Lunar Rising

by azore24


Chapter 11

The group burst out of the forest a few minutes and a mile later. For about twenty feet there was bare ground, save a covering of grass, which led to the deep chasm surrounding the Palace of the Royal Pony Sisters. Directly ahead of them stood the two posts where the rope bridge SG-1 had crossed on their way to Ponyville dangled uselessly. Beyond that, on the far side of the chasm, was where the ruins of the Palace lay. In the moonlight, which was no longer blocked by the Everfree Forest's canopy, the dilapidated structures appeared as ghostly edifices pocked by dark, shadowed crevices.
O'Neill stopped when he reached the front of the group. He had been trying to come up with a good way of crossing the gap since Pinkie had stopped yammering. Which meant he'd been thinking for the last two seconds, her stream of consciousness only pausing to marvel at the chasm and gawk at the Palace.
“Thoughts?” O'Neill asked of no one in particular. Before anyone could respond, the free end of the bridge rose into the air, dragged by Rainbow Dash. A few moments later, the bridge was secured to its moorings on the far side and Rainbow was proudly flying back to the group.
“No worries, Colonel. I tied up that bridge nice and tight,” Rainbow Dash said. Her statement was undercut by an ominous creaking.
“Perhaps I should go across and make sure your knots are secure,” Rarity suggested. “We wouldn't want to fall to our dooms twice in one night, now would we?”
“Heh, I guess you've got a point,” Rainbow said.
Rarity carefully, but quickly crossed the bridge, examining the ropes and wood as she went. Once on the other side, she turned her attention to the moorings.
After a moment, she gasped audibly. Rainbow, who had been shadowing her the whole time, flashed to attention. “What? Did I tie it wrong? Is it dangerous? Tell me!” she demanded.
“Oh, no. Your knot is perfectly strong. It's just that the grain of the wood and the weaving of the rope are completely misaligned. It's so garish.” Rarity lifted a hoof to her forehead, just below her horn, and gave an over-exaggerated grunt of disgust.
Rainbow Dash looked blankly at the drama queen for a moment before shaking her head and zipping back across. “Rarity says it's fine to cross. It's probably too much for all of you to go at once, though,” she added. Everyone nodded and quickly crossed to the Palace side of the chasm.
“Sir,” Carter said to Jack, holding up her wristwatch. It was clear what she meant. They had used up a lot of their head start. For a moment, Jack wondered why they never had to figure out how ancient artifacts worked while lounging in a mansion with all the time in the world. Maybe even a fishing pond nearby. He then realized that that was pretty much what Carter did when she wasn't on away missions, minus the lap of luxury bit. He was immediately glad that he didn't voice his feelings on this matter. Instead, he nodded at her and began with the issuing of orders.
“OK,” he said, not stopping his light jog towards the chamber wherein Carter and Teal'c had found to contain a very strange sculpture. In his experience, strange sculptures were either overpriced lawn ornaments or objects of unspeakable power. Since there was no lawn to be found inside the palace, he was banking on the latter. “We've got precious little time to figure out if the Elements are here, and what they do, and how to work them. Twilight, Carter, Daniel, that's your job. Applejack and Rainbow Dash, I want you two to come with me. We're going to dial up Earth and get some help. T, you take Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity and lookout for Nightmare Moon. I'm not expecting her to be terribly subtle when she comes after us again.” For once it looked like none of the ponies would question his orders. Such dreams appeared too good to be true, however.
“But Jackie,” said Pinkie Pie, “I wanna meet the other humans! Why can't I go with you to Earth?” She pouted and crossed her forelegs, plopping down on the ground.
Jack continued on, ignoring her antics. “One, we're not going to Earth, we're only going to talk to them. Two, dialing the gate requires strength, so Applejack and Rainbow are the best choices after Twilight, who is otherwise occupied. Besides, you and I are already such good friends that I want you to get to spend time with Teal'c. Can't you see how excited he is to go on patrol with you?” Jack glanced over at Teal'c, who looked as impassive as ever. This impassive face seemed to say 'I am not amused by your antics, O'Neill.'
