Stargate SG1: Equestrian Arc

Chapter 4

Connections

Jack stood at the end of the dock; The warm summer sun overhead and the cool breeze gently wafted in from the east bring in the scents of the flowers and trees filling him with an uneasy calmness as it slowly evaporated the sweat from his skin.

His place was always warm and welcoming even on the coldest winter days. He looked down at the towel that sat on the dock and ran a hand over it. The towel wasn’t smooth as he thought it should have been; Instead, it was rough, more like one that was used and left out to dry. He picked it up and tossed it over his shoulder; it was warm to the touch, filled from the heat of the sunshine above.

An odd sensation washed over him as he turned and walked over to the front door of the cabin. He saw the beer that was sitting on the table next to the door and he picked it up and took a long swig from it. As expected, it was warm, flat, and tasteless, and he made a sour face as he sat the bottle back on the table. He then turned his attention back to the front door but something made him pause, a feeling of something, but what?

Jack couldn’t pin it; this was his door, to his cabin, why would he hesitate? Then Jack heard the clicking of the Goa’uld staff weapon activating behind him, and he immediately ducked and rolled bringing up a nine-millimeter pistol that had been laying upon the ground as the barrage of staff energy erupted all around him. He fired in the direction of his assailant but shot nothing. He paused as the weapons fire ceased; he saw no one. Jack counted his shots; nine fired; one bullet remained in the chamber. Still on edge, he knew he had more inside but as he made his way back to the front door, he paused once again. He pointed the weapon at the door; he was expecting something, but he didn’t know what. He slowly reached for the handle and turned the knob with his free hand not taking his aim off with the other.

The door creaked and opened up.

Inside was his cabin; it was as he had left it last, strewn with half eaten pizzas in opened boxes and empty beer bottles scattered upon the floor. Jack never knew himself to be a neat freak, but then he was no slob either but he remembered this party. A pity party of one, filled with binge drinking and old movies. The others had been busy that night or off on some other world without him. Still, something was off, and that didn’t sit well with him, so he made his way to one of his supply cabinets where he kept his ammunition.

Reloaded, he felt more relieved but then a sound came from down the hall and Jack cautious once again, made through the cabin investigating the sound, weapon at the ready.

It was the sound of running water and it was coming from his bathroom. He opened the door and fell back in horror. Not a bathroom, there was a sink and a tub filled and overflowing with dirty brown water and scattered across the floor was piles of hay mixed with manure. An in the center of the room was a deep dark hole that the water and debris flowed into.

The sound of the staff weapon activated again, this time from inside the home, Jack wheeled around and fired his pistol as another barrage of staff energy came zinging down the hallway. Jack lost his balance and fell into the bathroom rolling around in the sticky brown and wet goo. The weapons fire stopped, but the water got heavier as the room began to flood, racing towards the open hole in the floor and Jack soon found himself struggling against the current.

Jack tried to grab onto anything to keep himself from being dragged into the abyss that lay before him. He dropped the nine-millimeter and held onto the pipe from under the sink but everything was slippery in the hay-filled mud that now coated his body. He then heard a new sound, and he turned and saw the creature who had risen from within the hole, a creature he had seen many times before in the form of a large Goa’uld symbiote.

Gunshots rang out; the Goa’uld screamed and dove back into the hole. Jack flinched but held firm to the pipe then quickly turned his head, his eyes widened at the figure before him.

“Hello Sundance.”

…..

Jack startled and awoke from the dream. No, a nightmare, and one of the worst freaking nightmares he had ever had. He rubbed his eyes; this was no dream; he was still in a barn covered in hay, and what he hoped was really mud, stuck in a world with talking colorful horses dreading the fact he might never get home… with his sanity intact. Jack got up and saw both Carter and Daniel laying in their own respective piles, “looks like the others finally decided to hit the hay themselves,” he said then pardoning himself for the pun.

He walked over to the door sliding it open just a bit where he saw Teal’c deep in his Kel-no-whatchma-call it, next to the fire that had all, but extinguished itself under its own ashes and glowing coals. A young yellow filly with a big red ribbon in her mane slept curled up in a ball across from him on the opposite side of the fires pit. With the fire gone, she shivered a little, so Jack went and found his cold weather parka jacket and laid it over top of the little pony.

