"Don't touch anything!" the familiar warning came. The speaker was a somewhat heavy-set man, his mass more from thick bones and exercise than flab. Donald Thorne was one of the more decorated engineers on the expedition, and he wasn't about to let his team fall into simple pitfalls. "You know how the Ancients were. No telling what some of this stuff will do. We are just mapping out the city, matching rooms, locations and purposes with what they send us!"
"Yes, ma," the call came back. It wasn't that the advice was bad. Only that they had heard it every third door they opened. Considering the slow progress in translating the city's system and weeding information from the database, all they had to work with was the rough outlines of the sections.
"This one looks like another suite of rooms," Jane Faroe, the only female on the team, reported. "Five rooms this time and what might be a closet."
"Is it a-"
"No, it's not a transport booth," she sighed, rolling her eyes as she checked off the list.
"Alright. Looks like this sector is a good area for general population." Thorne nodded. "Anything better than what we found so far? We still need to earmark someplace as the diplomatic quarters."
"The suites on the 74th floor still top the list. This one isn't bad though," a seedy male said, slipping out from one of the rooms. Despite his appearance, Calvin Higgs had proven to be a worthy SGC member for four years running now, particularly in matters of logistics and diplomacy. "Got their own bathrooms. Tubs, not showers. Everything on this level is more spacious too. Might be better for our new friends than the ones on 74th. More width, less height. There is a transport booth not three minutes away, and a large atrium that Newman says was once a green room."
"How else would you explain the amount of dead plant material?" Newman said slowly. Though their military escort, he dabbled in botany after spending six months assigned to an off world research team working with various plant species. He was also known for his measured speech.
"Enough chatter, people," Thorne called, waving a hand in the air. "We still have the other half of this sector to check. It looks like it's another block of rooms, possibly secondary labs, but we need to make sure."
As the team moved down the hall, a small ball of fuzz stirred, sprouting wings. It opened its eyes, revealing two green orbs. It buzzed its wings, gazing around the room, a hungry gleam in its eyes...
The infirmary wasn't exactly a hub of activity, but the medical staff still had work to do. Stocks of medicines and other supplies needed to be stowed away, equipment needed to find new homes, space needed to be organized and arranged and a few bandages needed to be handed out for the bumps and bruises a few expedition members had gotten. Someone had more or less ordered Hendrix to the infirmary to get himself assessed, as a precaution against the off chance he did get something from the body he encountered. When he was cleared, they kept him around. As he had been warned, having the ATA gene tended to get you volunteered to be a living power switch.
"Anything else you need turned on, doc?" Floyd asked, sitting down on a chair, having been passed around a few times in the past hour. He ran a hand through his hair, glad he even had the chance to sit down.
"I think you can take a breather, Mr. Hendrix," Dr. Juan, a rather grizzled yet jovial-looking man, assured him, looking up from his clipboard. "You've saved us a lot of time today."
"I'm just glad I didn't get any weird space plague," Floyd responded as he fiddled with the amulet, which glowed faintly. "I really need to get this thing looked at."
"They could probably get a look at it when they get the science labs running," Dr. Juan nodded. "There's not much the equipment here can tell aside from confirming it's not giving off harmful radiation of any kind."
"Well, it did shock me..." Floyd responded, giving it a bit of a shake, which didn't really do anything, "Eh, I'll figure it out..." he said, shrugging a little.
"The shock didn't seem to do any damage to you that I could detect, but I put you down to have further blood work done. Mostly for the record." The doctor set his clipboard aside and gave an easy smile.
The doors to the infirmary hissed open, admitting a curious group. Led by Dr. Jackson and accompanied by Jasmine Iwu, the three alien visitors, at least one of them giddy with excitement and curiosity, trooped into the room.
"Ah! Dr. Jackson! And our guests!" Dr. Juan beamed at them. "You must be here for your checkups!"
"Dr. Juan, may I introduce Princess Cadance and her companions Bon Bon and Lyra," Daniel smiled. He motioned the mares towards the doctor. "This is Dr. Juan, head physician for our expedition."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, doctor," Cadance said, giving a slight bow. "I understand you're to run a few tests?"
"Nothing too complicated," Dr. Juan said jovially. "Or too invasive. They were kind enough to focus on getting the infirmary's systems more or less on their feet, so the medical scanners are working fine. The worst will be dental checks and taking a blood sample."
"I'll go first," Bon Bon said, moving over to Dr.Juan. "Test away!" She couldn't exactly let the princess go first, not until she was sure it was safe.
"Excellent, excellent!" Juan motioned for Bon Bon to follow him to the waist-high medical scanner. It was a rectangular device, bearing the typical aesthetics of ancient technology: a body somewhere between metal and stone, the top a translucent crystalline substance that had some give in it, so it was less like a solid surface and somewhat like a padded one, with an arm hanging over it. It was long enough that even a tall man could lay on it without issues.
"We can start with the easy one! Can you climb up and lay on the scanner please?" Juan requested.
Bon Bon, who was at eye level with the table, reared on her hind legs and pulled herself up, laying with her legs tucked underneath her. "Is this good?"
