Stargate: Equestria

Connection

Chapter 11

In the end, the Jaffa to a horse all decided to stay in Equestria. They gave their pledges of good conduct to Celestia, though Rainbow Dash couldn't help shouting out, "An' we're keepin' the staves, so don't you get any funny ideas!"

It took some time to get all the horses out of the canyon, but Teal'c threw down a rope and helped haul each earth horse up and over the rockslide. The pegasi flew out easily enough, although they gave the winged ponies a cautious look as the did so. Rainbow Dash looked more than a little pleased with herself as one horse with a black eye flinched away from her.

When the last of the Jaffa made his way carefully down the slippery slope of the rockslide, the entire horde of ponies and horses turned toward Ponyville, where those injured in the brief battle could be tended to. Several winged ponies flew back into the mountains to try to salvage some of the staves that had fallen during the air battle. Celestia's chariot arrived, and she and An'dal boarded together, much to the dismay of the guards who had to do the flying for both full-sized horses. They flew off, presumably to show An'dal where he could build the new Jaffa settlement.

SG-1 traveled south with Brind'l, heading toward the Jaffa's until-recently hidden base. Though he and Teal'c talked quietly, conversation was light during the march through the plains and into the mountains.

Brind'l led them through the mountain pass and out into the clearing Rainbow Dash had described. It was a large grassy patch of land surrounded on all sides by towering mountains, rising nearly vertically into the air. At the far end of the clearing stood a wide, circular entrance to a cave, torches illuminating the rock wall just inside. On either side of the cave's entrance stood two earth horses, both wearing the Ma'Tok staff harnesses.

They stiffened as they saw the humans, reaching for the triggers, but Brind'l stepped forward quickly. "Stand down. The fighting's over. Let them pass."

The guards gave each other a confused look, but nodded slowly. "Of course, Sky leader." They relaxed their stances and stepped forward as Brind'l approached them, talking quietly.

O'Neill strode past the horses blithely, the rest of his team in tow. They made their way down a curved, sloping tunnel wide enough for two of the horses to stand abreast. They emerged into a surprisingly large antechamber, hallways running off from each wall. The place was well lit given the age, though dust lay thick on everything but for the paths the Jaffa had trod in recent days.

O'Neill unslung his P90; the halls appeared to be empty, but there was no sense in being caught unaware. "All right," he said as he turned to his team. "Carter, Teal'c." He pointed down one hall. "Daniel, you're with me." The team nodded and split, heading in separate directions.

They checked room after room. Several were filled with artifacts and gaudy objects; the Goa'uld hoarded like dragons, but with less taste. Daniel would stop and peer in, then shake his head and move on. It wasn't until the very end of the hallway that Daniel's steps quickened, taking him into a room that appeared to have an ancient computer terminal covered in glyphs, as well as Goa'uld writing over all the walls. "This is it!" he said with no small amount of relief. "Give me some time to translate the writing."

"No problem. Do your thing." O'Neill paused by the doorway and raised the radio to his mouth, clicking it on. "Major, find anything?"

Carter's voice filtered back. "Yes sir, it looks like the armory, but it's been cleaned out. The Jaffa took everything they had."

"All right. Keep searching the base. Daniel found something, so we're sitting tight." Carter acknowledged the order, and O'Neill let the radio go.

Silence fell for a time while Daniel worked. O'Neill paced the room, looking at the glyphs on the walls. He didn't understand what any of them meant, but he'd had to pass the time like this before.

He'd completed one ambling circuit of the room when Daniel spoke. "Jack?" His tone was hesitant, and he didn't look up.

O'Neill glanced over. "Something wrong?"

Daniel paused for a moment, then said with rather more speed than usual, "You know I don't want to sleep with Twilight, right?"

Jack was suddenly very glad Daniel wasn't facing him. He bit down on the first five retorts that came to mind, and opted instead for a dry, "Never said you did."

Daniel let out a sigh and paused in his work, reaching up to rub at his mouth. "It's just...I feel happy here, Jack. Content. Even more so when I'm with Twi. It's not...it's not that kind of thing, it's just..." He waved a hand in frustration. "I don't know. Companionship, I guess. We like being in each other's company. Just being around her and the other ponies makes me happy. And there's so much interesting stuff here to learn. I mean, the magic alone is incredible. I'll be honest, I'm starting to hate the thought of leaving." He twitched his head to the side as if to look over his shoulder at O'Neill, and O'Neill could see that his face was beet red. It had cost him to make that admission, particularly given their conversation at the campfire. "If Celestia wanted to ally with Earth, it wouldn't be an issue. As it is..."

