The Vivisection of Starlight Glimmer; by The Bizarre One.
- AKA the third draft of what was "The Dissection of Starlight Glimmer"; a sequel to "Sweetie Belle's Gift" and "Apple Bloom Lends a Hand, and Other Limbs".
- Tags: Female/Female; snuff; vivisection (AKA "dissection of the still-living"); cannibalism; non-consensual.

This version has taken into account the advice given after my first draft was posted, including victim reactions both before and during the process. (And keep in mind, this is still the first story I've written involving guro of this type.)
~*~

Twilight hummed contentedly to herself as she moved around the laboratory of her castle, setting up the equipment she'd need. After all, this was a very special day for her. Once everything was in place, she started into the room next door, which she had recently and officially dubbed "The Brain Room". For it was here that the still living brains of Equestrians who had, for whatever reason, allowed their bodies to be taken apart after a special spell was cast, enabling their brains to survive regardless of the condition of their bodies.

The top shelf held two very special brains: those of Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, the younger sisters of Twilight's friends Rarity and Applejack, who had both consented to letting their older sisters cut them up and use their parts for other purposes. Sweetie Belle had become the basis for Rarity's new line of leather goods, while Apple Bloom's family had used her parts for a variety of purposes, including turning her bones into farm tools. Next to them sat an empty jar labeled with the name "Scootaloo", reserved for the last living member of the original Cutie Mark Crusaders, whom Twilight expected would be joining her friends any day now. And on the same shelf, but some distance away, sat two empty jars reserved for Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, two bullying fillies from Ponyville whose parents had quietly confessed to Twilight that they planned to sell them to Rarity for parts if they didn't shape up soon, and that she was more than welcome to their brains once they were harvested.

That led to another shelf, which had yet to be occupied, but that would change in just a few hours. Soon after Sweetie Belle's brain had come to stay with her, Twilight had approached her fellow princesses with a proposal. Crime was rare in Equestria, and crimes truly worthy of the death penalty even rarer, to the point where even when it happened, the ones who committed them were merely thrown in prison.

But months ago, a criminal had surfaced who was simply too dangerous to be imprisoned by normal means. Starlight Glimmer, an extremely talented unicorn, had been found running a village occupied entirely by ponies with the same Cutie Mark. Twilight and her friends had discovered that Starlight was using a spell (though she had at first claimed it was a magical artifact she was using) to strip the residents of their original marks, some of them against their will, and replace them with a new one that suppressed all individual talents and personality traits. She had even stolen the marks of Twilight and her friends after luring them into the cave where she kept the removed marks.

Once Twilight and the others had publicly exposed her lies to the villagers, they had rebelled, recovering their original marks. Four had then pursued Starlight, who had fled the village with the six marks of Twilight and her own circle of friends in retaliation for their exposing her. While the quartet had successfully retrieved the last of the stolen marks, Starlight herself had evaded capture and fled to parts unknown. And after returning to Ponyville, Twilight had alerted the royal guard, informing them of Starlight and her actions, as her theft of Twilight's own mark amounted to treason against the crown. The guards had made her capture their number one priority, and eventually brought her in.

Because of her crimes, the two senior princesses had reluctantly agreed to Twilight's proposed plan: harvest Starlight and reduce her to a brain in a jar. Without a living body, she would be unable to access her magic, and could never hurt anypony ever again like she had before. Furthermore, when Twilight had suggested that she could also harvest other ponies guilty of heinous crimes, using her castle as a sort of prison for them once they were just brains in jars, Luna and Celestia had agreed to that as well. And now, Starlight was due to be delivered to her castle for harvesting that very morning, while at least two more would arrive by the end of the week.

"Miss Twilight?"

Twilight blinked as she was startled out of her introspections, and turned to the younger girl at the door. "Yes, Liza?"

"They're here."

"Ah, good. Thank you, Liza." Twilight watched the younger girl go with a smile. A week or so before, an ill and aging unicorn couple who didn't have long for the world had come to the castle with their daughter, Liza Doolots. Not wanting their only child to fall prey to unscrupulous ponies who would take advantage of her (and there had in fact been a few who would, and unfortunately had; they were currently being interrogated elsewhere and would be scheduled for vivisection once the guards had learned everything they could about any potential accomplices), and knowing that Twilight would take good care of a growing child, they had asked her to take Liza and raise her as she saw fit.