"Perfect," Juan said. He typed a few keys on a nearby computer, causing both the table she lay on and the arm the hung over it to glow. "Don't mind the light," he said absently as the arm slowly made its way down the length of her body. "It will be done in a bit."
Bon Bon watched it intently. "What's it doing, exactly?" She didn't feel anything, but it had to be doing something.
"To put it in simple terms, it's taking pictures of your body both inside and out, and using them to give me a better idea of your general health," Juan replied. "Of course, there are some things that it won't tell us, and some things that I prefer to find out the old fashioned way, but it's a wonderful place to start."
"So its like an X-ray machine?" Lyra asked, looking at the machine, "Like, it shows bones and stuff?"
"Oh no, it's an Ancient X-ray machine," Daniel quipped. "There's a difference."
Juan chuckled softly and shook his head. "Well, I can't say how advanced your people's radiology is, but to compare this with one of our X-rays would be like comparing a black and white photo to one of those new 3D Blu-ray movies."
"They wouldn't exactly know what that means," Daniel pointed out.
"Right. Still, the information this machine gathers is more than just what your bones look like," Juan said as he read the information. "It can tell me what your bones are made of, map out blood vessels, show me organs..."
"Oooh... can I see?" Lyra asked, trotting over to him, her hooves clopping on the floor softly.
"Sure," Juan shifted enough to let Lyra see the screens. Daniel, after a moment, joined them. Bon Bon's scans were displayed, accompanied by a mix of English and Ancient text. Of course, it was medical English and Ancient, which was more or less its own language. The images had little resemblance to the mare on the scanner; just faint outlines with differing details, one showing bones, another showing organs in various colours, a third showing a network of red and blue blood vessels.
"Well, I can only assume this is natural, but I've never seen such a high level of naquadah in a biological system. Even higher than the Goa'uld," Juan commented.
"What's naqublag?" Lyra asked, looking up at Juan curiously.
"I think he means a type of alicor," Cadance spoke up, "It's a rather common mineral. Most living beings have it in their systems, it helps to conduct magic."
"We call it naquadah," Daniel said. "It's one of the cornerstones of our more advanced technology. The stargates are made out of it."
"And you say it's common?" Jasmine asked. "Exactly how common?"
"Common enough that unicorn horns are made out of it," Cadance said, tapping her horn gently, "The raw version is mostly used in the construction of magical artifacts and in more mana intensive spells."
"Fancy yourself a doctor, princess?" Juan joked, comparing Bon Bon's results with the standard for a human.
"Oh no, but it's my job to know the details," Cadance said with a grin. "At least that's what my aunt always says... and I picked up a few things when I foalsat Twilight."
"Excuse me, princess? Is it alright if I record this?" Floyd asked, having taken out a camcorder, though it was off at the moment
"Medical records remain private and are kept primarily between the patient and her medical practitioners," Juan politely chastised. "I'm sorry, but I'll have to ask you not to record this, as important as it may be."
"No prob, doc," Floyd responded, taking the battery out and putting it on the table. "Maybe an interview later, princess?"
"So, uh, what do the tests say?" Bon Bon asked suddenly shifting the conversation back to herself, "Anything I should be worried about?"
"As far as I can tell, you are perfectly healthy," Juan aside after a moment's contemplation. "The system, which I assume is matching your records with what it has in its database for your species, is coming up with all greens. Green is good, by the way," he added as an afterthought.
"That would be fine," Cadance smiled softly at Floyd.
"Me next! Me next!" Lyra chirped, hopping onto the table as Bon Bon slid off, all the while wagging her tail with a bright smile. She lay down, giving Juan the happiest smile she could.
"Calm down, Lyra, it's just a medical exam," Bon Bon scolded, rolling her eyes. "I mean really, you get so weird sometimes."
"Stop trying to bring me down!" Lyra shot back, sticking her tongue out playfully, "Besides, you've never complained about my... enthusiasm." She gave a seductive smirk, her eyes half-lidded.
"Lyra!" Bon Bon hissed, her eyes going wide and her cheek fur actually turning red.
Cadance couldn't help but giggle, bringing a hoof to her mouth. "You two are adorable, you know that?"
Juan chose not to comment. "Would you rather go through the full test, Miss Bon Bon, or let Miss Lyra have her go on the scanners first?"
"You can uh... let her go." Bon Bon said, looking away, letting out a cough as she tried to hide her blush, getting Lyra to snicker at her marefriend's discomfort.
"Well, you have already climbed up, Miss Lyra," Juan smiled. She smiled back, adjusting her position and laying down. The machine started up more quickly the second time. Juan did have the gene, but it was an artificially activated one, not natural, and near the lower end of the chart. He didn't have that knack or connection with the devices those ranked higher did.
Lyra's readouts started popping up and Juan hummed thoughtfully at them. "It seems the naquadah, ah, alicor you called it? Well, it's far more concentrated in you than in Miss Bon Bon. Mainly in the skull and primarily in the horn, with the rest of your body having comparatively trace amounts. Miss Bon Bon's readings had high levels cross the entirety of her body."
