Nine Realms

Now, given everything she and her friends had been through during their many adventures together, you'd have thought that Twilight would be well used to getting magically-induced headaches by this point. Alas, no. As the darkness that had engulfed her, the other mares and Spike finally began to subside, they found themselves yet again feeling groggy upon the floor, their heads practically splitting over the pain that was going through them right now. It was exactly how things had gone for them when they first arrived in Midgard, and now, at the very least, they were less shocked by it. Even so, it still took quite some time to get back to their hooves and recover from this bizarre ordeal, and when they did, it was Rainbow who elected to voice the shared sentiment they had over this.

"Okay...is that gonna happen to us every...single...time?!"

Sighing, Twilight looked to her pegasus friend and gave a solemn nod,.

"We may have to get used to it in our line of work, Rainbow."

The pegasus grunted, but then, her anger subsided, replaced instead by one of confusion and fear.

"Er...Twilight? This...this doesn't look like Equestria."

Immediately, the young Princess glanced around, and indeed, this did not appear to resemble anything from their world that she herself recognised. They appeared to be in a rocky canyon of some kind, and a dead-end one at that, with their immediate area being crudely circular in shape. In the centre, right between them all, was a large stone, upon which lay a number of runes and unfamiliar symbols. It was pretty much in the same spot between them that Irminsul had been mere moments ago, and that notion prompted Rarity to speak next.

"...Twilight? We have just gone through some form of magical transportation, have we not?"

Slowly, Twilight nodded.

"Yeah...we did."

The fashionista continued, albeit with a less-than-pleased tone.

"And that was a transportation that was supposed to lead us back to Equestria, yes? So, pray tell...exactly where are we instead?"

Her voice was tinted with understandable irritation, and even fear, for which Twilight could not blame her. In truth, the Princess had no simple answer for her colleague right now, even though she and everypony else was looking to her for advice. This was still a strange place, and right now the only real clue they had was the stone at the centre of it. So, after taking a deep breath, she stepped forward, looking to that enormous rock and gazing at the language that had been scrawled there. Erik had taught her a thing or two about it on their long journey to Irminsul, and while she did not consider herself an expert on their tongue, she did manage to recognise some of what was written there.

"Can you read it?" Spike asked.

Twilight didn't look to him, but she nevertheless nodded in response, before slowly bringing her face closer and squinting her eyes slightly.

"Jo...Jotun...Jotunheim?"

Applejack raised an eyebrow to that.

"Beggin’ yer pardon, Twi...but what?"

Suddenly, a look of worry came to their alicorn leader, and she took a step back from the stone.

"Jotunheim...Jotunheim..."

She repeated that word, over and over, causing more than a little worry in her friends. Eventually, however, it was Fluttershy who spoke next, stepping forward and placing her hoof upon Twilight's shoulder.

"Twilight? What's wrong?"

Slowly, Twilight looked to her.

"Jotunheim. I know that word. Erik mentioned it as one of the Nine Realms his people believed in."

Pinkie hopped next to her, adding her voice to matters.

"Wait...the nine places that are hanging off that weird space-tree thingy?"

Twilight nodded as a response to that, which caused Pinkie to carry on speaking.

"So...Irminsul didn't take us back to Equestria...but another of those nine worlds?"

Again, Twilight nodded, and after having heard that, Rainbow slapped a hoof to her forehead.

"Argh! Well that's just great! We're supposed to be getting closer to home, not away from it"

Twilight glanced to her, her expression somewhat calmer than it had been moments before.

"Rainbow...we may still have a chance. This stone had an apparent connection to Irminsul in Midgard, acting as a gateway. It's possible there may be other gateways out there, ones with connections to Equestria."

The pegasus grunted at that.

"So we have to do more walking about?!"

Twilight gave another nod, and Rainbow walked off with a huff. Twilight couldn't blame her. In truth, she too was feeling down after having this hope of reaching home taken from her. But, she knew that what she’d just said was no mere false belief on her part. Gateways between worlds did exist, as she and Spike were fully experienced in, and if they kept their heads, they may well find one. So, without even a word, the young Princess began to head off through the canyon, and after hesitating for just a moment, Spike and the other mares began to follow, even Rainbow, as reluctant as she still was. The place continued to be rocky and dry and barren as they walked through it for some time, and eventually, Spike looked to his carer with some curiosity.

"So...did Erik tell you anything about this Jotun-place?"

Twilight took a moment to consider that, then looked down to him.

"All I know is that each of these nine worlds is different in some way. He never went into the specifics."

Then, before Spike could say anything else, there was a sudden rumbling beneath them, causing them all to stop. Then, as they awaited further motion, they soon found that, thankfully, there was none.

"An earthquake?" Fluttershy asked.

"A brief one, thankfully," Rarity answered.

Twilight narrowed her eyes to that, then carried on walking, with her friends close behind her. Thankfully, after another few minutes, they turned a corner and, to their immense delight, they found an exit to their canyon. But when they looked out at the land beyond, they couldn't help but feel a little underwhelmed. At a glance, it appeared to be no different from the world they had just left. Fields, hills, forests, valleys with rivers running through it, even a mountain range in the far distance, with the sun rising above it. Rainbow, who seemed pretty disappointed by this, looked to Twilight with incredulity.

"I thought you said all the worlds were different? This just looks like Midgard all over again!"

Twilight opened her mouth to speak, only to be kept from doing so when, all of a sudden, there was another tremor, prompting the group to huddle together. Then another tremor came, and then another, and another and another, with alarming frequency.

"Wha...what's going on?" Spike asked.

Turning, Twilight spotted something to the side, and her eyes widened.

"I think...he might be going on!"

All eyes turned, and they looked on with shock at what now emerged from behind a rocky outcropping not too far away from them. It appeared to be another human, albeit one dressed in ragged furs and with a massive beard. However, as he walked alongside the rocky region where the ponies stood, they found, to their horror, that he was big. As in, very big. If Twilight had to guess, he seemed to be at least twice the height that the Golden Oak Library had been in its day. This person, whoever or whatever he was, was enormous, which caused an instinctive need on the part of the ponies to step back and try to avoid being noticed. But, thankfully, this huge person simply walked on by, never casting them even the tiniest of glances, though his steps further away from them continued to cause tremors for them. Eventually, when he was far enough away, the group all looked to one another with disbelief, with Twilight looking to Rainbow in particular.

"Well...I'd say that was different, wouldn't you?"