//------------------------------//
// Chapter 7 
// Story: Lunar Diplomacy 
// by Verathuum 
//------------------------------//

	The 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.