SG-1
Because we had not been having any success with finding useful technology in neighboring universes, Twilight decided to extend the range somewhat in the hope of encountering something different. Right away, that’s what happened – before the portal even established!
“That’s odd,” Twilight said.
I looked at the controls for the portal generator but my inexpert eyes perceived nothing amiss. “How so?” I asked.
The alicorn mare frowned. “The outlet locus coordinates are changing rapidly. Something is pulling them to a new destination.”
“Is ISAAC doing it?”
She shook her head. “ISAAC can only come into play after the portal has been established. I’m not sure what’s causing this.” Before I could voice the first thing that came to mind, Twilight shook her head. “It’s not Chaos magic.” She smirked. “That was my first thought, too.”
Her eyes returned to three needle dials on the console. “Wait – it seems to have stabilized…”
“Inbound traveler alert!” declared the technician on duty.
General Hammond turned his attention from the group he had been briefing. “Who is it?” he demanded.
“No identification signal sent yet, sir!”
“Close the iris!” the general commanded. “Defense teams on standby!”
Segments of a titanium shield swung into position and locked into place over the rippling portal as soldiers armed with heavy weaponry poured into the gate room.
The officer to the General’s left said, “I would have thought they’d have given up on trying to invade our world by now.”
“I wish that was true, Colonel O’Neill,” Hammond replied glumly.
“The portal has been established, but ISAAC is reporting an obstruction. Hmm… strange.”
“What’s strange?” I asked.
Twilight frowned. “ISAAC would normally relocate the portal but it seems to be constrained to one place. It is seeking alternative solutions.” She was silent for a long moment before she smiled. “Ah! It has resolved the problem. Conditions are optimal. You’re good to go.”
I rubbed my nose unconsciously before looking over to Shining Armor. “That’s your cue.”
The stallion nodded and lit up his horn with a spell that would produce the shield he would project the microsecond he emerged into the new universe. He then stepped up to the portal.
“Sir! The iris is opening!”
“Who opened the shield? Close it again immediately!”
“I can’t close it, sir. Something seems to be overriding my controls,” the shield technician exclaimed in a panicked tone as he frantically mashed at his keyboard.
“Unrecognized travelers incoming!” the first technician exclaimed.
Hammond barked, “Set base auto-destruct to three minutes! Second defense team to the gate room!”
I followed Shining Armor with Penumbra and Gallus close behind. Loopy brought up the rear. As per normal procedure, Twilight stayed back until she was given the all-clear signal that I would send from a device strapped to my fetlock. Travel through the portal was always a weird experience, but something about this trip was different. And so was the destination. I stepped out onto a metal ramp located inside what looked like a huge concrete bunker. Two windows on different levels faced me, but those weren’t what drew my attention. The large number of human soldiers pointing assault rifles at us concerned me, even as more poured through a side door to join them. Not that I was particularly worried about the weapons. Shining had reworked his forcefield over the years to withstand Earth weaponry… just in case. He could now easily block even the heaviest of handheld gunfire from dozens of sources. It was the completely unexpected situation that threw me. When Twilight said she was extending the portal’s range, I did not anticipate it going off Equus entirely.
Everyone in the operations room stared at the visitors.
“What the hell are those supposed to be?” Colonel O’Neill exclaimed. “Is someone sending us their livestock now?”
“Are their colors even natural?” Samantha Carter asked.
“No golden-glowing eyes, so at least they’re not Goa’uld,” General Hammond replied. “Doctor Jackson – any ideas?”
The man scratched his head as he regarded the bizarre sight. “Well, despite their odd proportions and small size, they appear to be creatures of myth. The white one is a unicorn, while the green one and the large dark blue one not only have horns like the unicorn but also wings like Pegasus, the winged horse. However, Pegasus had feathered wings, unlike the one down there without a horn. I have no idea what it’s supposed to be with those bat wings. The last one looks like a griffon despite the odd coloration.”
“What’s that slight glow between us and them?” O’Neill asked.
Carter had taken a device out of her pack and was aiming it in the newcomers’ direction. “It doesn’t register on my instrument except in the visible light spectrum,” she said with a frown. “The glow doesn’t seem to be affecting anything though, so it isn’t an obvious threat.”
