Nine Realms

Surtr. The King of Muspelheim. Lord of Fire. Ruler of the fire giants. A being who evoked dread the likes of which Twilight and her friends had not felt in these realms since their brief encounter with Jormungandr in the oceans of Midgard. Yet there he sat, narrowing his eyes at the group that had plummeted down into this chamber that served as his throne room. Yet he was alone here, with no guards, attendants, servants or any other of his people. Just the King, sitting on his stone throne, tapping the hilt of his blazing sword with clear irritation. Silence fell between them all, and the ponies and Spike looked on at the angry King, fearing for their very lives. Rainbow, as expected of her, tried to put on a brave face in this situation, but even she was very obviously starting to worry about what was going to happen to them. Twilight, despite having been told straight away that she and her companions were not wanted here, nevertheless took a deep breath, then strode forward, speaking as confidently as she could.

"Your Majesty...my name is Twilight Sparkle. I hail from a place called Equestria...and my friends and I have become lost in your world."

Surtr did not stir from his throne, prompting Twilight to continue.

"We were told by one of your people that you might know a way out of this realm and into another. Is that true?"

Here, Surtr gave a slow nod.

"I do."

Twilight smiled.

"That's...that's good to hear!"

Surtr looked away slightly.

"I will help...if only to see you gone from my realm."

To that, Rainbow frowned, stepping forward herself.

"What, you got some problem with us being here?"

Everyone looked to her, dismayed that she'd just spoken to him in that tone of voice. As for Surtr himself, he seemed more irritated than angry at the words, and gradually looked back to her.

"This realm is for my people...and my people alone. You want a way out? You shall have it. Then...I can be left in peace. To continue...with my waiting."

Words such as those caused curiosity in the minds of the party, and all of them looked to one another with confusion. Fluttershy, who while still just as scared of this guy as all the rest of them, walked forward slightly before speaking up.

"Um...what are you waiting for?"

Surtr, in response to that, glanced down to his sword, whose heat radiated off itself with every moment.

"...Ragnarok."

The group turned to Twilight, hoping for an explanation. But the young Princess merely shook her head.

"I don't know...Erik never taught me everything about their beliefs."

Surtr, without even looking at them, began to explain.

"There will come a time...when the days of the Gods come to an end. The final battle will begin."

He gripped the sword's hilt even tighter.

"On that day...I shall go forth from this place. I will go to the Bifrost, with my people behind me...and we will shatter the bridge with our very steps."

It wasn't the most pleasant of stories, but the group nevertheless found that they could not look away as they were hearing it.

"We will go to the home of the gods...and we will fight. Death and destruction will be left in our wake...and through my sword..."

His eyes narrowed further.

"...I will set alight the spark that consumes all of Yggdrasil."

The ponies looked on in horror, Twilight especially so.

"W...what?!"

Here, Surtr finally did look to her.

"The battle that I will lead...will consume all the nine realms in the fires of my people. We will end it all."

Slowly, he leaned back into his throne, the heat from his body slightly melting where he rested.

"Such is our fate...and mine especially. It is foretold...and it is unavoidable."

The group couldn't believe what they'd heard, and yet, the way he said it, it was obvious to all of them that he'd meant it. Applejack, shaking her head, was the next to speak.

"Ya...ya can't be serious?! Y'all are just gonna burn everythin'?!"

Surtr gave a grim nod.

"But...but...why?" Pinkie asked, just as dismayed as her friends.

"It is our destiny...my destiny. My duty in this world. The one thing for which I was brought forth. It is the purpose of Surtr. To set Yggdrasil alight...and in so doing...bring my own life to an end."

This utter resignation to his fate, this destiny to wipe out life on that kind of a scale, was unfathomable to Twilight's ears, but for now, she couldn't even get the words out. As for Rainbow, she most definitely did know what to say.

"Okay, what is it with people and fate in these worlds?! What, you just accept that this is gonna happen?! You're not gonna question it or try to not do it?!"

Surtr frowned deeper than before.

"One does not question the weave of the Norns. What they have written...so shall it come to be."

Rainbow's head snapped back in Twilight's direction.

"Twilight, we've gotta stop him!"

Twilight looked to her.

"I...I don't..."

Rainbow, irritated at her apparent indecision, grunted loudly.

"Ugh! Do I need to spell it out? He and his army are planning to wipe out everything! That just screams bad guy! How can we not fight that?!"

The young pegasus, glaring back at the fire King, spread out her wings and gave an almighty thrust of them. Twilight and the others watched in horror as she shot herself onwards, heading straight for Surtr, who didn't even bother trying to get out of his throne. So furious and so fast was Rainbow, that she was even starting to partly go into one of her famous Sonic Rainbooms, no doubt to give her strike more power behind it. And strike she did, giving an almighty kick right into Surtr's unprotected chest. But despite the great strength of the impact, there was no damage whatsoever, and Rainbow looked on, with complete disbelief, as the fire King glared down to her.

"You waste your time, outsider. Fate cannot be halted. Not in these nine realms."

Rainbow stepped back, now terrified at what the Lord of Muspelheim might do to her in retaliation. Twilight too was worried, and so, with a flash of her horn, she teleported over to Rainbow, taking hold of her and then casting a second teleportation spell, bringing her back to the rest of the group. Surtr, who was unconcerned with both the attack and their clear horror over what he'd said to them, merely sighed, a great cloud of smoke emerging from his mouth as he did so.

"If my words concern you...know that such a thing will not happen for many ages. The fires will come...but not today."

Afterwards, there was a pause, and then, the king's eyes slowly looked down to the ground the group was all standing on.

"Today...you simply...leave."

Without warning, he took hold of his sword, raising it up slightly, then bringing it back down. As soon as the point of the thing collided with the stone floor below, Twilight and the others were dismayed to find themselves surrounded by yet further cracks around them where they stood, not unlike how they got down here to begin with. This time, however, there was such an immediate and massive upheaval of rocks and earth around them that one of the great stones collided with the side of Twilight's head, knocking her out almost instantly. Though clearly fearful for her, the others could do nothing. For much like before, they had yet another great chasm beneath them to worry about, and within only a second, they now began to plummet down, going faster and more out-of-control than they had done before. The hole seemed to go on forever, without end, and as the others fell, Fluttershy and Rainbow struggled to fly down to reach them. It truly did seem like this would be the end of them, as they collapsed down into the gloom below. As for Surtr, he simply leaned back into his throne, giving another sigh.

"You have your destinies...and I have mine."