"Oh, that's easy," Cadance spoke, "Each tribe uses their magic differently. Earth ponies like Bon Bon are the strongest and have a deep tie with nature. Unicorns can directly manipulate their magic via their horns, and Pegasi use it in their wings, and can use it to control the weather."
"That's interesting," Daniel commented, half to himself as if he were only voicing a theory as it came to him. "Peak physical capabilities and increased awareness and empathy of and with the environment, telekinesis and energy manipulation, and control over weather... those are all abilities we've documented various near-ascended beings performing. No wonder the Ancients were surprised when they first met your people."
"And that's just ponies," Cadance said, "Most of the races of our world have a connection with magic."
"Races? As in... not just ponies?" Floyd asked, raising his eyebrow.
"There was a slight reference to other races in the recording," Daniel nodded. He looked curiously at Floyd. "You didn't notice it?"
"Not really," Floyd said, shaking his head. "Can you tell us about them?"
"Certainly," Cadance said with a smile, "there's the zebras, the griffons, the yaks, the buffalo, the dragons, the deer, and the horses."
"And minotaurs, the old kentaur empire and the changelings," Lyra added helpfully.
"That's... quite a lot of races," Daniel managed. He recalled the issues the SGC had just trying to get the Tok'ra, Jaffa and humans to get along. This sounded impossible in comparison, yet it had worked for thousands of years apparently.
"There are also two other groups of ponies, both of which joined Equestria after its founding: the Strigoi, and more recently, the crystal ponies," Cadance piped up. "There may be more, but we haven't met them yet." She turned to Juan. "Is it my turn?"
"I think the doctor should finish the tests on me first," Bon Bon said, as she moved over to look up at Juan. "I'm ready when you are, doctor."
"Tell me, what does your medical science include? Do your people draw blood?" Juan asked. He motioned to one of the nurses. "That's what we will need to do for the last tests."
"Yes, we draw blood," she said with a nod, holding her hoof out. "Other than that, I can't really help. I'm a candy maker, not a doctor."
"You at least know the concept," Juan reassured her. The nurse appeared at his side with a push cart filled with equipment. Juan himself reached for a wheeled chair. "Now, I'll need to take a few more vials that I normally would. Still far before what I estimate would pose a threat to your health. The same goes for all of you," he added, including Lyra and Cadance in the conversation. "If only because you are the first of your race we have encountered, and we will need to perform a wider suite of tests on it."
"That's fine, doctor," Cadance said with a nod, "I trust it won't be anything too invasive, I hope?"
"It will involve a needle in one of your veins, which the scanner already identified, and letting blood pressure fill the different vials. After that, we'll perform the tests on them at a later date." Juan held up one of the vials as an example.
"Allow me to go first," Bon Bon said, still holding her hoof out, smiling at him.
"Will you be comfortable in that position?" Juan asked. "It can take over a minute to draw the quantity we need, and you can't be moving around while it's being done."
"I'll be fine doctor, I assure you," she said with a smile, sitting on her haunches much like a dog. She held her arm out, wincing a little as the nurse stuck her with the needle, surprisingly getting it right on the first try, even with the alien anatomy, taking her blood. They filled nine vials altogether, Juan deftly swapping out one for another with practiced efficiency. The needle was removed and quickly replaced with a cotton ball they tied down with a strip of bandage.
"First sample of blood from an indigenous species," Juan smiled happily. "I'll have so much fun studying this."
"Me next?" Lyra asked, sitting up much like a human would, letting her hind legs dangle off the side of the table.
"Well, if you would climb down," Juan suggested, "one of the nurses can take your blood and we can have the Princess scanned."
She nodded, hopping off the table and trotting over while Cadance took her place. The same nurse that assisted Juan with Bon Bon softly gave her instructions and started on drawing her blood.
"Shall I remove my regalia?" Cadance asked, gesturing to herself.
Juan considered the question for a moment before he gave his response. "I would advise you to do so. While the scanner can operate through clothing, I'm not sure what, if any, effect your regalia and crown would have on it."
She nodded, letting her horseshoes fall to the floor and placing her crown and necklace on a nearby chair. "You may test away doctor." Bon Bon frowned as the monarch disrobed, looking rather uncomfortable.
Daniel noticed her discomfort, but didn't directly comment on it. "Bon Bon, would you watch over Princess Cadance's regalia until she is ready to don it again?" Bon Bon nodded, gathering up the horseshoes then trotting over and placing them on the chair with the rest of the regalia.
The scanner took longer to work on Cadance than it had on the other two, but in time her results were added to the database as well, though her scans were more complex than those taken of Lyra and Bon Bon. Daniel tapped a finger at one line that came up in ancient, slipping through the translation program completely. "It seems alicorns really are considered further along the path to ascension than the average person. Er, pony."
"How so?" Cadance asked, tilting her head.
"Well, I don't know," Daniel admitted. "There are a lot of factors that I admittedly don't remember, and don't fully understand. Juan and the other doctors would have to give this information a full analysis before we can get a real answer."
"If we can get such an answer," Juan added. "There are some things that our understanding of science still cannot make heads or tails of. Perhaps it has something to do with being able to express the traits of all three tribes at once."
