Redheart's Clinic

Redheart's next patient was a stallion named Copper Jacket. Sounded like a guardspony if she was to have a guess.

She wasn't wrong. When she opened the door to her waiting room she found it occupied by only one pony, perhaps he had scared the others away.

Looking at him it wasn't hard to draw that conclusion. The stallion practically radiated an aura of 'don't mess with me'.

He was on the older side, gray streaks in his mane and tail. It was easy to see where he had gotten his name though, his coat was a deep copper brown. If his aggressive posture and musculature didn't tell you that this pony had seen action, his coat definitely did. Red streaks on his hooves marked scars and there was even one along his face, it looked like he had been an inch from losing an eye at some point. It only added to his ferocious visage.

Redheart however refused to be intimidated. She had met many guardsponies and they where despite appearances almost universally nice. Besides, she was here to cut off his balls.

"Mr. Copper Jacket?" She asked, stopping in front of the grizzled veteran.

As she had expected he replied with what passed for a smile in the guard and answered politely.

"That's right." He looked her over and extended a hoof. "You must be Doctor Redheart?"

"Indeed." She confirmed, taking his hoof and giving it a firm shake. "Now, what can I do for you today?"

It was subtle, but she noticed his eyes dart around the room before he replied.

"I'm here for my gelding ma'm." He held his head high and spoke with determination, Redheart however could detect a trace of nervousness. He hid it well though.

It's Doctor Redheart, she thought. However she let it slide. Ma'am was respectful enough, especially from a military pony.

"Certainly." She nodded. "If you care to step into my office."

The scarred stallion followed her into what seemed to be a combined office and operating room. One corner held a couple of filing cabinets and a desk covered in paperwork. The other half of the room was dominated by the object that drew Copper's eyes. It was a classic surgery bed with a padded surface for a pony to lie down on. One end featured an adjustable headrest while the other held stirrups for keeping their legs spread. He tried not to notice the various buckles and straps that decorated the fearsome bed. He was nervous enough without having to imagine how many stallions had lost their marbles on that thing.

And of course the doctor gestured for him to take a seat on it. Well, Copper Jacket had faced dragons, gryphons and various monsters, he'd be damned if he was going to be scared of a piece of furniture. Taking a deep breath he settled himself down on the damnable thing, and found it surprisingly comfortable.

Redheart meanwhile had pulled up a chair for herself and settled down facing him, a clipboard and pen in her hooves.

"So, you want to become a gelding?" She asked him, a cheerful smile on her lips. Pen hovering over the form.

"Well, It's not that I particularly want it, I'm quite happy being a stallion." The patient replied.

Redheart looked up from the clipboard, concern clear on her face. "Then why do it?"

"Well, it's a long story." He sighed.

That rang several alarm bells for the Doctor and she leaned forward, meeting his eyes. "I'd like to hear it please. Is your wife pressuring you into this?"

"Nah, nothing like that." The stallion was quick to assure her. That was a relief, Redheart had seen far too many cases of abusive partners during her medical career. There were mares out there who would pressure their mates into getting gelded just so they had an excuse to take on younger lovers. Jerks, that was what divorces were for.

Still she had to make sure it was his own choice, so she just stared at him expectantly until he broke down and spilled the whole story. She had done this hundreds of times and could be quite persuasive.

"Well, I'm getting too old for the Royal Guard." He began. "So I decided to quit while I still have all my limbs intact."

Redheart nodded for him to continue, she had guessed as much. One look at him and you could tell he had seen more action than anypony ought to, and he was getting up there in the years.

"So I looked for other jobs, ain't too much for an old stallion who's only real skill is to stand around and look intimidating. Never did finish school before I joined either, and that was thirty years ago anyway." He looked up. "But then a friend of mine got me an interview as a bodyguard. Figured I could do that just fine, I've been guarding my whole life."

"That's great." Redheart interjected, he had been looking a bit gloomy as he told his story, but now the pride was back in his voice. "But what does that have to do with your gelding?" She asked, though she already suspected the answer.

"Well, see this rich noblemare was looking for somepony to watch over her daughter, and no, I can't tell you which one."

