It was cold. And not just cold like in winter, when you have fun with snowballs and ice, no, it was ridiculously cold. Around them there was nothing but ice and snow covering the ground. Everything was white. Jowy still couldn’t believe he was actually here. For the last two days he furiously began to wish he had never mentioned this place to Lunarstar before.

The two weeks they had spent on the farm had been the best two weeks of Jowy’s life. Of course they had to work hard every day and they had little time to relax, but he had loved the time he spend with Lunarstar. They had spend hours upon hours working on the soil so that it was ready to receive seeds, they had helped the farmer with chores around the house, they had spend evenings looking at the stars in the sky, wondering if Lunarstars home was one of them.

After two weeks, however, the farmer and his wife had decided they had helped them enough. Lunarstar had been delighted to finally be able to move on, but Jowy had dreaded that day. He had not wanted it to change… and it had come so much sooner than he had expected. Still, to see Lunarstar so cheered up, it was worth it. Her bright smile that day had lit up the entire sky.

They had received not only two warm cloaks, but also two thick scarves and two snow hats. It was more than enough to shield them from extreme cold, or so they had thought. They had been going straight north for a week now, and it only got colder and colder. Still, there were still ponies living here, in these remote places, so they probably could not be north enough. Didn’t the story tell about an island so remote even the guards of the queen herself could not find it?

They walked on and on along the road that was now barely visible beneath the layers of snow and ice that covered it, not knowing where they were or what lay ahead of them. This deserted land should never have been penetrated by ponies, Jowy thought. Why were they here again?

“Maybe we should go find a c…cave. F…for the night.” Lunarstar said, shivering.
They were both covered in the clothes they had earned on the farm, but it just didn’t seem to be enough anymore. They could easily freeze to death if they could not find a place to sleep and make a fire, Jowy realized. He looked around, and saw some snow-covered evergreens here and there. At least there would be some wood… for now. The more north they went, the less trees they saw.

Jowy was sure he reached the end of his luck when he spotted a cave. A small hill ahead of them had a cave at the bottom, and its black walls stood out against the snow that covered the hill.
“Over there!” Jowy said, and he began to walk faster. An actual cave… Hopefully, at least this night, they would not freeze.

They rushed towards the cave, and as they entered it they found it was deep enough to shield them from the snow. At the back there were some bundles of dry wood, and on the ground they could see scorch marks. “Apparently this cave is used for travellers to spend the night.” Jowy said.
“When we leave tomorrow we have to gather wood and put it back there, so that any other travellers will have the same comfort as we do.” He explained, wondering who on earth would want to travel to this remote place.

“Right.” Lunarstar said, while carrying some wood to the centre of the cave.
They soon managed to get a fire going, and slowly they were warming up, while outside the light of day slowly faded.
 “Darkness sure comes swiftly, up here.” Lunarstar observed.
“It does.” Jowy agreed when he saw it was all but dark outside.
Here they were, in the dark, cold north, chasing a fairy tale. It was almost laughable.

After they had eaten a little bit of the small amount of food they had still left, they lay down on the cold, hard floor, covered by their cloaks and an extra blanket. Lunarstar had suggested they should crawl up to each other to preserve their warmth, which made Jowy unable to sleep. He slept with his back against Lunarstar, looking outside over the cold snowy field. He was aware of her breathing, her body warmth touching his… how was he supposed to fall asleep like this? Yet he refused to move away. He liked… being close to her. More and more, he had realized he wanted to go with her. Away from this world. He wanted to go… to a place where he could be who he was, without being punished for it.

While sleep overtook him, Jowy realized he saw movement outside. He shook his head to wake up, thinking he had imagined it, but right when he wanted to lie down again, he saw it again. There is someone out there. Jowy slowly got up, trying not to wake Lunarstar. It was tricky, as they had been sleeping so close, but he managed to get away from her without waking her.

Jowy sneaked out of the cave, and once outside he hurried towards the place where he had seen… whoever, whatever it was. As he got closer, he saw a person standing there. He didn’t even try to hide himself. The closer Jowy got, the more he could make out the person’s features. The pony’s coat was all but grey, and his long mane were that also, only they were a shade darker. His face was wrinkled, and his eyes looked pale and lifeless.

“Good night.” Jowy said carefully, when he stood in front of the old pony. The pony smiled, revealing yellow teeth of which more than one was missing.
“Good night to you, stranger.” Now that he was standing in front of the old man, Jowy wondered why he had rushed out. It is not like he had any reason… but maybe this person could help him find their way to the gate.
“Do you…”
“I know why you are here.” The old man interrupted him.

“Sorry?” Jowy asked, staring at the old man, who was still smiling.
“I know why you are here.” The man said again.
Jowy wished he had stayed in the cave, for he did not like the look in the old man’s pale eyes.
“You… and your friend who is not of this world.” Jowy’s heart skipped a beat. How did he know that?!
“You are looking… for the gate so many have searched before you.”

“They have?” Jowy asked, surprised by this.
“Oh, so many have come here, perished here, looking for a gate that would lead them out of this world. But none found it. None knew where to look. None knew, that they had to ask the gatekeeper for it’s location before they could even hope to find it.” The old man said.
“The gatekeeper eh… I suppose that’s you.” Jowy said sarcastically.

“Are you willing to pay the price?” The old man asked, the smile vanishing from his face.
“Price?”
“The price for the location of the gate, are you willing to pay it?” He asked again.
He’s a complete nutter, Jowy realized.
“Sure.” He said, out of curiosity what the old man would say.
“Good.” The old man said, smiling again.

He did not tell Jowy. He stood there, for a few moments, and Jowy almost wanted to walk away when he was blinded by a strange light. He looked around, trying to see where it came from, but he could not see it. It took him a few moments to realize the light was not coming from anywhere. It was inside his head. He closed his eyes, trying to drive the light away, but when he did, he saw it. A forest made out of white trees, and inside it, in the middle, a purple arched gate, with runes carved into the stone of the arch. The vision zoomed out, went south, southeast, and at the end, he saw himself standing there.

The vision disappeared, and Jowy opened his eyes. Everything was dark around him. Behind him, he saw, Lunarstar was still sleeping, and the fire was still burning softly. He wanted to ask the old pony what on earth that was, but the pony was gone, vanished into the darkness of the night.