"I can tell you, it was weird when I first ascended, I kept using too much force with my hooves and my magic surged whenever I was suddenly surprised," Cadance spoke, rubbing her chin. "And I was still a filly at the time."
"It might be something we study for a long time," Juan remarked.
"MALP telemetry reads viable atmosphere," the gate technician announced into the radio as the gateship lowered itself gently from the bay on the top level, coming to a hover just before the gate. "Looks to be before daybreak planetside. No immediate evidence of civilization in the vicinity of the gate. No radio frequencies detected either."
"Copy that, command," Major Marshal replied. There were seven people in the jumper: Major George Marshal, the officer in charge of the team, Captain Wendy King, their primary pilot, Captains Jason Samson and Frederick Anderson for additional military might, Doctors Moriah Hill and Michael Moore to properly identify and supervise the collection of the resource they need, and finally, Devon.
As a military officer with both training on the science and research side and high ratings on jumper simulations, Bowers assigned him to the team as a support officer. Carter took over the line. "The database indicates that this world should be uninhabited, and the surface rock should have high amounts of the mineral we need so you shouldn't have to dig much to get it. Between the jumper's sensors and the ones Dr. Hill has, you should be able to get enough of the pure mineral we need and be back before long. Our best estimate places it within fifty miles of the gate, but no other planet was more promising."
"Understood, General."
"Good. While our guests might not be a burden, and they don't have an issue being in our care, it would be best for diplomatic relationships that we restore communications with them as soon as possible. Jumper 1, you are clear for departure."
"We'll be back before you know it," Marshall replied. With that, the jumper slipped through the event horizon.
Carter watched the MALP's feed as the jumper emerged from the other side and arced to avoid the tree line as it went to a spiraling ascent so its sensors could have better range. "Shut it down. Redial in an hour to check up on them and to retrieve the MALP."
"Understood, ma'am," the technician said, shutting down the gate.
"Ma'am, I got a report that team 6 has finished their assessment of the emitter. It's operating within acceptable margins at 94%," another told her.
Carter nodded absently. Things were falling into place. That was the seventh of ten emitters checked. One needed a few minor tweaks, but those were being taken care of, and the other five were good so far. The chill air had warmed to a more moderate, though still cold, temperature as the life support did its thing. The musty smell of age and time had also been cleared away. It still wasn't pine fresh, or the faint salt scent of Atlantis, but it was a major improvement either way. Things were looking up.
"Command, this is Thorne," the radio crackled. "We have something... interesting to report."
She should have known better. She hid her sigh. "This is Carter. Go ahead, Dr. Thorne."
The peach coloured ball of fluff with too-big orange eyes floated in the air on two pairs of buzzing wings, chirring happily at the team and trying to nuzzle Higgs, who was doing his best to ward it off with a pen. "What do you want from me? Jesus!"
"We found... something alive. About the size of an apple, flying, I think four legs, round with huge eyes," Thorne reported. "It has an interest in Higgs for some reason."
"Something alive? In a city that was sealed for thousands of years?" Carter's voice, though level, still had a tone of bemusement to it. "Does it seem dangerous?"
"It seems..."
"Cute?" Faroe offered.
"... Cute," Thorne grunted.
"God dammit!" Higgs yelled as it ducked under his waving pen and nuzzled at his chest. Faroe laughed as he chased it away, fumbling at his pocket.
"It definitely has a thing for Higgs," she said, joining the conversation. "Hey, you got anything on you that that thing wants?" she asked, looking at the fuzzball as it nuzzled Higgs' pocket.
"Only thing I got on me that it might want are some protein bars," Higgs complained, managing to catch the critter between his hands, careful not to pin its delicate wings. It smiled at him, chirping happily.
"Try not to antagonize it," Carter instructed. "We've dealt with seemingly harmless entities that turned out to be dangerous when provoked before."
"Think our guests know what it is?"
"Would they?" Higgs asked, eyeing the creature carefully. "We found it in the city, after all. Could be another ancient experiment." Faroe walked over and deftly picked his pocket. "Hey!"
"Just getting it what it wants, Higgs," she said, wagging the protein bar she took. The creature stared at the bar and chirped rapidly. "General, any objections to feeding it? It seems to have an interest in the protein bars, and it should be plenty hungry after all this time..."
Higgs grumbled, not happy about the theft. The creature chittered, nipping at the packaging, looking up at Faroe with pleading eyes.
"I don't see why not," Carter said after a moment. "Thorne, how far along is your progress?"
"We've mostly completed this section, ma'am. It's clear and habitable, though the large atrium we found could use some new horticulture and landscaping," Thorne said promptly. "Sizable living quarters for the most part."
Faroe eagerly opened the wrapper and held it out to the creature. It made short work of it, chomping off big bites and swallowing with little chewing, much like a bird would.
"Okay, Higgs, Faroe, take the creature up to the biolabs. The team should be mostly set up there," Carter directed. "Thorne, you and Newman can finish the assessment before returning. We should have cleared enough living space for most all of the expedition to at least find a place for the night."
"Understood ma'am, Thorne out. Alright, you heard the General, let's go," he ordered.
