Sunset Shimmer: Student of Magick

Sunset Shimmer hopped from her bed, a little stiff but otherwise feeling alert. Sweetie Belle's empty bed indicated that she had already risen. The baby was not in the bed or the crib, so she was likely having breakfast with her mother. It surprised Sunset that both could have left the bedroom without disturbing her, but the fatigue of living with a baby had started to cause her to sleep through noises that otherwise would have disturbed her rest.

As she made her way to the door, she noticed that her legs were not fully cooperating. Each step was much shorter than her normal stride, as though her body refused to allow her normal gait. Try as she might, she could not shake the fuzziness like cotton from her sleepy mind. She even fumbled the door handle. She only shook her head at her own ineptitude. A hearty breakfast would snap her to alertness.

As she finally opened the door, she saw light from the kitchen. There were voices and the smell of cooking meat; Sweetie Belle must have gotten into the thin-sliced ham. Though Sunset had been saving it for the weekend, she did not begrudge her friend wanting something a little hardier than their usual Greek yoghurt with granola and toast.

The exhausted young woman stumbled into the kitchen and dropped into a chair. Pixie was happily smacking at her high chair's tray, squealing in merriment as her tiny plate bounced in time with her percussive actions.

"Good morning, sleepyhead." Sweetie Belle turned off the burner and removed the pan from the range. "I'm making us a special breakfast today. You hungry?"

Sunset felt her stomach rumble. "Absolutely. What're you making?"

"It's a surprise. Here, have an appetiser."

The teen placed a couple slices of ham on a plate along with some buttered toast.

"Your cooking has gotten a lot better," Sunset teased. "I don't see any black this time."

Her friend just chuckled in response.

"I need to get some more. Go ahead and enjoy; I'll be right back."

As Sweetie Belle stepped into the living room, Sunset cut into her food. It tasted a bit odd, not as salty as pork usually was. She decided it was not at all unpleasant as she ate ravenously. The meal helped stir her addled mind. As she became more alert, she could hear peculiar sounds from the living room. It was muffled, like the television had been left on with the volume lowered. Sweetie Belle had said she needed something to cook, but she had gone into the living room.

Sunset was confused. Perhaps her friend was taking a short break to watch some morning show and would return to the kitchen after it ended. Though Pixie made for good company, Sunset felt a little abandoned. She scooped the infant into her arms, noting that Pixie seemed heavier than normal.

"Want to see Mum?"

A happy gurgle was the response. Sunset carried her into the living room, where she immediately noticed that something was odd. It took her a few seconds to realise that the feeling stemmed from the fact that the furniture and the television were missing. In addition to her wayward possessions, too many people were present. Even as large as the living room was, it was crowded.

A very tall woman with dark red skin, bat-like wings, and hair that stood up from her head like a flame leant against the wall. Her hair nearly brushed the ceiling as she watched the other occupants of the room.

"Oh, Sunny, I was wondering when you'd join us," the tall woman said. Her voice was familiar, one Sunset felt she should recognise. "I've got everything ready. Here you go."

She provided a metal tray like those seen in an operating theatre. On it lay numerous surgical instruments, most of them sharp. There were scalpels up to the size of a butcher's knife. Hacksaws and barbed mallets rested beside what appeared to be thumbscrews. There were several whips scattered across the tray, most of them ending in bits of glass or metal shards.

"What am I supposed to do with those? I'm watching the baby."

"Don't worry about her. There are plenty of toys in the corner."

The tall woman pointed. At her side lay a pile of bloody meat. Long strings of what Sunset thought were intestines bound larger chunks together.

Sunset felt the other woman lifting Pixie from her. She watched as her new flame-haired friend lowered the baby into the puddled red pool. Pixie grasped one of the strings of intestines to swing its package into the others. The dull wet smack caused her to laugh.

"Sunset," Sweetie Belle's voice called.

The young woman looked away from where her adorable niece was shoving a spleen into her toothless mouth. Sweetie Belle was there, standing over two surgical tables. Magnum and Cookie were strapped to them, gags in their mouths to stifle their screams.

"I didn't mean to make you feel left out. Look, Mum's still got a lot left. You can have her. I'll finish up with Daddy."

The girl hefted a bonesaw and began cutting into her father again. His blood splattered over her, painting her beautiful white skin gruesome red.

When Sunset did not join her, she lowered the blade. "What's wrong?"

"There's something wrong here."

Her friend's brow wrinkled in confusion for a moment before her eyes lit.

"I'm so sorry, I forgot that you would want to hear the screams. Just a second."

She removed the gags to allow her parents' wails to fill the room. Sweetie Belle began to sing, using their agonised vocalisations as her chorus. It was better, but something was still wrong.

"Why are we doing this?"

"Practise," Sweetie Belle replied with a grin. "So many people have hurt you, but you can't get revenge until you know how to do it. They'll make great test dummies for it."

"I don't want to dismember your parents."

It was a simple fact. Sunset was unsure why she did not want to participate, but she knew that slicing into Cookie would not make her happy.

Her friend again looked about the room in confusion.

"Don't you want to punish them? Well, I guess maybe you wouldn't. After all, they weren't as bad to you as they were to me, so I guess you wouldn't get a lot out of it." The girl's expression was downcast, but cleared as she gasped, "Oh, I know."

Without crossing the room, Sweetie Belle somehow held Pixie. There was another, smaller table next to Cookie to which the young mother strapped her baby.

"I know how much her crying and the babysitting are driving you bonkers. Go ahead, have some fun."

"But she's your daughter."

"Oh, silly, I can always make another. I'm not even sixteen yet, after all."

"I don't want to hurt Pixie."

"Then do you want to cut me up? I know you said you forgave me, but I did really hurt you. Just a second, let me tie myself down."

Where once only two metal operating tables had once occupied the room, now there were four. They should not have fit the living room, yet they did. Sweetie Belle lay on her own and was bound to it as though by invisible hands.

"I'm all yours," she called in a sing-song voice. "I heard that people can survive having their intestines pulled out. If you're careful, you can cut a lot of me before I bleed to death. Just be careful not to put me into shock if you really want to enjoy it. I bet you've always wanted to try ripping a still-beating heart from someone, wanna practise on me?"

"No, I don't."

The tall woman left her post to move beside Sunset, who had finally understood why everything was out-of-sorts. Before she could say anything, the third wheel placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Come on, Sunny, cut loose a little." She laughed. "You see what I did there? I cut myself up sometimes." She laughed again. "I'm on a roll here."

"Get your gods-damned claws out of my dreams," Sunset demanded. "I'm not killing anyone, even if it's not real."

"But that's the whole point. This is merely cathartic. We're angry, Shimmy, and blowing off some steam here will keep us from snapping in the real world."

"I don't believe that for a second. You'd never suggest something that would make it harder for me to lose control. Now stop giving me nightmares."

The demon smirked. "It's so adorable how you act like I'm some external monster that you can vanquish. I'm only part of you, buried somewhere in your head. These nightmares? They're all you."