Discord was… bored. No. Bored is too broad. It was more along the lines of him being absolutely, positively, annoyingly, definitively BORED!
After all, there’s only so much time he could stand doing his little pranks, and as amusing as planting Poison Joke at Zecora’s front porch or getting Diamond Tiara all muddied up was, he needed some thrill- some excitement.
He took a seat upon his magnificent, illustrious, highly decorated, invisible chair as he brought a talon from his eagle arm up to his horse chin as he pondered his new dilemma. This process would persist for what just might have been 5 million eons. (It felt that way, anyways. It was actually just five seconds. But they were some very long five seconds, I assure you!)
Just then, a lightbulb went off above Discord! He then promptly grabbed that light bulb, pulled the power chain, and tossed it aside- much to the chagrin of Rarity’s cat, Opalescence.
“I’ve got it!” Discord obnoxiously exclaimed, “Got what, you say? Why, the world viewer of course!”
Upon this announcement to noone-in-particular (you,) he placed his lion’s paw within his left pocket that he suddenly had. He then pulled out a red rubber ball, promptly tossing it off the cotton candy cloud he was standing on, followed by a brown furred and white haired unicorn plush, an easy button, and a sonic screwdriver from Doctor Who. (Don’t ask me how he even fit those things into his pocket, let alone how he got them. I really don’t know, myself.)
After a few minutes of scrambling, he eventually found what he was looking for, a clear blue crystal ball.
Placing his eagle claw up on its top, while balancing it upon his lion’s paw, he demanded it quite nicely, “Magical crystal ball upon my paw, what are the most interesting worlds of them all. (That you can think of as of right now.)”
Upon his request, the ball in question glowed, first showing images of various planets, some of which were frozen wastelands, others desert worlds, and others still worlds of lush green and bright blues. He then viewed images of strange, hairless apes, and of bright flashes of light, a city getting blown to smithereens, armies of ugly creatures and beasts duking it out with those apes. Eventually, all of those worlds that he saw before would rapidly decay, going from wonderous garden worlds to dead rocks.
Discord frowned and shook his head, “No no, this will not do at all. Too much, too grim, far too, too dull. (Plus, I liked the look of that city! Shame what’s gonna happen to it.) Let’s turn back the clock, oh I should surely find a way!”
Upon this declaration, those destroyed worlds reverted within the ball, one world in particular being especially lush. (In his opinion, anyways.)
Discord scratched his chin, contemplating this, “Hm… but what to do, what to do? I could always just interfere, but no. Too easy, no fun. I need something… unexpected. But what? Hm… I need a second opinion.”
Upon this, another carbon copy of himself poofed into existence, staring back at him with the same contemplative look.
The copy then raised a finger of his paw, before suggesting, “Perhaps we should send Grape Soda the Alicorn and her friends?”
Discord shook his head, “Nah, Princess Bubble Butt would turn us to stone. We could send copies?”
“Nah, it’s not the same. Plus, they’d probably be too late anyways.”
Discord snapped his fingers with a wide grin upon his mug, “I’ve just got a most amazing idea! I’m glad we had this conversation!”
Discord then proceeded to snap his fingers, summoning a wheel with billions of ridiculously small names. He then sauntered over, grabbing the wheel and giving it a big spin. After a few minutes, it landed on a name with a ‘ding.’
Discord grinned, and as many other Discords cheered, he announced, “We have a winner! And his name is... ”
Within the white center of the wheel was a name in big black letters reading, “Daniel Jackson.”
“And noooow to see what we’ve won...” Discord span another, smaller wheel with six different options. With the option prominently displayed, he snapped his finger, sending the ‘prize’ to its recipient.
50 Years Later: 15 February, 2005- Cheyenne Mountain Air Base, Colorado 12:00 Hours
Doctor Daniel Jackson, stood before the massive circular stone that his people called a ‘Stargate,’ discovered by Doctor Paul Langford during 1928, the device in question was not used until 1945 by Doctor Ernest Littlefield, who was unable to return. It wasn’t until decades later that it would be used actively by some members of what would later become the exploration team, SG-1- which included Doctor Jackson himself.
The Doctor in question, a PHD in Linguistics and Archaeology, stood before it donned in a green uniform, including a Patch with a symbol that resembled a pyramid with a sun. Above the symbol, the patch read “SGC,” with “SG-1” beneath it. (The abbreviations in question stood for ‘Stargate Command’ and ‘Stargate-1,’ respectively.) in his hands, the glasses-donning, short brown-haired Doctor Jackson, held a machine gun known as a P-90, along with a bag of the day’s supplies upon his back. Holstered to his side was his preferred weapon, a pistol sidearm.