"Come on cutie, let's see what you are!" Faroe said, gently guiding the creature onto her shoulder, patting it. It nuzzled her hand, cooing softly.
Leaving Thorne and Newman to their task, Faroe and Higgs retraced their steps, heading to the transport booth they located earlier in their search. Higgs was content to no longer be the subject of the creature's attentions, casting wary glances at it as it rode on Faroe's shoulder, buzzing happily as she continued to feed it pieces of food.
"Are you sure you should be feeding it so much?" Higgs asked. "Aren't you afraid it will, I dunno, pop?"
"That's ridiculous," Faroe chided. "What sort of critter could do that?"
"The Priors' beetles ate until they killed themselves," Higgs commented harshly.
"I doubt this little cutie could do that," Faroe said, rolling her eyes, "What if this little guy is some lost pet? He's probably been so lonely here." She fed the little thing the last piece of the bar, smiling at it.
"Lost pet, just hanging around for a few thousand years," Higgs muttered under his breath. The sad part was that it was still far from the strangest thing the SGC had come across. Not even the strangest that year. He waved his hand in front of the sensor when the arrived at the transport booth and motioned for Faroe to step in first.
She got in, petting it. "Oh come on, it could have been hibernating," she argued, giving the little fuzzy thing a scratch on the head. It chittered happily, buzzing its wings.
The booth filled with the white flash as it transported them up and across the tower. "Fine, I'll give you that. Maybe they wanted a pet that could live as long as they did. Doesn't mean I have to like it."
"Oh come on, how can you hate this little guy?" she cooed, giggling as it nipped at her fingers.
Higgs looked at the peach ball with wings, blinking its too big insect eyes at him and chirring. "It's not that hard. Bug eyes aren't supposed to blink."
"Maybe it's not a bug," she argued. "It could be some weird mammal."
"Maybe we should leave that for the biologists to decide," Higgs retorted. "Either way, I don't like it."
"Scared of a tiny little fluff ball?" she asked as they moved through the corridors, keeping an eye out for anything else.
There were more signs of activity in that section of the city, from crates and storage containers to other expedition members going about their business, a few casting curious glances at the pair. Higgs kept focusing straight ahead. "You're not going to change my mind."
The HUD unobtrusively marked the major terrain shifts between the data from the database and what lay before them as the jumper ate up the distance between the deposit field and the gate at a leisurely cruising speed. Trees and stark rock vanished outside their view as Captain Wendy smoothly piloted the craft over them. Numbers along the right edge of the display shifted as they tracked various variables.
Altitude, velocity, temperature, drive output, field strength, dampeners, Devon mentally labeled. His side dash was taken up with the tablet linked to the system, the rapidly updating map steadily rendering as he gave it commands, the Ancient systems leaping on his thoughts.
"How long until we land?" Dr. Hill asked from behind him. "The mineral traces are steadily increasing."
"Just another minute or so," King answered. "Any particular spots we should be looking for?"
"Caves or silt deposits would be best," Dr. Moore called out from where he was fiddling with the equipment packs sitting in the middle of the jumper's rear compartments, paying particular attention to the small drone reminiscent of the Mark I MALPs. "I'd rather we didn't have to dig if we can avoid it."
"I'd rather we not walk through mud if we don't have to," Marshal added wryly.
"I hope it's a cave, always wanted to go spelunking," Devon chuckled, looking up from his tablet. "I never had the chance as a kid, we didn't have any caves."
"Either way we'll have to carry it back to the jumper," Marshal smirked. He laid back in his seat behind King, more or less relaxed considering the nature of the mission. "Not a bad draw for our first off-world mission."
"If the remote works as planned and the terrain allows, we can load it up and just drive it back to the jumper." Dr Moore seemed to have done all he could or wanted to and left the supplies alone.
"I really hope it works," Devon said, returning his attention to his tablet, "I'd rather not have to carry large chunks of rock. How much do we need exactly?"
"We don't need a large amount to repair the transporter," Dr. Hill admitted. "The relays won't take much palladium hydride to be replaced. Purity would be the main concern about how much we gather, but we decided it would be best if we got as much as we can on this trip."
"Ah! Here we go!" King called, "you wanted a cave, well you got one." She cast a glance at Devon, smiling. "You bring your mining helmet?"
"It's better than mucking through the mud," Devon laughed as the jumper started it's descent. "How many things use this mineral? I hear about naquadah, trinium and neutronium a lot, I don't remember palladium."
"Palladium hydride," Dr. Moore specified, if somewhat stuffily. "It, like with carocev and olesian ore, is one of the lesser known components that are used in different parts of Ancient and Asgardian technologies. They don't normally suffer wear or get seriously damaged often, but when they do you just have to replace them."
"The big three dominate the resource market, but it's still good to have the others in your supply," Dr. Hill added. "Case in point: the damaged transporter. The fix is little more than pulling out the damaged relays and replacing them, but we need the palladium hydride to manufacture it. Once we have it, it should be working again in a day or two."
"Whenever you are finished with your lesson," King interrupted suddenly. "We've landed."
"You heard the lady," Marshal said. "Time to go look for our hidden treasure."
