//------------------------------// // To the Tooth // Story: Growing Up with Scales // by Winter Quill //------------------------------// Friendship is Magic: Growing up with Scales By Winter Quill --- To the Tooth --- Spring brought with it many wonderful things, but by far the best was it was warm enough that Twilight could once again enjoy a nice lunch outside. She could curl up under the large tree behind the school for Gifted Unicorns, the new grown leaves giving the sunlight a slightly green tinge. Unlike the fall before, this time she was joined by her friends. Sadly, only Lyra and Minuette could be there, as the rest of her friends were occupied with taking a test on the history of magic. The three of them had already completed it the hour before, so now they could enjoy the sunny afternoon. Twilight was a little sad that she couldn’t share the warm spring day with all her friends, but there would be time for that in the future. For now, the young dragoness sat with her back against the tree, gently rubbing her scales on the bark. Lyra and Minuette were laying on the soft grass next to her. All three of them were holding books in their magic, the remains of their meals spread out in front of them. Lyra groaned, then slammed her face into her book, the impact surprising Twilight enough to make her drop the piece of amber she had been nibbling on. “Sparkler,” Lyra groaned. Minuette looked over the top of her book at the aquamarine unicorn. “Sparkler?” “I couldn’t remember her name during the test!” Lyra’s voice was muffled by her book. “The first pony to study heart songs and the creator of the first spell gems! How could I have forgotten her of all ponies?” Minuette’s book slowly sank to the ground. “I… I answered Gusty.” A blush crossed over her blue cheeks, turning them lightly purple. Twilight held back a smile. Sparkler might not have been Clover the Clever or Starswirl the Bearded, but she still was an important pony to the history of early magic. She couldn’t imagine forgetting her name. Twilight closed her book and reached down to pick up her fallen gem. “It’s okay to miss a question or two. I’m sure you’ll both get high marks.” “Says the dragon with perfect grades all semester.” Lyra said, gently poking Twilight’s scaly leg. “I think you would shed all your scales if you ever missed a question.” “And set fire to your schoolwork,” Minuette added. Twilight rolled her eyes. “My schoolwork is all fireproofed, thank you very much,” she replied with a bit of a smirk. The mares both giggled. “But you would lose your scales?” the aquamarine unicorn asked. “They would be everywhere!” Twilight replied with a laugh, taking a bite of her gem. The moment her fangs closed on it she knew something was wrong. It was harder than the amber she had brought for dessert, a lot harder. It also tasted horrible, bland and bitter without the candy like sweetness of the gem. She bit down harder, feeling the gem start to crack, but at the same time felt a jolt of pain right through her jaw. With a yelp she spat it out, paw pressed against the side of her muzzle. “Twilight?” said both of her friends at the same time. She tried to say something, but she couldn’t form any words, pressing her paw firmly against her cheek. The pain was already fading to a dull ache, but it still hurt. Instead she searched the grass for her gem, finding it just out of reach. Closer to her was the river rock she had bitten into, a fresh crack running across the gray surface. Minuette was on her hooves, moving up closer to Twilight. “Let me see.” She didn’t protest, opening her mouth so her friend could look in. The unicorn’s horn flared with light as she peered into Twilight’s wide jaws. Lyra had come up behind her, looking over Minuette’s head to watch. Minuette shifted her head side to side a few times before pulling back away. “You chipped one of your fangs,” she stated. Twilight couldn’t help but probe at it with the edge of her tongue, resulting in another jolt of pain running down her jaw. “I remember once seeing a potion for fixing teeth,” Lyra said, rubbing her chin with her hoof. “I just have to remember where I saw it,” Minuette seemed to think for a moment before nodding, her mane bouncing across her horn as she did so. “You’re coming home with me tonight. My parents are both dentists, they will know what to do.” Unable to help herself, Twilight poked at the damaged tooth again and winced once more. “Are you sure? I’m not sure my parents would like that.” “I’m sure. They would be happy to help, and Mom treats more than just ponies,” she replied. Twilight chewed on the edge of her lip as she considered the offer. Her family had been going to the same dentist for as long as she could remember, but she didn’t know if the stallion would treat non-ponies, and this wasn’t the right time to find out. If Minuette’s parents knew how to treat her, it made sense to go see them right away instead of waiting. “Okay, I’ll see your parents,” she said, just as the bell rang for the end of the lunch period. The three of them quickly gathered up their books and the remains of their lunches before hurrying back to the school. There were still three more classes before school was out, and she wasn’t going to miss them just because of a little pain in her tooth. * * * In the months since Twilight and Minuette had become friends, the young dragoness had never had the opportunity to visit her friend’s home. She had expected they would be living somewhere near the palace; it never crossed her mind that they lived in the lower wards, down in some of the oldest parts of Canterlot. “We’ll take the back way in,” Minuette said, turning down an alleyway. Twilight followed after her, looking up at the narrow building that her friend lived in. It was an old brick building with a number of cracks and repairs over the years. It looked like every window was at a slightly different angle to each other, and one corner had at one point been raised up to