The crackling of fire and the smell of smoke is never a good thing to wake up to. Coughing and hacking, I pushed myself off of the wooden floor. The heat from the fire burning all around me was intense, but I managed to get up and take in my surroundings. The building I was in was engulfed in flames and I ran to the window to see that I was at least two stories up. I then ran to a nearby doorway and managed to get to the stairs, but they had weakened from the fire and were broken at the bottom. The cause lay at the base of the stairs.

It was a human like creature, with orange fur, pony ears, and blond hair, along with a tail. It was wearing a red and white plaid shirt, worn blue jeans, and a Stetson on top of it's head. The creature had run down the stairs and they must have broke when it was half way down. It was now stuck underneath a burning wooden beam. "Hey! Are you okay down there?!" There was no response and I assumed the worst.

I went down the stairs slowly until I got to the first broken step. Then, I jumped over the railing and fell to the floor below. Luckily, I didn't hurt myself too badly. I quickly rushed over to the creature, grabbed the beam and lifted it over it's body and placed it beside it. Then, I knelt down and checked it's chest and abdomen.

The first thing I noticed was that the creature had breasts like a woman's, so I assumed it was female, although I could have been fooled by her tone muscles. She was breathing weakly, and there were very severe burns on her chest and abdomen, mostly second degree and third degree burns. These spots had no fur, increasing the grotesqueness of the burns. Also, there was a sickening bruise on her chest. "Her ribs might be broken... this is bad."

I reached behind her back and under her legs and hoisted her into the air. I ran to the other set of stairs which, thankfully, were not broken. I carefully made my way down and ran for a set of double doors. The doors burst open as I ran into them shoulder first and I was greeted to the sounds of shocked and surprised screams. I looked around and found that I was under the night sky and surrounded by the same creatures as the one that I held. They were very fascinating, but I had much more important matters at hand.

"Where's the nearest hospital!?" I shouted to no one particular. "This is an emergency!"

Most of the creatures were shocked, but luckily someone pointed up the road and shouted, "At the end of this street!" I ran by all of the creatures and rushed up the road towards the hospital. When I arrived at the relatively small hospital, I hurried inside.

It was chaos. There were creatures in white coats rushing up and down the halls with beds, supplies, you name it. The constant sounds of moaning and groaning were coming from several rooms and it made me even more nervous. I ran up to the front desk, where a white-coated creature with pink hair, pale blue eyes, and a nurse's outfit on was starting to get up and confront me.
"What—!'

"She has several broken ribs and many serious burns on her abdomen and chest! The ribs may have caused internal hemorrhaging! She needs surgery now!" I shouted.

The nurse looked grim. "All of the doctors are busy with other patients!"

"Then I'll operate! I'm a doctor!"

The nurse looked apprehensive, but she gave in one the creature in my arms moaned. "Please follow me," she said calmly. The nurse hurried from behind the counter and down the hall with me close behind. We made our way through the hospital and into one of the operating rooms.

I placed the creature down on the table and turned to the nurse. "Please start the anaesthetics and make sure we have the correct blood." She nodded and I hurried to a nearby sink. I grabbed a gown that was near the sink and put it on. Next, I washed my hands vigorously and put on a face mask, hairnet, and finally plastic gloves, all of which were looser than I expected. I returned to the table as the nurse was finishing her preparations. "What's her condition?"

"Her vitals are low and I'm worried that she might go into cardiac arrest," she said while rushing behind me to sanitize herself. "I'll get the defibrillator ready, just in case."

I calmed myself as I examined my patient. She was naked, but was mostly covered in a blue sheet. The only part I could see was the affected area, her chest and abdomen. The nurse came back around to the other side of the table wearing the a similar gown and hairnet, a face mask, and gloves. "Alright. We're going to treat the burns with a skin graft first, and then make an incision on her chest to check for any internal damage and to see if we need to reinforce her broken ribs. If so, we'll do so in another procedure," I explained.

