//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 // Story: Lunar Rising // by azore24 //------------------------------// “So you’re telling me,” said Rarity through occasional pants, “that just by turning the Stargate, you can simply step between worlds?” “Basically,” Carter said. She was breathing only slightly more easily than Rarity. “Though it’s much more complicated than that. The Gate is actually a superconducting ring made—” “Carter, no one wants to get a technical description of the gate right now,” O’Neill snapped. “Actually, I would love to hear how it works,” Twilight Sparkle said in a remarkably chipper tone. “Look,” Applejack said, “Ah think we’ve got some bigger issues to deal with than the specifics of how they got here. Now, why don’t y’all tell us how you deal with these ‘goa’uld’ thingies?” Jack chose not to answer, hoping that Daniel would take the initiative; he was generally the best at delivering hard truths. While all the members of SG-1 were acclimated to the use of deadly force, especially when it was applied to the goa’uld, the ponies didn’t seem likely to handle the idea all that well. “We kill them,” Teal’c said. Unfortunately for Jack, Daniel was not the member of SG-1 who answered the question. O'Neill looked hopefully around at the ponies while he ran. What he saw made him bury his head in his hand at Teal'c's lack of tact. Each of the six ponies' irises had shrunk to the size of a very small thing, leaving their eyes pure white orbs with pinpricks of black, the color of the irises all but invisible. Rarity stopped in her tracks, drawing an exaggerated gasp and pulling out a sofa, presumably from the same place Pinkie stored anything, onto which she feinted. Fluttershy froze up entirely, every limb seeming to lock in place. Her mouth was agape in horror, complementing her eyes disturbingly well. “You wha—?” Twilight shouted just before tripping over her hooves and sliding face-first along the ground. Applejack stumbled a bit, but caught herself as she stopped with the other ponies. “Wha?” she asked, unable to put together even a full word. “Why would you do that?” For her part, Rainbow Dash stared back at SG-1 in bewilderment and disgust, slamming into a tree. She slid down the trunk to land next to Pinkie Pie, who was just sort of sitting there. Compared to her normally bubbly nature, the gloom which hung over Pinkie sent shivers down O'Neill's spine. “They don't really give us much of a choice,” Daniel said. Jack was surprised at his control; for all the goa'uld had taken from Daniel, he still was able to bury his hatred when it was necessary. More surprising was Jack's own ability to bite his tongue; a few choice words on the value of a goa'uld life had nearly passed his lips. “They bring their fates upon themselves,” Teal'c said, doing nothing to spare the shocked ponies. “As we have told you, they commit many evils across the galaxy, sparing no one. They do not deserve to be shown the mercy they refuse to give others.” Jack decided that this was a good moment to try and send off the ponies. If he couldn't convince them that it was too dangerous for them to go after Nightmare Moon, and he had been trying, he figured he might be able to scare them off. O'Neill couldn't help but be aware of the irony in the situation; he was playing the part of the Nox or the Tollan, trying to tell a younger and less wise race that they were treading into dangerous ground. “Look, kids,” O'Neill said, “it's gotta be done. Even if we do find the Elements, then what? We've only shifted the problem forward another thousand years, assuming the things even work after being lost for a millennium. The only thing we can do is to take her out.” “Trust me,” Daniel said with earnest sadness in his voice, “the kindest thing you can do for someone who's been taken by a goa'uld is to kill them before they are forced to do anything else.” “There ain't no way I'm buyin' that,” Applejack said. “It ain't right to kill nopony, no matter what.” Applejack stomped her hoof to punctuate her words and snorted contemptuously at SG-1. Behind her, Fluttershy nodded in assent. The smile on her face held a mixture of pride and the special brand of self-righteousness reserved for when one knows that they hold the moral high ground. “That's right,” Fluttershy said meekly, “death is the saddest thing to happen to anypony. There's nothing that could be worse than having somepony else,” she shuddered slightly and withdrew behind her mane before continuing, “kill you.” “Of course there's something worse than being killed,” Daniel cried. “Death is fleeting, a moment of pain before it's all over. Even if it's a lingering death, a long and painful one, what the goa'uld do to a person is so much worse. The hosts of the goa'uld wish for death; the least we can do is to grant them that one small mercy.” “I can't believe that there isn't another option,” Twilight said. “Surely you've at least tried to reason with the goa'uld, or to find a way to force them out of their... host.” Twilight seemed uncomfortable with the idea of the goa'uld taking over somebody, as she should have been. “Yeah,” Rainbow Dash said, having unstuck her face from the tree, “you said you can make machines that are nearly as cool as me; you have to be able to make something to get rid of one of those goa'uld things.” Rainbow Dash's bold words, as well as Twilight's cutting tone, lifted the pallor which had dimmed Pinkie Pie's countenance. “The last group we met who could remove a goa'uld was wiped out by them,” Jack said wryly. He didn't care that he was ignoring the fact that the Asgard could probably remove a symbiote at least as well as the Tollan. He knew that getting the ponies to come to terms with what was going to happen was the best way to make them leave. Besides, he never had much patience for anyone who suggested showing the goa'uld