Two young men arrive in Equestria to distance themselves from Discordia. After a misadventure in Ponyville, Florians are found and brought to Canterlot to be confronted by the princesses for their "invasion."
It was like any other autumn day in Ponyville: sunny and uneventful, if a little warm for the late autumn. Everyone was attending their own business giving little regard for the dangers posed by Discordia, Equus’ chaotic military country. An airship landed just outside the small town; a standard commercial airship meant for carrying people with no special abilities like cargo winches or canons or any of that. Its passengers unloaded and found who they were trying to meet or went to some other place on the airfield. Two passengers, however, were completely new. They had never ridden an airship before, they had never been to Ponyville, and hadn’t been in Equestria for a very long time. Their names were Meer Reisend and Ozean Reisender; both were young men from Germaney trying to distance themselves from Discordia’s borders. They were tall for a Germane; one was about six feet with brown hair, bleached in spots seemingly by the sunlight; the other was slightly taller and had blonde hair with streaks of brown. They each had a single suitcase, filled strictly with clothes and the money he had from selling their houses. Completely lost in the world and disoriented, they decided the best idea would be to get some food first.
They ventured through Ponyville until stumbling onto a sweetshop: the Sugarcube Corner. They went inside and ordered a strudel pastry and a bethmӓnchen, much like what they was accustomed to in Germaney. On the first bite, however, Ozean could tell the chef had never set foot in Germaney before. It didn’t bother Meer too badly; the chef herself seemed overly hyper and held her head way in the clouds anyway, so he expected it. They took the pastries and left the shop, searching for an inn or someplace that they could stay until they got their bearings. Much to their dismay, there were no inns in Ponyville, and it was getting late. Spotting a small cottage near the forest, they decided that would be their best option: Meer was somewhat reclusive anyway, and he could feel some eyes staring at him, sizing him up as an outsider; Ozean didn’t care so much.
They approached the cottage, looking at it closely. It was a quaint place: moss or grass was growing on the roof, not because it was unkempt, but as an aesthetic. Ozean followed Meer and they could smell the scent of animals: not manure, but their fur, indicating whoever owned this place was probably a vet of some sort. Meer knocked on the door and waited a few moments. A young girl, about twenty five at the oldest opened the door. She was only chest-high on Meer and had long, flowing pink hair and teal eyes. She wore a yellow sweater and brown pants, and held a small white rabbit in her hands, and her face was halfway hidden behind the door.
“H-hello?” she asked.
Immediately Meer could tell she was a shy one, perhaps just as reclusive as he was. “Hi,” he said, “We’re new here, and I see there aren’t really any inns in town. Would it be alright if we rented a space here for a night or two?” Even though he was from Germaney, his accent was surprisingly dull, almost nonexistent.
“Oh, uhh,” the girl began.
Meer quickly sized her up and concluded since she had a soft spot for animals, he might be able to use it to his advantage. He was younger than her, that much he could tell, and if he made himself seem helpless enough, she would certainly allow their stay. “You see,” he began, “we just moved here from Germaney, trying to get away from Discordia, and we have no place to go tonight, and we’ve heard Equestrian nights can get really cold.”
“Oh, they certainly can,” the girl replied, “The animals always come here where it’s warm during the night, but I’m sure they won’t mind two extra visitors.”
“Aw, yeah,” Meer thought to himself as he fist-bumped with Ozean. They made sure to keep that motion hidden from the girl. “Easy,” he thought although he did feel somewhat bad about manipulating her. “Well we have some money we can pay you for the space, and there’s one thing you might want to know. We used to work the night-shift as guards at the…palace in Flankfurt, so we’ll probably be awake at night and asleep during the day, if that’s not a big inconvenience.”
“Oh, none at all,” the girl said letting Meer and Ozean in, “This means you can help take care of the nocturnal animals, how wonderful!” she sighed heavily but happily, “And I can finally get some sleep. Oh, I’m Fluttershy, by the way.”
“Nice to meet you, Fluttershy. I’m Meer Reisend,” Meer replied.
“And I’m Ozean Reisender,” Ozean replied.
“It’s getting late,” Fluttershy said, “I better make you a list of all the things the nocturnal animals like.”
“Oh, no, don’t do that,” Ozean stopped her, “Germane and Equestrian writings are very different, so you could just tell me and I’ll write it down.”
“Really?” Fluttershy asked surprised, “I thought Germane and Equestrian used identical symbols?”
“Er...nope,” Meer said, “It’s like trying to read a foreign language…er…you get the idea.”
“Yes, I understand,” Fluttershy laughed. Meer found her laugh adorable as her voice was so soft and gentle. Ozean found her very attractive, as he did with most other Equestrian girls; and he rated Fluttershy a straight ten.
“Anyway, what did you want us to do?” he asked her. Neither had any quarrels with being put to work; they were taking up part of her house for a night or two, so they should do some kind of chore.
“Oh, well the fireflies’ water needs to be checked; the mice need some more food, that’s in the kitchen; the catfish need to be counted; and just keep an eye on the chickens since their pen is damaged,” Fluttershy said very quickly then added quietly, “That is…uhh…if you don’t mind.”
“So water the fireflies, feed the mice, count the catfish and watch the chickens?” Ozean repeated for clarity.
“That’s right,” Fluttershy said then yawned, “Well I’m going to bed; I haven’t slept well in a long time. Thank you!” With that she was off, up the stairs and gone.
“Well, it seems some don’t care much for human company,” Meer remarked to Ozean as they walked outside.
“What do you mean?” Ozean asked him in their language. Both were fluent in Equestrian, but they preferred their language.