He looked up at the full moon above; its soft white glow radiated down upon them bathing this colorful world in translucent light. But unlike the sunlight with its welcoming warmth, the moonlight here felt odd. Not as it did earlier in the evening, this moon gave him a chill despite the cold of the night air. No, this moon was different like an old specter with an ever presence watching over them. It gave him a feeling he knew, feeling he could not explain, a feeling that he had felt before.

Then he felt a different urge. “I guess some things never change no matter what world you’re on and just because you’re on a world of animals, doesn’t mean you have to act like one,” and he headed for the bushes.

Jack rounded the barn when he thought he saw a flash of light. At first, he thought it was a light of a Zat, but there was no sound. Jack looked around some more but saw nothing, no Goa’uld, no ponies, no one around. Good a spot as any Jack said to himself, but only then, did he finally noticed the two ghostly crescent shapes embedded upon the ground.

…..

Princess Celestia flew across the morning sky, a worried look upon her face. It had taken her all night to get here and had to carry out her morning ritual of raising the sun in mid travel, but she had to make sure. She didn’t lie; she kept telling herself, she didn’t know anything about these humans, their Stargate, nor anything about these creatures, they called Goa’uld, but with the events of the past few days, she couldn’t deny the jeopardy that they were all in.

Colonel Jack O Neill’s face, now engrained in her memory, had spoken truthfully; she could see it in his eyes. They may not have been from Equestria, but eyes never lie no matter what creature they were attached to, a lesson she had learned the hard way a long time ago.

That didn’t mean she trusted him nor any of his companions for that matter, but had they intended any ill towards any of her ponies, then they surely would have done so by now. She got the impression that while this Colonel may act imprudent, he was no fool so if there were these Goa’uld creatures are indeed the threat they claim then; it is imperative that she succeed.

“Why could I not sense the danger? If these creatures have been lurking around Equestria surely there would have been signs,” she said in a low, worried voice to no one. “How could I have been so blind?”

She knew the answer didn’t matter, right now, what did matter was the fact that she needed to take charge as ruler of Equestria… and deal with another failure later.

She didn’t want to gather the Royal Guards because any large-scale military operation would cause widespread panic among the population. We may train for combat, but ponies were not warlike creatures. Most ponies are timid and peaceful although she did trust that they could defend themselves if need be.

She wanted to inform Luna personally before she left, but she was not available, the magical rituals they had to perform left both of them drained and Luna was not as of yet back to full strength from her ordeals and time was of the essence. When Luna slept during the day, it was hard for her to awaken, but there were instructions for her, filling her in on all the details that she had left with Luna’s Royal guards for when she did arise.

She had also placed her own guards on alert and ordered small units in key in defensive positions around Canterlot and other major pony cities across Equestria. Ponies may not be true worldly fighters, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t capable.

Twilight and her friend’s faces came to the forefront of Celestia’s mind. She had the utmost confidence in her star pupil and her friends; they were brave enough to hold their own, and she believed in them. Not because they were the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, but because they were friends, who will stick together no matter what faced them. Although they had faced many dangers together, this one, she feared, could be the greatest danger they had ever faced in their lives. If they, this Colonel O Neill and his companions, could indeed stop these invaders, they would need every advantage they could get which was why she was here.

Celestia circled over a spot in the trees pondering her thoughts. She knew there was something buried deep inside her mind. She didn't quite know if it were just a memory, or voice echoing from her past. She did, however, know that it happened a long time ago, long even before Luna was born.

Although she couldn't quite remember exactly ‘what,’ was said, she knew where it had been said, and she hoped that coming back here would jog her memory. She wasn’t sure of what she would find, but she had to be sure of everything before sending any information onto Twilight.

Celestia landed on the old cobblestone steps and peered beyond the rusted wrought iron portcullis into the dark and blackened entryway behind it. It had been a long time since she had set hoof in here and never thought she would ever have to again.

