Twilight Sparkle: Doctor Frankenstein

In the basement of a small hospital, a door leading from the stairway pushed open. It did so slowly, stopping whenever it gave off the slightest squeak or creak.

"Take a look," a voice whispered.

"Why do I have to look?" another asked.

"Because you are smaller, which means a smaller gap in the door and a reduced likelihood of being spotted if there is a guard on watch."

"We should have just brought a mirror or something," the second voice huffed.

"Spike," the first growled, "we tried that. Remember? It ended up getting broken before we used it."

"It's not my fault that your stupid tool-"

"Spike!"

"Okay. Okay. I'll look. Jeez."

From the gap in the doorway, the head of a small purple dragon with green spine poked out. Eyes flicking back and forth, he scanned the halls, checking to see if there is any living thing in sight.

"Okay, Twilight," Spike said in a normal voice as he pushed the door open. "It's clear."

Twilight Sparkle -- a primarily purple unicorn pony -- poked her head out and looked around for herself. Same as with Spike, she saw nothing in the halls around them.

"Good," Twilight said as she took a step forward. "Remember, Spike, quick and quiet. We want to be able to get-'

"'-in and out so we can work with nopony noticing,'" Spike finished with a roll of his eyes. "You don't have to tell me this every time we do this."

Twilight let out a huff, shaking her head.

"Just come on," she said as she started to move down along the hall. "And don't forget the bag."

"Yes, master," Spike huffed. Picking up the black leather satchel, he carried it as he went after her.

The two made their ways through the dimly lit halls. Twilight led the way, keeping close to the wall. She barely lifted her hooves, just enough the let them slide forward without the slightest sound. After several steps, she would stop, pressing herself against the wall and checking around them to be sure they were still alone.

Spike continued to follow after her, standing close to the wall, but otherwise walking normally.

"Here we are," Twilight announced as she stopped in front a door with the word "Morgue" written across it. After checking to make sure they were still alone, she opened the door and quickly slipped inside, her magic suddenly yanking Spike in with her. Shutting the door behind them, she let out a sigh, sagging slightly.

"We made it."

"You know," Spike said, "we don't have to do this. If it makes you this nervous, we could just forget the whole thing."

"'Forget the whole thing?'" Twilight yelped, turning to Spike with her eyes wide. "'Forget the whole thing?!' This is a very important scientific project, Spike. I have put a lot of work into it and we are so close to finishing. I can't quit now. And I definitely will not 'forget the whole thing!'"

With that, she turned back around and started to move further into the room. Her breath created a visible puff each time she exhaled. A rose colored light emanated from her horn as she used her magic. Moving to the first table, she picked up the clipboard and read across.

"Too old," she said, tossing the clipboard down and moving to another.

"Too small."

She grabbed another.

"Wrong type."

Another.

She chewed her lip as she read.

"Yes... Yes.." She sighed and rolled her eyes. "No. Cause of death makes the desired organ non-viable."

So it went. Spike would follow close by while Twilight walked from body to body, reading clipboard that contained the necessary information One or two were considered "maybes" that she would come back to if no better option was found.

"Ah-ha!" Twilight called out as she looked at the paper. "A male pegasus, in the right age range, and cause of death is a broken neck." She let out an excited gasp. "Plus, he's originally from Cloudsdale. This could be better than I expected." She paused. "Provided he had no history of respiratory problems."

"Why does him being from Cloudsdale matter?" Spike asked, moving to look at the pegasus in question.

"With Cloudsdale being so high up, there's less oxygen," Twilight explained. "That means that their respiratory system has to be even more efficient to allow them to breathe properly. Now let's get started. Mask."

Spike set down the bag and opened it. After some searching, he pulled out a surgeons mask and passed it to Twilight, who put it on.

"Goggles," Twilight ordered, putting them on when they were passed to her.

"Scalpel."

With a sigh, Spike went back to searching in the bag. After some searching, he pulled out a rolled up leather pouch. A single pulled undid the string holding it together. Once unrolled, he pulled out one of the scalpels it held and passed it to Twilight.

Using her magic, Twilight Sparkle took a hold of the implement. Returning back to the remains of the deceased pegasus, she focused all of her attention on what she was doing.

She pressed the sharp blade into the skin at the base of the neck and pressed down, slicing through the flesh and muscle with ease. As precisely as she could manage, Twilight traced along the top-most edge of the collarbone and rib cage. Once she reached the dip of the neck, Twilight pulled the scalpel out. She then moved the surgical tool to the other side of neck, making another cut to mirror the first.

Once the top was completed, Twilight started working on the bottom. This time, she started in the middle, tracing down and out along the bottom ribs. The scalpel continued to slice through the meat of the deceased pegasus with relative ease, the severed muscle tissue pulling away from the cut to reveal the contents beneath. A lack of blood obscuring visibility was probably beneficial in this matter.