"I'll get a skin graft ready and prep the incision area while you take care of the damaged skin," she added.

"Okay then. Let's begin the operation." I grabbed a cotton ball and a bottle of disinfectant and quickly doused the ball. I put the bottle down and disinfected most of her burns. I put the cotton ball down and grabbed a syringe and a vial containing blue liquid. I stabbed the metal tip into the vial and pulled on the plunger. "Injecting the coolant into the affected areas," I announced.

I removed the syringe from the vial and carefully slid the needle into the charred skin of the third degree burns. I pushed the plunger down gently, as to not inject too much. Sweat started to bead on my forehead as I moved to the next burn, and then the next. When I finished, I put down the syringe and grabbed a scalpel and forceps on the tray next to me. I slowly pinched the burnt skin with the forceps and began to lower the scalpel to the patient's skin.

Before I could however, a cloth dabbed itself against my forehead. "I have the skin graft ready, doctor." I calmed myself from the sudden shock and began to slowly cut around the burned skin. As I complete the incision, I peeled the blackened skin off and put it on a separate tray that the nurse was now holding up. As the nurse reached for the skin graft, I looked down at my work. All that remained of the burn was a bloody hole in the patient's skin.

The nurse presented a tray to me with a mesh-like piece of skin on it. I grabbed the skin graft with my forceps and carefully placed it on revealed tissue. Next, I placed the scalpel back on to the tray and grabbed the suture. Using the thick needle, I sutured the edge of the skin graft to the edge of the hole. When I completed the suture of the entire graft, I tied off the thread and cut off the excess with a pair of scissors. I repeated these steps for the other burns and eventually we completed the first part of the surgery.

I switched places with the nurse and moved the blue tarp over the incision area: a part of the patient's chest was shaved and there was a black sectioned line indicating the the incision I was about to make. I held out my hand and said, "Antiseptic solution." I felt another cotton ball placed in my hand and I immediately went to work coating the area. When I was done, I held up the cotton ball. "Scalpel." The cotton was removed from my hand and was replaced with a scalpel.

I slowly and gently ran the scalpel over the line, cutting the skin and reviling body fat. I cut several times along the same line and eventually we were able to pull back the skin and muscle to reveal the thoracic cavity. "I don't see any internal bleeding, and the ribs seem to be fine, too. They may just be bruised," I observed. "She's very lucky." I held up the scalpel. "Suture." I successfully sutured the muscle together and I held out my hand again, "Stapler." I felt the suture being removed and it was replaced by a large handle. I brought down the round and white stapler and closed the skin with a few staples.

"We're almost done. Disinfectant please." The stapler was traded for the cotton ball and I dabbed the closed incision with disinfectant. "Dry gauze and tape." I carefully placed a strip of white gauze along the incision and taped down the edges. "We still need to dress the burns. Let's use antimicrobial impregnated gauze and then cover that with regular dry gauze," I confirmed. The nurse nodded and handed me an impregnated gauze. I placed the gauze gently over the skin graft and then covered that with regular gauze. I repeated this until all of the burns were covered.

As I lay the last piece of tape, I let out an enormous sigh. "I think we should wrap the affected areas with bandages so that she doesn't fiddle with them," said the nurse.

"Good idea. Let's lift her upper body up." We both took one shoulder and carefully lifted her into an upright position. The nurse then started to wrap the patient in bandages. When she finished, we laid her back on to the table. "Thank you for your invaluable help, miss."

"You did a good job too, doctor," the nurse said with a smile.

"I'm sorry to dump this on you," I started while removing my gloves, "but can you find a room for her? There's got to be more people who still need treatment."

"Of course, but please come to see me again when you're done, mister...?"

"Oh, I completely forgot! Sorry, I'm Carter Bowman." I stuck out my hand.

The nurse took off her gloves and shook it. "You can call me Redheart."

