The hum of the buzz saw filled the dimly lit room. Twilight carefully guided its blade along the lines she drew on her subject’s scaly body. She had intended to use a scalpel for this experiment, but the small blades proved ineffective on the dragon’s hard hide. In all honesty, the buzz saw wasn’t faring much better. Sparks flew as the spinning blade struck flesh, moving at roughly a centimeter per minute.

Not helping was her subject’s struggling. Twilight had wanted to give the adolescent dragon opium to numb the pain, but needles were about useful as scalpels for this matter. Instead Twilight had to settle for giving her subject a blindfold and a large, fireproof gag for him bite on while she worked.

When Twilight was done with the incision, she removed the gag and blind fold from her subject to get feedback on her work. It wasn’t the nicest thing to do with the unfortunate circumstances, but Twilight couldn’t pass up the opportunity to hear her subject’s thoughts.

Once the subject had stopped shaking, it opened its eyes to Twilight’s smiling face.

“Twilight?” The subject asked; its voice barely more than a whisper. “W-What’s going on?”

“Oh nothing,” Twilight said happily, “I’m just testing a few new inventions, that’s all. We’ll be done in a couple of hours, and if all goes well you’ll be on your way home!”

“And if things don’t go well?” The subject gulped.

“You know, you have an incredibly high tolerance for pain.” Twilight said quickly. “I mean I knew dragons were tough, but this is ridiculous!”

“What are you-” The subject looked down at the incision on its torso and its breathing quickened and became shaky. Once more the subject began struggling against its bounds, only this time it let out a loud, panicked scream, causing a small stream of green fire to spew out of its mouth. Twilight quickly put the gag back in.

“Will you stop being such a baby?” Twilight said. “I was hoping that you and I could talk while I worked, like we used to back at the library. But no, you just had to freak out like that.”

The subject stared at Twilight with wide eyes, its entire body trembling. For a moment, Twilight considered putting the blind fold back on as well, but dismissed the idea. The subject wasn’t going to have its eyes for long anyway, why not let it enjoy them for a little while longer?

Twilight replaced the buzz saw on the shelf where she kept her power tools, and then used her magic to pull out the chest containing her medical supplies. She picked out her favorite bone cutter and placed its two blades on either side of one of the subject’s ribs.

The subject gave Twilight a pleading look. His breathing quickened as Twilight’s bone cutter bit down on its rib. A sickening crack filled the air, followed shortly by the subject’s muffled screams.

Placing a hoof on the subject’s side, Twilight said, “Oh come on, don’t be a baby. Ribs grow back!” She gave the subject a kiss on the forehead before continuing her work. After about ten minutes of diligent cutting, Twilight had removed twenty ribs from the subject’s body, and placed them in a small plastic case for later experiments.

Satisfied with her work on the rib cage, Twilight put the bone cutter back in its place and took out a scalpel, and one of the thirteen machines she had invented only a few hours prior. The machine she had selected was one she was particularly proud of. From the outside the device looked like some pony had haphazardly stuck several small tubes into a can shaped hunk of metal, but on the inside it was an elegantly designed pump that could mix liquids and gasses together while filtering any unwanted material. If Twilight’s theory was correct, then this invention would revolutionize the Equestrian medical field, all she had to do was test it.

Twilight took the scalpel and used it to sever the blood vessels that connected the heart to the rest of the body, blood spewed out with every slice. Acting quickly, she removed the still beating organ and placed it in a jar the she had prepared beforehand. With only seconds to act before the subject bled out, Twilight placed the device in the now empty cavity and used magic to fuse the metallic tubes with the organic blood vessels. When she was done, the device began pumping blood through the subject’s body more effectively than any heart could.

When Twilight was done wiping any spilled blood up with a paper towel, she let out a deep breath. The first of her replacement organs was a success. If she were to stop here she would almost certainly earn herself some acclaim in the medical field. But her work was far from over. She still had thirteen organs to replace in her subject; the eyes, kidneys, small intestine, large intestine, lungs, stomach, spleen, liver, and gallbladder.

Twilight thought for a moment, looking over the subject’s organs. “Which do you think I should do next?” she asked the subject.

She removed the gag from the subject’s mouth and waited for a response. Instead, she was answered by a low gurgling noise. Twilight scowled and smacked the dragon with her hoof.

“No more!” The subject croaked, “Please, I want to go home.”