O'Neill let out a long breath and rubbed at his face with one hand. "Look, Daniel, it's not like I don't know what you're talking about. I'm feeling it too. That kind of worries me, but there it is." His voice firmed. "But I have a duty I'm not going to abandon. If you want to walk away from SG-1, that's your choice. But consider what you'll be leaving behind. You won't ever get to explore new worlds again, new cultures. Earth still has enemies out there. Can you just leave them to prey on peaceful worlds? Worlds, Daniel, not just Equestria." He paused for a moment, letting out a heavy breath before walking up beside Daniel. "And you'd be leaving your friends behind. The ponies value friendship a lot. I've seen it in everything they do. Do you think Twilight's gonna want you to abandon your friends for her?"

Jackson stared at the terminal in front of him pensively. "I don't know," he finally sighed.

O'Neill was silent for a beat before dropping a hand on Jackson's shoulder. "Well. Whatever you decide, I'll support you. You've earned that."

Jackson let out a long, shaky breath and nodded. O'Neill stepped away, and the linguist turned back to the terminal, resuming his work. They didn't speak again, but the atmosphere lacked tension.

Eventually Carter and Teal'c came down the corridor to them. "We checked the rest of the base," Carter reported. "There's not much here other than in those rooms we passed. Celestia's probably going to want to reclaim all that."

"Fine by me," O'Neill said. "We can't take it with us anyway."

Jackson let out a satisfied sound then, straightening from the terminal. "Found it." He stepped aside so they could see and called up the symbol. It was angular, in the familiar style of the Stargate glyphs, and comprised what appeared to be two diamonds and a triangle, though one edge was missing from each shape.

They frowned at it for a long moment before Carter brightened. "Wings and a horn," she said, smiling. "I guess the Ancients knew something Epona didn't."

They left the base. Brind'l and the guards were gone, the staves the guards had held lying on the ground. Teal'c hefted them over his shoulder, and SG-1 left for Ponyville.

---

When SG-1 finally returned to their camp in late afternoon, they found Twilight, her friends, and Princess Celestia there. Their gear had all been packed away neatly and loaded up onto a cart beside Applejack, along with the recovered weaponry the Jaffa had carried. The ponies all let out cheers as the humans entered the clearing, with Pinkie Pie throwing confetti into the air and blowing on one of those little rolled paper noisemakers. "It's time for a party!" she shouted, waving her stubby little hooves in the air, and the ponies all agreed enthusiastically.

Princess Celestia smiled, but shook her head. "I'm afraid we must be going. Our friends need to go home." The young ponies let out sounds of disappointment that would have been heartbreaking had O'Neill had a heart, which he very firmly reminded himself he did not. The princess laughed quietly. "You can all come along and say goodbye, of course."

Teal'c dropped his own staves back into the cart and helped Applejack slide into the harness. Twilight picked up Spike and settled him on her back, and despite SG-1's weariness from the constant travel that day they set out for the old ruined castle.

Thankfully, Celestia knew the way, and the trip was much shorter than the humans' first day in Equestria. The sun was just beginning to set as they reached the ruins, Luna's moon starting its nightly sweep over the sky. The bridge proved to be a little tricky as the cart rumbled over it, but it held steady.

Soon enough all the humans and ponies stood in the large gate room. Someone had added lamps to the corners of the room, providing just enough light to see by. They stood in front of the giant Stargate for a moment, the ponies staring up at it with wide eyes.

Twilight spoke first, voice awed. "This is a door between worlds. Amazing." She looked up, frowning up at her mentor. "Are you sure it has to be closed? We could do so much with it."

Celestia shook her head, and her voice, though gentle, brooked no dissent. "We can use it, certainly. But it isn't secure. There are so many beings out there who can use it too. Equestria isn't ready for that." Twilight sighed and nodded.

The princess turned to face the Stargate, lifting her chin regally as she drew her focus and will upon the great gate. Her horn began to glow, softly at first, but swiftly increasing in brightness. The light, O'Neill realized, was pure sunlight. The horn lit the room as though they were not underground and it was not dusk, but high noon in the middle of summer. The light kept on growing, intensifying, and soon everyone in the room had to turn away or be blinded. There was nothing in the room but light now, warm and white and all-encompassing, as though they were in the very middle of the sun.

The instant the light became so intense that it turned agonizing, it faded. In less than a second, the light from Celestia's horn vanished, leaving only the dim glow of the lamps in the corners. Everyone spent a moment blinking the glare out of their eyes, and when they could see again, Celestia stood where she had been, though her shoulders and head sagged a little with what must have been a monumental effort to re-align the gate with the network.

Jackson removed his glasses and rubbed at his eyes, groaning a little with the pain, but quickly enough put them back and moved to the DHD with Carter. "The symbols have changed!" he reported. "I recognize these!"

