Stargate: Equestria

Connection

Chapter 4

The road between the apple farm and Ponyville was much shorter than Jack had feared, and the team stood atop the last hill, looking down into the small town. O'Neill glanced over at Jackson. "What was that you were saying about fairy tales back at the castle?"

Jackson shook his head. "Looks like Hans Christian Anderson on a sugar high. Seems peaceful, though. I really don't think any Goa'uld would allow their subjects to live like this."

As they surveyed the village, they could see movement through the streets. Ponies of all colors walked the roads, talking and laughing and shopping. It reminded O'Neill of some movie depictions of Old West towns. There wasn't a car in sight, and the roads certainly weren't paved.

One pony in particular stopped in its tracks, a little figure trailing along behind it so closely that it bumped into the pony's flank. The pony ignored it and began galloping toward the group, shouting something they could only dimly understand.

"Twilight!" The voices weren't simultaneous, but they all shouted the same thing as all the ponies in SG-1's company ran down the hill to meet the newcomer. They could see now it was another female - "Are all of 'em girls?" O'Neill wondered to nobody in particular - with a short-cropped mane and purple coat. Everyone piled on top of each other for a big group hug, the chatter little but white noise to O'Neill's ears. The little figure that had been walking with Twilight caught up, and all the humans stared intently at it; it was an honest-to-goodness dragon. "Okay," O'Neill muttered, "now I know I'm dreaming. This can't be reality. Somebody pinch me." He blinked and held up a finger at Teal'c, shooting him a warning look. The Jaffa paused in leaning over, looking back at him quizzically. "That's just an expression."

The ponies and dragon talked and hugged for a couple minutes, then the chatter quickly died off and the ponies all pulled back so Twilight could get a look at the humans. She tilted her head, then smiled brightly. "Welcome to Ponyville." She thought a moment and added cheerfully, "And Equestria too, I guess! My name is Twilight Sparkle. Thank you for helping us."

Jackson spoke up. "N-not a problem at all! We're always, always glad to help." Though the scientist could be unnerved more easily than his companions, the stammer in his voice still made O'Neill arch an eyebrow at him. Jackson looked back and shrugged helplessly.

Twilight paced over to the wounded Jaffa pegasus, looking him over carefully with a worried frown. "This is one of the ponies who stole Apple Bloom, Sweetie Bell, and Scootaloo?"

"Seems like it." O'Neill nodded his head at the pegasus's flank. "That's a Jaffa insignia. He was probably acting under orders from his god. False god," he corrected, glancing at Teal'c. The big man settled back on his heels, deigning not to answer.

The purple pony looked at the insignia, her frown deepening, and prodded it curiously with one hoof. She let out a shocked gasp and recoiled, looking back to the other ponies. "That's...not a cutie mark. That's metal embedded in his skin." She sat down heavily on the ground, a look of horror creeping over her face. "Somepony..." She looked away, and it wasn't until Applejack and Rarity came up to lean on her sides reassuringly that she was able to continue. "Somepony scarred him. They cut this into him."

Little gasps of horror arose from the fillies, and Rarity looked over her shoulder, then gave Twilight a worried look. "Let me take the poor dears back home. Those three have had a rough day today." Twilight only nodded. Rarity gave Twilight a reassuring nuzzle before gathering the girls up, chivvying them down the lane into the town.

Despite the gravity of the situation, O'Neill couldn't help looking at Carter and silently mouthing, Cutie mark? She shrugged and gave him a warning glare, and he subsided.

Teal'c knelt by Twilight in the spot Rarity had vacated. "I'm afraid so." She looked up at him, and he touched the golden insignia carved into his own forehead. "He is a servant of one named Epona, an evil alien posing as a god to this equine and his kin. The silver marks him as a lieutenant."

Twilight tilted her head, eyes wary but unable to move from Teal'c's forehead. "You're one of them," she whispered.

"Was." Teal'c's voice cracked like a whip, the sudden ferocity causing Twilight to step back a pace. "I serve the false gods no longer." He laid a hand on the horse's flank, covering the marking. "It is my duty in life to save as many of my Jaffa brethren as I may. To show them that their gods are pretenders and charlatans."