Now came the slightly more challenging part. Adjusting her grip on the scalpel, Twilight moved to the top of the ribs. She had to be a little more careful. If the pressure was too light, she would simply have to cut a second -- or possibly even a third or fourth -- time. However, if she were to press too hard, the scalpel would press into bone of the sternum, which could damage and potentially break the blade. It would not be enough to prevent her from continuing since she had additional scalpels, but it would be a nuisance to try and remove the broken blade and start cutting anew.

There was one point where it felt like the blade stuck on something, but Twilight was able to pull past it and cut through the rest of the way.

"Oh, thank goodness," Twilight said as she set the scalpel aside. "Spike, shears."

Spike searched through the bag and pulled out the requested tool. Although technically designed to cut through thin tree branches, Twilight had concluded that it was the most effective way to cut through the rib cage for their purposes. Bone saws were made more for removing limbs all the way. Using it would take a while to cut through the sternum, more so since she would have to be careful not to accidentally cut into the tissue of the heart or lungs. A hammer and chisel would work faster, but would also be more likely to damage the desired organs. It would take some effort (even with the longer handles), but the shears could cut through the bones. More importantly, it minimized the risk of collateral damage.

As Twilight took the shears, Spike took the scalpel. He wrapped a string around the handle, marking it as the one that was already used, before putting back into its pouch pocket. This way, there was no chance of her using it again before they could check and be sure it was still properly sharp.

The mouth of the shears slid over the bottom portion sternum, wedging it between the sturdy base and sharp top. With all the magic she was willing to risk, Twilight squeezed hard on the arm-length handles.

The silence of the room was disrupted by a wet crunching sound. The bone cracked and splintered as the gardening tool squeezed, breaking it to get through more than simply cutting it. With a hard twist and a loud snap, the shears' jaws snapped completely shut. With a sigh, Twilight opened the back up, moved further up along the bone, and repeated the process.

It was a little slow, but each squeeze cut further and further along the bone of sternum. Soon, she reached the top, and with one final squeeze, cut the bone in two... although not quite as cleanly as she would like.

"Spike," she said with a pant, trying to catch her breath, "make a note: if we ever do this again, we need to make a tool especially for cutting through the sternum without risking damage to the organs." She passed him the garden shears. "Now, pass me the rib spreader. At least we managed to make that."

From the bag, Spike pulled out the requested tool. The main portion of it was two pieces of wood that fit together in the middle to make a square. On one side of the middle split, two pieces of metal stuck out, following the length of the seam about half way. A pair of long screws protruded from one side, connected to a set of gears that ended in a four point handle.

Taking it in her hooves, Twilight manually placed the rib spread against the cadaver's chest. With some adjustments and pushing, she slipped the metal pieces into the split of the sternum. Satisfied, her horn started to glow once again. Gripping the handle with her magic, she started to turn it. With each movement of the knob, the gears turned, spinning the screws. As they spun, they pushed the pieces of wood apart. The metal strips pressed against the sides of the cut sternum, slowly forcing them apart. The rib cage spread open, exposing the organs underneath.

"There we go," Twilight said to herself. Releasing the handles, she turned her power to the lungs and heart. The rose colored aura engulfed the organs, checking them over.

"The lungs are still viable," she announced, "but there's some perforation to the heart's right ventricle. Seems we'll have to use one from a different donor. Spike, pass me a fresh scalpel -- one of the smaller ones -- and get the jar out."

"Yes, master," Spike grumbled. Reaching into the satchel, he pulled out a large jar and set it on the exam table beside Twilight. He then turned his attention back to the pouch of medical tools, picking up a scalpel with a smaller blade and giving it to her.

Choosing to ignore the dragon's sarcasm, Twilight took the fresh scalpel in her magical grip and began to work. A single, smooth slice, and the trachea was severed. Veins and arteries were bisected as far from the capillaries as possible. Twilight was as careful as possible. Perforating the lung would make the effort obsolete as they would no longer be viable.

Once the last piece of connective tissue was separated, Twilight carefully lifted the lungs from the chest cavity, and placed it into the jar. She stared a second waiting.

The lungs expanded, filling with air, then contracted to expel it.

"Good," Twilight said with a sigh of relief. "Now we just need to get a heart."

The process started the same as before. Twilight went from pony to pony, reading the information until she found one she thought would suffice. This time, the "donor" was an earth stallion that was very large and muscular, who died of exsanguination due to a severed artery. Once again, Twilight took the scalpel and cut along the edges of the rib cage, severing the tissue from the bones. Once she cut through the tissue of the breast, she used her magic to separate the flesh and pull it open, exposing the cage.

This time when Twilight took the gardening shears, she did not cut through the sternum. Instead, she cut through each individual rib as far from the middle as she could. With each one, there was a crack on the initial cut, a crunch as the jaws of the shears worked through, and a loud pop as Twilight twisted and pulled to sever the bone. She worked her way up, further and further, until reaching and cutting through the collar bone. The actions were mirrored on the other side, cutting, cracking, and twisting until the entire length had been completed.

Twilight lifted the top of the rib cage and set it aside. Once again she used her magic to check the required organ.

"It's still good," Twilight Sparkle announced, clapping her hooves together. "Congratulations, Mister Macintosh, you are about to become a part of scientific history."