“No, but what about that sword the griffon has belted to its waist?” Jackson pointed out.
“Two minutes to auto-destruct,” reminded one of the technicians.
“That’s a lot of humans,” Shining murmured to me.
“Yeah, and I think I recognize them,” I replied equally softly. “They look like U.S. Air Force uniforms, which makes this some kind of military installation.”
“I would never have guessed it,” the unicorn replied drolly while keeping his eyes on the many guns pointed their way.
I looked around and only then noticed that our portal seemed to be constrained within some sort of ring-shaped construct with odd markings on it. Alien-looking stuff. ‘Crap. We’ve wandered into some top-secret Area 51 shit,’ I thought to myself. I turned back to Shining and murmured, “Don’t let your shield down until I say so. I’m going to talk with them.”
“Wasn’t planning to,” he replied.
I stepped forward from the group, stopping just shy of the unicorn’s shield. I gave those watching my best smile and announced loudly, “We come in peace. Take us to your leader!”
“They talk!” Carter exclaimed.
“They know classic science fiction lingo!” said Jackson.
“They are impertinent when facing a potential enemy,” said Teal’c with an approving nod. “They remind me greatly of yourself, Colonel.”
After a short glare at the bald man, O’Neill sighed. “There goes the livestock theory,” he said glumly. “Now it looks and sounds more like someone’s practical joke.”
“Let me go down there and talk to that green… er… winged unicorn,” Jackson said.
“Good idea,” O’Neill replied. “Let’s all make First Contact with the pretty fairytale ponies.”
General Hammond nodded. “You do that. Abort auto-destruct countdown. Let’s find out what these creatures have to say.”
Four more people entered through the side door, ones that I had seen through the window. There was still one remaining there, observing us. My pegasus vision could pick out his rank – a general. I presumed he was in charge of this facility and he’d sent the four to make contact with us. I checked out the newcomers – three men and one woman. While they all wore similar uniforms, they otherwise looked quite dissimilar, especially the bald one carrying a highly unusual staff that screamed ‘weapon’ to me. I didn’t get a chance to further analyze the group before they stopped in front of me and the man in the lead spoke.
“Nanu – nanu?”
I barely kept a straight face before responding, “Klatu barada nicto?”
A half-suppressed snort came from one of the other men – the innocuous-looking one. The leader threw a frowning glance over his shoulder before addressing me again.”
“I am Colonel O’Neill of Stargate Command. May I ask who you are and what you’re doing here?”
“Pleased to meet you, Colonel. I am Prince Mark Wells of Equestria, and my friends and I are explorers. Why we are here specifically is a good question because this was not anything like what we were expecting. Still, it’s one of the more interesting places I’ve seen so far, all those soldiers pointing guns at us notwithstanding.”
“We tend to react strongly to peop… er… beings that force open the iris over the Stargate that protects us.”
I frowned. “What iris?” Then realization hit me. “Oh. So that’s what ISAAC told us was blocking the portal. Sorry about that. Busted my nose against an unexpected obstacle once, so now we have something in place to ensure that doesn’t happen again.”
O’Neill reached out to touch Shining Armor’s shield. The other three humans sucked in a breath, perhaps to warn him of the danger. Before they could speak, the man’s hand came to a firm stop and his eyebrow rose. “What is this?”
“A force field generated by my unicorn friend here. Hope for the best but prepare for the worst, y’know. A not unreasonable precaution in light of all those weapons still pointed at us. I assure you that we are not here to harm you in any way.”
“What do you think, Daniel?” O’Neill said over his shoulder.
One of the other men stepped up. “Hi! I’m Doctor Daniel Jackson. You said that your friend is a unicorn, but what are you? You have wings like the Pegasus of myth.”
“I am an alicorn, an ascended being possessing all the attributes of the pony tribes, including the pegasi. The same is true of my companion back there. Then there’s my wife with the lovely leathery wings who is a batpony. And last but not least, my son who is a griffon.”
O’Neill tilted his head and raised his eyebrow. “Son?”
“Adopted, of course. Magic isn’t that good.”
“There’s no such thing as magic!” objected the woman in the group.
