Discovery [Part 3]
"So, this is the Stargate, huh?" Lyra asked, looking up at the strange device with a look of awe on her face. "I don't remember anything like this from our legends." She let out a sigh. "We lost a lot of knowledge during the Discordian era..."
"Discordian, discord, chaos I take it?" Daniel commented. "We've encountered more than a few situations where we believe a gate was buried and lost. Even our own world buried our gate and forgot about it for a few thousand years. You're taking this rather well. Better than I thought you would."
"Live in Ponyville long enough and you get used to stuff like this. I mean we had Nightmare Moon, Discord himself, that Ursa Minor. About the only thing we didn't have were... Changelings..." she said with a shudder, images of her time as a brainwashed pawn coming to her mind.
"Why does it have cutie marks on it?" Bon Bon asked, pointing to the symbols on the ring.
"Looks more like parts of cutie marks to me," Cadance said, rubbing her chin.
"Cutie marks?" Daniel glanced at them, and quickly came to the logical conclusion. "Is that the name for the... markings on your bodies?"
"Yes, that's right," Cadance nodded, "they represent what a pony is good at and only appear when a pony discovers his or her special talent."
"I got mine when I realized my passion in life was making candy," Bon Bon added helpfully. "Not sure why they're on this thing though." She reached out, poking the gate cautiously.
"Is that magicite?" Lyra asked, pointing at one of the chevrons. "I don't think I've seen magicite ore that well crafted."
"Uh, magicite?" Daniel asked. He didn't even bother to question the 'appearing' part.
"The stargate is one of the most perfect devices ever made," a new voice cut in. A short, dark skinned woman, only about five feet tall, joined them. "Almost thirty metric tonnes of naquadah, lovingly shaped, formed, and arranged into these amazing rings. Did you know the oldest known ring is over 50 million years old? And it still worked perfectly! Despite being frozen in ice! And then someone let it get blown up!"
Daniel sighed as the woman glared at him. "Let me introduce you to Jasmine Iwu. She is the head of our engineering department and one of the greater minds when it comes to the mechanics of ancient technology. And I'll remind you, I was ascended at the time."
"Exactly! You could have stopped Anubis from blowing up the third oldest work of art known to mankind!" she fumed. "Instead you just hung around and watched!"
The ponies just watched, not sure exactly what they were talking about.
"Iwu, I was ascended. I was bound by the others and their rules. I couldn't just interfere on the lower planes like that! I don't know why you keep bringing it up!" Daniel said, starting to sound a bit frustrated himself. "But I'm going to assume you didn't just come over here to do this."
She grinned. "Okay, you got me. We finished the diagnostics on the gate and the device these three adorable ones came from."
"Adorable?" Cadance asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'll uh... take that as a compliment."
"What did you come up with?" Daniel asked, clearing his throat. "I'm going to assume this network is based on the Pegasus network correct?"
"Pegasus network? No," Jasmine said, stroking one of the chevrons tenderly. "This darling seems closer to the original Milky Way setup with some flavour and flare of its own. Only 28 symbols. She can revolve like the Milky Way gates and has that satisfying chevron locking, but does the same 'chasing lights' that the Pegasus network does.
"They got into the gate database, and the network is the smallest one so far, aside from the few placed in Ida, which makes sense since this galaxy is smaller than the other two." She nodded with satisfaction. "The transporter reminds me a lot of the one Merlin and Morgan le Fay made. The bad news is that since they triggered it prematurely while it was under diagnosis, they fried a few of the relays. The control crystals are fine, though. We can replace the relays with a little bit of manufacturing, the issue is the resource. Don't have any."
"What exactly do you need?" Cadance asked, "We might be able to help you find it if you can provide a map."
"It's a bit more complicated than that," Jasmine responded. "We are getting our systems online, and the little bugs are starting to show in it. A City Ship might be made of strong stuff, but they are still pretty fragile. All those years in this block of ice with its shield on the lowest level?"
She shook her head slowly and Daniel tried to get her back on topic. "Do we have the means to fix it? Or at least get these three home? We brought the jumpers. So long as it's in this solar system a jumper can take them."
"Jumper?" Lyra asked.
"Jumpers, yes," Jasmine agreed. "Just not the way you are thinking. The Jumper Bay actually has a small fleet, so we'll have to eventually return Atlantis' pair, but the outer doors are jammed. Ice damage to the mechanism. Not a complex fix, but one that will take time.
"And princess, it's far too cold outside to go alone. Plus, the ground is permafrost. We don't have anything that can mine through it for the ore we need," Jasmine unstrapped her tablet and tapped away at it as she spoke. "The techs and control room prospectives did a couple scans of the surroundings. The mountains we are in don't have what we need either."
"But?" Daniel asked. If there was one thing working with Jack taught him, it was that there was always a but.
"But," Jasmine smiled, "They produced a list of three planets that, according to the database, should have what we need relatively close to the gate and easy enough to collect."
"Well, that was easy! When do we go?" Lyra asked cheerfully.