Upon hearing their reasons for giving up their daughter, Twilight had consented, and named Liza her new primary assistant. (Spike, who normally held the position, had recently moved to the Crystal Empire to help Cadance and Shining Armor take care of their own newborn daughter, and Owlowiscious‎, useful as he was, had his own limitations that kept him from taking over for Spike full-time.) The unicorn girl had done a wonderful job so far, but today would be her biggest test yet: seeing how she handled herself during the vivisection of another living being. If she did well enough, Twilight had promised to take her as her official apprentice and begin teaching her more skills.

But first, she had to accept delivery. Making one last check of the room, she reassured herself that all was set, and left for the castle's entrance hall.

~*~

The guards, along with the heavily restrained (including a special one on her horn, to prevent any magical discharges), magically gagged, and fiercely glaring Starlight, were waiting just inside the door, while Liza watched from a distance. "Princess Twilight," one of them greeted her. "Your prisoner."

"Thank you," Twilight told him. "I'll take her from here."

"Your highness, this prisoner is exceptionally dangerous! We can't just let you take her without proper precautions!"

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Let me, guardsman? Let me?"

The guardsman realized his mistake. "Ah, no offense, your highness. I..."

"I'll let it slide. This time," Twilight warned him. "But I gave an order, and I expect it to be obeyed. Now, I'll take her from here."

"Y-yes, your highness." The two guardsmen stepped back, allowing Twilight to look at her prisoner. A glow of magic later, and the other unicorn-woman was moving along behind her, while Liza silently brought up the rear of the line. Together, the three entered the laboratory, where Twilight turned to face Starlight.

"You know, it didn't have to go this far," she told her prisoner. "You could have tried making friends the normal way. But no, you had to resort to brainwashing. That was bad enough. But to commit treason by trying it against one of Equestria's princesses... well, that was it for you."

Starlight glared again, and Twilight briefly removed her gag. Once it was gone, the other unicorn-woman began to speak. "You think you're so smart! Do you really, really think you can do anything that would hurt me? You're too nice to try!"

"Nice, am I?" Twilight gave her a look. "Take a look around. What do you think those cutting tools are for?"

"Intimidation," Starlight huffed. "Even when the guards brought me in, they never did anything to hurt me. And I can't believe you would either."

"Oh, really?" Twilight gave her a look. "Liza, show her."

"Yes, ma'am." Liza hurried into the other room, then returned. With a brain in a jar.

"This belonged to an Earth Pony mare," Twilight told her. "Her husband sold her to my friend Rarity for parts a while back. We personally cut her up while she was still alive, and we made her daughter watch us while we did it, so she'd know what would happen to her if she didn't shape up. And she's mostly behaved herself since then, but we're pretty sure she's going to end up in my collection anyway, right alongside her mother." She looked at Liza. "You can put it away now, Liza."

"Mm-hmm." Liza shyly left the room, still carrying the jar.

Watching her go, Twilight turned back to Starlight. "Now, do you have anything else to say?"

Starlight's eyes narrowed. "You're bluffing."

"Oh, am I?" In a flurry of magic, Twilight had the other mare on the table, stark naked and gagged again. "We'll see." As Liza returned to her side, the jar containing Apple Bloom's brain re-shelved (for it had in fact been hers, and not Spoiled Rich's as Twilight had claimed - the other mare, unpleasant as she was, had yet to truly earn the fate of being harvested, and had certainly never volunteered for it; Twilight had made up the story with the idea that it would have the desired effect of showing Starlight how serious she was about this), Twilight cast the next two spells she'd prepared: one that would utterly paralyze Starlight so she couldn't move as they cut into her, and the preservation spell that would keep Starlight's brain alive no matter what happened to her body.