“I tend to agree with Captain Carter,” O’Neill said.
“I’m afraid you’re in for a big disappointment if you cling to that notion,” I replied. “We would be happy to discuss it with you if you would please stop treating us as a threat.”
Daniel turned to O’Neill. “We could learn a lot from these beings. They could be the source of many of Earth’s myths.”
“It doesn’t mean that they aren’t dangerous,” O’Neill responded.
“Oh, you’re quite right, Colonel – we are dangerous,” I said, “but just to those who want to harm us. Honestly, we only want to compare notes and shoot the breeze.”
“Could you explain how you locked onto our stargate?” Carter asked.
I opened my mouth to reply but hesitated. “Umm, I’m not really familiar with the technicalities and I’m thinking you’re not interested in a laypony’s description. I’d be happy to have our expert chat with you if we can do it in a more congenial atmosphere. Hint, hint!”
O’Neill rolled his eyes and turned to face the soldiers. “At ease, everyone. Sergeant Mackey – choose three men.” He nodded toward the bald man with the unusual staff. “They along with Teal’c will be our guests’ honor guard.”
“Yes, sir!”
The colonel turned back to me as the remainder of the soldiers relaxed into standby condition. “Happy now?”
I smirked at his sarcastic tone. “A reasonable compromise. I’ll call our mad scientist.” I touched the transmitter on my foreleg.
Before anyone could say anything more, I heard Twilight’s voice behind me.
“What took you so long to give the all-clear? Oh! This is unexpected.”
I turned around to see that the impatient mare was looking around with keen interest. Then her gaze fixed on the ring structure.
“Ooh! What’s this?” Her horn lit up and its glow suffused the portal. “I see. This is what hijacked our portal destination. Perhaps we intersected its hyperdimensional links? Hmm… what are those markings? Some kind of addressing system? That’s clever but limited to permanent installations. Umm… judging by those chevrons, it requires seven symbols. You only need six though to reference a destination. Why the seventh? Oh! Point of origin, naturally. Now all you need is a directory.” Twilight turned around and said to no one in particular, “Can anyone tell me where these portals go to?”
Daniel blinked and said, “Are you saying that you’ve never seen a stargate before?”
“Not until a couple of minutes ago,” I replied.
Carter gaped in shock. “Did that… um… alicorn figure out how a stargate works in seconds? That took us months!”
I shrugged. “Meet our resident nerd, Princess Twilight Sparkle. It helps that she’s the foremost expert on portals in Equestria.”
“Aha ! I knew I’d seen this before.” Twilight turned to beam at me. “Mark, do you remember the construct Discord used to return from the draconequus dimension? I … uh …” After a sheepish glance at the people in the room, she lowered her voice. “… had a glass of wine before he made his grand entrance. Wasn’t paying enough attention to his fantasies at the time.” From the wide-eyed looks on the soldiers’ faces, I was pretty sure they heard her.
Carter turned to O’Neill. “Colonel, we have to learn more about what they know!” Their ‘Discord’ sounds like a subject matter expert. Let’s ask for their help.”
Everyone in our party held our collective breaths. When nothing happened, we let it out with a relieved sigh.
The Colonel looked at me with a questioning expression and I said, “I said we’ll behave. Pinkie Promise.”
He looked at my hooves and said, “You don’t even have pinkies.”
“Oh, we have a Pinkie alright, and one is more than enough.”
O’Neill didn’t appear to know what to make of my cryptic comment but he made up his mind anyway. He turned to the observation window and called out, “All clear!”
The general nodded and his voice came over the P.A. system, “Security squads stand down. Colonel, bring our guests to the briefing room.”
As the soldiers headed for the nearest exit, I nodded at Shining Armor who dropped his shield. I then said to our hosts, “Lead the way.”
The sergeant and his soldiers took up the rear as we were led further into the building. I had fully expected it considering that we were in a military facility. Not that they stood a chance against us, but whatever gave them reassurance.
We were met in the briefing room by the general who introduced himself. “I am General George Hammond in charge of Stargate Command. Please take a seat.”
