Trauma Center: Equestrian Opinion

by Legion222

Chapter Eleven: Killing with Kindness

Trauma Center: Equestrian Opinion
Chapter Eleven: Killing with Kindness

Location: Ponyville Medical

“-nothing more strenuous than walking for at least a week, and you’ll have to rest often,” Doctor Styles recited clearly, reading through a mental checklist. “Stop by the receptionist’s desk on your way out to set up a follow-up appointment sometime between two weeks and a month from now, and you should be good to go.”

“Thank you so much, Doctor,” the wheelchair-bound Unicorn said with tears in his eyes. “I’ve been living with that pain for so long, and it’s finally gone.”

“I’m just glad we were able to fix it before it got any worse,” Direct said modestly. Nodding to the nurse standing behind his former patient, he waved goodbye as the nurse pushed the wheelchair out of his office. He heaved a sigh as the door shut behind them, rubbing his eyes and glancing at the clock. It was somewhere between late afternoon and early evening, and with his last patient rolling his way home, Direct was ready to call it a day. Unfortunately, he still had paperwork to fill out before he could.

Sighing again, he pulled the folder off of the top of the small stack of paperwork on his desk and got out a quill and ink. He paused, however, when he noticed the plain white envelope that had been sitting underneath the folder. It bore no markings that would indicate its sender or intended recipient, and curiosity led him to set aside his paperwork for the time being. Taking the envelope in his magic, he carefully broke the simple wax seal and removed the small piece of paper that laid within. It seemed to be a short letter, though it was not addressed to anypony. His curiosity changed to confusion, then to worry as he read.

What use have the peaceful for swords and spears? Yet for all of their divine benevolence, it is ponykind that is most feared among the world’s peoples, for their quiet smiles hide razor daggers and eternal chains.

“What the hay..?” he muttered to himself, turning the page over, looking for more. The short message hadn’t made any sense, but it had left him with a strange sense of foreboding. Before he could contemplate the letter any further, however, he heard the distinctive sound of somepony running down the hallway, followed closely by his office door flying open with a bang.

“Direct!” Angel stood in the doorway, looking disheveled after having run all the way there. “Doctor Stables needs you in the E.R., stat!”

The doctor knew that the head surgeon wouldn’t be asking for him without a good reason, so he began moving without a second thought, following his assistant back down the hallway at a near-gallop. Along the way, she explained that Doctor Stables had called for him specifically to help with an emergency patient that had just arrived.

“I didn’t get to hear much before he sent me to get you, but it sounded like she was in critical condition,” Angel added as they approached the Emergency Room in question. “I guess Doctor Stables thought it might be a good idea to have you and your ability at the ready.” After Direct’s meeting with the Director a few days prior, Doctor Stables and Angel had both been given the details of his Healing Touch, though it still remained a secret from the staff in general.

They quickly found the room, where they were greeted by Doctor Stables in his surgical scrubs. “You’re just in time,” he remarked, pointing them towards the changing rooms. “You two get ready as fast as you can. I’m going to start the operation.”

---

It was only a few minutes later when Doctor Styles emerged from the changing room, now sporting his own scrubs. The Emergency Room was set up much like the Operating Rooms he’d used before, but much larger with enough empty space and even spare machines to support a second patient at the same time. Doctor Styles approached the brown stallion at the operating table, who nodded to him before refocusing on his patient, a yellow Pegasus mare with a pink mane that covered most of her face. Doctor Stables had already performed an entry incision that revealed a hefty amount of internal bleeding centered over the mare’s right lung.

“Any idea where this is all coming from?” Direct asked, unable to see much through all the blood. Heavy bleeding usually implied injuries, but there hadn’t been so much as a mark on her body, nor did there seem to be any of the damage that would be expected from blunt force trauma.

“As improbable as it seems, she’s actually sporting a number of internal lacerations.” Doctor Stables shook his head in disbelief. After all, one did not simply get a cut on the inside of their body. “I’ve been patching them up, but there’s a lot of bleeding.” As he spoke, he accepted a drain from the nurse that was assisting him, using it to drain as much of the blood as he could. With the obscuring fluid out of the way, Direct could easily see a number of lacerations covering the surface of the lung, with even more already sutured shut. They were placed seemingly randomly across the upper half of the lung, some intersecting or nearly overlapping.

“But what could have caused them?” Angel asked from beside Direct, who jumped slightly in surprise, having not noticed her approach.

