its inkwell before Spike was at her shoulder, holding the thick,

leather backed book she had requested high above his head. He grunted

under the weight of it, dropping it with a considerable thud onto the

unicorn's desk. "Here we are, just like you asked Twi! But boy-" He

paused to cough into his fist, waving away a cloud of dust, "that thing

doesn't look like it's been touched in ages." Twilight looked down at

the book in question, which was highly discolored with age. "Well a lot

of these books haven't even been opened in years Spike." She commented

as she bowed her head towards the book.

 

With a loud creaking snap, the book popped open, the papers fluttering

on Twilight Sparkle's command. She instantly regretted the gesture and

staggered back a few steps, both her and the dragon coughing loudly

through the dust that billowed from the mottled pages. After taking a

moment to wait for the dust to clear, Twilight trotted back to her

desk, pouring more magic into the volume as Spike hissed through his

teeth, rubbing his stinging eyes, "Ugh, never seen one as old as that

though! Why did you need it anyway?" The pony didn't answer

immediately, but when she did her answer was a bit offhanded, "I'm

simply taking a break from my studies. That is all. I.. wanted to look

through the different jobs of ponies through the years..." She

continued as she stopped near a quarter of the way through the book, on

a page with writing so small it was barely legible. "It has documents

for almost every known area where ponies live, from Canterlot to right

here in Ponyville!"

 

Spike's tail flicked thoughtfully to the side as he stepped around

Twilight to the other side of the room, heading to retrieve the ladder

he had brought to get the book with, "They HAVE a book on that?"

 

You would be surprised.

 

Twilight ignored Spike and continued to pour over the text, using magic

to rapidly flip the pages. Each chapter was labled with a city of

origin, the type of job being described, and a pony suitable for said

job. For example, she had paused on a job for pegasi that lived in

Cloudsdale- controlling the path of rainclouds, a job that seemed

obvious enough. Her ear flicked in annoyance as she heard Spike call

out a second time, passing her to prop the ladder up against the far

wall, "But hold on...if that's a book about jobs, shouldn't that be in

a hall of records or something?" Sighing as she lifted her writing

quill again, Twilight busily scribbled notes on occupations for

unicorns in Canterlot, which she had come to a few pages later. "This

is a library Spike- if there's a book on anything in the whole wide

world of Equestria, it would be located here." She assurred.

 

The little dragon must have taken her word for it, because she heard

his footsteps as he passed again, not saying anything in response. So,

the pony returned to the book, musing to herself as she turned the

pages, "Let's see...unicorns, unicorns... architechture...artisans

crafts...cooking....gardening...." Twilight lifted her head a little,

her mumbles trailing off when she came to a subheader titled "Medical

Field and Medicine study". Another pause, and then she whispered,

"..Dentistry?" That was new. In the first place, she hadn't ever heard

of a pony needing dental help of any kind, in Ponyville after all.

There were ponies in Canterlot that specialized as doctors, that she

knew to be fact. Mostly unicorns who knew spells to help aid those who

were sick.

 

With another leathery groan the book rose into the air, spurred on by

Twilight's magic, and moved around as she did, walking slowly to the

center of the library as she read the text aloud, "'Job of origin..

hmm..no specific place listed. Hmm.. ah, here we go-" She cleared her

throat and continued, "The field of dentistry, an occupation

reccommended for unicorns, but also viable for earth ponies. However,

for unicorns, the study of magic for this field can prove to be not

only challenging, but extensive, to prevent further pain and injury for

the patients." Her inflection on this sentence rose slightly as she

reached the end, and then she looked up from the book to see Spike

beside her again, trying to look at the pages over her shoulder,

"Yikes! I don't care how good you are with magic Twilight-" Spike shook

his head furiously, "But you aren't getting anywhere near my mouth! I

know what you're thinking!"

 

Twilight rolled her eyes with a small smile, "Not to worry Spike. I

wasn't planning on actually practicing any of the jobs listed here

myself. Can't I do some reading for entertainment once and a while...?"

Spike sniffed and folded his arms, obviously not sharing the same

opinion, "That's not my idea of entertainment at all."

 

The unicorn watched him as he stepped away again, on his way this time

up the stairs to take a nap no doubt, "Now if you know of a book titled

'Beautiful unicorns who work as fashion designers', come and get me."

The purple dragon snickered to himself and then disappeared upstairs,

Twilight laughing herself. That silly little assistant of hers...