Redheart nodded, not pressing that point. As a doctor she was well acquainted with client confidentiality. The stallion meanwhile summed it up.

"Anyways, I got the job."

Redheart smiled, glad that he had found a place. But there was still the main question. She waved him on.

"I'm getting to that." The stallion muttered. "So, this client is a real looker. The kid I mean, not her mother, although she isn't bad either." He shook his head, getting back to the point. "And she's just at that age where you know, stuff happens."

"Puberty?" Redheart clarified, one eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, and her old mare is a bit on the paranoid side, especially since her daughter travels a lot by herself. So long story short, boss mare offered to double my salary if I got myself gelded." He finished.

Redheart resisted the urge to sigh, it was a fairly common practice among the needlessly rich. Geldings had a reputation for being loyal, obedient, level headed and without sexual urges, and they were therefore highly sought after in some fields. Enough that they could demand a higher wage than other genders. She couldn't really argue with it, but she felt society had gone fairly wrong if ponies felt they needed to mutilate their bodies to make ends meet.

Copper must have seen her look because he held up a placating hoof. "Oh don't worry, I have enough money to get by, I'm doing this out of greed more than anything else. With that bonus I can take an early retirement in just a few years."

Well that settled Redheart's ethical concerns. Though she wasn't thrilled about it, it was the profession she had chosen, and the customer would get what he wanted.

"Just to be clear, there is no medical reason for you to get castrated, so as a doctor I cannot recommend the procedure. The choice is of course entirely up to you."

"Acknowledged, and I'm choosing yes." He replied, sounding slightly annoyed by the legal forms. It was his body after all.

'And your wife won't mind?" Redheart tried.

"Pah, shouldn't think so. She left me six years ago." The stallion snorted. "Kids are grown up too, and I really don't plan to have any more." He added.

Well, then there was nothing left but to discuss the procedure, the patient was determined.

"How do you want it done?" She asked, pen poised to jot down his replies on the form.

"Doesn't really matter." He replied. Though after thinking for a bit, and looking down at the straps on the bed that gave him the creeps, he muttered out. "Traditional is fine."

"Good choice." The doctor noted that down. "And what painkiller do you want?"

That made him think. "None." He concluded, and Redheart raised a very questioning eyebrow.

"Really?"

Copper just shrugged "Well I'm a real tough stallion, so no need to pay extra."

Ah. Redheart rearranged her face in a professional smile. "Dear Mr Copper, a gelding costs the same regardless. I'm not allowed to charge extra for painkillers."

He just muttered sheepishly. "Of course. Still, I think I'll go with that option. It seems appropriate."

Redheart frowned at that. "It might be how it traditionally was done, Mr. Copper, but procedures evolve."

He held up a hoof to stop any further protests.

"Let's dispense with the Mister shall we, I won't be one in a few minutes anyway, and yes, I'm sure."

As if that wasn't enough he pointed to the scar on his face. "I got this from a tail swipe of a manticore." He then shifted to show off a rather small scar just beneath his ribs. "Here I was stabbed while working undercover in Detrot, and these." He held up his scarred hooves. "Are the scars of a dozen battles with gryphons, changelings and Celestia knows what else to keep Equestria safe. Trust me, I can handle a little pain."

Well again, that was that. Redheart couldn't argue with such determination, and she had to admit she was impressed with his courage.

"Suit yourself then Mx. Copper. Sign here and we'll begin."

She handed him the form and he jotted down his name and new title. "Let's. I'm not getting any younger here."

"Fine." She checked his signature and got down to business.

"Get off the bed." She told him, and while he complied she gathered up her gear. It had been a while since she performed a traditional gelding. Most ponies didn't go for them because, well, they hurt, a lot.

"Bite down on this."

She handed him a piece of wood. He took it with a rather sceptical expression. "Is this really necessary?"

"Well." Redheart picked up her emasculator and showed it to him. It looked like a pair of bolt cutters but with the sharp blades exchanged for blunt ones, like on a carpenter's tongs. It gleamed in the light.

"In a minute I will be clamping this over your testicles, so you tell me if it's necessary."