“You’ll go home in a couple of hours.” Twilight said irritably. “For now though I need your cooperation while I replace your organs. Now which do you prefer; lungs or kidneys?”

“I want to go home…” The subject said faintly as its eyes rolled into the back of its head.

Twilight snorted, “Fine, lungs it is.”

Several hours passed as Twilight continued her work; with her inventions she had managed to reduce the majority of the digestive process down to four organs. The mechanical lungs were relatively unchanged from their organic counter parts, but the new and improved stomach now handled the work of the spleen, liver, and kidneys. Most of the other organs she replaced where either designed to act as a backup should any of those four organs fail; or else act like a more efficient version of the organic version, such as the new, single intestine that regulated waste produced by the other organs. All that was left to do now was the subject’s eyes.

When Twilight was done sewing up the subject’s torso, she got out a scalpel and a small spoon. She held the tools in front of the subject’s face and with a smile asked; “Are you ready?”

The subject looked at the tools with an expression of horror. It tried to quicken its breathing, but the mechanicals lungs kept it at a calm pace. “Please, Twilight, no! I let you take my organs, but please not my eyes! Just let me keep them. Please?”

Twilight frowned. “But Spike, I need to thank you in some way. I know this wasn’t fun for you, so I thought I could at least give you something you would like. You’ve always talked about how much you wanted X-ray vision, right?” Twilight lowered the scalpel to the subject’s left eye.

“No don’t!” The subject stammered, “I mean, please, the pleasure was all mine. You don’t need to give me anything. JUST LET ME GO!”

The scalpel touched the subject’s eye lid. Unlike its torso, the scales on the eyelids where soft and easily cut.

“Please, I won’t tell any pony! Just let me go home!” The subject’s voice devolved into a whimper as Twilight dragged the scalpel across the eyelid.

Cutting a circle around the subject’s eye, Twilight used the spoon to lift the severed flesh from the subject, leaving the eye exposed to the elements. Tears immediately began forming to keep the eye from drying out, mixing with the blood from the incision.

Twilight picked out a rag and wiped the bloody tears from the subject’s face.

“This may hurt a little; do you want me to hold your hand while I do this?” Twilight asked. A weak blubbering noise was her only answer.

Twilight shrugged and held the scalpel up to the subject’s eye, and slowly pushed it in. There was a small ‘pop’, and the subject screamed as both the pupil and iris where split in two. A clear, watery liquid bled from the incision and flowed down the subject’s cheek. Twilight gently pressed on the torn eye to speed up the oozing process, and after a moment the eye had completely deflated.

Twilight scooped the remains of the eye out of the socket, dried the excess ooze with a rag, and selected a pair of tweezers. The subject’s remaining eye turned to look at the tool. Its entire body shook at the sight of them, but the only thing to come out if its mouth was a low croak.

Placing the tweezers at the back of the eye socket, Twilight began pinching and pulling out small chunks of flesh until she finally caught hold of what she was looking for. Twilight pulled the tweezers, bringing out a small, worm like object. The subject shook more violently than before, shrieking like a wounded pig. Finally, after a minute, Twilight worked the optic nerve free.

The subject screeched and pulled hard at its binds, either to try to defend itself or to clutch at the empty cavity. Twilight giggled and gave it a comforting pat on the arm.

“Don’t worry, we’re almost done” She said. Twilight had intended for this to make her subject feel better it didn’t seem to work. Instead, the subject began thrashing against the table, crying out like a newborn foal, and exhaling a long stream of dark green fire that singed the roof of Twilight’s workshop.

Twilight waited for the subject to calm down before continuing. She was a little less cautious with the second eye, rushing through the eyelid removal like an over excited filly. When it was gone, Twilight pressed the scalpel into the second eye and used it to scoop out the gels and tissues that took so long to ooze out of the other one.

The subject too had gotten bolder. It struggled as Twilight worked, trying to bite or burn her. But for all its efforts it only managed to make Twilight’s control of the scalpel less accurate.

Twilight removed the second eye and put it with the other. Together they looked like a pair of crushed cherries.

After removing the optic nerve from the second eye socket, Twilight brought out the two mechanical eyes she had made less than an hour before collecting her subject. Their build was similar to a camera, only they didn’t need a bright flash of light to catch an image. They were made of a light metal except for the actual lenses which were made of glass. Twilight was quite confident that they would be comfortable.