"I don't know if that's really a good idea, Lyra," Bon Bon said, rubbing her chin. "They have more experience with this stuff."
"Are we talking about... going to another world?" Cadance asked a bit uncertainly.
"Through the stargate, yes," Daniel said.
"Not right away," Jasmine added. "We need most of our personnel for getting the city and the expedition in gear. So far they have only cleared general areas, and it's calling for more manpower than we expected." She gave Daniel a grave expression. "They've been finding a few more bodies in the well secured areas. Doesn't seem like everyone was able to ascend their way out of this one."
Daniel closed his eyes sadly. After a moment, Lyra gave him another hug.
"Ponies hug a lot," Cadance explained to a surprised Jasmine.
There was a twinkle in Jasmine's eyes before she suddenly hugged Cadance. "Ha! Hugged an alien and a princess in one go. Two things to cross off my list."
Cadance giggled a little, hugging her back. "You can just call me Cadance, all my friends do."
"Anyway, General Carter would like to meet with you a little later about the distribution of forces," Jasmine said. "And she also wanted me to let you know that if you've finished your little tour, they found and cleared a mess, and the first proper meal in Shangri-La is ready, even if it's mostly military rations at the moment."
"Food sounds good, I'm starving," Lyra said, licking her lips.
"We would be most thankful for anything you provide us." Cadance said, bowing her head a little, pulling away from Jasmine.
"I could go for a nice hayburger right about now," Bon Bon said, blushing as her stomach growled rather loudly. "S-Sorry..."
"Hay burgers? Well, we can't promise you that," Daniel said, trying to picture that meal in his head, and also visualizing the agricultural practices and techniques they would employ. "But we can at least guarantee that it would be vegetarian and kosher."
"What's kosher?" Lyra asked, tilting her head curiously.
"It's... ah..." Jasmine faltered.
"It's a cultural standard of food preparation. Something 'kosher' has met the requirements that some religions hold to," Daniel explained.
"You don't have to go out of your way for us," Cadance said, waving a hoof dismissively, "A few salads should be fine."
"It's no trouble," Daniel said, beginning to lead them out of the gate room and towards the cafeteria a few floors down. "There are a few people on the expedition who request kosher or vegetarian meals for various reason."
"I am one of them," Jasmine added. "The SGC ensures that everyone is properly fed and watered."
"Well then, I eagerly await our meal," Cadance said with a smile, following after the two, Lyra and Bon Bon staying close to her.
Shining Armor was worn out by the time he was finally able to close court. The news that the Crystal Princess had vanished had spread, and with it, a strong feeling of unease had permeated through the city. It was only the fact that the Crystal Heart was what whisked her away that kept unease from blossoming into full panic. The population was already having issues adapting to being a thousand years displaced. But that was behind him now. All he had to do was keep from succumbing to the despair nagging at his own heart, and everything would be just fine.
Absolutely fine.
He walked a bit faster. With Princess Celestia already out of the castle, Princess Luna had too many duties to simply up and leave Canterlot, so it wasn't until well into the evening that she finally arrived. Having easily picked up on the urgency, she disembarked before her night guards pulling her carriage even attempted the final approach, instructing them to land and put the carriage away before teleporting directly to closest balcony to the private areas of the castle.
"SISTER!" Luna called loudly, her volume managing to rattle a few windows without actually making it to the 'Royal Canterlot' range. She pointed a hoof at one of the startled guards. "You there! Tell me where I may find my sister!"
The guard, a bit confused from seeing all four major members of the nation's royal family on what should have been a normal day, could only point a hoof. Luna nodded and galloped off, her stride covering large lengths of the hallway with ease.
It was at that speed that she barreled into Shining Armor. Or rather, into the shield he reflexively cast once he realized something large was charging towards him. Even so, she sent them both crashing to the ground, though to his credit, his shield didn't break.
"Er... greetings Shining Armor," Luna said, looking the stallion with a sheepish look on her face. "I uh... apologize. In my excitement I was not looking where I was going."
"No, it's fine Princess Luna," Shining said, stifling a groan. "Do you ever play hoofball? Or spar with your guards, any?"
"Yes I do. And we are family, Shining Armor, I insist that you not be so formal with me," Luna said, getting to her hooves, "Now, I believe we are trying to find dear Cadance."
Shining Armor nodded as he got up himself and pointed Luna in the right direction. "That's right. Prin– Ce... Aunt Celestia is resting in one of the sitting rooms." He wasn't quite comfortable with dropping titles all together. 'Aunt' was as casual as he was comfortable with. "She was waiting for your arrival."
"Then we should make haste and not keep her waiting much longer," Luna said, trotting off again. He sighed, quickly catching up with her, cursing Luna's longer legs, though he did wonder if Cadance would grow to the size of either of the two elder princesses.
They found Celestia surrounded by books, two empty teapots on the table, a third beside her, sitting on the cart in easy reach. She was too engrossed with the book she was reading to notice the duo's entrance. Shining Armor looked at Luna awkwardly. "She has been at it for hours."
"Truly?" Luna asked surprised.