“Well look at all these animals,” Meer said, “Plus she lives way out of town.” He pointed to the lights about a half mile away.
The sun had set, giving a faint glow beyond the horizon. The fireflies were active already, as they were in Meer’s home and he found their water feeder. It was about two thirds full; plenty of water for such small bugs. Next he went to the creak nearby the cottage with a torch and his pencil and paper. He stuck the torch in the river banks and counted the fish as they approached the light. “Thirteen,” he thought to himself, “I’ll just make thirteen tick marks; I doubt she could read my numbers. Next is to…feed the mice, Ozean’s got that.” He placed the ticked paper in his pocket and went to the kitchen to meet with his friend and leave the ticked paper on the countertop.
It was extremely old fashioned: a fireplace with a few pots and pans along with a cupboard of bird, mice, dog, cat, and other foods, and a mantle. Ozean had grabbed the mice food and went back outside where he put about two cups of food into the container; he expected it would be plenty, but Fluttershy didn’t tell him how much to put in, anyway. He walked into the kitchen without a sound, a habit he had developed at home along with Meer, and out of respect for his temporary land lord’s sleeping.
“Now to check on the chickens,” he thought. Without a sound, he went outside and found his way to the chicken coup where he met up with Meer. Indeed it was in need of repair, the fence at least, and it appeared there was a small hole and chicken tracks.
“Well, damn,” Meer said as he pointed out the tracks leading into the forest, “Wouldn’t be very responsible to just allow that chicken to get eaten by whatever’s living in that forest.”
“Nope,” Ozean agreed. He went inside and found his bag. He opened it and pulled a few things out, a baton and other items.
“I’m sure there’s nothing in that forest,” Meer said as he grabbed his things as well, “But it’s best to be safe,” he held his baton close. It was a sturdy thing: made of metal instead of wood and about ten pounds so it could crush the attacker’s skull with enough force, even if Meer never had to use it like that. They went back outside and followed the tracks into the forest after placing plywood over the fence hole. After about five minutes of walking, Ozean suggested they split up to find the chicken faster. Meer agreed and continued until found the chicken poking its head out of a bush, and went up to it. When the chicken turned around and emerged from the bush, he found it wasn’t a chicken, but a cockatrice.
Fluttershy awoke because she was used to the nocturnal animals keeping her awake, even though she really did enjoy the nice rest.
“Well, I guess I better see how those two are getting along,” she thought knowing she wouldn’t return to sleep for a while. She got out of bed and looked out the window. She noticed neither of them was there, and that there was a piece of ply wood over the fence: a temporary fix. She also saw footprints leading into the forest. “Oh no,” she thought, “I should have told them cockatrices live in the forest!” Fluttershy quickly got dressed and ran outside to track down the Germanes, also noticing the chicken tracks which told her why they went into the forest in the first place.
With a few minutes of running she stopped in a clearing and found her chicken. “Elizabeak, how many times to I have to tell you to stay in your pen?” she asked the chicken as she picked it up. There was a rustling beyond the clearing slightly, and she went to investigate; against her better judgment. There stood something that surprised her beyond comprehension: a cockatrice turned to stone. “What could have done that?” she thought to herself.
She was about to investigate closer, but suddenly there was another rustling behind her and she turned around. There stood another cockatrice, although this one was not stone. It approached Fluttershy and her chicken slowly, as if it knew it had trapped them. Without hesitation, Fluttershy covered her chicken’s eyes and glared angrily at the cockatrice, which glared back at her, trying to turn her to stone. * * *
A figure stalked about in the forest. He was dressed in a combat skin aligned with orange lights and a black mirrored helmet, mostly standard Florian apparel. A mirror was the only surefire way to kill a cockatrice, forcing it to turn itself to stone, and his helmet was the perfect defense from the one that had tried to attack him just a minute ago. He recalled the bird-snake as it jumped from the bushes, about eye-level with the crouching Florian. He had quickly raised his helmet over his head, which the cockatrice stared at. He shut his eyes and counted to ten as he was told in school; the cockatrice staring at its reflection, turning itself to stone. Suddenly, he heard a noise and spotted a pink-haired girl with a chicken, standing before a cockatrice. His curiosity got the best of him, and he silently walked up behind Fluttershy, noticing her feet and calves turning to stone, and the cockatrice was beginning to wince in fear of her.
“Just what do you think you’re doing?” Fluttershy angrily asked the cockatrice as though it would answer, “Just because you can turn things into stone doesn’t mean you can go around bullying small animals! You should be ashamed!” Her legs stopped turning to stone, and the process seemed to be reversed: soon her legs and feet were back to normal and the cockatrice was running away scared.
This was too hilarious for the Florian, and he accidently began laughing. Immediately Fluttershy turned around using the same glare on him, and he immediately stopped laughing and fell over onto his back.
“And you!” Fluttershy yelled at him while giving him the stare, “Just because you can use your helmet against a cockatrice, doesn’t give you the right to bully those poor creatures!”
As she continued her verbal onslaught, the Florian could do nothing but back himself away from Fluttershy, crawling away on his back until he ran into a tree. He stood himself up trying to find a way around it, but never taking his eyes off of Fluttershy. He had never experienced such fear despite the terrible creatures that lived in Auflorsung, and he couldn’t tear his eyes away from her, furthering the torment and fear that her gaze gave him.
“Now you go over there and find a way to turn that cockatrice back to normal, and don’t ever let me catch you in this forest again!” Fluttershy yelled at him before timidly turning around and walking back to her cottage.
