Lunar Diplomacyby VerathuumChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 5Chapter 6Chapter 7Chapter 8Chapter 9Chapter 10Chapter 11Chapter 12Chapter 13Chapter 1Discordia, the chaotic nation that borders Equestria to the east, has recently begun its industrial output and the manufacturing of weapons and increasing its military might. This of course made the leaders of Equestria, the Crystal Empire, and possibly even the Chitin Lands to the south very weary. Equestria and the Crystal Empire both had respectable armies, but Discordia’s tactics were always unpredictable, yet very calculated. There was little chance both sovereignties could survive the onslaught, even if they both bounded together. Equestria’s leaders, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, spoke with each other over a map of Equus and how they might pull through. “The Changeling Kingdom might lend aid if we asked,” Luna said. “No, they only see us as food,” Celestia replied, “They would surely help us to ensure their food’s survival, but that would require opening our borders for them to enter. Once they were inside, they would make meals of all of us.” “What about Germaneigh?” Luna asked. “They are technically a province of Equestria. There’s no doubt they would lend help, but their military is barely more than weapon-wielding citizens.” “Well,” Luna began. She paused since she was out of ideas and looked at the map. There was one nation who was not listed as an enemy of Equestria, and whose military was supposedly strong enough to defeat Discordia’s with little more than several battalions. “Auflorsung might help.” Celestia laughed slightly, “Sister, Auflorsung is a mythical land. Sure some of our explorers have seen it, but there was no evidence of life, and perhaps they were just hallucinating. Drunken sailors desperate for land might see something like that. There's no evidence that life exists there, let alone a civilization. Plus, even if there was one, Auflorsung is on the opposite side of the world. It would take days to get there, even by the fastest airships; days that would be wasted because you weren't here to help protect Equestria.” “But sister,” Luna protested, “One of the explorers claimed to see lights in the distance; the afterglow of a city. Also there were bright lights off the coast, and that video game thing. It’s said to be an Auflorsung invention.” Celestia thought for several minutes. “Very well Luna. If you believe there is hope in Auflorsung, we will travel there and attempt diplomacy.” “We?” Luna asked, “Sister, one of us must remain here for military and moral support.” “You’re right,” Celestia said, “You are the younger, you must remain here and see Equestria does not fall.” “No, Celestia,” Luna said, “You must stay. You’re the favored princess so you would provide better moral support than I ever could.” Luna was correct, but Celestia did not want to admit she was favored over Luna. “Alright Luna,” Celestia gave in. “You leave tomorrow with part of your Lunar fleet. You will have three weeks: one to get to Auflorsung, one to make a treaty, one to return. Princess Twilight will assume stewardship in your place.” “Thank you, sister,” Luna said gratefully, but retained her mask of royalty. The next morning, Twilight had arrived and accompanied Luna and Celestia on their way to the nearby airfield, housing the Lunar Fleet. The princesses were dressed in their respective military uniforms: Luna’s was a blue tunic with a dark blue cape, and blue pants. She wore a saber on her side and a stern expression on her face. Celestia’s uniform was similar to Luna’s except it had a much longer cape, and had gold trim on the cuffs and collar with white instead of blue. Her saber, although hidden in its leather sheath, shined like the sun due to its gold plated blade. The five ships that were going weren't particularly large, however their hulls were plated in aluminum for extra protection, and the balloon keeping the airship aloft had small sheets of aluminum to keep it safe as well, while still remaining flexible. All of her ships were run by steam engines which not only gave the balloons the hot air they required, but also excess steam was used to heat the cabins. Its aluminum plating and intricate heating made it almost indestructible by Equestrian standards, and one of the most luxurious ships on the market. Luna boarded her ship and gave one last wave to Celestia and Twilight and her fleet was off, headed to the mysterious land of Auflorsung. The Umbra itself, Luna’s personal ship and her fleet’s flagship, was the newest and most advanced ship Equestria had. It was about a hundred feet long of cabin space, suspended by a five hundred foot long, one hundred foot wide balloon. It was powered by two massive steam engines which provided hot air to the balloon, and power to the propellers on the sides of the ship. The actual crew hold was shaped like any galleon, but it was aligned with regal fittings and decorated with obsidian along the rails. It also had a type of winch for cargo missions, and it boasted the strongest lifting capabilities of any multi-purpose airship. Of course there were other airships that could lift more, but they were designed specifically for cargo. There were four large cannons on the ship; two on each side. These provided the ship with enough protection from its enemies that it didn't require an escort, but Celestia had requested four other ships go as well. Its balloon and the ship were both aligned in very lightweight aluminum to protect it against attacks, and rendering it nearly invulnerable to attacks from the Chitin Kingdoms, Zebrafrica, or even Discordia. It was made Luna’s personal ship because of its protection and being the best all-round airship in the Equestrian fleet. Chapter 2The sun had set long ago and the sky was completely black, save for the stars and the dim crescent moon. The airships hung lazily in the breeze, their passengers grateful for the strong tailwind pushing them in the direction they wanted. The airships had been airborne for about a week, traveling at about twenty miles per hour over the three thousand mile journey. They were carrying a very important diplomat to a very strange country: Princess Luna was on her way to try to make a treaty with the Geniocracy of Auflorsung. Everyone on board the airship had mixed emotions; Auflorsung was a very isolated country, always keeping to itself. No one really even knew what a Florian looked like, or if they still existed. Not even Discordia, Discord’s country of chaos, dared challenge the militaristic strengths of Auflorsung. The crewmen of the ship were trying to spot where the ocean stopped and Auflorsung began, but to no avail. The Equestrian “experts” on Auflorsung had speculated that the Florians didn’t have any flying machines or even boats. Since they were always on their island country, it appeared they had no desire to explore; and therefore no means of leaving Auflorsung, such as a boat or airship. With this information, it seemed they would have no way of deterring the Equestrians from approaching via airship, so attempting to make a treaty with them seemed doable. The “experts” had warned that Auflorsung was filled with many dangerous animals which the Florians would have developed ways to combat strictly through technology; the crystals that produced magic weren't found anywhere near Auflorsung. It was unlikely they would use such weapons against an obviously peaceful Equestrian, but no one was sure. This was supported by many mainstream historians whose evidence led them to believe that the Auflorsung Island was home to some of the most dangerous creatures on Equus. Suddenly, a blue flare arose out of what appeared to be fog, bringing Luna back to reality. “Well that fog explains a lot,” Luna thought, “But what does that flare mean? Surely they couldn't have known we were approaching, especially through such thick fog.” She pondered the thought for a while until she noticed several blue lights approaching, and they clearly weren't flares when they changed course and slowed down. The lights turned out to be just one object; whether it was organic or artificial, she was unsure. “Look at that,” one of the crew members said, “Florians are pretty big.” “That’s just one of their flying machines,” another said, “Look; you can see something piloting it.” Luna looked closely at the flying light and indeed there was a creature on it, although it was somewhat hidden as it was clothed completely, even wearing a helmet that covered its face; most likely for safety reasons. The pilot looked like it was looking at the airship, although whether or not he was, was impossible to tell. The small craft flew forwards and above the ship at a safe distance; Luna watching the thing closely. It returned to the opposite side of the ship and remained synchronized with the airship's speed. He was close enough that Luna could see the details of his clothes: what looked like a single piece of black clothing with lights aligning the pilot’s arms and legs, as well as two strips of light on his chest. His helmet was blacked out and mirrored so she couldn’t see his face. He seemed to make eye contact with her for a few minutes until a red light flashed in front of him. He placed his hand down on the console in front of him and a blue hologram came up. Luna couldn't read it, but the Florian quickly turned his head to the airship then looked into the distance for a second or two before moving his left hand about the hologram. He furiously kept that up while periodically staring back at the ship. Suddenly, there was a loud crack and a second later, the sky and ground lit up like it was day time. There was a long streak in the sky leading to the explosion, and the Florian was still up with the airships. Luna glanced back at the white explosion, careful not to harm her eyes. There was a ripple in the sky approaching quickly, and the air seemed to distort under the ripple. The “indestructible” ships about half a mile behind her were pushed around like ragdolls as the distorted air passed them. The two farthest back began to fall, then the same happened to the next two behind the Umbra. Finally, the ripple flew over the Umbra and the Florian, carrying the distorted air with it. There was a loud explosion, louder than anything Luna had ever heard and the Umbra buckled and wavered; the aluminum plating was ripping off the ship like paper as it plummeted towards the ground. Luna gave a final look up to the Florian who had disappeared. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw what looked like a man falling towards the ground. The explosion let up and the man disappeared into the darkness. Luna could do nothing but hold on tightly to the railing as the ship smashed into the ground with a thud. Chapter 3“There it is,” the Florian pilot thought. He was approaching the large airship in front of the formation, however he didn't know their purpose or why they were approaching Florian airspace. He decided he would take a closer look. His small craft was known as light sail and he essentially sat on it like it was a speed bike. It had a joystick on his right side and a throttle control on his left side and a center console that handled navigation and other things. He made his was around the large airship taking in the aesthetic charm and came in only a few dozen feet. He could see two crew members and a very dignified female. She was dressed in blue and had strangely flowing blue hair which seemed to have the stars in it. He examined the female closely and then flew around to the other side of the airship. While he was on the opposite side, the girl in blue had come over there as well. It seemed she was just as curious about him as he was of her. He could see her examining his clothing: a single black combat skin with lights aligning his limbs. This was in case he was ever shot down, he had a better chance of being seen and being protected. He stared back at her from behind his mask, knowing she couldn't see his face behind it. Suddenly, there was a beeping in his helmet and a red light flashed on the center console. He placed his finger on the light and a map of Auflorsung came up. A message alerted him: “Unknown crafts discovered. Mesa Gun armed.” It began blinking “Mesa Gun firing.” “Shit,” the Florian thought. The Mesa Gun was first constructed to destroy asteroids that were getting close to Equus’ atmosphere, first constructed ten years before the 201 Planet Fall Event to prevent another asteroid collision. It was a large ring, about a mile across, of about ten individual rail guns that could fire a magnetic projectile at about five times the speed of sound; with an effective range almost that of half the world. Of course Auflorsung didn’t want to start any wars, so it restricted the gun’s use to just beyond Auflorsung’s shores, unless there was an invasion. It was soon realized how effective Mesa was against aircraft, and it soon became the first line of defense for Auflorsung against unknown aircraft. The Florian of course was known, and that’s why he was receiving the notification. The entire Auflorsung country was a valley surrounded by a tall mountain range which provided perfect protection against a Mesa shell that was to destroy any oncoming enemy fleets, but leave the Florians unharmed. This was also the reason why there were no Florian cities within a hundred miles of the coast. The Florian pilot began swiping his hand over the hologram, trying to find a way to stop the Mesa Shell. He glanced back at the fleet, judging them to be peaceful. Just then, there was a loud crack indicating one of the supersonic Mesa shells had flown past them, probably around thirty thousand feet where they were normally fired off. A small window of time went by and the shell exploded. There was a bright light, like the sun. It lit up the sky and the ground like the daytime. A Mesa shell was designed so that the shockwave of the explosion would bring down any airborne vehicles, not the explosion itself. The Florian shielded his eyes from the bright light, and he pushed the throttle control and joystick together, collapsing his small jet. He turned around as he fell and watched the ships waver in the shockwave, then drop. He watched the airships as he fell, curious about who was onboard it and what they wanted. The girl looked like a military officer, although he was unaware that other countries allowed females in their militaries. The Florian returned to his situation and saw he was quickly approaching the ground. With a quick pull of a small plug on his combat skin, four small wings appeared, slowing his descent. Within a few minutes he was on the ground and retracted the four wings. He stood upright and looked for any hint of the crashed airship. He spotted some smoke and a faint glow and walked towards it. He let down his helmet to breathe the clean, fresh air since his helmet was airtight. It was composed of about seven pieces which were all controlled by his brain waves. If he thought of the helmet covering his head, it did; if he thought of the helmet going down onto his back, it did. He made his way towards the wreckage which had somehow caught fire. By the looks of things it had crashed into the ground much harder than he had anticipated. The balloon was completely gone save for a few leftover pieces; the rest was probably suspended on some trees somewhere. The main ship had a large hole along its left side; it looked like it had skidded along a large boulder. Part of it had caved in, but the rest seemed intact; despite the railings and other aesthetics being destroyed. The Florian raised his helmet so he wouldn't have to breathe the smoke, and he approached the wreckage. He began digging for any survivors or anything like that, and paying no attention to the flames he walked through. His suit was completely fireproof and provided much better protection than Equestrian armor. He dug with his hands mostly, but it appeared he also had some control over magic, which he used to move the heavier things. Chapter 4Luna was nearly panicking as the large airship collided with the mountain slope, shaking the entire ship and further alarming all of its remaining crew members. It seemed to land in some mud and it began sliding down the slope. Luckily, it didn't pick up too much speed before it collided with a massive boulder which broke its momentum. Unfortunately, the ship had enough speed to plow through the boulder, breaking the left side of the ship and leaving a large hole halfway through. It stopped very suddenly as it hit the boulder, throwing many crewmen off the front of the ship; it threw Luna forward, but she was able to catch herself on the railing. She let go and landed on her feet on the ground which appeared to be dry in this part. She had fallen farther than she thought, and it felt like the fall had broken one of her ankles. She collapsed off her legs when she felt the intense pain in her foot, and she crawled her way from the wreckage when she saw four lights gliding towards the ground a small distance away. “That Florian’s here to make sure his work is finished,” she thought. She crawled into some bushes near the crash site, but out of the way enough that the Florian wouldn't bother looking there for her. She saw the tall creature approaching and saw it was built just like an Equestrian: four limbs, and about the same height, if not a little taller than an Equestrian male, however he was much thinner. She saw the Florian wasn't wearing his helmet, but before his face came into view, the Florian put his helmet back on. The weird thing was he didn't use his hands to make that happen. She watched him from behind the thick grass and leaves of the tropical mountains as he approached the wreckage and examined it. He used his hands mostly, but it appeared he was using something else, an invisible substance, to move the heavier wood beams. “How did he survive that massive explosion from earlier, and that fall back to the ground?” Luna wondered silently. She lay completely still, hidden entirely by the grass as she watched in absolute fear of the Florian. She closely watched him fumble around the wreckage looking for survivors. One of the weird aspects of this that struck Luna was that he was completely silent: not only did he not say anything, but when he walked she could barely hear him, and the only sound that was made were the sounds of things shifting inside the wreckage. He went deeper inside the wreckage, no doubt looking inside the individual rooms, and then several minutes later appeared on the upper deck. The Florian approached the wreckage and dug through it. He found his way to the upper deck where he saw several bodies and quickly ran up to them. He moved completely silently as most Florians did: make too much noise, and the wildlife gets you. “Dead,” he thought solemnly, “Dammit, that Mesa shell must've gotten the best of them.” He set the body down and walked to the edge of the ship. He leaned on the part of the balcony that wasn't broken and stared into the distance. “Well…shoot,” he thought, “My jet is probably broken and I have no way to get home, other than walk. And just my luck, getting trapped out here.” He looked at the faint glow beyond the horizon: Chukxil, one of the many Auflorsung cities. The Florian drew his gaze from the horizon and looked down in frustration; there was no conceivable way home, especially because of the creatures that roamed the mountains at night…even the day. He looked down in despair, but something caught his attention: there was a patch of disturbed dirt. The mud by this point on the mountain was dry and was simply dirt covered with a loose layer of sand. The Florian left the ship and examined the disturbed sand more closely. It appeared that a body had landed here and dragged itself away from the wreckage. He followed the tracks about ten feet down the clearing, and then the track made a hard turn into the bushes. “Well, well,” he thought, “Someone did survive after all.” He stood upright and peered into the bushes behind his visor. There was no movement that he could see, but when he switched to thermal vision, he saw a different scene. “Please just go,” Luna silently begged, “There’s no one here at all, just go on.” She looked at the Florian’s feet from behind the grass, confident the low-hanging branch above her concealed her body and her dark blue clothing made her invisible in the dark. She closed her eyes when she realized the Florian wasn’t going anywhere and waited for the end. After a few seconds however, she reopened them and looked up. A small space between the branch leaves allowed her to see the Florian’s head. It was covered by the same mask that he wore in the air. She could see his shoulders twist in such a way that they indicated he was reaching for something. “He’s gonna kill me now,” she thought thinking he was reaching for a weapon. “You’re not going to get your wish,” the Florian thought as he pulled a baton off his left side. With an extremely swift motion, a blue blade made of energy extended from the baton and he drove the deadly weapon straight into the ground. Luna could feel vibration of the blade striking the ground inches from her right arm. She could soon feel the heat of the blade even through her thick coat. “He’s just taunting me now,” she thought. Suddenly, the blade lifted out of the ground and it disappeared back into the baton. Luna remained still even though she desperately wanted to run, but the fear kept her in one place. Without warning, she felt a hand grab her arm and pull her out of the bushes and onto her feet; she was too afraid to feel the pain in her ankle. She stared up at the Florian who had set his baton on his side again. She was lost in awe of being in the presence of a Florian; it was an honor, even for a princess. She continued staring dumbfounded and speechless at his mirrored mask, staring back at her confused reflection. “How can that help in a fight?” she wondered, “Just seeing the frightened expression of yourself makes your emotions his.” She didn't know, however, that the mirroring was not for human opponents, but animals, particularly cockatrices. She watched the Florian lose his grip on her arm, and he bent down next to where she was laying. He picked up a strange looking creature: a four-legged spider with four eyes, and two very long fangs. Poison dripped from the fangs, boiling as it hit the ground indicating its acidic qualities. The Florian wasn't trying to kill her, he was saving her. “Uhh…thank you,” she said at a loss of what else to say. Suddenly, there was a loud screeching roar not too far away, and the Florian grabbed her arm and pulled her into the ship without a word. “What was that thing?” she asked him trying to get him to speak. He replied by putting his index finger over the lower portion of his mask, telling her to be quiet. Chapter 5The Florian scanned the grass with his thermal vision and saw the outline of a body, human, and probably Equestrian. He also saw the faint outline of a four legged creature: a jyptulok and a baby at that. Still, it had two very long fangs with acid poison and could kill a human with one bite in less than five minutes. He grabbed his baton, an energy sword that any Florian had. It was the best weapon against