//------------------------------// // Paging Doctor Rarity // Story: Surviving Sand Island // by The 24th Pegasus //------------------------------// Rarity’s head was abuzz with a whirling maelstrom of thoughts and worries. Ever since her and Rainbow had scouted out the tomb with Ratchet, she didn’t know what to think or focus her attentions on. Once more, her and Rainbow were tantalizingly close to getting another figurine and moving one step closer to rescue. Yet once again, some obstacle prevented them from simply walking in and walking out. What they had was at best an idea of how to open the door. But what if it wasn’t controlled by the full moon? What if it was controlled by something else? And, more importantly, what if that meant they had no way of opening the door and getting inside? Those worries kept her occupied until dinner, but they weren’t the only things she fretted about. Where were the pirates? She would’ve expected them to show their faces by now, but not even the morning patrol reported seeing them when they returned. They hadn’t dared venture close to the pirate camp out of fear of a trap or retaliation from the pirates, and nopony was keen on forcing a fight and risking death when they could avoid it. Where they were or what they were up to remained a mystery. And then there was the issue of the supposed curse on the tomb. Why did the pirates think it was cursed? From seeing it herself, she hadn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary, and Ratchet didn’t know why either. Was it just something Squall had made up to keep her crew in line, or did the pirates somehow know something about the tomb that the survivors from the Concordia didn’t? And if on the off chance the tomb really was cursed, then what was the curse and what did it do? For better or for worse, her concerns didn’t seem to be shared by her friends. Gyro had fallen asleep in the sun sometime after midday, and the mare had only started to stir in the past few minutes with the smell of dinner beginning to waft around the camp. Rainbow Dash had tracked down the other three pegasus survivors and was briefing them in a little circle off to the side, occasionally pointing her wing up at the clouds drifting in overhead or drawing things in the dirt. Though the other pegasi seemed a little confused at first with all the weather terminology and directions Rainbow tossed around, they quickly began to pick up on it. Even Champagne, who Rarity quickly noted didn’t speak Equiish as her primary language, started to follow along with the complex terminology. After all, managing the weather was in their blood, whether or not they’d actually done it before. Eventually, Gyro awoke with a sudden snort and a sneeze. Her sneezes lasted for several seconds and her forehooves pawed at the ground as she practically convulsed. Eventually, sniffling, she wiped her nose and looked around in momentary confusion before her eyes settled on Rarity. “Oh. Hey.” “Have a nice nap?” Rarity asked with a little giggle. “You weren’t dreaming about feathers tickling your nose, were you?” “I hate sleeping on the sand,” Gyro said. “It’s so easy to stick your nose in it and accidentally inhale a bunch. Especially for somepony who likes to sleep on their side, like me.” She rubbed off some of the sand caked to the side of her face and looked around. “I didn’t sleep through my surgery, did I?” Rarity shook her head. “We’re just finishing up dinner, then it’s time for your surgery,” she said. “Oh. Good. Then I don’t have too much longer to wait then, right?” Gyro laughed, but it was small and nervous. Rarity couldn’t quite blame her for that; she’d be having a much worse panic attack if she was in Gyro’s position. “You’ll be walking before you know it,” Rarity assured her. “At the very least, it’s a miracle that your back can even be fixed. If it’d been much worse than just a pinched bundle of nerves…” “Yeah, I guess that’s the silver lining and everything.” Gyro groaned rubbed her empty stomach. “So, how was the tomb? Find any spooky curses?” Rarity shook her head. “No curses, but a mystery. We couldn’t figure out how to get in, but Rainbow seems convinced it’s controlled by moonlight. And it’s supposed to be the full moon either tonight or tomorrow, so she figures there must be enough moonlight to open the temple then. But I don’t know why the pirates would think it’s cursed, and that bothers me.” Gyro shrugged. “Well, if you unleash some horrible plague or something upon these islands, maybe even some ancient elder being that wants to consume the world, at least it was an accident, right?” The seamstress groaned and rolled her eyes. “Hardly a comforting thought when some horrid eldritch being of some sort is feasting upon my soul for dinner.” “At least I could go down saying I got eaten out one last time.” Rarity merely sighed and let her shoulders sag. “Sometimes I wish I could just stitch your mouth shut. You are just too much, darling.” “Good, then that means I’m doing my job.” Gyro’s ears perked when she saw a stallion walking towards them, and she managed to push her upper body upright on her hooves. “Hey, doc. Is it time?” Doctor Gauze nodded to her. “You haven’t eaten anything, right?” “Ask my stomach,” Gyro said, and almost on cue, her stomach growled and grumbled rather