"So..." Lyra started with a casual drawl. With the aid of a security officer Carter sent along, Daniel was escorting the three ponies to the rooms that had been set aside for them... and he had been expecting this. "Now that we've been checked out by the doctor and all..."
"You can't go through the gate," Daniel said, skipping to the end of her proposal.
"Hey! Who said that was what I was going to ask you about?" Lyra pouted, tossing her mane in a show of affront. "I don't appreciate you jumping to conclusions."
"I... uh... can I go through the gate please?" Lyra pleaded, trotting sideways so she could look at Daniel as she did.
"Lyra," Bon Bon said with a somewhat strained expression. "Just let it go."
"You know, I'd like to go through it as well," Cadance said with a large smile on her face. The idea of going to other worlds was something she didn't want to pass up if she had the choice.
"Come on, doc. Can you really say no to these guys?" Floyd commented, having tagged along to get Cadance's interview.
"Perhaps later, when our people and yours can officially begin relations," Daniel continued, sticking to his response. With Princess Cadance missing from the perspective of her nation, allowing her offworld on top of that would be a disaster. "Besides, we've only ever used this gate twice. We know nothing about this galaxy."
"But that could be forever!" Lyra whined. Their escort hid his laugh with a cough as she stomped her hooves.
"Lyra, don't you want to go back and rub it in everypony's face that you were right?" Bon Bon asked, trying a different tactic. "You can come back and go through their gate after."
"Can't we just, I dunno, go for a five minute trip or something?" Floyd asked, scratching the back of his neck, "You can send Bowers and me along to make sure they stay out of trouble."
"Yeah! We'll be on our bestest behavior!" Lyra agreed, nodding her head up and now, giving a big smile, her biggest actually.
"General Carter ordered gate usage limited to emergencies," the escort chimed in. "Right now the only mission approved was to attain the resources to repair the transporter."
"It will possibly be a week or more before we are ready to establish regular gate usage," Daniel continued. "Between sweeping, clearing and securing the city, which is a massive endeavour on its own, allocating space for all of our various departments and living space, simply finding accommodations for you three took a few hours, and general unpacking; ensuring your safety offworld, particularly yours Princess Cadance, is not something we are quite able to do at this time.
"I've been shot at on far too many supposedly 'safe' worlds to count. And we only have a couple thousand year old database to judge from." Daniel shook his head slowly. "At the moment, only the safe return of you three ponies can ensure a proper relationship with our new neighbours. A pleasure trip through the gate will have to wait until much later."
"I am flattered that you are so worried about my safety, but I can hold my own quite well," Cadance spoke up, "I was able to keep Sombra out of the Empire for days with my shield."
"I won't question that, Princess Cadance, but we have seen shields which held back an entire ocean for ten thousand years get pierced by enemy weapons in a matter of hours," Daniel commented soberly. His thoughts flashed to some of the things he had seen on SG-1 and what the Atlantis Expedition encountered. "And that isn't considering what we may find in the city itself. The last city ship we populated had so many hidden dangers that we stumbled across them years later."
"You really kept Sombra out for days?" Lyra asked, a bit of awe in her voice.
"I did," Cadance said with a hint of pride, "but keeping a shield that big up for that long is exhausting, I passed out several times and eventually, I just couldn't keep it up anymore. Thankfully, Twilight and Spike were able to find the Crystal Heart in time."
"That sounds rough," Floyd commented, trying to picture the scene on his mind, picturing some horrible demon horse attacking a herd of child-friendly ponies.
"It was the second worst time in my life," Cadance responded.
"Maybe you and the Princess can talk about that as part of your interview," Daniel suggested.
"Sounds like a plan," Floyd said with a smile, absentmindedly fiddling with his amulet, which glowed faintly at his touch.
Cadance smiled as well, though she did glance at the amulet with fleeting interest. "Thank you again. You've made this far less troubling than it could have been."
"Think nothing of it," Daniel said dismissively, "Anyway, here is your room, princess." He came to a stop, opening the door for her.
"This is gonna be like a sleep over!" Lyra said excitedly, quickly rushing into the room.
"Lyra! You're supposed to..." Bon Bon started in a belated attempt to stop her friend. She sighed before finishing lamely, "let the princess go first."
"No, it's fine," Cadance giggled. "She really hasn't changed much since we were foals."
"Hey Daniel! How do you work the sho-Yipe!" Lyra yelped suddenly as the sound of spraying water started up. "Cold, cold, sweet Celestia this is cold! Nevermind! I figured it out!"
"I'll try to keep them out of trouble." Floyd saluted Daniel, walking into the room to set up his camera.
"Have fun, Hendrix," Daniel said with a little wave. "But not too much fun. Call if you get lost when you're done."
Parasprite. This is gonna be fun...
Another great chapter
YAY!
I'm dead, beyond exhausted, but this gave back life, even if just for the time to read this chapter, as Fluttershy said "MOAR!!!" if it's okey with you
Oh dear....
A Parasprite infestation. Why did they have to feed it?
Also, please, please, please let that cave be safe. I am tired of Earth getting involved and kicking hornet nests. Still, how is that bug even still alive?
