I can’t believe it! I got my cutie mark!
I had to stop what I was doing to admire it in the mirror. At first I thought the blood splatters were part of it, but then I wiped myself off and got a better look. Oh, Rarity’s going to be so excited! It’s beautiful! A big, shiny silver needle pulling delicate little stitches. I can already hear her gushing: “Oh, I just knew you’d take after me!”
Uh oh… I just thought of something. I hope the other Crusaders aren’t upset! We weren’t even out crusading or anything, and poof!---it just appeared! I know we’d all hoped we’d get ours together, but I suppose everything happens for a reason. Gosh, when I got up this morning, I had no idea that dusty old book would lead to this!
See, Miss Cheerilee said we had to do a short presentation on a foreign culture, so I decided to do mine on griffons. I’m so glad I did! As I was skimming through the book I noticed a chapter title with a word I’d never heard before: Taxidermy. I thought it had something to do with getting paid to give someone a ride… silly me! When I found out what it was really about, I couldn’t put the book down! To think, all the times I’ve been to museums, I had no idea those creatures were actually real. I used to think they were just really good sculptures! I was so ignorant in my younger days.
I couldn’t wait to get started. Thanks to yet another mix-up during Winter Wrap-Up, the squirrel population got kinda out of control… I’m sure nopony’s going to notice, or mind, if a few of them go missing. The first one was tricky; I’m still not so great with my magic, so the initial incision was really lopsided. I ruined the hide, which meant I wouldn’t be able to make a good mount. But Mom always said “Waste not, want not”, so I tried something a little different: I made a mummy! Ancient ponies who perfected the art would take out the organs and put them in little jars, then yank the brain out through a nostril using a hook. After that they’d pack the body with salts and rags and wrap it back up. Whoever came up with that technique must’ve been a genius, cause it was almost impossible! The skull collapsed on one side when I tried to take the brain out, and I wrecked the nose cause I used a hook that was way too big. Still, once it was all wrapped up, it looked pretty good.
I wanted to go back to trying taxidermy, but after making that mummy, I was just so curious about the internal organs that I had to play around a bit. This time the incision was nice and clean---I used a razor instead of a kitchen knife---so there wasn’t as much blood to get in the way. It’s funny; I’ve seen anatomy books that show what organs look like inside the body, but none of those pictures could compare to the real thing. For starters, it’s all wet inside. That was a surprise! Not that I mind---I think it’s actually kind of pretty, shiny like an oil slick on a puddle. Second, everything’s stuck together with these ropey things. (Connective tissue. I looked it up.) They’re tougher than I thought they’d be! I had to really hack to get the guts out. Oh, and that’s when something really gross happened: I accidentally ripped the intestines, and mushy stuff that was halfway between food and poop came spilling out. At least I’d put down a plastic sheet first! I know Rarity would pitch a fit if she saw that all over her floor.
Getting the small intestine sewn back together was hard, but it got easier after I squeezed all the almost-poop out. While I was doing that, I noticed something cool: there was this pouchy-looking thing that I hadn’t seen before cause the intestines were blocking it, and I thought it was the bladder til I cut it open. It was a tiny uterus! It was a girl squirrel! There was something that kind of looked like a booger inside---does that mean she was pregnant? Gosh, I hope not. That would make me feel kinda bad. Oh well… it’s for science!
I wish I had an assistant like Twilight. I know that scientists are supposed to make notes while they’re doing their experiments, but I’ve only really begun to learn how to control my magic, and I just can’t write and cut at the same time. Maybe later I’ll write down everything I can remember: like how the lungs look solid but are actually feathery and fluffy, how the pancreas shreds like wet paper when you try to peel it off the liver, and how many little curlicues are inside the kindneys. (They look like fiddleheads!) I know a lot of scientists make discoveries by accident, and so did I---the heart slipped out of my grasp and fell on the floor, and it bounced! It actually bounced like a rubber ball! I wonder if I’m the first pony to figure that out? Maybe I could write a paper on that and get it published somewhere!
It was when I was sewing the squirrel back together that I felt this weird tingle, kind of like when you’ve slept on your leg and it starts coming back to life, and then---BOOM! There was a flash of light so sudden and bright it made me jump! I almost jabbed myself with the needle! Oh, but even if I had, I’d still be so happy! As soon as I saw my brand-new cutie mark, I looked back at the squirrel and understood why I’d been so blessed: the stitches were clean neat… perfect. You’d barely be able to tell all her organs had been removed and put back in! It’s so funny---I thought my talent was going to be taxidermy, but when I looked at my specimen, I realized that my destiny was actually medicine. I’ll be a surgeon! Or a researcher! Or… or a forensic medical examiner! Yeah, that’s gotta be it! After all, not only am I good at surgery, but, unlike other ponies, experimenting with organs doesn’t squick me at all. Speaking of other ponies, I wonder how old you have to be to experiment on them? You probably have to have some sort of license or something, right?
That’s when Rarity came in, and I went bouncing up to her, all giggly and excited. She looked confused for about a second and then her eyes got really big. I thought she was going to faint, so I made a move to catch her, but instead she dropped down to her butt and started scootching away from me really fast. It looked like she was really scared. I tried telling her about my cutie mark, but she wasn’t really paying attention, and then---I can’t believe it!---she started crying! Well, I got pretty mad. I know she likes being the big sister, and she just adores treating me like a little filly, but she really, really should have been happy for me! Why can’t she be proud that I found my special talent?! Jeez! She’s fussing like a little yearling! It’s not like the mess can’t be cleaned up!
And she just kept saying “Why would you do something like this?” I had to explain over and over that I was doing something good, that this would help all of ponykind… heck, I might even find a cure for cancer! So why was she crying so much?!
“Sweetie Belle,” she sobbed, “Why… why would you do this? Why would you dissect all these poor little creatures?”
I just chuckled. “Oh, Rarity. It’s called a vivisection if you do it while they’re still alive.”
Author's Note
Based on a dream, a conversation with a friend, and the fact that it was 3 A.M. and I couldn't sleep.
Happy Hallowe'en from me and Creepy Belle!
