Essays Index
Locations series: Part 1 - Creation | Part 2 - The Nine Realms | Part 3 - Earth

This is one of the important ones. This group is named for concepts that I conceived and explain here. This mythology-inspired take on Equestria's local "multiverse" forms the backbone of much of the rest of this world, and will inform almost every other essay I have written and will write now that context is available here.

The Nine Realms:
The Nine Realms are a group of nine geocentric planetary systems existing across eight parallel pocket universes, as well as the prime universe, here referred to as Normal Space, or N-Space. The eight pocket universes cluster around the planet known as Earth, also called the Borderworld due to its close proximity to these other dimensions. Their origins are unknown, but they are speculated to have been accidentally formed from the destruction of a parallel universe that was connected to N-Space, the centrepoint of which was that parallel universe's version of Earth.

Whatever it was that caused its bizarre nature, the dimensional walls around the Borderworld today are especially weak by the standards of the rest of the universe, and travel from here to alternate realities and dimensions is extremely easy. As well, the creation of pocket universes and other such realms is also much easier, to the point that it apparently happened by accident no less than eight times.

Due to the nature of alternate dimensions and magic, these Nine Realms can be said to exist in the same physical space, layered on top of each other, but separated by the thinnest of veils. This is a gross oversimplification, of course, but this is how the Nine Realms are commonly understood by their mortal inhabitants. Viewed externally, from the Time Void that exists outside the physical universe, one can see that Asgard and Alfheim are the "highest" of the realms by a significant degree, and that Helheim and Svartalfheim are the "lowest" by an equivalent amount, making them known as the Higher Realms and the Lower Realms respectively. The rest of the Nine Realms are much closer together, with N-Space being in the centre.

The eight pocket universes are tiny compared to the vastness of N-Space, having only enough space for the single planetary system that they each contain. With a few exceptions, these realms all have a single star, one planet, and one moon, each of them a parallel to Earth, Sol, and Luna respectively. In all nine realms, including Midgard, the planet is stationary, and the sun and moon move around it in a geocentric orbit, controlled by the magic and will of mortals. All nine of these planetary systems are synchronised by a magical field that leaks out from the adjacent dimensions and permeates all of them, making travel between the Nine Realms easier.

Almost ever since their inception, the Nine Realms have been fought over by the three Eternals, and so it is common to distinguish not just between the higher, lower, and middle realms, but also between the realms of Order, Chaos, and Harmony, with some realms having changed hands several times over the course of their history. The Nine Realms are here presented by this system of categorisation, and called by their names in the tongue of the draconequui, who visited, explored, and named more of these realms than any other species.

The Realms of Harmony:
Midgard:
The planet which Equestria inhabits is known to many gods and alien species, even far beyond its own galaxy, due to its central importance to the Eternal War. Most who know it by reputation refer to it as the Borderworld, because of its weak dimensional barriers and the many parallel universes it borders on. To its own inhabitants, the planet is known by various names, with each culture generally calling it something different. In Equestrian academia, it is known as Equus, but it is far more commonly referred to as Earth, a name which is less pony-centric, and therefore more widely adopted by non-ponies across the globe.

To the draconequui, and to the rest of the Nine Realms, it is known as Midgard, or the Middle Realm, as it is the only realm existing in N-Space. It is considered one of the Realms of Harmony, alongside Asgard and Alfheim, due to the Tree of Harmony's direct presence on the planet. Her roots grow over what was once a particularly volatile superportal beneath what is now the Everfree Forest, which has been tempered and calmed over time by her power, and it is from this position that she spreads her influence across the rest of Mutter's Spiral.

Midgard was the first of the Nine Realms to support life, as it was the only one to exist before the Split. Life on Midgard evolved over many millions of years, in some cases naturally, in other cases influenced by the gods. Order seeded the planet with equinoid DNA early on in its history, which resulted in the ponies, zebras, and donkeys of today. Midgard's own gods indirectly created the dragons and other species. And later, the coming of the Eternal War brought with it the alicorns, the umbrums, the nightmares, and the various chimeras. Most life in the Nine Realms either originated on Midgard, or was created using Midgardian life as a template.

Today, Midgard's inhabitants remain mostly ignorant of the rest of the Nine Realms. Such knowledge is mostly the purview of academics and those of a learned nature, as well as cultists, shamans, seers, and other individuals interested in otherworldly matters. However, some common people do have limited knowledge of individual realms. Those who deal often with the breezies, for instance, will have at least some background knowledge about their homeworld, Alfheim, and most ponies are also aware of the existence of Tartarus, even if they do not know that it resides in Helheim.

