The Quest For Iscanter

by eternalsquire

The Launch

The Mane Six rushed down from the bridge and reached the engine room of the great ship in sixty seconds flat. They saw Luna standing nearby a console. She had her horn buried into a hole in the console, not unlike the way Princess Celestia used her own horn as a key to unlock the Elements of Harmony from a special chamber in Castle Cantlerlot such a long time ago.

"Twilight Sparkle", Luna said, "I need to have your friends set up with the Elements. Focus as much raw power as you are able to upon me. I'll route yours and mine together and focus the combination into the message crystal.". Luna's eyes then glowed white with an extremely large amount of controlled power, all the Mare of The Night could muster. Her horn was hidden, lodged deeply into the access port, but clearly something was happening.

"Captain!", Forest Snow announced from on the bridge, "We went from zero to thirty percent of required power!"

Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Apple Jack were now wearing their Element necklaces. Twilight Sparkle had put on her tiara. The group of them levitated and radiated a multicolored glow. Twilight aimed her horn and sent the group's power of friendship to the midnight black alicorn she had managed to befriend. Her own eyes then glowed white with power as a beam of pure white light coruscated from her horn to land upon Luna.

"Power increasing from thirty to fifty percent!", Forest Snow reported.

Princess Celestia focused all her considerable might upon her sister half a world away. A white beam leaped from her own horn and arced over the horizon, striking the underground target.

"We're getting power beamed from Equestria! We're now ninety percent!", Forest Snow exclaimed.

Come on... hang in there... pour it on.... just a little bit more... Twilight urged herself.

Princess Cadence focused all of her hopes and dreams of a future with her missing husband and his foal she was carrying, from her home in the Crystal Empire, upon Luna. Another beam, pink this time, arced across the world.

Luna noticed the difference immediately. Between herself and everyone else she was channeling ten times the power she had ever wielded as Night Mare. She wanted to remember this moment the rest of her life: the love, caring, and friendship she was channeling from everyone else, being bathed in it, as she routed it all through her horn into the crystal chamber in the center of the ship. The message crystal within the chamber began to glow, first dimly, then steadily increasing until it began to radiate its own energy. The engine shaft captured the energy and routed it to the flywheel assembly. The primary flywheel began turning slowly, then faster till it was a blur, then faster yet until it became red-hot. Then the primary flywheel spun the secondary flywheel until it, too, turned red-hot. The secondary flywheel spun a shaft connected to a series of electrical generators which powered radiation projectors constructed from the blueprints the Iscanterians supplied. Those projectors bathed the crystal in the radiation, of which the brilliant white light which could only be seen by Luna presently was just a small part of the total spectrum.

Her eyes still bright with power, Luna grinned, actually feeling a new emotion for the first time in her life: joy. The power of friendship had done more than than simply release her from the bondage of her own anger. This time, the powers of love and friendship branded themselves indelibly upon her soul. She now knew whatever else happened, she would never feel alone again. Ever. In a volume too low for anyone to hear, Luna whispered to herself, "Yes!", not just for the engines, but also for herself.

"WE HAVE SELF-SUSTAINING ENGINES, SIR!", Forest Snow shouted in glee.

"MASTER CHIEF! DETONATE EXPLOSIVE CHARGES!", Captain Avatar Apple ordered.

Iron Will's voice could be heard through an intercom, repeating the order. Dull thuds were heard by the bridge crew through the top and side of the ship as tons of dirt and debris were thrown clear, leaving an irridescent surface.

"RARITY, RAISE THE SHIP!"

"Yes, sir!", Rarity replied. Her horn, just like Luna's, was plugged into a console socket above her head. The marvelous nearly-magical artistanship of Moosubishi made it possible for her to steer with her mind alone. There were levers and other manual controls for backup, but since Rarity was the only pony outside the Crysanthemum Empire who knew how to operate machinery, even if only a sewing machine bought for her from Cowasaki as a gift by Avatar Apple in one of his sea trips, she could instantly extend the principle to a much larger machine like a ship. She knew how to make it turn, just like she could make the bobbins turn or the cloth advance. She could view any instruments she desired, which were then overlaid as images atop her vision. Augmented Reality was the name given by the technicians.

She needed only to will it. The ship began shaking itself out of the soil in response.

"OPS, PLUG INTO RADAR! GIVE ME TIME TO MISSILE IMPACT!"

Forest Snow had practiced with both mockups and simulations for more than a year. His station was actually designed to fit into his own talent by which he obtained his own cutie mark, remarkably only months after birth, the ability to sense objects and people all around him without even needing to see them: extra-sensory perception.

"Three minutes, Captain!", Forest replied.

Manure, Avatar thought. He pressed a button on his command console. "Luna, we need you topside for gunnery, fast!"

"As you wish, my lord.", Luna's filtered voice replied.

That stupid royal attitude has got to be the first thing that will go!, the captain resolved, while he tried to keep the exasperation out of his eyes just as Luna galloped into the bridge full tilt. I'll have to admit, though, she does gives everything her all.

"Luna, plug into the gunner's station.", the captain instructed. "Rarity, status!"

"We've just cleared the soil!", Rarity replied. The ponies on the bridge could now see sunlight and the devastated landscape. "Why were we underground, anyway?"

He replied, with a curl to his lip, "So that nothing could see the ship we were building. Too bad the enemy decided upon overkill and would take out the entire Crysanthemum Empire along with us. Roll the ship to port twenty degrees."

"Rolling to port, twenty degrees.", she acknowledged. As the ship rolled, Avatar flipped another switch on his own console to close the windows, so as to to protect everypony's eyes on the bridge from what was about to happen.

"Luna, lock on the missile with the foward turret and open fire."

The entire ship rang like a wine glass and vibrated with an impact which threw a few ponies off their hooves and onto the floor.

Author's Note:

The hull is not of iron construction. It's actually made of nanomachined diamond... among other things.

Comments

[Jazzaman]

Holy crap! Another Yamato fic!

[eternalsquire]

.I mean to be thorough. You just watch me.