Our hands parted and I went about removing my surgical gear. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Redheart. I hope you don't mind me asking a few questions when we meet again."

"Not at all," she responded cheerfully. I smiled and made my way to the door, but when I got there I was interrupted by Redheart. "One quick question." I turned and gave her a questioning look. "What are you?"

I smiled coyly, "I'm a doctor." With that I pushed through the door and walked out into the hospital's halls.

There weren't a lot of other people looking for medical help in the hospital, but I did what I could for the one who did. Soon after advising someone that they should rub burn ointment on first degree burns, I started to walk around the hospital to look for Redheart. However, I found myself wandering around for quite some time. I was approaching a group of creatures that were sitting against the wall, and I guessed that they were a family.

The tallest of the family was a very fit red male with short, orange hair. He was wearing overalls and nothing else, which wasn't surprising to me. After all, it was the middle of the night. The second was an old, lime green female with white hair that was made into a bun. She was wearing a white blouse with a long, red and orange checkered skirt, along with a red and orange polka dotted scarf. The last of the three was a very young female with yellow fur and red hair with a cute pink bow in it. She was still wearing pajamas with apples printed all over them.

I made a mental bet with myself that they were farmers, probably apple farmers. "Do you folks need anything?" I asked as I reached within a meter of them.

The male stood and asked in a deep voice, "Are ya the one who saved AJ?"

I would have answered immediately, but I was shock from the size of him! He was a good head bigger than I was, and I'm six feet tall! "...T-that depends on two things. Does she have orange fur and blond hair?" On a side note, I never really noticed that these creatures have muzzles. I guess the fear of impending death makes you notice a few things, huh?

"Yes," he said with hope spreading over his face.

I gulped, "Okay then. A-are you going to crush me in a hug if I d—?" He didn't let me finish as he wrapped his giant arms around my arms and middle. He squeezed the air from my lungs as he hugged me tightly. After a full minute, he let me down and I gasped for air.

He took my hand and shook it vigorously. "Ah can't thank ya enough! If there's anythin'—"

"No! No. Really, that's fine," I said. "That hug was far more than enough..."

"How long til' she's up an' at 'em'?" asked the old lady.

I exhaled rather loudly at the question. "Well, it was pretty bad... I'd say around a month before she can harvest apples again."

"How come ya know we farm apples?" The little one asked.

I mentally gave myself a high-five. "Intuition I guess... I saw how fit this guy is and looked at your pajamas, and put two and two together," I explained, pointing to the behemoth beside me and to the girl's clothes.

"There you are!" Redheart's voice called from behind me. "I've been looking everywhere for you!" I turned to find the nurse stomping towards me. However, behind her came a caramel coloured creature with dark brown hair and a horn sticking out of his forehead. He was wearing a dress shirt, pants, and a tie, but it was mostly covered by his prestigious doctor's coat. He was also tapping his chin with his finger, studying me.

"Sorry, Red. I was looking for you, but I got lost along the way!" I said with an light smile, scratching the back of my head as I did so. "I guess it's time to explain some things..."

"I would also like to participate in this conversation as well," the caramel doctor said. "I want to know who and what you are, as well as your experience as a surgeon."

I sighed. "Well, Red's the only one I've told my name to... so I guess I'll introduce myself formally. My name is Carter Bowman. I'm a Homo sapien, or human if you will." Everybody suddenly gasped and I was left startled, confused and worried. "What? What is it?"

"Humans were some of the greatest creatures to roam Equestria! They were great, but very horrible!" Redheart spoke.

"They were also considered one of the most intelligent species in this world. Whether they mainly used it for good or evil is still debated, even today," the caramel doctor explained.

I chuckled, catching them by surprise. "Hehehe, yea. That does sound like us. We can be a—" I caught myself before I could swear, remembering there was a child nearby. "—a real pain in the butt, sometimes. I can assure you though, I just want to help people. I didn't spend twenty years learning to become surgeon just so that I could steal people's kidneys."

