[Shop] Smiling while you work!

[MudBug]

From the first brush, to the first floss. She could tell today was going to be an excellent day and the minty coloured unicorn just couldn't help smiling to her heart's content as she saw off her nephew to school before making her way down the busy streets. Everypony was setting up shop for the day.

The fruit sellers spraying their wares with cool water to keep them crisp, the warm and inviting smell of baked goods wafting on the settling morning air as the sun breeched over ponyville and lay it in a warm, golden glow as the day got started. Everything seemed perfect today. And that's what made her so giddy.

Greeted by a pink haired neighbour, she smiled that always pearlescent set of chompers to the chuckling pegasus as she watered the windowledge flowerbed.

"Morning, Spearmint." The mare said settling the watering can down.

"Good morning, Tea Cozy!"

"You look in very high spirits today, new toothpaste get delivered?" Both mares chuckled slightly at this.

"Honestly, Tea, who in their right mind couldn't be happy on a day like this?" Glancing over the pegasus with a small smile she tilted her head at that swollen baby bump before she noticed the time on the clock inside the other pony's house, starting herself away with a smile.

"Look I gotta go set up shop, I'll pop around later for some tea!"

"Alright, I'll see you then, have a nice day!"

"I will!"

Happily avoiding a few mud puddles with some well arced skipping, she made her way to her perfect place. Her sanctuary. Her little slice of heaven.

The building stood at one story and had window ledge flower gardens of bright blue residents blooming in the morning sun, the tooth shaped wooden sign that hung over the doorway saying proudly - 'PEARLY WHITE DENTIST SURGERY' and with a soft, dreamy sigh escaping her muzzle she unlocked the front door. Opening it up, the smell of floor cleaner and mouth rinse ringing on the air and it just made the fur on her neck stand on end. That wonderful clean smell.

A soft flash from her horn and the curtains opened up, filling the reception area with light as the ropes of the silken sheets tied themselves up to stop the curtains moving and the unicorn made her way to the desk. Her time sheet already set out for her this morning.

Today's patients and appointments for the day, secretly hoping that atleast one name on the clipboard of names would turn up today as the sheet followed her whilst she continued to prepare her surgery for hopefully a busy day of work.

[Tempest Rime]

"Come on Pinkie Pie, you can do this." Pinkie walked slowly towards the dentists office, the usual bounce conspicuously absent from her gait. She paused outside the door, trying to psyche herself up. The dentist was probably her least favorite place in all of Ponyville. Destists always chided her for not brushing enough and eating too many sweets. Too many sweets! Like that was even possible.

Unfortunately, she'd been suffering from a toothache for the last few days, and it was showing no sign of letting up. After Mrs. Cake had noticed Pinkie rubbing her cheeks and eating slowly (for Pinkie), she had pressed the issue, and had insisted that Pinkie see the dentist. She had even gone so far as to set up the appointment herself, so Pinkie couldn't wiggle out of it somehow.

With a resolute sigh, the pink earth pony stepped up and pushed open the door. Nothing to do now but get this over with. "Hello? Anypony here?" Maybe the Dentist had had some kind of dentist emergency come up, and wouldn't be there.

[MudBug]

Gasp! There was the door! And a voice! Her first patient of the day! Eeeeee!

She could've practically danced on the spot! Now, nooooow, Spearmint, get a hold of yourself old girl, you needed to be proffesional about this, cleaning teeth is a job not JUST a joy! Practically having to dumb down the wattage of her smile, she cleared her throat and moved out from the surgery and to the main reception area.

Her little greeting welcome practically chiming from her with a well practiced ring.

"Welcome to the Pearly White Dentist Surgery! Aiming to put a smile on your face, how may I help---....you?"

The 'you' was more a suprised questioning, she never would've thought in her wildest dreams she'd see the sugar queen herself in her own surgery. With how much teeth rotting gunk she gobbled down, Spearmint thought she'd avoid this place like the pony pox! But apparently she was wrong...

Getting over the initial shock, the mare rose her eyebrows and offered a genuinely suprised and cheerful smile to the pink pony whom she could tell at first glance was feeling perhaps a tad nervous. After seeing so many of the same disposition, she'd gotten the habit of telling when ponies were a little...apprahensive of being here.