anything that lived in Auflorsung. He quickly drove his blade into the baby jyptulok, searing its organs and killing it instantly. He pulled his blade back up and sheathed it on his side. Then he reached down and picked up the Equestrian. He examined her closely making sure she was in fact Equestrian and that she wasn't bitten. Her white skin and oddly colored hair, in this case blue with what looked like stars, was a dead giveaway, as well as her solidly colored eyes. Florians also had white skin, but their hair was never anything but brown, black, or blonde; and their eyes were never a solid color. He assumed she was doing the same, with what little she had to go by with his mask, examining him like he did her. After a few seconds, he remembered he needed to make sure the jyptolok was dead. He let go of the Equestrian’s arm and kneeled down next to the dead bug. He picked it up and looked closely at it. Its blood had been evaporated by the heat of the energy blade and it wasn't moving; clear indications it was dead. He glanced up at the Equestrian when she thanked him, but there was a screeching noise before he could reply: the jyptolok’s mother was still around, and most likely very angry as they usually were. He tossed the baby jyptolok down and grabbed the Equestrian’s arm firmly, and brought her into the broken airship. It seemed to be the safest place at the moment, given that it was somewhat sheltered and there were many flames around it, most likely from any knocked over candles on board the ship. “What was that thing?” the Equestrian asked. He quickly shushed her by putting his index finger over his mouth. “Crazy girl,” he thought, “Does she not understand the danger we’re in? One more word and she’ll give away our hiding spot for sure.” He found a small chest that he was able to put the Equestrian behind so the mother jyptolok wouldn't see her, and he found his own spot to hide just opposite the chest. He pulled his baton off his side and extended the energy blade, remaining sure to keep it and himself hidden. A larger version of the jyptolok emerged from the jungle and into the clearing. It stopped and looked around for a few seconds. It was a terrible creature: chitinous skin, twelve feet high, and fangs the length of the Florian’s arm. It was so large, in fact, that a single stab with an energy sword was not enough to kill it. It required several swipes at one leg just to hack one off, and at least two legs needed to be cut to be effective. It scouted the area noticing the wrecked airship, but not approaching it because of the flames on it. Fire was what most Auflorsung beasts feared the most, and luckily it was on Luna’s and the Florian’s side. After about thirty seconds, the mother jyptolok went off in the direction that it came, blissfully unaware of the fine meal it could have made of the two humans. The Florian slowly emerged from behind his cover and examined the area closely. When he saw it was safe, he went back into the airship to retrieve the Equestrian. “I hope that thing doesn't come back,” he thought to himself. He let his hand down and allowed the girl to grab it, instead of firmly grabbing her arm and pulling her. He wasn't sure about Equestrian culture, but he figured the females were similar to Auflorsung females. “What was that thing?” the Equestrian girl asked him. He looked back outside before replying to make sure it was safe. “A jyptolok,” he replied with a single tone and with evident fear in his voice, “Same as the little one that would have bitten you.” “What makes the babies so dangerous?” she asked him. Luna looked at him curiously: he hadn't shown his face or any skin for that matter, and now that he finally spoke, his voice had a strange distorted quality to it. “Is he even human?” she wondered to herself, “Is he some mechanical automaton?” “Acid spit, and long fangs. Plus its poison could kill you in less than five minutes,” he told her, “Now, who are you and why did you penetrate Auflorsung airspace?” “I’m the princess of Equestria, and I came here to try to make a treaty with your country,” Luna replied. “No you’re not,” the Florian protested, “Princess Celestia wears a white gown, and has multicolored hair. Don’t lie to me; you’re probably some lady-in-waiting for her.” Luna was taken aback by the fact he knew anything about Equestrian, or even another country’s culture at all, but also by the fact he challenged her royalty. “I’m Princess Luna, Princess of the Night,” Luna replied somewhat loudly, “And how do you know my sister even exists?” “I've never heard of you,” the Florian replied, “And what are you talking about? I used to go to Equestria all the time.” Luna had become so angry by his challenging her status that she was tempted to slap him, but it was clear he was wearing some full-body combat skin, and that his helmet was probably made of a very hard material. She lost all her anger, however, when he said he used to travel to Equestria all the time. “You…you used to go to Equestria all the time?” she asked him in complete confusion. “Of course,” he replied, “But I haven’t been in a thousand years.” “A thousand years?” she asked surprised, “Well…that would explain why you don’t know me. About two years ago I…returned to Equestria and have been there since,” she explained to him, but she was still surprised at his comment, “a thousand years.” This proved to her that he was an automaton since no human, save for Celestia, herself, Cadence, Chrysalis, Twilight and Discord could live longer than a hundred years. “Oh,” the Florian said, “That makes some sense.” He glanced back outside again then back at Luna, “So if you really are Princess Luna, can you prove it?” Luna rolled her eyes. Never had anyone given her so much trouble, but she had to remain calm. She was a diplomat in a foreign country and representing all of Equestria. She figured she could prove her office with little trouble. “Yes, I can,” she said, “Wait here.” She quickly ran upstairs to the next floor and went into her suite. She grabbed the knocked over portrait of herself and Celestia and the sun and moon painted behind their respective princess. She quickly came back downstairs and showed the Florian, who now was sitting down on the chest Luna was hiding behind. “Alright,” the Florian said, “I believe you now, Princess Luna.” He looked up at her from his sitting position, but kept his helmet on, silently wondering, but not really caring, why Luna never asked him to remove it. “OK, now can you take me to your master so they can take me to your leaders?” Luna asked him. “Master?” the Florian asked surprised, “I have no master, Auflorsung is a free country!” “What do you mean?” Luna asked him, “I can see you’re clearly an automaton.” The Florian said nothing, but crossed his arms. He dropped his helmet behind his head exposing his face entirely; showing Luna his stern “die in a fire” look. His light brown hair was pushed to the side with blonde streaks in it indicating he had spent his share of time in the sunlight. His eyes were brown with small patches of yellow as well. He looked like he was no older than twenty-five. “Don’t look at me like that!” Luna yelled at him. “How could you think I wasn't human?” he asked. “Your armor, your voice, the fact you never took your helmet off,” Luna replied. “Even though I showed emotion earlier, something robots aren't capable of?” the Florian protested. “Emotion?” Luna asked, “You never showed emotion.” “When I killed the jyptolok. I felt a little sad.” “Why?” “It was a baby. Now about your ship.” “How did you even do that anyway? That ship was aligned with aluminum. It’s indestructible.” “Maybe by your standards,” the Florian laughed, “But aluminum isn't exactly a strong metal. And no amount of lightweight metal is going to stop the shockwave from that explosion. The sheets of it that were on the top of the balloon are probably shattered from the blast they took. If you thought you could come here with slow, predictable airships then you've really got no idea how Auflorsung works, do you?” “Not really,” Luna said knowing she couldn't win this argument, “Now, where are we and what’s our situation?” “Well, we’re on the eastern coast, well about ten miles from it, and about a hundred miles from the closest city,” the Florian replied, “It appears we’re doomed to walk unless my light sail is still working.” “Light sail?” Luna asked. “This,” the Florian replied pulling the baton off his right thigh, “If it still works, I can fly you all the way to the capital, but if not, we’re walking to Chukxil, the closest city.” “Well, go see if your jet still works,” Luna told him. “First, let me ask a favor. Please don’t boss me around like I’m one of your servants. You’re in foreign lands now, representing your country so it would look really good if you were nice, but yes I will go see if my light jet still works,” the Florian said, “You might want to come with me as well.” “Alright,” Luna said. She followed the young-looking male to a nearby cliff where he raised his helmet and pulled the baton off his right thigh. “Stay right here,” he said, “I don’t know if it’s going to work, and I know that you can’t risk dying because of a faulty vehicle.” “Alright,” Luna replied, “Wait! If that ends up broken, will you die?” “Most likely.” “Then what am I supposed to do if you die?” Luna asked him. He replied with a shrug and jumped off the cliff. The Florian began falling head-first towards the ground, and he pulled his baton in half. One half became the throttle control, and the other became the joystick control. Around him, blue lights appeared outlining the vehicle, and the rest solidified. He pulled up and increased the throttle and blasted up above the cliff he had launched from. He turned around and slowed the jet down enough that he was able to push the baton pieces back together, collapsing the jet and allowing him to collide with the ground safely. “Well, it works,” he said happily, even though he was sure the blast hadn't damaged his light sail. “Good, now before we go, I have one more question,” Luna said. “What is it?” he asked realizing he would play tour-guide for the next few hours. “You said you came to Equestria a thousand years ago, but you look like you’re only about twenty. How is that?” she asked him. “Well, you see we Florians put our brains to work and we discovered a way to make ourselves immortal through genetic manipulation if we want it,” he replied, “It just so happens I got mine at nineteen and I haven’t aged in eleven hundred years.” “Why would…how?” Luna asked him unable to comprehend what he was telling her. It was obvious Auflorsung was centuries or even millennia ahead of all the other countries on Equus in technology. “I’ll explain on the way,” the Florian said, “Here, I need you to hold onto me really tightly.” Without question, Luna wrapped her arms around his neck firmly and she jumped onto his back in a piggy-back style when she felt him leaning over the cliff. “Hang on!” he said over the crescendo of wind. He pulled his baton again, and his light jet materialized. With a slight tug on the joystick, he leveled the craft and put it in a straight and level flight. Luna had never felt such a sensation. Sure she had flown in airships, but they didn't compare to riding on a small machine like this. They were going much faster than any airship could hope to, even with a hurricane pushing it. She breathed the savory rushing wind and looked into the sky. It was nighttime here, but daytime in Equestria, meaning she would be asleep during the night here without messing with her internal clock. This excited her somewhat because now she would be able to join the others in their daily activities and enjoy the sun properly. “So,” she began, “You haven’t told me your name.” “Jolterix,” the Florian replied from behind his helmet. At some point he raised it again, but Luna wasn't sure at what point. “Princess Luna, we have to make a quick stop in Chukxil.” “Why?” she asked him. “You can’t go around this country looking like that,” he said, “Plus…well I’ll let you figure it out.” “Let me figure what out?” she asked. “What?” was his only reply indicating to Luna he was in no mood to talk, but in reality he just didn't hear her. “Anyway we’re gonna make a stop to get you some new clothes.” “Clothes like yours?” she asked. “Kind of like mine.” He pushed the throttle forward to gain speed, but at the same time remaining careful not to overwork the engines. He heard a booming sound and looked up. There was some lightning and they were approaching a storm it looked like. “Hang on,” Jolterix told Luna, “I think we might be in for quite a ride.” Luna looked up and saw large clouds illuminated by the glow of the city ahead of them. “You can fly us in a storm, right?” she asked with much concern. “Oh yeah,” Jolterix replied then thought in his head, “As long as I get super lucky.” He kept the small craft on its heading, which was unfortunately directly at the storm. The small plane began to point its nose into the wind, making the ground track slightly to their right; a position known as “crabbing.” All seemed well for a few minutes until there was a very bright flash and loud boom. “What just happened?!?” Luna shouted with panic in her voice. A red display popped up over the center console and had several flashing indicators. “Well,” Jolterix replied as the display popped up, “I’d say we just got struck by lightning, but this notification confirmed it. Be glad you’re still alive, Princess.” He looked to his left at the wing and saw it had been broken off and the plane was trying to regenerate itself, but could not. “What’s going on with that?” Luna asked him when she noticed the wing’s outline appear then disappear. “It’s trying to regenerate itself, but the electricity from the lightning isn't letting it,” Jolterix replied, “Do me a favor?” “What?” “While you've already got your arms around my ribs, unbuckle the straps around my stomach and chest then take the pack and put it on you.” “Why?” “Just trust me.” “Alright,” Luna replied. She did so and put the pack on herself, “What’s it do?” she asked. “It’ll slow your fall,” Jolterix replied now struggling to keep the plane steady, “If we go down, you could get off safely so I don’t have to worry about you as well.” “Oh, well…thanks,” Luna replied. “Get ready,” Jolterix told her. “For what?” “This!” Jolterix turned the small plane over and Luna fell off. He quickly reached up and pulled the cord which released the little wings allowing Luna's slow descent. Then he cut the throttle and slowed the small plane as best as he could to its proper gliding speed, even though it really had no gliding capability at all. Within a few minutes, he was very low to the ground where he pitched up hard and put in as much throttle as possible, stopping his descent. In the nose-up, near-hover position, he pushed the throttle and joystick together, collapsing the jet into its baton. Jolterix fell only about ten feet where he landed safely on the ground, and he spotted Luna. Awaiting her arrival, he took in his surroundings. “Exactly where I wanted to be,” he thought gladly to himself. Chapter 6Luna finally landed, albeit ungracefully and rather hard, near Jolterix where he helped her up and led her to a house. It was a lonely house; there was nothing besides the afterglow of the nearby city and the stars. Luna couldn't see the house because it was so dark, but Jolterix had a night-vision setting in his helmet. “Where are we?” she asked. “My place,” Jolterix replied. “Before you ask, it’s safe. There’s a ring of fire around this place that ignites whenever a creature gets too close.” “How big is it?” Luna asked noticing again how there were no lights around. “A couple hundred acres,” he replied. Luna was astonished. No one in Equestria had a few hundred acres, but then again no one needed that much space. Perhaps values were different in Auflosung? “So I guess it’s customary to have a lot of land in this country?” “Yes, you generally would live out here, then go into the cities to work,” Jolterix replied, “Although in my case, I rarely go into the cities since the airfields are always outside of them.” “Do you ever go into the cities?” Luna asked him. “Yes,” Jolterix said, “I do when I feel like it. Come, the ring of fire isn’t an immunity to animals, especially if they smell people.” He grabbed Luna’s arm and quickly walked her towards a house that suddenly appeared when they got close. He took her inside and told her to make herself at home. His house was not like the Canterlot Palace: it was only an eighth the size and was only two stories. The first room had a rack of about four batons, where Jolterix put his broken one. He walked Luna downstairs to a large room with a couch and two chairs, and a big, black rectangle on the wall. “What is that?” Luna asked him about the rectangle. “It’s a TV,” he replied. “Oh! Do you play videogames?” “Videogames?” Jolterix asked her extremely confused, “How do you know about videogames?” “I play them all the time in Canterlot Castle,” Luna replied. “How? Equestria is millennia behind us,” Jolterix replied. “One day some strange merchant came into Equestria and sold them for a very high price,” Luna replied, "a price only Celestia and I could afford." “Interesting,” Jolterix replied hypothesizing that it was a Florian who sold them trying to make few quick bucks, “But yes, I do play videogames.” He pointed at the game console and it turned on, as well as the TV. “Grab a controller, I’m going to get some soda, you want anything?” “Yes, bring me something strong,” Luna replied, “It’s been a rough night.” “Alright,” Jolterix replied. He returned with a small glass of a clear liquid which Luna sipped. It was stronger than anything Equestria had ever dared make. “Who would drink this?” she thought to herself. She just smiled at Jolterix when he looked at her oddly, and took several more sips. She was finished with it and then soon went to bed. The next morning, she awoke with a very strong headache, and noticed Jolterix was nowhere to be found, even though she assumed she was on his bed. “Oh shit,” she thought, even though princesses shouldn't curse, she did in this situation. After noticing she was in her underwear, she stood up and got dressed in a panicked state, all the way down to her gauntlets and necklace. She opened the bedroom door and went into the living room with the large TV playing music, and Jolterix lying on the couch. “Oh good, you’re awake,” he said, “Now I can go to bed.” Luna looked at the clock and it read 11:45am. She noticed Jolterix was only wearing a pair of shorts with no shirt. “What happened last night?” Jolterix looked up at her and paused his game. “You drank some of that drink I gave you, which you’re actually supposed to pour over ice cream so it’s weakened, the ice cream was right there,” he pointed to a bowl which had the remnants of ice cream in it, but most likely Jolterix ate it. “I was gonna say something, but you seemed to enjoy it, so I just assumed Equestrians like strong drinks. Then we played a few games until you threw the controller and stood up. Then you walked over to this couch and began crying while you berated your sister for sending you to the moon and everything like that. Then when I said I was going to bed you said, ‘No! I’m going to bed!” then you slammed the bedroom door shut and when I tried to tell you that it was my room, you said, ‘But I’m a princess,’ then you took my disc off my back and locked the door. That’s why I’m only wearing shorts right now.” “Oh,” Luna said surprised, “Well…I’m sorry about that, but what disc?” “It’s a thing that goes on your back and basically puts clothes on you,” Jolterix replied, “I was actually going to get one for you out of the closet, but the closet is in my room.” “So is that all that happened last night?” Luna asked. “Well,” Jolterix began with a smirk, “When I came up to the couch to try to stop you from crying ‘cause it was annoying, you hugged me tightly and said something intelligible, but then you stopped crying. Just when I thought it was over, you pulled me close and ran your fingers through my hair saying, ‘Tia, look at this changeling! It has hair!’” “Oh,” Luna said, “I’m sorry about that. I guess I’m not being a very good diplomat.” “I’m not sure what’s sadder: how you’re acting as a diplomat, or the fact you’re the best diplomat we've ever had,” Jolterix mused. “What?” Luna asked him. “Auflorsung has not had a foreign diplomat since before the 201 Planet Fall Event, or before I was born,” Jolterix replied. “Tell me about Auflorsung’s history,” Luna asked him as she had so many questions. Jolterix looked at her tiredly, “You wanna know something interesting? Florians are nocturnal, and I really want to go to bed now.” Luna was taken aback by that. She had some excitement for coming to Auflorsung because she would normally be awake during the day time, with Auflorsung being on the opposite side of the world. She had anticipated being “normal” with the diurnal Florians, only to find out they were nocturnal like her. “Alright,” Luna said sadly, though she knew she should try to adjust to this country’s time as well. “Thanks,” Jolterix replied and he tiredly walked into his room. Luna heard his bed move as he plopped down onto it, but a few seconds later she was surprised to find a blue strap dangle in front of her face. She looked up and saw Jolterix above her holding her bra. “Oh…sorry,” Luna said with a strong blush and weak smile. “You know what I gotta do now?” Jolterix asked her. “No?” “I gotta dissolve my bed,” Jolterix said. Luna’s eyes opened wide. Surely he couldn't be that upset about Luna’s preference to not sleep in her bra. “What do you mean?” she stood up and followed him into his room. Jolterix placed his palm on his bed and a holographic display popped up. He moved three fingers to the center and his bed seemed to disappear. “That’s called dissolving something,” he said. He placed his hand on the floor and made a complex motion and a new bed appeared. He tossed Luna a disc that he found on the side table like a Frisbee. “Here,” he said, “Find something you like.” “Equestrians are nocturnal as well,” Luna replied keeping it simple. She didn't want to explain that she was the only one and how it all worked. Jolterix raised an eyebrow. “Really?” he asked. “Well if that’s the case then I hope you don’t mind the couch.” “Actually…” Luna began, “Perhaps you could make a bed for me?” “Sure,” Jolterix said. He was stressed because he was tired, but he didn't want to give Luna a bad idea of Florians. He walked over to her and placed his hand on the ground. A small bed’s outline appeared then filled in. Jolterix lay back down on his bed and within seconds he was asleep. Luna did the same, although it took her much longer as she had already slept a few hours. Chapter 7The next morning Jolterix awoke and he quietly went into his closet, careful not to awaken Luna. He pulled a disc from the wall; he had two like most people, although some had four or even five. He activated the disc and a hologram appeared of what clothes he would wear. He took the disc into the living room where he saw the faintest glow of light beyond the horizon, indicating the sun had just set. He began swiping through the selection until he came to a black robe. It