"Great," O'Neill muttered. "So turn it on already."

Rather than answering, Jackson began to dial. The chevrons on the gate lit up, clamping into place as he entered the sequence for Earth's address. O'Neill glanced at Celestia and the ponies. "Ladies, step to the side here, please."

They did, and as Jackson triumphantly entered the seventh symbol for Equestria, the Stargate flared to life, the familiar vortex bursting out of the watery portal. All the ponies yelped in surprise, skittering behind O'Neill and staring in pure awe. Pinkie Pie whispered, "It's so pretty..."

O'Neill immediately pulled out his GDO. Garage Door Opener. Gotta love the techies. He glanced aside at Carter and muttered, "Here goes," and punched in his code.

A moment later his radio crackled to life. "SG-1, this is SGC. Do you copy? SG-1, this is SGC." It was General Hammond, and O'Neill never thought he'd be so happy to hear the old man's voice.

He raised the radio to his mouth. "SGC, this is O'Neill," he replied. "Sorry about the delay getting home." His voice turned dry. "I knew we should've taken that left turn at Albuquerque."

It was as good as a password. "Good to hear you again, Colonel. Do not enter the gate yet," Hammond warned. "We disabled your code after two days. We're dropping the iris now." A brief pause, and then, "Iris is down. Come on home and tell us all about it."

"Roger that."

O'Neill let the radio settle back, and the humans all turned to face the ponies. The two groups stood wordlessly like that for a moment, then the ponies let out cries and rushed the humans. Three knelt to meet them; Pinkie Pie dove into Teal'c's arms, wailing, "I wanted to throw you a paaaartyyyyy!"

This time, the big man did not look apprehensive as he hugged her. "Then you must have one in my name when you return home." She sniffed, eyes wide, and nodded vigorously at him with a broad smile.

Spike leapt into Carter's arms and she squeezed the little dragon tight, ruffling his spines. Rarity approached her, smiling. "If you ever do find your way back here, my dear, we will be so happy to see you again." Spike flushed as he saw Rarity and wriggled out of Carter's arms, trying to put on a serious adult face as the women spoke quietly to each other.

Daniel, naturally, knelt to catch Twilight, and the two hugged fiercely, unashamedly, speaking in whispers too low for O'Neill to catch. The little pony squeezed her eyes shut, a tear glistening on her cheek as she shook her head in response to his words.

O'Neill remained standing through all this, determined not to get swept away by emotion. He got swept away instead by a cyan bullet that shot up from the ground to strike his chest, and he found feathery wings and short hooves wrapped around his neck. "You really gotta go, Colonel?" Rainbow Dash asked, trying to sound gruff and failing miserably.

He lifted his hands, paused, then gave her a quick, tight hug before gently pulling her away. "Yeah, kid. It's time." He gave her another swift smile. "You did a great job today." She beamed as she hovered in place, and a thought struck him. He reached for his neck, sliding fingers under the chain necklace that held his dog tags. He'd been wearing them so long he'd nearly forgotten about them, but he pulled them off now and looped the chain over her head.

The tags clinked as they settled around her neck. She looked down at them for a moment, squinting at the tiny writing, then sucked in a sharp breath and looked back up to him with a wide smile. She came to attention midair, saluting smartly. He returned it.

"Well, Jack," came a voice from below. "This is goodbye, I guess." Applejack tilted her head, smiling sadly up at him. Fluttershy stood next to her, looking up at him shyly.

He let out a quiet sigh and gave in, kneeling to let them embrace him. They crowded into his arms, though due to maturity and shyness both were a good bit more reserved than Dash had been, and stepped away after a quick goodbye.

Celestia spoke up gently. "All right, my little ponies. It's time." Reluctantly, the ponies moved away from the humans, and O'Neill noticed a red flower tucked behind Twilight's ear. He shot Daniel a look, but the other man just shrugged and smiled a little.

"Well, your Princessness," O'Neill drawled, "I wanna thank you for your help. If you ever change your mind, you know where to find us." Celestia only smiled and nodded.

With that, SG-1 turned. O'Neill glanced aside at his teammates. "If you want to change your minds, now's the time." Carter and Jackson shook their heads mutely. Teal'c, on the other hand, said, "Undomesticated equines could not remove me from your side, Colonel O'Neill."

O'Neill eyed the Jaffa. "Funny." With that, the team began to move up the ramp, approaching the coruscating light of the Stargate. The ponies shouted out their goodbyes, but the humans kept moving forward. It was easier that way.

One by one, they all entered the portal. Jackson didn't even hesitate as he plunged through. O'Neill stepped up to it last. He gratefully sank into the gate, stepping off the world of Equestria.