"Well, bless my stars, I never thought I'd see Ponyville's own party pony in my little surgery." She started with a soft, good natured chuckle. "What seems to be the problem, Miss Pie?"

[Tempest Rime]

Pinkie managed an apprehensive smile. Even if she didn't want to be here, there was no reason not to be friendly... and there was every reason not to be rude to someone who might be drilling into your teeth in a few minutes.

"Hi, uh... Spearmint, isn't it? It's my tooth. Oh, I guess that would be obvious, since I'm here, but it's a toof over herr..." She jamed a hoof into her mouth and pulled on her cheek to show it. "It's been all hurty for the past few days, I guess there's probably something wrong with it." She sighed mournfully, visions of drills and needles and those strangely-shaped tooth-scrapey thingies.

Pinkie was rarely afraid of anything, but when it came to the dentist, even her usual trick of laughing the fear away couldn't quell the feeling of dread. "So... um... yeah. It's probably bad, isn't it."

[MudBug]

The apprahension in the pink pony's smile made her own smile a little more understanding, she'd seen that look so many times she knew it wouldn't be the last and despite that it just continued to amuse her. She herself didn't see the fear in what she did, but then again, she loved oral hygiene.

Nodding to the aknowledgement of her name, she watched herself being directed to the tooth in question that was the problem and perked a brow. Hurting for a few days. Hmm...

"I see..." She muttered inbetween Pinkie's words before offering a small smile. "Well we'll only see what the problem is when we have a proper look, come this way, please."

Motioning to the back room she made her way through the door, horn already set aglow as on the far table from the patient's chair, a small mask flew from it and affixed itself to Spearmint's muzzle. Tieing itself up in a fanciful little string bow at the back before she motioned Pinkie to the seat.

"Please make yourself comfortable." The unicorn said behind the thin paper mask as her hooves clopped happily against the smooth white floor, horn still glowing as a few more instruments flew to her side, like a tiny mirrior and a small pick.

[Tempest Rime]

Pinkie gulped and walked over to the peculiarly shaped chair. It was time to really face her fears. With a grunt, she hoisted herself into the seat, her forelegs sticking up into the air. She wriggled in place for a few seconds to push herself into position, and leaned head head back.

"So..." she muttered, nervously trying to think of a topic for small talk while Spearmint prepared. "I haven't seen you around in a while." Oh no, this was a bad subject, she'd draw attention to the fact that she didn't go to the dentist very often. "I mean, I don't remember seeing you at the post Winter Wrap Up party, did you manage to make it to that? Or at the lunch party we had when Princess Celestia visited..."

Under any other circumstance, Pinkie would have had trouble saying so little, but in here the constant stream of words that usually burbled forth from her mind finally ran dry.

[MudBug]

Preparing her items that stood by the pony like floating miniature soldiers, ready to do their work, the pink pony's words caught her briefly offguard before she turned her head slightly. Eyes smiling where her muzzle was covered and moved across the room to pick up two funny looking items that looked like miniature toothpaste tubes.

Why hadn't she gone to parties? Well...one reason was that they were so chaotic and anything out of place made her feel slightly...tetchy...like she wanted to straighten it up and fix it, which made her very akward at social events when she spent half the time trying to straighten things in the hallway or get the last spot of muck off a plate. But for the sake of politeness she explained herself.

"Well I'm not always the partier and with a whole surgery to tend to aswell as my little nephew, my timetable gets a little busy during the day." Raising her hooves to the sink, they were washed and soon two little paper hoof gloves soon covered them. "I don't think I've really been in the Sugarcube Corner since I was a filly, but I do hear a lot of good things from it, aswell as some nice things from my nephew who likes buying some blue taffy twists from there now and then."

Finally moving over to where Pinkie sat, she smiled behind her mask and brought the little mirror on a stick floating to her side.

"Now then, I'm going to need you to open your mouth and say 'ahh' for me."

[Tempest Rime]

Not a partier? No wonder Pinkie never really saw this pony around. She was like, the most opposite kind of pony there could possibly be. Where Pinkie was outgoing, she seemed rather reserved, and where Pinkie made sweets, she was a dentist. "Oh," Pinkie muttered sadly, at a loss for what to talk about once more.

