CHAPTER 10

SAVING EQUUS

On Equus, the Stargate WHOOSHed as it opened up. Moments later, SG-1 emerged with their weapons drawn, prepared for an ambush. Directly behind them came SG-3, also with their weapons drawn; then SG-5 behind them. As they took up positions to cover every angle and thwart any possible attack, the Stargate WHOOSHed close.

"Okay, stand down!" Col. O'Neill ordered once he realized that there was no Jaffa in the area.

"Dr. Jackson!" someone cried from their right. They all turned to see a familiar young male pony gallop towards them.

"Lancer!" Dr. Jackson said happily.

"Oh, man! Am I ever glad to see you!" Lancer said as he skidded to a halt in front of SG-1.

Col. O'Neill prompted Lancer for a detailed report of what happened. Lancer told the story of how he was able to sneak away from the invading Jaffa, hurry up Fire Mountain, open the Stargate and use the M.A.L.P. to contact S.G.C. Then he went and hid in the cave, like Dr. Jackson told him to, until help came along.

"Good boy!" Col. O'Neill exclaimed proudly. He then turned to the SG teams. "All right, I want SG-3 to come down to Ponyville with us. SG-5, stay here and guard the 'Gate."

"Yes, sir." The SG commanders said as they took their orders.

"I'm going with you!" Lancer demanded.

Dr. Jackson shook his head. "It could be dangerous."

Lancer got a serious look. "I wanna help you rescue my friends! I AM going!"

Everybody turned to Col. O'Neill. Seems it was his call. O'Neill sighed. "All right, but stay close to us. Things could get hairy! Any questions?" After a few moments of silence, O'Neill spoke again. "All right, let's move out!" he ordered.

"Hairy?" Lancer asked Dr. Jackson.

"Violent." Dr. Jackson replied.

Lancer nodded somberly. He expected as much.

In Ponyville, several Jaffa were patrolling the streets of the downtown area near the Town Hall. Their steel boots echoed as they marched up and down the sidewalks of the once busy downtown main street. They have long since rounded up all of the ponies and sent them to a makeshift concentration camp outside of town. The patrols were there to capture any ponies who have somehow escaped their grasp.

In a dark alley between two buildings, SG-3's commander- a dark haired fellow who went by the name of Lieutenant Samuel Mitchell- was using a specially designed angled telescope that allowed him to peek around the building and up the street without being seen. He made some hand gestures to his team members behind him. Those gestures were a silent code used by the U.S. Military to tell any fellow soldiers what was ahead. In this case, Lieutenant Mitchell was telling his team the details of an approaching Jaffa patrol; more importantly, how far away they were and how many they were.

The echo of their steel boots rose in intensity as the Jaffa approached SG-3's position. Lieutenant Mitchell slowly raised his P-90 assault rifle. When he judged that the moment was right, he nodded to his team. All at once, they emerged from their hiding place.

Before the Jaffa could react, the soldiers fired their automatic weapons at them. Sparks flew as the bullets penetrated their armour. All four Jaffa that made up the patrol fell to the ground dead. A screaming sound came from up the street behind them. They all turned to see two Jaffa rushing over to aid their fallen comrades. Two members of SG-3 fired their assault rifles. The bullets found their mark as the sparks flew, and both Jaffa were taken out. Lieutenant Mitchell then pointed up the street in the direction of the Town Hall. All of the members of his team got the message as they followed their leader as he moved up the sidewalk to the location of the Town Hall.

At the Town Hall, Apophis had taken up residency in the best office of the building; which happened to belong to Mayor Thunderhooves. He was busy planning out the establishment of the naquadah mine nearby, and how much slave labour he would need to collect and process the precious mineral. He was looking quite relaxed, however, with his feet up on the desk; but he was quiet in his thoughts.

"My Master!" said his First Prime, the sturdy curly blonde haired Jaffa, as he walked in. He immediately got down to one knee and placed his fist to his chest in salute.

"What is it?" Apophis asked in his Goa'uld voice.

The First Prime hesitated. "We are under attack, My Lord!"

This made Apophis' eyes grow wide in surprise as he sat up straight. "Who is attacking us?"

"The Tau'ri!"

Apophis slammed his hand on the desk and cursed in the Goa'uld language. "Go to the prison camp immediately!"

"At once, My Lord!" the First Prime said as he bowed and saluted, then left the office.

Apophis then stood up and said something in the Goa'uld language to the two serpent guards standing at the threshold. They exited as Apophis followed.