The Florian, nearly in tears from fear, stared at her as she walked away unable to comprehend what just happened. Without hesitation, he quickly turned around the tree and ran as fast as he could away from Fluttershy. He found a spot hidden away in some bushes and removed his helmet. He buried his face in his hands to relax. “Why didn’t my helmet work on her?” he thought silently to himself.
Returning to her cottage, Fluttershy placed her chicken back in its pen, but left the plywood where it was. She walked towards the forest, seeing Ozean on the outskirts, probably still looking for the chicken.
“Don’t worry,” she said, “I found the chicken.”
“Oh, good,” Ozean replied, “Uhh…where was it?”
“It was in a clearing deeper in,” she replied, “There was a cockatrice there, too.”
“Really?” Meer replied as he emerged from some bushes a few yards from Fluttershy.
“Well actually two of them, but one was turned to stone,” Fluttershy replied, “And some other creature, too.”
“Two cockatrices,” Meer said in amazement, “And what was the other creature?”
“I don’t know,” Fluttershy replied, “But it looked like a person, except it didn’t have a face and it had lights on its clothes, or body. I’m not sure which.”
“Wow, that’s quite a find,” Ozean said. Meer nodded in agreement.
“I know,” Fluttershy agreed.
“Oh, sorry if we woke you,” Ozean said as Fluttershy went back to her cottage.
“Oh, no I woke up on my own,” she replied, “It wasn’t your fault.”
“OK, good,” Ozean replied. With that Fluttershy returned to the cottage and Meer caught Ozean staring at her.
“What?” Ozean asked when he noticed his friend looking at him disapprovingly, “She’s hot, and I know you agree.”
“I do,” Meer said, “But I know when to eyeball girls and when not to.”
“Well she can’t see us with her back turned,” Ozean replied, “When would be a better time?”
“Touché,” Meer replied with a smile on his face.
The Germanes stayed outside for the rest of the night, careful not to go back into the forest in case that cockatrice was still around. They soon went to bed when they saw the sun’s glow just beyond the horizon. Meer crawled into the spare bed on the second floor while Ozean took a few blankets and lay on the floor. They both shut their eyes and tried to sleep until it was the afternoon. Normally, they would stay awake well into the morning, but they were both worn out from the chicken search.
When the afternoon came, Meer awoke from a poor sleep. The sun was shining right on his face for most of the morning, and the room seemed almost unnaturally bright as there were no curtains on the window. “Perhaps I shouldn’t adjust,” he thought to himself. Considering the sleep attempts futile, he got dressed and went downstairs to see about eating something. Surely Fluttershy wouldn’t mind if he ate her food, considering he was paying her and helping with the animals. As he passed the landing and his head came into view from behind the second floor, he heard Fluttershy say his name. “See girls, this is Meer,” she said, “One of the Germanes.” Ozean soon followed, perhaps awoken by Meer or he was already awake and just bored.
Meer came into the living room, followed closely by Ozean where they were greeted by Fluttershy, her rabbit, and five other girls. One who they recognized was the pastry chef who couldn’t make a strudel to save her life. Just as he looked at her, she gasped like she saw a ghost or something and quickly ran over to them, her pink, cotton-candy like hair bouncing up and down. Ozean silently rated her a nine.
“Hi!” she exclaimed, “I’m Pinkie Pie! I saw you yesterday, remember? I made you that strudel…”
Meer tuned her out while still looking at her, knowing exactly what she was going to say: none of which was going to be a question that required his attention. Eventually, she stopped talking and Meer looked at her with a grin; he also noticed Ozean seemed very in-tune to the conversation, but he knew he wasn’t paying attention to Pinkie’s words.
“So anyway, how are you?” Pinkie Pie asked him.
“Oh, you know…kinda tired,” Meer said, “a little bit of a headache now,” he muttered under his breath, which Ozean clearly heard; he indicated this by giving Meer a slight bump with his fist, telling him “Be nice.”
“Tired?” another girl asked. She was about Fluttershy’s age, well they all were, and she had purple hair with a pink and light purple stripe in the middle, “How could you be tired? Germaney’s only a couple hours ahead of us.” Ozean rated her a nine and a half.
“Oh great,” Meer thought, “A thinker.” He made eye contact and said, “Well we worked the night shifts in Dresden Am Mane, so we just sort of became nocturnal, I guess.”
“Dresden Am Mane?” Fluttershy asked confused, “I thought you worked in Flankfurt?”
“I did,” Meer said quickly, “Ozean worked in Dresden, and I worked over in Flankfurt.”
“Oh, I see,” Fluttershy said.
“Oh darlings, you must tell me about your Germane culture,” another girl said. She had purple hair that was curled over on her right side. Meanwhile, the purple and pink haired girl stared at him quizzically, as if trying to figure out if he was lying about his whole life. Both Germanes rated her a ten, and she obviously knew she was one.
“Rarity, don’t pester the poor kids,” a girl said with a very southern accent, “I’m sure Germane isn’t anything like Prance in their fashion.” Ozean rated her a nine and a half as well.
“Alright, so I know Fluttershy,” Meer thought to himself, “Curly Purple there is called Rarity, who’s everyone else?”
“I didn’t catch any of your names,” Ozean said seemingly reading Meer’s mind.
“Mah name’s Applejack,” the country girl said.
“I suppose you already know my name is Rarity,” Rarity said.
“I’m Twilight,” the thinker told them.
“And I’m Rainbow Dash,” the one with the rainbow colored hair said. She had been quiet so far, “The most awesome person you’ll ever meet.” Her hair was strange: each color from the rainbow was found in her hair; regardless she was probably a nine or a ten despite having an athletic build instead of a delicate one.