A loud grinding squeaking sound filled the air as Celestia used her magic to raise the rusted gate from its eternal slumber until it locked in its open position then stepped inside. She folded her wing in tightly, lowered her head, and illuminated the entry hall with the light of her horn as she made her way down the passageway. “This place is a lot smaller then I remembered,” she said to herself. “But then I was barely a filly myself back then.”

An old wooden door stood before her, its rounded cobblestone archway covered in dust. Upon the door was the engraved symbol of a small orb with a line jutting from its center and surrounded by a swirling cloud of seven stars. She paused for a moment studying the patterns the front of the door that held the embedded lock of a magical seal.

She concentrated… This seal was made from ancient magic, and she hoped she had the strength left to break it. The magic from her horn began to bubble then everything lit up in bright yellow and gold colors, her eyes flared and burned with the intensity of the sun as the spell channeled and funneled down on a beam of hot, energetic magic and into the doors symbol.

It glowed for a moment, cooled as the magic faded and as the door slowly opened, Celestia made her way inside.

…..

Daylight came around, and Jack stood outside the barn door eating another local apple and a granola energy bar from his rations. Apparently, ponies ate apples, hay, flowers, and more apples, oh, what he wouldn’t give for a good steak and eggs right about now but he doubted that the cows and chickens would cooperate with him in that matter.

The Grandmother pony did at least offer to bake them some fresh apple pies and turnovers later and as wonderful as that sounded to Jack he did have to wonder if there were any other kinds of fruit on this planet other than apples.

Most everyone was gathered up around the barn; Carter stood talking to Twilight and the white unicorn Rarity while Daniel was off talking to Twilights little dragon assistant Spike and the last of the stacks of books with the help of the yellow and orange ponies Fluttershy and Applejack.

Teal’c had been led away by some children foal ponies, including the bright yellow one with the big red ribbon and two others. Teal’c wanted to get a broader view of the area any way in recognizance, and they were more than willing to show him the area.

And because books were not his thing, Jack finished off his meal then walked over towards Carter, who seemed to be having a conversation with Twilight and her friend. Well conversation was putting it lightly, more like a battle of the eggheads on the verge of being argumentative when Twilight suddenly and unexpectedly disappeared, and reappeared on the other side of the group.

“See that’s magic,” she said. “All Unicorns have the ability to control magic to some degree depending on spell variant, Take Rarity here, for example; she’s very good with levitating multiple objects.” And to prove that point, Rarity proudly picked up several small objects at once and floated them around in demonstration.

For the first time, Jack almost thought he saw Carter at a loss for words. She was a scientist through and through and Jack knew there was no such thing as magic in her vast vocabulary and as if right on cue, Carter found her scientific answer.

“What you have is not magic. We've seen countless beings with the abilities to control objects before. Teleportation and levitation can be explained by the natural amount of Naquadah that I suspect is in your blood allowing you to control the energy patterns on a subatomic scale. Your Unicorn horns acts as a focal point much like that of a Stargate. It too takes the natural energy patterns from one gate and breaks them down on a subatomic level then transfers then to the other end where the second gate reassembles them. If it were natural magic then I would say that all ponies in Equestria would have the same abilities, not just Unicorns. Magic is nothing more than parlor tricks and sleight of hand.”

Twilight did not look amused. Oh, Jack knew that this was going to get ugly fast if he didn’t do something about it. “All right people… er… and ponies, we have some things we need to get accomplished today. Carter, have we found that location yet?”

Carter looked up at him, snapping her attention back to the mission at hand. “Ah, yes sir, sorry sir, I got a bit distracted.”

“It’s okay Samantha,” Twilight said, “We were not offended.”

Sam smiled back at her and continued. “Twilight and I have calculated the time and distance of the proximity of the Stargate.”

“Rarity and Fluttershy will accompany us,” Twilight injected not missing a beat. “We will be able to move any debris from the area and Fluttershy should be able to enlist the aid of some of the critters that can help us recover your Stargate.

“I hope one of those ‘critters’ has a bulldozer,” Jack muttered under his breath. “Take who, and what you need and get going and make radio contact every twenty minutes, The Goa’uld may have been hiding for the moment but that can all change.

