You open the door to the Local Botany Research room, where rows of full planter boxes divide most of the floor into aisles. Above each one, grow lights and sprinklers hang from the ceiling, casting a warm glow and, occasionally, a gentle mist.
 
You find a mare observing different varieties of plants by the far wall, and a stallion, taking some notes aloud.
 
Stallion: “Hmmyes, an increase of three percent in copper should optimize the morning bloom’s photosynthesis conversion rate.”
 
As you enter, the pair turns to your party. The stallion’s eyes slowly drift to Moonflower, then back to you.
 
Stallion: “Let me guess. One of Novelty’s test subjects? The Equinculus Project is next door, to your right.”
 
Moonflower: “Me? Nuh uh, I’m a bat pony!”
 
Mare: “Wait, a bat pony? Ah, please excuse us, we’ve never even heard of your kind before. Um, welcome to Midgard! And you two are…?”
 
You introduce yourselves to the pair.
 
Mare: “So you’re all outsiders. Interesting! I’m Rosie Flourish, and this is Square Root. As you might’ve guessed, we’re members of the Local Botany Research team. The others are out on a field study expedition, so it’s just the two of us here today.”
 
Square Root: “Let’s get to the point, then, shall we? Somehow, I doubt you came all the way here merely to discuss horticulture.”
 
You nod, and tell the unicorns that you are looking for a seed of the Yggdrasil tree. You ask if they know anything about it.
 
Square Root: “Hmmno. Although I can fathom the logic that brought you here, know that we exclusively study flora of the Astorian region. A legendary tree that may or may not exist is, quite literally, outside of our field of expertise.”
 
Rosie Flourish: “Um, for what it’s worth, I might’ve heard a thing or two; my grandma loves to tell stories about her twelfth great-grandfather who claimed to have seen the world tree with his own two eyes.
 
According to her, it used to be somewhere ponies could go to. But then something happened, I’m not sure what, and the tree was hidden away in the Mists forever.”
 
Moonflower: “Oooh! What’s the Mists?”
 
Rosie Flourish: “You know that big column of clouds to the northwest? That’s what we call the Mists. From what I hear, nopony was ever able to navigate them, even with the aid of the most advanced technology available.”
 
Square Root: “And before you get into your heads that you are somehow different or better than everypony else, I suggest you reconsider. You are not the first to come here seeking the impossible, and you will not be the last to leave disappointed.”
 
Rosie Flourish: “Anyway, I’m sorry we weren’t much help. Here’s hoping one of the other research teams can at least point you in the right direction!”
 
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