wasn't as tight-fitting as his combat skin, but it wasn't very loose either. It had white lights aligned on the cuffs and one on the torso that marked where the robe attached in front, with one light stripe around the waist and another around the bottom. The helmet was a mirrored black full-head type, much like his other one. It also had gloves and boots, and was generally more comfortable to wear than his combat skin. When he was finished selecting what he wanted, the hologram disappeared and he placed the disc on his back. His robes materialized much like the light sail or the beds and his helmet came up when he robe was finished being completed. “Well, you like nice,” Luna said seeing his new clothes. Jolterix turned around and looked at her from behind his helmet. “Thanks,” he said when his helmet disappeared behind his head. “I don’t suppose you could help me find something?” Luna asked him as she waved a disc in her hand. “Sure,” Jolterix replied. He took the disc and explained how it worked, then handed it to Luna. He explained that she should just swipe her finger across the holographic display. She seemed to understand quickly, and soon she had found herself something she liked. It was a robe similar to Jolterix’s although it was a dark blue instead of black, but the lights were white just the same. When she put the disc on, her blue robe appeared and a helmet slid over her head. The disc disappeared and in its place was the outline of a crescent moon, drawn in lights. Jolterix noticed her struggling to pull the helmet off her head. “Don’t struggle,” he told her, “Just imagine the helmet sliding off your head.” Luna stopped struggling and calmed herself. The helmet slid off her face and her hair appeared to go back to its normal flow. She turned to Jolterix with a smile on her face. “Good job,” he told her. “Thanks, now you were going to tell me about Auflorsung’s history?” he replied. “Right, I was,” Jolterix began, “OK, well I guess it starts with the cradle of civilization: Montenq. It’s since sunk into the ocean but that’s supposedly where human life started. Anyway some humans went to modern-day Equestria, some came here, some elsewhere. Anyway, for the Florians, we came here across a land bridge that has since sunk into the ocean, and we were trapped. The creatures here were ruthless, so we adapted and began to live in caves. We became nocturnal since the creatures at night aren’t as bad as the ones in the day. That's why our skin is pale instead of dark, like the Zebraficans who live at the same latitude.” “So there are worse creatures than that four-legged spider?” Luna asked him. “There sure are,” he replied, “They’re not something you want to see. Anyway, we became nocturnal and haven’t changed since. All that was about five thousand years ago. Then we advanced our technology and about thirteen hundred years ago we developed immortality for ourselves. The only trouble is it makes us sterile and unable to reproduce. So our death rate is zero, but our birthrate is also zero. Anyway about five hundred years ago, there was a big meteor shower. It would have been pretty on your half of Equus, but here it wasn't. Massive rocks smashed into Auflorsung, killing millions. So what we did was we built a cannon. It’s the same one that shot down your fleet yesterday. We developed it to destroy asteroid fragments before they could become a threat, but soon realized its potential as an anti-aircraft cannon, so we used it against you. Anyway we call that event the 201 Planet Fall because our civilization fell briefly, as well as planet fragments.” “All that sounds terrible,” Luna said. She had seen shooting stars, but had always made sure they stayed away from Equestria. She hadn't thought, or really cared about the other countries; now she was seeing what impact that really had, even if the people affected could defend themselves. “It was pretty bad,” Jolterix said, “But we've since been able to defend ourselves. Plus all of our cities run on this thing we call “The Grid” where we can change things around, it’s pretty cool. Like what I did with those beds, and with the clothes. The downside is we don’t travel anymore because if we got sick, we could die, and if we die there’s no one to make sure the population continues, so we do what we can to make sure no one dies.” “Even if it means isolating your country from the world?” Luna asked. “Yes,” he replied. “We’re immune to most diseases, and our discs tell us if we have anything, but there are some diseases that can still kill us.” He removed his disc from his back and a hologram of his body appeared accompanied by his name in texts that Luna could not read. “What’s it say?” she asked. “Jolterix Misekvo,” Jolterix said, “Pilot, IQ: one hundred forty seven, age one thousand one hundred nineteen.” “Why does it list your IQ?” Luna asked. She assumed it was so high simply because he was gifted. “Do you know what a geniocracy is?” Jolterix asked her. She shook her head, to which he replied, “It’s a rule by the smartest. IQ is important because the higher it is, the more prestige you have.” “And since yours is so high, then that means you have a higher place in society?” Luna asked. “Yes, but my IQ is only upper average,” Jolterix replied. “Only upper average?” Luna asked. In Equestria, anything over a hundred forty was considered genius. “Yeah,” Jolterix replied, “There was a mass euthanization in Auflorsung a few generations before I was born. Everyone without a hundred thirty plus IQ died so the smart could continue living and breeding.” “That’s awful!” Luna exclaimed in horror. “Well I suppose it is,” Jolterix replied, “But it’s done. Anyway, let’s go. I think you should see the city before going to the capital.” He placed his disc on his back where it became a symbol of some sort that Luna couldn't identify. When she passed two well-placed mirrors, she saw her disc had disappeared as well and had morphed into a crescent moon, much like the one on her thigh. This made her assume the discs became the Florian version of a cutiemark. Jolterix led her upstairs and he grabbed one of his batons in the entryway, and led her outside. “You’re gonna wanna get rid of that robe for this,” Jolterix said. Luna tried to take it off physically until Jolterix stopped her, “The same why you put that helmet on,” he told her. Luna’s robe disappeared leaving a combat skin similar to Jolterix’s from the night before. She stared down at herself in awe because the robe had seemingly vanished into nothingness. “Wow,” was the only word that could escape her lips. Chapter 8“Pretty impressive, huh?” Jolterix asked. His robe had vanished and his helmet was already up. He held his baton in both hands, ready to rip it apart. “Oh, yes it is,” Luna replied suddenly. She grabbed Jolterix’s neck from behind and prepared for him to launch the light sail. “I’m glad you’re not heavy,” Jolterix said as she hung onto him, forcing him to give her a piggy-back ride. He jumped forward and split the baton, and the light sail appeared. It blasted into the night sky carrying Jolterix and Luna gracefully. “So you said you can make things like your bed and everything,” Luna began. Her voice was reverberated and distorted through the mic and speaker of the helmets, “But you also said they are based off your Grid. Does that mean your clothes will disappear and your machines won’t work if you go to another country?” “No,” Jolterix explained, “The only things that run off The Grid are houses and buildings. Not vehicles or clothes; they’re all independent of it.” “Oh, sounds like you’ve got this whole thing figured out,” Luna commented. “We certainly do,” Jolterix said, “But what kind of race would we be if we were completely dependent on our home to use our technology?” “You’re pretty dependent on it for your safety.” “Because we can’t really afford to lose any members. Remember they’re not going to be replaced.” “I know, but still, it’s not like you can’t make a cure, right?” “Maybe we can, but then again perhaps not. It’s not really something we want to risk. Anyway, you never gave me a fair shot to destroy you in gaming last night. I think it would be good for you to see how we Florians live before attempting a treaty.” “What did you have in mind?” “Oh, just a game,” Jolterix replied. He pulled the throttle all the way back and glided the light sail in. They landed in what looked like a large park with a glass dome, where Jolterix dissolved the light sail. Inside the dome appeared to be many courts, but instead of the markers being painted, they were lights, much like the rest of the city. “What are we doing here?” Luna wondered in awe of the cyberpunk city that surrounded her. She noticed Jolterix had replaced his robe but his helmet remained up. Luna commanded her robe as well, but had to concentrate to keep her helmet on since she was so new to this. She caught up with Jolterix who was walking calmly, but at a pace towards the dome. He approached a counter and put two coins on the table, where the door opened and he led Luna into an empty room. “Now,” he said, “Just pretend you’re in a videogame, you can’t die in here.” The room changed and Luna and Jolterix’s robes were removed without their influence. They were each given a baton and appeared on opposite sides of a very large arena, but no other players or a crowd was present. The arena was only used during the professional games, the off season it was used by locals, and each city had its own. Luna watched Jolterix take a running start then jump as he pulled his baton apart. A motored bicycle appeared beneath him and he took off. Luna copied his actions and beneath her, a similar bike appeared. She also noticed the lights on her clothes went from white to blue, while Jolterix’s were now green. She concentrated hard on the bike because she had never driven anything so fast, and she wasn't sure how well she could handle herself. Suddenly, Jolterix’s bike passed quickly in front of her, which forced her to look down in anticipation of getting hit, but she remained fine. As she looked down, she noticed the striking similarities between her console controller and the bike’s controls, giving her a confidence boost. She turned her bike around and was able to catch Jolterix. “Pretty fun, huh?” he asked her when she caught up. “Yes, this is amazing,” she said, “No wonder you Florians never leave here.” “Haha, well it gets better,” Jolterix replied. “See that button to your left? That puts you in combat mode. The idea of this game is to knock the other player off their bike before you get knocked off yours.” “Alright, sounds easy enough,” Luna said. “I’ll go to the opposite side of the arena, and then we’ll really begin,” Jolterix said. He made a sharp turn and sped towards the opposite side of the arena. He stopped and turned around to eye his competition. “This will be easy,” he thought, “But I suppose I should let her win the first few times. Ah well,” he throttled up his bike and sped off towards Luna. He switched into combat mode and a ribbon of hard light appeared from behind his bike; a sort of tail. He sped past Luna by mere inches and turned off the light ribbon, which also dissolved the ribbon that he had created. He cut the throttle and applied the hand break, allowing him to skid to a stop. He allowed Luna to approach him on her bike where he expected her to engage the light ribbon. It took her longer to do so than he expected; maybe she had forgotten how to, but Jolterix purposefully slammed his bike into the ribbon. This gave Luna a victory, even though he made it look as much like an accident as he could. “You let me win,” Luna said via the helmets’ radio. “No, I tried on that one,” Jolterix replied. “Nonsense, don’t hold back,” Luna told him. “Alright,” Jolterix replied with some excitement in his voice. He picked up his baton and pulled it apart producing his bike, allowing him to speed towards Luna. He pulled up next to her and turned his head toward her and shook his head. He then sped up and made a sharp turn around her, while his light ribbon appeared; Luna couldn't react fast enough and her bike was returned to its baton state and she flew off and landed with a skid. “Ouch,” she thought, “Maybe I shouldn't have asked him not to hold back.” Just then Jolterix approached with his bike, but he collapsed it back into the baton and challenged her in hand-to-hand combat. “Oh, this I can do,” she thought excitedly. In Equestria, she was always more militaristic, but nowhere near as tyrant-like to foreigners as Celestia, and hand-to-hand combat was her specialty. Jolterix sprinted towards her where she put up both her hands, ready to fight him. The only problem was that Jolterix had produced another baton from his side, giving him a sword. Luna found an identical baton on her side and wondered how it got there. She soon gave up that thought and focused completely on Jolterix and the fight. She decided it would be a great opportunity to see just how good the Florians were in battle, and Luna had yet to find an opponent who could beat her in this style. With one quick swipe, she thought she had struck Jolterix’s chest, killing him, or in this case just making him lose this round. As it turned out, however, Jolterix had moved out of the way and placed his blade into Luna’s arm. She couldn't feel it, but the lights on her arm turned red, probably indicating that area was struck, and she found she could not move it. “He’s fast,” Luna thought as she leapt away from him, “This will be fun.” She held her sword in front of her in a defensive position as Jolterix jumped and fell towards her. His sword met hers and she was kept safe behind it. She pushed his sword away, effectively staggering him, and began an all-out assault on the Florian. She swiped her sword in front of him, but he always remained a few inches out of reach. She finally struck his leg with the sword and watched the lights on his leg turn red. Like her arm, Jolterix’s leg was stuck in whatever position it was in when Luna hit it with her sword. She kept the onslaught up until Jolterix finally hit her leg with his sword, causing her to fall over. He took this opportunity to stab her chest, rendering him victor. “Do you still want me to go all out?” he asked her as his helmet slid off his head. “Yes,” she replied as she stood up when the new round started, “I’m still just getting warmed up.” “Alright,” Jolterix replied. He turned around and his helmet rose over his head. Suddenly, they were both lifted high above the arena in a small transparent capsule and their batons were taken and replaced by discs: similar to the ones that produced clothing, only larger and heavier, obviously built for combat. Luna threw her disc at Jolterix who was able to dodge it as it passed by him, then again as it made its way back to Luna. As she caught her disc, something caught her attention from the corner of her eye. She quickly fell to the ground as Jolterix’s disc passed over her, and kept low to make herself a smaller target. As she got up, she noticed Jolterix had jumped the gap between them, and was falling quickly towards her. She raised her disc in protection, like with the sword, but Jolterix surprised her. He landed and kneeled down, smashing the floor beneath Luna with his disc, causing her to fall out of the capsule. She only fell about twenty feet before somehow reappearing in the capsule again like nothing happened. Even the floor was back to normal. “Still?” Jolterix asked her as he dropped his helmet to make eye contact. “No,” Luna said frustrated that someone appearing so soft had beaten her, “I’m done.” “Alright,” he said has he dropped his disc and his robes reappeared while the lights on his clothes changed back to white, “You've got skill. No foreigner I've fought was ever able to cut me with a sword.” “Thanks,” Luna said with disappointment heavy in her voice, although she was happy that a single Florian would prove to be such an opponent in battle, and gave her hope that Auflorsung could crush Discoria so easily. “Don’t beat yourself up,” he said, “Those thousand years on the moon just made you rusty. But now, I think it’s time we do something else.” The capsule lowered them to the floor of the arena, where they were taken to the exit, via the moving floor. Luna was dumbfounded by the seemingly solid floor twist and shape itself simply to save them a few minutes of walking. “What do you have in mind?” she asked him when she drew her attention away from the floor. Chapter 9“I want to show you what Florian city life is like,” he said. He walked out the door and Luna followed him. It had begun to rain while they were in the arena, and Jolterix put his helmet up. It seemed his robe was waterproof and his helmet helped keep the rain off his head. Luna brought her helmet up and her robe came back as well, keeping her dry in the pouring rain. Thunder boomed overhead, but none of the Florians seemed affected by it. “Does it rain here often?” Luna asked Jolterix as they turned onto a street and found themselves between skyscrapers. “Yes,” he replied, “Every day, at least once.” Luna noticed all the other Florians either had umbrellas or kept their helmets on, save for two or three who wanted to tough it out, or just didn't care, but all wore robes similar to Luna’s and Jolterix’s. It appeared apparent that Florians were either antisocial or recognized each other by different means than body features. “You probably noticed everyone looks the same,” Jolterix said turning to her, “We don’t care so much about meeting people on the streets.” Luna nodded having just assumed what he told her while he tried his best not to walk in front of her as a sign of respect. He felt something grab his hand and looked down to see Luna was gripping his hand firmly. “It’s getting crowded,” she said noticing this. “I understand,” Jolterix replied. He turned and went into a building bringing Luna with him. When they went inside from the rain, Jolterix dropped his helmet and Luna copied his actions. Inside was unlike any Equestrian building, but it was clear that it was a bar: people were either sitting or standing, and talking, and there was a long counter with several people behind it. Jolterix approaching the counter while bringing Luna. “Hey,” the bartender said when he saw Jolterix, “How’ve you been?” “Hey Tennerac,” Jolterix replied to the bartender as he sat down at a bar stool, “The air cargo has really slowed down recently so I've just been, you know, hanging around.” The stools weren't connected to the ground, but rather floated a few feet above it and seemed perfectly stable. “Ah see, I told you,” Tennerac replied, “The only things that ships right now are booze and fireworks.” “I know,” Jolterix replied, “But I've managed to find a way to spend my free time,” he said looking at Luna, implying she wasn't a foreigner. “Well, who’re you?” Tennerac asked Luna. “I’m Luna,” she said. “Nice to meet you, Luna, I’m Tennerac,” the bartender replied. “Nice to meet you as well,” Luna said. “Tennerac is a good friend of mine,” Jolterix explained, “We've done a lot of crazy things.” “We lit a hill on fire, once,” Tennerac said which caught all of Luna’s attention. “Well we were shooting off fireworks and there was this old one, a professional grade firework,” Jolterix explained, “And it shot off out the tube, only, it came back down and exploded in the grass, catching it on fire. Then the fire spread to the rest of the hill, but eventually put itself out. It was pretty awesome.” “Sounds like…fun,” Luna said not knowing what to say. “Of course we were both smashed,” Tennerac said. “You were, I was sober,” Jolterix retorted. “Which makes it worse,” Tennerac said. “Probably,” Jolterix told him, unsure if lighting a hill on fire while sober was more irresponsible than doing it while drunk. “Anyway, what can I get you two?” Tennerac asked. “A soda for me,” Jolterix said, “And for Luna?” “I’ll just have what he’s having,” Luna said unsure of what was on the menu. She had noticed the Auflorsung text was much different than the horseshoe print of Equestria and its neighbors, and she was incapable of reading it. “Alright,” Tennerac said. He grabbed a sprocket on the table and out poured a dark, fizzy substance. He handed one to Luna, then one to Jolterix who took a small sip as soon as it was given to him. “After this,” he said putting his drink down, “Luna and I will be going to Ker; she has some family over there that she wants me to meet.” “Oh, that sounds like fun,” Tennerac said with little enthusiasm, “But be careful about that gap in between; lots of nasty things there.” “Oh I know,” Jolterix replied, “We’ll be fine, but thanks.” “Sure thing,” Tennerac said, “I’m gonna go over here, these people need something.” “What’s between here and Ker? And what is Ker?” Luna asked. “Ker is the Auflorsung capital. And just some snakes that are about forty feet long, and crocodiles that can swallow a bike whole,” Jolterix replied, “Don’t worry, though. My light sail will keep us far out of their reaches, plus they’re all diurnal.” “Oh, good,” Luna said not feeling any better about it. “Don’t worry, we’ll be fine,” Jolterix said finishing his drink. He noticed Luna only took one sip and hadn't had any more, “I take it you don’t care for that too much?” “No, it’s not that, it’s just-” Luna tried to say. “It’s fine,” Jolterix said, “I won’t get offended if you don’t like it.” “Alright,” Luna said. “We should get going, though, it’ll be daytime in about four hours, and it takes four hours to get to Ker.” “We should then.” “Alright, I’ll wave down Tennerac and we’ll be on our way,” Jolterix waved his hand at Tennerac who immediately came over to him. “You OK?” he asked. “Yeah, we’re gonna head out now,” Jolterix said, “It was nice seeing you again.” “Likewise,” Tennerac said, “Be careful.” “We will be,” Jolterix said as he turned around, “Seeya.” “Seeya,” Tennerac said. Author's Note What do you guys think? Is it more irresponsible to be sober while lighting hills on fire, or drunk? Chapter 10Jolterix had led Luna back to the clear area near the arena and they took off on his light sail. Luna was amazed at how Chukxil appeared from the air: the streets were lit up and the buildings seemed to reach, trying to touch them. Luna heard several clicks in her helmet and suddenly some music came on. She looked at Jolterix who turned back to her. “This is a four hour flight, and I don’t want to sit here in absolute silence,” he said as they rose swiftly above the buildings. “We can talk,” Luna suggested. “We can talk over the music,” he told her. After a pause he said, “Er…that probably didn’t come out right.” “It’s fine,” Luna laughed, “It kind of adds to the moment,” she looked down at Chukxil and the soft music added to the sense of flying. She continued to look down at the beautiful city, realizing there were none on her side of the planet that looked anything like it. Its blue and white glows providing an island of light in the ocean of darkness; a darkness not even Luna cared much for. For once, she enjoyed the light, and she also enjoyed this Florian music. To her, the Florians appeared to be expert fighters, nocturnal like her, enjoyed great music, and were militaristic: her kind of people, although the pyromania of Jolterix and Tennerac was something she could do without. The