“Well it’s nice to meet you all,” Meer said as he found a place to sit down, “I suppose Fluttershy’s told you my name already, but just in case, it’s Meer Reisender.” He chose a spot next to Applejack, the one he assumed would ask the least amount of questions besides Fluttershy.
“And I’m Ozean Reisend,” Ozean said as he sat next to Twilight, “Every girl in this country is hot,” he thought silently to himself, “I may move here permanently.”
“So why’re you awake, sugarcubes?” Applejack asked them as soon as they sat down.
“Dammit,” Meer thought, “I barely sit down and already she’s curious.” “Well,” he told her, “I figure since I’m not doing the night shift anymore, that I could try to live diurnally, like a normal person. Ozean and I have been doing so for a few days now, and it’s coming along well, but the night still makes us tired.”
“Oh, well Ah’m sure it’ll only be another couple o’ days,” Applejack replied. She was almost lying against the couch’s armrest, obviously very relaxed and comfortable despite being in the company of two people she never met. She was probably the friendliest person in all of Ponyville.
“Probably,” Ozean replied, “Anyway, we saw there aren’t really any inns in Ponyville, so where would the next best place to try to get a house be?”
“Canterlot,” Rarity replied, “If you go there, you must take me with you. I yearn to see such fabulousness again.”
“Well, I can agree Canterlot’s a great place,” Twilight said, “But for different reasons than its aesthetics.”
“Oh, yes,” Rarity said, “dear Twilight used to live there!”
“What’s in Canterlot, exactly?” Meer asked.
“The royal sisters, Celestia and Luna,” Twilight replied, “I’m Celestia’s…well I was Celestia’s student,” she said proudly.
“Really? What’s she teach?” Ozean asked.
“The Royal Sisters,” Meer said to himself, “You know I met Luna once.”
“Everyone’s met Luna,” Applejack replied to him as quietly as he had spoken to himself. No one else seemed to hear.
“Well Celestia had me come out here to Ponyville to learn about friendship,” Twilight replied.
“And I see you must’ve gotten an A on that project,” Ozean said regarding the five other women around him, then said in Germane, “All of whom I’d say earned a D,” to which Meer shook his head at.
“I think you’ve developed a problem,” Meer told him in Germane. He noticed Twilight giving him a very strange and skeptical look before facing forward.
“Well you could say that,” Twilight said with a shy smile, ignoring Ozean’s and Meer’s private conversation.
“Celestia made Twilight a princess,” Rainbow Dash told him.
“She…just made you a princess?” Meer asked, “Just like that?”
“Well there was a coronation and everything,” Twilight said, “But yeah, just like that. In fact, Luna went on an expedition to Auflorsung, if you two have ever heard of it, and they placed me in her stewardship. She’s since returned but it was kind of fun while it lasted.”
“No, we don’t know Auflorsung,” Meer said.
“Well congratulations, Princess Twilight,” Ozean said, then he thought, “Perhaps I should look elsewhere if the ruler is making young women princesses on a whim. Still, hot women are always a nice touch…haha, there’s more than one meaning there,” He lost himself in thought until he heard his name being called.
“Ozean?” Rainbow Dash was calling him.
“What?” he asked coming out of his daze.
“You OK there, sugarcube?” Applejack asked him.
“Yeah, sorry,” he said, “I must’ve just fallen asleep with my eyes open.”
“Yeah, you should really try to be more aware,” Meer taunted him.
“Well anyway,” Rainbow Dash said, “What do the weather teams do in Germaney?”
“Weather teams?” Meer asked.
“Yeah, are they as good as us?”
“I don’t know, I haven’t seen you guys in action,” he said.
“What do they do, then?” Rainbow Dash asked Ozean, thinking he might know.
“I don’t know,” he said, “I’m not on the weather teams.” His tone implied he was very tired, so the girls allowed his ignorance to slide because of his state.
“How many of them are airship pilots?” Dash asked him.
“I don’t know,” Meer said, “Like…twenty? I honestly have no idea.”
“Darling, you don’t look so good,” Rarity said to Ozean.
“Yeah Ozean, Ah think ya better head on tuh bed,” Applejack agreed.
“You should listen to them, Ozean,” Twilight added, “You don’t go from being nocturnal to diurnal in just one day.”
“You’re all right,” he said, “I will go to bed.” He stood up and stumbled over to the stairs unaware that five hours had passed since he came down them, and Meer remained with the girls.
“So,” Meer began, “Tell me a little bit about yourselves.”
“Well,” Rarity began, “I’m the town’s seamstress; an amazing fashionista.”
“OK, so if I need a shirt hemmed you can do that for me?” Meer clarified. Rarity nodded with a smile. “What about you?” he asked Applejack.
“Ah’m one of the apple farmers over at Sweet Apple Acres,” she said, “The crop’s been good this year, so if yuh want some apples, we got a stand in the market.”
“Well, I do enjoy a good apple from time-to-time,” Meer said.
“Uh-huh, I figured as much yesterday,” Meer said, “But it’s good to clarify.”
“Apart from being Princess of Ponyville, I run the library in the center of town,” Twilight said.
“And you’re a scholar,” Meer said, “I can tell.”
Twilight blushed and smiled as she nodded.
“I’m the pastry chef, but you all already knew that,” Pinkie laughed.
“Of course, how could I forget such a wonder strudel?” Meer laughed with her, but did his best to spare her feelings.
“And I’m captain of the weather team,” Rainbow said proudly, “Also, I’ve flown faster than the speed of sound before.”
This got Meer’s attention faster than anything else. “How’d you manage that?” he asked her.
