The Quest For Iscanter

by eternalsquire

Food Flight

Down inside the Yamato's keel, AppleJack and a Moosubishi civilian technical representative were inspecting the goods recently coming out of the food synthesizers. They just didn't look right. The red apples were fading to pink, the yellow apples were fading to white, you could almost see through the greens, and the grains looked like they were crumbling into dust.

"AppleJack-san", the civilan said as he bowed to her, "I do believe I understand your problem."

"What's that?"

"Our company's food recyclers are not one hundred percent efficient, because they don't synthesize at the atomic level, merely at the organic molecular level through enzymes via automated polymerase chain reactions. They cannot indefinitely recycle nutrients from your waste. You are asking too much of these machines."

Her eyes widened. "We're breakin' the synthesizers? We'll starve!"

"Not as bad as that, fortunately. You need certain inputs. So long as you provide sufficient chlorophyll and cellulose the machines should be able to handle the rest."

"Just where do you 'spect us to find chlorophyll and cellulose 'round here?", AppleJack's accent got thicker the more upset she became.

"These can usually be found in green plants of all kinds.",

"Look, just 'cause ah'm a farmer doesn't mean ah'm an uneducated country hick when it comes to growin' things. I know what chlorophyll and cellulose are! Clorophyll stores light into sugars. Cellulose is like to plants what bricks are to buildin's. But we're outta reach of Equestria and can't get plants from there no-more!"

"Then", the technician said, crossing his forelegs at her, "the plants will need to be found elsewhere".

. . .

Forest Snow visited Trixie's isolation ward at Twilight Sparkle's invitation.

Trixie glanced at him and then did a double take. "Ooooo!", she squealed, "He's so priiiii-ty!",

"Ignore her, it's the tranquilizers.", Twilight warned.

"So why am I here?", he asked.

"I wanted you to introduce you to Trixie."

Twilight faced her. "Trixie, this is Forest Snow, grandson and heir presumptive of the current Emperor of The Crysanthemum Empire. They've built our ship for us, provided most of the equipment, and even lent us a few ponies for officers and crew. Forest Snow, for example, is our Operations Officer. On the bridge he scans an instrument known as a radar by which we can identify incoming hostiles such as ships and missiles."

"Okay...", most of the explanation already having gone far over Trixie's head. Then, noticed his cutie mark, a white circle with a single green line between the center and the rim. She pointed to it. "What's that for?"

Forest blushed in embarassment. "Almost none of us in our land have cutie marks like you, aside from certain of the royal lines and about one in a thousand random ponies in our Empire. We think they only predomiminate in pony populations who've fully embraced magic, like Celestia's realm. We never really did. We prefer to create our own destinies, being craftsponies, artisans, and discoverers of truth at all levels of existence. It's a kind of personal to us, and you pointing to one would be equivalent to one of us pointing to your gender, Trixie, and shouting out how cute yours is for all the world to hear."

He continued. "But since you asked, and because you can be excused for currently being a mental patient, I shall answer. My talent is extra-sensory perception. I know the positions and identities of everything in my near vicinity without my needing to see them. My range is about maybe twenty furlongs. The radar instruments operate very much like my talent, except on a much larger scale."

"I'm a mental patient?", Trixie fumed.

"It's the only way I can take your current curiosity as not being insulting..."

"Moving right along...", Twilight interrupted, flashing a obviously fake brilliant smile by way of warding off a possible conversational disaster, "Forest Snow, this is Trixie. Before I earned my wings, she was about as powerful a magic user as could be and not have a cutie mark in magic. Even that level is nothing to fool around with. She ran a carnival act known as The Great Trixie, as a stage illusionist. We brought her along because properly trained we believe she could help protect us."

"Honored to meet you, Trixie-san.", he said in tones which from him were meant to express the soul of courtesy.

"Charmed, I'm sure", Trixie pleasantly surprised. "I'd be more charmed to spend some time with..."