To his left stood the current leader of SG-1, Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter- also a PHD in astrophysics. The short, blonde haired woman stood outfitted similarly to Doctor Jackson.
The final member of the team, standing well above both other members of SG-1 was a bald man who appeared to be of African descent. In reality, this man, who was named Teal’c, was actually an alien known as a Jaffa. A race that, until recently, served the parasitic Goa’uld, which he no-so-affectionately referred to as the ‘False Gods.’ Teal’c’s heritage could be identified by the golden eye tattoo branded on his forehead, which symbolized his former role as the First Prime- a Goa’uld commander, of the late Goa’uld, Apophis. Rather than a P90 and a pistol, he donned an ornate, traditional staff-like weapon known as a Ma’tok. To his side was a curved, purple, gun-like object known as a Zat’nik’tel.
Today, their mission was simple: recon and return in 6 hours. After which, they would receive some well deserved Leave for a couple weeks.
The curly, gray-haired Brigadier General Jack O'neill, the former leader of SG-1 prior to his promotion and another member of that first mission inspected the team briefly before nodding to a man sitting beside him, the buzz cutted, brown haired, glasses donning Chief Master Sergeant Norman Harriman.
“Dial it, Sergeant.” Harriman nodded, as he and the rest of the SGC’s Stargate operators began typing away at their computers. The gate began rotating rather loudly and, after a few moments, stopped, the triangular ‘chevron’ hissing and clicking, lighting up. At the same time, Harriman’s screen displayed the first symbol of the six-symbol address being dragged up to a box simply labeled ‘1.’ Once the gate clicked, he announced, as he read on screen, “Chevron One Encoded!”
The process would repeat a second time, “Chevron Two Encoded!”
Hiss, click, “Chevron Three Encoded!”
“Chevron Four Encoded!”
“Chevron Five Encoded!”
“Chevron Six Encoded!”
Upon the input of the six symbol coordinates of the planet simply designated ‘PFR-582,’ another seventh symbol needed to be inputted, the point of origin for the gate to lock onto. In Earth’s case, this is the SGC logo. Upon the input of the last symbol of the ‘address,’ followed by a, “Chevron Seven… Engaged!” (He liked pausing for dramatic effect.)
Upon the locking of the seventh Chevron, the gate let out a warning noise that it was about to be activated, before a “whoosh” of a substance that looked like water went out of the Stargate, rushing forth. As it did, it disintegrated every molecule in its path. This process would repeat towards the back of the gate before the unstable vortex of a wormhole settled in the center in what looked like stationary water that was, in fact, an active wormhole.
Everyone in the room, of course, was rather jaded to the whole thing and simply observed it happening. After confirming that the wormhole was indeed stable, General O’neill nodded to the 3-man team, “SG-1, you are go for departure.”
SG-1 simply nodded in response (with the exception of Teal’c, who simply stood there with his familiar stoic expression) before walking up to it and entering, after which they would feel the familiar sensation of every piece of matter in their body was demolecularize and converted to energy, before being converted back into matter on the other side.
PFR-582, Thousands of Light Years from Earth
After a few milliseconds, SG-1 would reform on the other side on a planet in a deciduous forest. They proceeded down the ramp and past a pedestal, the wormhole disengaging with a whoosh behind them.
It didn’t take long for Daniel to speak up, “Hey guys, is it just me, or does this planet feel really weird?”
Teal’c raised an eyebrow at the remark, “I do not, Daniel Jackson.”
Sam shook her head as well, “Nope, MALP didn’t detect anything off on the planet, either. You feeling OK?” The MALP, or Mobile Automatic Laboratory Probe, was a device used to determine the viability of a planet before missions, which also included a radio and camera. The device in question stood about a meter from the gate.
Daniel shrugged, “Well I got a clean bill of health before the mission, so I doubt it’s an illness. It’s more of a feeling rather than anything else.”
Sam shrugged in response. If he felt fine and could proceed, there wasn’t an issue. In any case, she gestured forward, indicating the team to follow.
SG-1 would trudge through the forest for an hour or so before coming upon something interesting. (Hopefully ‘interesting’ won’t mean getting shot at like it normally does.)