small plane leveled off and she continued to stare at Chuxil’s beauty. It was a wonder to her that the creatures of the night didn't try to invade, trying to get to such beautiful light. “Well, well,” Jolterix thought, “The Equestrian Princess of the Night is a romantic. That’s interesting.” Suddenly, the music picked up and so did Jolterix’s flying. He increased the speed noticeably and rolled the plane completely over. Soon Chukxil was behind them, leaving a strong afterglow. “I like to fly in time with music,” Jolterix said, “I suppose it might be too much to play a more violent song?” “For now, yes,” Luna said shaken by the surprise of the aileron roll, “I think I’d like the calm flying better.” “I know I do,” Jolterix agreed. He pushed the throttle forward slightly and the small plane increased its speed, although the dark ground gave no indication of this. “Hang on, we’re about to start moving,” he said as he lay on the center console. Luna bent down with him and suddenly, the small plane began to change shape. Its wings shrunk slightly, covering less area, and a canopy appeared over them: a white layer on bottom, then glass all around, and then a white top. Luna glanced forward and saw what she assumed was the speed indicator. She couldn't read the numbers but there were three of them. If the Florian number system was anything like Equestria’s, which it was probably better, then they were moving at least five times that of an airship, although it was apparent they were moving much faster than that. “How fast are we going?” Luna asked. “Uh…about five hundred thirty knots,” Jolterix replied. “What?” Luna asked. “Oh…uhh…about seven hundred miles per hour,” Jolterix said, “If you watch outside, you’ll be able to see the Mach cones.” “The Mach cones?” Luna asked. “We’re about to break the sound barrier,” he replied like it was nothing. Luna was astonished, however. Only one person that she had heard of had ever broken the sound barrier, and now she was about to, but her pilot acted like it was no big deal. She stared outside and could see vapor begin to form around the wings and when she leaned around Jolterix, she could see vapor forming around the nose. Soon the entire plane seemed to be covered in the cloud, then it all vanished and there was a loud boom. “Did we do it?” she asked. “We certainly did,” Jolterix replied. He knew light sails weren't specifically designed to go supersonic, but he had known many pilots who did it anyway and they had no problems. “I think this’ll cut an hour off our trip.” “Oh, good,” Luna said. She wanted to get away from the dark place in between the cities as quickly as possible. Despite being the goddess of the moon, snakes that could swallow her whole still scared her. She relaxed as best as she could, given her position, and tried to enjoy the music. The songs changed, but it seemed to be the same musician, indicating this was a record, or the Florian version of it. This reminded Luna of the Equestrian musicians: most played instruments, but every once in a while there was one who used electronics. This Florian music appeared to be a combination of both. “Perhaps Vinyl and Octavia should get together and make something like this?” she thought to herself. “Jolterix, have you got any electronic music?” “Sure,” Jolterix said. He thought for a few minutes about how Luna could know of any kind of electronic music, but remembered that some Florian had sold her the gaming system, so it seemed likely a Florian had sold an Equestrian musician a synthesizer or computer. He pressed his finger against the center console and a display came up. After a few button pushes, he came to the music section where he picked another song. A voice came on before any instruments, and then suddenly there was percussion, obviously electronic however. “This is…interesting,” Luna said when the low bass began. It was unlike anything Vinyl had produced, and seemed to be skipping. Whenever Vinyl’s records skipped, it meant there was something wrong. “I think your music player is broken.” “No, this is glitch hop, it’s supposed to sound like this,” Jolterix replied. “Oh,” Luna said. “Well maybe this Florian music isn't all good,” she thought to herself. “Should I turn it off?” Jolterix asked her sensing she wasn't too thrilled by it. “No,” Luna said, “I want to hear the whole song before I make any judgment.” “Alright,” Jolterix said. He like glitch hop well, and this particular song was one of his favorites of the genre. The music eventually picked up and Luna found she enjoyed it better at that point, but still preferred the other song. Chapter 11Before too long, the sun had begun scattering its light about in the atmosphere, illuminating the ground below: shades of green as far as they eye could see beneath the golden and white sky. Ahead of them was the faint hint of a tower, similar to the tallest one in Chukxil. Before long, they had reached the capital where they landed, and Jolterix collapsed his light sail back into its baton. He led Luna through the emptying streets towards the capital; everyone was going inside because the day was coming. “Jolterix, why is it so hot?” Luna asked. “The day’s coming. And it’s not so much the heat as it is the humidity,” Jolterix said, “Come on, we've got to hurry.” The heat wouldn't kill them, but it was terribly uncomfortable, and the humidity only added to the torment. Soon they had reached the tallest tower and went inside. They were blasted by the shock of the cold air from the climate controlled building. “These Florians never run out of surprises,” Luna thought, “They control the temperature inside their structures.” The closest thing to climate control in Equestria was the basement of the houses as it always stored heat in the ground during winter, and the ground provided insulation from the heat during summer, but even then it was nothing compared to the Florians’ technology. “We just gotta prove who you are and they’ll let us in right away,” Jolterix told Luna as they approached a front desk. “Great, but how do we do that?” Luna asked. “Good question,” Jolterix said and turned to face the lady behind the desk. “Hi, I've got a very important diplomat here and she needs to see Kaiser Dezler.” “Alright, well if you’ll just sign here I’m sure Kaiser Dezler will be ready to take your order,” the lady said obviously not believing that Luna was a princess. “OK, great!” Luna exclaimed. She bent down to write her name on the paper until Jolterix placed his arm in her way. “There’s this great new thing called sarcasm,” he said, “And we Florians got it while it was still in its beta stage.” “Uhh…” Luna said confused by the entire sentence. “She wasn't being serious,” Jolterix clarified. “Oh, then what do we do?” Luna asked. “Obviously not worry about how making yourselves look like fools in front of me, because that’s not gonna get you to Kaiser Dezler any faster,” the lady said. Jolterix turned to her with an angry expression, and then led Luna away from the desk where they could talk. “Just find a way to prove you’re Equestrian Royalty and they’ll let you through,” he said. “But how? I didn't bring that painting, you know,” Luna said. “I know, hmm,” Jolterix replied. “Well I can show them my magic,” Luna suggested. “Great idea, if only magic worked here,” Jolterix said. “No, it’ll work,” Luna assured him. “Well we may as well try,” he gave in as he watched Luna approach the lady again. “Hi,” she began, “If I can prove I’m an Equestrian Princess, will you let us through right now?” “Sure I will, and I’m being serious,” the lady said. “Good, then watch,” Luna held out her hand and a blue flame appeared. “Can Florians do magic like that?” “No, but that doesn't prove you’re a diplomat,” the lady said. “Do you know anything about the Equestrian Princesses?” Luna asked. “Yes, like how one supposedly controls the sun, and another controls the moon. I also know Equestrians have a mark on their sides corresponding to what they do,” the lady told her. “Well then this should prove it,” Luna said. Without a second thought, she pulled the disc from her back dissolving the Florian armor, leaving just an undershirt and a pair of shorts that she “borrowed” from Jolterix. She pulled the shorts down enough for the lady to see the crescent moon on her hip which the lady immediately looked away from. “OK, OK,” she said, “Go on in, just get out of here.” “Great!” Jolterix exclaimed and he ran up to Luna, slapping the disc back onto her back. “Let’s roll!” He grabbed Luna by the arm and quickly towed her to the elevator. “I want to thank you for taking me here,” Luna said to Jolterix after the door closed. “It’s no problem,” Jolterix said. “Well I just hope it wasn't too much of a burden,” Luna replied. “I got to meet royalty, take a trip into the city again, which I haven't done in a while, I saw a Mesa Shell explode, and I got to see your butt,” Jolterix replied teasingly, "Today was a good day." “All of those sound like a single adventure,” Luna laughed, “But that last one you mentioned, forget it happened. Also everything else happened yesterday.” “I will do no such thing,” Jolterix said, “Actually, I will go to Equestria with you and brag to the locals about how I got mooned by their Princess of the Moon.” “And if you do such a thing I will execute you myself,” Luna teased him. “I call your bluff, you haven’t got the nerve,” Jolterix teased back. “After this I’ll show you just how much nerve I have,” Luna said. “Oh look! We’re here, now we can disregard any previous threats,” Jolterix said quickly and brought Luna out of the elevator. He turned her around and began playing with her disc. “What are you doing?” she asked. “Making this yours,” he said, “Now hold still.” He continued typing on the disc and soon, Luna’s Florian armor became her royal military uniform. “There we go,” Jolterix said and his robes reappeared. “What is this for?” Luna asked, “And why didn't you do this with the lady downstairs, instead of having me take my pants halfway off?” “Well you can’t be a foreign diplomat while wearing domestic clothing,” Jolterix said as his helmet slid up, “Plus I wouldn't be much of an escort without my full light armor. And it wouldn't have mattered anyway.” Luna didn't quite understand the part regarding his armor, but she nodded nonetheless. She followed him up to two large double doors where he opened them. A voice came through the door speaking the Florian language. The speaker seemed to interrupt himself and he said, “Jolterix.” “Dezler,” Jolterix replied. On the far end of the room was a large throne atop a small flight of steps. Sitting upon the throne was a man dressed in robes similar to Jolterix’s, but the lights weren't white. Instead they were a light shade of blue, like the cities. The two conversed briefly in their language and Jolterix quickly turned to Luna. “Well,” he said, “It appears Dezler would like to listen to you.” “You know each other?” Luna asked before speaking to Kaiser Dezler. “On a personal level,” Dezler said. His accent was much thicker than Jolterix’s, who seemed to have barely an accent at all. “Dezler and I used to be on the same carrier,” Jolterix explained as his helmet dropped off his head, “We were both part of the same squadron.” “Until I decided to put my brain to its rightful work and become King,” Dezler said. “While I switched to flying cargo,” Jolterix added. “Anyway, what was it you needed, Luna?” Dezler asked her. “My country, Equestria, faces a threat from our neighbor, Discordia. Our forces aren't enough to defeat Discordia, or even keep it at bay and we may face annexation,” Luna explained, “No other country has power to stand up to Discordia, except Auflorsung, and I am here to ask Auflorsung for military aid against Discordia.” “Well, that is a big question for such a scenario,” Dezler said, “You appear here, the first contact since our citizens’ vacationing in your country, expecting us to lend aid.” “I know it’s a lot to ask,” Luna said. “I will remain on the side of caution,” Dezler said, “My people will not stand for an invasion of a country that did nothing to harm us. Plus I do not feel comfortable risking irreplaceable Florian lives for a cause we know nothing about. However, I will send you back to Equestria, but I will send you under the care of Jolterix, so that you may return in a much timelier manner so that you may return to your threat faster.” “So that’s it, then?” Luna asked. “It appears so,” Dezler said, “I am very busy, sorry.” “Very well,” Luna said with much disappointment and frustration; she had come all this way only to be told no. She turned around and walked to the door to wait for Jolterix who was wrapped up in a conversation with Dezler. They were speaking their own language, but Luna was so angry and sad that even if they spoke Equestrian, she wouldn't know what they were talking about. Soon, Jolterix was standing next to her with his arm around her, doing his best to comfort her. She just pushed him away and went to the elevator, and he followed. “I’m sorry,” he told her, “I’m sure it’s not as bad as it seems. Perhaps Discordia is much weaker than you anticipate?” “No,” Luna said trying to hold back her tears as she thought about Equestria being ruled by Discordia, “It is as bad as it seems.” She looked up at him trying to find some kind of comfort, “So what did you and Dezler talk about?” she asked him trying to take her mind off the very inevitable future of Equestria becoming enslaved by Discord and his country. “Oh, just things and stuff,” Jolterix replied. “Give me a serious answer,” Luna said seeing that Jolterix’s light-heartedness wasn't helping her. “He told me I was to take you home personally, seeing as you've grown closest to me out of any Florian,” Jolterix explained, “He also gave me this so we don’t have to sit in that cramped light sail for five hours,” he said holding up a baton. “Oh, cool,” Luna said as the elevator opened, “Can you put my helmet up?” “Sure,” he said. He began playing with her disc and soon she was back in the Florian armor, and she raised her helmet so no one would see The Princess of the Night crying, even if no one knew who she was. She couldn't help herself; the thought of her subjects coming under rule by Discord while she remained virtually powerless to stop it was enough to destroy her composure. “Thanks,” she said from behind her mirrored helmet, but Jolterix could hear her tears through her voice. “Sure thing,” he said. Luna’s emotions were contagious and soon he was feeling sorry for her, “We’ll just head on back to Equestria, then?” “Yes,” Luna said following him outside. “Alright, stand behind me, about three feet,” he said. He pulled the baton, and around them light began to be produced: a twin engine jet, about three times the size of the light sail came into being. It had an elongated nose for Jolterix and Luna to sit in with canards on it for stability and guidance. On the rear of the main body were two long, forward swept wings and two diagonally positioned stabilizers. Behind those, on the very back of the jet, were two very powerful engines designed to take energy from light and redirect it as thrust. It was known as the Vogel, and was one of the fastest and most maneuverable jets ever produced by Auflorsung. Jolterix pushed the throttle forward and the Vogel went from hover to full forward flight. He pitched up and they were already at Mach 1.5 before they hit ten thousand feet. “Wow,” Luna couldn't hold her tongue despite her anger. “We’re going to go up to about sixty-thousand feet,” Jolterix said. Before long, the Vogel had reached forty-thousand feet where Luna stared out the glass canopy with awe: she saw the many different colors of the rain forests and the rusty red of the cliffs. She noticed something that she hadn't seen the previous night because it was too dark: a massive crater with scarred land around it. Chapter 12“What is that?” Luna asked Jolterix pointing at the crater, even though she knew he couldn't see her. “That’s one of the craters from the 201 Planet Fall,” he answered knowing what she was talking about, “Here, I might still have something to help you understand.” He put the Vogel on autopilot and he began fumbling through a display on his disc. After a few minutes he said, “Alright, it’s pretty rough, but this is my helmet feed on what happened during the impacts.” Luna’s visor turned black and a video began playing in her helmet with sound. The first thing she saw was a view of the jungle from a plane not unlike the Vogel as she could see part of Jolterix’s hand on the throttle control and the dashboard. The camera quickly turned from the dashboard into the sky. A large glowing object trailing smoke approached the ground quickly. The video followed the asteroid as it collided with the ground about five miles away; a large flash from the explosion and fire with another craft similar to the Vogel about a hundred feet closer to the blast. A large black cloud of dust arose from the impact and the trees could be seen bending over from the blast. Suddenly, the plane in front of the camera flipped over and Jolterix’s plane quickly did so as well. There was an extremely loud blast, but it was kept at a certain point, and distorted by the helmet speakers. The video stumbled and went out of focus before stopping entirely. “I bet it was scary, actually being there,” Luna said when it was over. “It was, there’s another one I want to show you,” Jolterix said, “It originally came from Tennerac.” Luna’s helmet went dark again and a new video began playing. It began with a view of a massive cannon just above the camera, most likely the Mesa Gun. When the camera turned to face the horizon, there was another cannon identical to the first one, but farther away. It was positioned in a different direction. Suddenly, there was a glow in the sky that seemed to be completely stationary. Someone in the video called, “Hold your ears!” and there was a series of extremely loud bangs. Vapor trails extended towards the glow from the canon and it appeared that a second sun was formed. When the explosion was over, the glow was gone, indicating the asteroid fragment had been destroyed. “But if you destroyed the meteor here, then what crashed in the jungle?” Luna asked. “That was just one fragment of the asteroid,” Jolterix said, “The asteroid broke apart when it hit the atmosphere, something we didn't expect. “Here, there’s one final video I want to show you. It was the helmet feed from a friend of mine.” Once again, Luna’s helmet went dark and the camera began in a city like Chukxil or Ker, and there was a glow over the horizon: the setting or rising sun. In the sky, another faint light appeared and it grew bigger, trailing smoke. It flew quickly over the camera and a few seconds later there was a loud bang: the sonic boom. Glass could be heard shattering and the camera lost focus for a few seconds. When the image came back, the camera man was yelling some Florian profanities as glass shards were falling from buildings and smashing into the streets, some hitting people. There was a second explosion and the camera turned. A massive cloud of dust arose in the distance, and the buildings began bending and cracking as well as people suddenly igniting as the blast approached. As it passed, the camera cut out and the video was over. “I’m sorry,” Luna said feeling like it was her fault. Had she not been trapped on the moon, she might have been able to help prevent it. But then again, why would she have? She didn't know Auflorsung even really existed until a few days ago, and it was clear the impacts were of no threat to Equestria. “It’s amazing, isn't it?” he asked her when they hit sixty thousand feet. The sky was black and the sun was strong, and the horizon was lit up by the atmosphere and the curve of Equus was very apparent. “It is,” Luna said trying to take her mind off the horrible videos she had seen. “Don’t drop your helmet,” Jolterix warned her,” Up here there’s almost no air and you’d suffocate pretty fast.” “Oh, thanks,” Luna said when she was beginning to ponder just that. The flight lasted about an hour, and they were soon near the Equestrian coast. Jolterix cut the throttle and the Vogel dropped quickly towards the ground at a rate of about three thousand feet per minute. The craft soon reached a couple thousand feet and Jolterix collapsed it back into the baton. He quickly maneuvered himself to grab Luna and he deployed his wings, slowing their descent. They landed on the sandy beach of Equestria with a soft thud. Jolterix stood up and pulled Luna to her feet as well. “This is as far as I can take you,” he said, “Otherwise, I’m afraid Equestria might see it as a hostile act and try to declare war on us. We don’t want you guys having to fight a two-front war and being incinerated by a few Mesa Shells. “I know,” Luna said with sadness still in her voice. She suddenly felt Jolterix’s lips on her forehead and looked up at him with a surprised look. “That’s how Florians say goodbye,” he said quickly realizing Equestrians didn't share the same tradition. Luna smiled at him and kissed his forehead then hugged him tightly. “Thank you,” she said quietly. “Well it was nothing,” Jolterix replied as he was unsure exactly what she was referring to, whether it was that he saved her life from the jyptolok, taking her to see the Florian cities, or what exactly. He let go but held her sides and looked her in the eye, “This isn't the last you’ll see if me,” he said. He let go of her and split his baton, but his Vogel didn't appear. Instead, his light sail formed and he took off into the skies. “Is he going to stay here?” Luna wondered to herself knowing Jolterix wouldn't fly all that way back in a light sail. She then noticed the light sail disappear and Jolterix fall slightly before his Vogel materialized around him. It rushed towards the ocean then turned tightly back into the skies, its wake disturbing seawater as it passed low over the ocean. Its engines lit up and it sped into the skies, disappearing into the overcasting cloud layer, draped in mach cones. “That thing is so loud,” Luna thought after hearing it speed away and the sonic boom it created. She sighed and looked inland to Equestria and teleported herself back to the castle. Chapter 13Luna appeared at the castle’s airship dock where she walked inside. The guards didn't line the sides as they did when she or Celestia boarded their ships, and it seemed so bland with no one else around. She walked inside and found her way to the throne room. “Sister, I hardly heard your fleet arrive,” Celestia said pointing out the fact that only she had returned. “They were all shot down over Auflorsung,” Luna said, “The myths were true, they have technology beyond our wildest dreams.” “I take it they didn't agree to a treaty if they shot down your whole fleet?” Celestia asked. “No,” Luna said. “Well it is good you've returned early at least,” Celestia remarked, “We need your expertise to help with battle planning” “I know, sister,” Luna said. “So what was Auflorsung like?” Celestia asked her trying her best to contain her enthusiasm and curiosity. “Well,” Luna began, “Let me tell you about it.” Author's Note This story was pretty fun to write, let me know if there's anything I can do to improve for any future works I happen to do. Thanks for reading!