He wisely didn't argue and put the stick in his mouth. Shame, Redheart had hoped he would have changed his mind about the painkillers. Oh well.

"Good, and now bend over this." She said, raising the bed to a comfortable height for Copper to rest his torso on. He complied once more, presenting his rear to the doctor.

Redheart got her first look at the stallionhood she would be working on. About average size, nothing special and the operation would go smoothly. There was just one detail left. Her access to the foalmakers were obscured by a curtain of gray streaked hair.

"Would you like me to trim your tail for you?" Redheart said, flexing a pair of scissors.

The stallion shook his head.

"Then raise your tail for me."

With what was surely a great effort of will, he did so, offering her full access to his goods.

Redheart thanked him. She knew it was a hard thing to do, giving another pony access to your most intimate bits was a big sign of trust. But it was also a sign of consent, and consent was vital when performing a procedure like this.

She raised her tool, the steel device was almost as long as her leg, and placed it over Copper's pouch. With her free hoof she located the cord to his left testicle and placed the device over it. The stallion shifted in discomfort, tensing his muscles for what was about to come.

"You biting down at that stick?" She asked cheerfully. To which he responded with a muffled grunt.

"And you haven't changed your mind?" It wasn't unusual for stallions to chicken out at the last minute, when steel met flesh, and Redheart had all the sympathy for those who did.

Copper however seemed to be made of sterner stuff, he shook his head, giving the final consent to end his stallionhood.

Redheart was only too happy to oblige and slammed the handles together, forcing the blunt unforgiving jaws of the tool down on the fragile cord that supplied Copper's ball with life.

Crunch!

Redheart savored the noise of a job well done and held the tool steady as the stallion thrashed. It was only natural for him to try to pull away from the source of the pain, but it was futile. Her grip was steady and that ball was already lost, it just hadn't died yet. She still held the handles down for the regulation 30 seconds to make certain while the stallion moaned and thrashed.

Credit where it was due, he didn't pass out and when Redheart reached zero on her countdown he was merely whimpering.

"You're doing very good." She complimented him as she released the tool, eliciting another yelp from the stallion as the pressure was released from his sensitive flesh. She noticed with satisfaction that the organ had detached correctly and raised the tool again. She didn't want to prolong his pain more than necessary.

"I'm doing the second one now." She said, locating the cord to his only living foalmaker. Redheart felt a pang of excitement as she pinched down on the delicate lifeline. All she had to do was squeeze, and she would end Coppers stallionhood forever. The power rush was not insignificant.

The stallion only whimpered in response, and since he did nothing to indicate that she should stop, Redheart slammed the handles together once more.

Crrrunch!

Once more the room was filled by the crunch of cartilage and the muffled cry of one stallion in pain. Well, he wasn't really a stallion anymore.

He did handle it much better this time, Redheart noted and she held the clamps together. He was barely trashing and after his initial scream he barely made any noise. She figured it was because he, sorry it knew what was coming this time around and was prepared for it.

After the thirty second countdown she released the tool and complimented her patient for its calm behavior. It made some distressed noises when she felt his balls to make sure they had both detached. Redheart was pleassed to confirm, after a bit of probing, that it was now indeed a gelding.

"Almost done." She reassured it as she put the tool down. What she picked up instead was a much smaller object, and sharper. "Only one more thing."

The scalpel glistened in the light as she placed a bowl between Coppers quivering legs.

A quick slice was all it took. His sack split open and two pale orbs dropped out. There was some bleeding, since he had insisted on a traditional gelding, but not much.

It shuddered at the wet noise of its former pride hitting the bottom of the bowl. It was done, Copper Jacket had been gelded, it was no longer a stallion.

A feeling that was much reinforced as a smiling Redheart placed a bowl full of evidence to the fact beneath his muzzle.

He tried not to look at the organs in front of him, but they drew his gaze nonetheless.

For all his life they had been inside him, filling him with hormones and stuff. They had sired both his foals, and he'd had a lot of fun with them when he was younger.

He took a deep breath as it sunk in. There they lay, outside of his body and control, cut off and put on display. The display was humbling to say the least. He wasn't a he anymore, he was a gelding, an it.