Meanwhile, outside the Town Hall, two Jaffa were standing guard at the front entrance. From the left side, Lieutenant Mitchell tossed something round at the two guards. It was a Goa'uld concussion grenade they had commandeered from one of the Jaffa SG-3 had taken down earlier. The two guards had barely enough time to gaze at each other in surprise before the grenade went off and knocked them both to the ground unconscious.

Lieutenant Mitchell then motioned for his troops to follow him to the front of the building. They stayed low to the ground, covering every possible angle for an imminent Jaffa staff weapon attack. None came. Lieutenant Mitchell then motioned for his troops to follow him inside the building.

Inside the Town Hall, Apophis and his two serpent guards were headed to the front entrance. The blast from the concussion grenade made him and his guards stop dead in their tracks. Without hesitation, he motioned for his guards to follow him to the back exit of the building. They would have to sneak out that way.

As Apophis made good on his escape, Lieutenant Mitchell and the rest of SG-3 were proceeding up the central corridor, going room by room, trying to find The Mayor and the Town Councillors who would be held prisoner here. Two Jaffa emerged from the Meeting Hall, but were taken down by a hail of gunfire before they could use their staff weapons.

The frightened cries coming from inside the room told SG-3 that this was where the Town Council was being held. Lieutenant Mitchell motioned with his right hand the necessary signals to enter the room and take down any remaining Jaffa guards. He did a 3-2-1 countdown with his fingers before he led SG-3 into the room.

"DON'T SHOOT! DON'T SHOOT!" one of the Councillors shouted as he placed his forehooves in front of him.

Everyone relaxed after seeing that no other Jaffa was present. "Relax, folks! I'm Lieutenant Samuel Mitchell of SG-3. We're here to rescue you." He told the five Council Members who were present in the room.

"Oh, thank goodness!" one of the female Council Members said in relief.

Mitchell looked around. "Where's Mayor Thunderhooves?" he asked.

"W-we had to take him to the hospital." The other female Council Member said. "He's in a coma! That… guy dressed in gold… Apophis, or whatever his name is… put something to his head… it shot out a red beam and-"

"Okay, we get the picture!" Mitchell interrupted. "We're taking you out of here. Follow us!"

Then Mitchell led the group outside. He and another member of SG-3 took up the front while the other two members took up the rear, covering their flank, in case any Jaffa they haven't seen would try to ambush them on their way out.

While this was going on, SG-1 was closing in on the makeshift concentration camp the Jaffa had set up to keep the pony population of Ponyville prisoner. They had commandeered a farmer's field, and put up barbed wire around the wooden fence to keep anypony from escaping.

The SG-1 team members had to crawl close to the ground to avoid being seen by the six Jaffa soldiers they counted who were guarding the front gate of the camp. Col. O'Neill saw a lot of frightened and distraught ponies crying openly at the uncertainty of their fate. He also saw many pony families huddled together in fear, trying to comfort their continuously bawling foals. Col. O'Neill imagined the Nazi concentration camps from the Second World War looking very much like this.

O'Neill made hand gestures signaling to his team members to get ready. One final hand gesture signaled for them to get up and fire. Sparks flew from the armour of two Jaffa guards as the bullets found their mark. They were immediately taken out. The ponies nearest to the fence screamed as they ran for cover.

The four other Jaffa guards formed a line, aimed their staff weapons, and fired. The staff weapons WHOOSHed as the plasma blasts struck the ground in front of where SG-1 had taken cover, showering them with dirt. Dr. Jackson got up and fired his automatic rifle amidst the constant plasma blasts of the Jaffa staff weapons. Another Jaffa soldier fell dead as sparks flew from his armour.

Then Teal'c returned fire with his own staff weapon. Another Jaffa soldier fell as the plasma blast found its mark, a smoldering wound in his chest. There were now two guards left! They separated in order to provide SG-1 with multiple targets, firing their staff weapons as they ran.

The firefight between the two opposing forces continued for several minutes. Capt. Carter finally took out one of the two remaining guards as he tried to move up to get a better shot. There was one guard left!

He had found cover behind an abandoned fuel barrel, and was constantly letting loose a barrage of plasma blasts from his staff weapon as he stood up momentarily before ducking for cover back behind the barrel. Col. O'Neill switched his P-90 to single shot, activated his laser guided sight, and waited for the right moment. Just as the Jaffa guard stood up, he fired. The bullet found its mark as the soldier fell down dead from a precise shot to the head. SG-1 had won the battle!

While SG-1 moved in to inspect the fallen Jaffa to make sure they were dead, Lancer moved to the gate of the concentration camp. "LANCER!" said Bright Eyes as she rushed towards him. "We thought you were dead!"

