Sweetie Belle ran as fast as her small pony legs would let her. She had almost forgotten about her after-school meeting with Irothrust. She hurried to the Everfree Forest as the cold autumn wind slammed her face. She could see Irothrust in the distance entering the forest.
Wait for me!, she thought as she began to run faster. Not seeing where she was going, she stepped in some mud. Slipping, she landed on her back, and her whole dress was now covered in dirt. First the rip, now this. Ugggh...
Sweetie Belle opened her eyes. A black silhouette stood over her. She could only see the bright, hazel eyes, and with that, Sweetie knew right away that it was Irothrust.
"Good thing you're here. Now hurry, if you want to do this, we need to get there quick." Her scratchy voice instructed. She held out her front left hoof to help Sweetie Belle get up, and the unicorn accepted.
"I don't even know what I want to do, and where exactly are we going?" Sweetie asked, confused.
"You'll see. But you must promise me that you'll never tell anypony. Nopony at all. Got it?" Irothrust said, in Sweetie's face.
Sweetie nodded, speechless.
"Okay. Now, follow me." Irothrust frolicked through the woods. Sweetie Belle followed the mysterious filly through the dark forest ahead.
"Stop." Irothrust held out her hoof to block Sweetie Belle from getting in front of her.
"Why?" Sweetie asked, not seeing anything special or inparticular about where they stood.
"These are the Sunset Gates," Irothrust began.
Sweetie Belle looked around. "I don't see any gates." She said.
"Up here." Irothrust showed her, now in the canopy of what seemed like the tallest tree in the forest.
"How'd you get up there so fast?" Sweetie looked back at Irothrust.
"That doesn't matter. Now, get up here." The gray-red pony demanded.
"How?" Sweetie Belle asked, now studying the tree.
"Can't you just teleport yourself using your magic? You are a unicorn." Irothrust rolled her eyes.
"No... I can barely just reach the surface of it. I'm just about the only unicorn that can't do their own magic. I guess I'm just to dumb to learn, or something." Sweetie, feeling embarrassed, confessed.
"Oh... well, if anything, you're not dumb. Can't you climb it?" Irothrust suggested, trying to change the subject, or rather go back to the original conversation.
"I can give it a try." Sweetie compromised. Sure enough, she was pretty good at it. She reached the top in barely any time at all.
"Wow kid, you're fast." Irothrust commented.
"Same to you." Sweetie said, remembering how Irothrust in not even a split second reached the very top of the tall tree.
I guess so. I guess I am a kid, Irothrust thought, remembering what happened a long time ago.
"Well? Where are the Sunset Gates?" Sweetie Belle asked, looking around.
"Quiet. I need complete silence for this to work." Irothrust said, closing her eyes.
"Okay." Sweetie Belle whispered, lowering her head.
Irothrust looked over into the west, and saw that Princess Celestia was beginning to set the sun. "Almost..." She whispered, watching the big, yellow star fall lower and lower into the horizon.
Sweetie Belle watched as Irothrust closed her eyes once more. She cleared her throat, and when she opened her mouth, words didn't come out. Instead, with the most angelic voice Sweetie had ever heard, singing was heard. If Sweetie Belle had not seen Irothrust now, she probably wouldn't have believed the rusty sounding pony was this good at singing.
"As the world lights candles
and the friction collides,
the bronze and the gold
seem to combine,
they are the colors of fire,
and the fire is mine." Irothrust sang.
Suddenly, clouds of white fog covered the treetops. Tall, gold gates appeared in the distance, and like heaven, it seemed perfect. Rays of light shone through the golden bars. Small engravings on the sides and top looked like ancient hieroglyphs. They seemed to illustrate something, but Sweetie ignored it for now.
The engravings were of the same three pegasi- one with straight hair, both mane and tail. What looked like a fire engraving surrounded this picture. This hieroglyph was on the right side of the gates. Another one had long, wavy hair. She had swirly lines drawn around her, and she was on the top. The third one was a colt, and he had snowflakes surrounding him.
The 'Sunset Gates' opened, and Irothrust stepped off the tree and onto the cloud. Looking back at Sweetie Belle, who had not yet moved, she said, "Well? It's not any regular cloud. Unicorns can walk on it."
"Oh, uh, yeah." Sweetie nervously followed Irothrust. The gates closed behind them. All Sweetie Belle could see was another forest, but it was different. The tree trunks were white, and the leaves where a shining orange, blue, and purple. Small lakes and ponds were seen in the distance, and the water looked perfect. It was a sparkling cyan. Sweetie looked around, and was amazed.
"Over here." Irothrust said, standing next to an even bigger tree than before. It also had a white trunk, but the leaves and branches were different. On the right side, there was, what looked like a flame. It was made out of the branches. Every leaf on the right side was orange.
The left side's branches also looked like they had twisted and turned to form a snowflake, like the picture on the gate. The leaves on the left side where blue. The top leaves were- you guessed it- purple. The branched on top appeared wavy.
"What is this?" Sweetie Belle asked.