Asgard:
The realm of Asgard, also known as Elysium or Paradise in the language of ponies, is a world of abundant nature, home to many plants, animals, and natural wonders, but largely devoid of sapient life. The entire planet is nothing but greenery and wildlands, except for a single city known as Valhalla. This city is located in Asgard's parallel to the Canterlot Hills, but the area around it is mostly flat, having been levelled by Order when the city was first built. It was in these flatlands outside of Valhalla, known originally as Vígríðr and later as the Elysian Fields, that Celestia and Luna were born over a thousand years ago.

The original Valhalla was built of solid gold and marble, and was designed to be grandest and most beautiful city in all the Nine Realms, later inspiring the design of Canterlot. At its centre lay a grand coliseum and arena, so massive that it was able to host all of Valhalla's people in its stands. Through the week, it used to see plays, magic shows, musical performances, sporting events, and gladiatorial combat, until the weekends when it would then be used by Odin, the King of Asgard, to hold court.

Originally, Asgard was a completely barren world, used as a testing ground for the creation of the alicorns by Borr, the previous incarnation of Order. It only later grew green and bountiful after the War of the Sun, when the alicorns rebelled, Borr was killed, and the Tree of Harmony grew an offshoot into the realm to bring it under her influence. Since then, it has been considered a Realm of Harmony.

After the War of the Sun, the alicorns united under Odin, and came to worship and revere the Tree of Harmony, whom they called Yggdrasil, the World Tree. At her direction, they constructed the Bifröst, or the Rainbow Bridge, to bring the Realms of Harmony closer together, and facilitate contact between the alicorns of Asgard and the Three Tribes of Midgard. Though there were already many portals leading between Earth and Asgard, the Bifröst was the most stable, and led directly from Valhalla to the Canterlot Hills, today called the Unicorn Range.

The alicorn kingdom eventually fell in an event known as Ragnarok, a prelude to Discord's Reign of Chaos, which resulted in the deaths of Odin and almost the entire alicorn royal family, and the mass exodus of Asgard by the rest of the alicorn race. Most of Valhalla was destroyed in the event, including the Bifröst, with only the coliseum remaining by the end.

Although the alicorn race later died out in Midgard, and Asgard was never repopulated, Celestia and Luna did later return to the realm. Under their guidance, the Bifröst was restored, and Valhalla was partially rebuilt, not as a true city, but as a private sanctum and monument to history. The other portals leading into the realm were sealed, and the exit point of the Bifröst in the Canterlot Hills was buried, with a grand temple built atop it. Tales of the alicorn homeland later inspired the myths of Paradise, or Heaven, in the holy texts of Alicornism, and the temple became one of the first shrines of the Church of the Royal Sisters.

Later, Valhalla was repurposed as a meeting place for the Cosmic Council, a gathering of world leaders, spirits, and immortals from all over the Nine Realms, with some of the other portals into the realm being re-opened for their private use. Asgard is still used by the Cosmic Council even to this day, and is now best known for this role amongst the other gods of Creation, who speak in furtive whispers of what the gods of the Borderworld may be conspiring behind closed doors.

Alfheim:
Alfheim, also known as the Realm of Light, the Wonderland, and Breezieland, is the mysterious realm of the breezies, granted to them by the Tree of Harmony in an age long ago. Little is known about it, as very few creatures are small enough to ever visit the realm in person. Alfheim is only accessible through small, breezie-sized portals, which only open on Midgard, and only at certain times of year.

What is known of Alfheim is that it has a very simple ecosystem, containing plenty of natural plantlife, but almost no animal life larger than the breezies, who are themselves the only sapient species in the realm. It also has extremely mild but natural weather, which is ideal for the breezies, being just strong enough to provide them mobility, but not so strong that it presents them potential harm. The environment is optimised for breezie habitation, despite the breezies themselves having no ability to affect the weather.

All of this, from the times the portals remain open, to the weather, to the lack of predators in the realm, is attributed by the breezies to the Light of Alfheim, which they describe as an enormous pillar of blindingly brilliant crystal in the centre of their greatest city. The exact nature of the Light of Alfheim and where it came from is a mystery that has frustrated many curious minds over the centuries, most especially because studying it directly has always been out of the question. However, those more knowledgeable about the history of the Nine Realms may recognise that the breezies are likely describing an offshoot of the Tree of Harmony, which would indeed be gigantic by breezie standards.