Chapter 1Discordia, the chaotic nation that borders Equestria to the east, has recently begun its industrial output and the manufacturing of weapons and increasing its military might. This of course made the leaders of Equestria, the Crystal Empire, and possibly even the Chitin Lands to the south very weary. Equestria and the Crystal Empire both had respectable armies, but Discordia’s tactics were always unpredictable, yet very calculated. There was little chance both sovereignties could survive the onslaught, even if they both bounded together. Equestria’s leaders, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, spoke with each other over a map of Equus and how they might pull through. “The Changeling Kingdom might lend aid if we asked,” Luna said. “No, they only see us as food,” Celestia replied, “They would surely help us to ensure their food’s survival, but that would require opening our borders for them to enter. Once they were inside, they would make meals of all of us.” “What about Germaneigh?” Luna asked. “They are technically a province of Equestria. There’s no doubt they would lend help, but their military is barely more than weapon-wielding citizens.” “Well,” Luna began. She paused since she was out of ideas and looked at the map. There was one nation who was not listed as an enemy of Equestria, and whose military was supposedly strong enough to defeat Discordia’s with little more than several battalions. “Auflorsung might help.” Celestia laughed slightly, “Sister, Auflorsung is a mythical land. Sure some of our explorers have seen it, but there was no evidence of life, and perhaps they were just hallucinating. Drunken sailors desperate for land might see something like that. There's no evidence that life exists there, let alone a civilization. Plus, even if there was one, Auflorsung is on the opposite side of the world. It would take days to get there, even by the fastest airships; days that would be wasted because you weren't here to help protect Equestria.” “But sister,” Luna protested, “One of the explorers claimed to see lights in the distance; the afterglow of a city. Also there were bright lights off the coast, and that video game thing. It’s said to be an Auflorsung invention.” Celestia thought for several minutes. “Very well Luna. If you believe there is hope in Auflorsung, we will travel there and attempt diplomacy.” “We?” Luna asked, “Sister, one of us must remain here for military and moral support.” “You’re right,” Celestia said, “You are the younger, you must remain here and see Equestria does not fall.” “No, Celestia,” Luna said, “You must stay. You’re the favored princess so you would provide better moral support than I ever could.” Luna was correct, but Celestia did not want to admit she was favored over Luna. “Alright Luna,” Celestia gave in. “You leave tomorrow with part of your Lunar fleet. You will have three weeks: one to get to Auflorsung, one to make a treaty, one to return. Princess Twilight will assume stewardship in your place.” “Thank you, sister,” Luna said gratefully, but retained her mask of royalty. The next morning, Twilight had arrived and accompanied Luna and Celestia on their way to the nearby airfield, housing the Lunar Fleet. The princesses were dressed in their respective military uniforms: Luna’s was a blue tunic with a dark blue cape, and blue pants. She wore a saber on her side and a stern expression on her face. Celestia’s uniform was similar to Luna’s except it had a much longer cape, and had gold trim on the cuffs and collar with white instead of blue. Her saber, although hidden in its leather sheath, shined like the sun due to its gold plated blade. The five ships that were going weren't particularly large, however their hulls were plated in aluminum for extra protection, and the balloon keeping the airship aloft had small sheets of aluminum to keep it safe as well, while still remaining flexible. All of her ships were run by steam engines which not only gave the balloons the hot air they required, but also excess steam was used to heat the cabins. Its aluminum plating and intricate heating made it almost indestructible by Equestrian standards, and one of the most luxurious ships on the market. Luna boarded her ship and gave one last wave to Celestia and Twilight and her fleet was off, headed to the mysterious land of Auflorsung. The Umbra itself, Luna’s personal ship and her fleet’s flagship, was the newest and most advanced ship Equestria had. It was about a hundred feet long of cabin space, suspended by a five hundred foot long, one hundred foot wide balloon. It was powered by two massive steam engines which provided hot air to the balloon, and power to the propellers on the sides of the ship. The actual crew hold was shaped like any galleon, but it was aligned with regal fittings and decorated with obsidian along the rails. It also had a type of winch for cargo missions, and it boasted the strongest lifting capabilities of any multi-purpose airship. Of course there were other airships that could lift more, but they were designed specifically for cargo. There were four large cannons on the ship; two on each side. These provided the ship with enough protection from its enemies that it didn't require an escort, but Celestia had requested four other ships go as well. Its balloon and the ship were both aligned in very lightweight aluminum to protect it against attacks, and rendering it nearly invulnerable to attacks from the Chitin Kingdoms, Zebrafrica, or even Discordia. It was made Luna’s personal ship because of its protection and being the best all-round airship in the Equestrian fleet.
Chapter 2The sun had set long ago and the sky was completely black, save for the stars and the dim crescent moon. The airships hung lazily in the breeze, their passengers grateful for the strong tailwind pushing them in the direction they wanted. The airships had been airborne for about a week, traveling at about twenty miles per hour over the three thousand mile journey. They were carrying a very important diplomat to a very strange country: Princess Luna was on her way to try to make a treaty with the Geniocracy of Auflorsung. Everyone on board the airship had mixed emotions; Auflorsung was a very isolated country, always keeping to itself. No one really even knew what a Florian looked like, or if they still existed. Not even Discordia, Discord’s country of chaos, dared challenge the militaristic strengths of Auflorsung. The crewmen of the ship were trying to spot where the ocean stopped and Auflorsung began, but to no avail. The Equestrian “experts” on Auflorsung had speculated that the Florians didn’t have any flying machines or even boats. Since they were always on their island country, it appeared they had no desire to explore; and therefore no means of leaving Auflorsung, such as a boat or airship. With this information, it seemed they would have no way of deterring the Equestrians from approaching via airship, so attempting to make a treaty with them seemed doable. The “experts” had warned that Auflorsung was filled with many dangerous animals which the Florians would have developed ways to combat strictly through technology; the crystals that produced magic weren't found anywhere near Auflorsung. It was unlikely they would use such weapons against an obviously peaceful Equestrian, but no one was sure. This was supported by many mainstream historians whose evidence led them to believe that the Auflorsung Island was home to some of the most dangerous creatures on Equus. Suddenly, a blue flare arose out of what appeared to be fog, bringing Luna back to reality. “Well that fog explains a lot,” Luna thought, “But what does that flare mean? Surely they couldn't have known we were approaching, especially through such thick fog.” She pondered the thought for a while until she noticed several blue lights approaching, and they clearly weren't flares when they changed course and slowed down. The lights turned out to be just one object; whether it was organic or artificial, she was unsure. “Look at that,” one of the crew members said, “Florians are pretty big.” “That’s just one of their flying machines,” another said, “Look; you can see something piloting it.” Luna looked closely at the flying light and indeed there was a creature on it, although it was somewhat hidden as it was clothed completely, even wearing a helmet that covered its face; most likely for safety reasons. The pilot looked like it was looking at the airship, although whether or not he was, was impossible to tell. The small craft flew forwards and above the ship at a safe distance; Luna watching the thing closely. It returned to the opposite side of the ship and remained synchronized with the airship's speed. He was close enough that Luna could see the details of his clothes: what looked like a single piece of black clothing with lights aligning the pilot’s arms and legs, as well as two strips of light on his chest. His helmet was blacked out and mirrored so she couldn’t see his face. He seemed to make eye contact with her for a few minutes until a red light flashed in front of him. He placed his hand down on the console in front of him and a blue hologram came up. Luna couldn't read it, but the Florian quickly turned his head to the airship then looked into the distance for a second or two before moving his left hand about the hologram. He furiously kept that up while periodically staring back at the ship. Suddenly, there was a loud crack and a second later, the sky and ground lit up like it was day time. There was a long streak in the sky leading to the explosion, and the Florian was still up with the airships. Luna glanced back at the white explosion, careful not to harm her eyes. There was a ripple in the sky approaching quickly, and the air seemed to distort under the ripple. The “indestructible” ships about half a mile behind her were pushed around like ragdolls as the distorted air passed them. The two farthest back began to fall, then the same happened to the next two behind the Umbra. Finally, the ripple flew over the Umbra and the Florian, carrying the distorted air with it. There was a loud explosion, louder than anything Luna had ever heard and the Umbra buckled and wavered; the aluminum plating was ripping off the ship like paper as it plummeted towards the ground. Luna gave a final look up to the Florian who had disappeared. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw what looked like a man falling towards the ground. The explosion let up and the man disappeared into the darkness. Luna could do nothing but hold on tightly to the railing as the ship smashed into the ground with a thud.
Chapter 3“There it is,” the Florian pilot thought. He was approaching the large airship in front of the formation, however he didn't know their purpose or why they were approaching Florian airspace. He decided he would take a closer look. His small craft was known as light sail and he essentially sat on it like it was a speed bike. It had a joystick on his right side and a throttle control on his left side and a center console that handled navigation and other things. He made his was around the large airship taking in the aesthetic charm and came in only a few dozen feet. He could see two crew members and a very dignified female. She was dressed in blue and had strangely flowing blue hair which seemed to have the stars in it. He examined the female closely and then flew around to the other side of the airship. While he was on the opposite side, the girl in blue had come over there as well. It seemed she was just as curious about him as he was of her. He could see her examining his clothing: a single black combat skin with lights aligning his limbs. This was in case he was ever shot down, he had a better chance of being seen and being protected. He stared back at her from behind his mask, knowing she couldn't see his face behind it. Suddenly, there was a beeping in his helmet and a red light flashed on the center console. He placed his finger on the light and a map of Auflorsung came up. A message alerted him: “Unknown crafts discovered. Mesa Gun armed.” It began blinking “Mesa Gun firing.” “Shit,” the Florian thought. The Mesa Gun was first constructed to destroy asteroids that were getting close to Equus’ atmosphere, first constructed ten years before the 201 Planet Fall Event to prevent another asteroid collision. It was a large ring, about a mile across, of about ten individual rail guns that could fire a magnetic projectile at about five times the speed of sound; with an effective range almost that of half the world. Of course Auflorsung didn’t want to start any wars, so it restricted the gun’s use to just beyond Auflorsung’s shores, unless there was an invasion. It was soon realized how effective Mesa was against aircraft, and it soon became the first line of defense for Auflorsung against unknown aircraft. The Florian of course was known, and that’s why he was receiving the notification. The entire Auflorsung country was a valley surrounded by a tall mountain range which provided perfect protection against a Mesa shell that was to destroy any oncoming enemy fleets, but leave the Florians unharmed. This was also the reason why there were no Florian cities within a hundred miles of the coast. The Florian pilot began swiping his hand over the hologram, trying to find a way to stop the Mesa Shell. He glanced back at the fleet, judging them to be peaceful. Just then, there was a loud crack indicating one of the supersonic Mesa shells had flown past them, probably around thirty thousand feet where they were normally fired off. A small window of time went by and the shell exploded. There was a bright light, like the sun. It lit up the sky and the ground like the daytime. A Mesa shell was designed so that the shockwave of the explosion would bring down any airborne vehicles, not the explosion itself. The Florian shielded his eyes from the bright light, and he pushed the throttle control and joystick together, collapsing his small jet. He turned around as he fell and watched the ships waver in the shockwave, then drop. He watched the airships as he fell, curious about who was onboard it and what they wanted. The girl looked like a military officer, although he was unaware that other countries allowed females in their militaries. The Florian returned to his situation and saw he was quickly approaching the ground. With a quick pull of a small plug on his combat skin, four small wings appeared, slowing his descent. Within a few minutes he was on the ground and retracted the four wings. He stood upright and looked for any hint of the crashed airship. He spotted some smoke and a faint glow and walked towards it. He let down his helmet to breathe the clean, fresh air since his helmet was airtight. It was composed of about seven pieces which were all controlled by his brain waves. If he thought of the helmet covering his head, it did; if he thought of the helmet going down onto his back, it did. He made his way towards the wreckage which had somehow caught fire. By the looks of things it had crashed into the ground much harder than he had anticipated. The balloon was completely gone save for a few leftover pieces; the rest was probably suspended on some trees somewhere. The main ship had a large hole along its left side; it looked like it had skidded along a large boulder. Part of it had caved in, but the rest seemed intact; despite the railings and other aesthetics being destroyed. The Florian raised his helmet so he wouldn't have to breathe the smoke, and he approached the wreckage. He began digging for any survivors or anything like that, and paying no attention to the flames he walked through. His suit was completely fireproof and provided much better protection than Equestrian armor. He dug with his hands mostly, but it appeared he also had some control over magic, which he used to move the heavier things.
Chapter 4Luna was nearly panicking as the large airship collided with the mountain slope, shaking the entire ship and further alarming all of its remaining crew members. It seemed to land in some mud and it began sliding down the slope. Luckily, it didn't pick up too much speed before it collided with a massive boulder which broke its momentum. Unfortunately, the ship had enough speed to plow through the boulder, breaking the left side of the ship and leaving a large hole halfway through. It stopped very suddenly as it hit the boulder, throwing many crewmen off the front of the ship; it threw Luna forward, but she was able to catch herself on the railing. She let go and landed on her feet on the ground which appeared to be dry in this part. She had fallen farther than she thought, and it felt like the fall had broken one of her ankles. She collapsed off her legs when she felt the intense pain in her foot, and she crawled her way from the wreckage when she saw four lights gliding towards the ground a small distance away. “That Florian’s here to make sure his work is finished,” she thought. She crawled into some bushes near the crash site, but out of the way enough that the Florian wouldn't bother looking there for her. She saw the tall creature approaching and saw it was built just like an Equestrian: four limbs, and about the same height, if not a little taller than an Equestrian male, however he was much thinner. She saw the Florian wasn't wearing his helmet, but before his face came into view, the Florian put his helmet back on. The weird thing was he didn't use his hands to make that happen. She watched him from behind the thick grass and leaves of the tropical mountains as he approached the wreckage and examined it. He used his hands mostly, but it appeared he was using something else, an invisible substance, to move the heavier wood beams. “How did he survive that massive explosion from earlier, and that fall back to the ground?” Luna wondered silently. She lay completely still, hidden entirely by the grass as she watched in absolute fear of the Florian. She closely watched him fumble around the wreckage looking for survivors. One of the weird aspects of this that struck Luna was that he was completely silent: not only did he not say anything, but when he walked she could barely hear him, and the only sound that was made were the sounds of things shifting inside the wreckage. He went deeper inside the wreckage, no doubt looking inside the individual rooms, and then several minutes later appeared on the upper deck. The Florian approached the wreckage and dug through it. He found his way to the upper deck where he saw several bodies and quickly ran up to them. He moved completely silently as most Florians did: make too much noise, and the wildlife gets you. “Dead,” he thought solemnly, “Dammit, that Mesa shell must've gotten the best of them.” He set the body down and walked to the edge of the ship. He leaned on the part of the balcony that wasn't broken and stared into the distance. “Well…shoot,” he thought, “My jet is probably broken and I have no way to get home, other than walk. And just my luck, getting trapped out here.” He looked at the faint glow beyond the horizon: Chukxil, one of the many Auflorsung cities. The Florian drew his gaze from the horizon and looked down in frustration; there was no conceivable way home, especially because of the creatures that roamed the mountains at night…even the day. He looked down in despair, but something caught his attention: there was a patch of disturbed dirt. The mud by this point on the mountain was dry and was simply dirt covered with a loose layer of sand. The Florian left the ship and examined the disturbed sand more closely. It appeared that a body had landed here and dragged itself away from the wreckage. He followed the tracks about ten feet down the clearing, and then the track made a hard turn into the bushes. “Well, well,” he thought, “Someone did survive after all.” He stood upright and peered into the bushes behind his visor. There was no movement that he could see, but when he switched to thermal vision, he saw a different scene. “Please just go,” Luna silently begged, “There’s no one here at all, just go on.” She looked at the Florian’s feet from behind the grass, confident the low-hanging branch above her concealed her body and her dark blue clothing made her invisible in the dark. She closed her eyes when she realized the Florian wasn’t going anywhere and waited for the end. After a few seconds however, she reopened them and looked up. A small space between the branch leaves allowed her to see the Florian’s head. It was covered by the same mask that he wore in the air. She could see his shoulders twist in such a way that they indicated he was reaching for something. “He’s gonna kill me now,” she thought thinking he was reaching for a weapon. “You’re not going to get your wish,” the Florian thought as he pulled a baton off his left side. With an extremely swift motion, a blue blade made of energy extended from the baton and he drove the deadly weapon straight into the ground. Luna could feel vibration of the blade striking the ground inches from her right arm. She could soon feel the heat of the blade even through her thick coat. “He’s just taunting me now,” she thought. Suddenly, the blade lifted out of the ground and it disappeared back into the baton. Luna remained still even though she desperately wanted to run, but the fear kept her in one place. Without warning, she felt a hand grab her arm and pull her out of the bushes and onto her feet; she was too afraid to feel the pain in her ankle. She stared up at the Florian who had set his baton on his side again. She was lost in awe of being in the presence of a Florian; it was an honor, even for a princess. She continued staring dumbfounded and speechless at his mirrored mask, staring back at her confused reflection. “How can that help in a fight?” she wondered, “Just seeing the frightened expression of yourself makes your emotions his.” She didn't know, however, that the mirroring was not for human opponents, but animals, particularly cockatrices. She watched the Florian lose his grip on her arm, and he bent down next to where she was laying. He picked up a strange looking creature: a four-legged spider with four eyes, and two very long fangs. Poison dripped from the fangs, boiling as it hit the ground indicating its acidic qualities. The Florian wasn't trying to kill her, he was saving her. “Uhh…thank you,” she said at a loss of what else to say. Suddenly, there was a loud screeching roar not too far away, and the Florian grabbed her arm and pulled her into the ship without a word. “What was that thing?” she asked him trying to get him to speak. He replied by putting his index finger over the lower portion of his mask, telling her to be quiet.