But no, this wouldn't do. This wasn't the Pinkamina way. The fact that Spearmint didn't go to parties was just too sad. She would make friends with this unicorn somehow. She just needed to figure out how. Aha! A brilliant thought occurred to her as she opened her mouth to comply with the dentist's orders.

"Aaa~aaa~aaa~aaa~aaa~aaa~aah." She made her ahhs into a scale and sang them as if it was a little song. Perhaps a little music would brighten her day.

[MudBug]

Once the other's mouth was opened, she had barely expected the musical trill to come from it and blinked in faint surprise. Just watching the pink pony for a moment before a soft chuckle escaped her, she was used to ponies normally clamping their mouths shut or trying to talk with the mouth gawked open. But this was certainly new.

"Are you sure you're not an opera pony, miss Pie?" The minty colored pony teased almost playfully as one of the miniature toothpaste tube's opened up with a soft sparkle of the unicorn's magic. It was soon squeezed and a dab of odd looking blue gel floated through the air and began to rub itself along Pinkie's gums. The side of the mouth where she'd pointed out the problem tooth.

It barely took a moment to work, soon the side of the mouth felt cool and numbed...but the taste...bubblegum! She'd chosen bubblegum flavoured gel!

Well, it was the biggest sweet tooth in Ponyville, might aswell've chosen a sweet numbing gel.

"Okie dokie! Let's see about this tooth!" Soon the mirror and pick gently floated in as Spearmint went about her work. "I need you to try and keep your mouth open, alright? Don't want you to hurt your teeth more on these metal instruments."

[Tempest Rime]

Spearmint's quip prompted a giggle from Pinkie, made somewhat awkward by her open mouth. This was soon replaced by a look of surprise as the sweet-tasting gel hit her tongue. She resisted the urge to swallow it, but the funny tingling sensation it made as it numbed the side of her mouth invoked an urge to poke at it with her tongue which she could not deny, causing the tip of her tongue to go numb as well.

Then the metal things came out. This was the part where it got unpleasant. She considered how to respond to Spearmint for a moment before settling on "aye aye." It was the only affirmative phrase she could say without closing her mouth.

She shut her eyes and concentrated on keeping her mouth open above all else. It wasn't going to be long now before she got the bad news. Thoughts of losing her teeth were already bouncing through her head. How would she eat taffy or toffee or tarts or tiramisu without teeth?

[MudBug]

The dentist pony soon set about her work. The thin metal pick and mirror floating inside of Pinkie's mirror to sleuth out the problem tooth and what coud possibly be causing its aching.

Spearmint thought it might've been several possibilities, rotting, a cavity, a cracked root, sensitive nerves, however none of that could've prepared her for what she was about to find and she had to stop herself from snickering when she did.

Ofcourse! How simple!

Looking the pink pony in the eyes, her own smiled as the horn atop her head flashed briefly as a new set of items came along.

Instead of the cowhorn pliers however, a delicate pair of tweezers danced its way through the air before floating next to the mint colored mare and soon enough turned her attention back to the mouth in question. Why hadn't she expected this? It seemed logical enough..

"Okay, miss Pie you're going to feel a tiny bit of pressure."

And that was the only warning she got. And sure enough, there was pressure. A tiny, tiny bit of pressure, like something was being pulled out from her gum, but it didn't feel like any tooth. Soon after a few more delicate tugs however, the tweezers flew up to Spearmint's face as she looked over the offending object.

In the mouth of the tweezers was a small, candy colored shard, that looked like the shell of one of the many hard sweets the pink pony was sweet on herself, slightly crimson in color for being stuck in her gum.

"That should be it!"

[Tempest Rime]

Pinkie cautiously opened one eye. It hadn't felt like she'd lost a tooth. Or maybe it was just so bad that it came right out on its own. The faint taste of blood wasn't a good sign either. She looked at the little piece of candy.

"That's... that's not a tooth." She ran her tongue over her teeth, verifying that they were still intact. Relief flooded over her, and her usual bubbly demeanor flooded back. "That's it? Oh thank goodness, I was sooooooo worried! I mean, it's not like I don't brush, my teeth are important, how else would I eat sweets? I guess I could probably still manage cake and pudding and ice cream and cheesecake and custard and shakes and that nice soft fudge that sort of melts in your mouth, but there'd be a world of goodies I'd miss out on."