"Forest...", said Twilight, "Let's show her some moves we've been practicing lately."

"What kind of moves?", Trixie asked snidely.

"Fighting", he shrugged. "To be exact, fighting between unicorns with the bare horns."

"How rude!", she declared. "I mean, those are private things to be playing with!"

"Not in our culture. I mean, a hoof can cause a severe injury or even kill if extreme skill is used, but a horn is deadly even if casually thrusted, and of course, we have other movies for blocking. I've been teaching Twilight. I'm actually rated high enought to be 'obligated to teach'. Ready, Twilight? Slow motion. I'll do blocking."

Twilight stepped quickly toward Forest to make a straight thrust. Forest crossed her horn with his, making a loud clack ! sound, not only forcing her horn downward but preventing further foward progress. "Downward block!", he announced.

Clack! "Upward block!", Clack! "Outside right block!", Clack! "Inside right block!", Clack! "Inside left block!", Clack! "Outside left block!".

"Those are just the basics.", he said. "Layered above that are patterns, the 'kata', and then there's always strategy."

Twilight smiled, bowing her head briefly. "Domo, Sensei! Trixie, I've been starting to teach Forest some elements of magic, and he's already picked up a couple useful spells. For a realm which shies away from magic he's sure a very fast learner. Show her!"

Forest concentrated. A short green beam of brilliant light emanated from his horn, perhaps as long as one of his own legs. Wherever he moved his head, the beam went along with it, making a brief humming sound as it moved. "Cutting beam.", he said. "I can't be careless with this, it would even cut through solid rock or metal. Nothing can withstand it... except."

Twilight extended a similar beam of her own, except its color was purple. "Exercise one, Sensei?", she grinned at him.

"By all means, my most faithful student!", he said. Is that common to all teachers?, Twilight wondered. I miss Celestia so much already!

As the teacher of sword and the teacher of magic sparred once again, this time light flashed brilliantly from each of the humming beams as they crossed to block each other, each time with a deafening crash!.

Trixie stared at the scene. "AWESOME!!! AWESOME!!! AWESOME!!!", she shouted in delight, trying to jump up and down in excitement but barely wiggling within her restraints. "I WANT TO LEARN THAT TOO!!!"

And, when I do, Trixie swore silently to herself, I will use it to kill!

. . .

Avatar had been listening in his command seat, to AppleJack explain the ship's current predicament.

"... and so you see, sir", AppleJack concluded her report, "we're able to stretch our supplies by using the synthesizers to recycle our manure, but not replace them entirely. We absolutely must find fresh green grass, trees, ferns, or what-have-you to refresh the nutritional values in our food occasionally, or we will all starve to death within weeks. Stuff's fairly bland and tasteless even now."

He nodded at her, grimly. He then activated his intercom to public address. "Executive Officer, please report to the bridge, immediately!", the overhead speakers roared throughout the ship.

Within minutes, Twilight Sparkle and Forest Snow could be heard clambering up the stairs to the bridge in haste. They were lathered in sweat.

"So glad you two could make it.", Avatar said sarcastically. "We have a problem."

Fluttershy sniffed the air wafting from the rear and averted her nose. "And you two need a shower!", she added.

"Life Support Specialist, repeat the summary to the Executive Officer which you told to me.", he ordered.

AppleJack did just that.

"So, where's the nearest place we can take on an entire holdful of plants?", he asked.

"Sir, according to the star maps contained in the Iscanterian message crystal, there's a system about a thousand lightyears along our course.", Twilight reported. "There's a gas giant, similar to our planet five, Poseidon, but the gas giant lies within the habitable zone of the red giant primary. That means all satellites of the gas giant reside in the same zone. One of them has a footnote attached to it indicating it contains an active biosphere.

"The satellite also has a name.", she said, bringing up the chart. A large arrow pointed to it, and it was labelled:

BEEMEELA

Comments

[eternalsquire]

The Star Trotters are about to face the Beemeela scenario.