Shining Armor nodded. "She tried maybe six different spells after the first one failed, before she calmly requested that I see to the Crystal Court and retired here. A few minutes later, she had the castle staff running in circles because she was teleporting from room to room collecting all these books."
"I see..." Luna took a few steps toward Celestia, clearing her throat. "Sister, I have come as you have requested."
"Luna..." Celestia said softly, looking up at the two. "Did I perhaps make a mistake?"
"What mistake would that be?" Luna asked, moving over, taking a seat beside her sister.
"Was it too soon? Did I force our niece into her role before her time? Is that why the Heart chose to take her away from us?" Celestia's voice was calm and even, but behind her gaze, her will was shaking. "Perhaps it was hubris, after watching Twilight grow into a strong mare, I just assumed my niece too was ready for the next step."
"None of this is your fault." She spread her wing, draping it across Celestia's back. "Now Tia, have you found anything in these books that will help our search?"
Shining Armor, feeling like the third wheel in the room, busied himself with putting some order to the books Celestia had cast aside. He did his best to remain unobtrusive as the princesses, his aunts, shared a moment. The cup of tea floated over to Celestia, caught up in her magic, and she took a meditative sip.
"Perhaps you are right, I'm merely letting fears colour my thoughts." Celestia exhaled slowly. "Tell me, what do either of you know of the Empire's origins?"
"I only know as much as you do sister," Luna said, tilting her head. "Though considering you have been delving into all these books, I imagine your knowledge has surpassed my own these past few hours."
"I'm afraid I don't know much either," Shining Armor admitted. "We have been spending our effort on learning what the Empire was before Sombra took over, and doing our best to bring it and the crystal ponies up to modern standards. And Sombra destroyed the records in the library and scrambled all the books as part of his curse. It's going to be months, maybe years, before we get it fully reorganized."
"I haven't learned much more myself," Celestia admitted. She waved a hoof at the books. "I recalled what Sombra did when he banished the city. The power of that spell, it must have been something he crafted for months for it to cloud even our own memories. I have searched these for clues, any hint of the origins of the Empire and the Heart itself, in hopes it would explain what happened to Cadance, but nothing..."
She didn't share her fear that it might have been one last lingering curse from Sombra, mostly because the evidence was against it, but the thought was still there, gnawing at her.
"Did you find anything on Shangri-La?" Shining asked, looking at all the books.
Luna blinked a little, scrunching her muzzle up. "That name... it seems so familiar... but I do not remember where I heard it..."
"It was one of the clues I searched for, but I found nothing of it either," Celestia sighed heavily. The fleeting memory of her early lessons came to mind. "No records in these books, no evidence from the Heart, no trace from my magic. The only real clue are the characters seen on the Heart, but they are older than we are, sister."
"There has to be some clue," Luna insisted with a frown, rather irritated that faded memories were dancing at the edge of her mind and yet unable to be recalled, "Perhaps a more thorough search of the library?"
"I am fairly competent in a library myself," Shining Armor added with a weak smile. "It's impossible not to be with Twilight Sparkle for a sister and Twilight Velvet for a mother."
"Then let us away!" Luna declared, getting to her hooves.
"Yes... it would be for the best," Celestia said, finally smiling. "But first, it's time to lower the sun and raise the moon."
"Oh yes..." Luna said with a sheepish smile, "Let us complete our duties." She moved out onto the balcony, lighting her horn, waiting for her sister. Celestia moved out after her, grasping the sun in her magic, gently sending it below the horizon as Luna coaxed the moon from its slumber.
In all the years and on all the worlds that Stargate Command had been operating, they had only met a handful of truly alien species. Thanks to the efforts of the Goa'uld in the Milky Way, the experiments of the Lanteans in Pegasus, and the gate network to allow for ease of migration, the human species was one of, if not the most populous race across multiple galaxies.
The Asgard, Unas, and perhaps the Wraith outside of armour were about as alien as the SGC personnel had seen. Additionally, most of the people on the Shangri-La Expedition had had zero interaction with any of those species; the first was now extinct, the second was rare even on the few worlds they inhabited, and the last considered humans to be simple prey.
To the large group of certified space explorers, the ponies were the best thing they had laid eyes on since first seeing the stargate activate in person. While the ponies were not mobbed, most people being too professional to do so, there was a lot of interest directed at them. Lyra was energetically babbling to anyone who would spare an ear, and a few who wouldn't, her endless curiosity far from sated. Cadance, with a smirk, and Bon Bon, whose expression could only be termed "resignation," followed, more often than not issuing apologies on the part of their companion. Jasmine followed, ineffectively attempting to serve as something of a buffer.
"They are handling this better than I hoped," Daniel admitted to Sam, walking from one side of the room. "I did make sure they were seen and could interact with people, but it's as if something about them just makes people more willing to open up, to trust them."
"I heard Iwu call them 'cute,'" Sam chuckled. "And she's apparently not the first person to use that word for them."
"Did I tell you Lyra hugged me?" Daniel asked with a small smile.
"Really?"