“Not a clue yet,” Doctor Stables said with a shake of his head. “But they do look very recent. She can’t have had any of these for more than an hour.” His brow furrowed in contemplation. “It’s certainly odd, but for now all we can do is patch this up and hope that when she wakes up she can tell us something.”

The operation proceeded smoothly, Doctor Stables suturing the lacerations with little trouble. It took a while to finish up due to the sheer number of them, but once the last suture was completed everypony was quite happy to call the operation a success.

“Glad we didn’t end up needing you after all, Direct,” Doctor Stables remarked as he finished bandaging up the incision. “Still, since you’re here, would you mind going out to the waiting room?” Gesturing to the unconscious patient, he continued, “She’s got a few friends out there who I’m sure would like to hear that she’s okay. I’ll finish things up here and come get you once she’s set up in Recovery.”

“Sure,” he replied simply, turning towards the door. “Come on, Angel. Let’s go.”

---

The E.R.’s waiting area was simple, if fairly comfortable compared to the rest of the hospital. For those waiting to hear about a friend or loved one, however, the couches and chairs may as well have been cold, hard stone for all the comfort they provided. Upon entering the room, Direct noted five mares in the room, who had all looked up the moment the door opened.

On one couch, Direct was only slightly surprised to see Pinkie Pie sitting next to a white Unicorn with a coiffed purple mane and tail who seemed to have been crying, based on her puffy red eyes and tear-stained cheeks. Nearby was a purple Unicorn whose purple mane had a magenta stripe through it. She had been poring over a large book, with a stack of similarly-sized tomes on either side of her. Sitting in the far corner, Direct spied a familiar-looking orange mare wearing a Stetson, who had been watching a blue Pegasus with a rainbow mane as she paced around the room impatiently.

He took in all of this over a few silent seconds before the room exploded with motion. Everypony jumped up and ran over to where he and Angel stood in the doorway, with the blue Pegasus actually flying across the twenty-foot gap between them and nearly tackling him before coming to a sudden stop inches from his face. His eardrums ached at the sudden chorus of “What happened to Fluttershy?” “Is Fluttershy okay?” “Can we see her now?”

By the time Direct recovered from the mares’ question barrage, he was glad to see that Angel had taken over. “Your friend is alright now. We’ve taken care of the problem, and you can go see her in a little while.” At her words, the group of mares relaxed slightly, backing away and letting the two of them properly enter the room.

After a moment, the white Unicorn spoke up, her voice a bit stuffy as she spoke through recent tears. “Please, can you tell us whatever happened to dear Fluttershy? One moment she was completely fine, and the next…” She was interrupted by a sniffle, and the others looked at her with compassion.

“Rarity was the only one there when Fluttershy collapsed,” The purple Unicorn explained, seeing that her friend wasn’t about to continue.

Rarity nodded with a sniff. “We were just getting tea together after our weekly spa trip. The waitress was quite rude and at first I thought she’d just been frightened; she’s such a dainty mare, you know. But then I saw the way she was clutching her chest…” Rarity trailed off sadly. “I just can’t imagine what the poor dear was going through.”

The purple Unicorn once again jumped on the silence. “So what was it? I’ve been looking through every book on diseases the Library has,” she gestured to the two large stacks of books, “but everything I’ve read indicates that there should have been some kind of sign long before it got this bad.”

Direct glanced nervously at Angel. Should they tell them that they had no clue what had happened? “Well, the thing is…” Direct started nervously.

Without warning, Pinkie began a short series of twitches, leaving everypony present waiting for her explanation. Well, everypony except Angel, who had no idea what was going on, having not yet seen the Pinkie Sense in action.

“Woah,” Pinkie remarked after a moment. “Never had that combination before.”

“A new combination?” the purple Unicorn asked with a strange combination of excitement and exasperation. “Do you know what it means?”

“Hush, Twilight. Pinkie’s on the case!” Following that exclamation, Pinkie sat silently for several moments with a hoof planted under her chin, eyes staring off into space as she thought. “I got it!” she exclaimed, bouncing up and pointing at the door behind Direct and Angel that led back into the hallway for the E.R. and Recovery rooms. “Something important is going to come through that door!”

“What are they talking about..?” Angel mumbled just loudly enough for Direct to hear. He could guess what this had to be like for her; he’d been in her situation once himself, and he knew from experience that the first time dealing with each of Pinkie’s many quirks was always strange.

“Just go along with it,” he muttered back, turning to face the door Pinkie had indicated. Considering what had happened the last time Pinkie’s Sense had given him a warning, he was prepared to do whatever Pinkie said.