“Jack!” Daniel shouted running over to him; book in hand. “I think I found something. Last night Twilight was filling me in on Princess Celestia and her sister…”

“That would be Princess Luna.” Twilight said.

“And?” Jack questioned, twisting his head from one speaker to the other.

Princess Luna is our princess of the night,” Twilight continued. “She raises the moon at night and sets it in the morning while Princess Celestia controls the sun during the day.”

“Wait, wait,” Samantha interjected. “You’re Princesses control the rotation of the planet and orbiting moon?”

“According to their theology they do,” Daniel said.

“Except for the time when Princess Luna was banished to the moon for a thousand years, It was during that time Princess Celestia used her magic to control both the sun and the moon.”

“Banished, why, was she banished?” asked Sam.

“It’s a long story,” said Twilight. “But over a thousand years ago, Princess Luna allowed her jealousies get the better of her. She was hurt because she and the ponies she loved didn’t understand one another. She felt that they did not lover her beautiful nights and was afraid of her and in her hurt and pain; it transformed her into Nightmare Moon who wanted to make the night last forever, so it was up to Princess Celestia to stop her by using the Elements of Harmony upon her and banish her to the moon. Not too long ago, Nightmare Moon had returned, and my friends and I had to seek out the Elements of Harmony and became its new bearers in order to free Princess Luna from the grip of Nightmare Moon.”

“So that’s why you’re Princess chose you to help us,” said Sam.

“Yes, My friends and I, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinky Pie, and Rainbow Dash are the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Honesty, Generosity, Kindness, Laughter, Loyalty… and Magic.” Twilight paused on that last word giving a smile over to Samantha.

“Well,” Jack said looking at each of his teammates, “that explains a few… things.” He then looked at Twilight, “Even the rainbow colored fly girl?”

“Yes, Rainbow Dash is the element of loyalty.”

“Loyalty… I see… and you’re just telling us this…now.”

“Actually Jack,” Daniel spoke up defending Twilight, “She told me about this last night, but you were asleep already and you usually get bored with such details and I didn’t want to wake you… sooooo….

Jack was irked but understood why; it’s not like that he didn’t know a few military secrets himself that was only on a need to know basis.

“So why hasn’t this… Princess Luna, come by to see us yet?”

“Princess Luna is our Princess of the night and as far as we know, she only comes out at night,”

“Really,” Jack said, but it was the other thought that went through his mind that didn’t settle right with him.

“Anyway, getting back on track,” Daniel continued. “There may be more to Princess Luna’s story than you may realize. I found that Princess Celestia’s and Luna’s marks are that of the sun and moon respectfully. The Gould’s are very self-centered in their vanity. Both Ra and Khonsu are worshiped gods of the sun and moon. Now I checked Princess Celestia’s neck and didn’t find an entry wound but we didn’t know about Princess Luna until now.

We do know that there is a Goa’uld out there using Ra’s name…”

“I sure hope so, Jack interrupted, because I would hate to think that the original snake head escaped his own destruction back on Abydos.

“It is a possibility Jack,” Daniel said.

“No, no,” Jack shouted, “We shot that nuke right up his…er..tail… pipe.” Jack nearly cringed at what he wanted to say, but polite correctness got the better of him. “There’s no way he could have survived… anyway, continue.”

“Anyway,” Daniel continued, looking at Twilight with a question on his mind, “Are Princess Celestia and Princess Luna the only Alicorns with such power and longevity?”

“No, there is my new sister in law Princess Cadence who lives in the Crystal Empire to the north who is also an Alicorn, but as far as I know, no pony has ever lived as long as Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Why?”

“I believe there are two, System Lord Gould’s here, both Ra and Khonsu. We have already seen Ra, but we don’t know where Khonsu is. Now at first I thought Khonsu would be in Princess Celestia but that wouldn’t fit with the egos of the Goa’uld. But Princess Luna, on the other hand, would be a proper host for Khonsu. And if Princess Luna is already compromised, she may be leading Princess Celestia into a trap.”

“Spike, Twilight ordered understanding the situation. “We need to get a message off to the Princess immediately!” and Spike without hesitation, fetched one of his scrolls and quills and started writing down the information.