While the chairs weren’t made for ponies, we could still hop up on them and squat down due to our size. Penny, still on duty, chose to remain standing. Until Caleb had arrived in Equestria, I hadn’t known for sure of our size relative to humans, but it was pretty clear now that we ponies were small compared to them. All except Luna, of course, who opted to sit on the floor instead.
I spoke up. “I suppose a round of introductions are in order. I am Prince Mark Wells, Triarch of Equestria. The purple alicorn is Princess Twilight Sparkle, also a Triarch of Equestria.”
“Pardon me,” Daniel said, “What is a triarch?”
“Just as a king or queen is a monarch – someone who rules alone, a triarchy is ruled by three. And a diarchy is ruled by two, such as the world Princess Luna calls home. My wife, Princess Trixie Lulamoon makes up the third.”
“Are all your rulers alicorns then?”
“No, although it’s common. My friend, Prince Shining Armor,” I pointed a hoof at him, “rules the Crystal Principality alongside his wife.”
O’Neill frowned. “Wait – didn’t you say earlier that the… er… batpony was your wife? Yet, you just said Princess Trixie was your wife. Which is it?”
I smirked at him. “I’m a pony stallion – I have a herd. Penumbra here is my third mate.”
“And I courted him to become his sixth,” Luna piped up with a smug smile.
Carter’s jaw dropped and she blinked rapidly, but Teal’c quietly nodded in approval.
Jackson said, “Actually, that makes sense if they’re anything like our equine species.”
O’Neill looked skeptical but nodded. “Okay, we’re dealing with horses—”
“Ponies, please,” I corrected.
The man gave me an exasperated look before continuing. “As I was saying, we’re dealing with ponies and cat-birds, so why are you speaking English?”
“Why are you speaking Equish?” I countered.
It was actually a question that I had pondered when I had first arrived in Equestria. Our explorations of other universes revealed that this was an even more confusing question than on the face of it. Not even other Equestrias spoke the same language as mine, but we still understood each other’s words. Twilight postulated sympathetic magic and, without an alternative explanation, I went along with hers. However, in making preparations for open relationships with my Earth, we found that this only worked for English-speaking peoples and not for any other language. Twilight modified her hypothesis to say that the sympathetic magic fixated on the first language it encountered. Since we did not wish to appear biased toward any nation or culture, this had led the alicorn nerd to work on a translation spell. It had taken her years before she had perfected it and incorporated it into enchanted talismans. Testing had shown them to work perfectly, but so far, we had not needed them for a first contact. As far as these humans were concerned, we were speaking English, and my companions were hearing them in Equish. I did not bother explaining that though – no point in speaking authoritatively on something even we did not fully understand. I let O’Neill off the hook.
“Put it down to magical translation,” I told him. “Yes, I know you don’t believe in magic but it’s quite real and very versatile. You’ve already seen Shining Armor’s force field and watched Twilight using hers to analyze the stargate. I can levitate objects…” I lit up my horn, lifted a water jug that was on the table, and poured some of its contents into a glass in front of me. I then lifted the glass with my bare hoof with tactile kinesis a.k.a. ‘magic hooves’. “… and manipulate objects without fingers. And despite what physics might have to say, our wings are more than capable of granting us flight.”
Carter said, “I was wondering about that. May we see a demonstration?”
I looked over to Penumbra. “Care to show them?”
The batpony grinned and spread her wings. With one strong downbeat, she lifted herself halfway to the ceiling before assuming a hover. The lazy flaps of her leathery wings were obviously insufficient for that purpose which inescapably meant that there were other forces involved.
“Flight magic,” I declared. “Thanks, Penny.” I turned back to the humans. “This and so much more can be accomplished through the use of various forms of magic.”
Carter’s eyes lit up. “This could explain so many things that physicists have been unable to figure out yet! We’ve been missing a significant piece of the puzzle all this time.”
General Hammond spoke up. “I presume that it was with the use of this magic that you were able to lock onto our stargate and override the barrier. For what purpose did you come to Earth?”
“Curiosity, mostly,” I replied.
Shining smirked. “It’s also his hobby. I come along to cover his plot and the others are either extra protection or there as sightseers. Although, my sister is always on the lookout for new stuff to learn.”
Twilight nodded happily. “I’m extremely curious as to where you go with these stargates of yours.”