“Fine, but you'd better let me see them later,” Pinkie replied.
“Sure, as long as Hammond approves.” Jack was fairly certain that Hammond would approve, and could already see the havoc that a loose Pinkie Pie could wreak on the SGC. It was a delicious thought.
The group then entered the chamber which contained the presumptive Elements of Harmony. It was just as big and decrepit as it had been the last time SG-1 had been there. White vines still strangled ancient columns, some of which no longer supported the ceiling where it had previously caved in. Empty window frames lined the walls; some still contained jagged shards of colored glass.
In the room's center stood the very sculpture that they had come to investigate in the first place. Nothing else stood out in the room, though the back wall did hold a barely visible entrance to the tunnels which contained the Stargate.
“Right,” O'Neill said, “everyone understand their jobs?” A series of nods went through the group. “Good, then get to it!”
“Sir,” Carter called, a coy smile on her lips, “could you bring the rest of the equipment back with you? It’d help to be able to run some tests.”
“Sure, Carter. You want me to get you some Jell-O from the commissary as well?”
“Oh, if you’re going, could you pick up one for me, too?” Daniel chimed in. “But only if they have green.”
Rolling his eyes, O'Neill turned on his heels and headed towards the back door. Thankfully, the swish of wings and clip-clop of hooves quickly joined him.
As he entered the tunnels, Jack flipped on his flashlight and began talking. “So, the Stargate's this big stone ring, and to use it, we have to turn it to a series of specific orientations.” Jack could anticipate a number of potential questions, and he did not want to waste time on pleasantries just now. “When we get to it, I'll have to hook up a power source, and then we'll all work together to dial it. It's perfectly safe until the very end. You will do what I say, when I say so, and ask for explanations later, got it?”
O'Neill heard two, 'yes, sir's,' which pleased him mightily. They didn't even sound too disgruntled by it. Truly, these were his sort of ponies. Not that Pinkie was all that bad; she just didn't belong on this sort of mission.
Soon enough, the three of them turned the final corner and were greeted with the Stargate, surrounded on both sides by SG-1's scientific gear. O'Neill set to work opening the naquadah generator's case. The process by which one hooked it up to the gate was made intentionally simple. This was because Carter had been the one to design it, and knew that Jack would probably have to use it. It had been an interesting day in the commissary when he realized that he was her proof that even a child could set one up. To be fair, he didn't screw it up and was done in short order.
Other members of the SGC had told O'Neill that there was a trick to manually getting a chevron to lock into place. He never really had a problem with it; the gate just seemed to know when the proper chevron was in place whenever an SG-1 team member had to manually dial. Maybe they were all just particularly gifted with Ancient devices.
In any event, having ponies along to help out with the dialing didn't seem to mar that streak. They were actually pretty good at dialing the gate, Applejack being stronger even than Teal'c, and Rainbow Dash able to fly with as much power as she did speed. O'Neill found that he wasn't particularly helpful at actually turning the thing, and so settled for directing the two ponies.
After a quick six chevrons' worth of dialing, Jack called out, “OK, now it gets dangerous. When we finish dialing the gate, a blue wave of destruction is going to shoot out of it. Whatever it touches will be annihilated. Destroyed. Kaput. You should both move to the outside of the ring, and be very careful.” Seeing that Applejack had moved behind the stone ring, Jack added, “You've gotta be to one side of the gate. Behind it is just as dangerous as in front.”
“Like this, Colonel?” Applejack asked, having shifted herself over.
“Exactly,” O’Neill said. He looked over the Stargate for an unfamiliar symbol, the point-of-origin of this planet. Somehow, he wasn't at all surprised by what he found. “Now, just turn it until the vaguely horseshoe-shaped symbol is in place, and then get ready for the light show.” The two ponies turned the inner ring of the Stargate as instructed; the final chevron lit up. The blast of blue stuff which shot out of the gate didn’t so much as phase O’Neill, considering how often he saw Stargates activate; the same could not be said for the two ponies.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash both started at the brilliant flash of light, which was amplified by the previous darkness, and the accompanying noise. Proving that O’Neill had chosen well in bringing them along, the two quickly regained their composure. Jack typed in SG-1’s identification code on the small transmitter he carried, afraid that one of them might take an impromptu journey through the gate.