Also, please let the transporter be fixed, and just, dang to all that is happening here. Just what is going on?
Also what is that amulet going to do? It is being set up for something I think. I look forward to seeing what happens next.
6377789 I'm more interested how the changeling survived.
6377849 that was a parsprite waking up, not a changelinge
6377849 That's a parasprite my dear
Dammit, Jim!
Brilliant chapter, and yeah, the parasprites might be an issue, but then again the food they brought are nicely packed and sealed, not that easy to get to. But some fun higgins will sure be there. And i love how you work the details, Naquadah naturally infused with the ponies, i can see this be a potential issue for the future, all it takes one resource savvy group wanna get all the naquadah there is on Equis.
6377916 my lore is kinda bad, but are you talking about the Trust or the Lucian Alliance or something like that?
Obviously the amulet is gonna be something like an alicorn amulet...
Stargate update made my morning,
suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/17543409/images/1326597528329.jpg
Nice! Parasprite'll be fun for you to deal with.
The Great Devourer awakens!
They will be so surprised of what that 'harmless' little ball of cuteness can do, and why do I feel that the amulet will be a key-stone to something very important in the future?
Great work.
6377929
Along those lines yes, it could be them, or a new made up group. But thats the thing, the potential for twists are really limitless
6378016
6377934
the amulet will do SOMETHING, but you two arent even close.
6377849
what changling?
6378073 Someone commented on that and we tossed a few theories around. The conclusion? Yes, Cadance is older, but Twilight is also younger than the rest and loopholes in the school system.
6378085 Fair enough! I figured it was probably mentioned before, but I just found the story today and wanted to keep reading it rather than burn through my lunch hour in the comments.
6378018 I'm expecting the IOA more with their bureaucratic bull, to be honest. I never really liked those guys, with politics getting in the way of the real plans, replacing those with their own self-serving agendas and then, when those go wrong, they do a bunch of hooey to save their own behinds, and try to pin that failure on the good people.
Maybe they might try to bar the ponies with anything to do with the expedition, not being human and all. A weak reason, but all it needs is some momentum. It at least could be a problem.
6377849
Changeling? Where?
We got Parasprites incomin'! They're so cute and fuzzy, I wonder if they could find a way to be able to feed them and not have them reproduce at lightspeed? That'd be a cute little companion to have along with ya. hehe eue
Nice chapter well done! :D
this is going to be fun!
You know, I just now realized that parasprites are basically just organic replicators, and now i'm really curious to see daniel and carter's reaction once they realize that
If they were actually concerned about medical confidentiality, they would not have all been in that room together, discussing the scans like that.
Also:
Redundant. I recommend removing the second instance. Probably some minor things I missed. Otherwise good. Never considered horns being made out of naquadah... must be heavy.
ΔΓ
Oh my, external teleportation magic is blocked I'm assuming by the shield, the transporter is broken, they have limited food stores, even if they are large, and is that a parasprite I see? Yep, their doomed. Hopefully someone on the team is familiar with tribbles.
I can already picture the scene when they tell the ponies what they found.
Daniel: Carter, they're making the face!
Carter: Oh great, it's gonna be one of those days again isn't it?
Missed a full stop.
Well, there's the seaponies, the shadow ponies, and you could call the Changelings bug-ponies...
DON'T FEED THE
PLANTPARASPRITE!6377842
The redshirt never saw "Trouble With Tribbles", that's why
Those old Trek shows should be mandatory for everyone in an SG team!
By the way, finding this today has inspired me to finally go back and watch SG-1 from the beginning.
Well, worse comes to worst, I guess they can always eat the parasprites?
Sigh, why did they have to go into the cave like the cast of a low budget horror movie? Lots of things can very easily hide in caves which makes them potentially dangerous so they should absolutely be avoided when there is an easy safe alternative on hand like this.
6379206 Being an omnivore has its perks!
6379079
I totally agree with you there.
6377842 6379079 6379275 Tribbles do the funky math tango even if you don't feed them. Nubbins, on the other hand, do need food, but like parasprites, they will aggressively hunt for it. Unfortunately, that encounter happened in an alternate universe so they wouldn't know out that one either.
Besides, could you say no to this cutie purring at you, without knowing what you do from the episode?
pre02.deviantart.net/a0c1/th/pre/i/2012/099/7/e/sad_parasprite_by_michael_bass-d4vljht.png
No you couldn't. Tribbles are just puffs of fur. They don't have faces. And if you could, you're a bastard, just like Higgs. Worse even, because Higgs was being harassed.
Well hopefully these are garden variety parasprites or things might turn scary really fast.
6379497 true that
Let the adorable hijinks begin.
6379497 True, McCoy said they're born pregnant--however, per Cerano Jones & David Gerrold's book, they don't actually produce any young if you don't feed them. The embryos would remain dormant. McCoy implied that in the same scene when he asked "You know what you get if you feed a tribble too much?"
As for your second question, the very first instant I saw a parasprite on MLP, my first thought was "Tribble!" even before the story got started! Why? Because I watched Star Trek. Does that make me a bastard? *shrug* I can live with that. At the very least, a properly briefed SG redshirt would've brought the creature to the biolab and let them figure out if it was dangerous. If not, then he could have himself a little pet.