Through the magic of Harmony, Alfheim remains protected from all external threats, and though the breezies are doubtless the most fragile species in the Nine Realms, even they are able to thrive in such a home. In a way, this may be the purest expression of the Tree of Harmony's vision for a world at peace, making Alfheim the most harmonious of the Realms of Harmony.

The Realms of Chaos:
Jotunheim:
Jotunheim is the original homeland of the draconequui, as well as the griffons, the centaurs, the gargoyles, and numerous other species seen throughout Midgard, both chimeric and otherwise. It is the only one of the Realms of Chaos still inhabited by mortals, though plenty of gods, demons, and other spirits also call it home, most especially the windigoes (or frost giants, as the locals call them). The native Jotuns were all created in this realm by Discord and Hixelkicks, but were never made subject to them, instead encouraged to live in anarchy, which many of them have done for thousands of years now.

The lands of Jotunheim are diverse, and often alien and bizarre compared to Midgard. Many strange plants and animals unseen anywhere else in the Nine Realms make up the ecosystem. Visible tears in the fabric of space are common sights. Wild chaos magic causes strange magical phenomena, like oddly coloured skies and pockets of reversed time. And in the centre of the realm, where Jotunheim's counterpart of Mt. Canterlot should reside, is an enormous and volatile superportal known as the Nexus instead.

The Nexus, unlike the superportal covered and controlled by the Tree of Harmony, is an untamed rift in spacetime, opening Jotunheim up to the infinite realities beyond. Through the Nexus, one can travel through the Nine Realms, into the Time Void, out into the rest of the universe, or even beyond into other universes altogether. However, the Nexus is so vast and chaotic that navigating it reliably is almost impossible, and those who travel into it are usually never seen again.

All manner of strange phenomena originate from the Nexus, which periodically spits out gibbering abominations from realities beyond Creation itself, as well as all other kinds of interdimensional debris. Crashed spacecraft and broken alien technology, ruined buildings from lost civilizations, and barely identifiable corpses of unknown species all litter the lands around the great rift. A river even flows out from the Nexus and leads all the way to the sea, known to the Jotuns as the Lost River, as its source is literally lost amongst the infinite realities beyond their world.

Aside from the Nexus, Jotunheim has plenty of natural variance in its landscapes and biomes. Swamps, forests, deserts, lakes, oceans, beaches, mountains, jungles, and vast underground chasms are all present, most of them covered with at least a light layer of frost from the constant activity of the windigoes. Amidst the chaos of their surroundings, the Jotuns also have their own civilizations. Most live in small villages or roaming tribes, as the draconequui do, but many others have built towns and castles in the few calmer parts of the land. The griffons, in particular, built a labyrithian cloud city known as Goldfeather in the far north, probably the closest thing Jotunheim has to what ponies would think of as a city.

Jotunheim could be considered a realisation of Discord's ideal vision for Midgard, as it is a land that is actively chaotic and embroiled in constant conflict, but is still grounded and comfortable enough for mortals to live and thrive in, if only they embrace chaos as a lifestyle. This sits in contrast to the other Realms of Chaos, which are downright inhospitable to most living things.

Muspelheim:
Muspelheim is a hellish nightmare realm of pure chaos magic that resembles what the universe as a whole would look like if Discord could've had his way with it from the start. It may have once had a sun, moon, and planet like the other realms, but if so, they were all long ago taken apart and redistributed throughout the realm, their matter and energy twisted to form new items of curiosity for Discord and the chaos demons that live here.

There is solid ground and sufficient heat and oxygen to survive in Muspelheim (most of the time), but the realm as a whole is almost as constantly changing as the Dreamscape, only changing at the whims of the demons rather than the inhabitants of Midgard. The only real consistent features of Muspelheim are its inhabitants, its ever-shifting purple sky, and the swirling vortex of chaotic energy in its centre known as the Eye of Chaos, which serves as a prison and place of torment for Agamarath, the Lord of the Great Abyss.

Since being freed from his stone prison, Discord has made Muspelheim his home, carving out his own little corner of the realm to make his own. Discord's territory, known as Chaosville, is sealed in a protective bubble that keeps the rest of Muspelheim out, ironically making it the most defined and consistent location in the realm. It only ever changes as much as Discord tells it to, as it is here that he keeps his house, his pets, and his few more permanent possessions, such as his throne, his thinking tree, and all his ancient artefacts of chaos.