"Rumours about my death have been greatly exaggerated." Lancer said tongue-in-cheek as he struggled to open the gate.

"It's useless, Lance!" Ace exclaimed. "The gate's padlocked!" he pointed.

Lancer grabbed the padlock with his hoof and examined it. "Great God dammit!" he exclaimed as he let go of the padlock. "O'NEILL!" he cried out.

When Col. O'Neill got beside Lancer, he pointed towards the padlock keeping the gate closed. "Stand back!" he said to the crowd of ponies nearest to the gate as he cocked his gun. He fired a single shot, which completely obliterated the padlock.

Just as this happened, however, a WHOOSH sound was heard from behind, then a plasma blast hit Teal'c in his left shoulder. He cried out as he fell to the ground wounded.

"TEAL'C!" Col. O'Neill exclaimed.

"Take that, Sho'va!" said Apophis' First Prime, his staff weapon still smoking from the plasma blast he had unleashed.

Col. O'Neill immediately retaliated with a barrage of bullets. Several sparks flew as the First Prime took the hits, and fell to the ground dead. He then turned his attention to the still closed gate of the makeshift concentration camp. He removed the chain that was holding the gate closed and swung it wide open. "Okay, folks! It's all over! You're free, now!" he told the crowd of ponies.

Cheers went up as the ponies began to file out of the enclosure. "Oh, Lancer!" Bright Eyes exclaimed as she surprised him by embracing him. "You were SO brave! My hero!"

"Anything for you, m'lady!" Lancer said as he recovered from his surprise, and held Bright Eyes in his forehooves.

Col. O'Neill was surprised to see the leader of the toga wearing "Harry Krishna" ponies kneeling down in front of him. "O, venerable servant of The Great God! A thousand thanks for rescuing us. We are eternally grateful!" he then bowed down before O'Neill. His compatriots did the same.

"Okay, for the last time, we're not-" his phrase was cut short when he saw the pony look up to him with great admiration. "Ah, forget it!" he waved his hand as he walked away. The Harry Krishna ponies responded by shaking their tambourines and chanting.

SG-1 led the Ponyville ponies to the downtown area where they would meet up with SG-3 to find out how they fared in freeing the Town Council, as well as in capturing Apophis, if he was still hanging around.

As SG-1 was heading down towards the Ponyville Town Hall, Apophis and his two remaining serpent guards were coming up in the opposite direction. Both guards tried to aim their staff weapons to take out SG-1, but SG-1 was quicker! Col. O'Neill and Capt. Carter both got down on one knee and fired their P-90s. Both guards went down as the sparks flew from their armor.

"It's over, Apophis!" Col. O'Neill aimed his P-90 right at The Serpent God. "Give it up! You've lost!"

Apophis, however, smiled wickedly as he brought his left arm up and pressed a button on the wrist band he was wearing. O'Neill fired his P-90, but he couldn't bring Apophis down before he disappeared. The bullets impacted against the brick wall of a building not far away.

"Dammit!" Col. O'Neill exclaimed. He then pressed the walkie-talkie that was in his left front pocket. "O'Neill to SG-5."

"Go ahead, Colonel." Said the Commander of SG-5, one Staff Sargeant Ryan Anderson, from his post on Fire Mountain, as he pressed the appropriate button of his own walkie-talkie to reply. He was a rather tall man with curly brown hair and blue eyes.

"We need your help down here." O'Neill said through the walkie-talkie. "Teal'c's wounded, and some of these ponies need a little T.L.C."

"We're on our way." The Staff Sergeant replied. He then motioned to his men to move out, and they started marching down the trail towards Ponyville.

No sooner had SG-5 left that Apophis reappeared in front of the Stargate. He released the button on his wristband, then moved to the Stargate's D.H.D., and started to dial an address.

The sound of the D.H.D. caused Staff Sergeant Ryan Anderson and the rest of SG-5 to stop dead in their tracks. "Come on!" he ordered his men to follow as he ran back towards the Stargate.

As soon as the Stargate WHOOSHed open, Apophis climbed the steps. The Staff Sergeant arrived back at the Stargate just in time to see Apophis walk through the threshold. He brought his P-90 up, but couldn't fire before Apophis disappeared through the wormhole. The Stargate WHOOSHed close just as Apophis left.

"Dammit!" Staff Sergeant Anderson exclaimed.

"Was that Apophis?" asked his second-in-command, a young Corporal with short blonde hair and brown eyes.

"It was." The Staff Sergeant nodded.

"How'd he get passed us without us seeing him?"

"He must've had some sort of stealth technology. Nothing we can do about that now. Let's go!"