The structure in question was rather odd. The construction resembled that of a historical English cottage. However, the architecture wasn’t what was odd.
Daniel was the first to notice, “Let’s see here, obviously European, definitively pre-Tudor… Odd.”
“What is it, Daniel Jackson?”
“Well, for one, there aren’t any roads. Not even footpaths.”
“Perhaps it is abandoned?”
Daniel shook his head, ”I’d be inclined to agree with you, but the house is too freshly built. Even if it was resettled recently, the wood should have some rot at the very least.”
“Think it’s a trap?” Sam questioned.
Teal’c shook his head, “I doubt this. There are no footprints in the ground and no strategist would make a trap as obvious such as this.”
Daniel started forward, “Let’s go inside.”
Sam nodded, following Daniel and Teal’c all while taking glances at a detector for any energy signatures or radiation. She found none.
The door of the presumed home slid open with no issue. No creaking. Definitely freshly fitted, Daniel mused.
The one room interior was rather unassuming. Stone chimney, wooden chairs and tables, some chests, a bed, a counter. The essentials.
However, that did not mean the home had nothing of interest. Upon the simple table sat a single book- the only thing that stood out. The book in question seemed to have a purple cover with golden lettering and borders, clearly well made.
Daniel walked over to the tome as he mused allowed,“Hm… someone living in a cottage wouldn’t be able to afford something like this. Must have spent a fortune.”
He fancied a glance at the book. The title read, simply, “An Equestrian Guide to Magic.”
Colonel Carter’s first reaction was to raise an eyebrow, “Magic?”
Daniel nodded, “That’s what it says. Although, judging by the architecture, it wouldn’t be that far fetched. The Equestrians could be some kind of advanced society. Maybe horse-like or worship an equine deity, judging by the name...”
It was at this point when Daniel looked at the book closely, before murmuring to himself, “Although, it does seem odd that the book’s title is in English, even considering the architecture many cultures could have developed the same kind of building style...”
“I believe you are mistaken, Daniel Jackson, that text is not the tongue of the Tau’ri.” The Tau’ri, as Teal’c had just referred to as Daniel’s culture, is the Goa’uld name for Earth and its people meaning “first ones,” being the birthplace of every human.
Sam took a gander herself, “He’s right, that isn’t English, Daniel. Although, it could be possible for it to be some kind of neurological link. If it’s talking about magic, it could just be instructions about using very advanced technology.”
“Then why is that link not being shared with us, Colonel Carter?”
Sam crossed her arms, “I’m not sure about that one. For that matter, if they did have access to that kind of technology, why build something like this, rather than a city or a starship?”
“Maybe they wanted us to find the book?”
Daniel’s team mates gave him a look, clearly seeing the concept as odd.
“Okay, maybe not us necessarily, but don’t you think that maybe the Equestrians wanted someone to find the book? Maybe to share their knowledge?”
“I… suppose that makes a bit of sense, but that still doesn’t explain why only you can read it. And for that matter, why the MALP didn’t detect anything- something like that would definitely leave an energy signature!”
“Do you have the equipment here?” Daniel figured that if something was up, she could examine it here.
Sam shook her head, “Not with me, no. I’m going to need to take it back to the SGC for more comprehensive study.”
Daniel nodded, grabbing the book and placing it within a sealed bag to prevent damage- all while handling it with gloves, just to make sure he didn’t accidentally damage the artifact.
Stargate Command, 16 February, 2005, 14:20 Hours
It’s been about a day since SG-1’s trip to PFR-582. After careful laboratory analysis, Sam and Doctor Lee couldn’t find anything about the book that was out of the ordinary- other than its seemingly impossible durability. Afterwards, it was handed back to Daniel- they figured that since he could read it, he would probably have a way to figure out why the tome seemed to have these qualities.
Adjusting his pants slightly to remove a bit of discomfort, he took a look at the book in question.
At first, Daniel had thought the book was referring to mythological creatures- just in the first couple of pages alone it referred to Pegasi and Unicorns, though he noticed the “Earth Ponies” seemed to be just as significant.
“Let’s see here...” He murmured to himself, skimming the page. It wasn’t often that he could read something without reference materials, so this was something of a golden opportunity.
