//------------------------------//
// 19 - Cleansing 
// Story: Stargate - Rise of the Sun God 
// by Arvaus 
//------------------------------//

	The light cleared, and the world slowly came back into focus around Jack. The first thing he became aware of was a weight around his neck. He looked down; the entire front of his uniform was covered with a piece of gloss black plate armour, a small, sky-blue crystal in the shape of a pair of pilots' wings – his cutie mark – mounted in the middle. There was a soft glow coming from the centre of the crystal, which faded and disappeared as he watched it. He gave the armour a cautious tap with his hoof; It felt a lot stronger than its weight implied.

Standing up, he looked round and found the rest of the team examining matching adornments. Carter's had a magenta four-pointed star, while Daniel and Teal'c had received a pink pyramid and a red crystal in the shape of a death glider respectively. They looked up at him as he passed, glancing with interest at his own Element.

Then he passed Koresh and Ro'shur, who had received gems of their own, the same mounting plate fused onto the front of their armour. Koresh's was purple, and in the shape of two crossed staff weapons, while Ro'shur's was an orange shield. He gave Koresh a pat on the shoulder as he passed, and the three of them shared smiles, but although the colonel was curious to find out what meaning those symbols held for the two Jaffa, there were other matters which he had to deal with first.

Luna was standing a few metres away from them, her injuries from the battle healed by the Elements' magic. He approached her and stood next to her, and one by one the others made their way over as well. They stood silently, looking down at Celestia, who had been completely transfigured. She lay on the ground, her fur white and dishevelled, her mane a field of soft pastille colours flowing lazily across the ground. Her eyes were tight shut, like she was hiding from something.

Luna stepped forward, placing a hoof softly on her shoulder. "Sister," she said. "You're safe now."

Celestia's eyes flew open, and she stared up in shock at her sister, her chest rising and falling rapidly. "Luna?" she stuttered. "What… what happened? Where are we?" Then her expression froze, her eyes staring into the distance. "Oh no," she said, "what did I—"

"No, sister," Luna said firmly, pulling her up off the ground and embracing her. "There will be time for that later. Now all that matters is that I have my sister back. And you have yours again."

The two of them stood together for a long while, holding each other in silence, tears running from their eyes. Celestia continued to stare blankly, her eyes searching around restlessly, but gradually her breathing slowed and she closed her eyes, the expression on her tear-streaked face still troubled but beginning to soften.

Jack stood, watching, letting them recover, but as the seconds passed he became more and more aware of the watch ticking away on his foreleg. Eventually he stepped toward them, clearing his throat.

"Princesses," he said, "I hate to have to break this up, but we need to move."

Celestia's eyes flew open again. "The Stargate," she said. She looked over at the colonel. "How long?"

"Forty minutes," Jack said, "give or take. But it's a long way – are you able to run?"

Celestia stood up, swallowing her tears back and nodding. "Yes," she said. "Sister, we need to—"

"I know," Luna said, standing and smiling at her. "We can talk more later."

"Y—yes," Celestia replied. "Later."

"Okay," Jack said. "Everypony follow me."

He turned again and began to run toward the temple one more time. The others followed after him, the eight of them galloping together in silence. He said nothing, not out of fear but due to simple exhaustion. The magical high was wearing off now, and he focussed his energy on what he estimated to be a fifteen minute run to the rings. There was a lot to discuss, but that would have to wait for the debrief.





Sam, Jack, Koresh and Ro'shur ringed up to Zipacna's ship first, wasting no time waiting for the second group before heading for the bridge.

"Everything seems intact," Koresh said as they got there. "It looks like you were right, Major Carter."

Jack nodded, examining the bridge and its only partially warped gold decorations. His eyes fell on Zipacna's throne, and he ran over and claimed it, settling down on the ornate seat.

"Okay," he said, "Which of you knows how to fly one of these things?"

Ro'shur turned round and faced Jack. "I do," he said. "I piloted many Ha'tak in my time as first prime."

"Okay then," Jack replied. "Once the others get here, get us out of this system as fast as the hyperdrive can take us. Carter can give you the co-ordinates for—"

"Actually," Sam said, turning round, "I've been thinking about that. We might not want to leave yet."

"But we will get caught in the explosion," Koresh said, but Sam shook her head.

"Not necessarily," she replied. "Think about it: we have a ship now. We could fly down and intercept the Stargate! We could stop it hitting the sun, maybe even pick it up again! We could save Equestria!"

The other three exchanged surprised glances. "Are you sure?" Jack asked. "Is that safe?"

"I don't know," she replied. "We'd be flying pretty close to the sun, and I don't know how much the time dilation will affect the ship's systems."

"Okay…" Jack said, unconvinced. "You think it's worth the risk?"

Sam shrugged. "We don't have to try to pick the Gate itself up," she said. "We could try and use the ship's weapons to overload it to redirect the wormhole."

"And that will work?" Ro'shur asked.

"I think so," Sam said. "But still, this is Equestria we're talking about. I think we need to at least try to preserve it! We have to…"

There was a noise at the door. They fell silent, looking over as the two princesses entered the bridge, followed closely by Daniel and Teal'c. Jack stood down from the throne, walking up to them and saluting.

"Princesses," he said. "We were just—"

"You think you can preserve Equestria?" Celestia asked, looking over at Sam, her expression blank.

"Uh, possibly," Sam said. "It'll be dangerous, but I think we can pull it off."

