Babel's Gate

by Tremorhoof

Rating: everyone
Tags: Adventure
Length: 1473

A dimensional traveller landing upon the shores of Equestria. What will happen to him?

In which a short story writer tries to do something with continuity and consistency…

Jace is a dimensional traveller with a past. Using a bauble called Babel's Gate, he journeys from dimension to dimension hoping to reach home. When crashlanding upon a world different than many he's been to before - warm, welcoming and quite weird - he meets the friendly creatures of Equestria who generously try to help him find his way home. But, fate is not kind when he must prevent a disaster he caused to save his new-found friends.

Yes, it's human-to-pony, but I hope it's still fun.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2012-02-24 00:30:53 UTC

Chapter 1

“My faithful student Twilight Sparkle,

I loathe to interrupt you in your studies but your assistance is required in a very urgent matter. I request that you and the other bearer of the Elements of Harmony come to Canterlot as soon as ponily possible. A carriage will be provided and come to you soon. I can’t reveal too much in this letter but it is connected to the events that occurred last week near Ponyville.

Signed, Princess Celestia.”

“Twilight, dear, do you have any idea what this could be about?” Rarity asked into the group. The white unicorn levitated the letter with her magic in front of face to reread for the twentieth time.

Twilight could only shake her head. “Not a clue.” She looked out of the window of the pegasus carriage, watching the landscape fly past. The princess loved to tease her with cryptic messages and riddles but this letter was just worrisome. She doesn’t call for the Elements unless there’s an actual threat to Equestria.

“Oooh, oooh, you know what this calls for?” a bubbly pink pony bobbed in her seat. The beam in her face almost blew away all of Twilight’s gloom. “A GUESSING GAME! I start. Uhm, maybe she calls us to try a new cupcake recipe? Oooh, I love cupcakes. Did I ever mention how much I love cupcakes? I even have a song pre-bmpfffpffpfmmmpf”

“Not now, sugarcube.” Applejack shoved her hoof into Pinkie’s mouth to stop her from singing this song again. “Don’t ya worry your pretty head, Twilight. The princess wouldn’t call for us if she wasn’t sure we could handle it.”

“Yeah!” Rainbow Dash agreed enthusiastically. She blew one of brightly-coloured bangs out of her eyes and spread her wings, startling Fluttershy into releasing a frightened squeak before diving under her seat. “Besides, as long as we’re together, nothing can stop us.”

“Still,” a quiet voice rose from under the seats “I’m wondering if the ‘events’ the princess mentioned are these dreadful, dreadful e.. ear...nnnmbl” Fearing that saying the word aloud might actually cause it, Fluttershy fell silent and dragged herself deeper under the seats.

“Earthquakes? It’s quite possible” Twilight replied. “I heard that the epicenter was just outside of Ponyville and the tremors could even be felt in Canterlot.”

“Oh, the memories” Rarity rose the back of her hoof to her head. “That terrifying earthquake drowned my poor shop in a flood of chaos. It was just HORRIBLE.”

“Whatever the reason is, I hope that the Princess is alright.”

~~~

“Sister, are you alright?” Luna spoke softly, younger of the two royal siblings, tearfully looking upon her sister Celestia. She was suffering, trying to finish the spell she’s been casting for over three days now. The white alicorn emitted purple fire feeding the magic but it was flickering, fading. Luna could tell that her sister was at her limits and couldn't bear watching her any longer. She didn’t dare to imagine the magical backlash if the spell wasn’t finished properly.

Celestia didn’t answer. She only gave a desperate smile to assure her little sister that she was still able to hear her. Princess Luna turned her gaze to the sphere of magic her sister created. She could see the silhouette of something floating in there. It stood upon only two hooves and the front hooves were split in five, wearing strange clothing. The creature was almost as tall as her sister and its tiny eyes were unsettling, to say the least. Also, it was causing earthquakes that were getting stronger by the minute. The black alicorn understood why her sister had to capture it magically but she didn’t understand why Celestia so readily believed the creature’s story. She heard her sister moan under the strain of the spell.

Dimensional traveller? As if!

Now she’s here putting herself into danger to save this thing.

“Your majesty!” A butler pony interrupted her thoughts.

“WHAT?!” Luna bellowed with her regal tone, nearly blowing the butler away. She was on the edge and couldn’t bother controlling herself and her powerful voice right now.

“Twilight Sparkle and her friends have arrived.”

“Finally! Sister, did you hear? The Elements are here. Please remain strong for only a few moments more.” Celestia could only growl her approval.