The Staff Sergeant then led SG-5 back down the mountain to assist SGs 3 and 5 with their efforts in getting everything back to normal for the inhabitants of Ponyville.

It has been two days since the S.G. teams have rescued Ponyville and Equus from Apophis and his henchmen. In the cemetery outside of Ponyville, a funeral was being held; but it wasn't just any funeral, it was for the three police officers who died in the line of duty trying to defend Ponyville from the Goa'uld invasion.

The SG-1 team was invited to attend. While Col. O'Neill and Capt. Carter wore their Air Force dress uniforms, Teal'c wore a black suit and matching tie; while Dr. Jackson wore a dark brown leisure jacket over a black polo shirt, beige slacks and brown loafers. Teal'c had his left arm in a sling, for he had not fully recovered from the plasma blast he took from the staff weapon of Apophis' First Prime. Since it was a nice sunny day, they all wore sunglasses; not just to protect their eyes, but to hide their sad faces, for they were quite saddened that such good ponies were taken prematurely.

It was a grand ceremony befitting Officers of the Police Force. The caskets were laid out in a row. Draped over them was a flag of what SG-1 took to be the Municipal Flag of Ponyville. A Priest of The Church of The Great God was giving the "ashes to ashes, dust to dust" eulogy. A pony dressed in full Scottish regalia was playing the bag pipes. The song he was playing sounded like "Amazing Grace", but with certain variations. There was even a 21 gun salute!

There was a lot of sadness and weeping from the many ponies in attendance. It was clear to SG-1 that these Police Officers were well loved in the community. Many were dressed in the appropriate black outfits. Some of their young pony friends were there, along with their families.

The flags that were draped over the coffins were then presented to the next of kin. Sheriff Bright Mane Harding's wife, now his widow, accepted his flag. SG-1 noticed that there were two young mares with her. Col. O'Neill took them to be his daughters. Sheriff Harding never mentioned them to him. The subject never came up, though O'Neill seemed to recall him mentioning at one point that he was married. Them comforting Harding's grieving widow confirmed to O'Neill they must, indeed, be his daughters. One of them was almost as old as his young pony friends!

Assistant Deputy Sun Ray Jones' flag was presented to his fiancée, whom he was supposed to marry a few months from now. Deputy Sharp Eye Foster had no significant other to speak of, so his flag was presented to his parents.

During the Wake, Col. O'Neill ran into a familiar pony. "Featherweight Smith!" Col. O'Neill exclaimed happily.

"H-hi, Colonel O'Neill…" Featherweight said in a weak voice.

"Look at you, with the fancy uniform and everything. Very spiffy!"

Featherweight seemed to blush. "Well, I had to look my best for the funeral; and even more so now, since I've been named Chief Deputy to replace Foster-"

"Wait! You're Chief Deputy now!?"

Featherweight smiled and nodded. "That's right."

"Well, good for you!" O'Neill said as he patted Featherweight on the shoulder. "So who's the Sheriff now?"

"That would be Hard Knocks Allen."

"And who's Hard Knocks Allen?"

Featherweight pointed towards the pony in question. Col. O'Neill instantly recognized who it was. It was "Mr. Grumpy", the officer who gave him his breakfast without saying a word to him at the Prancing Pony Inn during his second day on Equus.

"Him!? He's the new Sheriff?" O'Neill said in surprise.

Featherweight smiled and nodded. "Yes… Is something wrong?" He asked, sensing O'Neill's surprise.

"NO! No…" O'Neill said immediately. "It's just that… he comes across as a little… gruff… sometimes…"

"Yeah, well, he may not be the friendliest pony around, but there's no one better qualified than him to be Sheriff."

"I'm sure." Col. O'Neill said. Then he placed an arm around Featherweight's shoulder as they walked. "A little piece of advice, though: Try to get him to… loosen up a bit more…"

"H-how do you suggest I do that?" Featherweight asked.

"You can start by getting him to smile every once in a while…"

"You guys talking about me?" came a male's voice from behind. It was the new Sheriff. They hadn't noticed him approach as they were talking.

"N-no, sir!" Featherweight said immediately and rather nervously.

Hard Knocks looked at them questioningly.

"Just that… we can't think of… anypony better qualified than you to be the new Sheriff of Ponyville."

"Thanks." Sheriff Hard Knocks said, allowing himself a faint smile. "Oh! And, uuh… we can't thank you enough, Col. O'Neill, for what you and your men did for us. We're eternally in your debt." Sheriff Hard Knocks was still smiling faintly as he walked away.

Col. O'Neill waited until he was out of earshot before he spoke again. "It's a start!" he whispered to Featherweight, who chuckled.