“Well, I took a small metal tube with a modified steam engine on it,” Rainbow began, “We hooked it up to the bottom of an airship and took the airship up really high and then let go of the small tube with me in it. The engine that Twilight helped design spat out fire instead of steam and it was powered by some of her magic,” she said, then quietly mumbled, “But it was my awesomeness that did the trick.”
“So you had basically an explosion pushing you straight down, and you broke the sound barrier that way?” Meer asked.
“Yep, and when the fuel ran out, I just pulled up and glided to a stop,” she said proudly to which Meer looked at with both wonderment and other things.
“Quite interesting,” he said, “My apologies, girls, but I must go and check on Ozean.” They said their farewells and Meer went upstairs.
Shortly after his leave, Fluttershy’s friends left and she went outside to care for the animals. Meer himself wasn’t tired and seemed to be functioning just fine. He left the bedroom and went down to see if Fluttershy needed anything. She sent him into town to get a few things which he wrote down to save his memory. The first stop was Applejack’s farm, Sweet Apple Acres.
“Hey, uh, Applejack,” he began when he found her, “Fluttershy needs a few apples for her…for some animals,” he said.
“Oh, sure thing, sugarcube,” Applejack said, “You just hang tight right there while I go and get some for ‘er. Maybe Big Macintosh can keep ya ennertained?”
“Oh, sure,” Meer said. He looked behind him when he heard the massive barn door open, and a behemoth emerged. Big Mac stood at least six feet, seven inches, dwarfing Meer’s normally tall six-foot stature. He was not thin like Meer or Ozean, but rather extremely built: he had massive muscles on his biceps and forearms, and even his fingers seemed muscular. He had blonde hair and a piece of straw sticking out of his mouth. He wore a red shirt and blue jeans with tall cowboy boots. “Hi,” Meer said as he kept his intimidation well hidden, “Nice day today, isn’t it?”
“Eeyup,” Big Mac replied. He clearly wasn’t much for conversation it seemed.
“Yeah, it’s…it’s a bit drier than home, but it’s much warmer,” Meer said remarking the unusually warm autumn, “Does it get humid here?”
“Nope,” Big Mac replied.
“Well that’s good,” Meer replied. Suddenly, he heard a sound coming from the house. Applejack emerged and was bringing a big bag of apples.
“Here y’are, sugarcube,” she said handing Meer the bag.
“Thank you,” he said and walked off quickly. He had a lot of other things to get done, but Applejack misinterpreted his pacing.
“See, now ya scared ‘im off,” she said to Big Mac, “You probly talked too much.”
Big Mac simply rolled his eyes at that comment, and went back into the barn without a word. * * *
Meer eventually found his way to the library, and checked the list again. “Books on birds,” the note said. “Well,” Meer thought to himself, “I guess that means every book in the library on birds. Fluttershy needs to make herself more specific.” Before he went in, he heard a voice calling him.
“Meer,” the voice called.
“Ozean,” Meer said as he turned around. He watched Ozean catch up to him. “What got you out of bed?”
“I got enough sleep,” Ozean replied, “Fluttershy said you were out doing errands and pointed me in the direction.”
“I bet you would’ve preferred to stay and try to have your way with her?” Meer asked him.
“Well,” Ozean began, “Yes, and no.”
“Why’s that?” Meer asked him.
“Well I barely know her,” Ozean said, “Plus she said we should try to get accustomed to this place. She also said Rarity had invited us to the spa whenever I woke up.”
“The spa?” Meer asked, “Well perhaps, I mean her books can probably wait an hour or so, but isn’t the spa more for girls?”
“Probably,” Ozean said, “But we’re being invited, so it would be rude not to appear.”
“You’re right,” Meer replied, “We better go.” Even though Meer wasn’t completely comfortable with going to spas, he did find the idea of a massage appealing. He and Ozean found their way to the town square where they found the spa. As they went in, they were greeted by two very similar-looking women; identical except for their hair and dress colors. One had pink hair and a blue dress, while the other had blue hair and a pink dress.
“Good afternoon,” the blue haired girl said, “I’m Aloe. How can I help you two?”
“Well,” Ozean said, “We’re looking for Rarity.”
“Oh,” Aloe said, “Well, right this way.” Meer set his things down and followed Ozean and Aloe. Ozean himself was noticeably excited and Meer simply looked at him and shook his head.
“Well here’s where I’ll leave you two for a few minutes,” Aloe said as she stood in front of a large hot tub. “Just call me if you need anything,” she said as she winked before she left the room. Meer found what seemed to be a type of swimsuit and he went into a separate room and changed. When he emerged, he found that Ozean had done the same. “So,” he asked Ozean, “What do you think?”
“I think Rarity was reading my mind,” Ozean replied, “Aloe is clearly an eleven.”
“Yeah, remember why we’re here,” Meer replied, “And where is Rarity anyway?”
“Good question,” Ozean replied as he got into the warm water, “Damn, this is really nice.” Meer raised an eyebrow at his friend before getting into the hot tub as well. A few seconds later, Aloe appeared, but Meer soon realized it wasn’t her. This one’s hair was pink.
“How are you two doing?” she asked, “I’m Lotus, and Aloe said you’ve been invited by Rarity?”
“That’s right,” Meer said.
“Well, unfortunately Rarity had to leave for a few minutes, but she’ll be back soon. In the meantime, why don’t you two dry off and join Aloe and me over by those tables?” Lotus suggested.
“Alright,” Ozean replied quickly. He got out of the hot tub as Lotus was leaving and he picked up a towel from nearby, making his face change into a grin that Meer had only seen a few times before. “The towels are heated,” Ozean said as though he was high on some drug.
Meer looked at him slack-jawed and a questioning gaze.
“What?” Ozean asked him.