try and keep it level. There were some newer bricks on one side of the building that made the archway of the door while a couple of small openings under the street level had been filled with stones and mortar. There was a dentist office on the ground floor, the familiar sign of a large tooth hanging over the main door. Twilight was no expert on architecture, but she guessed the building was a few centuries old; probably built after the Great Canterlot Earthquake. Around the back of the building was a narrow staircase up to the second floor. The door at the top opened with a quick glow of Minuette’s field right as they reached it. “Mom, Dad, I’m home!” she called out as they walked into a well appointed kitchen. “And I brought Twilight Sparkle!” A moment later, a sky blue earth pony stallion came into the kitchen. He was wearing a white smock and a pair of thick glasses that pinched at his muzzle, and his short pink mane was trimmed close to his neck, keeping it neat and clean. “Your mother is downstairs, but she’ll be up soon,” he said, then his eyes drifted up to Twilight, “Oh, Miss Sparkle! It’s a pleasure to finally get to meet you in the flesh… er scales,” he said, offering out a hoof. Twilight reached out and pressed her closed fist against the proffered hoof. “It’s nice to meet you, erm...“ she paused, allowing his to fill in the name. “Oh, I’m Archwire,” he said with a smile as he pulled his hoof back. “I think I met your parents a few months ago. Twilight Velvet and Night Light, right?” Twilight gave him a smile. “That’s right,” she replied, her tongue brushing up against her cracked tooth, causing her to wince from the jolt of pain. Archwire frowned, taking a step closer to the lavender dragoness. “Are you alright?” “She chipped a tooth,” Minuette explained. Archwire rolled his eyes and glanced to his daughter. “Oh, I see how it is. We only get to meet your friends when they need dental work? Do we embarrass you that much?” “Daaaaad,” the filly said in the way that only a teenager could. He chuckled softly then turned back to Twilight. “Okay, open up. Let me see what happened.” Twilight opened her mouth, leaning slightly forward as she did so. Suddenly her mind jumped to the image of her sneezing and sending a blast of fire right into the stallion’s face, and a moment later she felt a tickle in her nose. She held her breath, trying to calm the growing heat she felt in the back of her throat as Archwire inspected her teeth. “You have a chip on the side of your lower left fang,” he said, stepping away from her. “How often do you brush?” She coughed into her fist, sending out a small puff of purple tinged smoke. “Twice a day, and I floss, too!” she said with a touch of pride. If anything fingers made flossing easier than it had been with magic. “You would be the first who has,” he said with a small laugh. “Let’s get you downstairs so Silver Crown can have a look at that. She should have something to help fix it for you,” he said, motioning for her to follow him as he walked out of the kitchen. They moved through a rather well-furnished front room to a large staircase that went in both directions. “How did you break your tooth?” Archwire asked as they started down. “I tried to eat a stone that I thought was a gem,” she said, but then stopped when saw the  confusion on the stallion’s face. “Dragons eat gems. I dropped the one I was eating and picked up the wrong one by mistake.” Archwire paused halfway down the stairs, turning his head to look back at her. “You eat gems? Does that include diamonds?” he asked, glancing back to his daughter for confirmation, and she responded with a quick nod. “Yeah, but I don’t really like them. They taste like ice,” Twilight said, sticking out her tongue. Archwire’s ears twitched slightly as he cocked his head to the side. “Really,” he said before continuing down. Twilight was sure that there was something on the stallion’s mind, but she wasn’t sure what it could be. She glanced at Minuette, who narrowed her eyes as she watched her father. “Silver Crown! We have a special last minute client,” Archwire called out as they reached the bottom of the stairs. A few moments later a black unicorn mare trotted out of the side room. Much like her husband, she was wearing the familiar white smock of a dentist. There was a clipboard in floating next to her, held in her dark green magic. “What sort of special client?” she asked, her eyes flicking down to look at Twilight. The two of them looked at each other for a few moments before Silver Crownsmiled. “Oh, you must be Minuette’s dragon friend!” A blush formed on Twilight’s face. “I chipped a fang.” she admitted. “Oh? A dragon chipped a fang? Well, come along and we’ll see what needs to be done,” Silver Crown turned and headed back into the office, her silver tail flowing in her wake. A moment later, her husband moved up and quickly whispered something to the mare. The office was like any other dentist office Twilight had seen: A large chair standing in the center of the a small room, equipment hanging from the ceiling, and couple of tables laid out next to the chair. Silver Crown walked around the chair. “Jump on up and we’ll take a look,” she said. Twilight set her bag down and climbed up onto the chair. Laying down on her back, she quickly discovered that it wasn’t exactly comfortable for her. There was a depression in the chair for a pony’s dock, but it was too small for her own tail. She squirmed a little bit, trying to get her thick tail tucked between her legs. It wasn’t very comfortable, but it worked. The two dentists shared a few more quiet words, then Silver Crown pulled a chair over and sat down. “Can you open wide for me?” Twilight opened her mouth as wide as she could, which was far wider than any pony. Her lips pulled back to reveal all of her intimidating teeth, as well as giving every pony a view right down her throat. Silver Crown’s eyebrows rose up into her mane. “Well, that will make it easier,” she