Chapter 5The Florian scanned the grass with his thermal vision and saw the outline of a body, human, and probably Equestrian. He also saw the faint outline of a four legged creature: a jyptulok and a baby at that. Still, it had two very long fangs with acid poison and could kill a human with one bite in less than five minutes. He grabbed his baton, an energy sword that any Florian had. It was the best weapon against anything that lived in Auflorsung. He quickly drove his blade into the baby jyptulok, searing its organs and killing it instantly. He pulled his blade back up and sheathed it on his side. Then he reached down and picked up the Equestrian. He examined her closely making sure she was in fact Equestrian and that she wasn't bitten. Her white skin and oddly colored hair, in this case blue with what looked like stars, was a dead giveaway, as well as her solidly colored eyes. Florians also had white skin, but their hair was never anything but brown, black, or blonde; and their eyes were never a solid color. He assumed she was doing the same, with what little she had to go by with his mask, examining him like he did her. After a few seconds, he remembered he needed to make sure the jyptolok was dead. He let go of the Equestrian’s arm and kneeled down next to the dead bug. He picked it up and looked closely at it. Its blood had been evaporated by the heat of the energy blade and it wasn't moving; clear indications it was dead. He glanced up at the Equestrian when she thanked him, but there was a screeching noise before he could reply: the jyptolok’s mother was still around, and most likely very angry as they usually were. He tossed the baby jyptolok down and grabbed the Equestrian’s arm firmly, and brought her into the broken airship. It seemed to be the safest place at the moment, given that it was somewhat sheltered and there were many flames around it, most likely from any knocked over candles on board the ship. “What was that thing?” the Equestrian asked. He quickly shushed her by putting his index finger over his mouth. “Crazy girl,” he thought, “Does she not understand the danger we’re in? One more word and she’ll give away our hiding spot for sure.” He found a small chest that he was able to put the Equestrian behind so the mother jyptolok wouldn't see her, and he found his own spot to hide just opposite the chest. He pulled his baton off his side and extended the energy blade, remaining sure to keep it and himself hidden. A larger version of the jyptolok emerged from the jungle and into the clearing. It stopped and looked around for a few seconds. It was a terrible creature: chitinous skin, twelve feet high, and fangs the length of the Florian’s arm. It was so large, in fact, that a single stab with an energy sword was not enough to kill it. It required several swipes at one leg just to hack one off, and at least two legs needed to be cut to be effective. It scouted the area noticing the wrecked airship, but not approaching it because of the flames on it. Fire was what most Auflorsung beasts feared the most, and luckily it was on Luna’s and the Florian’s side. After about thirty seconds, the mother jyptolok went off in the direction that it came, blissfully unaware of the fine meal it could have made of the two humans. The Florian slowly emerged from behind his cover and examined the area closely. When he saw it was safe, he went back into the airship to retrieve the Equestrian. “I hope that thing doesn't come back,” he thought to himself. He let his hand down and allowed the girl to grab it, instead of firmly grabbing her arm and pulling her. He wasn't sure about Equestrian culture, but he figured the females were similar to Auflorsung females. “What was that thing?” the Equestrian girl asked him. He looked back outside before replying to make sure it was safe. “A jyptolok,” he replied with a single tone and with evident fear in his voice, “Same as the little one that would have bitten you.” “What makes the babies so dangerous?” she asked him. Luna looked at him curiously: he hadn't shown his face or any skin for that matter, and now that he finally spoke, his voice had a strange distorted quality to it. “Is he even human?” she wondered to herself, “Is he some mechanical automaton?” “Acid spit, and long fangs. Plus its poison could kill you in less than five minutes,” he told her, “Now, who are you and why did you penetrate Auflorsung airspace?” “I’m the princess of Equestria, and I came here to try to make a treaty with your country,” Luna replied. “No you’re not,” the Florian protested, “Princess Celestia wears a white gown, and has multicolored hair. Don’t lie to me; you’re probably some lady-in-waiting for her.” Luna was taken aback by the fact he knew anything about Equestrian, or even another country’s culture at all, but also by the fact he challenged her royalty. “I’m Princess Luna, Princess of the Night,” Luna replied somewhat loudly, “And how do you know my sister even exists?” “I've never heard of you,” the Florian replied, “And what are you talking about? I used to go to Equestria all the time.” Luna had become so angry by his challenging her status that she was tempted to slap him, but it was clear he was wearing some full-body combat skin, and that his helmet was probably made of a very hard material. She lost all her anger, however, when he said he used to travel to Equestria all the time. “You…you used to go to Equestria all the time?” she asked him in complete confusion. “Of course,” he replied, “But I haven’t been in a thousand years.” “A thousand years?” she asked surprised, “Well…that would explain why you don’t know me. About two years ago I…returned to Equestria and have been there since,” she explained to him, but she was still surprised at his comment, “a thousand years.” This proved to her that he was an automaton since no human, save for Celestia, herself, Cadence, Chrysalis, Twilight and Discord could live longer than a hundred years. “Oh,” the Florian said, “That makes some sense.” He glanced back outside again then back at Luna, “So if you really are Princess Luna, can you prove it?” Luna rolled her eyes. Never had anyone given her so much trouble, but she had to remain calm. She was a diplomat in a foreign country and representing all of Equestria. She figured she could prove her office with little trouble. “Yes, I can,” she said, “Wait here.” She quickly ran upstairs to the next floor and went into her suite. She grabbed the knocked over portrait of herself and Celestia and the sun and moon painted behind their respective princess. She quickly came back downstairs and showed the Florian, who now was sitting down on the chest Luna was hiding behind. “Alright,” the Florian said, “I believe you now, Princess Luna.” He looked up at her from his sitting position, but kept his helmet on, silently wondering, but not really caring, why Luna never asked him to remove it. “OK, now can you take me to your master so they can take me to your leaders?” Luna asked him. “Master?” the Florian asked surprised, “I have no master, Auflorsung is a free country!” “What do you mean?” Luna asked him, “I can see you’re clearly an automaton.” The Florian said nothing, but crossed his arms. He dropped his helmet behind his head exposing his face entirely; showing Luna his stern “die in a fire” look. His light brown hair was pushed to the side with blonde streaks in it indicating he had spent his share of time in the sunlight. His eyes were brown with small patches of yellow as well. He looked like he was no older than twenty-five. “Don’t look at me like that!” Luna yelled at him. “How could you think I wasn't human?” he asked. “Your armor, your voice, the fact you never took your helmet off,” Luna replied. “Even though I showed emotion earlier, something robots aren't capable of?” the Florian protested. “Emotion?” Luna asked, “You never showed emotion.” “When I killed the jyptolok. I felt a little sad.” “Why?” “It was a baby. Now about your ship.” “How did you even do that anyway? That ship was aligned with aluminum. It’s indestructible.” “Maybe by your standards,” the Florian laughed, “But aluminum isn't exactly a strong metal. And no amount of lightweight metal is going to stop the shockwave from that explosion. The sheets of it that were on the top of the balloon are probably shattered from the blast they took. If you thought you could come here with slow, predictable airships then you've really got no idea how Auflorsung works, do you?” “Not really,” Luna said knowing she couldn't win this argument, “Now, where are we and what’s our situation?” “Well, we’re on the eastern coast, well about ten miles from it, and about a hundred miles from the closest city,” the Florian replied, “It appears we’re doomed to walk unless my light sail is still working.” “Light sail?” Luna asked. “This,” the Florian replied pulling the baton off his right thigh, “If it still works, I can fly you all the way to the capital, but if not, we’re walking to Chukxil, the closest city.” “Well, go see if your jet still works,” Luna told him. “First, let me ask a favor. Please don’t boss me around like I’m one of your servants. You’re in foreign lands now, representing your country so it would look really good if you were nice, but yes I will go see if my light jet still works,” the Florian said, “You might want to come with me as well.” “Alright,” Luna said. She followed the young-looking male to a nearby cliff where he raised his helmet and pulled the baton off his right thigh. “Stay right here,” he said, “I don’t know if it’s going to work, and I know that you can’t risk dying because of a faulty vehicle.” “Alright,” Luna replied, “Wait! If that ends up broken, will you die?” “Most likely.” “Then what am I supposed to do if you die?” Luna asked him. He replied with a shrug and jumped off the cliff. The Florian began falling head-first towards the ground, and he pulled his baton in half. One half became the throttle control, and the other became the joystick control. Around him, blue lights appeared outlining the vehicle, and the rest solidified. He pulled up and increased the throttle and blasted up above the cliff he had launched from. He turned around and slowed the jet down enough that he was able to push the baton pieces back together, collapsing the jet and allowing him to collide with the ground safely. “Well, it works,” he said happily, even though he was sure the blast hadn't damaged his light sail. “Good, now before we go, I have one more question,” Luna said. “What is it?” he asked realizing he would play tour-guide for the next few hours. “You said you came to Equestria a thousand years ago, but you look like you’re only about twenty. How is that?” she asked him. “Well, you see we Florians put our brains to work and we discovered a way to make ourselves immortal through genetic manipulation if we want it,” he replied, “It just so happens I got mine at nineteen and I haven’t aged in eleven hundred years.” “Why would…how?” Luna asked him unable to comprehend what he was telling her. It was obvious Auflorsung was centuries or even millennia ahead of all the other countries on Equus in technology. “I’ll explain on the way,” the Florian said, “Here, I need you to hold onto me really tightly.” Without question, Luna wrapped her arms around his neck firmly and she jumped onto his back in a piggy-back style when she felt him leaning over the cliff. “Hang on!” he said over the crescendo of wind. He pulled his baton again, and his light jet materialized. With a slight tug on the joystick, he leveled the craft and put it in a straight and level flight. Luna had never felt such a sensation. Sure she had flown in airships, but they didn't compare to riding on a small machine like this. They were going much faster than any airship could hope to, even with a hurricane pushing it. She breathed the savory rushing wind and looked into the sky. It was nighttime here, but daytime in Equestria, meaning she would be asleep during the night here without messing with her internal clock. This excited her somewhat because now she would be able to join the others in their daily activities and enjoy the sun properly. “So,” she began, “You haven’t told me your name.” “Jolterix,” the Florian replied from behind his helmet. At some point he raised it again, but Luna wasn't sure at what point. “Princess Luna, we have to make a quick stop in Chukxil.” “Why?” she asked him. “You can’t go around this country looking like that,” he said, “Plus…well I’ll let you figure it out.” “Let me figure what out?” she asked. “What?” was his only reply indicating to Luna he was in no mood to talk, but in reality he just didn't hear her. “Anyway we’re gonna make a stop to get you some new clothes.” “Clothes like yours?” she asked. “Kind of like mine.” He pushed the throttle forward to gain speed, but at the same time remaining careful not to overwork the engines. He heard a booming sound and looked up. There was some lightning and they were approaching a storm it looked like. “Hang on,” Jolterix told Luna, “I think we might be in for quite a ride.” Luna looked up and saw large clouds illuminated by the glow of the city ahead of them. “You can fly us in a storm, right?” she asked with much concern. “Oh yeah,” Jolterix replied then thought in his head, “As long as I get super lucky.” He kept the small craft on its heading, which was unfortunately directly at the storm. The small plane began to point its nose into the wind, making the ground track slightly to their right; a position known as “crabbing.” All seemed well for a few minutes until there was a very bright flash and loud boom. “What just happened?!?” Luna shouted with panic in her voice. A red display popped up over the center console and had several flashing indicators. “Well,” Jolterix replied as the display popped up, “I’d say we just got struck by lightning, but this notification confirmed it. Be glad you’re still alive, Princess.” He looked to his left at the wing and saw it had been broken off and the plane was trying to regenerate itself, but could not. “What’s going on with that?” Luna asked him when she noticed the wing’s outline appear then disappear. “It’s trying to regenerate itself, but the electricity from the lightning isn't letting it,” Jolterix replied, “Do me a favor?” “What?” “While you've already got your arms around my ribs, unbuckle the straps around my stomach and chest then take the pack and put it on you.” “Why?” “Just trust me.” “Alright,” Luna replied. She did so and put the pack on herself, “What’s it do?” she asked. “It’ll slow your fall,” Jolterix replied now struggling to keep the plane steady, “If we go down, you could get off safely so I don’t have to worry about you as well.” “Oh, well…thanks,” Luna replied. “Get ready,” Jolterix told her. “For what?” “This!” Jolterix turned the small plane over and Luna fell off. He quickly reached up and pulled the cord which released the little wings allowing Luna's slow descent. Then he cut the throttle and slowed the small plane as best as he could to its proper gliding speed, even though it really had no gliding capability at all. Within a few minutes, he was very low to the ground where he pitched up hard and put in as much throttle as possible, stopping his descent. In the nose-up, near-hover position, he pushed the throttle and joystick together, collapsing the jet into its baton. Jolterix fell only about ten feet where he landed safely on the ground, and he spotted Luna. Awaiting her arrival, he took in his surroundings. “Exactly where I wanted to be,” he thought gladly to himself.
Chapter 6Luna finally landed, albeit ungracefully and rather hard, near Jolterix where he helped her up and led her to a house. It was a lonely house; there was nothing besides the afterglow of the nearby city and the stars. Luna couldn't see the house because it was so dark, but Jolterix had a night-vision setting in his helmet. “Where are we?” she asked. “My place,” Jolterix replied. “Before you ask, it’s safe. There’s a ring of fire around this place that ignites whenever a creature gets too close.” “How big is it?” Luna asked noticing again how there were no lights around. “A couple hundred acres,” he replied. Luna was astonished. No one in Equestria had a few hundred acres, but then again no one needed that much space. Perhaps values were different in Auflosung? “So I guess it’s customary to have a lot of land in this country?” “Yes, you generally would live out here, then go into the cities to work,” Jolterix replied, “Although in my case, I rarely go into the cities since the airfields are always outside of them.” “Do you ever go into the cities?” Luna asked him. “Yes,” Jolterix said, “I do when I feel like it. Come, the ring of fire isn’t an immunity to animals, especially if they smell people.” He grabbed Luna’s arm and quickly walked her towards a house that suddenly appeared when they got close. He took her inside and told her to make herself at home. His house was not like the Canterlot Palace: it was only an eighth the size and was only two stories. The first room had a rack of about four batons, where Jolterix put his broken one. He walked Luna downstairs to a large room with a couch and two chairs, and a big, black rectangle on the wall. “What is that?” Luna asked him about the rectangle. “It’s a TV,” he replied. “Oh! Do you play videogames?” “Videogames?” Jolterix asked her extremely confused, “How do you know about videogames?” “I play them all the time in Canterlot Castle,” Luna replied. “How? Equestria is millennia behind us,” Jolterix replied. “One day some strange merchant came into Equestria and sold them for a very high price,” Luna replied, "a price only Celestia and I could afford." “Interesting,” Jolterix replied hypothesizing that it was a Florian who sold them trying to make few quick bucks, “But yes, I do play videogames.” He pointed at the game console and it turned on, as well as the TV. “Grab a controller, I’m going to get some soda, you want anything?” “Yes, bring me something strong,” Luna replied, “It’s been a rough night.” “Alright,” Jolterix replied. He returned with a small glass of a clear liquid which Luna sipped. It was stronger than anything Equestria had ever dared make. “Who would drink this?” she thought to herself. She just smiled at Jolterix when he looked at her oddly, and took several more sips. She was finished with it and then soon went to bed. The next morning, she awoke with a very strong headache, and noticed Jolterix was nowhere to be found, even though she assumed she was on his bed. “Oh shit,” she thought, even though princesses shouldn't curse, she did in this situation. After noticing she was in her underwear, she stood up and got dressed in a panicked state, all the way down to her gauntlets and necklace. She opened the bedroom door and went into the living room with the large TV playing music, and Jolterix lying on the couch. “Oh good, you’re awake,” he said, “Now I can go to bed.” Luna looked at the clock and it read 11:45am. She noticed Jolterix was only wearing a pair of shorts with no shirt. “What happened last night?” Jolterix looked up at her and paused his game. “You drank some of that drink I gave you, which you’re actually supposed to pour over ice cream so it’s weakened, the ice cream was right there,” he pointed to a bowl which had the remnants of ice cream in it, but most likely Jolterix ate it. “I was gonna say something, but you seemed to enjoy it, so I just assumed Equestrians like strong drinks. Then we played a few games until you threw the controller and stood up. Then you walked over to this couch and began crying while you berated your sister for sending you to the moon and everything like that. Then when I said I was going to bed you said, ‘No! I’m going to bed!” then you slammed the bedroom door shut and when I tried to tell you that it was my room, you said, ‘But I’m a princess,’ then you took my disc off my back and locked the door. That’s why I’m only wearing shorts right now.” “Oh,” Luna said surprised, “Well…I’m sorry about that, but what disc?” “It’s a thing that goes on your back and basically puts clothes on you,” Jolterix replied, “I was actually going to get one for you out of the closet, but the closet is in my room.” “So is that all that happened last night?” Luna asked. “Well,” Jolterix began with a smirk, “When I came up to the couch to try to stop you from crying ‘cause it was annoying, you hugged me tightly and said something intelligible, but then you stopped crying. Just when I thought it was over, you pulled me close and ran your fingers through my hair saying, ‘Tia, look at this changeling! It has hair!’” “Oh,” Luna said, “I’m sorry about that. I guess I’m not being a very good diplomat.” “I’m not sure what’s sadder: how you’re acting as a diplomat, or the fact you’re the best diplomat we've ever had,” Jolterix mused. “What?” Luna asked him. “Auflorsung has not had a foreign diplomat since before the 201 Planet Fall Event, or before I was born,” Jolterix replied. “Tell me about Auflorsung’s history,” Luna asked him as she had so many questions. Jolterix looked at her tiredly, “You wanna know something interesting? Florians are nocturnal, and I really want to go to bed now.” Luna was taken aback by that. She had some excitement for coming to Auflorsung because she would normally be awake during the day time, with Auflorsung being on the opposite side of the world. She had anticipated being “normal” with the diurnal Florians, only to find out they were nocturnal like her. “Alright,” Luna said sadly, though she knew she should try to adjust to this country’s time as well. “Thanks,” Jolterix replied and he tiredly walked into his room. Luna heard his bed move as he plopped down onto it, but a few seconds later she was surprised to find a blue strap dangle in front of her face. She looked up and saw Jolterix above her holding her bra. “Oh…sorry,” Luna said with a strong blush and weak smile. “You know what I gotta do now?” Jolterix asked her. “No?” “I gotta dissolve my bed,” Jolterix said. Luna’s eyes opened wide. Surely he couldn't be that upset about Luna’s preference to not sleep in her bra. “What do you mean?” she stood up and followed him into his room. Jolterix placed his palm on his bed and a holographic display popped up. He moved three fingers to the center and his bed seemed to disappear. “That’s called dissolving something,” he said. He placed his hand on the floor and made a complex motion and a new bed appeared. He tossed Luna a disc that he found on the side table like a Frisbee. “Here,” he said, “Find something you like.” “Equestrians are nocturnal as well,” Luna replied keeping it simple. She didn't want to explain that she was the only one and how it all worked. Jolterix raised an eyebrow. “Really?” he asked. “Well if that’s the case then I hope you don’t mind the couch.” “Actually…” Luna began, “Perhaps you could make a bed for me?” “Sure,” Jolterix said. He was stressed because he was tired, but he didn't want to give Luna a bad idea of Florians. He walked over to her and placed his hand on the ground. A small bed’s outline appeared then filled in. Jolterix lay back down on his bed and within seconds he was asleep. Luna did the same, although it took her much longer as she had already slept a few hours.