 

But all jokes aside, he was right, she decided as she closed the book

with a dusty thump, dropping it onto the desk again. When would she

ever even need the magic for anything medical, much less trying to be a

dentist? She wasn't sure, but there HAD to be somepony in ponyville who

was a doctor. Plenty of other unicorns (or earth ponies even) around

than just her to fill that job...It was a tempting idea, but she had

more important work to do. So with that in mind, Twilight pushed the

large book aside with a hoof, making a mental note to ask Spike to put

it back later. She could almost hear his snoring floating down to her

from upstairs already....

 

 

---

 

Nearly an hour of hard studying passed for Twilight without a thought

of the book she had just read, and without interruption too. She closed

her eyes and smiled with satisfaction, closing one of her spell books.

Finally she had been able to master the spell that could animate

inanimate objects. Not a necessary one, but a test of skill anyway. The

unicorn just wished that the inkwell, which was now hopping more than

Pinkie Pie during a party, would sit still long enough for her to drop

her quill back into it.

 

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

 

"Agh!!" Poor Twilight only succeeded in getting a massive jet of ink

all across the front of her notes as she jumped at the sound, losing

concentration, causing the quill to drop on its point right down onto

her papers. The frantic knocking was coming from the front door, and

she could hear somepony yelling through the woodworks before she had

the chance to trot over, "Hello? Twilight? Ya home?"

 

Twilight could immediately tell by her thick southern accent that

Applejack was paying her a visit, but at once she felt uneasy. The

earth pony sounded quite rattled, and knocked with urgency. So quickly,

Twilight pulled the door open, her jaws parting to speak, but instantly

shutting at the sight she was presented with.

 

Applejack was shifting from one hoof to the other on the front step,

looking up at Twilight with concern and the slightest bit of

frustration clouding her expression. At Applejack's left flank stood

Pinkie Pie, that never ending smile etched onto her face, giving

Twilight reason to question what had happened to make Applejack so

flustered. But then she knew after looking to the pony's left, spotting

the small, shuddering smear of light yellow that was Fluttershy. She

was leaning on Applejack for support, resting her head on the earth

pony's shoulder, her eyes so misty that it broke Twilight's heart.

 

Quickly the unicorn ushered them in, kicking the door shut with a

hindleg as she asked, her voice laden with concern, "What's going on

here...?" Applejack opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by

Pinkie taking a massive breath, and then saying quickly, "Well I was

just on my way into town, hop hop hopping when I heard the most awful

sad sounds coming from Fluttershy's house! So quick as a bunny rabbit I

went to her cottage and knocked on the door, and poor Fluttershy was

lying on her couch, just with the SADDEST look on her face I've ever

seen!!" "U-uh- Pinkie-.." Twilight was forced to pivot as Pinkie

bounced around her, trying apparently to explain the entire situation

in one breath.

 

To save time- and energy- Applejack interjected, stamping her hoof onto

the wooden floor, "Sorry fer interruptin' Pinkie, but Twi-" She glanced

down at Fluttershy, who had screwed her eyes shut, trembling harder

now, "Fluttershy's been complanin' of a toothache. A bad one seems

like, worst I've ever heard tell of." Applejack said sadly, shifting so

Fluttershy could step a little closer to Twilight. The shivering

pegasus whimpered, staring up at her endearingly, but through a mask of

pain, "Oh Twilight...I..I'm so sorry to bother you....but....my whole

side of my face hurts...." She squeaked, resisting the urge to simply

collapse on the spot and bury her face into her hooves, "It hurts so

bad..it's just awful..." She whined.

 

Seeing one of the gentlest ponies in Ponyville experiencing so much

pain herself immediately struck Twilight deeply- enough that she would

do whatever she could to stop the poor pegasus' pain as soon as

possible. "Hold on Fluttershy..." She whispered, turning and trotting

quickly to her writing desk. Well- perhaps 'Occupations for all

Occassions' would have some viable use after all. Just as she made to

open the book, the still moving inkwell she had enchanted scooted

through her papers and bounced to the floor, splashing a liberal amount

of ink all over her hindlegs. Twilight huffed with frustration, "Maybe

that spell worked too well...." "Ooh ooh don't worry Twilight! I'll

catch it!" Pinkie suddenly exclaimed, and then off she bounced, chasing

after the inkwell that was trying to hop its way up the stairs.