~~~

Twilight Sparkle couldn’t shake this feeling of uneasiness as they galloped through Castle Canterlot. Something wasn’t right. The entire castle, usually brimming with life, visitors and servants, was empty except for a few guards. The six of them reached the throne room.

“TWILIGHT SPARKLE!”

“Princess Luna!” Twilight stopped running. The other did the same. They all started to bow before their princess.

“NO TIME FOR PLEASANTRIES!” the alicorn shouted and used her magic to bring forth the Elements of Harmony and attach them according to their bearers:

Kindness for Fluttershy

Generosity for Rarity

Loyalty for Rainbow Dash

Laughter for Pinkie Pie

Honesty for Applejack

and Magic for Twilight Sparkle.

They had no time to respond or even fully realize what’s going on before being dragged by their necklaces (or crown respectively).

“YOU! READ THIS!”

Twilight took the book the princess handed to her. She didn’t have to run anyway.

“Transformation spells?”

She opened it at the bookmark and noticed one being underlined a couple times.

“TIE spell. The ‘Transform Into Equestrian’ spell allows the caster to transform any living being into a being suitable living in the lands of Equestria.”

Twilight didn’t understand. Where was her mentor, Princess Celestia? Why anyone would need such a spell, especially such a highly difficult spell that required a LOT of magic?

“Please, Princess Luna, can you tell me wha-”

She couldn’t finish the question. They’ve arrived at their destination and the sight rendered her and the others speechless. A giant purple fireball, fed by Princess Celestia’s magic, floated in the middle of a dungeon room they just entered. There was no heat but the pressure was intense. Her mentor was on her knees, tears coming out of her eyes due to the strain of generating so much magic. A figure was trapped within the spell. She couldn’t exactly make out what it was but it looked somewhat like a pony. The worst thing was that this whole spell was horribly unstable and could go awry any second now. Twilight didn’t want to think about the consequences if it did. She only looked to Princess Luna.

“No question. Just do it. Please!” Princess Luna’s voice broke down to little more than desperate whisper.

Twilight didn’t have time to ponder upon possible explanations. She turned around to her friends. “Girls, help me out. Just focus. I’ll do the rest.”

Everypony closed their eyes and concentrated on Twilight, hoping she could help their beloved princess. Without any delay the elements started glowing, generating magic stronger than any other force in Equestria. Twilight focused the energy into a rainbow beam and released it onto the spell her teacher started, hoping to finish it and prevent any backlash.

The beam shot through the fireball and exploded, engulfing everypony in a glaring white flash.

~~~

When the light faded Applejack shook her head to get rid of the exhaustion. They had used the Elements before and she knew it was a tiring experience but this time, it was especially draining. She looked around and noticed that she was the first to regain her senses. Princess Luna had rushed to her sister’s aid to keep her from fainting. Applejack helped her friends to get up and together they approached the spot the huge fireball was before. The magic was completely gone and only a faint smear of soot hinted at the incredible thing here just happened. What they found instead wasn’t exactly what she expected.

“May I present you” Princess Luna stood above the friends, looking at the same spot they were. “The reason for the recent earthquakes”

Applejack couldn’t help but cock a doubtful eyebrow. This lonely unicorn, responsible for these huge earthquakes? Sure, he was bigger than most unicorns she had met before. He was about the same size as her big brother Big Macintosh back on Sweet Apple Acres, her apple orchard and home. The unicorn was out cold, his brown coat rising and falling with every breath he took. A three-peaked mountain decorated his flanks. His horn poked through his unruly short and black mane. Applejack edged closer to get a better look at his face when he suddenly opened his eyes. Startled, she jumped back. She only had a glance of his leafgreen eyes before he drifted back into unconsciousness.

“So y’all saying this fellow caused the earthquakes?”

“I do, indeed, dear Applejack” Princess Celestia was, albeit shakily and supported by her sister and her student, back on her feet. “Come, my loyal subject, I suppose you should learn about our mysterious friend here.”