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// C14 - An Awkward Surgery 
// Story: Trapped In Canterlot 
// by TartarusFire 
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"The two of you, guard the scene." Two thestrals floated over and perched on a few building tops, keeping an eye on the area.
 
"You holding the filly: take her to the castle ward for immediate treatment, and no don’t remove the knife. I have no idea what it pierced." He flew off.
 
"As for me, damage control and report." The captain noted some details and pulled a tiny notepad out of a hidden compartment on his breastplate which contained a small pencil in its binding.
 
Surveying the scene would take only a matter of minutes for an experienced commander whereas tracing the path of the involved ponies would take hours to consider the possible events and circumstances.
 
 
 
***
 
 
 
Practically falling over, the threstral skidded into the medical bay of the castle. Thankfully the entrance was large so he didn’t have to worry about crashing from such a steep angle of entry.
 
"Medic—" he reconsidered, since he was already in what amounted to a hospital "—Doctor! We’ve got a stab patient here that needs urgent attention!"
 
A brown earth pony was attending to two other ponies, but had dropped everything considering they were going to live if not live with a few bruises. "Alright! Bring her to the table-counter thingy." He motioned to the slab of sanitized metal covered with paper. "’Never been good with names of objects. Put her down here. Nurse! We’ve got another!" He ducked down and gathered surgical instruments from drawers: a scalpel, surgical thread, a needle, and some wipes.
 
Prepping by laying the tools out in a useful order, he asked the guard what he could tell him about the situation.
 
Being shooed back a few steps he began, "We were directed to her by her screaming. She was being levitated while also having this.. rather massive knife being shoved into her. After yelling at the suspect, she threw her at random, and I managed to catch her like this." He held his hooves out while balancing on his hooves. "I tried not moving her and flew back here on orders not to remove the knife."
 
He worked through the story, slowly removing the knife to cause minimal damage. The wound appeared to be deep and almost fatal, as after it had sliced the edge of her lung, it was probably only centimeters away from her heart.
 
"So," he made small talk while threading the needle, "She was stabbed, and then thrown, causing this to move around quite a bit." He knocked the knife a bit, causing a tinny sound. He started cleaning the wound as a nurse came to help out with magic, sewing the sliced tissue back together. "And then you caught her, making the blade sink deeper and do even more damage. Great job." He would’ve been less sarcastic, but really; that guard should’ve thought of that.
 
He seemed off put. "Well sorry! I only had seconds or less to react, or she would’ve most certainly have died!"
 
Caedes had stopped breathing halfway through the rant. "We’re losing her! I had expected this, but start casting some magic to keep her heart working, and I’ll get her to start breathing again!" He opened her muzzle, and breathed in, then carefully pressing on the opposite side of her back, so she wouldn’t have to be flipped over. Repeating the process, the nurse nodded, and Caedes had stabilized.
 
The guard was nervously silent. The brown doctor opened the conversation back up. "Look, I didn’t say you did your job incorrectly or unwell. I’m just making a point."
 
"A point?! She could’ve just died, and you’re making a point?"
 
He was finished cleaning, and the cut was almost finished being treated by the nurse. "Yes. I’m only saying that it could have ended better—" He walked off, leaving the guard speechless momentarily. The gauzes had been left by Deepsky and Evershade. "Back. It could’ve ended better, but I prefer to minimize damage, since I am a doctor after all." He unrolled a bit and started wrapping Caedes’s barrel.
 
He was still angry but also amused at the doctor’s attitude. "Really? That’s it. I thought this was going to be for some deep reason or something. What with all the small talk and all."
 
"Not as deep as this cut."
 
Silence.
 
"Seriously? That pun.. Lookee there!" He pointed at the nurse cringing, stitching one last knot on Caedes’s wound. "See, even she thought that was bad. Also.." He stared at the doctor while he finished wrapping gauze around Caedes. "How come I haven’t seen you before? Where’s Doctor Laceration?"
 
"Oh," he looked up from his work momentarily. "I was just passing though." He opened a drawer with a hoof and placed the roll of gauzes in. "I’m just here because some pony thought he’d get drunk today, and well. You can’t have a drunk doctor working." The drawer clicked closed. "And here I am. That should answer both your questions."
 
"Hmm. Okay." He turned to leave. "So what’s your name then?"
 
"Oh me?" He fixed an invisible bowtie, "I’m The Doctor of course."
 
"’Night then. Or actually morning now—just a couple of hours ‘til sunrise." He flew off, trying to figure out what happened to Dr. Laceration.
 
"Wait.. both questions?" His wings fumbled in the air. "He’s drunk himself into a stupor... again."
 
 
 
***
 
 
 
The Doctor walked back over to his two current patients, carrying the unnamed filly. Placing her on a bed in the ward, he trotted back out and came back in with a blood bag on a rolling stand. Affixing a tube into the back and then feeding an intravenous needle into her hoof, he pulled the sheet over her. Metal tables do not make for warm surfaces after all.
 
"Probably should’ve gotten the blood sooner," he murmured in hindsight, "Makes the surgery safer." He was still satisfied though, saving a pony’s life would do wonders for acute depression.
 
"Now then, you two," The guards picked themselves up from their slouches, "You there, on the left—"
 
"Evershade, sir."
 
"—Right, anyway, you won’t be walking too soon. The cut you received separated both parts of your tendon nearly completely. Thankfully, I was able to piece it back together, where it’ll heal. I’ll put a split on it in a moment. And you on the right—"
 
"Deepsky."
 
"—I swear I was going to actually remember your name this time!" He chuckled sheepishly. "Well, I have bad news. Your wing joint, if I remember my anatomy correct, is supposed to be wrapped in muscle and tissue. Your’s however, has a rather large piece missing, since I had to remove some in order to close the wound properly. I’m afraid I have no estimate how long you’ll be grounded, but it’ll probably be something more than a year. "
 
Deepsky grimaced. Besides the burning pain in his muscles, he was now the equivalent to a middle weight earth pony. "Dang. Existential crisis much."
 
Evershade nodded slightly. "I bet that sucks, but then again, I have to fly everywhere now, soooo..."
 
"Yes well, you two won’t be going anywhere for the next couple of days, so get comfortable."
 
The guards scooched backwards onto their beds, getting ready to sleep through the day to keep up with their scheduled work hours.
 
The rustling was interrupted by a squeak and a pillow being hugged in a tiny pony’s sleep.
 
"That was cute." The Doctor and Evershade hummed in agreement.