The gelding was soon distracted by a sharp stinging pain between its legs. Redheart had started to sew its empty pouch back together. It gritted down and bore it, compared to the clamping itself, compared to a lot of things it had been through in The Guard, it was just a little more pain, nothing to make a fuss about. Soon it wouldn't be in pain anymore and could look forward to a comfortable retirement while it still had its health.

"All done!" Redheart called from behind and gave Copper a gentle pat on his cutie mark.

"Glad to hear it." Copper said, spitting out the stick. It landed in the bowl, on top his former testicles with meaty sound. He turned around to face the doctor and muttered with a hoof pointing at the emasculator. "That thing hurt like a motherfucker."

The nurse just shrugged."I did warn you… and hay, language!" She called out, giving the gelding a disproving slap on its knee.

"Sorry." Copper apologized. "But I am glad it's over. Think I'll recommend any friend that they should go for the painkiller."

The doctor tactfully refrained from saying 'I told you so' and instead went to wrap the visit up.

"Well, all that remains is to pay up, and then you can go and protect that noblemare's daughter without any naughty feelings."

Copper gave a sly smile. "Yeah about that…"

And this was the reason why gelding ponies to keep them from having sex was stupid. Redheart rolled her eyes, having seen this one coming.

"Nah, not the daughter." Copper, having misinterpreted her look of disapproval, hurried to assure her. "She's far too young for me, but I might run into a fiesty mare my own age, heck her mother is kinda good looking, might earn me another bonus." It chuckled. "So, you stock those kinds of potions?"

"Yes." The doctor sighed and sold her patient six potions of Blue Steel that would ensure it could perform on demand, regardless of anatomy. It was the same stuff she sold to stallions who had difficulties in the bedroom, but significantly more concentrated.

Copper paid the rather hefty sum without complaining, after all it was getting a rather lucrative contract out of the deal.

As the gelding turned to leave it threw one last look at the two orbs that had been part of its stallionhood and sighed.

"Would you like to take them with you?" Redheart asked out of sympathy, and because there was another 10 bits in it for her if she could sell it a preservative jar.

The ex-stallion tore his gaze from its lost organs and looked back at her."Huh, why?" It grunted.

"Well, to show to your boss as proof maybe?" She suggested, and then shrugged. "Some geldings just like to keep them for sentimental reasons."

The gelding snorted. "Do I seem like the sentimental type? No keep them. Boss mare promised to examine me personally, and I'd rather not be reminded of th fact all the time by keeping them as decorations either."

Fair enough. "I guess this is goodbye then." Redheart said and picked up the bowl with the excised organs. She noticed that the gelding gave them one last mournful look.

"I guess it is." It replied. "Hey, what do you do with them by the way?" It pointed a hoof at the bowl in Redheart's hoof.

Ah, this was not a question the doctor liked to answer. It felt so mean to tell the ex-stallions that the things that used to be their highly valued objects, the family jewels as they were called, a stallion's pride and joy, ended up in a trashcan.

"We uhm… throw them away." She admitted sheepishly, not meeting its eyes.

The gelding seemed to get it. It followed her gaze to the office rubbish bin and made a grimace.

"Yikes, feels a bit… disrespectful." It commented drily.

Redheart threw up her hooves. "I know, but what else would we do with them?"

The gelding opened its mouth to argue, but didn't seem to come up with anything and closed it again.

"Yeah, just wait until I've left, okay." It muttered and turned to for the door.

"Certainly." Redheart agreed. Wow that had gotten awkward. "Feel free to recommend me to your friends." She added.

"Yeah, I might." The gelding said, and shut the door behind it.

Well that was it, a bit awkward but successful. Redheart counted up the bits she had earned, placed them in her safe and began to clean up. She wiped down the bed, put her instruments in the sink for washing, and then she picked up the bowl.

She looked down at the bloody organs as she trotted over to the trash bin.

"I guess it is kind of demeaning to just throw them away." She mused, then shrugged and emptied the bowl into the small trash bin.

Then why does it feel so satisfying? Redheart thought to herself as she trotted over to the sink and began to wash the bowl and her other tools of trade in preparation for her next patient.