Hammond frowned. “So, you’re telling me that you’re using a sophisticated and powerful technology just to play tourist on other worlds?”
“Other universes,” I corrected before adding, “Oh, I also keep an eye open for useful technology to bring back to our world, but yeah, I mostly do this for fun nowadays. It makes an interesting break from the business of running an empire. It’s also a way of spending time with family and friends.”
The general raised an eyebrow. “Then you’re saying that you aren’t interested in the weaponry we have here. It has to be a lot better than the sword and spear your companions are wielding.”
I shook my head. “I know all about guns and missiles, General. I even know about atomic weapons. Frankly, we don’t want widespread knowledge of firearms in our world. They would be of more use to criminals and despots than anypony else. And you’re vastly underestimating the weapons we do use. May we demonstrate?”
“What do you intend to do?”
“Show you the power of a mere spear,” I replied. I pointed at a concrete wall. “Is there anything behind there?”
“Only bare rock of the mountain we’re in. Why?”
“Captain Penumbra – attacking cragadile! Defend!”
Penny whipped up her spear and hurled it at the wall. The room shuddered at the impact and large pieces of concrete and rock fell to the floor. The spear was buried three-quarters of its length into the mountain. The batpony allowed those in the room to take in the sight for a long moment before walking over, putting a hoof on the spear, and then saying, “Release!” The spear withdrew from the stone as if it was greased and Penny showed that its point was still intact before stowing it away.
I said, “Sorry about the mess, General. That wall obviously wasn’t for defensive purposes.”
Hammond pursed his lips. “So, you want to avoid a battalion armed with machine guns – each bullet enchanted with that kind of penetrating power and programmed to seek out the heart of a new target.”
I blinked. In hindsight, I should have expected a senior military officer to catch on quickly. “Exactly, General.”
“Want to see what I can do with my sword?” Gallus asked with a smirk.
O’Neill rolled his eyes. “No, we get the picture.”
I frowned at my adopted son before turning my attention back to the general. “Anyway, we’re far from mismatched in terms of firepower. However, that was not our purpose in coming here. As I have said, we’re just explorers.”
Luna said, “Thou art being over-modest yet again, husband. Thy expeditions canst offer aid to other realms, thus why I am here.”
I nodded and smiled to my herdmate in acknowledgement then faced the General. “As this is obviously a military installation, it’s not exactly what we’re interested in. However, like Twilight, I am intrigued as to what you need a stargate for if not for exploration.”
“Defense,” O’Neill replied before looking in Hammond’s direction. There appeared to be some unspoken question and the general nodded in permission. The colonel turned back to us. “Earth is threatened by an alien species named the Goa’uld. They have raided our planet several times over the millennia to capture humans to place on other worlds as slaves. Those worlds are accessible through the stargates and we use them to scout those planets, looking for allies and gathering intelligence on the enemy. There is a growing rebellion against the Goa’uld but it’s struggling against their might. Stargate Command’s responsibility is to defend our world against that conflict and perhaps even help turn the tide. And if that fancy magic of yours can work against their technology, then we could use your help too.”
My friends and I were silent for a moment while we pondered what we had been told. Then Twilight spoke up.
“You didn’t build the stargates, did you?”
Jackson replied, “No, we found ours in the Egyptian desert. It took months to figure out what it did and how to use it. The first time we did, we almost got killed in an encounter with a Goa’uld.”
“So, you’re asking us to get involved in a war not of our making nor threatening us. My title is the Princess of Friendship, and I am one of the Avatars of Harmony. In all good conscience, I cannot agree to participate in your endeavors.”
I nodded. “Twilight is correct. While we have weapons and soldiers, they are only ever used for defense. We will never agree to send our people to risk their lives in somebody else’s conflict, no matter how noble.” Unlike our allies in the House Path dimension, we weren’t warriors. They had come to our aid against Grogar and we would answer their call in return if they truly needed us, but we would not otherwise fight their battles, let alone those of strangers.
“Is there anything you could do that would aid us in our fight?” Hammond asked. “Even those remarkable spears of yours could help.”
Shining Armor spoke up. “The majority of our enchanted weaponry is powered by the mana of their users. You are obviously not a magical species and the weapons would quickly lose their power. A spear would soon be as useful as a mere stick.”
