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// The Academy Decides 
// Story: Lunar Ambrosia 
// by Waxworks 
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“Up past Vanhoover off the coast of Luna Bay, sits a small island covered with berries. The berries themselves are known as beanberries. They are shaped like lima beans, but inside contain a sweet-smelling fluid.

“They are poisonous. Incredibly so. The first ponies to have found them probably died a terrible death, but after that first encounter the berries have been used to treat arrows to help defend the land against attackers.

“The natives of the island were thought to be mere savages, and the berries a nuisance. Once Vanhoover was founded, the island was largely ignored and it was recommended ponies avoid the island outright. The berries choke the land, growing thick and wild, and seem to actively prevent colonization. The island, being so overrun with the deadly fruit, wasn’t even given a name, so intent were ponies on ignoring it.

“When contact was finally made with the native earth ponies that have taken up residence on the island, much of that changed. The native ponies were large, strong, and insular. Many expeditions to the island that disappeared without a trace have been attributed to the natives since their discovery. They were reluctant to allow outsiders on, but the records show that it was because of their leader.

“He had gone mad, and in his rage, he had begun attacking his own tribe. Through careful attempts at communication, it turned out they wanted help bringing him down. To that end, the arrival of outsiders had been fortuitous for both sides, allowing the natives to get outside help from both unicorns and pegasi in stopping him, and it allowed outsiders to become access to a new culture.

“Unfortunately, no member of the expedition survived. The records we have were given by the natives to a passing fisherpony, who delivered them to this university. We have Baited Hook to thank for the small amount of information we have.

“Because we have so little information on the island and the natives, I should like to ask for the academy’s blessing to organize an expedition to the island and contact the natives with the goal of filling in the gaps in the single journal we have. It was so badly damaged, we had to search through our own records for the names of the ponies sent on the expedition in the first place. I believe that since the natives have been opened to how helpful our presence can be, we can find out more about them, how long they have been there, and learn more about the beanberries themselves. Thank you for your time, mares and gentlecolts.”

Thesis picked up her notes from the lectern and looked out at the audience. It was a select number of ponies from the university, all of whom she was hoping would help her in one way or another to complete her expedition. She had been planning this for years, but ponies before her had tried and failed to get the funding or the supplies needed to go to the island. Nopony wanted anything to do with it because of the constant disappearance of ponies in the teams that went out there. But that was years ago.

With the discovery of this journal that had been delivered to the academy, and Thesis’ work on decoding it, new information about the tribe and the island itself had come to light, and she was certain this was going to be her ticket to the forefront of famous researchers.

An unexplored island! An almost uncontacted tribe! And the beanberries! A tribe of earth ponies no less, living on an island covered in poisonous berries! How had they done it? How did they survive and seem to thrive? How did they hide so well and what did they eat?

“How will you handle the natives if they turn on you?” an older stallion asked.

“The natives, from sketches and the one photo we have, are all earth ponies.” Thesis pulled up picture of a page of the journal, and a photograph next to it. “We have yet to encounter a pegasus pony or a unicorn. For safety’s sake, everypony on the expedition will be a pegasus, including myself, in order to expedite retreat from the island if things turn south. A unicorn may be allowed to come, but they must be able to demonstrate an ability to teleport significant distances.”

“The natives themselves are immune to the poison of the beanberry, but the plant covers the island. Surely you won’t trust the natives to help feed you?” a mare asked.

“No. They appear to have significantly different digestion than we do, so for safety’s sake, all food will be supplied in watertight containers from the mainland,” Thesis said.

“And how long is this expedition intended to last?”

“The preliminary expedition will be only for one week. This trip is intended to assess the dangers of an extended stay on the island, gauge the reaction of the locals, and determine how safe it would be to stay for longer periods of time,” Thesis said. There was quiet murmuring from the audience, and she saw a lot of heads nodding. She leaned back and forth on her legs, waiting for more questions or for a positive response.