The page read the following:
A common misconception regarding the use of the arcane is the belief that only unicorns possess it. However, this is hardly true- everypony has magic, the process by which living beings channel arcanum into the physical world, in some capacity. Magic can manifest in the three pony tribes in many unique ways. There are, of course, the unicorns, which can channel it into spells from their horns; this is what most ponies think of think of when one says ‘magic.’ There are also the Pegasi, who can manipulate gravity to make up for their small wings and can modify weather through the manipulation of clouds via their hooves. Lastly, there are the Earth ponies, who channel nature magic through the hoof and possess thicker bones. There are four known types of magic: integral magic, crystallized magic, array magic, and chaos magic.
The Carbuncle is an organ located just beneath the heart whose function is to pump mana through the itineris system, the network of mana pathways within a pony’s body. The Carbuncle is named for its resemblance to a heart, but it cannot pump blood in the same fashion.
Contrary to popular belief, ponies are not actually herbivores. They are, in fact, omnivores. This belief, perpetuated by the lack of canine teeth, should be dispelled by any of those who wish to pursue the art of magic, as protein is essential in the function of the Carbuncle. While Earth Ponies can get away with low protein consumption (for the most part,) it is essential for the daily functions of a Pegasus, though Unicorns can go either way.
He could note two things that stood out to him almost immediately: For starters, the title seemed to indicate a more modern text, this is further strengthened by the language being reminiscent of an average textbook- he found this odd, since an advanced society should be more skeptical of the supernatural. The second thing that stood out was the references to ponies- which he quickly realized, based on the book’s language, was referring to the Equestrians themselves, rather than a people who revered or respected horses. This made sense, since the name clearly referred to equines.
Also odd about the book was that as he flipped further, it became unintelligible and… transparent? After reading through the first chapter, he realized that each section of the book needed to be unlocked by a certain task. This led him in a roadblock, since he couldn’t proceed due to the first chapter requiring contact by a part of the body that “conducted magic.”
Noting the various biological diagrams, he took to the biology teams in an effort to reconstruct the theoretical species in a simulation.
As he exited the room, the book’s title glowed dimly for a few seconds before the light dissipated.
Doctor Duncan Hamilton crossed his arms at the completed simulation, his eyes in disbelief at what he was seeing.
“Doctor Jackson, are you sure the diagrams are accurate? There’s no way a species like this could possibly exist!”
Daniel nodded to him in affirmative, “Looks exactly like the diagrams. Still wondering about the function of that ‘carbuncle,’ though.”
“THAT’S what confuses you? Not the abnormal eyes? The impossible proportions? The ridiculously small wings?” He could go for hours listing reasons as to exactly why the admittedly quite adorable species could most certainly not exist.
Doctor Jackson shifted his pants slightly before responding, “I wouldn’t know about that, but I think the biology could give some valuable insight into the Equestrian’s culture.” He noted that the diagrams could have been exaggerated in some way, perhaps to be appealing to the reader.
Duncan simply pinched the bridge of his nose, “Well if you want the function of the carbuncle, I wouldn’t be able to tell you. My best guess is that it’s some kind of secondary heart, considering the naming commonalities. I guess it could be an emergency ‘back up’ or something, but if that’s the case, it wouldn’t do a very good job.”
Shifting his pants again, noting the odd discomfort, he commented,“Well the book made reference to an itineris system. The word has a root in both Latin and Ancient, meaning route or path. Not really sure as to what, but I don’t think it refers to blood, based on the context.”
The Ancients in question are the previous evolution of humanity, having long disappeared from this plane of existence. Their language is a root of Latin. Daniel noted the possible significance of an Ancient word being in the Equestrian language.
He could only groan in response, “Well, I wouldn’t be able to tell you. Looks more like a useless secondary trait to me.”
Doctor Jackson was preparing for his evening shower before turning in for the night, his shirt already off. Now let’s see what’s bothering me in those pants.
Daniel did just that and, well, let’s just say what he found was not exactly what he expected to be there. There, coming out of the tailbone, was a long, flowing, white horse tail.
To say he was surprised would be an understatement.
Doctor Brightman was… confused. After all, just a day ago Daniel was perfectly fine and even had above average health. All of a sudden, she hears about some kind of ‘odd’ feeling that she wrote off as stress and now this?
Daniel raised his brow, he was currently sat on the hospital bed with (rather embarrassingly) nothing but his boxers on, with a hole cut out for his tail. By now, he had brown fur coming up from the tail and white hair was beginning to form.
“Well?”