“Nothing,” Meer replied as he got out of the water. When he grabbed a towel, he found out they were indeed heated, and the warmth was extremely relaxing. “I love this place,” he thought to himself. “Equestria doesn’t burn?” he casually asked Ozean in their Germane language
“Equestria doesn’t burn,” Ozean confirmed in Germane. The two walked over to Lotus and Aloe who were waiting by two massage tables.
As Ozean lay down, he heard Lotus’ voice. “What’s this scar you’ve got on your back?” she asked him. He could feel her tracing it with her finger, trying to figure out why such a vicious scar would be on his back.
“Oh, it’s a claw mark,” Ozean replied.
“Really?” Lotus asked, “I don’t know of any animals that only have one claw.”
“It was a stroke of luck,” Ozean explained, “I was far enough away that the animal could only get me with one claw. I don’t really remember the specifics; it was a very long time ago.”
“Oh, well alright,” Lotus said. She poured some kind of oil on her hands and began to massage his back. Meer turned his head to his left; coincidentally Ozean was to his left as well.
“Well,” Aloe said to Ozean, “don’t you have such a muscular back under this scar?”
“Yeah, it’s from my time in the military,” he said obviously enjoying himself.
The two flirted for a little while longer; Meer looked up at Lotus and they exchanged looks that said the same thing. After a little while, Lotus’ massage became something of a fairy tale, and Meer was soon on the edge of sleep. He had noticed Ozean was sleeping soundly by this point.
Meer closed his eyes but stayed awake; he was afraid the two girls would bill them for their time, and he know he and Ozean would sleep for several hours. He soon felt Lotus’ hands leave his back and he heard the two sisters walk away into another room. He opened his eyes and rested himself on his right arm and used his left arm to awaken Ozean.
“Ozean, buddy,” he said, “Time to wake up, I think they might be billing us for the time we’re asleep.”
“What?” Ozean asked as he awoke, “Where’d Aloe go?”
“Never mind that,” Meer said, “I need you to get up so we can wait for Rarity without the possibility of being billed.”
“Ach, you and money,” Ozean replied crankily as he sat up on the table. Meer copied his actions and after a quick stretch-their muscles had been extremely relaxed-they were about to stand up. Rarity finally appeared, but she wasn’t alone. Twilight was with them, as well as Aloe and Lotus.
“Oh good, you’re here,” Ozean said noticing this.
“But we weren’t expecting you,” Meer questioned Twilight.
“No, I know,” Twilight replied, “But I figured it would be best if I joined you.” She turned to Lotus and quietly said “I thought you put them to sleep?”
Lotus shrugged but said nothing.
“Why?” Meer asked, “What’s going on?”
“I know you two aren’t Germanes,” she said, “Your dialect isn’t Germane, and neither of you look like Germanes.”
“OK, then what’s a Germane look like?” Ozean asked her with confidence.
“Much like an Equestrian; not tall and slender like you two,” Twilight said, “Germanes have hair like ours; much more colorful than yours.”
“Alright, alright,” Meer said as he stood up, “You caught us, but I’m just gonna pay Aloe and Lotus and we’ll come quietly.” He went to his clothes and took several hundred bits, all of the money he took with him, out of his pocket.
“That’s kind of…unorthodox, but alright,” Twilight said trying to keep force in her voice.
“Oh, by the way,” Ozean said as Meer got the money, “If we’re not Germanes, then what are we?”
“Probably Discordian spies,” Twilight said, “Crystalines don’t have one color in their hair either; only Discord’s people might have such a trait.”
“Interesting observation,” Meer said to Twilight then he turned to Aloe and Lotus. “Here you are,” he said handing them at least three hundred dollars.
“But the rate is only fifty dollars per person,” Lotus said confused.
“I know, but we figured this will also cover the window,” Meer replied.
“Window?” Aloe asked as she and Lotus looked at each other. Suddenly, there was a loud crack; Ozean had broken one of the windows with a chair and he and Meer climbed out of it before anyone could do anything.
“Now what?” Meer asked Ozean as they emerged from the spa.
Fluttershy was in her front yard playing with her rabbit, Angel Bunny, and saw two human-like figures approaching her cottage from the back. She was hidden behind a window as she peered in from of the front so they didn’t know she was there, and she couldn’t really tell who they were. At first glance, they were most likely Meer and Ozean, but they seemed awfully different. Needless to say she was shocked as she watched the two creatures from behind her front window. She watched the two come through the back door and carrying small metal discs. Placing them on their backs, they were suddenly wrapped in some kind of combat skin, completely with yellow glowing lights. Black robes aligned with similar lights appeared and draped over them. A mirrored, black helmet appeared over their heads and faces, concealing their identities perfectly, but reminding her of the creature from the night before; the one with no face and lights on its skin. One turned around just as his helmet covered his face.
He looked directly at Fluttershy as he said, “Well, consider yourself lucky my dear…”
The other one turned around, “The Florians…have arrived,” it completed the other’s sentence. Both of their voices were metallic and distorted.
Fluttershy could do nothing but step aside and utter a small “eep” as the two human-like creatures stepped out of her cottage. As they did so, Twilight, Rarity, and two royal guards appeared.
“Stop!” Twilight yelled, “Forget the Discordia spies, they’re a bigger find! Fluttershy stop them!”
Fluttershy let out another “eep” and crouched down hoping to stay out of this. Luckily, the two royal guards were able to grab the two Florians with little resistance and they were taken to the airfield. Fluttershy followed them as she tried, but to no avail, to tell Twilight they were Florians; hoping that Twilight would know what to do with a Florian.