"Twice in fact. Her reasoning? I was sad." Daniel cast a glance at the unicorn in question. "She uh... she reminds me a lot of myself. Seems so long ago, doesn't it?"
"We've done a lot since then," Sam agreed. "Some of us more so than others."
"Yes, yes we have." He looked at the ponies again, watching as they ate. Lyra and Cadance used their magic to levitate their utensils, while Bon Bon somehow held hers with her hoof. "I am really glad this first contact is going well, so far at least. You know they call themselves 'ponies?' They even refer to their females as mares. I think they're the basis of many of our uh... equine based legends."
"It's amazing how jaded being a part of the Stargate Program can make you." Sam sighed, shaking her head slightly. "Is there any part of mythology that isn't based on some alien species or technology?"
"Most likely our legends come from the Shangrians that visited Earth. I doubt any of the ponies actually came to Earth," Daniel said, stroking his chin.
"We've been able to surmise the origins of the Pegasus humans based on mitochondrial DNA, proving they did come from Earth stock, so who knows what could have happened," Sam pointed out, watching Cadance entertain a few questions. "Stranger things have happened."
"True," he said, nodding his head, "I can only imagine what their culture is like. Just from these three, I can tell it has its similarities with ours, which is no surprise given their interaction with the Ancients. In fact... I do believe this is our first encounter with a sapient quadruped species."
"The first with fur, too," Sam agreed. "You know, we never did meet a furling."
"Jack's still waiting for us to find one," Daniel said with a smile, "There is one thing I am worried about. Cadance is a princess, and her people may assume that we've uh... kidnapped her..." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "That's going to be an issue..."
"Well, it wouldn't be the first time we kidnapped the leader of a people," Sam tried to joke, but Daniel's expression clearly told her she failed. "Sorry. Hopefully she will only have good things to say about us."
"I think the chocolate helped, it always does. I think it's safe to say that we can secure an alliance or at least friendly relations."
"One of our better first contacts," Sam agreed. "Still, it's amazing to think a hooved species evolved a tool using society. Even with the Ancients assisting."
"I'm no biologist but I'm pretty sure Earth equines can't move their bodies like these three can."
"Humans have a wider range of motion in our limbs and wrists than chimpanzees do, so maybe it's something similar?" Sam offered. She watched as the small group around the princess broke out in laughter, idly wondering what set them off. "I really wish I could lower the shield and get a jumper out there to get a look at where they are from. "
"Jasmine said the outer bay doors were frozen shut. If someone can find a map in the database they might be able to tell us where we are. It's a long shot, but it could be worth it."
"I'll see what we can turn up," Sam nodded.
"Shall we?" he asked, gesturing to the equines.
Sam picked up her tray with its less than appealing MRE, and nodded. "Lead the way."
He grabbed his own tray, heading over. "Mind if we join you ladies?"
"General Carter!" Lyra waved excitedly despite being right before her. "Sure! Come sit! We were just sharing stories about school. You humans go to school for a really long time, don't they?"
"I take it you don't?" Daniel asked, taking a seat next to the excited unicorn.
"Not nearly as long," Cadance replied. "Foals don't seem to stay in school as long as you do, or spend as much time there once they are grown and earned their cutie mark."
"So... getting their cutie mark is a sign of maturity?" Daniel cast a glance at Cadance's mark. "If it's not rude to ask, how did you get yours?"
"I got mine in somewhat unusual circumstances," Cadance admitted. "It was after I proved able to not only resist the dark magic powered by hate, greed and jealousy, but also an affinity for love energy."
"Love... energy?" Carter asked, raising her eyebrow slightly, "What exactly is love energy?"
"It's one of the most powerful magic forces in all of Equestria!" Lyra gushed excitedly.
"Lyra!" Bon Bon chided, glaring at her marefriend.
Lyra wilted sheepishly. "But it is..."
"She's not wrong," Cadance giggled. "Love is in fact one of the more powerful magical forces. A pure expression of both magical and emotional energies, united into one." Her horn glowed pale blue, a few pink hearts drifting from it before popping like soap bubbles. "It has a natural restorative effect and counters dark magics. Harmony magic is one of the few that are more powerful."
"I see," Carter said, nodding her head, "Princess, if you wouldn't mind, would you allow our doctors to do some tests? Nothing invasive, we just want to make sure neither of our peoples can get the other sick."
"Would that be the Doctor Juan, you mentioned earlier Dr. Jackson?" Cadance asked.
"Yes, that's correct," Carter said with a nod, "I know Dr. Juan would love to get to know you."
"Sure, meeting new ponies is fun," Lyra said, waving her hoof dismissively, more interested in examining the utensils they had been given.
"Couldn't Dr. Jackson do those tests?" Bon Bon's tone had a slight distaste to it at the word test.
"I'm flattered but I'm not that kind of doctor," Daniel said, pausing his meal, "Though if you want me to be there during the tests I don't think Dr. Juan would mind."
"What kind of doctor are you?" Bon Bon asked suddenly. "You said you were an archaeologist like Lyra is?"