No further questions came, and the audience just chattered amongst themselves. The words Thesis was able to pick up sounded good, but just because a few liked the idea didn’t mean enough would agree to endorse the expedition. She needed more than half, and most of all, she needed Dean Bombastic to agree, or she would be dead in the water.

Thesis turned to look at the dean, sitting near the front and not moving save for a slow stroking of his beard. Ponies around him were leaning close, some shaking their heads and others nodding, hooves moving as they talked fervently over their opinion on the matter. The dean’s opinion would sway the majority of the group. Thesis could only hope her presentation had been impressive enough.

Finally, Dean Bombastic’s head slowly dipped down, then back up, and Thesis felt her heart flutter in her chest. “I think it is a worthy goal. We know too little about the island, despite having lived near it for so long, and you have taken safety precautions to ensure minimal risk to those going with you,” Dean Bombastic said. “Do you know where to meet the island’s residents?”

“No. With the little information we have, we can’t predict where they will be, but we expect them to come to us. Until our first contact occurs, only four ponies will stay on the island.”

“And if they don’t want to speak to you?”

Thesis shrugged. “We will research the beanberries. Somehow the natives are immune, and we may be able to find out how without their help.”

Dean Bombastic stamped a hoof. “I support this venture!”

The crowd erupted into a flurry of talk, but Thesis wasn’t listening anymore. Her wings were fluttering uncontrollably in excitement! With the dean’s approval, she had it. Funding and resources were now as good as secured, and the entire university was at her disposal. When the meeting ended, she gathered up her things and trotted back home with a smile on her face.

She entered her apartment and went over the list of items she wanted. She’d had everything planned out beforehoof, knowing what she wanted from each part of the university, and sealed the letters to everypony she would be working with. She’d send them off tomorrow and start looking for more ponies.

She had determined she needed a crew of at least 12 ponies. Everypony would need a partner, because it would be dangerous, that was for certain. The island was poisonous, the natives were dangerous, and the landscape was completely unknown. Pegasi had flown over to get the shape of the island, but the trees and beanberries kept the topography a mystery, which was why she wanted everypony coming with her to be capable of easy transportation.

With each pony given a partner, that would give her six teams of two, four teams of three, or three teams of four. Small groups intended to examine bushes, fly over plants, seek out natives, or gather intelligence. She didn’t expect the native tribe to be big, so the ability to cover more ground with more pairs of eyes would be beneficial.

Thesis squealed in joy and kicked her hooves in the air. She had done so much research preparing for this, and it was all paying off! She had the endorsement of the academy, and all the resources she wanted. All she needed now was assistants.







Which was easier said than done.

Weeks passed as Thesis attempted to gather enough research assistants to make the job possible. Unfortunately, she had only managed to gather together a team of eight, when she wanted twelve.

She needed one team to manage base camp, one to map the landscape, one to gather samples, one to search for the natives (That was ideally herself), one to maintain contact with the mainland, and one to keep the teams together. Any one of those teams missing was going to make her research progress much more slowly.

Unfortunately, there were few ponies who wanted to travel to one of the deadliest islands in the Lunar Bay. She couldn’t blame them for wanting to avoid it, but this was the chance of a lifetime!

Eventually, in an effort to avoid losing her funding as nothing came of her efforts, she decided to make the trip with just eight. It would make things more difficult, but she would at least be able to settle a base camp on the island and try to contact the natives. She would sacrifice examination of the beanberries, since that was what most ponies knew of the island. They might not be able to figure out how the natives were immune to their effects, but that would come with time. She just needed something to show for her efforts.

Thesis gathered together her team and the basic supplies for the base camp on the island, and set the date to meet in a few weeks so she had progress to show the university. She gathered her roster and filled out the paperwork for the supplies, and sent them in. She would have one more meeting, then she would be off to the island! Maybe if they liked what she did, she could even give it an official name. That would be exciting!