Chapter 7The next morning Jolterix awoke and he quietly went into his closet, careful not to awaken Luna. He pulled a disc from the wall; he had two like most people, although some had four or even five. He activated the disc and a hologram appeared of what clothes he would wear. He took the disc into the living room where he saw the faintest glow of light beyond the horizon, indicating the sun had just set. He began swiping through the selection until he came to a black robe. It wasn't as tight-fitting as his combat skin, but it wasn't very loose either. It had white lights aligned on the cuffs and one on the torso that marked where the robe attached in front, with one light stripe around the waist and another around the bottom. The helmet was a mirrored black full-head type, much like his other one. It also had gloves and boots, and was generally more comfortable to wear than his combat skin. When he was finished selecting what he wanted, the hologram disappeared and he placed the disc on his back. His robes materialized much like the light sail or the beds and his helmet came up when he robe was finished being completed. “Well, you like nice,” Luna said seeing his new clothes. Jolterix turned around and looked at her from behind his helmet. “Thanks,” he said when his helmet disappeared behind his head. “I don’t suppose you could help me find something?” Luna asked him as she waved a disc in her hand. “Sure,” Jolterix replied. He took the disc and explained how it worked, then handed it to Luna. He explained that she should just swipe her finger across the holographic display. She seemed to understand quickly, and soon she had found herself something she liked. It was a robe similar to Jolterix’s although it was a dark blue instead of black, but the lights were white just the same. When she put the disc on, her blue robe appeared and a helmet slid over her head. The disc disappeared and in its place was the outline of a crescent moon, drawn in lights. Jolterix noticed her struggling to pull the helmet off her head. “Don’t struggle,” he told her, “Just imagine the helmet sliding off your head.” Luna stopped struggling and calmed herself. The helmet slid off her face and her hair appeared to go back to its normal flow. She turned to Jolterix with a smile on her face. “Good job,” he told her. “Thanks, now you were going to tell me about Auflorsung’s history?” he replied. “Right, I was,” Jolterix began, “OK, well I guess it starts with the cradle of civilization: Montenq. It’s since sunk into the ocean but that’s supposedly where human life started. Anyway some humans went to modern-day Equestria, some came here, some elsewhere. Anyway, for the Florians, we came here across a land bridge that has since sunk into the ocean, and we were trapped. The creatures here were ruthless, so we adapted and began to live in caves. We became nocturnal since the creatures at night aren’t as bad as the ones in the day. That's why our skin is pale instead of dark, like the Zebraficans who live at the same latitude.” “So there are worse creatures than that four-legged spider?” Luna asked him. “There sure are,” he replied, “They’re not something you want to see. Anyway, we became nocturnal and haven’t changed since. All that was about five thousand years ago. Then we advanced our technology and about thirteen hundred years ago we developed immortality for ourselves. The only trouble is it makes us sterile and unable to reproduce. So our death rate is zero, but our birthrate is also zero. Anyway about five hundred years ago, there was a big meteor shower. It would have been pretty on your half of Equus, but here it wasn't. Massive rocks smashed into Auflorsung, killing millions. So what we did was we built a cannon. It’s the same one that shot down your fleet yesterday. We developed it to destroy asteroid fragments before they could become a threat, but soon realized its potential as an anti-aircraft cannon, so we used it against you. Anyway we call that event the 201 Planet Fall because our civilization fell briefly, as well as planet fragments.” “All that sounds terrible,” Luna said. She had seen shooting stars, but had always made sure they stayed away from Equestria. She hadn't thought, or really cared about the other countries; now she was seeing what impact that really had, even if the people affected could defend themselves. “It was pretty bad,” Jolterix said, “But we've since been able to defend ourselves. Plus all of our cities run on this thing we call “The Grid” where we can change things around, it’s pretty cool. Like what I did with those beds, and with the clothes. The downside is we don’t travel anymore because if we got sick, we could die, and if we die there’s no one to make sure the population continues, so we do what we can to make sure no one dies.” “Even if it means isolating your country from the world?” Luna asked. “Yes,” he replied. “We’re immune to most diseases, and our discs tell us if we have anything, but there are some diseases that can still kill us.” He removed his disc from his back and a hologram of his body appeared accompanied by his name in texts that Luna could not read. “What’s it say?” she asked. “Jolterix Misekvo,” Jolterix said, “Pilot, IQ: one hundred forty seven, age one thousand one hundred nineteen.” “Why does it list your IQ?” Luna asked. She assumed it was so high simply because he was gifted. “Do you know what a geniocracy is?” Jolterix asked her. She shook her head, to which he replied, “It’s a rule by the smartest. IQ is important because the higher it is, the more prestige you have.” “And since yours is so high, then that means you have a higher place in society?” Luna asked. “Yes, but my IQ is only upper average,” Jolterix replied. “Only upper average?” Luna asked. In Equestria, anything over a hundred forty was considered genius. “Yeah,” Jolterix replied, “There was a mass euthanization in Auflorsung a few generations before I was born. Everyone without a hundred thirty plus IQ died so the smart could continue living and breeding.” “That’s awful!” Luna exclaimed in horror. “Well I suppose it is,” Jolterix replied, “But it’s done. Anyway, let’s go. I think you should see the city before going to the capital.” He placed his disc on his back where it became a symbol of some sort that Luna couldn't identify. When she passed two well-placed mirrors, she saw her disc had disappeared as well and had morphed into a crescent moon, much like the one on her thigh. This made her assume the discs became the Florian version of a cutiemark. Jolterix led her upstairs and he grabbed one of his batons in the entryway, and led her outside. “You’re gonna wanna get rid of that robe for this,” Jolterix said. Luna tried to take it off physically until Jolterix stopped her, “The same why you put that helmet on,” he told her. Luna’s robe disappeared leaving a combat skin similar to Jolterix’s from the night before. She stared down at herself in awe because the robe had seemingly vanished into nothingness. “Wow,” was the only word that could escape her lips.
Chapter 8“Pretty impressive, huh?” Jolterix asked. His robe had vanished and his helmet was already up. He held his baton in both hands, ready to rip it apart. “Oh, yes it is,” Luna replied suddenly. She grabbed Jolterix’s neck from behind and prepared for him to launch the light sail. “I’m glad you’re not heavy,” Jolterix said as she hung onto him, forcing him to give her a piggy-back ride. He jumped forward and split the baton, and the light sail appeared. It blasted into the night sky carrying Jolterix and Luna gracefully. “So you said you can make things like your bed and everything,” Luna began. Her voice was reverberated and distorted through the mic and speaker of the helmets, “But you also said they are based off your Grid. Does that mean your clothes will disappear and your machines won’t work if you go to another country?” “No,” Jolterix explained, “The only things that run off The Grid are houses and buildings. Not vehicles or clothes; they’re all independent of it.” “Oh, sounds like you’ve got this whole thing figured out,” Luna commented. “We certainly do,” Jolterix said, “But what kind of race would we be if we were completely dependent on our home to use our technology?” “You’re pretty dependent on it for your safety.” “Because we can’t really afford to lose any members. Remember they’re not going to be replaced.” “I know, but still, it’s not like you can’t make a cure, right?” “Maybe we can, but then again perhaps not. It’s not really something we want to risk. Anyway, you never gave me a fair shot to destroy you in gaming last night. I think it would be good for you to see how we Florians live before attempting a treaty.” “What did you have in mind?” “Oh, just a game,” Jolterix replied. He pulled the throttle all the way back and glided the light sail in. They landed in what looked like a large park with a glass dome, where Jolterix dissolved the light sail. Inside the dome appeared to be many courts, but instead of the markers being painted, they were lights, much like the rest of the city. “What are we doing here?” Luna wondered in awe of the cyberpunk city that surrounded her. She noticed Jolterix had replaced his robe but his helmet remained up. Luna commanded her robe as well, but had to concentrate to keep her helmet on since she was so new to this. She caught up with Jolterix who was walking calmly, but at a pace towards the dome. He approached a counter and put two coins on the table, where the door opened and he led Luna into an empty room. “Now,” he said, “Just pretend you’re in a videogame, you can’t die in here.” The room changed and Luna and Jolterix’s robes were removed without their influence. They were each given a baton and appeared on opposite sides of a very large arena, but no other players or a crowd was present. The arena was only used during the professional games, the off season it was used by locals, and each city had its own. Luna watched Jolterix take a running start then jump as he pulled his baton apart. A motored bicycle appeared beneath him and he took off. Luna copied his actions and beneath her, a similar bike appeared. She also noticed the lights on her clothes went from white to blue, while Jolterix’s were now green. She concentrated hard on the bike because she had never driven anything so fast, and she wasn't sure how well she could handle herself. Suddenly, Jolterix’s bike passed quickly in front of her, which forced her to look down in anticipation of getting hit, but she remained fine. As she looked down, she noticed the striking similarities between her console controller and the bike’s controls, giving her a confidence boost. She turned her bike around and was able to catch Jolterix. “Pretty fun, huh?” he asked her when she caught up. “Yes, this is amazing,” she said, “No wonder you Florians never leave here.” “Haha, well it gets better,” Jolterix replied. “See that button to your left? That puts you in combat mode. The idea of this game is to knock the other player off their bike before you get knocked off yours.” “Alright, sounds easy enough,” Luna said. “I’ll go to the opposite side of the arena, and then we’ll really begin,” Jolterix said. He made a sharp turn and sped towards the opposite side of the arena. He stopped and turned around to eye his competition. “This will be easy,” he thought, “But I suppose I should let her win the first few times. Ah well,” he throttled up his bike and sped off towards Luna. He switched into combat mode and a ribbon of hard light appeared from behind his bike; a sort of tail. He sped past Luna by mere inches and turned off the light ribbon, which also dissolved the ribbon that he had created. He cut the throttle and applied the hand break, allowing him to skid to a stop. He allowed Luna to approach him on her bike where he expected her to engage the light ribbon. It took her longer to do so than he expected; maybe she had forgotten how to, but Jolterix purposefully slammed his bike into the ribbon. This gave Luna a victory, even though he made it look as much like an accident as he could. “You let me win,” Luna said via the helmets’ radio. “No, I tried on that one,” Jolterix replied. “Nonsense, don’t hold back,” Luna told him. “Alright,” Jolterix replied with some excitement in his voice. He picked up his baton and pulled it apart producing his bike, allowing him to speed towards Luna. He pulled up next to her and turned his head toward her and shook his head. He then sped up and made a sharp turn around her, while his light ribbon appeared; Luna couldn't react fast enough and her bike was returned to its baton state and she flew off and landed with a skid. “Ouch,” she thought, “Maybe I shouldn't have asked him not to hold back.” Just then Jolterix approached with his bike, but he collapsed it back into the baton and challenged her in hand-to-hand combat. “Oh, this I can do,” she thought excitedly. In Equestria, she was always more militaristic, but nowhere near as tyrant-like to foreigners as Celestia, and hand-to-hand combat was her specialty. Jolterix sprinted towards her where she put up both her hands, ready to fight him. The only problem was that Jolterix had produced another baton from his side, giving him a sword. Luna found an identical baton on her side and wondered how it got there. She soon gave up that thought and focused completely on Jolterix and the fight. She decided it would be a great opportunity to see just how good the Florians were in battle, and Luna had yet to find an opponent who could beat her in this style. With one quick swipe, she thought she had struck Jolterix’s chest, killing him, or in this case just making him lose this round. As it turned out, however, Jolterix had moved out of the way and placed his blade into Luna’s arm. She couldn't feel it, but the lights on her arm turned red, probably indicating that area was struck, and she found she could not move it. “He’s fast,” Luna thought as she leapt away from him, “This will be fun.” She held her sword in front of her in a defensive position as Jolterix jumped and fell towards her. His sword met hers and she was kept safe behind it. She pushed his sword away, effectively staggering him, and began an all-out assault on the Florian. She swiped her sword in front of him, but he always remained a few inches out of reach. She finally struck his leg with the sword and watched the lights on his leg turn red. Like her arm, Jolterix’s leg was stuck in whatever position it was in when Luna hit it with her sword. She kept the onslaught up until Jolterix finally hit her leg with his sword, causing her to fall over. He took this opportunity to stab her chest, rendering him victor. “Do you still want me to go all out?” he asked her as his helmet slid off his head. “Yes,” she replied as she stood up when the new round started, “I’m still just getting warmed up.” “Alright,” Jolterix replied. He turned around and his helmet rose over his head. Suddenly, they were both lifted high above the arena in a small transparent capsule and their batons were taken and replaced by discs: similar to the ones that produced clothing, only larger and heavier, obviously built for combat. Luna threw her disc at Jolterix who was able to dodge it as it passed by him, then again as it made its way back to Luna. As she caught her disc, something caught her attention from the corner of her eye. She quickly fell to the ground as Jolterix’s disc passed over her, and kept low to make herself a smaller target. As she got up, she noticed Jolterix had jumped the gap between them, and was falling quickly towards her. She raised her disc in protection, like with the sword, but Jolterix surprised her. He landed and kneeled down, smashing the floor beneath Luna with his disc, causing her to fall out of the capsule. She only fell about twenty feet before somehow reappearing in the capsule again like nothing happened. Even the floor was back to normal. “Still?” Jolterix asked her as he dropped his helmet to make eye contact. “No,” Luna said frustrated that someone appearing so soft had beaten her, “I’m done.” “Alright,” he said has he dropped his disc and his robes reappeared while the lights on his clothes changed back to white, “You've got skill. No foreigner I've fought was ever able to cut me with a sword.” “Thanks,” Luna said with disappointment heavy in her voice, although she was happy that a single Florian would prove to be such an opponent in battle, and gave her hope that Auflorsung could crush Discoria so easily. “Don’t beat yourself up,” he said, “Those thousand years on the moon just made you rusty. But now, I think it’s time we do something else.” The capsule lowered them to the floor of the arena, where they were taken to the exit, via the moving floor. Luna was dumbfounded by the seemingly solid floor twist and shape itself simply to save them a few minutes of walking. “What do you have in mind?” she asked him when she drew her attention away from the floor.
Chapter 9“I want to show you what Florian city life is like,” he said. He walked out the door and Luna followed him. It had begun to rain while they were in the arena, and Jolterix put his helmet up. It seemed his robe was waterproof and his helmet helped keep the rain off his head. Luna brought her helmet up and her robe came back as well, keeping her dry in the pouring rain. Thunder boomed overhead, but none of the Florians seemed affected by it. “Does it rain here often?” Luna asked Jolterix as they turned onto a street and found themselves between skyscrapers. “Yes,” he replied, “Every day, at least once.” Luna noticed all the other Florians either had umbrellas or kept their helmets on, save for two or three who wanted to tough it out, or just didn't care, but all wore robes similar to Luna’s and Jolterix’s. It appeared apparent that Florians were either antisocial or recognized each other by different means than body features. “You probably noticed everyone looks the same,” Jolterix said turning to her, “We don’t care so much about meeting people on the streets.” Luna nodded having just assumed what he told her while he tried his best not to walk in front of her as a sign of respect. He felt something grab his hand and looked down to see Luna was gripping his hand firmly. “It’s getting crowded,” she said noticing this. “I understand,” Jolterix replied. He turned and went into a building bringing Luna with him. When they went inside from the rain, Jolterix dropped his helmet and Luna copied his actions. Inside was unlike any Equestrian building, but it was clear that it was a bar: people were either sitting or standing, and talking, and there was a long counter with several people behind it. Jolterix approaching the counter while bringing Luna. “Hey,” the bartender said when he saw Jolterix, “How’ve you been?” “Hey Tennerac,” Jolterix replied to the bartender as he sat down at a bar stool, “The air cargo has really slowed down recently so I've just been, you know, hanging around.” The stools weren't connected to the ground, but rather floated a few feet above it and seemed perfectly stable. “Ah see, I told you,” Tennerac replied, “The only things that ships right now are booze and fireworks.” “I know,” Jolterix replied, “But I've managed to find a way to spend my free time,” he said looking at Luna, implying she wasn't a foreigner. “Well, who’re you?” Tennerac asked Luna. “I’m Luna,” she said. “Nice to meet you, Luna, I’m Tennerac,” the bartender replied. “Nice to meet you as well,” Luna said. “Tennerac is a good friend of mine,” Jolterix explained, “We've done a lot of crazy things.” “We lit a hill on fire, once,” Tennerac said which caught all of Luna’s attention. “Well we were shooting off fireworks and there was this old one, a professional grade firework,” Jolterix explained, “And it shot off out the tube, only, it came back down and exploded in the grass, catching it on fire. Then the fire spread to the rest of the hill, but eventually put itself out. It was pretty awesome.” “Sounds like…fun,” Luna said not knowing what to say. “Of course we were both smashed,” Tennerac said. “You were, I was sober,” Jolterix retorted. “Which makes it worse,” Tennerac said. “Probably,” Jolterix told him, unsure if lighting a hill on fire while sober was more irresponsible than doing it while drunk. “Anyway, what can I get you two?” Tennerac asked. “A soda for me,” Jolterix said, “And for Luna?” “I’ll just have what he’s having,” Luna said unsure of what was on the menu. She had noticed the Auflorsung text was much different than the horseshoe print of Equestria and its neighbors, and she was incapable of reading it. “Alright,” Tennerac said. He grabbed a sprocket on the table and out poured a dark, fizzy substance. He handed one to Luna, then one to Jolterix who took a small sip as soon as it was given to him. “After this,” he said putting his drink down, “Luna and I will be going to Ker; she has some family over there that she wants me to meet.” “Oh, that sounds like fun,” Tennerac said with little enthusiasm, “But be careful about that gap in between; lots of nasty things there.” “Oh I know,” Jolterix replied, “We’ll be fine, but thanks.” “Sure thing,” Tennerac said, “I’m gonna go over here, these people need something.” “What’s between here and Ker? And what is Ker?” Luna asked. “Ker is the Auflorsung capital. And just some snakes that are about forty feet long, and crocodiles that can swallow a bike whole,” Jolterix replied, “Don’t worry, though. My light sail will keep us far out of their reaches, plus they’re all diurnal.” “Oh, good,” Luna said not feeling any better about it. “Don’t worry, we’ll be fine,” Jolterix said finishing his drink. He noticed Luna only took one sip and hadn't had any more, “I take it you don’t care for that too much?” “No, it’s not that, it’s just-” Luna tried to say. “It’s fine,” Jolterix said, “I won’t get offended if you don’t like it.” “Alright,” Luna said. “We should get going, though, it’ll be daytime in about four hours, and it takes four hours to get to Ker.” “We should then.” “Alright, I’ll wave down Tennerac and we’ll be on our way,” Jolterix waved his hand at Tennerac who immediately came over to him. “You OK?” he asked. “Yeah, we’re gonna head out now,” Jolterix said, “It was nice seeing you again.” “Likewise,” Tennerac said, “Be careful.” “We will be,” Jolterix said as he turned around, “Seeya.” “Seeya,” Tennerac said. Author's Note What do you guys think? Is it more irresponsible to be sober while lighting hills on fire, or drunk?