 

Carefully, Applejack lead Fluttershy to the rug, gesturing for her to

lie down there, "Now don'tchu worry none Sugarcube...Twi here's gonna

fixya right up, arencha Twi?" Twilight smiled weakly, the book

following her as she trotted carefully over to Fluttershy, who was

trembling so much now that she couldn't say anything else, "That's the

plan anyway..." Twilight stood in front of Fluttershy as Applejack

layed on the floor next to her, trying to comfort the pegasus as

Twilight flipped rapidly through the volume, "Alright then, let's

see...where was that section on dentistry....?"

 

A loud, shuddering crash, and then a muffled cry of surprise suddenly

erupted at the top of the stairs. After this came Pinkie Pie's

triumphant cry, "I GOT IT!!" Applejack turned to see Pinkie lying on

her front across the top three steps of the stairs, splattered from

head to toe in ink with the wiggling inkwell firmly between her front

hooves. If she was upset by the mess it had made she didn't show it,

for laughter was shaking her entire frame, "Hahahaa! Boy that was tons

of fun Twilight! Oh oh I know, make some of your books fly around and

I'll catch those too! What a fun game!" Spike emerged from behind

Pinkie, more saturated with ink than she was, throwing his hands to the

side in a feeble attempt to dispell it, "Uughh..."

 

Twilight didn't seem to hear, for she murmured as she scanned the

pages, "Hush for a minute Spike. I'm trying to find something..." Spike

shot a blistering a glare at Pinkie, who was sitting up now with the

inkwell close to her stomach, a massive grin on her face. Spike hated

to be the one to see Twilight examine the current state of her

bedroom...but....perhaps they could cross that bridge once they came to

it.

 

"Ah! Here it is!" Applejack turned her attention back to Twilight, who

was fixated on a particularly dingy looking page. "Ok...all of these

are spells to do with a pony's teeth. But before I try any of them,"

The unicorn turned to Fluttershy, who glanced up slowly as she was

being adressed, "I need you to open your mouth for me so I can pinpoint

what's giving you your pain."

 

Fluttershy whimpered softly, pulling her hooves a little closer to her

chest, her long pink forelock covering one eye as she looked away

fearfully. Applejack frowned sadly and lifted a hoof, petting the

pegasus' neck comfortingly, "Come on now shy, she ain't gonna hurt ya.

Twilight's yer friend, remember?" She tilted her head a little when

Fluttershy tried to part her jaws a little, but then let out a soft cry

of pain, "Now I know it hurts sugarcube, but Twilight's got spells

that's gonna fix it for ya...just open up fer a second or two fer us,

ok...?" Twilight shifted nervously from one hoof to the other. It was a

shot in the dark, using these spells. She had never tried them

before...

 

The little pegasus seemed encouraged, if only a little, by the

reassuring look on Applejack's face, so with a shuffle of hooves she

turned to face Twilight again, craning her neck to she was looking up

at the ceiling. Then, she opened her mouth as wide as she could, the

pain of that itself causing her jaws to tremble. Twilight quickly

leaned in close and scanned the inside of Fluttershy's mouth. She was

no dentist, but already she could see the problem, and gestured for

Fluttershy to close her mouth again. The pegasus did so with a breathy

whimper, causing Applejack to wince.

 

"Well Fluttershy, as far as I can see, it's not a problem to do with

cavities or anything." Twilight suddenly wondered why Pinkie wasn't

having that problem. Celestia knows how many sweets that pony had

consumed in her lifetime. Shaking that thought away, she continued,

"The problem is that your teeth are overcrowded, causing the pain

you're feeling. The diagrams in this book show that back here.."

 

Twilight lifted a hoof and opened her own mouth, pointing to an area

far in the back, "There, grows a set of teeth called wisdom teeth."

 

"Wisdom teeth? How can teeth be smart?" Pinkie commented from the

stairway. Spike blinked and looked over at her when she snorted to

herself, giggling, still holding onto the struggling inkwell, "Hehee, I

guess that some teeth are very intelligent...they...know the 'drill!'"

 

She laughed loudly at her own joke, but Fluttershy's eyes widened

slightly, "D-drill..?!" She glanced frantically at Applejack, "Oh dear,

y-you didn't say anything a-about a....d-d-drill!"