"I'm a doctor of archeology and linguistics," Daniel explained. "Doctor means more than just medicine to us." That bit of information surprised him, he would have thought Lyra had their version of a Ph.D., though Cadance did say their children didn't go to school as long as humans did.
"Really? Hmm... Doctor sounds like one of the old words for The Teachers," Lyra commented, looking up, the fork floating in her magic.
"Doctor comes from Latin, 'to teach,' Latin itself being a derivation of the Ancients' language," Daniel prattled off. "A good portion of our languages are actually based on the languages of other races, most notably the Asgard, Goa'uld and the Ancients."
"Thanks to The Teachers and the Age of Revival after Discord, most ponies speak Equestrian, which is based on the Teachers' Tongue. Our languages must have so many parallels!"
Bon Bon sighed, covering her face with her leg as Daniel and Lyra got going. "It's nice that Lyra found someone to talk to about those things, but I think that they've both forgotten that the rest of us are here."
"Daniel gets like this sometimes, and it's rare that he finds anyone who can keep up with him. An alien who can? He's like a child with a new toy," Sam chuckled, stirring her food, somewhat grateful for the distraction.
Cadance giggled as Lyra and Daniel's discussion got even more animated, the pair seeming completely oblivious to those around them as they discussed the more obvious marks the ancients left on their respective cultures. "Do you think his cutie mark would have been in ancient history like Lyra's?"
"Cutie Mark?" Sam asked.
"Oh! You weren't there for that explanation," Cadance held her hoof to her mouth before quickly explaining.
"I see," Sam said, looking at the images in a new light. "If that's how they work, then almost certainly. I have never met anyone as passionate about history as Daniel."
"You might have now," Bon Bon smiled fondly before she blinked and turned her attention back to Sam. "But we're getting distracted. What sort of tests are we talking about?"
"Nothing too invasive," Sam promised. "A simple battery of tests to determine your health and learn a bit more of your biology. Assuming the techs were able to get the infirmary online, which they should have since it was one of our priority tasks and they have had all this time, it should pass quickly."
"I can't speak for them but I will submit to these tests as a show of good faith," Cadance said, slipping into the diplomatic training Celestia had painstakingly drilled into her head, "Then perhaps we can discuss this 'stargate' of yours."
"Well... if the princess is okay with it... so am I." Bon Bon nodded, giving Cadance a quick glance, narrowing her eyes a little.
"I understand your concern," Sam admitted, thinking back to the times when she and her team were the ones on the other side of the table. "To be honest, this has been far more casual than our standard means of operation would call for. My people fully intend to stay for a while, and I would much rather we have a welcoming relationship with the locals. Your safety and wellbeing, Princess Cadance, is just as important to me as that of any member of my team."
"Thank you General Carter," Cadance said with a smile, "I know you'll get along swimmingly with my aunts."
"And they would be alicorns as well?" Sam asked.
"That is correct, though unlike me, they were born as alicorns." Cadance explained, "They have been ruling the nation for centuries."
"What are they like? If you don't mind me asking," Sam asked. Based solely on the three ponies present in Shangri-La, Sam suspected that their rule was far from the standard set by the Goa'uld in the Milky Way, but she wanted to get it from the horse's mouth... so to speak.
"Celestia is very approachable, very maternal. She is also, how did Shiny put it?" She tapped her chin. "I think he called her a troll. She likes to play pranks. As for Luna well... she only returned about two years ago, so she's still transitioning to modern life."
Sam instantly thought of Egeria, though the similarities were fleeting to nonexistent. "She considers her subjects as... family?"
"She sees all her subjects as her 'little ponies'," Cadance said with a giggle. "She's very informal once you get to know her."
Sam nodded slightly, idly listening to Daniel and Lyra as they shared their experiences with their respective academic communities. "How long have you been ruling?"
"Only for the past month or so, when the Empire returned," Cadance admitted with a sheepish smile, "Celestia however has been ruling for the past thousand years."
"The meeting with her will be an interesting one," Sam mused. As pleasant as Cadance was, the fact that she was still being held against her will still weighed on her mind. "I heard you tried to make contact with your aunt and failed?"
"She tried a faefire spell, but it immediately returned," Bon Bon said, speaking up.
"Something was blocking the spell," Cadance admitted. "I'm not sure what, but the spell rebounded and just sent the letter right back to me."
"Without knowing how your magic works, I would hesitate to speculate, but it's possible that the shield protecting the city is what is keeping your magic from working," Sam proposed. It made sense. The Ancients were known for adding precautions to new dangers. Like the countdown and gate lock-out on Destiny, and the ATA requirement. If magia, or magic was as common to the races on this planet as the video and these three suggested, it was quite likely that they came up with countermeasures.
"So we really are stuck here, then?" Cadance asked with a sigh, "Shiny is probably losing his mind with worry." Cadance groaned, letting her head fall onto the table, looking a little tired.
