Nine Realms

"...That was a giant."

"Yes, Rainbow," Twilight replied with a sigh.

"...A friggin' giant!"

"Yes, Rainbow."

"...An honest-to-goodness, bigger-than-a-house, I-can-smash-you-with-one-hit giant!"

"Yes, Rainbow!"

Twilight halted, taking a moment to calm herself before turning to her cyan companion.

"It was a giant when we saw him yesterday, and he'll probably still be a giant today, so you going on an on about it won't change anything."

Rainbow blinked, and then pointed back in the direction they'd come from.

"But...he...was...a...GIANT!!!"

Twilight planted her hoof squarely in her forehead in a clear display of exasperation. She and the rest of their group had been dealing with Rainbow's reaction to their situation ever since it first dawned on them where they were and what they were most likely to encounter out here. And while all of them were just as disturbed about it as the young pegasus, they at least had learned not to go on and on about it. After wandering around with no clear direction, the group had, yet again, found themselves in the middle of a forest. Although, with this being a world of giants, it was no surprise that the trees here were somewhat larger than their counterparts in Midgard. They towered over any tree the ponies had ever seen in their lives, and the canopy above blocked out a lot of the sunlight they would have otherwise seen here. In fact, taking a moment to finally have a break from their constant walking, Twilight took a few calming breaths before looking to the rest of her friends.

"Okay...at this point I'm open to suggestions."

The other mares and Spike all looked to one another, and were clearly just as uncertain as she was. Spike, after nervously scratching the back of his head, took a step forward before speaking up.

"Well...um...we could always ask one of the giants?"

Immediately, all eyes were upon him, and Rarity spoke in a stunned manner.

"Spikey-wikey! I admire your bravery, my dear little fellow, but such a thing would surely be folly!"

Applejack nodded in agreement.

"She's right, Spike. Fer all we know, these ere giants eat folks like us!"

Fluttershy, as one would expect of her, spoke in a somewhat softer tone.

"Well, you never know...they might be friendly?"

Pinkie giggled to that, nodding enthusiastically.

"Yeah! Maybe they're all just a bunch of loveable softies who just look big and scary!"

Rainbow rolled her eyes.

"Yeah...I don't think I’m willing to test that theory, Pinks."

Twilight, after having heard all of this, hung her head slightly, looking back the way they'd just come from.

"In any case...it's a moot point. We haven even seen one of those giants since the first one. So we can't really ask them any questions even if we wanted to."

”Then perhaps I can be of help?”

Instantly, everypony jumped in place, looking around at where the booming voice had come from. They saw nothing, at least at first, but, as Twilight narrowed her eyes, she soon saw that something began to emerge from behind some of the trees to the side of them. It was another giant and, of course, it happened to be even larger than the one they'd already encountered, bearing a wild beard of bright red. He took only a single step to get closer to them, which shook the ground as giant steps were apparently so capable of doing. Then, slowly, he got to one knee, and began to observe the newcomers closely, genuine curiosity coming to him.

"Well, well, well...I don't recall creatures like you ever being in Jotunheim before."

Naturally, the ponies were completely at a loss on what to do here, and so looked to Twilight for guidance. The Princess, as ever, did her best to look composed and dignified, then stepped forward, addressing this giant as diplomatically as possible.

"Apologies, Sir...but my friends and I are strangers to your world."

The giant nodded.

"In that case...I am Ymir...son of Ymir."

Rainbow couldn't help but chuckle to that.

"You were named after your Dad?"

Twilight cast her a frown.

"Hey! I was named after my Mother, remember?"

Realisation came to Rainbow, as well as the knowledge that they'd possibly almost insulted a, as she put it, "friggin' giant", and so she shut her mouth tightly, taking another step backwards and letting Twilight continue her diplomacy.

"I am Twilight Sparkle. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr Ymir."

Ymir nodded.

"So...I heard that you were in a spot of bother?"

Twilight started, but then came to realise something.

"Wait...you...you can understand us?!"

A chortle escaped the giant, and he nodded.

"The people of Midgard may struggle to understand one another...but in the realms beyond? Such is not a hindrance."

Twilight sighed, relieved that, at the very least, she and her companions wouldn't have to deal with any further language barriers. But, back to the matter at hand.

"Well, in that case...we seek gateways to other worlds. Specifically, we seek the way to get to our world."

"Equestria!" Spike called out.

The giant nodded, pondering this while taking a moment to stroke his enormous beard.

"I know not the name of Equestria. Nor do I know of any gates between worlds."

A frown came to him.

"At least...not ones that go to worlds I would actually want to go to."

Twilight tilted her head to that, confusion and curiosity coming to her for a brief time. But, whatever it was Ymir was thinking of on that specific topic was not to be explained, as he too released a sigh, shaking his head slightly.

"I fear I do not know what it is you wish to find. Jotunheim may be our home...but not all Jotuns will know it well enough to know of that which you want."

Twilight, as well as everypony else, started to hang their heads. If this local didn't know anything about portals to other worlds, then their journey home may well be hampered right here and now. But, to their surprise, Ymir began to speak again.

"But...there is one Jotun...who might know..."

Her face lighting up, Twilight took a step forward.

"Really? Who?"

Ymir gained a look that could only be described as awe.

"Go to Mimir...the wise one. He who sits at the pool of wisdom, beneath the great root of Yggdrasil."

Twilight smiled, happy that she now had at least something to go on. But, as this new knowledge set in for her group, Rainbow asked the obvious question.

"Er...we have to go to some big root? No offense, Ymir, but we didn't see any root when we arrived here, and we got a pretty good look at this place."

Amusement came to the Jotun's face, and then, without explanation, he lowered his hand, opening it up as it reached the ground. The ponies and Spike looked to it for a few moments, and then, as one, they understood. Slowly and hesitantly, they started to clamber onto it, with varying degrees of worry as they did so. As soon as they were all on, Ymir started to stand up, and the ponies held on as wind rushed past them with the action. Then, as soon as he was fully standing, Ymir raised his hand, holding them above the canopy of the forest. Again, they were given an impressive view of the land of Jotunheim, but, as Rainbow had said before, it wasn't anything they hadn't already seen.

"Great root...is to the North."

All eyes turned in that direction, to that great mountain range they had spotted on their first viewing of this place. Narrowing her eyes, Rainbow looked down to her latest acquaintance.

"Ymir? We can only see those mountains over there!"

A knowing smirk crept onto the Jotun's lips.

"Little one...those are no mountains."