After a moment, Angel followed suit, staring blankly at the door they had come through earlier. A few seconds later, the door burst open, a panicked-looking nurse nearly crashing into them as she ran into the room. “Doctor Styles! Nurse Temperament!” she exclaimed. “Hurry! You’re needed back in the E.R.!”

“What happened?” Direct asked, sparing a glance back at the worried-looking mares behind him. “Did the patient’s condition change?”

The nurse nodded emphatically. “Vitals and blood pressure are dropping quickly. We’re going to perform another operation, and Doctor Stables wants you two to perform it this time.”

Angel and Direct shared a worried but determined glance, then took off back down the hallway to prepare for surgery, leaving five very confused and worried mares behind.

---

By the time Direct and Angel had arrived and prepped for the operation, the yellow mare was back on the operating table, her bandages removed and the old entry incision laid bare. Doctor Stables stood behind the table, clad in a fresh set of scrubs. “Are you two ready?” he asked as they approached. Receiving a pair of nods in response, he gestured to the patient. “Her blood pressure and vitals started dropping while we were getting her set up in Recovery. I’m worried that some of the stitches may have come undone. I’m sure you both know the procedure, so let’s get started.”

Taking their places at the table, Doctor Styles and Nurse Temperament got right to work, reopening the incision from earlier. Blood covered the area again, so they started off with the drain. Once they had a clear view of the patient’s right lung, everypony’s jaws dropped. Every single laceration from before was still sutured shut. Instead, a number of new lacerations had opened up on the lower half of the lung. “How is that even possible?” Angel asked in amazement. It hadn’t even been half an hour since they’d closed her up the first time, yet she’d once again received seemingly-impossible internal lacerations.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Doctor Stables mumbled. “Keep your eyes peeled for anything odd, but for now all we can do is proceed with the operation.”

Taking the enchanted sutures in his magic, Doctor Styles did just that, beginning the process of sewing up the many wounds, occasionally draining blood to clear up his view or injecting stabilizer to keep the patient's vitals from dropping too low. Things went smoothly from there, but Direct, much like everypony else in the room, couldn’t help but be worried. They were completely in the dark about the cause of all of this.

The number of open wounds steadily shrank as the operation went on, and before too long, Direct was finishing up the last one. “That’s all of them,” Angel affirmed, her eyes trained on the vitals meter, which had stopped ticking down as the last of the lacerations was dealt with. “It looks like the operation was a success.” She spoke the words, but with no real conviction.

“Indeed,” Doctor Stables monotoned. The two doctors and one nurse shared looks of uncertainty; they all had the same sinking feeling that they hadn’t fixed the problem any more than they had with the first operation. Doctor Stables gave a defeated sigh. “I suppose we should-”

The doctor cut himself off as, before their very eyes, a new laceration tore itself open on the mare’s right lung, just above the ones they’d just been working on.

“What the hay!?” A stretching silence was broken by Direct’s shout as another new laceration opened up, shaking the doctors and nurse out of their stupor.

“What’s going on here?” Doctor Stables asked incredulously as a third laceration opened right in front of them.

"Doctor Styles!" Angel exclaimed, taking charge as an idea came to mind. "Try using the ultrasound spell to find whatever's doing this!

"Great idea, Angel," the Unicorn replied, charging up his horn. He pinged the area near the newest laceration, and immediately spotted a strange shadow moving through the organ. "Scalpel!" he shouted, thinking quickly. He pinged again in the direction the shadow had been moving and smirked as the spell hit it dead on. Taking the requested instrument it his magic, he brought it down right in front of the shadow, slicing through the lung and forcing the shadow to the surface.

The thing that he'd cut out was clearly alive, but beyond that none of them had any clue what it was. Its dark blue body was almost serpentine, sporting what could only be called bat wings on either side just behind its pointed head, with a short tail sticking out in the other direction. As soon as it emerged from within the lung, the creature gave a mighty flap of its wings, and flew across the surface of the lung, opening another new laceration in its wake. It came to a sudden stop after several inches, its wings flapping again as it rose up and changed direction, flying just above the surface in a slow, lazy arc.

"What is that thing?" Angel asked in mild disgust. The almost inch-long creature was grossly fascinating, and it took a moment for the three medical professionals to shake off their stupors.

"It looks like some kind of parasite," Doctor Stables remarked slowly, watching the creature fly in apparently random directions across the lung, "but it's unlike any I've ever seen."