said as she pulled a mask over her face. Archwire pulled over a second chair and sat down, a clipboard held in his hoofs and a quill in his mouth. Silver Crown quickly peered into Twilight’s mouth, then picked up a tool in her magic. She used it to check Twilight’s teeth in a number of different places. Every now and then Silver Crown would say something, and Archwire would quickly write it down. Twilight watched all of this out of the corner of her eye, wondering why they were focused on everything but her chipped tooth. Finally, Silver Crown pushed back from the chair. “The good news is, a standard dental potion should be enough to fix the damage.” Twilight couldn’t help but chuckle at that. “I guess Lyra was right.” “I won’t tell her if you don’t,” Minuette replied. The fillies shared a laugh as Silver Crown slightly shook her head. “That’s the good news, but there is bad news as well. You eat diamonds, correct?” Twilight sat up, worried about why both of them had asked her that question. “I can eat diamonds, but I don’t really like them.” The two dentists shared a look before Archwire wrote something down. “If you can eat something as hard as diamonds, then you shouldn’t have chipped your tooth on an everyday rock,” Silver Crown said. “I’m also seeing some bleeding in your gums and possible cracks in two other fangs.” This was the last thing the dragoness had expected to hear. She had always taken good care of her teeth, and never even had a cavity when she was a pony, why would being a dragon change that? “Now, Twilight, be honest,” the mare said. “Other then gems, what do you eat?” That was not what Twilight had thought the next question would be. “Eat? I… well I eat the same as anypony. Other then the gems, of course. Dragons need to eat gems.” “So just fruits and vegetables?” Archwire asked, putting his clipboard aside so he could walk over and start rummaging through one of the cupboards. Twilight nodded. “Do hayburgers and fries count?” “Yes, they do,” Silver Crown replied. “I think you’re missing something important in your diet, and you’re doing damage to your teeth and gums without it. It’s the same way minotaur’s develop scurvy if they don’t get vitamin C.” Her eyes went wide and she sat up on the chair. “I have dragon scurvy?!” “It’s possible.”Silver Crown said as Archwire pulled out a green potion bottle from the cupboard. Silver Crown took it and floated it over to Twilight. Twilight’s eyes flicked between the two adults. “But I eat lots of fruit! Especially oranges!” she protested. “It’s not fruit that’s missing from your diet, dear,” Silver Crown replied. “Then what do I need to eat?” Silver Crown sighed and shook her head. “Twilight, I don’t know for certain what dragons are supposed to eat, but your teeth say you’re an omnivore, and that means meat. You probably don’t need it all the time if you’re just now having issues, but I’d guess a couple times a week at the least.” Twilight’s eyes went wide. Meat? She was supposed to eat meat? She knew some of the fancy restaurants her parents went to had meat, and she had gotten to eat some fish years before when they visited Las Pegasus, but having it as a regular part of her diet, could that be right? Of course it wasn’t as if she knew everything there was about being a dragon. There were so few books on them, so she had to learn everything on her own. Most ponies had never even met a dragon before, so they only knew what they had read in fiction. The only pony who had any really experience with her kind was Princess Celestia. Silver Crown held the bottle in her magic, the potion inside starting to glow a soft green. “Eat a big dinner, then drink this before bed. It will repair the chip on your fang and the cracks I saw. You’re mouth will taste horrible when you wake up in the morning, but that’s normal.” Twilight took the bottle. “Thank you.” Archwire took a paper off his clipboard, quickly folding it with his hooves and offering it to Twilight. “And take this to you parents. It will tell them what we found.” She took it from him, holding it in her other hand. She looked down at it, not sure what her parents would say when she told them that she might have to start eating meat. She just hoped that fish would be enough for her health, fish was easy enough to get in Canterlot, but the other kinds of meat were less so. Twilight slid off the chair, picking up her bag and putting the potion and the note inside it. “I will make sure they get it.” Both of the adults smiled. “We’re happy to help any of Minnie’s friends when they have an emergency,” Silver Crown said, mussing Minuette’s mane with her hoof. The filly had been standing at the door to the office, watching everything that had happened. She pushed the hoof a way and shot her mother a dirty look, but didn’t say anything. “We would like to see you again in a few months so we can see how your teeth are doing,” Archwire added. Twilight returned the smile. “I’ll ask my parents,” she told them, but sure that her parents wouldn’t mind. The stallion then ushered her and Minuette out of the office and back upstairs, but she only stayed a little bit longer before she left for home. It felt weird walking back through the streets of Canterlot, climbing up through the city to the upper wards and the palace. She felt different, but she couldn’t put words to how she was different. Nothing was different about her, she was still the same dragoness she had been for the last nine months. Changing her diet didn’t change who she was! She couldn’t help but wonder how much meat she should be eating. Was it at every meal, or she have a little bit once or twice a week? It was frustrating being the only dragon in Canterlot. Princess Celestia was her second best choice, but even she had admitted she didn’t know much about dragons. It was hard to find the answers when you didn’t even know what questions to ask. She couldn’t help wondering what other surprises her new species would have in store for her.