Nine Realms

Darkness and silence was all Twilight knew, at least for the time being. How long had it been since that stone hit the side of her head? She didn't know. Unconsciousness wasn't exactly the best of circumstances for asking questions of oneself after all. And yet, through this perpetual state of senselessness, something began to make itself known. It was a sound, like some kind of faint hissing, heard from far away. It was like the kind of sound a person could hear just as they were on the cusp of waking up, unsure of whether the sound was real or not. But, as moments passed, the sound became louder, and more than that, it started to feel, for some reason, colder. Discomfort was starting to envelop the young alicorn, and she shivered all through her body, all while that hissing was growing louder and louder, to an almost unbearable degree. The sound was real, the feeling of cold was real, and Twilight's senses, now making themselves known, caused her to snap her eyes open.

She did not like what she saw.

She was falling, plummeting through the sky at who knows how fast a speed. The air was rushing past her so fast that it was an almost deafening sound to her ears. And the cold? It was like nothing she'd ever felt before, with not even the pre-Crystal-Heart wastes of the Crystal Empire feeling as icy as these winds were right now. But then, as her memories started to return to her, her eyes widened with shock and horror. She remembered Surtr, his chamber, and how she and her friends had been unceremoniously cast out of there by the King of fire. The thought of her friends prompted her to snap her head in all directions, and sure enough, there they were. Rainbow and Spike, Fluttershy and Pinkie, Rarity and Applejack. All of them were, like her, falling uncontrollably through the sky, unable to stop themselves, and completely terrified of what awaited them below. Rainbow and Fluttershy were trying to take hold of their non-flying friends, but to no avail, as their grip would never hold for long.

The situation was terrible, and as Twilight continued to feel the pain of where that stone had hit her head, she squinted at her unwanted surroundings. But, as she did this, she started to see something. Through fog or mist or whatever it was, she could see a vast shape. It was foreign, and yet, at the same time, familiar to her senses. What that a tree trunk? Whatever it was, it was of little concern to the alicorn, as her priority right now was to simply ensure that her friends made it out of this. No small request, given what was happening to them right now. But, as her mind raced to think of a solution to all of this, her eyes caught sight of something else. Far, far below them. Ground. Or, rather, what appeared to be ground. In truth, it was more of some great snowy plain. But, beggars could not be choosers, and Twilight knew that was where they were heading. And, unfortunately, they were heading there fast.

She knew she had no time to spare, and so concentrated with all of the re-awakened faculties available to her. Her horn ignited, and in a bright flash, she teleported. For as they'd fallen, the young Princess had drifted further and further from the main group. But now, thanks to her teleportation, she was among them right now. Screams and cries of panic filled her ears as she now found herself between them all, but, for a brief moment, her arrival onto the scene caused looks of surprise and relief. They were happy to see her, but Twilight had no time to enjoy the moment with them. Instead, she shut her eyes tightly, concentrating as hard as she could on her next spell. Would she have the strength to carry it out? She very much hoped so. As for the others, they knew their leader had a plan, and so put their trust in her, though several of them continued to, understandably, scream on the way down.

Twilight stressed and strained under the effort of what she was doing, as it was generally not advised to do any massive spell-work after having just regained consciousness. But the ground was drawing closer and closer, and if she got this wrong, some of all of them would not be walking out of this. Her horn lit again, and after putting all of her might behind it, a spell spread outwards, engulfing her colleagues in a familiar magical bubble. It was the same spell she had used many years ago, when they'd first faced Discord together. She held them there, all together, and as the ground drew nearer, she used her power to enact a form of levitation, doing all she could to slow their descent. Worry took hold in the faces of the others, and they watched the ground become perilously close. But as they did this, they noticed, to their great relief, that their speed finally was slowing down.

Twilight did not rest on those laurels, however, and she continued to concentrate hard on her spell. Slower and slower they went, though still not going slow enough for their liking. But, as the ground became about the same distance as a taller-than-average house, Twilight's strength finally gave out, and her bubble collapsed. Screams resumed, and the ponies fell to the surface beneath them. However, by sheer good fortunate, it was an incredibly thick layer of snow down there, and as they collided with it, that layer was just thick enough so as to be able to act as a form of cushion to break their fall. Granted, hitting thick snow from that particular height wasn't exactly completely safe, as they still felt like they'd had more than a little bit of an impact, but still, compared to what they would have had, it was by far the more preferable option to them.

As before, Twilight found herself greatly tired from her exertions, and few could blame her. Still, as Rainbow and Fluttershy landed with a bit more grace than their colleagues, they went to each of them, helping them out of the snow and just trying to generally recover from what had just happened to them. Spike, as one would expect of him, rushed immediately to the side of Twilight, and she, in turn, smiled warmly to him as he helped her out of the snowy crater she'd made for herself. Pants of exhaustion were abound among the group, but they did not forget what was important right now. Seeing one another, safe and well, they rushed together, embracing one another in a tight and appreciated group hug. Amidst all the chaos and danger and near-death they'd just expected, this right here was a tiny island of warmth and comfort in a world of unpleasantness.

And speaking of warmth, they suddenly found that they needed as much of it as they could, as a sudden wind blew right through them, causing all of them to shiver to an intense degree. And it was here that they finally started to take note of their surroundings. Where Muspelheim was hot and blazing, this place was still and frigid. Ice and snow were all one could see for miles around. Fields, lakes, rivers, mountains, no matter what they saw here, it was all covered with some form of ice and snow. Even the skies above them fell under this, for while those of Muspelheim were blanketed in smoke from the volcanoes and unending fires, this world's sky was covered in pale cloud, obscuring any sunlight at all. It was a wasteland of cold, looking utterly unsuitable for life or survival. IF there was something living here, they could not see it from the vantage point they'd found for themselves.

For just a brief moment, as they shivered and huddled together for warmth, they actually pined for the great heat of the world they'd been cast out of. But the moment was short-lived, and instead, they tried to focus on what to do or where to go. There appeared to be no towns, cities or dwellings of any kind here, and like the world before, it seemed unlikely that any direction they went in would provide them with what they needed. Nopony knew what to do or what to say, not even Twilight, who continued to hold Spike close to her with her wing, sheltering him from the worst of the icy winds that continued to nip at them. But, as had happened so many times, the group looked to her for guidance, hoping she would have some answer or idea, no matter how small, that would get them out of this. They knew she didn't, and on some level felt hugely guilty for putting that kind of expectation on her, but in truth, it was all they had. Twilight, letting out a long and tired-sounding sigh, took on a determined look, then chose one direction in particular, and took that first step forward.

"...Let's go."