Applejack spoke up quietly, her voice steady. "This boy's hurt, sugarcube. We need to get him to the doc if he's gonna make it at all." Twilight nodded mutely, and Applejack cocked her head at Rainbow Dash. The pegasus fluttered to the ground and quietly took up a corner of the blanket, and the two began to pull the Jaffa into town.

Twilight was silent for a time, long enough that O'Neill got uncomfortable enough to clear his throat. The sound jolted the pony out of her reverie, and she looked up at all four humans and gave them a sad little smile. "I'm terribly sorry. That was...a shock." She cleared her own throat, standing up. "I'd like to welcome you into Ponyville, but we have some things to talk about first." She smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry, but you're all so...new. I'd like to know what I'm getting my fellow ponies into before I invite you into the town."

O'Neill shrugged and moved over to a nearby tree, settling down against it with a sigh. "Yeah, I was waiting for this." He gestured to Jackson and Carter, ceding control of the discussion to them before laying his head back against the tree.

Carter peered intently at Twilight. "Before you invite us in? What sort of authority do you have in Ponyville?"

The pony shrugged, looking a little embarrassed. The little dragon, who had been silent up until then, suddenly burst out with, "Why, she's only the greatest magician in Equestria! She saves this town from dangers every day, and there's nopony around who can beat her!"

"Spike!" Twilight's cheeks flushed a brighter purple as she hissed, "You're exaggerating!" She dragged a hoof through the dirt on the path, looking even more embarrassed.

"Aw, c'mon, Twilight, you know it's true! Princess Celestia would never have entrusted you with protecting Ponyville if she didn't have complete confidence in you!"

"Spike!" She bared her teeth at him in a fierce glare, and the little dragon finally relented. She huffed out a breath, deflating, before shooting a pleading look back to the humans. "I'm sorry, he gets so excited sometimes. He's still just a baby dragon. Yes, I am Princess Celestia's favored student, but that doesn't mean I run Ponyville. We do have a mayor."

Unfortunately for her, the little dragon wasn't about to be silenced that easily. "But the mayor doesn't do anything! Twilight's the one who gets everypony organized, she's the one who knows everything there is to know about everything, and everypony trusts her!" He pointed a finger at the humans, his chest puffed out proudly. "If she didn't want you in Ponyville, nopony would even talk to you!"

Twilight opened her mouth, then sighed, rolling her eyes. "I guess that's true. Well, some of it, anyway." She blinked once, then looked up at Jackson who'd been staring at her with an amused smile throughout the whole exchange. It was her turn to stammer. "But I- I- this wasn't supposed to be about me!" She stamped a hoof impatiently. "Where are you from? Who are you?"

That particular set of questions required a lot of answering. Eventually all six were seated in the shade of the tree. Carter explained about the nature of the Stargates and the role Stargate Command and SG-1 played in the galaxy. Twilight's eyes were wide with wonder, and it took Carter a long time to run through the explanation due to all the questions the little pony asked. She bought into the notion pretty quickly, which was unusual for a newbie, and asked some mighty pertinent questions, some of which O'Neill hadn't thought to ask when he first signed up for SGC.

The discussion was eventually handed off to Jackson, who proceeded to explain about the Goa'uld. Their culture, their habit of enslaving entire planets, their pretension of godhood. How humans were bred as slaves but won their freedom, and how even now the Tau'ri, the humans from Earth, were liberating Jaffa from their masters. Teal'c helped with some of the details, his normally steady voice thick with passion and anger even as he spoke tersely. With some reluctance, Jackson went into his theory about Epona, and how the equines of Earth must have been transformed into the intelligent ponies of Equestria, how Epona must have made use of the Stargate on this planet.

And that, finally, led into SG-1's presence on Equestria. How they tumbled through the gate on a routine mission, and they lacked Earth's address so that they could return home. "You see, Twilight, usually when we find ourselves in this situation-"

"You've been lost like this before?"

Jackson grimaced and nodded. "A few times. Usually when we're stranded, we look for repositories of knowledge. All Goa'uld or Jaffa civilization leaves some trace of itself behind, and we're usually able to find an address that leads us back, if not to Earth, then at least to a world we know." He rolled a hand in her direction, smiling a little. "Your friends told us you were the pony to talk to."

