Twilight's Inferno: A Brony Comedy

by The Young and Free Dragon

Canto VII: Descent Into Selfishness and Begrudging and the Judgement of Rarity and Fluttershy

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