//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4: Gates of Doom 
// Story: The Rise of Inferni 
// by starheart1049 
//------------------------------//

                    After walking through the dessert, the team of travelers had arrived at a forest of trees so tall they blotted out the sky. As they walked into the forest, Rainbow asked, "Hey Twi, are you sure this is the right way?" "Yes, this is they way the map shows" Twilight answered as they continued to walk. They stopped when they heard the sound of rustling leaves. They looked around nervously as they sound became louder, Then, in a shower of branches and leaves, a huge lion leaped out of the trees, landing in front of the group, roaring. As they backed away, the lion crept closer, snarling.

Twilight then activated her magic causing a pink mist to envelope the lion. "RUN!!!" she yelled as they ran around the lion and away as fast as they could. The lion, having escaped the cloud of mist roared in fury as he leaped after the group. Twilight looked back, and seeing the lion was closing in, activated her magic again and used an illusion spell to create duplicates of her friends, which she sent the other way to distract the lion. Then, she frantically motioned for them all to hide in the bushes. After leaping into the buses, they stilled their labored breathing as the lion ran after the illusions of the Mane 6. 

After he was gone, they crawled out of the bush, brushing twigs and leaves out of their hair. "That was close, is every pony ok?" Twilight asked, looking around. Everyone said they were fine and continued down the forest path. Not long after they reached a set of black iron gates set between two giant oak trees. The gates themselves were as menacing as they were tall. At the top, twisted spires topped the gates and were held closed by a set of huge chains held together by a demonic-looking lock. Looking at the gate Applejack asked the question they all were wondering. "So how in the hay are we supposed to get past these?" they all thought about it, then Twilight gasped, having an idea. 

Then, she went to the gate and activated her magic. But it wasn't her usual magic. It was the dark magic she had used in the Crystal Empire. The magic flowed around the lock. Then with a click, the lock fell apart, smoking on the ground. Twilight looked back at her friends and they all nodded, indicating her to go on. She turned back around and pushed the gates open, and the sight before her stunned her into absolute silence. Beyond the gates, was a burned out landscape. There wasn't any form of life to be seen, only fire and destruction. As the others walked up and stood by her, she turned her head to see some writing on the ground. She squinted to see what it said and her eyes went wide in horror. The writing, written in black ash read, WELCOME TO FURNACE, THE PLACE BELOW HELL.