Twilight placed the eyes into the subject’s sockets, and was satisfied that they fit. She magically linked the eyes to the subject’s occipital lobe, causing a crackling sound to come from within the subject’s head.

The mechanical eyes lit up and emitted a dull green light. Twilight shone the light of her horn directly into them and had to resist the urge to giggle as they followed the glow when she moved.

“Okay Spike, looks like we’re done here.” Twilight said happily. She pressed a button on the side of her work table and the straps holding the subject released it. The subject tried to get up, but all it succeeded in was barely lifting an arm. “You’re probably still in shock from the project, so I’m gonna let you rest down here for a little bit. There are snacks in the cabinet if you get hungry and books on the shelf if you get bored.”

Twilight wiped up any remaining blood and got out a pillow and a blanket to keep the subject cozy while she was gone. When she had tucked the subject in, Twilight kissed it on the forehead and said, “I’ll be back in a little bit, don’t worry.”

Twilight closed a curtain to give her subject some privacy and made her way to her workshop’s bathroom. On the way she passed her last experiment, one that had sadly ended up being a failure. Realizing that she hadn’t visited with it since yesterday, Twilight pulled up a chair and sat beside it.

The experiment’s fur had fallen out in places, showing greenish skin and warts that had formed over night. One of these warts had formed underneath the experiment’s left eye, causing it to bulge out and rendering it blind.

“Hey, Pinkie.” Twilight said tentatively. The experiment’s good eye rolled to look at her, giving an expression that could’ve either been terror, or happiness.

Twilight rubbed a hoof over the experiment’s body, feeling the scars from where she had plugged tubes into it. They were getting better.

“I’m sorry,” Twilight said, “I didn’t mean for you to end up like this. The theory was sound and… I’m going to make things right.”

The experiment tried to open its mouth to say something, but all that came out were a couple of flies that had gotten stuck in there Celestia knows how long ago. Twilight shooed the flies away and made a mental note to do something to keep them out of her experiment.

Twilight got a water bottle and poured some water into the experiment’s mouth, taking care not to give too much or to choke it. The experiment’s throat shuddered as damaged muscles tried their hardest to swallow the liquid.

“Honey, are you down there?” A deep voice called from the trap door leading into Twilight’s workshop.

“Yes dear,” Twilight called back, “just finishing up some experiments.”

“Well when you get a chance, Page needs some help with her science homework, and you know how I am about that.”

Twilight giggled, “Don’t worry, I’m almost done.”

She turned back to the experiment, which was looking toward the trap door and an odd, breathy sound hissed out of its gaping mouth. “Don’t worry, that’s just my husband, he won’t hurt you. Anyway, I’ve got to go now, but when your stomach is strong enough, I’ll give you a slice of cake for your first piece of solid food.” Twilight chuckled, “Hey, maybe the girls and I could throw you a recovery party? Doesn’t that sound fun?” The experiment stared at her in silence.

Twilight left the experiment and went to her workshop’s shower. Selecting the brand of shampoo that Rarity had recommended to her, Twilight began the process of rinsing the blood out of her fur and feathers. It wasn’t easy, the blood had clotted in places and Twilight had to rely on a comb to get it out. Finally, after fifteen minutes, she was out of the shower, smelling like apple pie and covered in silky smooth fur that was completely blood free.

After drying off, Twilight climbed up through the iron trap door, and locked it behind her. The entry room around the trap door was essentially a concrete shed where Big Mac stored some of his farming equipment. There was a little more light than in the workshop itself, but that was only because there was a small window on one of the walls.

Twilight’s eyes stung at the natural light, nearly blinding her. After giving them a couple of seconds to adjust, she was met by a large mass of red fur. The next thing she knew two legs were wrapped around her neck and some pony was gently rubbing her nose with their own.

Twilight giggled and answered her husband’s nuzzle with a kiss. A second later they broke off and Big Mac said, “I haven’t seen you all day.”

“I’m sorry; my latest experiment is time consuming and needs constant supervision. I mean the calculations alone took about three hours, and then there are variables I need to consider and-” Big Macintosh interrupted his wife with another kiss.

“Sugar plum, you know I can’t make heads nor tails of that science hoopla you do.” Big Mac said when he broke off, “It makes my head spin.”

Blushing, Twilight said, “Sorry. I was going on a tangent again, wasn’t I?”

