Nine Realms

Twilight and her friends had encountered many a dangerous-looking place in their day, from the terrifying depths of the temple of the Pony of Shadows, to being captive in the Hive of Queen Chrysalis. And yet, this fortress, Utgard, seemed to dwarf them all. And that was quite literally. The immense size of the place, as befitting of a giant's keep, was beyond anything they could have imagined. And it was crude-looking to boot, as though it had been carved from the very mountainside itself. The sun had set upon the place by this point, so darkness was setting in. Granted, this would help them to avoid being seen as they tried to infiltrate this fortification, but, on the downside, it had the effect of making that place even more intimidating, as a great many fires were now lit upon the ramparts, creating this very unwelcome image for itself. Twilight, who peered from behind a large rock some distance away from the keep, narrowed her eyes, then looked back to her friends.

"Okay...we have to be careful now. Inside that castle is a stone that will take us to the next world. We have to do everything in our power to avoid being seen, and do even more to avoid being captured."

Fluttershy looked to her with uncertainty.

"I'm not sure if it's a good idea to be trying to sneak in like this. It seems like we're making a bad impression for ourselves."

Twilight sighed.

"Under normal circumstances, I'd want to try being more open too, but you heard what Mimir said. This king of theirs is dangerous, and there's a real chance he won't let us anywhere near the stone if we just asked for it."

She glanced back over her shoulder, focusing intently on the fort.

"We get one shot at this...and it needs to be perfect."

The others nodded, grimly accepting what they needed to do. And so it was that, after taking another deep breath, the Princess of Friendship took her first step forward. And then another, and another, and another, until she finally upped her pace to a light jog. But, as always, she kept her gaze upon the high walls of Utgard. Every once in a while, she'd spot some sentry looking out into the gloom of the night, and she and her companions would dart behind some nearby stone to avoid being seen, only to resume their approach as soon as the guard was gone. This went on for some time, until eventually, they managed to reach the base of the fortress. No Jotun had spotted them, thankfully, but now there was the business of actually having to get inside the place, which Applejack was sure to ask about.

"So...ideas?"

Twilight sighed, looking around before finally spotting something. Further along the wall where they were all huddled, there was a tiny opening. A sewer drain of some sort, which had a small trickle of water coming out of it. Twilight gestured to her friends, and before long, they were all heading towards this new discovery. As soon as they reached it, they found that it was large enough for a pony to be able to climb in. Doubtless, the Jotuns felt that a sewer pipe this size would be no security risk. After all, when all they faced each day was other giants, what risk could it pose? So, after carefully lighting up her horn, Twilight yanked the sewer's cover off, setting it to one side and making sure they hadn't been heard. Once she was certain that they were fine, she pointed to it.

"Oh...must we?" Rarity asked.

A frown from Twilight was her only answer, leading to a resigned sigh on the part of the fashionista. But, to her credit, Rarity appeared to be willing to be the first one in there, and Twilight watched as her friends walked into the pipe, one by one, and she continued to stand watch before entering herself. Sure enough, it was pitch black inside this sewer, but, at the very least, it didn't appear to be "in use" right now, much to Rarity's great relief. Even so, Twilight soon took the lead, guiding them through bends and turns in the piping, until, finally, it started to curve upwards. It took careful steps on the part of the ponies, but they managed to make their way up, before finally coming across what appeared to be another cover. Twilight, placing her hoof on the underside, whispered down to the rest of her group.

"...Be ready."

She didn't look, but she knew from experience that they were nodding back to her. So, after taking another calming breath, she pushed upwards, with the sewer grate creating only the barest hint of a creak. Narrowing her eyes, Twilight gazed out on where they now found themselves. It appeared to be a hallway of some kind, vast and cavernous, as was expected of a dwelling for Jotuns. Torches were lined upon the walls, blazing bright and creating a great deal of light, and Twilight, thankfully, was able to see from this that there were no Jotuns around to spot them. So, after moving the grate to one side, she carefully clambered out, followed shortly by Spike, and then by the rest of her companions. Again, she stood watch, but it seemed as though the giants were all in other places right now, much to her gratitude. When her friends were all out, she used her magic to close the grate again, lest they leave any evidence of their arrival.

"Okay...now we have to find this stone," she muttered.

Walking closer to her, Rainbow began to speak up.

"So...where is the stone kept?"

Twilight sighed to this.

"According to Mimir...it'll be found in the heart of the castle. Right next to Utgard-Loki's seat of power."

Rainbow grimaced.

"His throne?"

Twilight could hear the disbelief in her voice, but nodded in response all the same. Even knowing where they were going and what they were doing, the young pegasus, despite her reputation for being perhaps the bravest of all of them, could not help but feel exasperated at the whole situation. Twilight couldn't blame her, but even so, there was no time to dwell on the unpleasantness of all of this. Instead, she got back to work, leading the group through the hallway and stopping at one particular corner. Slowly, she peered around it, just in time to see two Jotun guards walking past. Immediately, the ponies all pressed themselves against the wall, hoping beyond hope to not be seen. By the grace of the universe, the guards seemed preoccupied with something, and so passed them by without giving them so much as a glance. They waited for them to be out of sight, and then, let out a simultaneous sigh of relief.

"There are way too many close calls in a place like this," Spike remarked.

As had happened so many times, Twilight nodded in agreement to her young ward, then addressed the group herself.

"Okay...we don't have details to work with here, but I have a good idea of what we're going to do."

They moved closer to their leader, eagerly awaiting her plan.

"For all we know, this stone isn't actually important to their King. So there may be a time when he'll simply leave it alone. We find it, wait for all the Jotuns to stop paying attention to it, and then, we make our move."

They nodded together, silently consenting to the place they'd been given. Pinkie especially seemed happy about it.

"Good...we've snuck in...we wait...and then we go for the gold when nopony's looking!"

Her happiness at feeling like they actually had a chance to make it through this was evident, as was the clear smile of joy she bore as a result. But, because nothing was ever allowed to be simple for them, Pinkie, to the horror of all of them, did something she was rather infamous for. She exclaimed her approval as loudly as possible.

"IT'S THE PERFECT PLAN!!!"

The echo of the words "perfect plan" began to reverberate not only through the hallway, and not only through the rest of Utgard, but to all of the area surrounding the castle too. Fortunately, there came a time when the echo had eventually died down, so they wouldn't have to worry about it anymore. Unfortunately, however, by the time this had happened, Twilight and her friends now found that they were surrounded by about a dozen Jotuns, all looking down at them with anger and pointing the tips of their very sharp spears to them. The ponies, now with their backs to one another as a single group, all took a moment to turn their heads and glare disapprovingly at their party-loving friend. Pinkie, for her part, giggled nervously before drooping her ears somewhat.

"Yeah, I...I need to work on that."