Twilight said, “What could we offer you that furthers the cause of Harmony rather than conflict?”
Jackson replied, “Er… if you know of some way that we can communicate with the locals on the worlds we visit, that would be a huge help. I spend a lot of time trying to interpret their language. It’s very difficult to work with them under those circumstances.”
I looked at Twilight with an eyebrow raised. She saw me, thought for a moment, then nodded.
“Mark mentioned magical translation earlier. We have enchanted amulets that will do as you ask and we’re willing to give them to you.”
“That would be marvelous, but wouldn’t they run out of… umm… mana too?”
“Weapons use huge amounts of power. Translation amulets use only a trickle and can recharge from background mana.”
“Then that would be greatly appreciated.”
We were all carrying the amulets in case we came across a world where they were needed. I placed mine on the table and my companions followed suit.
“Thank you,” General Hammond said. “A good commanding officer knows the value of clear communications. Is there anything that we can do for you in return?”
I shrugged. “Since this will likely be our only visit, I’d like to get a souvenir photo.”
Twilight said, “Could I have a further look at your stargate? I’m curious about the alien technology.”
Hammond replied, “Normally, I would say no, but it would seem that you already have a superior understanding of interdimensional gateways, so I can’t see the harm.”
Twilight smiled brightly. “Thanks!” She immediately trotted for the door, her tail swishing happily.
The General quickly ordered a soldier to accompany her while I chuckled at her obliviousness to military security. I then looked at O’Neill. “How about that photo?”
“Seriously?” He sighed. “Okay, let’s get this over with.”
All my companions except Twilight posed together with Colonel O’Neill’s team with the General declining to be included. My smartphone caused quite a stir when I took it out for the photo. That’s when I realized that this Earth was at least a couple of decades behind mine in technology, which made sense now that I paid attention to the hairstyles and design of the uniforms. I ended up giving Carter a layperson’s description of the technology behind the smartphone. Perhaps just seeing the advanced tech would ultimately help their cause, but I would not be around to find out. A soldier took photographs with Daniel Jackson’s more contemporary camera, and O’Neill threatened to throw him in the stockade if copies of the prints of him with colorful little ponies ever got circulated. That made me chuckle.
While everyone waited for Twilight, we were offered refreshments and chatted. We gave the humans a general overview of our world and answered a few questions before we had to return. Apparently, the stargate could only be held open for a limited amount of time, just like our portal. We always had an emergency backup just in case – enchanted jewels that could be attached to a mirror to serve as a fixed portal. However, I had no intention of telling the humans that. Some things were better left unsaid.
The time came for us to leave and I dragged Twilight away from her study of the stargate after taking a photo of her arguing with Doctor Jackson. She was fated never to convince him about the safety of disassembling “just one” of the rune-inscribed stones to learn how it worked. As we said our farewells, I asked Penny to give me her spear. I then levitated it over to O’Neill.
“Here’s a souvenir for you. It’s good for at least one shot before depleting its mana supply, so use it well.”
For the first time, the man looked touched. “Thanks. Not sure if I’ll use it, but it’s good to have anyway.”
We then headed through the stargate for home.
Colonel O’Neill looked over the spear he had been gifted as Teal’c walked up to stand beside him.
“If I may, sir?” Teal’c held out a hand, into which O’Neill passed the spear. The warrior spun the weapon around its axis, caught it, then examined it minutely from tip to base. “Intriguing.” Passing the weapon back, Teal’c said, “Excellent balance and strength. Lightweight but made of steel. I suspect there is a honeycomb core in the shaft. It is composed of an inferior alloy of steel that includes manganese and nickel. I have only seen comparable metal in your ‘Railroad Museum’. This ‘magic’ of theirs must provide strength and corrosion resistance because the quality is substandard.”
Jackson groused, “Which means their weaponry will only get better as their metallurgy improves.”
General Hammond crossed his arms in thought. “What are your final impressions of our visitors, Colonel?”
O’Neill planted the butt of the spear on the floor and said, “I think there was an awful lot they could have told us but chose not to. However, I also think that Prince Wells left us some clues. What about you, Captain?”