“Forians?” Twilight asked her when she finally heard Fluttershy’s voice. “Florians haven’t been around for a millennium. They’re all dead; these two are clearly Discordian spies trying to seem innocent.”
“Really?” one of the Florians turned to her and forced the guards and the other Florian to stop, “You’re gonna assume Florians have died? Why don’t you go find Princess Luna and see what she thinks of your ignorance?”
“Luna is wise enough to know that Auflorsung is gone,” Twilight said.
“I’m afraid you’ll be soon see your sad mistake,” the Florian replied.
“Some people,” the other said. They had not removed their helmets since their capture, and the guards didn’t seem to try to remove them. After a while, a military airship arrived and the Florians were herded onto it. They were brought to the middle front of the top deck and chained to the floor and several guards that surrounded them, as well as having their hands bound by chains. “A friendly welcoming party,” one of the Florians commented.
“Shut it,” one of the guards told them.
“Well, luckily for you two, my brother is in town from the Crystal Empire; and as former captain of the guard, I’m sure Celestia will allow him to decide your executions,” Twilight said triumphantly.
“Well, such strong words coming from royalty of a country that can’t seem to defend itself against Discordia,” one of the Florians said.
“Hey, they can still jail and starve us,” the other told him. There was a sudden vibration, and the airship’s mooring to the ground was cut. It rose into the air and began moving forward; its massive propellers spinning quickly. The airship didn’t make it very far beyond Ponyville before the Florians could see their destination: a large city cut into a mountain, most likely Canterlot. The two Florians stood still as they waited for their possible execution by starvation. Even though they were extremely powerful, they weren’t remarkably physically strong so the chains kept them in one place.
They made it about half way to Canterlot, when two other airships, armed with cannons, flew up on both sides of their airship: escorts. The small V formation carried on to Canterlot, many cannons aimed at the two Florians. Their reflexes were fast, but there was no way they could dodge a cannonball while focusing on getting loose from their chains, especially with the guards ready to pounce. The three airships continued to Canterlot, and the two armed ships broke off the formation, finding two places over a long bridge that led to a castle: the airship dock.
On the dock, there was a long line of heavily armored guards, two females dressed in military uniforms, a third female in a royal dress, and a male in heavy armor. They seemed to all be royalty, and they were all approaching the end of the dock. The tallest female, dressed in white and gold wore a very stern, almost angry expression. The next one, dressed in blue and shorter wore a silver mask: a tactic she was reminded of in Auflorsung. The ship docked and the six guards chained to the Florians herded them off the ship, across a very thin wooden gangway. They were stopped several paces beyond the gangway; both Florians towered by the guards that stood around them, despite their already tall stature. The four royals approached the Florians, each sizing them up and making their own opinions.
“They’re Florian,” the blue one whispered behind her mask to the one in white.
“But why are they here?” the white, tall one asked her, “And are either of them the one you met on your journey to Auflorsung?”
“I don’t know, sister, I’m not a mind reader,” the blue one teased her, “And probably not; he had white lights on his clothes, they have yellow, and they have their faces covered.”
The tall one, dressed in a white military uniform with gold trim and a rapier sword on her side approached the two Florians. She was at even height with them, impressive for an Equestrian woman. She looked sternly at each, trying to find their eyes beyond their mirrored helmets before she finally spoke. “Florians,” she said without complete certainty, “Why have you invaded Equestria?”
“We didn’t,” one of them said.
“You’re in Equestria, you’re obviously wearing some kind of armor, if it is only head protection. No doubt you’re carrying some kind of weapon. This looks like an invasion,” Celestia said and then muttered, "And a poor one at that."
“It’s not,” one of them replied, “We might be wearing armor and we might be armed, but it is simply for protection.”
“Then why are you here?” Celestia asked them.
“We cannot say,” the same Florian replied.
“If you cannot say, they you are obviously not here for peace,” Celestia said, “And therefore, you will be executed.” She turned to the male standing a few feet behind her. “I’m sorry, Shining Armor, but I think it best to make an example of these two right now.”
“Do what you must, m’lady,” the male said. He reached for the princess next to him and covered her eyes. Celestia drew her sword and cut the chains that attached the Florians to the guards with a decently hard swing. Then she swung it as hard as she could at the Florian to her left. The blade collided with his arm, and she expected to feel his bone as her sword penetrated it. What she got, however, was not what she or anyone expected.
The Florian was knocked over by the force of the sword and landing on his side, letting out a muffled grunt. Celestia, surprised, took a swing at the other, getting the same results.
They both stood up and looked at Celestia. Although their faces were hidden, she could feel their anger. “Care to explain?” one of them asked with fury in his voice.
“I don’t understand,” Celestia said ignoring their inquiry, “My sword can cut any armor.”
“Obviously not,” one of the Florians said with much disrespect in his voice.
“Perhaps you’d like a lesson in your inferiority?” the other asked with the same amount of disrespect and an equal amount of condescendence.
Celestia said nothing, but stared at them stunned.
“Well here it comes,” the Florian said. “If you knew anything about Auflorsung, you’d know it houses the most dangerous creatures on Equus. Our armor was designed to withstand their claws, teeth, and acid. Do you think your petty gold plated blade would be enough?” The other Florian took a baton from beneath his robes and activated it. A blue blade of energy appeared, and with a gentle flick of the wrist, the energy blade cut Celestia’s sword in half like butter. He sheathed his baton and stood with his arms at his side.
“You will pay for that,” Celestia said. She turned around and led her entourage back into the castle; the Florians were herded behind them by the guards. They all walked at a quickened pace along the long bridge that led into the castle, and ultimately to a large throne room.
“So…why are we here?” one Florian asked when they stopped.