"Whatever it is," Direct said with determination, "it's what's responsible for the patient's condition." As if to punctuate his point, the creature dove down to the surface of the lung and, with a powerful flap of its wings, tore another laceration across the heavily-damaged organ.

"Right," Angel responded thoughtfully. "Perhaps we should try to extract it alive? If it's a brand-new parasite..."

"We can try, but remember; our duty, first and foremost, is to save this patient," Doctor Stables admonished.

"Yes, sir." Direct assured, taking a pair of forceps from Angel. He carefully tracked the parasite's motion for a silent moment, then quickly drove the forceps downward. His aim was true, but at the last moment the parasite's wings snapped sideways, sending it into an aileron roll that expertly dodged the falling forceps and allowed it to leave another small laceration on the lung as it flew away safely.

"It's like it saw it coming," Doctor Stables mused as Direct tried again, with similar results.

"I don't think this is going to work," Direct grumbled in frustration as the parasite flew a tight circle around where he'd made his latest attempt. If I didn't know better, I'd think it was mocking me.

Angel nodded in resignation. "Since extraction of a living specimen seems counterproductive, we’ll have to just kill it. Maybe the laser?"

"It's worth a shot," Direct agreed. Taking the laser focus in his magic, he pointed it at the parasite. He channeled magic into the focus’s crystal for a moment before it came to life with a blue beam of energy directed right at the dark blue creature. Unable to dodge, it instead fell cleanly bisected to the surface of the lung, its own motion sending it straight through the laser. Surprised, Direct shut off the beam immediately.

“Well, that worked," Angel noted.

Doctor Stables nodded. “The parasite seems to have some kind of weakness to the high-energy beam. I’ll have to include a note with the sample.” Doctor Stables walked over to a small drawer and pulled out a petri dish, bringing it back to the table with him. Opening it up, he gestured at the dead parasite. “Direct, if you please.”

Direct shook off his surprise and took up the forceps, extracting the two cauterized halves of the parasite and setting them in the dish. “Glad that’s taken care of,” he said, relaxing a bit as Doctor Stables sealed up the dish and set it aside. Turning back to the operating table, Direct eyed the new myriad of wounds his patient had collected during their confrontation with the parasite. “Now, let’s finish up here. Sutures.” Taking the offered implement in his magic, he once again began the process of suturing lacerations.

Thankfully, there weren’t nearly as many this time, and a few were small enough to be sealed up with just a dab of Antibiotic Gel. In only a few minutes’ time, he was moving to the last of the lacerations, victorious, if tired, grins present on everypony’s faces.

Right up until a new pair of red lines appeared, one of them slicing right through the sutures tying a different laceration closed.

“More of them!?” Direct’s tone was some combination of incredulous and angry.

“It just couldn’t be that easy, could it?” Angel shook her head in exasperation.

Setting aside their feelings after a moment, the two got right to work, Direct pinging the lung with an ultrasound spell while Angel prepared a scalpel and the laser. Before long, Direct locked onto one of the parasite’s shadows with his spell, and quickly cut it out with the scalpel. Like the first one had, this parasite also dove down to create a new laceration as it was brought to the surface. Almost immediately after it did so, the other one did the same from within the organ, giving Direct an easy target to lock onto, and the second parasite was soon joined on the lung’s surface by the third. With both parasites out in the open, Direct took the laser focus from Angel.

The beam of concentrated magic bore straight through one parasite, and it tumbled gracelessly to the surface. The other followed shortly, its head and wing severed as it tried vainly to avoid the laser. Once again Direct had to marvel at the tool's efficiency in dealing with the parasites as he retrieved their remains with the forceps and deposited them in another petri dish.

"Hopefully there's enough here for the lab techs to get some answers," Doctor Stables said as he sealed up the second dish, placing it next to the first. Meanwhile, Direct was once again closing up lacerations, noting that their supply of suture thread was starting to run low.

"How much you want to bet there's another one?" Angel half-joked as the enchanted suture needle tied up the last laceration.

Direct grimaced. "I don't even want to think-" he cut himself off as three more lacerations appeared in quick succession, forming an asterisk in the center of the lung. "You just had to say it, didn’t you?" Direct sighed.

"Three this time?" Angel wondered, ignoring Direct’s remark. "I wonder why they didn't all come out at once instead..." Angel shook her head, shelving her curiosity for the moment. "At least we already know the drill. Let's take care of them!"