 

Twilight jerked and shook her head hard, "No drills, I promise! I'm not

going to hurt you at all Fluttershy." The unicorn assurred, "But like I

was saying...your wisdom teeth have grown in on your bottom jaw

Fluttershy, but there's no room for them." Applejack gasped and nodded

in understanding, getting where Twilight was going, "Aah, now I geddit!

So all you gotta do is pull them little suckers out and Shy here'll be

as right as rain!"

 

Oh they weren't helping.

 

Fluttershy let out a tiny squeak of fear, and dropped to the rug,

covering her eyes with both hooves. Applejack blinked, and then lowered

her head a little, realizing her mistake, "Oh oops....eheh...my

bad....sorry Shy.." Twilight sighed and flipped through a few more

pages in the book, "I know a spell that numbs pain, so you won't feel

anything Fluttershy." "Y-yeah, please don't be takin' t'heart what I

said bout' pullin' yer teeth....It's really nothin'! An' if ya get em'

out then ya won't be hurtin' anymore.."Fluttershy hesitantly lifted a

hoof and looked up at them both through one eye, still trembling a

little fearfully. "O-oooh....if you're sure Twilight...." She whispered

in a barely audible little voice, sitting back up again shakily.

"There's going to be nothing to it. Just like you taking care of your

animal friends, I'm going to take care of you." The unicorn assurred.

Fluttershy looked over at Applejack, who offered her a small smile.

"Ok...ok I've found a spell for removing teeth. I'm just going to need

you to sit very still ok Fluttershy...?" said Twilight, positioning

herself firmly in front of the pegasus, the book dropping to the floor

near her hooves so she could focus all of her magic on the mare.

Fluttershy nodded hesitantly, and closed her eyes tightly, opening her

mouth wide again. She could still feel Applejack beside her, who had

pressed herself to the young pony's side, in an attempt to calm and

reassure her.

 

Twilight gritted her teeth and closed her eyes, her horn beginning to

glow. In a voice that she was sure only she could hear, she whispered,

"...Ok come on....please let this work...."

 

Slowly Twilight focused all of her energy towards first numbing

Fluttershy's mouth so she wouldn't be able to feel it when the teeth

were pulled out. But as the magic slowly began to take affect,

 

Fluttershy opened her eyes after a moment to see what Twilight was

doing. She could feel a strange heaviness in her head, as if something

was probing into her body- and then a massive amount of pressure, as if

somepony had jammed both their hooves into Fluttershy's mouth and were

trying to force her jaws apart. Twilight just barely had time to

complete the numbing spell before a cry of fear ripped from the little

mare, and quickly she suddenly jumped back, so unexpectedly that

Applejack fell into the spot Fluttershy had been seconds ago.

 

The yellow pegasus flapped her wings weakly, her mouth hanging open as

she was unable to close it, absolutely no feeling in her muzzle

whatsoever. She couldn't move her tongue to speak either, so she shook

her head and let out a second little cry, causing Twilight to exclaim,

"Oh Fluttershy, it's ok..! I haven't started to pull your teeth

yet....!" But the pegasus wouldn't be appeased. She sat down quickly on

the very end of the rug, and just as hot tears began to roll down her

cheeks, a voice came from over her shoulder, "Haha boy look at me...

They should change my name to 'Inky Pie'! But no, that's wrong, that's

my sister hehee~. But that's not the point-"

 

The pink earth pony tilted her head and looked at Fluttershy, who was

now watching her through very watery eyes, tears dripping off her chin,

"Now what's up with your face Fluttershy? No friend of mine is going to

be caught frowning like that around Pinkie Pie!" And without further

ado Pinkie sat down firmly beside Fluttershy, the abandoned inkwell

scooting across the floor behind her, ignored. Spike dashed after it

quickly as Pinkie continued, taking one of Fluttershy's hooves in her

own, "Now Twilight knows exactly what she's doing!"

 

Applejack and Twilight walked over as Pinkie said this, using her other

hoof to wipe Fluttershy's tears away, "Now don't cry...Okie Dokie

Lokie..? Twilight will have you fixed up lickety split!" Applejack sat

at Fluttershy's other side, "Pinkie's right. We're here for ya...an'

donchu forget it." Fluttershy couldn't move her face, but the look in

her eyes told Twilight that if she could, she would have been smiling.

Both earth ponies sat close by Fluttershy's sides, and before Twilight

had to ask Fluttershy had her mouth open, using one of her own hooves

to help push it open.