With everything ready, Twilight turned to Liza. "To start off, we're going to remove her horn first, and here's how we're going to do it." Selecting a scalpel and holding it over Starlight's forehead, she continued talking as she began the work. "You have to gently press the blade against the skin, and sort of roll it along around the outer edge, so you don't accidentally do any damage to the horn itself, understand?"

Liza nodded as Twilight continued cutting. "Once you have the incision made all the way around, you cut just a little deeper until you get to the skull, and then... out it all comes!" She extracted the horn and carbuncle (a small jewel just inside its base) from the hole she had made. Placing the items into the jar Liza had ready for her, and gesturing for it to be set aside, she continued. "Now, we apply the sealing spell so she doesn't bleed out."

Liza watched, fascinated, as Twilight did so. "The effect will spread over her whole body as we make more cuts. Now, we'll flip her over so we can start skinning her." Starlight's eyes widened (in spite of the spell on her), to Twilight's satisfaction. "We need to be careful here too, because Rarity wants her skin for her shop, and it has to be perfect."

She examined Starlight's body, running a hand over the bare flesh, and pointed to a spot along the base of the spine. "We'll start the cut... here!" She sliced gently into the skin, and as she continued cutting, pointed out key spots where they would cut again, in such a way that the skin would ultimately come off in one piece. She even let Liza have a go at it in some of them, watching proudly as the younger girl's hand moved steadily, never wavering and allowing her to make the cuts without a single mistake. Between them, they soon had the entire skin off, and placed under a separate preservation spell so Rarity could treat it properly after she got it back to her shop.

"This is really wonderful," she remarked to Liza. "In fact, if Rarity wanted, she could just have it stuffed, and it would look exactly like the original pony. She won't do it for this one, I'm sure, but maybe another time."

With the skin removed, the two now moved on to the next stage, opening up the body, with Twilight instructing Liza as she cut through the layers of muscle on Starlight's torso, slicing it into steaks and setting it aside. "That's our dinner tonight," she told Liza (and Starlight). "Your first real meal of meat from a woman you personally cut up. Doesn't that sound wonderful?"

"Yes!" Liza burst out, then looked embarrassed. "I... er..."

"It's okay, Liza. You don't have to be afraid to show a little enthusiasm about your work." Twilight looked at the girl with a smile. "It's a sure sign that you're doing it right, after all. Now, you'll be taking out the organs, and putting them in these jars."

She watched as Liza removed Starlight's internals, explaining what would happen to each of them. "These will go to Fluttershy," Twilight pointed out as they took out the stomach, esophagus and entrails. "The liver, kidneys and pancreas are all suitable for transplant into those who need them, and the heart and lungs too, once we get those out."

Next to come were the ovaries and uterus, and Twilight watched as Liza gently cut them out. "Rarity's getting the womb," she told Liza. "The flesh is tough, so Rarity uses it for making boot soles. But the ovaries are for my collection, and I have something special in mind for them."

"What are you going to do with them?" Liza asked.

"That..." Twilight grinned mischievously, "Is a secret!" She gave an evil laugh, and was satisfied as Starlight's pupils dilated in response.

Finally, only the heart, lungs and windpipe remained in the torso, but Twilight asked Liza to leave them alone for now. "Those are actually the last of her organs to come out, after her brain. But what else is there?"

"Um, her eyes?"

If it had been possible, said eyes would have widened further in horror as Twilight smiled. "Absolutely correct. Now, they can be damaged very easily, and I have a very specific ritual that has to be done during this part of the operation, so it has to be done absolutely perfect. This is one of the most critical moments here, understand?"

Once Liza nodded, Twilight continued her lecture. "First, for this to work properly, her own reflection has to be the last thing she sees." She pointed to the hand mirror nearby, and a jar of a green moss-like substance. "I'll be holding that mirror up to her face while you take out the eyes. Once they're out, we pack them in myrrh, cassia bark and aloes, and I have a spell I have to say once they're in it. Then we'll set them aside for forty days while they sort of... crystalize. Once they're all done, they can be used for a special project I read about a while back. Are you ready to do this?"