"Found one!" Direct called out moments later, only to blink in confusion. There was something a bit off about that shadow he'd caught the edge of. "At least I think so." Taking the scalpel in his magic, he pinged again where he thought it would be, but there was nothing. "I could have sworn..." Squinting, Direct pinged around for a few moments before another laceration appeared well away from where he'd been looking, causing him to change focus. He picked up a strangely large shadow almost immediately, and wasted no time in cutting it out.

"What the!?" What appeared on the surface was different than the parasites they'd dealt with so far. While the others had been dark blue and only about an inch long, this one was light blue and nearly three times the size. "Why is it so big?" was all Angel could think to say as the parasite dove down, creating yet another laceration.

"This one must be older than the others," Doctor Stables speculated. "Matured, if you will. Be careful; it may be much stronger than the others."

"With any luck, our treatment should still work," Direct added hopefully. "Let's give it a shot." Taking the laser focus again, he aimed it at the large parasite and activated the beam.

The effect was immediate, but not nearly as drastic as it had been on the others. The parasite jerked away from the beam, carving a crooked line of black, dead tissue along its back before it escaped. Before Direct could react beyond shutting down the laser, the large parasite flashed a pair of claw-like appendages and cut open a small hole below it, diving back into the safety of the lung. "This one must be more resistant than the others," Doctor Stables noted.

"But not completely," Direct countered, charging up his ultrasound spell once more. "It was still hurt. A few more doses should be able to finish it off." A few quick pings were enough to spot the shadow this time, and moments later it was back on the surface. The parasite performed its typical dive right after, but stopped short and flew off, leaving only a small cut instead of the long lacerations it and the others had been doing.

"Doctor," Angel spoke softly, eyes wide in realization, "I think it's actually injured. Look at the way it's flying." True enough, the parasite flew jerkily, seeming to favor the side with most of the laser burns. An idea came to her, and she gasped and turned to Direct. "What if," she said, already feeling a bit crazy for what she was about to suggest. "What if we just crippled it? We might be able to extract it alive if we, well," her feathers ruffled a bit as she paused, "if we cut off its wings." She winced in instinctive empathy, phantom pains running through the base of her own wings.

"A live sample would help with the research," Doctor Stables affirmed. "I say go for it."

"Okay then," Direct agreed, casting a worried glance at Angel. She still seemed a bit uncomfortable about this, but there were more pressing matters to deal with. Direct aimed the laser carefully and fired, burning right through its right wing. The now-useless limb flopped to the surface right beside the parasite itself, which twisted and jerked erratically. Direct quickly snatched up the wing and deposited it in a third petri dish, but as he moved to grab the parasite itself, its claws struck out again, opening a new hole for it to duck into.

Pinging the lung with his ultrasound spell, Direct immediately found the shadow slowly inching away from the hole it had created. It didn't get far before he forced it back to the surface again, where it flailed around in confusion for a few moments before its claws sank into the surface, pulling it along in a pitiful crawl. Without a word, Direct grabbed the parasite up in the forceps and placed it beside its severed wing in the dish. The moment the parasite touched down on the cool plastic surface, it stopped struggling, and remained unmoving as Doctor Stables sealed up the dish and set it aside.

"We're done for real this time, right?" Direct yawned, eyeing their dwindling reserves of suture thread and stabilizer.

"Only one way to find out," Angel murmured with a glance at the motionless parasite.

This time no further lacerations appeared as they cleaned up the last one, though they waited for several minutes before closing the patient up just to be sure. Direct used up the very last of their suture thread closing the entry incision, and all three medical ponies shared a sigh of relief once he finished securing a bandage over the wound.

"Excellent work, you two." Doctor Stables praised, gathering up the petri dishes and jotting down a few notes to go with them. "I'll make sure to let you both know when we find something out about these. In the meantime, get the patient set up in a ward; she's going to have a long, hard recovery from all of that internal damage, and the lab techs will probably want to have her on hoof for tests anyway."

"Of course, sir." Angel nodded, already preparing to do just that. "Come on, Direct," she said, flashing him a tired smile as she set up a gurney to move the yellow Pegasus on. "Let's get her set up quickly. There are five mares out there who have been waiting way too long to see her."

---

Five mares gathered around a hospital bed as the yellow Pegasus began to stir. Her eyes fluttered open, and were immediately met by the wide-eyed stares of her friends, who wasted no time in barraging her with questions. Fluttershy shrunk back into the bed, pulling the sheets up to cover the lower half of her face. Moments later, the questions ceased as Angel told the mares off, telling them that Fluttershy would probably have a hard time understanding them right now due to how long she’d been out. Predictably, the questions started right back up again, now aimed at the nurse.

