“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.