Big Macintosh chuckled, “No, I stopped you before you could get that far. I mean, I love hearing you talk about your work, I just can’t understand it. Maybe we talk about it later when we’re eating?”

Twilight smiled, “Sounds good.” Then, realizing an opportunity, added in her best suggestive voice, “Maybe later we could get Rarity so that you and I could talk more *alone*.”

“Maybe, but with that new husband of hers, I doubt it would make much of a difference. Those two are like rabbits.”

Both ponies chuckled despite it being a bad joke.

“Anyway, I just wanted to talk to you before you went to help Page.” Big Mac said, “I won’t keep you any longer. I’d go with you, but I need to finish fertilizing the garden.”

“No problem. I’ll see you at dinner. Love you!”

“I love you too sugar plum.”

Twilight crossed the yard to her house. To her right, the orchards were blooming with white and pink flowers. In a couple of weeks Summerfree would work with her father to harvest thousands of apples, after which Twilight and her other two children work to brew them into cider, and apple wine to be served at Canterlot parties. Twilight was thinking about trying a new apple beverage, Scumble, to diversify their selection. It would certainly be a fun experiment.

The house itself was a three story mansion built with plantation inspired architecture coupled with Cloudsdale esque columns with marble accents. Big Macintosh had wanted a home similar to his family’s house in Sweet Apple Acres, but Twilight had insisted they get something more dignified, if only to keep the Canterlot nobles happy. Of course, Twilight also made sure that her husband got a few things to remind him of home. Much of the interior was based on the Apple family home, particularly the kitchen, where Big Mac spent much of his time.

Twilight stepped into the house’s foyer, a simple room with hardwood floors and walls that were decorated with pictures of Twilight and Big Macintosh’s family.

“Page!” Twilight called out, “You’re father told me you needed help with something?”

“Yeah, Mom, I’m in the library.” Page Turner answered.

Twilight followed Page’s voice into the largest room in the entire house. The library was modeled after the ones kept by ancient unicorn wizards, standing at about two stories tall and built with boulders fitted into each other by hoof. Like every other library, the room was packed with bookshelves that were spaced just far enough from each other to allow two ponies to walk side by side, giving the whole room a slightly claustrophobic feel.

“Page, are you in here?” Twilight called out.

“Yeah, Mom,” Page answered, “I’m in the biology section!”

Twilight traversed several aisles of bookshelves, passing the Zoology and Hippology sections until she came upon a small table that was set by one of the few shelf free walls. Sitting at this desk was a small, reddish-orange pegasus filly that was surrounded by papers and opened books.

“Hey Mom.” Page Turner said when she noticed Twilight. When she sat down beside her, Page added, “I don’t know if Dad told you but, you see… I’m having some… problem with, well-”

“You’re having trouble with your homework.” Twilight said.

Page gave a weak smile and the fur around her cheeks turned a bright red. “Yeah, that’s it. Sorry.”

“Sorry? For what?” Twilight asked.

Page hesitated for a moment. “Well, it’s just you’re always talking about your projects and theories, coming up with ways to make weather without pegasi or new recipes for cider. Since I can’t do magic like a unicorn I thought that you would want me to be a scientist, like you.”

“Why would you think that?”

Page looked at the floor for a moment. “Because every pony on Dad’s side of the family seem to all have similar special talents, well except for Auntie Applebloom; and I figured that you would want me to follow in your hoof steps, but…” Tears began rolling down Page’s cheeks. “I’m scared that I can’t.”

Twilight wrapped a wing around her daughter and pulled her in close. “How long have you been worried about this?”she asked.

“Couple weeks,” Page sniffled, rubbing her head into her mother’s shoulder. “ever since Summerfree got her cutie mark. You and Aunt Applejack kept talking about how much she was becoming like Dad and how y’all were so proud of her and-”

The image of Summerfree’s cutecenera flashed into Twilight’s mind. She and Aj have been talking about how proud they were of Summerfree, but she had no idea that would’ve had this big of an impression on Page.

“I just want to make you proud.” Page said. “I can’t harvest apples like Dad and Summerfree, and I can’t do magic like Bunsen. All I’ve got is science and I’m terrible at it!” Page clutched at Twilight and sobbed, “I’m worthless.”

Twilight nuzzled Page on the forehead, saying, “You’re not worthless.”