"Stuck for now at least," Sam admitted. As much as she would have liked to lower the shield, if at least to allow Cadance to make contact with the other leaders of her nation, the state of the city didn't allow it. City ships depended on their shields not only for their defensive needs, but for structural integrity. The buildings that composed most of the city ships, although extremely artistic and far stronger than their delicate looks would imply, were still susceptible to damage.
Many of the buildings were encased in a shell of ice that would likely collapse in on the city itself once the shield was deactivated. At the present time, Shangri-La's shield was operating in a manner similar to the jumper's passive field or Aurora class warships shield; a field contoured to the city's structure itself. The current plan was to expand the shield to full size, rather than that thin layer, forcibly shattering the ice and pushing it, and likely much of the ice pinning the substructure, away.
However, Sam had put that plan on hold until she could get her teams to run full diagnostics on all ten emitters. They had been running, albeit it at low power, for thousands of years. If even one emitter had a fault in the change over, the damage done to the city by the ice might prove crippling for months, years to come, even. Atlantis still dealt with the lingering side effects of damage from micrometeorite strikes it suffered years before, and that was even with the city's self repair functions working at it. In fact, Rodney had listed those same damages in his report on why Atlantis was almost stranded between galaxies on its return to Pegasus.
Sam was determined not to let her city suffer that kind of avoidable damage just to accomplish something faster. She smiled a little. Only a day and she was already considering Shangri-La hers. It helped that Shangri-La was remarkably similar to Atlantis in layout, more so than any of the other city ships they had discovered. It brought back fond memories. Perhaps, if they did move the city, she could have them land on the sea somewhere. She could be the one to invite Jack over to fish for a change.
"General Carter?" Cadance's voice startled Sam from her introspection.
"Oh, what?" Sam blinked in surprise, before smiling. "I'm sorry, I got a bit distracted. And you can call me Samantha."
"Samantha," Cadance tried the word on her tongue before shaking her head with a chuckle. "Well, 'Samantha,' your people really do have odd names."
"We think the same, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza," Sam laughed.
"Any ideas why?" Bon Bon asked.
Lyra and Daniel both turned with a smile. "We were just talking about that..."
Stats
Page generated in 0.064 seconds
Total duration
1,001 users online
1,530,260 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Huh, just found this little jem and you update while I'm in the middle of reading the second chapter. Now that's service. Faved and liked, I can't wait for more.
The Jumper sounds like a General Products hull, while the war machine sounds more like a Lensman Wallshield.
Its a big place, taking a long time to get useful things. Bit of a problem that, to break the ice you need to open the hanger, but you cant open the hanger because of the ice, and you cant try altering the shields to move the ice until all teh generators have been checked over.
I wonder if the City Ship now is even in the same system as Equestria, never mind in the frozen north.
Im hoping for that classic scene though.
General Carter. Flash Sentry approaching.
What do you mean, Flash Sentry approach.
OPEN FIRE.
We promise to return you in the condition we got you!
Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't her name translate to 'I love Cadance?'
6284208
It's "my love cadence", as in a reference to a love song. Also, it's Italian, but I'm not sure what they'd call the Equestrian equivalent.
all the good stories update when I'm going to bed..... I have time.
6284233
Istallion?
Let the head explosions begin.
6284233
My money is on Naponitanian (the language spoken by the ponies from Naponies)
Did you rewrite this part from two sentences into one in a draft? It seems to have been made into a run on sentence. This can be fixed by changing it to:
Or
So, given the language discussion, are the ponies and humans here not speaking the same one? That would make more sense to me, but I don't recall any sort of translation system being mentioned. Then again, this might just be my low familiarity with the Stargate universe.
6284202 Ooooh, it's almost a certainty that Shangri-La is beneath the Crystal Empire. I wouldn't be surprised if the castle of the Crystal Empire is infact the uppermost part of the city ship, itself. So, blasting away all that ice covering the city ship...well...will...kinda...like...ruin a lot of ponies' day
Apparently Lyra and Daniel were listening more than they appeared to be. I'm really enjoying this so far, and while I was initially a little put out that the Equestrians and the SGC team spoke the same language, the explanation for why that is fits quite well.
Curious just how the ponies will react when they inevitably learn how combative humans tend to be, although with griffons and minotaurs around it's probably not too surprising. More interesting will likely be the SGC teams' reaction to Celestia and Luna actively moving the sun and moon.
6284331 Niponī kara no uma wa nihinanakigo o hanashibeki
(Anypony from Nipony should be speaking Nieghponese)
This is looking to be a good stargate crossover. I have had rotten luck with the others.
You know if the Princess would contact her faithful student she could probably get a better idea of what is going on. However I bet Twilight would be freaking out and she probably is about her sister-in-law having gone missing. Looking forward to seeing more chapters and how this universe will be shape up.
Awww, when they started talking about similarities in language, I was hoping city names would come up. I know it's really cliche, but it's just hilarious that most of the ponies town/city names are just puns of ours, dammit! (at least when ponies meet humans)
"Self-repair feature"? I don't recall that from the TV show. I guess it's novel canon or something?