“I’ve… never seen anything like it before. I thought it might have been a retrovirus, but your bloodwork came back clean! But there’s another thing...” She gestured over to an x-ray of Doctor Jackson’s body, gesturing over to the centre, just below the heart.
He recognised it instantly, “A carbuncle.”
General O’neill crossed his arms and let out a light groan, “So let me get this straight: Somehow, Daniel, who was perfectly fine just a day ago is, what? Turning into a talking horsie?”
Way to point out the absurdity. Filling me with confidence, Jack, Daniel mused internally.
Doctor Brightman simply sighed, “Yes sir. That’s the long and short of it.”
Teal’c raised an eyebrow, “What of SG-1?”
“I’m going to have to recommend immediate suspension of missions by SG-1 until we can get this sorted out. I’d also like to examine Colonel Carter and Teal’c, while I’m at it.”
Jack nodded, before turning to Daniel, “Well if you’re turning into… whatever it is you are-”
“An Equestrian, Jack.”
He shrugged, “Whatever floats your boat, Danny boy. But if you’re gonna be one of ‘em, you should probably take a look in that book of yours.”
“Are you sure that is wise, O’neill?”
Jack gave him a confused look.
“Are you certain that the book is not what is triggering the transformation of Daniel Jackson?”
“Books don’t do that, T.”
“Books are also not wholly indestructible, nor are they the only objects in a pristine home.”
It was Sam’s turn to interject, “Well even if that was the case, then the book would just be a trigger. If it was a catalyst, you would think Daniel would only transform while holding the book, right?”
Teal’c considered this for a moment, before bowing politely, “You are wise as always, Samantha Carter.”
As General O’neill and SG-1 left the room, Doctor Brightman looked towards Daniel, “Anyways, I’d like to keep you overnight, if you don’t mind. I need to observe the changes and if it’s possible to reverse.”
Daniel simply nodded, laying down on the bed.
In the room behind the infirmary, General O’neill was discussing Daniel’s condition with Doctor Brightman.
“So, any progress?”
She shook her head in response, “No, sir. If anything it’s progressing. But that’s not the only odd thing, take a look at this.”
She gestured to a microscopic recording with a lock of Daniel’s hair within it. As far as Jack could tell, the lock of hair was completely normal, causing him a bit of confusion as to what the ‘odd thing’ was.
Or rather, he did until, before his very eyes, the lock of hair turned completely white in a matter of just a few seconds.
“What the Hell?”
“Now you see what I mean? Whatever’s happening to Daniel, it isn’t natural. I’ve never seen anything like it before! I’ve checked the bloodwork too and it’s completely different DNA!”
Jack could only stare in disbelief at what he was seeing.
By the time Daniel awoke the next morning, he observed a number of changes. For one, ‘he’ isn’t a ‘he’ anymore. He- she also noticed more acute hearing, with the occasional twitching of her new horse ears to every which noise. Her peripheral vision also seemed much larger than before, most notably not needing glasses anymore. Outside of that, the fur has travelled up her back and through most of her limbs, but not quite at the front, oddly enough.
A quick glance at her surroundings found Jack in discussion with Doctor Brightman, with the rest of SG-1 close by. Their tone was hushed, of course, but Daniel- Or, Danielle? She was female, apparently. That would take getting used to. Danielle’s pony ears had been able to hear, more or less, the entire conversation.
Jack looked at Doctor Brightman in disbelief, “So let me get this straight. Not only is Daniel turning into a horse. But ‘he’ is also a ‘she,’ now?”
She’d groaned in response, pinching the bridge of her nose, “General, please believe me when I tell you that this is just as unbelievable for me as it is for you. I’ve never seen anything like this before.”
“That isn’t reassuring, Doctor.”
“It isn’t supposed to be, sir. I’m simply giving you the facts.”
“Doesn’t make this any better...”
It was after this remark when Teal’c seemed the first to notice Danielle’s awaking, with his trademark raised eyebrow. After waiting for an opportune moment in the conversation, he would interject, “O’neill, I believe that she has awoken.”
Jack paused for a moment, shutting his proverbial trap before taking his own look at her, “So he has.”
“She,” Sam corrected.
“She...” Jack lamented. It was after that when he, along with the rest of his little posse, headed over to her resting area.
“So… how ya feeling, Daniel?”
She took a look at Jack for a moment, contemplating the question for a moment before finally answering, “Well, I suppose that you shouldn’t be calling me that, for starters.” Her brow furrowed slightly at the more high pitched voice, although it probably should have been expected.