Carter replied, “We now know that magic genuinely exists and is powered by something called mana. We’ve been given several objects that contain and utilize that power source. We may be able to analyze and discover for ourselves how it works.”
“Agreed. General, my impression is that while they won’t help us directly, they have given us a way to help ourselves.”
As soon as the portal had closed behind us, Loopy said, “I am surprised that thou didst not give the humans more aid. Equestria has much to offer those magicless beings in their battle.”
“That’s the problem, Loopy,” I said. “The moment you involve yourself in a war, you become a target. Stargate Command has chosen to join the fight against a galaxy-spanning and very powerful enemy. I do not wish to see Equestria coming to its attention. I will not risk the security of this world for another dimension’s conflict.”
Twilight said, “And yet you gave them that spear. Don’t think I don’t know why.”
I smirked. “Humans are terribly clever – I think they’ll figure something out without us getting involved.” I chuckled. “If Phil were here, he’d accuse me of intentionally giving them a transtator.”
“A what now?”
“A Star Trek reference.”
The alicorn nodded. “Oh, I understand. That’s the show with the Foal Care and Parenting Doctor with the pointy ears.”
I tilted my head. Maybe she didn’t quite get it.
“Did you have to give them my favorite mage-spear though?” complained Penny.
I gave my mate a wing hug. “I’ll commission you a better one.”
She patted me on the head. “It’s taken years but you are now officially well-trained. “You really know how to make a mare happy,” she replied with her trademark toothy grin.
“Not as happy as me!” Everyone turned to face my co-ruler. “I asked for a token item from Ms. Carter so I could fine-tune the dimensional frequency of their world. She gave me this!” Twilight spun a plastic bracelet around one fetlock, then opened it and held it up for inspection. “It’s both a bracelet and a pen!”
Every mare gasped and rushed forward for a closer look. Even Shining Armor whistled and said, “Decorative and useful. I like it!”
Only Gallus noticed my frown. “Something on your mind, Dad?”
“Yep. I have a message for your wife. Once we open full relations with my homeworld, her number one priority will be to protect Equestria. Tell her that includes endless waves of cheap and disposable trinkets.”
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My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
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Coming soon?
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It is jarring to realize that Stargate predates widespread use of cellphones.
Edit: good chapter though. Thank you.
X-Com Enemy Unknown after the conflict as a chapter perhaps?
Hope I didn't ask for to mutch:
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Or about a Alien reference chapter?
images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/97b14c7a-fa65-4c15-9d0b-b6f1c938fbac/d4g78t3-ff91f57c-5691-4772-b23b-aabfd35d7696.jpg/v1/fit/w_828,h_394,q_70,strp/my_little_pony_colonial_marine_by_corruptionsolid_d4g78t3-414w-2x.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9MTIwMCIsInBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzk3YjE0YzdhLWZhNjUtNGMxNS05ZDBiLWI2ZjFjOTM4ZmJhY1wvZDRnNzh0My1mZjkxZjU3Yy01NjkxLTQ3NzItYjIzYi1hYWJmZDM1ZDc2OTYuanBnIiwid2lkdGgiOiI8PTI1MjIifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6aW1hZ2Uub3BlcmF0aW9ucyJdfQ.2MomKUG3MymajfnMUt5QeKduqcaJQ5bxTdAu2cceu7o
Or Starcraft!
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Possibly Mass Effect?
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True, though I think 2G had started by the time the series started along with the 'mobile phone' ... (the walkie-talkie white brink was earlier, early 70s IIRC)
Hmmm, the first camera phone was soon after (mid-late 90s) ...
Well, that went to a silly place .I like it, but definitely silly.
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Well about that for an MLP Mass Effect
https://youtu.be/HiRDJLcYua0?si=FgyArBxRqGm5Xeb2
As the song says Nobody is better than Commander Shepard!
Talk about a blast from the past Goldy. Saw the Movie when it first came out and watched the series and what it progressed to becoming through the other shows.
Damn, now I feel old...
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Or more X-Com!
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Hc Svnt Equus Pinnis
I happily commissioned chapters for the story until the author appeared to quit the fandom.
Ah, Bable Fish. Very Deadly.