A number of portals lead from Chaosville to Equestria, with one emerging somewhere above Canterlot, another into Ponyville, a third into an underground cave system where Discord likes to go swimming, and a fourth to an empty field that Discord was granted by the Crown to do with as he pleases, which he uses mostly as a mailing address. Most of these portals are invisible, and are usually kept sealed, unless Discord forgets about them. Nonetheless, they are not especially dangerous if left open, as the bubble around Chaosville already prevents any of Muspelheim's local monstrosities from from wandering through.

Vanaheim:
Vanaheim is the Realm of Chaos hosting the Dreamscape, or the Collective Unconscious, long ago born from the psionic energy of Midgard. Several generations of sleeping minds acccidentally created the Dreamscape by reaching out to each other in their dreams. This formed links between their minds until they formed a strong psionic field which covered all of Midgard. When the Split created the Nine Realms, this field was so dense that it sunk through the veil separating Midgard and Vanaheim, creating a permanent link between the two realms through this psionic field that is not physical, but something so much deeper.

All minds on Midgard, and indeed in all the Nine Realms, are connected to the field, and because of this, every thinking creature involuntarily projects their minds into the Dreamscape while they sleep. The physical Vanaheim is nothing but a barren planet that vaguely resembles Earth, floating in a void, but it is in this physical realm that the projected minds of dreamers meet. The Dreamscape as the dreamers perceive it exists within the psionic field there, with the dreaming world imposed over the lesser physical world of Vanaheim beneath.

Vanaheim is accessible by portal, just as any other realm is, but the physical Vanaheim is a barren wasteland, containing nothing of note. Getting the most out of a visit thus requires some transformative magic as well. Permanent portals to Vanaheim, such as the one which exists on Midgard's moon, will not merely transport an individual, but also turn their body into psionic energy, much the same as how the Crystal Mirror transforms dimensional travelers into humans and back. In Equestria, physical transformative travel to Vanaheim and back is also possible through spellwork, as well as through the use of magical items known as red eye orbs.

However, the normal way to visit the Dreamscape is still through simply falling asleep.

Once in the Dreamscape, the sleeping minds determine what shape the landscape takes, as it is a realm of pure psionic energy, and thus responds to thought. Most dreamers are unaware that they are asleep when dreaming, and so their subconscious minds create scenarios not meant for a shared experience. For this reason, most dreamers stay in their own personal dreamspace and change it around them to play out their dreams, never leaving it nor encountering others.

However, with skill, any lucid dreamer can walk the Dreamscape by leaving their own dreamspace and seeking out others, and once they becomes aware of the logic by which they can influence dreams, the dreamwalker becomes akin to a minor reality warper within the Dreamscape. Their power is then limited only by the will (conscious or otherwise) of their fellow dreamers. A skilled dreamwalker can influence the dreams of themselves and others, access unprotected minds to view memories, protect their own minds, and create permanent changes to their own dreamspaces, allowing them to effectively create their own private pocket dimensions.

While the Dreamscape is a constantly changing realm, however, it does have a few permanent fixtures and a rough geography. Mapped out, the Dreamscape appears as a spiral shape, as that is the direction that the psionic energy forming the Dreamscape swirls in. This spiral, going out far enough, eventually begins to bend until the Dreamscape forms a full sphere, as it wraps around the gravity of the physical planet in Vanaheim rather than stretching out into the void.

At the centre of this spiral is the Well of Souls, a gap in the Dreamscape through which a dreaming mind can fall, potentially leaving them stuck as a disembodied astral projection in the physical Vanaheim. The centre of the Well of Souls lies at the top of a dream construct called Nightmare Mountain. The space in the nonphysical Dreamscape which Nightmare Mountain occupies overlays a real physical mountain in Vanaheim, which is its parallel to Mt. Canterlot.

A similar, much larger gap exists "south" of the Well of Souls, known as the Lost Zone. In the physical Vanaheim, this was the prowling grounds for a creature known as the Dream Eater, an errant creation of Agamarath, which fed upon the loose psionic energy of the Dreamscape. While not actually having that voracious an appetite, the Dream Eater inhabited Vanaheim for many centuries, allowing it to consume enough energy to create the Lost Zone in the Dreamscape, until it was later found by Discord and taken as a pet.