Good chapter. :) I thought they might use drones to borrow the ice away. So crazy it just might work! But the shield works too... I guess. That's a lot ice though. It must get HEAVY when you have a whole mountain of it pressing down, and it won't move easy. Then again, it's easy to have tiny movements over a longer period of time and use less energy, so I can see them doing it that way.
6284208
Yeah. I presume Daniel understands. Though not sure if he speaks Italian, but IIRC Italian, German, English, Spanish all root in Latin so presumably he can figure it out anyway; pretty sure he knows German based on the 1960s time travel episode. Anyway Daniel hasn't said anything but maybe that's what he and Lyra were talking about at the end there.
6284186
I love when that happens to me! "Oh man, good story... wait, another chapter? I thought I read them all?"
6284202
They're underneath a glacier and the Crystal Heart sent them there so presumably it's close by.
At any rate Ancient teleporters have been shown in canon to not have the sort of range you're implying UNLESS they are used in conjunction with a Stargate (which did not activate in the city at the time of transport). Of course these could be different. But my guess is they're in a different part of the Frozen North somewhere, and the city launch when it happens with catch a lot of attention from the Crystal Empire.
6284202
War machine? Not sure what you're talking about? And these jumpers are presumably like the Atlantis ones. Wait, you talking about the city? I wouldn't call it a war machine. Anyway the city shields and jumper cloaks are implied in canon to be similar tech. A jumper cloak was very easily integrated with Atlantis' shield to cloak the city. And that cloak is versatile enough to serve as a shield itself on the jumper. Though a Wraith showed McKay and co how to do that (inadvertently), and who knows how he knew that... after all, Wraith ships don't even HAVE shields...
I suppose the more I think of it they could be different tech since they were both designed with different end goals. But they are likely closely related at the very least.
Wooop! Things building up nicely, can we have much much more?
*Dives back to the water, circling as the Jaws music resumes*
Ohohohoho, this, is so good.
Man I just love how this is progressing, how everything is explained and Lyra and Danial's interactions X3 Danny by found someone who can keep up! :D ... Daniel-X-Lyra anyone?
Man awesome job on this once again, this is amazing!
I love it, keep it up!
6284233
I'm partial to "Bitaly" and "Bitalian".
6284354
While the original movie and some of the earlier episodes of SG-1 put forth an effort to convey language barriers, the show eventually just has everyone (human and alien alike) in four galaxies speaking modern English, without even a token effort at an explanation.
6284615
The first time a jumper's cloak was converted into a shield was when Sheppard and Zelenka went to save McKay from the jumper that had sunk to the bottom of the ocean. Zelenka made the modifications to the jumper en route while the duo were already underwater. Zelenka also expanded the field so that McKay could simply walk out of his damaged jumper on the ocean bottom.
6284970
...Ah. Well, thank you; I'd have preferred a better answer, but that's not your fault. :)
I wonder if this story will address it, though? I hope so.
6284970
6285151
I always interpreted the language thing as something the stargate did. Lazy writing aside, having some sort of translation matrix built into the gates would make for less complicated scripts.
6285340
Wouldn't that have been easy for them to mention, though? And important to mention, given that it apparently wasn't in originally?
6285341
Like I said, lazy writing. The translation thing is just my personal headcanon. At least Star Trek makes mention of the Universal Translator.
6284365
I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case - or, at any rate, if the ship was indeed buried somewhere pretty close nearby in the frozen wastes surrounding the Empire. From the recorded message earlier I got the impression that the ancients and the ancient(ha) ponies shared a pretty close/symbiotic relationship (The anciet did refer to them as their allies) and that they were pretty well integrated in the local culture.
That being the case, it makes sense that the city ship would be parked near some major pony population center, or indeed be an actual part of it. And the recording did say that they merely sealed the city, not flew away ...
6285373 It is partially lazy writing but it is something the writers talked about and it came down to practicality. The writers decided that it would be better to briefly acknowledge the language divide in the first episode and then just move on with the series since most of the episodes would revolve around establishing dialogue if they didn't. They also didn't have the option of universal translators as only the Ancients and Asgard would likely have developed such devices and they didn't appear until later in the series. Granted Stargate: Atlantis is the oddest in that the native humans speak a form of Ancient and English...Stargate: Universe is the only one with an alien race that doesn't speak English or skip over the process of establishing dialogue.
The only issue with the Stargates having a translation ability is that there are times when they encounter races that they can't communicate with. That being said your head canon would be a good idea if they ever reboot the series.
Edit: This has to be the best premise for a Stargate/MLP crossover I have seen other than "My Little Destiny" by BlackWidower. Though I do have to wonder if the Nox maintained contact with this group of Alterans.
6284970
My example was 1x12 "The Defiant One". http://www.gateworld.net/atlantis/s1/112.shtml
The episode you're talking about is 2x14 "Grace Under Pressure". http://www.gateworld.net/atlantis/s2/214.shtml
6285340 6285341 6285568 The books ran with it and expanded it to a feature the gates have. A sort of blanket translation field. Possibly one that clings to those who use the gates on a regular basis (there have been more than one pieces of ancient tech that used a subspace connection or lingering charge to keep working on someone even after the device is removed). Thankfully, it doesn't work on all words (things like kree, the jaffa greetings and so one) or the written language, so it's a nice handwave to have everyone speech english without removing the need for linguists.
