"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."