The Equestrian Inferno

Author's Notes: As those of you familiar with the Inferno know, this is the last canto. I'm still not sure if I'm going to do Purgatory and Paradise next. It would be harder to take care of certain logistical issues, especially with Paradise but if I ever do try, it won't be for a while. Thanks to all readers and those curious few who messaged me about this.

Once again, we reached another great pit, which upon closer inspection, I saw was really a frozen whirlpool leading into oblivion. As far down as I could see, ponies were fully encased within it, their bodies contorted into impossible positions and their faces frozen in eternal expressions of horror.

"Wheeee" said Galaxy as she jumped into the edge of the whirlpool and slid down into the darkness. Afraid of doing the same, but even more afraid of being left alone, I hesitated before following. As I slid down in spirals, the spinning circle of light above me grew smaller and smaller until it vanished as a speck of grey amidst the darkness. I was now sliding downward at a tremendous speed, and for all I knew, there might as well have been no end to the whirlpool. I was only thankful that its large size prevented me from growing dizzy.

The whirlpool eventually did stop however and as it leveled and ended, I slid forward until I smashed into a soft and warm object. "Ooomph" it said. "Oh, sorry about that" I said. "Yeah let's fix this" replied Galaxy. At once, the air was aglow with a hot pink light and for the first time I could see my surroundings. Galaxy's light was not bright enough to see too far but I could at least make out the shapes of even more unfortunate ponies encased within the ice beneath our feet, several meters down. "There's nopony to talk to here" said Galaxy, "We'd better get going."

In the terrifying excitement of the slide down the whirlpool, I had not paid attention to my senses, but now that I was on my feet again, I felt as if death from hypothermia awaited me if we did not leave quickly. The icy air of the previous sections of Lake North was nothing compared to the soul chilling surroundings of this pit.

Suddenly, I gasped in surprise. Within the dead center of the pit was what appeared to be an enormous pillar of dense grey cloud rising into the darkness. "Hold on a sec" said Galaxy. She furrowed her brows in concentration and the brightness of her horn increased considerably. We now saw the top of the pillar, which formed a gargantuan head like that of a hideous genie, clenching and gnawing between it's teeth the soul of a single pony. Though she was grey and distant, I knew her by her form, which I had learned over the years to recognize and despise. The very sight of Sunset Shimmer sickened me enough that I was forced to lower my gaze.

"So this is where Arabus has been all these years" I said, unsure whether to myself or to Galaxy.

"Indeed" said Galaxy, "punishing those whose lives lacked loyalty the most. Loyalty is the heart of friendship, for can you be friends with one you are not loyal to? Even dishonesty can manifest in a good way, for example to conceal a surprise birthday party. And there are times when you've had a rough day and may be grumpy, refusing to laugh along with them or give even a kind greeting. No matter what however, you know that you are always loyal to them and them to you. Therefore, it is only fitting that the most disloyal suffer at the very heart of hell and there is no one more disloyal than Sunset Shimmer."

As Arabus gnawed her body in rage, he shook and flailed his arms about wildly. As I watched, terrified by the monstrous sight, a ghostly moan from even higher above reverberated around us.

"Windigos" explained Galaxy, "They fly above his head and fill up much of the center of the whirlpool, feeding on his hatred and using it to keep the ninth circle frozen."

As I strained my eyes, I made out the faint outline of several large ghostly forms circling above Arabus.

"Get on my back" said Galaxy as she lowered herself, "We're leaving now."

Unsure what she had planned, I climbed on to Galaxy while shifting my eyes from the blinding light of her horn. As soon as I was safely seated, Galaxy charged forward at Arabus and leapt. A fraction of a second before impact, her horn blinked off leaving us in darkness as we passed through him.

A thousand winds from a thousand directions struck us once we were inside him. They spun us, threw us, and carried us in all manner of directions. Though the darkness was scary enough, even that was better than what came next.

When we had been at the mercy of the winds long enough, a series of images began to flash before us. They were black and white, and formed from ghostly wisps of cloud. Some were horrifying, others tragic. My heart fell as images of warzones, murder scenes, and starving children passed through my mind. I stared ahead and locked my mind to prevent it from shattering.

When we had been within Arabus, carried to and fro by the winds even longer, the images began to take the form of pure thoughts, rather than pictures and imprinted themselves directly upon my mind. Luckily, this did not last long, for I felt my sanity slipping.

The thoughts and picture together now seemed to be those of Arabus himself. I saw images of him using dark magic to control Princess Luna and turn her into Nightmare Moon and felt his rage as a fragment of his soul was pushed out of her by the elements of harmony. I saw also the time he taught a power-hungry teenage King Sombra dark magic, all the while secretly using it to turn Sombra's heart into a replica of his own. These images passed before us, circled, us, and even seemed to attack us on occasion, though when they struck, they did no harm.

After some time, another wind, stronger than any other seized us and carried us upward some distance before beginning to die down. When it had died down completely, I realized that Galaxy and I now stood upon solid land. Galaxy began galloping forward until a faint navy blue light shone in the distance. As she galloped closer, I saw that it was the exit to the tunnel-like structure we had ended up in.

Galaxy exited the tunnel at full sprint and ran a little while longer before stopping. Though my head spun at first, the fresh air of the lush grassland soon revived me. It was night, and upon looking up, I saw the myriads of beautiful stars that made up the night sky.

Princess Luna smiles upon me.