Twilight blushed again and nodded. "Wow. This is...a lot. I never expected to find life beyond Equestria, let alone so much of it! All that fighting could have been happening here..." She gave a little shudder. "I wouldn't want your job for anything." She stood up, shaking her mane out, and let out a long breath before smiling around at them. "I'd love to help. This is a part of Equestria's history I've never delved into before. Come on, I'll take you to my library." She frowned pensively. "Although I've been studying a long time, and I've never run across anything like this..."

Jackson was on his feet quickly, with Carter close behind. "Lead the way, Twilight." The man grinned at the pony. "I've got something of a talent for research too."

The pony beamed back. "Oh yeah? Is that what your cutie mark shows?"

The smile on Jackson's face faltered, and he blushed a bit. "We, uh, don't have cutie marks. What are they, anyway?"

Twilight turned to the side and waggled her rear at him, showing the marking of a red star with five white stars around it. "Everypony gets their cutie mark when they discover what their special talent is. Mine's magic. I've been studying ever since I was a little filly."

They continued chatting in animated voices, discussing the non-obvious differences between ponies and humans, and began to head down the hill. O'Neill groaned and hauled himself to his feet. Between the comfort of the tree and the tedium of the lecture, he'd nearly fallen asleep. He ambled along behind the rest of the group, in no great hurry, hand resting idly on the butt of his rifle.

---

The group sauntered into the first town square, just inside the town limits. The effect was slow, but noticeable: all the ponies gradually stopped in their tracks, staring wide-eyed at the humans. Twilight Sparkle cleared her throat and took a couple more steps forward, smiling at the crowd. "Everypony, allow me to formally welcome Daniel, Sam, Teal'c, and Jack!" Her horn flashed four times, causing a brief but bright light to appear over each human as she spoke their name. "I know they look a little, um, unusual, but I can assure each and every one of you that they're friendly folk! I'd like you all to make them at home as much as you can!"

There was silence stretching out for a long, uncomfortable moment, then every pony in attendance resumed what they were doing, albeit with a few more glances at the humans. Twilight's gaze darted back and forth, then she turned back to SG-1 with a nervous laugh. "I'm sure they'll come around eventually," she said with forced cheerfulness. "But don't worry, everypony here really is quite friendly...once they get used to you."

O'Neill pursed his lips and nodded, a too-serious expression on his face. "Oh, absolutely," he agreed. "Not that we plan to be here any longer than necessary. Major, Daniel, you two go do your thing with Twilight. Teal'c and I are going to go set up a base camp."

"Base camp?" Jackson tilted his head with a puzzled frown, glancing between O'Neill and Twilight. "Well, I- I'm sure we can find some reasonable accommodations in town..."

"Daniel, have you looked at the houses here?" O'Neill stabbed a finger at the nearest one. "These ponies are half our size and the buildings are too. I guarantee you we'll sleep better outside."

Twilight nodded, smiling apologetically. "I'd love to help, but you humans are pretty big. The library's going to be pretty cramped as it is, and I'm not sure it could fit all four of you asleep." She shrugged a little. "Sorry." Brightening, she added, "But it isn't scheduled to rain for another week, so you don't have anything to worry about!"

Jackson, Carter, and O'Neill all stared at the pony and seemed about to ask the same question, but Teal'c spoke up first. "Colonel O'Neill. If it is all right with you, I would like to go check on the prisoner."

O'Neill considered that for a moment. "Fine with me," he finally allowed. "If this place really is all sweetness and light, we should be safe enough to split up." He looked around at the rest of his team. "Just check in every half hour, all right?"

With various affirmations, the team split. Carter tossed the backpack with the survey equipment to O'Neill, and she and Jackson followed Twilight. O'Neill could hear Carter ask, "Scheduled to rain?" before the trio walked out of earshot. Teal'c strode off in a seemingly random direction, causing a few ponies in his way to scatter. O'Neill did an about face, stepping off the path and heading for the light woods that bordered one side of Ponyville, hunting down a suitable space to lay down camp, and to enjoy some blessed pony-free time.