//------------------------------// // Pinkie Pie Part 1: Two Sides of the Scalple // Story: Trauma Team: Equestrian Chronicles // by ThatCanadianDude //------------------------------// “Alright, let’s go over the details of the operation once more before we proceed.”          “Make it quick.”          Dr. Fluttershy gave Pinkie a look of saddened confusion as she placed rubber gloves on their front hooves. “Oh, I’m sorry. Did I say something wrong?”          Pinkamena did not look back. She placed her scalpel behind her ear, like a pencil, and slipped on her gloves. “No, Dr. Kindred, but we have an operation to perform, and time is of the essence.”          “Oh, right.” Dr. Fluttershy cleared her throat as she organized a few loose pieces of equipment. “The affected area is the large intestine. Preliminary scans show only one tumour, though there is a possibility of more the scan didn’t pick up.”          “Do we have reason to believe the tumours are dangerous?”          “Well, no, all tests point to them being benign, but we decided it was best to remove them now so they don’t turn malignant down the road.”          “I see. I’m assuming we’ll be using the Clover Procedure to remove them?”          Dr. Fluttershy nodded. “Find the tumour with the ultrasound, excise it, drain the cytoplasm, then cut it out and place a synthetic membrane in its place. We have the synthetic membranes on standby, and the drain is working fine. I know you’ll do perfectly well, Miss Pinkie.”          “My name is Pinkamena.”          Dr. Fluttershy looked over Pinkamena with a very confused look. “But, um, you told me to... nevermind. We should get started. Remember, the patient’s life is in your hooves.”          Pinkamena nodded slightly, pulling her surgical mask over her face. She walked to the unconscious form on the operating table. “Starting the operation.”         A quiet hush came over the operation room, punctuated by the sounds of the heart monitor. Pinkamena started by opening a small container of antibiotic gel on the surgical tray. She gingerly placed her hoof in it, coating the tip, and used it to draw a line across the patient’s abdomen.          “Beginning incision.” As Pinkamena reached up to grab the scalpel from behind her ear, Dr. Fluttershy averted her eyes. “L-let me know when you’re in...”          “I’m in,” came Pinkamena’s response. Dr. Fluttershy turned back, a look of surprise on her face. The patient was open, and the scalpel had returned to Pinkamena’s ear. “That was very quick of you.” Pinkamena didn’t respond, instead getting to work. “Visual confirmation on the first tumour. Drain.” Fluttershy blinked for a moment before taking a look. “That’s odd. Tumours like that usually don’t form on the outside of orga...”          “Doctor. Drain,” came a rather cold reply. Fluttershy blinked for a moment, a slight shiver going down her spine as she picked up the drain and flicked the switch, causing the suction noise to begin. She handed it to Pinkamena, who quickly went to work. “Draining cytoplasm.” As she worked, Dr. Fluttershy interjected. “Aren’t you somewhat curious as to why a tumour formed on the outside of the organ.”          Without looking up, Pinkamena responded. “It’s not important. Cytoplasm drained. Preparing to extract tumour.” She handed the drain back to Dr. Fluttershy before reaching for the scalpel again.          “M-Ms. Pinkamena, isn’t keeping the scalpel behind your ear somewhat... unsanitary?” Fluttershy nervously inquired. Pinkamena grabbed the anti-biotic gel, dipping the tip in, then rubbing the gel along the cutting implement. “Antibiotic gel. The blade is safe for use.”          “Um, th-that’s good, but..” Fluttershy stuttered out as Pinkamena returned to the tumour. “Wouldn’t it also be unsanitary for you to be putting it behind your ear like that?”          “Tumour is severed from the intestine. Forceps,” Pinkamena responded, slipping the scalpel back behind her ear. Dr. Fluttershy sighed, handing the forceps to Pinkamena before picking up an empty surgical tray. The very second she placed it beside the wound, Pinkamena dropped the excised tumour onto the tray. Without looking up, she continued stating orders. “Synthetic membrane.”          Dr. Fluttershy stood for a moment, a tad stunned once again at Pinkamena’s surgical speed. “Doctor. Synthetic membrane. Now.” This sudden barked order snapped Fluttershy out of her little day-dreamy state, setting down the current tray and procuring the tray on which sat a few strips of synthetic membrane. The minute she had, the forceps flew out in front of her and grabbed one of the strips. She watched as Pinkamena quickly placed it over the wound and brought out the antibiotic gel. A few small applications and the membrane had integrated into the intestine, leaving it looking good as new.          “Tumour extraction complete. Readings?” Dr. Fluttershy looked over at the various monitors. “Hmm... Tumour readings have decreased by half. I think we still have one more itsy bitsy tumour to locate.”          Without missing a beat, Pinkamena held out her hoof, still holding the forceps. “Ultrasound.” Fluttershy quickly did as she was requested, taking the forceps and handing Pinkamena the ultrasound. Pinkamena quickly began a sweep of the intestine, pinging constantly. After a few seconds, she handed back the ultrasound and once again retrieved the scalpel from behind her ear. After another coat of antibiotic gel, she went in and, with one quick swipe, exposed the second tumour before placing the scalpel back behind her ear.          Getting the swing of things, Dr. Fluttershy had already prepped the drain and handed it to Pinkamena. “You know, Ms. Pinkamena, for just being out of school, you are very quick and skilled. I’m actually quite amazed,” Fluttershy said, smiling slightly. Pinkamena did not respond. When the drain had nothing else to suck up, she handed it back to Fluttershy in silence, grabbing the knife behind her ear and quickly excising the new tumour. Placing the scalpel back behind her ear, she reached out and received the forceps from Fluttershy, and within a few seconds, the tumour was out and the synthetic membrane was being affixed.      