As for Star Trek existing as a show, don't forget the SG1 episode, The Other Guys. So using Trek as a briefing material can potentially be canon to SG1
Oh, and before anyone thinks I'm trying to say MLP plagiarized the tribble episodes, I'm not! Gerrold explained in his book the idea just came to him while considering the rabbit plague overrunning Australia. But the legal department at Paramount were concerned due to parallels to "Flatcats of Mars". However, production went ahead when the author of that story waived any complaints against Tribbles since he had been influenced by the "Rabbits of Oz" too. He was happy to let Tribbles be made because those stories pointed out the eco-disaster potential of such critters.
6379716 Cat's are eco-disasters as well. But I'll admit, I've never watched the tribble's episode. Pretty sure I read the book, but that was long ago... Even so, not everyone is qualified for gate travel as a sole individual. Faroe's exuberance and exploratory nature goes well with Higgs' somewhat timid nervousness and caution.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
As always I CANT WAIT FOR MORE
6379796 Awww...how can you look at this little fella and call him an eco-disaster? media.giphy.com/media/BgnKc6mLmE8tq/giphy.gif
And what would Lieutenant M'Ress say about you calling that sweet little fella that?
orderofbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Man-Kzin-Wars-by-Larry-Niven.jpg
...
...okay ... admittedly ... that wasn't M'Ress...
Good chapter. Oh no, we've found a parasprite and conveniently none of the ponies are around to catch wind of it. I wonder if it will become a problem before they do. Hrm.
Naquadah powering magic is surprising. I mean, I guess it powers Goa'uld tech, but that's more of a battery idea I think, same way the naquadah-made Stargate is described as a superconductor that can hold large quantities of energy.
Equating the powers of ponies to some of the capabilities of the Ancients near their ascension, or that we see in "Tao of McKay" (aka "McKay gets super smart and almost dies"), is a neat idea.
I suspect this is an autocorrect for "offworld". At least that is what I expected to read here.
6379716
IIRC according to Word of God, Jack O'Neill likes Star Trek. I am not sure if it's actually stated during the show he likes it, though.
6379264
Yeah I could smell them failing to check in back before they left through the gate. The fact that dialing the planet again to check in with them in an hour is explicitly mentioned.
In theory their move for the caves isn't THAT bad because they should have ancient life-signs detectors with them to make sure nothing sneaks up on them.
I figure at least some of our ponies will convince Sam and Daniel to let them go with the rescue team. Gonna be interesting to see how they convince them though, since they know LESS about the planet than the humans do (thanks to the Ancient database) and they don't know how humans do offworld operations.
I guess there could be some sort of Equestrian creature offworld somehow.
6379206
I want to see someone pull out a Zat and shoot one... and instead of incapacitating it, it pops. Preferably in front of the ponies.
"pin it's delicate"
"its"
"Parasprites... why did it have to be parasprites?" - Daring Do
I am rather curious how you will go about describing parasprite biology. The way they eat and reproduce should have wiped out Equestria from food shortage eons ago if you look at the actual episode. Something must keep them in check naturally.
Parasprites!! Well they're boned!! Guess that calls for an emergency gate use.
"Damn it, Jim!"
That is all
uh oh
6380151 Except the life sign detectors couldn't identify the presence of hibernating Wraith, which may hold true for other such beings.
6380416 my theory on parasprites is that they were created, likely by Discord, to reek havoc. They wipeout a city's food supply then go off and hibernate for centuries, wake up after most everyone has forgotten about them and start all over again. Their cute and small appearance plays right into Discord's style and he has shown that he can carry out long term plans with the plunder seeds.
As far as the amulet goes; I am guessing it is similar to the Elements, maybe not in terms of usage but as an exploration of potential applications for similar devices. Kind of like like the mini drones in the SGA episode "Harmony", which is rather funny given that said drones were controlled via an amulet and the name of the episode does tie into this setting. That or it might have been part of an attempt to allow Alterans to replicate the ponies's own abilities, with the amulet acting as a focus. Really it could be just about anything.
6381046 I don't want to give anything away but...your close with that last bit.
A parasprite?
Did you miss the "harmony magic" remarks?
Oh, andtheirrulersjugglecelestialbodiesaround
Shoo be doo, muthafuggaz!
And then, the machine explodes.
Called it!
Been a while since she saw Gremlins, huh?
Cave... hidden treasure...
You're foreshadowning a dragon encounter, aren't you?
"Hey, they may look cute, but not that kind of cute."
Remarks and corrections:
> Someone had more or less ordered Hendrix to the infirmary to get himself accessed
Shouldn't that be "assessed"?
> as the arm slowly made it's way down the length of her body
"[its] way". You really gotta watch out for those...
> Come on doc, can you really say no
A rather common error in all of this so far: addressing terms, like names, or the the "doc" in this case, need to be separated from the rest of the sentence with commas, both before and after the term.
i.imgur.com/UrmIpMT.jpg
6381528 nah, Floyd has a thing with ponies