mercy. “And the last time we tried to negotiate with them, one of them used it as an opportunity to try and annihilate us and to kill one of her rivals,” Carter added. Jack was glad that he didn't hear any sadness in her voice; he'd been brusque when he threw the fate of the Tollan people at the ponies, but had realized that it was still probably fresh in Carter's mind. She had had a thing with Nareem, after all. “You mean to tell me that you feel you have no choice but to kill Nightmare Moon,” Rarity asked deliberately. At some point she had gotten off of her sofa and hidden it away somewhere. “Yes,” Teal'c answered. “Well then,” Rarity countered, “it seems clear to me that we shall have to accompany you in order to stop such a terrible thing from happening.” O'Neill looked around at the ponies to see them all nodding, some sagely, some vehemently. He massaged the bridge of his nose with his fingers, sunglasses having been put away hours ago. “Fine,” came Jack's begrudging reply, “but you'd better be warned that it won't be pretty.” “Don't be silly, Colonel O'Neill,” Rarity said with a subtle edge to her voice, “it will be beautiful simply by my presence.” She tossed back her mane and began to trot along towards the Everfree Forest with her nose in the air. It seemed, to O'Neill, that she had forgotten to exaggerate her exhaustion. The other ponies quickly followed her lead; Pinkie Pie even bounced along with a snooty air. Sighing, O'Neill followed along with the rest of SG-1 over the gentle hills which were now bathed in bright moonlight. He was quickly resigning himself to babysitting the ponies; hopefully Nightmare Moon would take some time to consolidate her power before attacking. At least then the six mares would have time to give up on the Elements and the SGC would be able to send some help. If they could get tranquilizers, the ponies couldn't even complain about mistreatment of interplanetary despots. Silence reigned, broken only by hoof- and footfalls, breathing, and the clacking of various pieces of SG-1's equipment against their vests. O'Neill used the time to clear his head, losing himself in the monotony of the run. He also considered how to deal with Nightmare Moon. Certainly the Elements of Harmony would be extremely useful if they could find them, assuming they were even in the Palace and still worked. As much as he'd argued against it, imprisoning a goa'uld for a millennium would be a blessing. On the other hand, he had to assume that the Elements weren't available. They also didn't have any subsonic weapons to use on her, and he doubted he had the time to MacGyver up a bow and arrow as he had on the Nox's planet. Sure, everyone had their combat knives, but O'Neill had only ever seen a goa'uld beaten in hand-to-hand when they were without any technological advantage. In this case, Nightmare at least had her shield device, and a way to generate bolts of electricity; stabbing her with knives seemed to be a no-go. If they were lucky, a Zat blast would incapacitate her, but taking the goa'uld by surprise would be tricky indeed. They always had their C4, but then they would have to lure Nightmare Moon out to wherever they set their trap, and even the haughtiest System Lords would be unlikely to fall for such deception. So caught up in his musings was O'Neill that he didn't notice that the ponies had stopped. He only became cognizant of the fact as he ran right by them. Realizing that he was now in the lead, O'Neill slowed to a jog and turned to look at them. Some conversation he hadn't been paying much attention to led all six ponies to say in unison, “... the Everfree Forest!” Their voices quavered a bit. Jack stopped running; Daniel, Carter, and Teal'c had all stopped with the ponies. “What?” Jack exclaimed. He looked over the ponies in confusion. They had been so gung-ho to come with SG-1 to face Nightmare Moon, but entering the forest made them balk. Maybe their boldness had waned, or perhaps they had only now realized the enormity of their undertaking. A faint glimmer of hope appeared in Jack's mind. Maybe, just maybe, the ponies would turn back. “Wheee! Let's go!” Pinkie Pie shouted as she ran forward into the forest. “Yes, let's,” Rarity said as she followed Pinkie. O'Neill rubbed the bridge of his nose, shaking his head as he did. Jack turned and headed into the forest, not needing to see that everyone was following the path; the sound created by hooves and boots striking the ground was more than enough for him. O'Neill shivered as he crossed over the forest's threshold, though the difference in temperature wasn't as sharp as it had been during the day. Even so, he could see that everyone was affected by the shift. The unsettling air was added to by the appearance of the forest itself. In the day, it had been basically the same as any other forest on any world. There were trees, grasses, dead leaves, rocks, and other forest-y things. The night, though, brought deep shadows and made the forest downright creepy. The thick trunks of trees were gnarled and knotted, their irregular shapes casting odd images in the bright moonlight. The humid air added to the claustrophobia-inducing closeness of the trees. Though they followed a path, it was in the early stages of overgrowth. At O'Neill's signal, three beams of light sprung to life. Whereas the moonlight had been enough to travel by in the open fields, the tree cover had blocked much of it. SG-1's flashlights dispelled some of the gloom, or at least pushed it far back from the path. Twilight and Rarity took the cue from SG-1 and lit magical light sources above their horns. The combined effect was that the trail was awash in light, though the surrounding dark became relatively deeper. “Twilight,” Carter said from the back of the group, “can you tell me why the weather changed as we entered the forest?” “It's because,” Rainbow