loudly. “Good.” He turned to Rarity. “Come with me, then. Let’s get her set up and we can get started.” “Right.” Rarity stood up and craned her neck around, searching for a blue pegasus. When she did, she tugged on Rainbow’s ear with her magic from afar. “Come now, Rainbow, darling, it’s time for Gyro’s surgery.” Rainbow nodded and fluttered over after saying quick goodbyes to the pegasi she’d been talking with. “Cool. Hopefully this won’t take too long, right? I just finished briefing the other pegasi, and we’re gonna want to hit the temple as soon as we finish here.” “It shouldn’t take us longer than two hours,” Doctor Gauze said. “But we will have to work carefully. We don’t want to inflict any additional damage to Gyro’s spine.” After they helped Gyro to her hooves, they trotted over to the doctor’s hut, where Gauze had laid out a rough operating table for his patient. Once Gyro finally wheeled her way inside, he gestured to the table. “Remove your walker and we’ll get you placed on the table. I think it goes without saying that you need to lie on your stomach.” Instead of cracking a witty remark, Gyro only swallowed hard and nodded. With the help of her friends, she soon shed the walker and crawled onto the table. Her light blue eyes worriedly looked around the room, and she shivered when Gauze pulled a series of cutting tools out of his doctor’s bag and started arranging them within easy reach of the table. “So, you promise this isn’t going to hurt, right?” “You won’t be able to feel a thing,” Gauze assured her. “But you won’t be able to move once I paralyze your body. You’ll only be able to move your head and neck.” He put his hoof on Gyro’s shoulder and lowered his voice a note in what Rarity assumed was the closest he could come to a sympathetic tone. “I would strongly urge you to not look behind you and see what’s happening. It will look a lot worse than it actually is, and you don’t need that stress and worry in your life. Fear and adrenaline will only make it harder for me to maintain the paralysis and the numbing spell, and we do not want either of those to fail.” Gyro shakily nodded and turned her eyes to Rainbow, who found a seat in front of her. “Don’t worry, G, you can just talk to me. I’ll keep you distracted.” “Thanks, Rainbow,” Gyro said. “That means a lot to me.” Dr. Gauze took some charcoal Rarity supposed he must have scavenged from the fire and began drawing lines on Gyro’s back. The dark black charcoal lines were difficult to see against Gyro’s gray coat, but he applied them liberally until they stood out. “This is where you’ll have to cut,” he said to Rarity, pointing to the lines. “When I tell you to, you’ll have to slice through here until we have an opening to work on her back. After that, follow my instructions.” Rarity swallowed hard and grabbed a scalpel. “Right,” she said, nervously twirling it in midair. “Just like cutting patterns for dresses. It shouldn’t be too hard, right?” “So long as you only cut where I tell you to and only touch the things I say you can,” the doctor responded. After a moment of chewing on his lip, he shot Rarity a look of mild concern. “I suppose I should have asked earlier if the sight of blood makes you squeamish.” Rarity’s tongue started to turn to cotton. “I… uh… it won’t be too much blood, will it?” Gauze blinked and stared at her for several seconds. “…No.” “That’s not true at all, is it?” Rarity muttered under her breath. “Less than you think, but more than you’d expect,” Gauze said. “We will have to work quickly and avoid cutting any arteries.” Then, turning to Gyro, he touched her shoulder. “Are you ready?” Gyro took a deep breath and nodded. “Good.” Gauze’s horn flared to life, and Gyro gasped as her limbs locked in place. “That’s just the paralysis spell. It’s uncomfortable, but don’t fight it.” “O… Okay,” the engineer wheezed. “It feels like I’m caked in cement.” “Then it’s working.” Next, Gauze’s horn shifted colors slightly, and a glow started to spread across Gyro’s back. He turned his attention to Rarity. “Poke her with the scalpel near the operating area, will you? Hard.” Rarity nodded and did as she was told. While she jabbed once at Gyro’s flesh, Gauze carefully watched the engineer for any signs of a reaction. “Can you feel that? I need to know if you feel anything, even just the slightest bit. Otherwise, you’ll really feel it when we start cutting.” Once more, Gyro swallowed hard and shook her head. “No,” she said. “I can’t feel anything.” “Good.” Lastly, Gauze let his eyes fall on Rainbow, who watched the whole thing with mild worry. “Talk to her,” he said. “Keep her occupied. And it’s probably for the best if you don’t watch either.” Rainbow nodded and scooted a little closer to Gyro. “So, uh, anything you want to talk about?” “I can talk about anything,” Gyro grunted back. “Tell me about the Wonderbolts or something.” Rarity faintly smiled as she saw Rainbow’s eyes light up. She knew the pegasus would never run out of material to keep the engineer occupied with. When her eyes wandered back to the doctor, she found Gauze staring at her. “Now,” he said, “make the first cut. I’ll walk you through it, step by step.” Swallowing hard, Rarity readied her knife and lowered it to Gyro’s skin. “Here goes nothing,” she murmured to herself, and the blade pierced flesh.