The Equestrian Inferno

"Well way to go Ponyville!" I said sarcastically, "from you come all G4 ponies I've met here. Wow." Galaxy and I slowly made our way up the steep valley slope onto the trail. The rest of it was pretty drab. The scene of ponies fleeing snakes and exploding in flames may be chaotic in and of itself, but over time at least it remained constant. We reached the bridge without any particularly interesting encounters.

Once we were nearly across, I noticed that the layout of the eighth section was unlike the others. Instead of a hellish parody of a natural landscape, it consisted of a large checkerboard pattern of white and black tiles, each a meter or so long. Galaxy stopped before stepping off the bridge, and I did likewise.

"Within each of these black tiles, which are made of dark crystal, is the soul of one whom, given a strong intellect, used it for purposes contrary to the element of honesty. Try not to step upon them."

With that, Galaxy proceeded forward onto the first white square.

"What are the white squares made of?" I asked.

"Marble" came Galaxy's reply.

I looked down at the white tile and notice that despite the dim light, it was polished enough to see a very clear reflection of myself. When I checked the black tiles however, try as I might, I saw no sign of myself. All light seemed to be absorbed.

We zigzagged forward towards the next bridge. Despite the large size of this section, the landscape was completely flat and thus, I could see its far side with ease. No objects but ourselves stood upon the alternating tiles.

When we were nearing the end, I suddenly noticed that one tile near us was cracked in half. Through its center ran a jagged milky line. "What happened to that one?" I asked Galaxy.

"Ah, two unfortunate colleagues of mine actually" said Galaxy. "Their names are Sandcastle and Shovels. They're twin ponies."

I began making my way over to the tile to speak with them. "Wait" called Galaxy as she hurried after me. Due to mankind's constant destruction of beaches through things like oil spills and litter, they might give you a hard time. Here, let me speak with them for you."

Galaxy trotted over to the tile and called, "SANDCASTLE, SHOVELS, ARE YOU IN THERE?" I was surprised when I heard her voice echoing around within the tile, which otherwise, seemed perfectly solid. Suddenly, the left half of the tile clouded over and a turquoise pony appeared like a reflection.

"Yes…?" she said warily.

"It's me, Galaxy" said my guide, "I have been tasked by Princess Celestia herself to show my friend here around hell. Would you mind telling him your story?"

The pony looked over at me, noticing me for the first time. Shrugging, she said, "I supposed so. My name's Sandcastle. My sister Shovels and I were partners in crime. We liked to pretend to be princesses so we often stole items from various castles we visited. When ponies questioned where we got our jewels, we told them that certain princesses had willingly given them to us and so we were never caught. One day, we both became servants of an earth pony prince who was in love with an alicorn. We suggested to him as he lay lovesick that he use a love potion to win her heart. Desperate, he agreed. We prepared the potion for him however unbeknownst to him, it was actually a love poison. And so, with the princess and the prince so wrapped up with each other than neither could properly attend to their royal duties, we took over his kingdom. For this, we must suffer here."