Liza nodded, and taking the scalpel Twilight handed her, slowly, carefully worked her way in behind the left eye before severing the nerve holding it into the socket. She set the eye in the jar, then took out the other one with the same care. Twilight, setting the mirror aside once the second eye was out, quickly packed the two orbs in the jar's mossy contents, muttering a spell under her breath before sealing the jar. "There. Now, for the piéce de résistance. We're going to take out her brain."

She pointed to Starlight's neck. "For this, we're going to start by cutting the rest of the muscle tissue off her head, and setting it aside."

Liza followed her teacher's directions, gently slicing the rest of the meat off of Starlight's skull, before they began opening up the skull itself. Once a tiny hole had been made, Twilight held up a jar. "We need to save the cerebrospinal fluid," she told Liza. "I'm going to use a siphoning spell to get it in here." When that was done, the two cut around the rest of the bone, lifting the top of the skull off to expose the pink-gray mass of flesh beneath.

"We're going to take the brain stem too," Twilight told her. "Just cut it loose from the spinal cord, then the entire brain should come out." Liza did so, and very shortly, they had the brain out and back in its own cerebrospinal fluid, Twilight sealing the jar. She could almost hear Starlight screaming, and frowned. "We'll need to keep an eye on her," she muttered. "Not everypony has accepted losing their bodies like this. Sweetie and Apple Bloom were prepared, but if you aren't ready, you could go insane and die like that one stallion did in Fillydelphia, and that's the last thing we want. I'd better get her into the brain room." She turned to Liza. "You can take out the last of her organs while I'm gone, okay?"

Liza did as she was told, and by the time Twilight was back, all of Starlight's remaining organs lay in their jars, and Liza was taking the rest of the meat off her bones. Watching her work, Twilight smiled as she turned to the jars they'd filled, and began putting them into their designated storage units. After that, she started wrapping up the meat Liza had set aside into separate bundles, preparing them for storage in her kitchen's freezer. These should be tasty, Twilight thought to herself. There's lots of good meals waiting to happen here.

Finally, once all the meat was off, Liza looked to Twilight as she pointed to the bones. "We're saving these too?"

"Absolutely," Twilight told her. "They'll be part of the same project as her eyes. So clean and disinfect them, okay?"

Liza nodded, and got to work.

~*~

A few hours later, as Twilight checked the Starlight steaks she had put on to grill, she looked at Liza, who was standing nearby. "You did a wonderful job today, Liza."

"Th-thank you, Miss Twilight."

"In fact, you did such a wonderful job..." Twilight smiled. "You passed my test. You're my new apprentice, Liza."

The younger girl looked happy. "Really?"

"Really." Twilight pulled her into a hug. "I can't imagine anypony I'd rather have at my side for this job. And I'm sure you're going to do just as well on the next few ponies who come in for us."

Liza smiled. "So, what are they in for?"

"Well, there's one named Suri Polomare. She's been involved in some... fraudulent business practices, and she's been caught at it too many times, with no signs of remorse. They're sending her from Manehatten in just a few days. The other is a mare from Cloudsdale, and she's the big one."

"Oh?"

Twilight nodded. "Lightning Dust is guilty of reckless flying that caused severe injuries to other ponies, putting them in the hospital. One of them was the daughter of the mayor of Cloudsdale, which is why he pushed for her to be sent to me for harvesting. She'll be here in a week."

"Ouch."

"Very ouch. And now... can you set the table? The other girls will be here soon, and I need everything to be ready when they arrive."

"Okay!" Liza ran off.

Twilight smiled as she watched the younger girl go. Ah, to be that young again... She turned back to the steaks, and flipped them. Taking her in was the best decision I ever made. Maybe I'll get really lucky, and she'll wind up an alicorn like me. Then we can keep doing this for a very, very long time.

THE END

***

Any thoughts on this version?

For the record, I already have half-formed thoughts about a sequel, which will reveal what the ovaries, eyes and bones are being used for. (The eyes and bones are all part of something inspired by a book I read a long time ago. The ovaries are for something else, and I'm still debating over exactly what it will be.) Also, we will see more of how Starlight copes with being a brain in a jar. (Inspiration for that was drawn from a different source.)