 

"There ya go sugarcube.." Applejack whispered, "Yer doin' great. So

brave!.." Twilight's ears fell back a little as she watched the three,

concern and compassion simply gushing from both earth ponies into their

friend. With her own eyes burning with unshed tears, Twilight stepped

forwards and got to work.

 

 

---

 

About half an hour later, it was done. Twilight let out a heavy sigh,

her body feeling exhausted from the amount of magic she was being

forced to use to cast the spell to remove Fluttershy's wisdom teeth as

painlessly as possible. But she had done it, and now the two teeth from

Fluttershy's lower jaw were sitting on the table.

 

Applejack had a wet cloth in her hoof, and was using it to wipe at the

sides of Fluttershy's face, removing excess blood that had drained from

the teeth out the side of her mouth. She couldn't help it of course-

she still couldn't feel her face. "All done! My, I haven't seen a

braver pony in all my days." Applejack exclaimed, smiling. Pinkie

nodded, "She's right Fluttershy! See, we told you it wouldn't hurt one

eensy weensy little bit!" Fluttershy stood back up and looked over at

Twilight, who had the book floating in front of her again, "The

numbness should go away in a couple of hours. You're gonna be a bit

achey since the teeth are missing now, but there's plenty of room in

your mouth for the rest of your teeth. You'll be feeling as good as new

in a couple of days."

 

Fluttershy, Applejack, and Pinkie followed Twilight to the door as she

said this, setting the book gently back down on the desk. Fluttershy

still couldn't move her mouth much, so instead- to say thanks to

 

Twilight- she ran up to her and threw her hooves around Twilight's neck

in the tightest hug she could muster. Twilight jerked with surprise and

gasped softly, but in return relaxed and pressed her face gently to the

side of Fluttershy's. Even though she wouldn't have felt it, the action

spoke volumes.

 

"Ooh yay yay, group hugs! I just LOVE group hugs!" Pinkie exclaimed,

and then threw one hoof around Applejack and the other around Twilight,

pulling them all into the fray. This lasted only a second before they

all looked up, hearing a cry of frustration. Twilight spotted a splash

of black color her view of the room before they could see Spike

gripping the now empty inkwell in both claws, it still moving weakly

with the last bit of magic left in it. He looked up with a frown,

completely covered in black ink, "Next time, try enchanting some

pillows or something!!"

 

This elicited roaring laughter from all of the ponies, even small

little giggles from brave Fluttershy.

 

 

 

 

---

 

That night, Twilight knew exactly how her letter to Princess Celestia

would go.

 

Dear Princess Celestia,

 

 

Today, I was shown an example of just what true friends can be. They're

always there for you when you are scared or afraid, or if you're just

alone and need a shoulder to cry on. The truest of friends will bring

out the best in any pony, and bring to light the ability to do things

that they didn't even realize they were capable of. No matter what, if

you have true friends by your side, there's nothing you can't

accomplish or overcome.

 

Your faithful student,

 

Twilight Sparkle

[Zoop 8,384]

I must admit that I did not expect you to actually take my silly idea and run with it, but since you did...

 

I approve.

[BizzarePony 199]

Very, very good. I enjoy the episodic nature of the story, which incidentally happens to be my favorite kind of fanfiction. The characterization is near perfect, with the (VERY) slight exception of Pinkie, but she's a very difficult character to pull off anyway, so you did a very good job. I did get a feeling that it was a tad rushed and the foreshadowing was a tiny bit forced, but other than that, very good work. I know I am being rather critical here, but A) That's just who I am, and B ) Constructive criticism is a good thing. All in all, I loved it. I can't wait to see more of your work.

Edited January 2, 2012 by BizzarePony

[WinterBolt 56]

@Zoop- Thank you so much! I appreciate you giving me the idea to work off of, and I'm glad you liked it ^^

 

@Bizzare- Wow, first of all, thank you for the critique! I appreciate that as much as I do a kind comment :3 Not only is it nice and helpful, but it helps me improve as a writer. You are correct- I did rush this a bit and could have fleshed it out a ton more than I did, but wanted to finish it quickly in one day (which ended in poorer quality in the end) but my next one-shot will be more thought out than this one was, which I pretty much made up as I went along. Constructive criticism IS a good thing, I agree. But thank you very much <3 More will come soon!