//------------------------------// // Canto VII: Descent Into Selfishness and Begrudging and the Judgement of Rarity and Fluttershy // Story: Twilight's Inferno: A Brony Comedy // by The Young and Free Dragon //------------------------------// TWILIGHT'S INFERNO BY THE YOUNG AND FREE DRAGON There is no greater wealth than family For her your science finds no measuring-rods; She in her realm provides, maintains, makes laws, And judges, as do in theirs the other gods. ~Dante: The Divine Comedy 1: Hell, Canto 7, Lines 85-87 CANTO VII: DESCENT INTO SELFISHNESS AND BEGRUDGING AND THE JUDGEMENT OF RARITY AND FLUTTERSHY Twilight's journey down the path brought strange new things to her eyes A stage loomed ahead with ponies standing rigidly upon it They shivered under cold insults from onlookers, and the cold bise Those on the stage were dressed in fashionable clothing, though worn Dirty and seemingly beaten, as they were tossed into the rioting crowds Who brought their hooves down viciously and spat on them in scorn Once beaten almost beyond belief, they took their place on the stage once again Their injuries exposed to the biting wind, and to the angry eyes below And whichever was beaten the hardest; had a crown of thorns dropped on her mane Twilight continued down the path until she saw it come to an end Right in front of two archways, met in the middle with a high rock And there on the top, sat the foulest of these sinned Rarity's beautiful composure was gone And she sat beside an ugly lump To which, she seemed the Braun “Fashionable!” She called, and the pony first in line went below her arch He fell in line with others, waiting to be stripped and then clothed on the stage Their hooves bleeding as they beat a path covered in leaves of the larch “Ugly!” The creature beside her said to the next sinner below Who traveled down a path covered in rose stems that cut deep And fell into a pit, emitting cries of misery and woe Creatures looked down in the pit and picked ponies for torture Bringing them out and impaling them upon beautiful wooden stakes Though they stayed alive to become part of the foul orchard Then the creatures adorned them with new clothing Made from thorns, Gmypie leaves, Manchineel bark, Mala mujer Everything that would hurt the flesh they were exposing The ugly now made fashionable, they were thrown back into the pit To wallow in the mud and with the other ponies until picked again As though in preparation for a sin they might recommit “Who is her prince?” Twilight asked, as Celestia appeared beside her. “Is he her eternal curse, since with those below, she does not suffer?” Celestia smiled at her young pupil's growing knowledge, as it were “Yes, that is Prince Blueblood, of his crimes, I am not aware, “But he surely does belong among these selfish ponies, “He was damned from his childhood, without a prayer.” “I feel no sympathy,” Twilight said, without hesitation. “Except for Rarity. Surely, he is a fate worse than Hell, To be married for eternity to that abomination.” “I assure you, that she deserves this,” Celestia said simply, “But now I ask you to look upon those on the stakes, “Those who's bodies now hang limply.” “Are they dead?” Twilight asked, now noticing this. “How can they escape their eternal torture this way?” Already her assumption taking form of a parti pris “No, they cannot escape it. But they are attempting to escape hell, “By committing the sin of dishonesty. To fool their captors, if they can.” And as Celestia pointed this out, Twilight noticed this as well. Their captors continued to dress them and tossed them back where they belonged They would sit still for a minute before letting out their laments again And joining the others in the pit, so viciously thronged “It is time to judge your friend,” Celestia said, disappearing from view. And so Twilight galloped toward the rock, scaling it quickly Though not without looking at the sinners, to see who she knew Hoity Toity for hording fashionable clothing and accessories Photo Finish fell among the same crime, as well as the ugly And Diamond Tiara, for keeping to herself, what could have been her friends' memories Twilight Sparkle then landed before the Prince and her friend She wasted no time in pushing Prince Blueblood into the ugly pit With him, she had no question in her mind, where to send Rarity let out a gasp as Twilight took her by the throat Whining and complaining before falling silent Trying in a desperate attempt to smooth out her coat “It will always be unkempt,” Twilight said, stopping her hoof. “That is unless you confess your sins without humiliation,” She hoped that Rarity would stop attempting to appear aloof “I...” She murmured finally, tears rolling down her cheeks “Why shall I even tell you? I am damned already,” Blood descending like rivers from peaks where her eyes had sprung leaks “Because you have a chance under my eyes to live again, “In harmony with Celestia, and with our friends that make it, “As long as you never commit another sin.” “I... I was to share the spoils of our search for gems, “I was to adorn our soldiers' armored dresses with them, “For protection about their hems. “Instead I hid them and kept them, hoarding them, “Not only was this a sin against those who trusted me, “Several died without the protection of the gems.” She bowed her head and Twilight studied her for a moment And then a vision appeared in her head, sent by Celestia Perhaps to test her or show her Rarity's atonement She saw Rarity being dragged to the dungeons when her crimes were found out But before most of the gems could be taken for the purpose of the soldiers, Spike found the hoard, and