Jack’s frown seemed to worsen at the remark, and Teal’c raised his brow again, “Then what do you wish us to refer to you as, Daniel Jackson?”
She’d paused again. As used to ‘Daniel’ as she was, if this was indeed permanent then… She’d considered the name Danielle again. It reminded her of how her dead wife, Sha’re, had pronounced ‘Daniel’ in conversation due to her language being a variant of Ancient Egyptian. She had an odd feeling about using that name, but at the same time, it could be used to symbolize her. She decided to keep it, even if it was just for now.
“Uh… Danielle, I guess. It’s close enough, right?”
Sam would be the next to interject, “You’re taking this rather… well, aren’t you? I would've thought you’d have started to panic right about now.”
She’d considered this too. It was quite odd how calm she was at being just short of, you know, losing her identity and all. She tried to search herself to find an answer as to why this was. In the end, she could only shrug.
“Perhaps it is indeed magic that is causing this transformation. Doctor Brightman herself is quite adamant that it is not an illness,” the last part had been an inquiry of sorts to the doctor in question, which had been answered with an unsure nod.
Sam shook her head, “I’m sure there’s a more logical explanation than just attributing it to the supernatural.”
Sam was a scientist, after all. For her, resorting to magic as an explanation would be just short of an insult to her intelligence. She knew this quite well about her, after working with the Colonel for almost a decade.
During the conversation, she’d noted the presence of more and more fur slowly growing on her body. That and something growing on her forehead- what she’d guessed would be a horn.
Doctor Brightman stared for a moment before stopping the conversation, “Wait, there’s a grown on the forehead.”
Jack could only stare, “So he- she’s a unicorn, now?”
Teal’c took a look as well, “Indeed.”
Sam stared at him, before shrugging- she’d seen the diagrams too, so she knew full well that only the unicorns seemed to have that kind of growth- not that she had to accept it, of course.
Doctor Brightman brandished a surgical knife, “I’m going to want to cut it out. It’s clearly going to break the skin.”
Jack nodded, stepping back with the rest of SG-1 as she took the knife and cut a slit for Danielle’s new horn. One thing notable about the spiraling, ivory proto-horn was its matching colour to her fur. After about 10 minutes, the blood from the cut fully clotted and the horn was fully formed. What was equally strange was that it was as if there was no cut to begin with!
Around that point was when her guests had begun to leave, “Let me know if anything changes, will ya?”
“Will do.”
A few hours had passed since the exchange and Danielle had been allowed to walk freely, now that her transformation was nearly completed.
She hopped out of the bed, attempting- as she was used to, to stand on two legs. It quickly became clear that this was impractical, so she fell on all fours.
Alright. Relearning walking, of all things. Let’s see here… front right, back right. Success. Right, now front left, back left. With that, she’d succeeded in her first steps as a quadruped. It would take her a little bit to get used to the new body, but the changed muscle memory quickly adapted. After some time, she was able to walk without any conscious effort on her part.
Her first order of business would be to head down to the mess hall, as she hadn’t eaten lunch yet. When she had gone out of bed, with Teal’c’s assistance, she had insisted on not wearing clothes, as the fur did just fine.
She could still remember the exchange, seeing as it just happened a few minutes ago.
Teal’c had handed her some clothing, after noticing her nudity. She shook her head in response.
“Danielle Jackson, is it not custom among the humans of the Tau’ri to wear clothing?” She appreciated his willingness to use her new name- though he’d always been receptive to change.
“But I’m not human, now am I?”
“Is it not considered decent to wear clothing regardless?”
“Teal’c, humans are also hairless and exposed. I, on the other hand, have a tail covering my sensitive areas and fur to keep me warm.” She flicked her tail and gestured to her fur for emphasis.
Teal’c paused. While he was practically expressionless, she has known him long enough to read his subtle cues to know that he was quite uncomfortable with this, “Will you at least wear an SGC jacket?”
Better than sweating, I guess. “Fine.”
She proceeded to don the SGC jacket offered to her, which fit surprisingly well, all things considered. Well, as well as she could, anyways. Teal’c had to help her get it on, hooves not being dextrous and all.
It had taken some effort to take a seat with the food in hoof- much more so than she’d like to admit. That was, until she realized that it was possible to focus on the hoof to keep the plate in place, not unlike a magnet.