“That’s going to be a long run on those little legs,” Jack thought to himself raising one eyebrow.

Twilight and Spike finished off the letter, and Spike stepped to the side, let out a small green flame, and burned the letter…, which promptly turned to ash and floated to the ground.

All the ponies stood a gasp, especially Spike and Twilight.

“Is it supposed to work like that?” Jack asked.

“Spike, what did you do?” Twilight said walking over to him.

Spike looked at the pile of ash that was the note more frightened then astonished. “I… I don’t get it; it should have sent off. I… I didn’t mean to burn it Twilight, honest.”

“It’s okay Spike,” Twilight said lowering her horn at the ash to pick it up “We’ll just….” Twilight gasped.

“Twilight, what’s wrong?” Spike looked over to her nervously.

“My magic… It’s gone!”

The radio on Jack’s belt crackled with the sound of Teal’c voice “Colonel O Neill.”

Jack freed it from its holster, “Go ahead!”

“You had better come quickly; I believe we have a situation.”

“Understood.”

….

Jack could hear the sounds of the Jaffa weapons fire from across the town, and he, Carter, Daniel and the pony friends raced into the village “Remember, Zat’s only” barking an order to his team. “Twilight, you and your friends start evacuating the village, get them to safety, as far away from here as possible. If you run into anyone who looks like us but isn’t… us, then run, and get as far away from here as you can.”

“We’re supposed to be helping you.”

“Trust me… That will be helping, now GO!” and with that Twilight and two others followed.

“Oh, you’re not going to hurt anyone, are you?” Fluttershy meekly spoke flapping up next to him.

Jack put his back against a building, outwardly ready for the fight, inwardly he was amazed the little yellow pony kept up with them. He didn’t answer her, and he peeked around the corner. From what he had seen from her, he expected her to be the first one to run and hide but instead she hovered next to him…

“Get back!” he yelled at her. Thankfully, his reactions to the incoming staff weapons fire bolts came first as he grabbed her by the waist. Fluttershy gave a timid little squeaked as Jack yanked her back around the side of the building before their impact.

“You’re going to get yourself hurt worrying about others getting hurt, don’t worry, we’ll try not to hurt anyone.” He said trying to reassure her. "and if you're that worried then go help Twilight."

Another voice shouted, and Jack and Fluttershy turned in time to see a light blue unicorn pony charging right at them.

In Jacks first reaction, he pushed Fluttershy aside, she Eep’ed, and then dove the opposite direction as the pony ran right through where they were. “Was that an attack?” Jack quickly thought as he instinctively pointed the Zat at the charging pony. Sure enough, the pony turned and charged again, only this time, it didn’t stand a chance. Jack fired the Zat; the pony convulsed under the electrified blue light, then dropped to the ground.

“I thought you said you weren’t going to hurt any pony,” Fluttershy cried almost hysterically.

“There not hurt,” Jack, replied calmly. “They’re only stunned. They will, however, wake up with one doozy of a headache in a little bit.”

Jack knew better than to try to explain the intricacies of the Zat where it was only the first shot that would stun, and that the second one would actually kill. He didn’t want to have to resort to that kind of action unless he had too. He didn’t get the impression that this world of ponies knew the more violent aspects of reality where life death hung in a delicate balance and hoped he could end this without showing it to them first hand.

He figured that Ra wouldn’t harbor the same feelings and if push came to shove Ra wouldn’t hold back. He suspected that this attack was more for gathering prisoners and slaves than anything, but he knew these Jaffa would kill if provoked.

Fluttershy ran up to the stunned pony checking her over and making sure Jack had told the truth. “What’s wrong with her? Why did she charge at us like that? Oh My…. I know who this is. It’s Trixie.”

Jacks radio crackled with Daniels voice. “Jack I think there using some of these ponies as hosts!”

Jack grabbed his radio. “Okay, everyone, Gather up who you can and back off for now, Well rendezvous in that thick forest on the other side of the farm. We don’t want to risk any more of these ponies getting hurt.” And with that, Jack picked up the unconscious pony, draped her over his shoulders, and headed back to the rendezvous point.

Author's Note

12/7/13 Errors and corrections made