Other notable landmarks in the Dreamscape include the Fields of Chaos (a previously isolated dreamspace belonging to Discord, which he inhabited during his imprisonment), Midnight Castle (Luna's dreamspace on Nightmare Mountain, open to all dreamwalkers that can reach it), the Hivemind (shared dreamspace of the changelings, and location of the magical construct which telepathically links them), and the Afterlife (a shared dreamspace for deceased minds that became trapped in the Dreamscape for whatever reason).

Anywhere in the Dreamscape that is unaltered by dreaming minds or which has become passive tends to appear as an empty space, filled with a soothing blue light that looks like fog, and motes of white light that look like stars, echoes of the souls of others in the waking world. It was in a calm area of the Dreamscape like this that Celestia appeared to Twilight when she uplifted her into alicornhood.

The Realms of Order:
Niflheim:
Niflheim is a largely empty, mountainous realm, completely covered in snow, ice, and fog, where almost nothing lives. It is also the only one of the Realms of Order not currently ruled by Sleipnir. Niflheim was originally a Realm of Chaos, overrun by countless windigoes and other demons, but it was later captured and purged of its original inhabitants by Borr. Though the death of the windigoes should have brought an end to the snows in Niflheim, Borr intentionally chose to keep the realm cold as a deterrent to other potential invaders, and because he believed that the landscape looked more orderly covered in snow, even if the wild weather was more chaotic than he would've liked.

The only inhabited location in Niflheim is the Tower of the Loom, built on the artificially constructed Island of Destiny in the middle of a frozen lake. This is the home of the Fates (or the Norns, as the draconequui call them), a group of three alicorn sisters who serve Order.

Lahkesis, Atropos, and Clotho (also known as Verðandi, Skuld, and Wyrd) were created in Asgard along with the rest of their race, but sent to Niflheim to preside over the Loom, a powerful mind control device that maintains Order's hold over the Eternal Empire's slave planets in Mutter's Spiral. Their duty is not just to maintain the machine, but also to control and coordinate Order's forces in the galaxy, using chronomancy to observe and predict the future, creating more favourable outcomes for Order. Though the Tree of Harmony gifted the Fates with the capacity for emotion just as she did for the rest of the alicorn race, they were among the few to remain loyal to their master, and have continued to faithfully serve him for over a thousand years now.

Svartalfheim:
Svartalfheim, also known as the Great Abyss, the Void, Limbo, and Purgatory, is a barren, rocky, mountainous world with no sun, hanging alone in a pitch-black void in space. The realm did have a sun once, but it was sacrificed by Borr in order to create the magical field that maintains the synchronised geocentric orbits of the rest of the Nine Realms. Ever since, Svartalfheim has been a realm of perpetual darkness and silence, which has inspired almost as many religious conceptions of Hell as Tartarus has.

Svartalfheim is the birthplace and home realm of the umbrums, nightmares, and other creatures of the Dark created by Agamarath, who once ruled over Svartalfheim in Order's stead. As the Lord of the Great Abyss, Agamarath sent the umbrums to Midgard to harass the crystal ponies in the Frozen North, and sent the nightmares to Vanaheim to bring fear and despair to the rest of the mortal races, but he was eventually found and defeated by Discord, and imprisoned within the Eye of Chaos in Muspelheim. After Agamarath's fall, and with the discovery of the Crystal Heart, most of the portals to Svartalfheim were found and closed, and the realm became isolated.

In the centuries since, Svartalfheim has been taken over by the Dread Lord Sleipnir, and become a refuge for the creatures and dark gods who once served Order, many of whom also utilise the Abyss for their own purposes. As well, though most of the nightmares have since moved on to other realms, a small number of umbrums still dwell within Svartalfheim, building their own tiny civilizations across the wasteland, like tiny flickers of light in the darkness. Though most are happy with the simple lives they lead here, many still desire to escape their home, and dream of one day seeing the sunlight of Midgard for themselves.

Helheim:
Helheim was once one of the Realms of Chaos, until it fell into the hooves of the Dread Lord Sleipnir, the son of Order and Discord. Much like Niflheim, it was originally an icy land populated mostly by windigoes, until they were all killed. However, unlike Order, Sleipnir chose to melt over the ice that once covered the realm, exposing the harsh, rocky landscape beneath, upon which he built his kingdom. Today, Helheim is a monotonously grey realm of perpetually cloudy skies. Its climate varies between stiflingly hot near the equator, and bitingly cold near the poles, but the weather is highly regulated and micro-managed, even moreso than in Equestria; even where it is cold, snow never falls, and even where it is hot, the sun never shines.