This victory, of course, led to some stares from the rest of the SGC personnel. Their faces had also maintained quite an amusing expression upon seeing Danielle’s finished state and, well, the fact that she was, you know, almost naked.
Nevertheless, she’d cantered over to a chair near Colonel Carter and Teal’c, food in hoof before setting it down at her seat. She would then proceed to take a seat at the chair, at first sitting like a human out of habit. A moment after this, she noticed the seat was very uncomfortable. She would first move her tail out of the way; it was quite painful to sit on it. However, her legs still weren’t snug. After some thought, she realized that since she was a quadruped, it would probably be best to sit on her haunches- which she did to considerably higher comfort.
She would proceed to reward herself for this discovery through the consumption of her turkey sandwich, of course.
Carter had raised a brow at this, “Aren’t you an herbivore, now?”
She took a bite out of the sandwich, her snout contorting slightly at the more bland taste than she was used to, shook her head. After swallowing, she would respond, “According to the book, I’m actually an omnivore. I just don’t need the meat like humans do.”
Sam looked as though she was about to interject before stopping. This was most likely due to the fact that she was literally talking to an adorable, technicolour, talking female unicorn who used to be a male human.
She gave the point to the pony in front of her, before taking a bite out of her own meal.
Doctor Jackson was sitting in her study once more, as she had been doing for about an hour, now. Her eyebrow quickly raised at the explanation given in this page of the book:
Among the most basic spells that can be casted by a unicorn are light and telekinesis. It is absolutely imperative to note that neither of these spells require intense focus and are almost second nature to a unicorn. To cast light, the unicorn must simply gather magic into the horn before releasing. If the handler is speaking to a foal, the child should use Inner Sight, a spell that simply requires focus and meditation to repair the body and focus magic- something done instinctively by anypony after a certain amount of time.
Alright, so meditate and gather, got it. Kelnoreem should do the trick. With that, she went to grab a candle- something she always had on hand at Teal’c’s suggestion. She then set it down and lit it, before sitting about two feet away from it. She closed her eyes and began to breathe deeply. The ‘spell’ in question was, in fact, not magical in the slightest and had been mastered by the Jaffa for millennia. It, along with repairing minor errors in the body, allowed for a deep state of meditation and exploration of memories both on the surface and within the subconscious.
A few minutes of this meditative state would quickly make way for her goal. Before her eyes, she saw her Itineris System, a network of arteries, capillaries, veins, and other organs. Soon after, she would focus in on the Carbuncle, which was still pumping mana through her bloodways. She would then focus in on that organ, focusing mana production up through her body and up into the horn, where there was a dense collection of capillaries leading up.
Quickly she felt power rushing up into her horn at a rapid pace. Although she couldn’t see it, her horn was encased in a brown light, matching her fur. She then proceeded to cast Light. Well, she tried to, anyways. In reality, her spell flunked out on her, leading the horn to “short circuit,” as it were, leaving a very disappointed pony in its wake.
“Danielle Jackson,” Teal’c stood behind the doorway, arms tucked behind them, “I heard a strange noise originating from this room and saw your horn glowing. What are you doing?”
“Trying magic,” she said matter-of-factly.
Teal’c raised an eyebrow before leaving the room.
After a few hours of trying out that light spell with no avail, Doctor Jackson decided to call it quits for the night, but resolved to try again tomorrow.
With some clip-clopping of her hooves, which she’d finally gotten used to after the day’s end- a sound she found quite calming, she entered her quarters to get some rest.
She headed over to the lamp, turning its knob off before crawling under the covers, falling asleep for another day.
Unknown Location, Unknown Time
Running. That’s all he could think about right now. He didn’t care where he was going or what he would do. He just needed. To. Leave.
The man looked over his shoulder, black cloak over his head before spotting one of them and turning tail once more. His breath was starting to become shallow, and the Chappa’ai was too far. He needed to hide.
Eventually he managed to find a cave he could rest in for the night and hopefully escape to another of his lord’s worlds before They could find him.
But alas, the relief was for naught. They had managed to find them with their infernal sorcery. The metal man had already placed his weapon in his direction.
His palms were sweaty. He was afraid- these blasphemers were very powerful demons, He knew this- they wiped out the whole village after all, even the Jaffa.
He let out a distraught prayer to Lord Heru’er, his god for forgiveness and to protect other people from these demons. Those were his last thoughts as a beam of light travelled towards him. He didn’t even have a chance to scream.