Chapter 10Jolterix had led Luna back to the clear area near the arena and they took off on his light sail. Luna was amazed at how Chukxil appeared from the air: the streets were lit up and the buildings seemed to reach, trying to touch them. Luna heard several clicks in her helmet and suddenly some music came on. She looked at Jolterix who turned back to her. “This is a four hour flight, and I don’t want to sit here in absolute silence,” he said as they rose swiftly above the buildings. “We can talk,” Luna suggested. “We can talk over the music,” he told her. After a pause he said, “Er…that probably didn’t come out right.” “It’s fine,” Luna laughed, “It kind of adds to the moment,” she looked down at Chukxil and the soft music added to the sense of flying. She continued to look down at the beautiful city, realizing there were none on her side of the planet that looked anything like it. Its blue and white glows providing an island of light in the ocean of darkness; a darkness not even Luna cared much for. For once, she enjoyed the light, and she also enjoyed this Florian music. To her, the Florians appeared to be expert fighters, nocturnal like her, enjoyed great music, and were militaristic: her kind of people, although the pyromania of Jolterix and Tennerac was something she could do without. The small plane leveled off and she continued to stare at Chuxil’s beauty. It was a wonder to her that the creatures of the night didn't try to invade, trying to get to such beautiful light. “Well, well,” Jolterix thought, “The Equestrian Princess of the Night is a romantic. That’s interesting.” Suddenly, the music picked up and so did Jolterix’s flying. He increased the speed noticeably and rolled the plane completely over. Soon Chukxil was behind them, leaving a strong afterglow. “I like to fly in time with music,” Jolterix said, “I suppose it might be too much to play a more violent song?” “For now, yes,” Luna said shaken by the surprise of the aileron roll, “I think I’d like the calm flying better.” “I know I do,” Jolterix agreed. He pushed the throttle forward slightly and the small plane increased its speed, although the dark ground gave no indication of this. “Hang on, we’re about to start moving,” he said as he lay on the center console. Luna bent down with him and suddenly, the small plane began to change shape. Its wings shrunk slightly, covering less area, and a canopy appeared over them: a white layer on bottom, then glass all around, and then a white top. Luna glanced forward and saw what she assumed was the speed indicator. She couldn't read the numbers but there were three of them. If the Florian number system was anything like Equestria’s, which it was probably better, then they were moving at least five times that of an airship, although it was apparent they were moving much faster than that. “How fast are we going?” Luna asked. “Uh…about five hundred thirty knots,” Jolterix replied. “What?” Luna asked. “Oh…uhh…about seven hundred miles per hour,” Jolterix said, “If you watch outside, you’ll be able to see the Mach cones.” “The Mach cones?” Luna asked. “We’re about to break the sound barrier,” he replied like it was nothing. Luna was astonished, however. Only one person that she had heard of had ever broken the sound barrier, and now she was about to, but her pilot acted like it was no big deal. She stared outside and could see vapor begin to form around the wings and when she leaned around Jolterix, she could see vapor forming around the nose. Soon the entire plane seemed to be covered in the cloud, then it all vanished and there was a loud boom. “Did we do it?” she asked. “We certainly did,” Jolterix replied. He knew light sails weren't specifically designed to go supersonic, but he had known many pilots who did it anyway and they had no problems. “I think this’ll cut an hour off our trip.” “Oh, good,” Luna said. She wanted to get away from the dark place in between the cities as quickly as possible. Despite being the goddess of the moon, snakes that could swallow her whole still scared her. She relaxed as best as she could, given her position, and tried to enjoy the music. The songs changed, but it seemed to be the same musician, indicating this was a record, or the Florian version of it. This reminded Luna of the Equestrian musicians: most played instruments, but every once in a while there was one who used electronics. This Florian music appeared to be a combination of both. “Perhaps Vinyl and Octavia should get together and make something like this?” she thought to herself. “Jolterix, have you got any electronic music?” “Sure,” Jolterix said. He thought for a few minutes about how Luna could know of any kind of electronic music, but remembered that some Florian had sold her the gaming system, so it seemed likely a Florian had sold an Equestrian musician a synthesizer or computer. He pressed his finger against the center console and a display came up. After a few button pushes, he came to the music section where he picked another song. A voice came on before any instruments, and then suddenly there was percussion, obviously electronic however. “This is…interesting,” Luna said when the low bass began. It was unlike anything Vinyl had produced, and seemed to be skipping. Whenever Vinyl’s records skipped, it meant there was something wrong. “I think your music player is broken.” “No, this is glitch hop, it’s supposed to sound like this,” Jolterix replied. “Oh,” Luna said. “Well maybe this Florian music isn't all good,” she thought to herself. “Should I turn it off?” Jolterix asked her sensing she wasn't too thrilled by it. “No,” Luna said, “I want to hear the whole song before I make any judgment.” “Alright,” Jolterix said. He like glitch hop well, and this particular song was one of his favorites of the genre. The music eventually picked up and Luna found she enjoyed it better at that point, but still preferred the other song.
Chapter 11Before too long, the sun had begun scattering its light about in the atmosphere, illuminating the ground below: shades of green as far as they eye could see beneath the golden and white sky. Ahead of them was the faint hint of a tower, similar to the tallest one in Chukxil. Before long, they had reached the capital where they landed, and Jolterix collapsed his light sail back into its baton. He led Luna through the emptying streets towards the capital; everyone was going inside because the day was coming. “Jolterix, why is it so hot?” Luna asked. “The day’s coming. And it’s not so much the heat as it is the humidity,” Jolterix said, “Come on, we've got to hurry.” The heat wouldn't kill them, but it was terribly uncomfortable, and the humidity only added to the torment. Soon they had reached the tallest tower and went inside. They were blasted by the shock of the cold air from the climate controlled building. “These Florians never run out of surprises,” Luna thought, “They control the temperature inside their structures.” The closest thing to climate control in Equestria was the basement of the houses as it always stored heat in the ground during winter, and the ground provided insulation from the heat during summer, but even then it was nothing compared to the Florians’ technology. “We just gotta prove who you are and they’ll let us in right away,” Jolterix told Luna as they approached a front desk. “Great, but how do we do that?” Luna asked. “Good question,” Jolterix said and turned to face the lady behind the desk. “Hi, I've got a very important diplomat here and she needs to see Kaiser Dezler.” “Alright, well if you’ll just sign here I’m sure Kaiser Dezler will be ready to take your order,” the lady said obviously not believing that Luna was a princess. “OK, great!” Luna exclaimed. She bent down to write her name on the paper until Jolterix placed his arm in her way. “There’s this great new thing called sarcasm,” he said, “And we Florians got it while it was still in its beta stage.” “Uhh…” Luna said confused by the entire sentence. “She wasn't being serious,” Jolterix clarified. “Oh, then what do we do?” Luna asked. “Obviously not worry about how making yourselves look like fools in front of me, because that’s not gonna get you to Kaiser Dezler any faster,” the lady said. Jolterix turned to her with an angry expression, and then led Luna away from the desk where they could talk. “Just find a way to prove you’re Equestrian Royalty and they’ll let you through,” he said. “But how? I didn't bring that painting, you know,” Luna said. “I know, hmm,” Jolterix replied. “Well I can show them my magic,” Luna suggested. “Great idea, if only magic worked here,” Jolterix said. “No, it’ll work,” Luna assured him. “Well we may as well try,” he gave in as he watched Luna approach the lady again. “Hi,” she began, “If I can prove I’m an Equestrian Princess, will you let us through right now?” “Sure I will, and I’m being serious,” the lady said. “Good, then watch,” Luna held out her hand and a blue flame appeared. “Can Florians do magic like that?” “No, but that doesn't prove you’re a diplomat,” the lady said. “Do you know anything about the Equestrian Princesses?” Luna asked. “Yes, like how one supposedly controls the sun, and another controls the moon. I also know Equestrians have a mark on their sides corresponding to what they do,” the lady told her. “Well then this should prove it,” Luna said. Without a second thought, she pulled the disc from her back dissolving the Florian armor, leaving just an undershirt and a pair of shorts that she “borrowed” from Jolterix. She pulled the shorts down enough for the lady to see the crescent moon on her hip which the lady immediately looked away from. “OK, OK,” she said, “Go on in, just get out of here.” “Great!” Jolterix exclaimed and he ran up to Luna, slapping the disc back onto her back. “Let’s roll!” He grabbed Luna by the arm and quickly towed her to the elevator. “I want to thank you for taking me here,” Luna said to Jolterix after the door closed. “It’s no problem,” Jolterix said. “Well I just hope it wasn't too much of a burden,” Luna replied. “I got to meet royalty, take a trip into the city again, which I haven't done in a while, I saw a Mesa Shell explode, and I got to see your butt,” Jolterix replied teasingly, "Today was a good day." “All of those sound like a single adventure,” Luna laughed, “But that last one you mentioned, forget it happened. Also everything else happened yesterday.” “I will do no such thing,” Jolterix said, “Actually, I will go to Equestria with you and brag to the locals about how I got mooned by their Princess of the Moon.” “And if you do such a thing I will execute you myself,” Luna teased him. “I call your bluff, you haven’t got the nerve,” Jolterix teased back. “After this I’ll show you just how much nerve I have,” Luna said. “Oh look! We’re here, now we can disregard any previous threats,” Jolterix said quickly and brought Luna out of the elevator. He turned her around and began playing with her disc. “What are you doing?” she asked. “Making this yours,” he said, “Now hold still.” He continued typing on the disc and soon, Luna’s Florian armor became her royal military uniform. “There we go,” Jolterix said and his robes reappeared. “What is this for?” Luna asked, “And why didn't you do this with the lady downstairs, instead of having me take my pants halfway off?” “Well you can’t be a foreign diplomat while wearing domestic clothing,” Jolterix said as his helmet slid up, “Plus I wouldn't be much of an escort without my full light armor. And it wouldn't have mattered anyway.” Luna didn't quite understand the part regarding his armor, but she nodded nonetheless. She followed him up to two large double doors where he opened them. A voice came through the door speaking the Florian language. The speaker seemed to interrupt himself and he said, “Jolterix.” “Dezler,” Jolterix replied. On the far end of the room was a large throne atop a small flight of steps. Sitting upon the throne was a man dressed in robes similar to Jolterix’s, but the lights weren't white. Instead they were a light shade of blue, like the cities. The two conversed briefly in their language and Jolterix quickly turned to Luna. “Well,” he said, “It appears Dezler would like to listen to you.” “You know each other?” Luna asked before speaking to Kaiser Dezler. “On a personal level,” Dezler said. His accent was much thicker than Jolterix’s, who seemed to have barely an accent at all. “Dezler and I used to be on the same carrier,” Jolterix explained as his helmet dropped off his head, “We were both part of the same squadron.” “Until I decided to put my brain to its rightful work and become King,” Dezler said. “While I switched to flying cargo,” Jolterix added. “Anyway, what was it you needed, Luna?” Dezler asked her. “My country, Equestria, faces a threat from our neighbor, Discordia. Our forces aren't enough to defeat Discordia, or even keep it at bay and we may face annexation,” Luna explained, “No other country has power to stand up to Discordia, except Auflorsung, and I am here to ask Auflorsung for military aid against Discordia.” “Well, that is a big question for such a scenario,” Dezler said, “You appear here, the first contact since our citizens’ vacationing in your country, expecting us to lend aid.” “I know it’s a lot to ask,” Luna said. “I will remain on the side of caution,” Dezler said, “My people will not stand for an invasion of a country that did nothing to harm us. Plus I do not feel comfortable risking irreplaceable Florian lives for a cause we know nothing about. However, I will send you back to Equestria, but I will send you under the care of Jolterix, so that you may return in a much timelier manner so that you may return to your threat faster.” “So that’s it, then?” Luna asked. “It appears so,” Dezler said, “I am very busy, sorry.” “Very well,” Luna said with much disappointment and frustration; she had come all this way only to be told no. She turned around and walked to the door to wait for Jolterix who was wrapped up in a conversation with Dezler. They were speaking their own language, but Luna was so angry and sad that even if they spoke Equestrian, she wouldn't know what they were talking about. Soon, Jolterix was standing next to her with his arm around her, doing his best to comfort her. She just pushed him away and went to the elevator, and he followed. “I’m sorry,” he told her, “I’m sure it’s not as bad as it seems. Perhaps Discordia is much weaker than you anticipate?” “No,” Luna said trying to hold back her tears as she thought about Equestria being ruled by Discordia, “It is as bad as it seems.” She looked up at him trying to find some kind of comfort, “So what did you and Dezler talk about?” she asked him trying to take her mind off the very inevitable future of Equestria becoming enslaved by Discord and his country. “Oh, just things and stuff,” Jolterix replied. “Give me a serious answer,” Luna said seeing that Jolterix’s light-heartedness wasn't helping her. “He told me I was to take you home personally, seeing as you've grown closest to me out of any Florian,” Jolterix explained, “He also gave me this so we don’t have to sit in that cramped light sail for five hours,” he said holding up a baton. “Oh, cool,” Luna said as the elevator opened, “Can you put my helmet up?” “Sure,” he said. He began playing with her disc and soon she was back in the Florian armor, and she raised her helmet so no one would see The Princess of the Night crying, even if no one knew who she was. She couldn't help herself; the thought of her subjects coming under rule by Discord while she remained virtually powerless to stop it was enough to destroy her composure. “Thanks,” she said from behind her mirrored helmet, but Jolterix could hear her tears through her voice. “Sure thing,” he said. Luna’s emotions were contagious and soon he was feeling sorry for her, “We’ll just head on back to Equestria, then?” “Yes,” Luna said following him outside. “Alright, stand behind me, about three feet,” he said. He pulled the baton, and around them light began to be produced: a twin engine jet, about three times the size of the light sail came into being. It had an elongated nose for Jolterix and Luna to sit in with canards on it for stability and guidance. On the rear of the main body were two long, forward swept wings and two diagonally positioned stabilizers. Behind those, on the very back of the jet, were two very powerful engines designed to take energy from light and redirect it as thrust. It was known as the Vogel, and was one of the fastest and most maneuverable jets ever produced by Auflorsung. Jolterix pushed the throttle forward and the Vogel went from hover to full forward flight. He pitched up and they were already at Mach 1.5 before they hit ten thousand feet. “Wow,” Luna couldn't hold her tongue despite her anger. “We’re going to go up to about sixty-thousand feet,” Jolterix said. Before long, the Vogel had reached forty-thousand feet where Luna stared out the glass canopy with awe: she saw the many different colors of the rain forests and the rusty red of the cliffs. She noticed something that she hadn't seen the previous night because it was too dark: a massive crater with scarred land around it.
Chapter 12“What is that?” Luna asked Jolterix pointing at the crater, even though she knew he couldn't see her. “That’s one of the craters from the 201 Planet Fall,” he answered knowing what she was talking about, “Here, I might still have something to help you understand.” He put the Vogel on autopilot and he began fumbling through a display on his disc. After a few minutes he said, “Alright, it’s pretty rough, but this is my helmet feed on what happened during the impacts.” Luna’s visor turned black and a video began playing in her helmet with sound. The first thing she saw was a view of the jungle from a plane not unlike the Vogel as she could see part of Jolterix’s hand on the throttle control and the dashboard. The camera quickly turned from the dashboard into the sky. A large glowing object trailing smoke approached the ground quickly. The video followed the asteroid as it collided with the ground about five miles away; a large flash from the explosion and fire with another craft similar to the Vogel about a hundred feet closer to the blast. A large black cloud of dust arose from the impact and the trees could be seen bending over from the blast. Suddenly, the plane in front of the camera flipped over and Jolterix’s plane quickly did so as well. There was an extremely loud blast, but it was kept at a certain point, and distorted by the helmet speakers. The video stumbled and went out of focus before stopping entirely. “I bet it was scary, actually being there,” Luna said when it was over. “It was, there’s another one I want to show you,” Jolterix said, “It originally came from Tennerac.” Luna’s helmet went dark again and a new video began playing. It began with a view of a massive cannon just above the camera, most likely the Mesa Gun. When the camera turned to face the horizon, there was another cannon identical to the first one, but farther away. It was positioned in a different direction. Suddenly, there was a glow in the sky that seemed to be completely stationary. Someone in the video called, “Hold your ears!” and there was a series of extremely loud bangs. Vapor trails extended towards the glow from the canon and it appeared that a second sun was formed. When the explosion was over, the glow was gone, indicating the asteroid fragment had been destroyed. “But if you destroyed the meteor here, then what crashed in the jungle?” Luna asked. “That was just one fragment of the asteroid,” Jolterix said, “The asteroid broke apart when it hit the atmosphere, something we didn't expect. “Here, there’s one final video I want to show you. It was the helmet feed from a friend of mine.” Once again, Luna’s helmet went dark and the camera began in a city like Chukxil or Ker, and there was a glow over the horizon: the setting or rising sun. In the sky, another faint light appeared and it grew bigger, trailing smoke. It flew quickly over the camera and a few seconds later there was a loud bang: the sonic boom. Glass could be heard shattering and the camera lost focus for a few seconds. When the image came back, the camera man was yelling some Florian profanities as glass shards were falling from buildings and smashing into the streets, some hitting people. There was a second explosion and the camera turned. A massive cloud of dust arose in the distance, and the buildings began bending and cracking as well as people suddenly igniting as the blast approached. As it passed, the camera cut out and the video was over. “I’m sorry,” Luna said feeling like it was her fault. Had she not been trapped on the moon, she might have been able to help prevent it. But then again, why would she have? She didn't know Auflorsung even really existed until a few days ago, and it was clear the impacts were of no threat to Equestria. “It’s amazing, isn't it?” he asked her when they hit sixty thousand feet. The sky was black and the sun was strong, and the horizon was lit up by the atmosphere and the curve of Equus was very apparent. “It is,” Luna said trying to take her mind off the horrible videos she had seen. “Don’t drop your helmet,” Jolterix warned her,” Up here there’s almost no air and you’d suffocate pretty fast.” “Oh, thanks,” Luna said when she was beginning to ponder just that. The flight lasted about an hour, and they were soon near the Equestrian coast. Jolterix cut the throttle and the Vogel dropped quickly towards the ground at a rate of about three thousand feet per minute. The craft soon reached a couple thousand feet and Jolterix collapsed it back into the baton. He quickly maneuvered himself to grab Luna and he deployed his wings, slowing their descent. They landed on the sandy beach of Equestria with a soft thud. Jolterix stood up and pulled Luna to her feet as well. “This is as far as I can take you,” he said, “Otherwise, I’m afraid Equestria might see it as a hostile act and try to declare war on us. We don’t want you guys having to fight a two-front war and being incinerated by a few Mesa Shells. “I know,” Luna said with sadness still in her voice. She suddenly felt Jolterix’s lips on her forehead and looked up at him with a surprised look. “That’s how Florians say goodbye,” he said quickly realizing Equestrians didn't share the same tradition. Luna smiled at him and kissed his forehead then hugged him tightly. “Thank you,” she said quietly. “Well it was nothing,” Jolterix replied as he was unsure exactly what she was referring to, whether it was that he saved her life from the jyptolok, taking her to see the Florian cities, or what exactly. He let go but held her sides and looked her in the eye, “This isn't the last you’ll see if me,” he said. He let go of her and split his baton, but his Vogel didn't appear. Instead, his light sail formed and he took off into the skies. “Is he going to stay here?” Luna wondered to herself knowing Jolterix wouldn't fly all that way back in a light sail. She then noticed the light sail disappear and Jolterix fall slightly before his Vogel materialized around him. It rushed towards the ocean then turned tightly back into the skies, its wake disturbing seawater as it passed low over the ocean. Its engines lit up and it sped into the skies, disappearing into the overcasting cloud layer, draped in mach cones. “That thing is so loud,” Luna thought after hearing it speed away and the sonic boom it created. She sighed and looked inland to Equestria and teleported herself back to the castle.
Chapter 13Luna appeared at the castle’s airship dock where she walked inside. The guards didn't line the sides as they did when she or Celestia boarded their ships, and it seemed so bland with no one else around. She walked inside and found her way to the throne room. “Sister, I hardly heard your fleet arrive,” Celestia said pointing out the fact that only she had returned. “They were all shot down over Auflorsung,” Luna said, “The myths were true, they have technology beyond our wildest dreams.” “I take it they didn't agree to a treaty if they shot down your whole fleet?” Celestia asked. “No,” Luna said. “Well it is good you've returned early at least,” Celestia remarked, “We need your expertise to help with battle planning” “I know, sister,” Luna said. “So what was Auflorsung like?” Celestia asked her trying her best to contain her enthusiasm and curiosity. “Well,” Luna began, “Let me tell you about it.” Author's Note This story was pretty fun to write, let me know if there's anything I can do to improve for any future works I happen to do. Thanks for reading!