Direct watched this all with a grin from his place by the room’s monitors. This room was a smaller, individual one with only one bed and one set of instruments. It was meant for long-term patients who, for one reason or another, couldn’t be placed in a room with others. One wall held a small bookshelf below a window, light streaming through the cracks between the drawn blinds. The room held the same color scheme as the other wards, but a much larger variety of medical instruments. Currently Direct was taking notes from one that measured the patient’s breathing patterns. As he’d feared, the massive damage to Fluttershy’s lung had resulted in very shaky breathing, and he could imagine that it was likely painful for her, even despite the painkillers they’d administered before she’d woken up.

When he glanced back to the group of mares, Direct found the five of them in the midst of a gentle group hug with their bed-bound friend. He could hear gentle reassurances emanating from the mass of pony, and found himself smiling despite it all. It didn’t matter that one of them had nearly died that day; if anything, that only made their bond stronger. Bonds like that were the kind that moved mountains.

---

Location: Everfree Caves

“Did you complete the mission?” The voice echoed sickeningly around the mostly-empty chamber. A pair of small stone doors on either side of the room were the only artificial markings to be seen, the rest of the room decorated in stalactites, stalagmites and a generous coating of moss.

A young mare, still dressed in a waitress’s uniform, shifted in place, her eyes looking everywhere except at the being that stood before her. “Well, yes and no, Mother,” she finally admitted. “The mission went exactly as planned, except for one, tiny detail.”

“What detail, child?” the Mother asked, a hint of impatience creeping into her voice.

The mare winced. “The… weakest link was not removed, Mother. As we thought might happen, others interfered with Nature's way.”

The Mother glared, but said nothing, momentarily lost in thought. From behind her, a long, loud groan came through the door, shaking her out of her thoughts. Her expression became pensive as she considered. “Yes, my dear, that is true. Though this may be a setback, our mission has not yet failed.” Another, shorter groan followed a pause, and the mother’s face showed twisted glee.

“Daughter!” she snapped, causing the mare to jump. “Collect a new team and prepare for another mission.” The mare nodded and dashed off through the door behind her.

“They have denied Nature’s way by protecting the weakest link,” the Mother mumbled to herself with a wicked grin, “so we shall show them the strength of our conviction by breaking their strongest.”

Author's Note:

This one took a little lot longer to finish than I’d hoped it would, but hopefully the results are worth the wait. It was kind of hard getting back into the swing of writing an operation chapter after the last three pure-exposition chapters.

This chapter has been one that I’ve both looked forward to and dreaded writing. The stage has now been set for the main part of the story, and there was a lot riding on me pulling this off well. Only time and reader feedback will tell if I did.

As always, questions, comments, criticisms and suggestions are all appreciated, and I’m happy to respond to any feedback. Until next time, thanks for reading!

Read on,
Legion

Comments

[Legion222]

7011458
I can't belive no one's asked that before now.

To answer your question, while it hasn't yet been brought up in the story, the main reason is the existence of magical parasites and diseases, which would interact in unpredictable and typically negative ways if they came in direct contact with a magical field. After numerous instances of these reactions occuring during what was supposed to be a routine procedure, the Equestrian Medical Board decided to just make the use of sterilized medical implements standard in all operations, regardless of the surgeon's race or abilities.

Hope you enjoyed the story aside from that.

[Discord_Sparkle]

I've got an idea for a way an operation could be complicated. What if the patient turned out to be a disguised changeling?

[Legion222]

7012557
It's an interesting possibility to keep in mind. I imagine a disguised Changeling might wind up dropping their disguise once they're sedated, since they're no longer conscious to maintain it. Not sure where that would fit in the story I have planned, but thanks for the idea, and for reading.

[PADB]

Infecting the elements of harmony with GUILT? I need more of this story!

[Knot]

Yo, just now read the latest chapter, but I'm guessing its safe to say this fic is discontinued? Either way, I just wanted to say I enjoyed reading the whole thing.

It was painful to read just how much Direct and Angel started on a bad foot, but as the chapters go on they really started to mesh well together in a natural way.

The plot in the fic was also reeaally intriguing not gonna lie. Maybe I'm only intrigued by it because I never played the game this fic is based on, but still! I just wanted to grab my axe and start chopping when I realized the cultists made Fluttershy go bedridden in such a brutal way. They were trying to kill her. Not ok!

Even though I'm still kinda wishing for more, I still overall enjoyed this fic you've made. If you never pick it up again to write another chapter, then so be it. Thank you for the read!