Page looked up, her eyes red from crying, “Really?”

“Really;” Twilight answered, “I don’t expect you to have the same talents and passions as I do, or your father for that matter. I just want you to be happy with whatever turns out to be your special talent. So what if you’re not good at science? I’m sure there are plenty of things that you’re good at, and you just don’t know it yet. Whatever it is, I’ll be proud of you for it.”

Page pressed her head into Twilight’s fur. “Thanks, Mom.”

“So what are you having trouble with?”

Page pulled herself out of her mother’s grasp, “It’s biology. Mrs. Cheerilee has explained it several times over, but I still don’t get it.”

Twilight pretended to think for a moment, “Okay, what about biology don’t you get?”

“Everything!” Page stomped a hoof on the table. “One minute we’re talking about DNA, and how it’s nothing like sci-fi novels describe it, then we move on to something called RNA and amino acids and-”

“Oh, microbiology.” Twilight said, “At least, I think that’s what it’s called. I didn’t realize they were teaching it to fillies your age.”

Page’s ears perked up and she said hopefully, “So you’re saying it’s too early for them to teach in to me and that I should just ignore it?”

Twilight smiled slyly. “Nice try.”

Page’s ears fell flat again.

“Let’s start with the basics, shall we?” Twilight said, ignoring her daughter’s disappointment. She took out a pencil and a piece of paper and on it drew three straight lines. “Both DNA and RNA contain genetic information, but they both perform different functions.” She drew lines connecting two of the three lines and then a few more on the remaining line. “The easiest way to recognize the difference between the two is that DNA is double stranded whereas RNA is single stranded. Further differences relate to the chemical makeup of the molecule. For example, DNA contains sugar deoxyribose while RNA contains ribose. The difference is that ribose contains more-”

“Mom, I don’t think they’re going to ask me about the chemical makeup of them.” Page said, pulling out a sheet of paper. “Mrs. Cheerilee gave the class a study guide and it doesn’t mention deoribose, or whatever you called it.”

“Deoxyribose.” Twilight corrected, “And why didn’t you tell me this before? It would’ve been helpful.”

“Well, I was gonna, but then you started talking and I wasn’t sure how to speak up.”

“Oh,” Twilight felt blood rising to her cheeks, “sorry. What’s on the sheet?”

“Just a list of terms that Cheerilee wants us to understand.” Page said, “I thought I could understand it on my own, but all of your books just made everything confusing.”

Twilight took the sheet of paper from her daughter. “Let’s see, ‘What is the difference between a virus and bacteria?’ That’s easy enough. ‘What are the two types of blood cells?’ ‘Mitochondria, ribosome, cytoplasm, cell membrane, nucleus’ that’s just a list of cell parts.” Twilight’s eyes narrowed, “‘What is the purpose of bone marrow?’ Aren’t y’all a little young to be learning about bone marrow?”

“Mom, you just tried to explain the chemical makeup of DNA,” Page said.

“Oh, right.” Twilight suddenly felt the need to quickly change the subject, “Anyway, let’s start with the difference between a virus and bacteria.”

“Okay.”

Twilight thought for a moment, recollecting all her knowledge on microbes. “Well, let’s start with how they’re similar. Both viruses and bacteria can cause infection, and both reproduce quickly inside the pony body.”

“Alright,” Page said, writing the information down, “What makes them different?”

“Well, they’re different sizes for one thing, and they reproduce differently.” Twilight answered. “Bacteria, for instance, reproduce by dividing themselves. Viruses reproduce by attacking cells and multiplying inside them.”

Twilight paused and waited for Page to finishes writing. “The next difference is treatment. Bacteria are easily treated by antibiotics, provided that the pony in being treated finishes their treatment. Viruses on the other side of the coin, well, they’re tricky.”

Page looked up from her notes, “How so?”

“Well, many viruses can’t be treated by medicine or magic. Most viruses aren’t a big deal to ponies, and they usually go away on their own. But sometimes ponies get infected with a virus that can’t be cured or killed, and those ponies have to deal with that for their entire lives. Sometimes they might not realize that something’s wrong…” Twilight went quiet. Something in the pit of her stomach twisted and the alicorn wasn’t sure if she wanted to cry or throw up.

“Mom, are you okay?” Page asked.

“Y-Yes.” Twilight said uncertainly. “What’s next on that list of yours?”