//------------------------------//
// Limbo, Part 3 
// Story: Fluttershy's Inferno 
// by Fish Taco Truck 
//------------------------------//

  The color of Rainbow Dash was indistinctable. Cyan, with multicolored hair. Her stomach was covered in blood, and her mouth dripped of it. The oak tree from which she hung was the most mortifying part for Fluttershy. It was the exact same tree as her house. Now that she looked at it closely, it was indistinctly her house. It nearly made her want to vomit. The noose from which Rainbow hung was dilapidated and worn, as if used to kill her itself.

Fluttershy wanted to walk on. To move her hooves away from the sight of easily her closest friend dead in a horrid form. But she couldn't pry her eyes from the horror. The moment she was going to walk away, the skull of Rainbow lifted up, her eyes dead and snow white. To her horror, the mouth moved... and talked.

Fluttershy... the pegasus seemingly spoke to her. You... failed.

A splitting headache overtook Fluttershy, and she raised a hoof to her head to cradle the throbbing pain in her forehead. A shadow dashed in front of her, and when she looked back to the pony, the head was down to her chest once more, as if the scene had never happened.

What in the hell... She thought to herself. The foreground was covered in mist, and it obviously had not a second ago. Something was toying with her. Without a second thought, she moved on.

Going further in to the area, she realized that this fear was not of Rainbow Dash dying, it was of her failure. The land in front of her was a scarred and horrifying landscape, covered in dead ponies, some sticking out to her more than others. The buildings were terrible and warped versions of houses in Ponyville, non more twisted than Sugarcube Corner, covered in a crystal substance. Twilight's Library was a burnt husk, Rainbow Dash's cloud place had crashed to the ground.

All this time, a whisper resounded in her head. Over and over again, the same words. Save us... others said You are weak..., and one finally said her name. It was as if the ponies around her were invisibly walking up to her and whispering in her ear. The sound drove her insane, mad beyond belief, wanting to cut down who... or whatever was causing this.

At once, there was a sound of a loud crash from one of the nearby buildings. She noticed it was a familiar house, one she had shared with a close friend of hers... Rarity's Boutique. It was, like the others, covered in sharp crystals and black ooze. The door had creaked ajar, and she could not fathom who could do it. But, like the others, she had to conquer something in each fear, and this was most likely it.

The boutique itself was as if a monster had decorated it. Mannequins were strewn about, covered in a black substance she had assumed to be blood until now, and windows were cracked with shards lying in their foreground. The stairs were the only unaffected places in the entirety of the boutique. With caution, she climbed the stairs.

The room at the top was obviously Rarity's, considering the pure amount of fluff and posh pillows it contained. The top floor was still it's usual colors, but more dull. The room was not empty, for lying in a circle of odd signs was Rarity.

"Oh... darling Fluttershy." She said in her usual tone, but something was not right with her voice. It cracked and spat as if in a wind tunnel. "How have you been?"

Fluttershy cautiously approached the white unicorn. "Fine, but you need to get out of here. This entire place is-"

"Oh I know, darling, I know." She said, flipping her mane back with an off smile. "That armor looks simply dreadful, you should take it off before the ascension happens. Want to be your best for him."

Fluttershy could already tell who... him, was. Na-shuul. "You mean Na-" Rarity shushed her, as if not wanting to hear his name said. She cleared her throat and started once more. "Well, HE is an evil thing, and must be punished for his crimes."

"Darling, you mean well, but you don't realize what's at stake. Even IF you kill me-" Fluttershy instantly drew her weapon, the tip pointed at Rarity.

"Don't call me 'darling', Na-shuul."

The form of Rarity twisted in to a new monstrosity. It was only a small vision, but it was a pony with a broken horn and dragon wings, with antlers sharp as knives jutting from it's skull. It's eyes were a blood crimson, the pupils as black and thin as a snakes. This was Na-shuul.

"Yes, I suppose it WAS quite hard to keep that illusion for long. But know this, Element of Kindness. You do not understand what is at stake here. If you kill me-" His words were cut off by Fluttershy's sword cutting through his form, black smoke trailing with it. 

Shut the fuck up. She thought to herself. Reasoning with Na-shuul was impossible, she was going to kill him. With barely a sound other than a faint poof, the scene around her turned back in to the forest she was inside of. Just through the trees, she could see the deathly shore of black sand she had arrived at. Rather than walking for miles, she had walked possibly 15 meters from the shore.

Another one of that bastard's magic. She said. Before walking around, she noticed that Limbo ended nearly 20 feet from where she stood, and a large mountain range towered over her. Stairs lead, presumably, in to the next circle, Lust. 

She walked up to the stairs, and begun to climb. The Sea of Souls was clearly visible from half up the steps. She still had many more to take, but it seemed as if it went on forever. Again, she wondered if this was magic, but the stairs DID come to a crown, they were just long.

Soon enough she hit the top, and with it a view of what was to come in front of her. The inferno was horrifying in Limbo, but this was nothing she could have imagined.

In front of her was lust. It seemed as if a happy place, covered in plains of pink and cushions, trees beautiful. However she knew this was false. Next was Greed, a golden citadel covered in gears. After was Pride, and it seemed very grand and ornate, again falsified. After that she could only see a large red mountain, presumably either in Wrath or Violence. Either way, something was inside of it or near it. The rest of the circles were most likely underground, or had no visible landmarks from her view point.

Only a view of what's to come was enough, she was already sick of this place. But she knew that somewhere was a cyan blue pegasus, and an unbelievably malicious creature lying in wait for her. That day he would be right, and sail in to his waiting arms.

Was this a trap? Or was it a challenge? Either way, she was going to kill whoever stood in her way, to save Rainbow Dash and to restore Equestria.

Oh, and kill Na-shuul.

She started down the new set of stairs, the rest of The Inferno dissapearing from her sight 10 steps down the line. Now she had to finish Lust.