“Don’t go in,” O’Neill instructed the mares absent-mindedly, adding, “and especially don’t go in the back.” Admittedly, he had no idea what would happen if they did, but that was a question to test on a rock or something. Maybe he’d grab one of Daniel’s many old rocks and give it a try after the mission.
Over to one side of the chamber, the distinctive sound of servos whirring about could be heard. Jack turned towards the MALP and gave a chipper wave. General Hammond’s voice came from the probe’s speakers, accompanied by the normal crackle of the radio. “Colonel O’Neill. You’re not due in for another few hours,” he said in a tone that was half a question and half an order.
“Ran into a goa’uld, sir,” O’Neill replied, sounding quite cross. “I’d say we have five or ten minutes before she comes looking for us, though.”
“What’s your situation?”
“We’re holed up in some ruins with a handful of the locals. Seems there may be a fancy super weapon around here. Carter and Daniel are working on that right now.” Glancing up at the gate, Jack noticed two of the aforementioned locals curiously examining the Stargate. He turned away from the MALP’s camera and scolded, “Please don’t poke the event horizon.”
The camera turned towards the gate, focusing on Rainbow Dash, who was pawing at the shimmering pool of energy, sending ripples along its surface. She was also hovering a good few feet in the air; Jack enjoyed imagining Hammond’s face when he saw that. Applejack, meanwhile, had abandoned the Stargate for the MALP. Jack was pretty sure she came in from off screen as she stuck her eye right in front of the camera’s lens. Sometimes, he really wished MALPs had video feed from the SGC.
“Is this like one of ‘em walkie-talkies you gave us?” Applejack asked. She tapped the MALP’s camera with her hoof as she examined the device. Rainbow Dash gave up on the Stargate and flitted over to join Applejack at the MALP.
Jack smirked to himself as he answered. “Basically. It’s also got a camera, so General Hammond can see you through this,” he said, pointing to the now slightly askew device. “You can still see us, right General?”
“Everything’s crooked, and we can’t turn the camera anymore, but we are still receiving visual telemetry,” came the reply. It wasn’t Hammond’s voice, probably one of the technicians had answered instead. Applejack blushed and stepped back a few feet. She was then joined by Rainbow Dash, for once standing on the ground.
“Good to hear,” O’Neill replied. “General, meet Applejack and Rainbow Dash. They’re two of the locals.” He said this in his best deadpan, as if polychromatic, talking, flying ponies wearing Stetsons were not at all out of the ordinary. It was still surprising to Jack how quickly he had adjusted to the ponies himself.
“It is a pleasure to meet you both,” General Hammond’s voice replied. “Now, you were saying about a goa’uld?”
O’Neill began to respond, “Right—”
“Oh my gosh! We need to get back to the others!” Rainbow Dash suddenly shouted. “Nightmare Moon could be back at any moment. Let’s grab the egghead stuff and get going.” She sprang off the ground and sped towards the pile of scientific equipment SG-1 had left by the wall.
“Hold yer horses, girl,” Applejack sighed. “Major Carter said that stuff was fragile. It won’t matter how quick you gather it if it’s all broken by the time she gets it.” She trotted over to aid Rainbow Dash in gathering the equipment while O’Neill continued his report.
“Right,” Jack said, decidedly more smarmily than previously. “It seems that, through no fault of our own, we arrived just as a goa’uld broke out of her prison.” Jack was sure to stress that SG-1 in no way aided in her escape. “We tried killing her, even got a few Zat blasts in, but she just came back from it. Right now, Carter and Daniel are trying to get a legendary super weapon to work. Really, I’d feel somewhat better with SG-3 and a bunch of tranqs.”