[MudBug]

A smirk lit the mare's face behind her mask and the small tweezers flew through the air and desposited the bit of hard candy into the bin nearby as the bubbly filly spurred her sugary self back to full bullet yet again. As her utensils went about cleaning themselves and the mask untied itself from her face, she smiled towards Pinkie and shook her head in a gentle and reassuring manner.

"Now, now, you don't have to give up hard candy, miss Pie, just try to suck more than crunch it." The mare said with a wink and a playful demeanor as she looked over her tools.

Everything in order.

Everything clean.

Lovely.

Humming as everything was put back in its place, she turned back to the pink earth pony and a small jar full of multicolored baubles on sticks witch floated by the minty unicorn until the top was delicately unscrewed and one as pink as the patient flew over the the sugar filled filly.

"Here, you can try practicing on one of these sugar free lollipops."

[Tempest Rime]

(OOC: Oops, I totally lost track of this thread for a while there.)

Pinkie picked a random lollipop from the jar and popped it into her mouth, lodging it into the corner of her mouth so she could still speak almost normally. "Thanks a bunch. I'll be sure to keep your advice in mind." The slightly off taste of that weird sugar-free sweetener stuff mixed with the lingering taste of blood in her mouth from the still-healing cut, but Pinkie had eaten much worse, so she ignored the taste without difficulty.

"Well... um..." She paused, searching for something she could say to solidify a friendship with the dentist. She had already exhausted her favorite subjects, however, and she was already looking forward to eating without that nagging pain.

"I guess I'll see you around then. Bye." She pranced out, happy simply to be painlessly sucking on the lollipop as she wandered off.

(Exit)

[Blue Moon]

Vanilla Latte, or simply the Mayor, hesitantly trotted over to look up at the pristine sign outside the office. While she was an older mare that was mature and proper, she never got over her dislike of the dentist. It was something she had feared as a filly because of bad experiences in the past. However, she was overdo for a cleaning and she needed to keep her healthy, sparkling white smile in tip-top shape if she was to keep her public image in an equally good condition.

Taking a small breath to collect her thoughts, she walked into the office curiously and browsed the waiting room to see if there was at least a familiar face before she made her way to the front desk. Taking the pen in her mouth, she signed her name on the sheet at the front before starting over to a window so she could take her mind off the appointment. Nothing did that quite like watching other ponies go about their day.

[MudBug]

Watching the pink pony trotting out, the mint colored unicorn couldn't help but smile ever so slightly at the bouncy filly. That'd gone much better than she'd anticipated and as she walked out she'd, yet again, get a rather large shock as her eyes rested on no one but the Mayor of Ponyville herself.

Blinking in faint surprise, she let it pass quick enough. It was a shock to get the Mayor here, but then again, she was one of the finest smiler's in the town and it tickled her to get her in her office.

"Miss Mayor, it's a pleasure to see you! What can I do for you?"

Her mind already began to tick off the possibilities and the method's that would have to be taken just incase it was that particular dental care.

[Blue Moon]

The Mayor jumped a little when she heard the mare address her, sighing softly before smiling. "Oh! Hello there, dear. I was hoping I could get a routine check-up and cleaning." She was, more or less, calm and comfortable, but one could sense she was a bit more tense than she normally was. After all, it was the dentist and, as odd as it seemed, the Mayor's past experiences with other dentists growing up made her queasy, even unsettled at times, when she had her annual check-up. Despite having a pearly white smile, it took a hefty bit of dental work brushing two times a day.

She made sure she had signed in properly before looking to the other pony in hopes of getting her dental check-up that day. "If...you're busy or something, I can come back another time" she insisted, her voice already showing a bit of shakiness and fear when it came to being int that special chair. She gave a big smile in attempt to show she was more than happy to accomodate, but a pony could easily see the slight worry in her facial expression.

[Blue Moon]

(( I hate to be the bearer of poor news, but I've decided to drop the responsibility of playing the Mayor. Unless a new player comes along and would like to take up the role in this thread, odds are that she will not play a major role in the storyline anymore.

I know I didn't really get the chance to keep playing her here, but my summer job and just a general lack of will to keep playing in the threads has gotten to me. Hope to see you ponies around the board! ))