"That begs my other question. How long have you been a surgeon? Also, you wouldn't happen to have proof that you are a doctor, would you?" the caramel doctor questioned.

"Actually, I do have proof." I reached into my pocked and pulled out my wallet. I opened it and fished out a folded sheet of paper. I then unfolded it and showed it to the group. "I keep a copy of my medical license in my wallet, just in case. Oh, and I've been a surgeon for ten years."

"Why do ya keep the certificate and not a card or somthin'?" asked the red giant.

I smirked. "Wouldn't you agree that the certificate is more believable than some flimsy card?" They all hummed in understanding.

"I'm afraid that this isn't going to allow you to operate here in Equestria... But I could write a letter to the Ministry of Health about your skills. That may help your situation a little," the caramel doctor offered.

I smiled. "That would be terrific, doctor...?"

"Oh, how rude of me! I'm doctor Stables." We shook hands. "Nice to meet you, doctor Bowman."

"I really feel bad asking this, but..." I started. "Seeing as I'll probably be swamped with paperwork in the next few hours, can I borrow an office to work and possibly sleep in?"

Redheart seemed appalled by my request, but Stable laughed loudly. "Luckily, we have an office that has been recently made vacant. It will be dusty, but you can use it if you'd like."

I shrugged. "It's better than a dumpster. And before you ask how I know that, it was the best slash worst night ever. "

I had a lot of questions answered by the nurse in the short time before arriving at the office. For instance, these creatures were called ponies, and the names that are associated with different types were the same. For example, a female is a mare. A male is a stallion. You get the idea.

Speaking of mares, Applejack, or AJ as some call her, woke up the next morning not knowing what had happened. I would know. I was there when it happened. I was updating her chart when she started to groan and wake up. "Good morning, Ms. Applejack."

"Ugg..." she groaned, rubbing her head with a hand. "What in tarnation happened last night? Ah feel like ah got hit by a train..."

"Well, a wooden beam did fall on you," I explained. "Apparently, you rushed into the town hall while it was ablaze to rescue people trapped inside! I can't tell if you're incredibly heroic, or incredibly stupid. Either way, you did save three lives, and that's an amazing job in my book."

The mare chuckled. "Probably the latter, ah reckon! Who would run into a burnin' buildin' of their own free will?"

"A hero. Rather, heroine in this instance," I stated. "You must have quite the will if your willing to risk your life like that. However, for your health, I suggest that you avoid doing things like that again. Also, don't try to get up. Your abdomen still hasn't fully healed. It would be extremely bad."

A few moments of silence filled the room until Applejack noted, "Ya know somethin'? I ain't heard ya voice before. Who might ya be, pardner?"

"Oh, me? I'm doctor Bowman. I'm new in town," I explained.

"Bowman?" she questioned. "What kind o' pony has a name like Bowman?"

I sighed. This was going to be weird. "I wouldn't know, I'm not a pony," I said quickly and calmly.

A few more moments passed before AJ asked with a bit of caution, "Yer' not a pony?"

"Nope. Human."

"...Human?"

"Yep."

She snorted, "Like the big, fur-less, ape things we learn about in school?"

"I'd prefer primate, but yes. I'm a big, fur-less, ape thing."

The mare guffawed at my statement. "How'd ya expect me ta believe that!"

I sighed again and put her chart on the foot of the bed. "Well, I could show you, but I don't want to get hurt by you or for you to hurt yourself. And with that being said, it is time for me to leave. Your family will be here shortly to visit." With that, I left the room to live the life of a doctor.

And by that I mean do more paperwork.

Author's Note

So, my editor has had his internet gone for a few months now, so that's why I haven't been writing much as of late. Hope this makes up for it!

Anyways, if you find a mistake, let me know.

Also, I have absolutely no idea if this is standard procedure for operations, so please don't yell at me. (Or do so that I can learn things!)