fed on what was left behind by his friend under the knout He was able to live in a time of famine for dragons, and for this Twilight smiled Rarity had left the gems behind, whether for Spike's life or not And they had saved the life, of the very one she was trying to save, her desperate child “Find peace, Rarity,” She whispered to her friend, and lifted her up. The ivory unicorn glowed and was accepted into the heavens above, Despite her failure to her duties and the army, as Krupp “Your bias is understandable, but punishable,” Celestia's voice said. “How can that be?” Twilight asked, looking about her. “If not for Rarity, Spike would have suffered and be dead.” “If not for Rarity and you, Spike would be in heaven with me,” Celestia said causing Twilight's heart to fall into the pit below. “You've learned some things, but you still have much to see.” “Then let us go,” Twilight Sparkle said, hopping off the rock and wading through the crowd The damned clawed at her and she set each attacker straight with the tip of Death's blade Their ugly exteriors were turned uglier by Twilight, who tried to keep her eyes forward as she plowed She reached the ending of this circle, looking down from a cliff She saw a marsh below in which unknown things writhed Things of a disgusting manner that made her back go stiff “The fifth circle here harbors the Begrudging souls of Hell,” Celestia said, looking down at those below. “Here, those who wished ill on their friends, dwell.” “But what of my friends could be down here?” Twilight asked. “My friends might have made mistakes that hurt each other, “But surely none of them harbored a hate that they masked?” Celestia only gave her a sideways glance before fading away And Twilight could see no other option than to jump And so she did, screaming as she fell down the long way She landed hard upon a rock, frightening sinners who hopped into the murk Twilight looked around at the sinners around her, and her mind set to work Trying to figure out their punishment as she looked around the cirque There were rocks floating in the muck, on which sat sinners They spat curses and words of hatred at each other But from their argument, there were no winners Their hate turned into black mud that helped to fill the marsh And those below drowned in the hate, creating more of their own But Twilight did not know which punishment was more harsh The ponies on the rocks were hated and pushed into the mud Their afterlives driven by what they lived on Earth And with each word, a new cut formed in their ears, drawing blood But she seen enough of these begrudging creatures, and she turned to a hollow Made in the wall of the circle, where ponies spat curses up at their ruler Who sat silently, though her eyes betrayed her hate for those who should follow Twilight knew she would not get through these sinners without a fight And so, she drew Death's blade and dove into the crowd Attacking the naked and shriveled, those who now felt pain from what was right They reacted to her as another one of their own Spitting curses, pushing and shoving As though she was just another mindless drone She tore their withered legs from their bodies And when they fell to their stumps She slashed off their head, destroying what each embodies Though this was no permanent solution More of the damned were climbing from the marsh Still drowning as they joined the violent confusion Twilight was being driven backwards toward the pony on the throne Who sat silently, watching the battle rage, and getting satisfaction From each death, and each second her judgment was postponed Finally Twilight's eyes glowed as she drew from her magical abilities A purple wave of energy pushing all of the ponies back She began to turn, though first searched them, identifying a few philistines A Wonderbolt who begrudged his friend's higher reputation Sliver Spoon for hating what littler her friend earned Twist because of her friends' better accommodation She turned to the leader of this circle, the minions beaten back for now The ruler, as she had feared: Fluttershy. Much the same Except bleeding from her ears, and deaf from all the fighting she would allow Twilight pulled her down from her throne, taking her by the neck She looked into the eyes of her friend, and saw beneath the hate The same Fluttershy, a nervous and frightened wreck “Fluttershy, what have you done to deserve this fate?” Twilight asked, feeling her disbelief grow That Fluttershy could end up somewhere so full of hate “I harbored a silent dislike of my friends...” She said softly. “It grew like a cancer until it was a festering hate, “And I was weighed down with the pain, so awfully... “I took my own life to relieve the fire burning inside me, “Without friends, I became no better than these ponies, “And without my life, I became a part of this hate, of this degree. “I am still sinning now...for your position I am jealous, “My envy grows ever stronger with each moment, “For my doom or salvation, I am zealous.” Twilight stared into the eyes of what had been Fluttershy “Damnation for destroying yourself, the beautiful creature we once knew,” Twilight said, and Fluttershy closed her eyes, ready to die. Twilight stabbed her horn into Fluttershy's skull She melted into fiery ashes around Twilight And nothing but dust and a skull were left of this cull She sighed, disheartened and saw a crooked path of rocks Leading to a watch tower, not far away Built in the much, though supported on docks Celestia reappeared and silently they went toward the tower They moved down the slick rocks -which none of the damned Could scale- to the dark light cast with one intent, to devour