6284615 Yep. Book canon. The books, just by being a written medium, can add details that the show misses. It's not an all out repair, but it builds on how adaptive and intuitive the city that can literally read the mind of it's users can be. Finding loopholes around issues, establishing patches and work arounds for damage, adjusting itself to fit the population better. Some evidence in show canon Remember when the power conduits got damaged during the Asuran attack, how the city adjusted power flow and such in order to major sure everything still worked?
The Wraith shield issue is because of their ships. They can't produce enough power to run the psychic interface, regeneration, weapons, stasis pods and all the other stuff with shields on top of it.
6284615 Destiny had repair drones and predated the Alteran city-ships so it is possible the Alterans kept the concept but instead of drones they used a more refined method or nanites to enact repairs on systems. We wouldn't have seen that in SGA as they didn't have a ZPM until later in the series and didn't have 3 working ones until the final episode.
Edit: Greycait's post is why I should refresh a page before posting a reply. I also really need to read the books.
Edit 2: Given the molecular construction device seen in (SG1: "The Quest, Part 2" and "The Shroud") it stands to reason that a similar concept could be used to enact repairs.
Granted the same type of device could be used to construct just about anything, it would only be limited by the amount of power available which could be offset with having raw materials.
6285607
Ah, thank you.
I said it before but I'll say it again. This story is awesome!
It's a pleasure to read and has me absolutely spellbound.
Please continue!
Hehe! Daniel finally found someone who can catch up with his discussion (without sleeping as most other SGC personnel did). And never wrong with pony hugs.
Now i gonna speculate here, i take Somba did ascended, or half ascended in a similar fashion as Anubis did, would explain the dark cloud 'body' we saw in the show. But by this logic, i'd think he did survived the blast from the heart, albeit severely weakened. So will we see Sombra? I mean, SG1 as well SGA had villains who been truly a pain to get rid off. Guess our favorite is Ball and his clones.
6284678
6284624
Now side note, i am curious how this two post, one by me, is offensive? Sure silly and random, and i'm quite hyped up by this story. But if enthusiasm is not welcome here, then sure some of us who like this can skip commenting
6285868 No! We love your comments! Ignore the neighsayers! We need your love! It makes us strong. All authors have a little changeling in them.
6285868 Haters gunna hate Dx
I think I was downvoted for the Danial-x-Lyra comment =P
6285892
yay for comment love!
6285591
I'll admit to the former episode slipping my mind, but was there any evidence that the cloak was converted into a shield as opposed to adding a shielding device? As I recall, the shield that the Wraith created looked closer to the Goa'uld force shields (specifically the type used in Into the Fire and Upgrades) than to any Ancient-based shielding technology.
6286232 Well, if we want to be technical, Gou'ald shielding was derived from ancient shielding, and the wraith are theorized to have derived some of their tech from Ancient tech as well. It's what happens when you leave your tech everywhere. Half of them still on.
6285868
If you take the comics as canonical, Sombra not only survived, but is at least slowly reforming himself - he was never a real unicorn to begin with, but a different species of pony (umbrae) entirely. Fiendship is Magic #1- arguably the best one of the series.
You forgot to mention the Asguard.
Good story so far, but hoping for some action sooner or later ^_^
Except only the last chevron locks; the other ones are encoded.
So much
for this story. 
6285868 I don't get it either, I found the comments amusing. :3
6286723 Except in the original film. In that all of them encoded and all of them locked.
Furlings = ponies. New cranial artillery.
6284208 Actually, it would be "My Love Cadenza"
6286232
I looked through the transcripts for the two episodes... Grace Under Pressure specifically calls out the season 1 finale (where atlantis' shield is converted into a cloak) as the inspiration for the jumper's shields. Zelenka is able to make the modifications on-the-fly inside an active jumper. So, whatever that's worth.
6287417 I'm not sure if the Shield to Cloak Idea was directly inspired by anything really, more than just Rodney having an idea. But the fact that it did work inspired turning the jumper's cloak into a proper shield.
To be fair, jumpers haven't been the most consistently portrayed in terms of shielding. It seems they have a low level protective field of some sort around them, if you look at the scenes with them under fire, but it doesn't seem to be considered a proper shield. Maybe it's like Atlantis' brig?
Wonder how she will react upon seeing Celestia controlling a star?
good work.
The writing has gotten better, I can say that. Not as clunky anymore.
6287435
The impression I got was that the shield was basically a hack... it wouldn't hold up to any serious assault. It was just better than nothing. It was far better to use the cloak when possible and avoid confrontation.
http://www.gateworld.net/atlantis/s2/201.shtml Getting Atlantis to cloak involves interfacing a jumper cloaking device with Atlantis' shield generator. And the other way around worked later so I assume the systems are pretty similar.
I LOVE THIS STORY WHOOHOO