Dash interjected in a spooky, warbling tone, “the Everfree Forest is filled with rogue weather!” Carter flipped her flashlight up at Rainbow Dash, who stopped waving her forelegs in a spooky motion in order to shield her eyes from the light. “What do you mean, 'rogue weather?'” Carter asked. O'Neill felt his heart sink. He'd never actually told Carter how the ponies controlled the weather, and had hoped that he could avoid the topic until after the current crisis had passed. Maybe if he was lucky, Rainbow Dash would avoid actually going into specifics. “Well,” Rainbow Dash said, “for some reason we can't seem to shape the weather over the Forest. In here, the clouds move on their own!” Rainbow Dash zipped to the front of the group and landed on the ground. From a crouched position, she stalked at O'Neill and Teal'c. “Some ponies say that in the Everfree, the animals look after themselves and plants grow without earth ponies to guide them!” “Whoopdie doo,” Jack said, twirling his pointer finger in circles to show exactly how enthralled he was in Rainbow Dash's tale. He and Teal'c brushed right on by her as they continued down the path, which had recently wound its way onto a ledge. “The scariest part is that nopony knows how or why this happens,” Rainbow Dash continued unperturbed. A wicked smile alighted on her face as she stalked towards Twilight, Pinkie, Rarity, and Fluttershy. Applejack rolled her eyes at Rainbow Dash's performance and said, “Come on Rainbow, we don't have time for this.” O'Neill found himself liking Applejack more and more as time went on, even if she could be a stick in the mud. “And do you know why?” Rainbow Dash asked, ignoring Applejack's words. The four mares cowered in terror at Rainbow Dash's telling. Behind them, Carter dropped to a knee and leveled her gun away from the cliff face on which the trail rain. At the same time, Teal'c hefted his staff weapon and scanned the path ahead of the group. “She is nearby,” Teal'c said. O'Neill followed suit, training his gun on a random point on the horizon. Daniel, slow on the uptake, scrambled for his pistol. “What's goin' on, y'all?” Applejack asked hesitantly as she noticed SG-1 readying themselves. “Because,” Rainbow Dash continued, “nopony who's ever gone into the forest has ever come out!” Rainbow Dash lept at the quivering mares, eliciting a chorus of screams. The four frightened mares all jumped into the air, clutching one another in fear. Rainbow Dash back-winged into a hover, a giggling fit beginning to overcome her. Carter had just started to answer Applejacks question when a nearly transparent purple mist darted away from the ledge. For a heartbeat, nothing happened. “Away from the edge,” Carter shouted as she jumped back towards the cliff face. Her words didn't carry far; a thunderous crack filled the air as rock and stone broke apart, the ground beneath them shattering violently. As if by instinct, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy took to the air. The four landbound ponies plummeted down the slope below. “Come on, Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash shouted as she dove for the falling ponies. Fluttershy was right on her tail, her normal hesitancy lost amid the danger and immediacy of the situation. SG-1, for its part, was lucky. O'Neill and Teal'c had been beyond the collapsed region while Daniel was behind it. Carter's quick thinking had put her close enough to the cliff face that a thin shelf of rock supported her. “Carter,” called Jack, “you alright?” “For the moment, sir,” Carter called back. “Daniel and I may need some help getting across, though.” Below, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had already caught Pinkie Pie and Rarity and were going back for Twilight, who was hanging dangerously off of the cliff, and Applejack, who had managed to stop her fall. “Shimmying across won't work, then?” O'Neill asked calmly. “It might, but it'd be risky. You don't happen to have rope on you, do you?” “You know, I keep thinking that we should start packing some for missions, but my request has been tied up in the bureaucracy for ages.” “That was awful,” Sam said sourly. O'Neill's grin of victory was cut short as Rainbow Dash soared up to SG-1. “You guys alright?” Rainbow Dash asked. She and Fluttershy had already brought Twilight safely to the ground below. “Yup,” O'Neill said, “though if you could give us a bit of help getting Carter and Daniel across the gap, we'd appreciate it.” “No problem,” Rainbow Dash said with no lack of pride. In short order, Carter and Daniel had crossed the gap with Rainbow Dash acting as their safety. “So, what's the plan now?” she asked once SG-1 regrouped on solid ground. “Daniel, give Rainbow your walkie talkie,” Jack ordered. Daniel did so, handing it to the pegasus who cradled it in her hooves. “This is a communication device. Make sure this knob is pointing to these two straight lines,” O'Neill said while indicating the number eleven on the frequency dial. “Then, you can hear us talk through it whenever we want to send you a message. If you have to send one to us, just press this big button here and then talk. It's probably easiest if you give it to Twilight or Rarity, so make sure to explain it to them too. “We'll continue along the path we took from the Palace, and you all can keep heading there from where you fell. Hopefully we'll all meet up before Nightmare Moon causes too much more trouble. Understand?” Jack asked in his best commanding tone. “Yes, sir!” Rainbow Dash said, even giving a salute with one foreleg. She zipped down to the other ponies. In less than a minute, SG-1's radios crackled to life as the ponies successfully managed to send a message, though it was impossible to understand when all six of them were talking into the walkie talkie at once. “Alright, everybody,” Jack said over the radio, “let's get a move on!”