The land of Helhem is full of castles, small towns, and the occasional city, built in the valleys between the mountains. Farmlands are maintained in the fertile soil next to Helheim's volcanoes, and almost all other settlements are built around mines and factories, constantly producing new materials to expand Sleipnir's kingdom further across the realm. These factories, farms, and mines are all worked by slaves of numerous different species, including draconequui, ponies, umbrums, griffons, great spiders, and even a few domesticated demons, all subjugated beneath Sleipnir's iron hoof.

Though Sleipnir has ruled Helheim for over a thousand years, and has been growing his kingdom all the while, he has still yet bring the entire planet under his control, as his expansion has been slow and methodical. One side of the planet is densely covered by civilization, and the other is totally barren and lifeless. It is in this barren side of the world that Tartarus exists.

Tartarus is an isolated Equestrian prison, designed by Princess Luna to hold highly dangerous prisoners of Discord's level of power and threat. It is protected by several powerful enchantments, which were cast using the Elements of Harmony themselves, and were intended to hold their prisoners so securely that not even death would be an escape for them. Only a single portal leads between Midgard and the gates of Tartarus, which is watched over by the immortal three-headed guard dog, Cerberus, but not much separates Tartarus from the rest of Helheim, other than natural barriers such as the mountains.

The princesses of Equestria are not aware that Helheim has any inhabitants other than their prisoners, but Sleipnir does know of Tartarus, and has seen it himself. Why he has not yet done anything about it, and why he continues to allow Equestria's presence in his realm, is a question that only he could answer, but no answers are forthcoming. Whatever intentions Sleipnir may have for the rest of the Nine Realms, they are surely not benevolent, but still he shows no sign of making any grand moves yet. Only time will tell what he has in store.

Acknowledgements:
-The underground cave system where Discord likes to go swimming is a reference to his hideout in Not the Hero by Alara J. Rogers.
-The empty field Discord was given to do with as he pleases is a reference to the quarry Celestia gave Discord for the same purpose in Diary of a Pliant Tyrant by xjuggernaughtx.

I really love all the locations that you gave for the Boarderworld series. Very informative!

By the way, is Hixelkicks in any of your stories, because I have no idea who he's suppose to be. Or some of the other immortals mentioned.

But boy is Midgard screwed with immortals who have evil or just plain twisted designs for them.

Also, who own the "Afterlife" place in Vanaheim? And does Luna own or at least guards the place?

5636926
5637316

By the way, is Hixelkicks in any of your stories, because I have no idea who he's suppose to be. Or some of the other immortals mentioned.

She is, although she wasn't named during her appearance. She's the chimeric monster that Discord refers to as his mother in Just Dodge!

Also, who own the "Afterlife" place in Vanaheim? And does Luna own or at least guards the place?

It doesn't have an "owner," per se. It's just sort of there.

Also, who own the "Afterlife" place in Vanaheim? And does Luna own or at least guards Vanaheim?

Lots and lots of questions....

By the way, has anyone ever tried to draw the places described here and in your stories.

5638684
Ah I see. I found earlier that Hixelkicks is a she, whoops.

So Afterlife, a great place to meet dreaming strangers. Lest one of them is Freddy Kreuger.

For the Luna question, I meant to ask did she own Vanaheim? Sorry for not clearing that part up.

5639145

Vanaheim's a Realm of Chaos; nobody owns it.

5639197
Okay I understand it now.

So is Midnight Castle, Luna's dreamscape, is based on/inspired by her moon castle the one from the comics, or does it look different?

5658726

You mean the one from Nightmare Rarity and its Fiendship sequel? Definitely different; that place would probably bring back bad memories for Luna. Besides, Nightmare stole it from the nyx in the first place. I imagine Midnight Castle in the Dreamscape to be something of a melding of the palace in Canterlot and the Castle of the Royal Sisters, perhaps also with more gothic-style architecture like the castle from Return of Chrysalis.

Niflheim is actually a very orderly place. What has more order than Ice?

I just realised something, the Dreamscape/Vanaheim kinda reminds me of Lovecraft's Dreamlands, only except that the dreams in Vanaheim are not as connected as the Dreamlands since not everyone is aware that they are dreaming.

Though granted, the properties of the Dreamlands is is uncertain, it is a place where dreamers can manipulate the world. But I digress.