All those items with mana storage of various energy levels. How long before someone works out they can arrange the amulets in a pattern of doped sapphire stripline waveguides and cause a resonance between their ambient mana absorption and charging the staffs gem, or cause an energy nversion of the local mana field so strong it starts to drag stargate hyperspacial energy into it in a self reinforcing manner?
Look ma, ew can sell these guys cheap tourist trash for moolah.
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Hold on to me, Vogon transporters are rather like being drunk.
Whats wrong with being drunk?
Ask a glass of water.
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I somehow feel that the StarCraft one should feature changelings.
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Huh. I feel certain I've seen them post comments recently.
awesome chapter i love any story with SG-1 .
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Last seen online July 22, 2022.
I'm not familiar with Stargate SG-1, but I really enjoyed this chapter. Humans are quite clever.
The only thing missing from this chapter is someone hitting O'Neill with a MacGuyver reference.
What I think would be interesting if Mark and company dropped in to the set of Mythbusters. I'm sure Adam and Jamie would want to BURN the resultant videotape after the visitors leave!
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Your out of left field comment made me laughing like that high pitch guy in this perfect blooper to the reference.
Wat? Jonothan "Jack" O'Neill doesn't do Sci-Fi, or did Teal'c played practical joke with him?
And yeah, Ancient Babelfish translator powered by Jackson's genius would have be a logical in-universe explanation, that's what I thought when I watched SG-1
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That was actually a set-up, a prank they played on the actor :P
This was a real unexpected treat. There's not enough pony-Stargate crossovers out there.
Too bad Mark's original world didn't have a Stargate franchise. He could have dropped them off boxed sets of all 3 tv shows and the prequel and sequel movies. "Purely for the entertainment and personal morale value of seeing how another world's up and coming generation grew up seeing you," of course, and not for any hints and tidbits at possible future events and important places that might line up—or might not!—now that the butterflies have been set loose.
As it is, I imagine when Daniel meets Oma, he'll ask if she has any relation to the "ascended beings" that visited the SGC!
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I always figured there were several possible in-universe explanations beyond mere "this is boring so we won't waste time and money making footage of Jackson constantly translating and wasting half of our allotted time on any episode introducing a new world playing it back)
...OK, that was my moment of nerd for the day. XD
Now that's a familiar line
Gosh, how to be reminded how old you are! 😵😏
Dropping cheeky hints like there's no such thing as a Prime Directive for days! 😇😁
This just in: Equestria at war with knick-knacks!
Just think what would happen if they ended up in Warhammer 40k world. this might happen. cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/633055462564298752/1140295696801615912/F3agt_eXsAAwvy2.png
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To give an idea of how clever, modern humanity while not the gate builders themselves are the direct second evolution of the gatebuilders, the ancients, with some lines of the tauri, earth humans, being direct descendants of the final parts of the Ancients to still exist in phyiscal form allowing them the genetic sequences required to activate ancient tech which includes the entire city of Atlantis. Without a single decade, the Tauri are worthy of their birthright. So yea clever is an understatement in Stargate sg1. Oh and Daniel is broken in himself having pulled off ascension (the conversion of ones self into a being of pure energy) not once but twice following his species ancestors quite closely.
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My bet would have been on Asgard, on that Mad Inventor-what-is-his-name, Ancient or that holier-than-you parody on Federation, which failed to defend themselves. All of them had established to own tech to overcome language barrier.
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Where is my melta?
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I'm sure these 4 have it.
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Not to mention various versions of Gallifreyan-related encounters....
Like a possible "Game of Rasalon" event:
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so that was ealry SG-1 with the titanium iris. don't fully agree with mark's stance though
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I was a young teenager when I first read that, it took me years to get the joke.
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Or Unit CRSD Crusader of The Line?
I remember those pen-bracelets
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Pretty great
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I do hope he finished your commission before he took a powder.
SG-1 was/is one of my all time favorite series and there is not enough crossover's for my liking. Even if its just a one shot chapter, I'm really glad to read it.
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I agree, there is still room to fill with further SG1 on and off the site!
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Heh, it would be funny if the SG-1 found an Ancient device that accidentally sent them to Equestria where they would meet up with Mark again.