As Dr. Fluttershy placed the tray holding the membranes back down, she looked over at Pinkamena. She was in the middle of affixing the membrane with antibiotic gel, but Fluttershy’s attention was instead aimed at the scalpel behind her ear. Not knowing why, she reached out to grab it from behind her ear. Before her hoof could even touch the metal, Pinkamena turned her head, a look of piercing anger in her eyes, glaring straight at Dr. Fluttershy. Dr. Fluttershy stopped cold, colour draining from her face. She let out a small scream, before closing her eyes. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” she quietly repeated, over and over.          “Surgery is complete. Suture.”          Dr. Fluttershy opened her eyes to see Pinkamena holding out her hoof as if nothing had happened. Dr. Fluttershy quickly grabbed the suture and handed it to her. With a few quick motions, the wound was closed and Dr. Fluttershy was retrieving the surgical tape as Pinkamena finished up by disinfecting the cut with the antiobiotic gel.          As Pinkamena finished bandaging the wound, she let out a small sigh. “My scalpel’s strikes are true. You shall be bothered no more.”          Dr. Fluttershy didn’t respond.          Fluttershy was washing her hooves in the sink outside the operating room when a cheery voice came from behind her.“Hey! Did I do good?”          Fluttershy turned to see Pinkie standing there, already cleaned up, a smile beaming on her face. If she hadn’t been present, she’d of sworn that the girl behind her hadn’t even been in the operating room.  Disregarding her feelings, Dr. Fluttershy smiled. “You did great. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such skill in the operating room. The patient should make a full recovery.” Pinkie leaped up happily at this revelation. “That’s great! I love it when I can make ponies feel better, cause being sick sucks.” Fluttershy chuckled a little at the young pony’s enthusiasm. Their meeting was cut short by a knock at the door. “I’ll get it!” cried Pinkie enthusiastically. Hopping over to the door, she pulled it open. “Oh. Hi, Ms. Pinkie.” “Hey! Hi, Doctor Twilight! I just finished my first official surgery! Isn’t that neato?” Dr. Twilight Sparkle rolled her eyes slightly. “Yes. Very, um... neato. Pinkie, if you don’t mind, can I speak with Dr. Kindred for a moment?” “Of course! She’s right over here. Hey! Dr. Fluttershy! Dr. Twilight wants to talk to you!” “Please, Ms. Pinkie, you don’t need to yell. She’s right over there,” Twilight interjected, a slightly annoyed glare crossing her face. Dr. Fluttershy stepped over. “Yes, Dr. Sparkle? What do you need?” “Can you come with me for a moment? I have a patient I want you to look at.” Dr. Fluttershy’s eyes shot open. “Oh. Of course. I’ll be right there.” “That’s great. Meet me in my office. The patient will be there as well,” came Dr. Twilight’s reply, and with that, she headed off. Dr. Fluttershy grabbed a few files and was about to head off before stopping to look at Pinkie. She no longer had the scalpel behind her ear, but she had to ask. “Um, excuse me... Ms. Pinkamena?” Pinkie blinked a few times. “Hey, come on, Dr. Fluttershy. I said you could call me Pinkie!” Fluttershy opened her mouth to question that, but stopped. “Um... if you don’t mind me asking, can I ask...” her voice trailed off as her nerve began to waver slightly. “Sure! You can ask me anything! You can ask me my name, Pinkie Pie, but you already know that; you can ask me my favourite colour, which is pink, though I can’t figure out why; you can ask me...” “Why did you keep the scalpel behind your ear?” Fluttershy finally blurted out. Pinkie stopped talking for a moment, a look of stunned silence on her face before an uneasy smile took over.  “Oh! That... It, uh... helps me focus! Yeah, that’s it...” Fluttershy cocked her head slightly. Pinkie’s mouth said one thing, but her nervous, sweaty face said another. “Ms. Pinkie. You lashed out at me when I tried to touch it.” “I was in the zone! I do weird things when I’m in the zone! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you!” Pinkie quickly shouted out. Fluttershy quickly realized she had stepped into something that was bothering Pinkie. “I... I’m sorry, Ms. Pinkie. Forget I said anything. You’re a very good surgeon, and I apologize for bothering you with this.” A small smile came over Fluttershy’s face. “You might just need to work on your bedside manner a little bit,” she chuckled. Pinkie chuckled as well, but it was a very dejected, nervous chuckle. “Well, I shouldn’t keep Dr. Sparkle waiting. You should probably get home and get some sleep so that you’re all rested up for your first real day of work.” “O-ok! See ya later, Dr. Fluttershy!” “Goodbye, Ms. Pinkie. Have a good night’s rest,” Fluttershy said as she left the room. As Pinkie stood alone in the room, she looked over herself. She walked over to the surgical tray, where all the tools sat. Once again, her eyes were drawn to the scalpel. After a moment, she began scrounging through the room until she had a piece of paper and pencil. She quickly scrawled something down. Looking at what she had wrote, she took a deep breath. She closed her eyes. She could hear them screaming again. It gave her goose bumps. She hated the screams. She hated knives. But most of all, she hated... Gritting her teeth, she grabbed the scalpel once again. Her eyes opened slowly. The joy and cheer had drained from them. When these eyes fell upon the paper, they didn’t really react. She reached for the pencil, and wrote a note beneath the one already present. She then looked at the scalpel one more time. Pinkie opened her eyes. The scalpel was back on the tray, where it belonged. She picked up the note. As she read, a small tear welled up in her eye. At the top of the note, written in a swirly, almost childish scrawl was ‘Please don’t scare my friends.’ Written below that, in a much neater, almost strike-like print, where the words ‘Don’t let them get in my way.’