Celestia looked at her pensively, her eyes drifting down to the crystal star on Sam's breastplate. Then she walked up to the bridge's triangular window and looked down at the planet below. She stood there in silence for a long while, the rest of the team glancing round at each other as they waited.

"How dangerous?" she said.

Sam shrugged. "Uh, I don't know," she replied, "but we might—"

"Leave it," Celestia said. "Your safety is more important at the moment."

The others looked at her in surprise.

"Are you sure?" Jack asked. "This is your home we're talking about."

"I know," Celestia said, eyes still focussed on the planet, "but I am sure. We should not linger here."

"…Okay," Jack said after a moment. "Ro'shur, whenever you're ready."

"Yes, Colonel," the Jaffa said.

"You're not under my command yet," O'Neill replied. "Just call me Jack."

Ro'shur nodded, then walked up to the bridge's control console and placed his hoof on it. A few moments later there was a bright flash of light from the window as they jumped to hyperspace.

There was a moment of silence. At long last, they had achieved their aim. They had escaped. But they all felt too exhausted to celebrate just yet.

Daniel walked up next to Celestia a moment later and looked up into her vacant eyes.

"Princess," he said, "is there anything you need?"

She said nothing, her eyes watching the blue patterns of hyperspace flowing past outside the window. Then, silently, she turned and left the bridge again. Daniel went to follow, but Luna caught him at the door, shaking her head.

"Give her some time," she said. "She's been through a lot."





Twenty minutes later, the seven of them gathered round the viewscreen, watching on the ship's long-range sensors as Equestria's sun exploded, the shockwave expanding out through the system and consuming the planets one by one. Jack watched it in awe; the last time they did this he hadn't had time to actually stop and watch what was happening, but an entire solar system being slowly consumed was an incredible image.

He looked round at Sam and Luna, and saw a distinctly different reaction in their eyes. He tried to imagine what it must have been like for them to see the first destruction of Equestria all those years ago, but frankly he was glad that he didn't know.

"So that is it," Ro'shur said, "Equestria is gone."

"Equestria was gone long ago," Luna said. "But yes, it is now gone for good."

Daniel looked up at her. "You're okay with this?" he asked.

Luna stared at the screen, and sighed. "Honestly, I do not know," she said. "I have so many happy memories of Equestria… but also many which I am glad to leave behind."

She turned away from the viewscreen, laying down on the ground and resting her head on her hooves. "I do not fully understand my sister's reasons, but perhaps she was right. It was not worth you risking your lives for something that was already gone eight thousand years ago."

Sam sat down next to her, resting a hoof on her shoulder. "You'll have to tell us about it sometime," she said. "What it was like before Ra, I mean. That way you can at least keep the good memories alive."

Luna looked up at her and smiled. "That would be nice," she said.

Jack sat down on her other side, the rest coming over to join them one by one. "So, what now?" he said.

"We're headed for Edora," Sam said. "It was the closest friendly planet I could think of with a Gate, and it'll only take us a few hours to get there. Then we can send a message through to Earth and have them send another SG team to meet us."

"Right," Daniel said. "We left our GDOs on in the cargo ship."

"And then," Koresh said, "what of us?"

"You are most welcome to join us," Teal'c said.

"Yeah," Jack added. "Some of the higher-ups may need some convincing, but they warmed to Teal'c quickly enough. After that, it's up to you if you stay or go somewhere else."

Koresh and Ro'shur nodded in thanks.

"Of course," Daniel said, tapping his breastplate, "these things are going to raise some questions. I'm still not exactly sure what they are." He turned and looked over at the princess, and she raised her head and looked at down at the crystal, considering it.

"I am not entirely sure, either, if I am honest," she said. "Celestia may be able to explain them better; she always had a clearer understanding of them."

"Sure," Jack said. "I've only really got one question though." He looked down at the blue crystal, then back up at her. "Are the colours a fixed thing, or can I get something in peridot?"

Sam laughed, and Luna started to smile as well.

"I have been thinking about them as well," Ro'shur said. "It seems clear to me that the six of them are meant to be together, and it may not be wise to separate them. However, I do not think the two of us should remain with you just because we have them."

Jack nodded. "I understand," he said, but Koresh shook his head.

"No," he said, "In fact I think that we have received them because we are staying."

Jack laughed. "Glad to hear it," he said. "Welcome to the team."

The others nodded in agreement and offered their own welcomes, patting the two Jaffa on the shoulder. But gradually they fell quiet as Luna lay down again, staring blankly at the ground in thought.

"It's a shame Celestia isn't here," Jack said after a moment. "There are a number of questions I'd like to ask her, like what she wants to do next. I imagine this is going to be a difficult debrief."

Luna nodded. "She just needs some space," she said. "It may take a long time for her to come to terms with what has happened; it took me a whole year before I felt I understood it when it happened to me."

"Still," Daniel said, "I think one of us should talk to her at some point, even if just to introduce her to this time period. I could do it," he added, glancing down at his Element. "Apparently that's my thing now."

"No," Sam said, shaking her head. "I'll do it. I've seen something of what she was like before this, and how it happened. That might help me understand better."

Luna sat up again and smiled at Sam. "Thank you," she said. "I am sure my sister will appreciate the help."

Jack smiled. He looked round at his allies assembled round him, seeing familiar faces and new in equal measure. "Well," he said, rolling back onto his haunches, "all things considered, I think that went pretty well."