“Understood, General Hammond said, “they’ll be there within a half an hour.”
“Wonderful, sir. We’ll hold off the moon goddess while the marines get dressed. They should feel free to take their time.”
“Good luck, Colonel,” Hammond replied. Jack could almost hear the eye roll in his voice.
“Thank you, sir.”.
With that, O’Neill saluted and turned away from the MALP. A quick check of his watch showed that of their estimated twenty minutes, five still remained. It really felt like more than that had passed, but these high-stress situations generally felt as if they lasted longer than they really did. Especially when there was any sort of hard time limit, so Jack didn’t worry about it too much.
Looking over to Applejack and Rainbow Dash, O’Neill saw a rather impressive pile of scientific equipment secured to either pony’s back. O’Neill found a few things he could carry from the pile, which was mostly gone.
“Come on, let’s get back to the others,” Rainbow Dash said impatiently. Applejack gave an eager nod of agreement which Jack echoed. The three turned away from the gate and began their walk back through the tunnels. Behind them, the event horizon of the Stargate evaporated, plunging the three into darkness.
“So,” Jack said as his eyes adjusted to the low light, “you’re Applebloom’s sister, right?”
“Ah sure am, Applejack replied with no small hint of pride in her voice. “She was all atwitter about meeting you before the Summer Sun Celebration. Granny Smith had a heck of a time getting her to take a nap beforehand.”
“I guess meeting space aliens would do that to any kid,” Jack commiserated with a knowing smirk. He himself had barely been able to sleep his first time either. To be fair, though, he had been on an alien world in a desert
“Hmm. I don’t know if it was more that you were an alien, or that you thought that cutie marks were evil. She was ranting at anypony who’d listen.” Applejack chuckled at the memory, though her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes.
“Hey, she’ll be alright. We’ve pulled out of much tighter scrapes than this,” Jack said. He would have given her a supportive pat on the shoulders, but his arms were full and her shoulders laden with supplies.
“Name one,” Rainbow Dash said.
“Well, there was one time that we broke a sun. We almost killed off all the life on its planet. Carter managed to fix it, though I could not tell you how.”
“Woah, she can fix the Sun?” Rainbow Dash said, eyes wide. “Think she can move it, too?”
“Ya need to have unicorn magic to move the sun, Rainbow,” Applejack replied testily.
“I know,” Rainbow said, “but they’re pretty smart. Colonel O’Neill said that the built machines to fly, even though they don’t have wings. Maybe Major Carter could build a sun-moving machine.”
“I thought it didn’t count if we were using machines,” Jack said with a smirk.
Rainbow Dash blushed and smiled bashfully at the reminder of her brash comments from the previous day. “Well, maybe it counts a little. Hey, if it saves Equestria I’ll even admit that they’re faster than me. You know, once they beat me in a race.”
“So you’d admit the truth after they proved it?” Applejack said in mock-disbelief. “You know that’s how most ponies act normally,” she added, giving her voice more than a little bit of an edge.
“Yeah, well —” Rainbow Dash cut herself off as the group emerged from the tunnels. “Oh hey, we’re here.”
The room was notably brighter than the tunnels, illuminated as it was by the disturbingly blank moon. Daniel stood with Rarity, who had apparently decided that following orders wasn’t necessary, by one text-covered wall. Rarity held a large text in her magical grasp while Daniel leafed back and forth in his notepad. Carter and Twilight sat with the Elements, or at least with the stone spheres which were assumed to be the Elements. They had removed the orbs from their statue and seemed to be lost in experiment.
“Special delivery for Major Carter, “Jack said in a singsong voice. He placed his load of scientific doodads next to Carter. Applejack and Rainbow Dash followed suit. The two stretched while Jack turned to the scientists. “So, any progress?” he asked.
Before any of the research team could answer, three radios crackled to life. Teal’c’s voice came through the devices. “Colonel O’Neill, someone is approaching our position.”