“You better keep your mouths shut,” Shining Armor said.
“What are you gonna do? Really?” one Florian asked him. The other looked to the left and saw someone he knew was in Auflorsung only a week ago. He cut the binds on his wrists and other limbs with his energy blade and went to have a talk with her. The guards were either too afraid or otherwise unwilling to stop him.
“You look...familiar,” the Florian said as he approached Princess Luna. She immediately turned and looked at him, taking another look to see if he was Jolterix or not. “Well, I was just in Auflorsung not too long ago,” she said, “And forgive my sister, this trouble with Discordia has her extremely anxious, and she’s just trying to protect everyone. She isn’t really this tyrannical.”
“I understand,” the Florian replied, “But is there something you can do to speed this along; make her friendlier?”
“I can try,” Luna said, “I know your race isn’t here to enslave us.” When Luna completed that sentence, the other Florian called over, “Yolter, come here, this guy things he can win in a duel.”
“Thank you,” Yolter said to Luna and he walked over to the other. Luna stared at him, his name bared some similarities to “Jolterix,” but it was too different as well.
Yolter made his way to his friend and inquired what Shining Armor was trying to say. “What goes, Tenner?” He accidentally spoke a Florian sentence using Equestrian words, but he knew Tenner would understand what he wanted.
“Without your armor, you’re nothing,” Shining Armor told them, “Luna told us of your country; how your military has essentially died. I bet in an unarmed fight or even one with swords you wouldn’t stand a chance against an Equestrian, or even a Crystalline.”
The Florians looked at each other and laughed. “Well Luna hasn’t told you the whole story, then. Our military is as good now as it has ever been. You carry way too much confidence, boy,” one of them said. Shining Armor clearly didn’t know that Florians were extremely skilled in unarmed combat, as was demonstrated with Luna in a Florian arena. He also didn’t understand why they would call him “boy” when they seemed to be youthful, even though Shining had very little to go on. He didn’t know Florians were immortals; no one in Equestria did, save for Luna.
“If Celestia doesn’t execute you herself, then we’ll each have a little time in the arena,” Shining said.
“Then I hope you’re satisfied with your life,” one of the Florians said, “because that sounds very much like a death wish.” They each figured that since they were receiving no respect from Equestrian leaders, beginning with the attempted assassinations, they would give none back.
“Florians,” a voice called. It was Celestia’s. “My sister has informed me of your value here in Equestria. We will house you in this castle while we figure out what to do with you. Now, you all must be hungry, dinner will be ready in twenty minutes in the dining hall.” She left her throne and walked to the Florians. “You will remove your helmets,” she said getting close to both their ears, “And if you refuse, I know many…exotic ways to make you more submissive.” She smiled slyly at them and she turned around to follow the others.
“Sorry about her,” Luna said. She obviously didn’t hear what Celestia had said, “She’s just anxious about Discordia. Follow me, I will show you to your rooms.” She led the Florians down several hallways until they reached a specific door. “This will be your room,” she pointed at Tenner, then walked backwards until she was adjacent to another door, “And this will be yours,” she pointed at Yolter.
“Alright,” Yolter said. He walked forward and opened the door to his room as Tenner did with his. Luna followed Yolter into his room. It was opulent and spacious: a large four-poster bed sat elevated on a few steps and there were several large windows and a door that led to a balcony. “This is very nice,” Yolter said, “Thank you.”
“It’s no problem,” Luna said as she removed her mask, hoping the Florian would do the same.
“I can’t take mine off,” he said seemingly reading her mind, “Not yet.”
“Why?” Luna asked.
“It’s just…it’s not the right time yet,” he said.
“What are you doing in Equestria, then?” Luna asked.
“That can’t be said, either,” he told her, “Otherwise it would ruin it.”
“I’m not sure I understand,” Luna said.
“Good,” he replied, “The less you understand, the better. Trust me.”
“Fine,” Luna said. She had trusted a Florian before, and it benefitted her; she saw no reason not to trust one again. She also knew she couldn’t forcefully take a Florian’s helmet off; it had to be the Florian that did it himself. “We should get to the dining room; let’s not keep your hostess waiting.” She was sure they would unwittingly remove their helmets for dinner so that they could eat. She led both Florians to the dining area where they sat down at a long table, and were immediately waited on by castle servants. They were given many delicious foods: steak, corn, chicken, and many other Equestrian delicacies.
“So,” Celestia began starting the conversation, “You Florians never told us your names.”
“Mine is Tenner,” he said.
“And mine is Yolter,” he added.
“Well, Tenner and Yolter,” Celestia replied, “You also have not stated your business in Equestria.”
“We can’t,” Yolter replied, “If you knew, it would defeat the purpose of us being here. Our deepest apologies.”
“Then why should we not lock you up in our dungeon until you told us?” Celestia asked them with force in her voice.
“Because it would be easier for us to escape than for you to jail us,” Tenner replied.
“Celestia, they’re not lying. Placing them in the dungeon would be a waste of our time,” Luna told her sister.
“Luna, I thank you for your advice, but I wonder just how far your knowledge of Florians really goes; having spent only two days in the country,” Celestia remarked.
“She wouldn’t lie to you,” Yolter said, “She’s your sister, who also wants what’s best for your shared subjects. Plus, she’s been there; you have not.”
“Very well,” Celestia said, “But I must say: I find it…confusing that your country would refuse military aid, but two of you arrive in our country and you won’t state your business.”
“You must trust us,” Yolter said, “We are not here to bring harm to your people, even if we do not find what we are looking for.”
“And what are you looking for?” the princess without a military uniform asked. This was the first time either Florian got a good look at her. She was fairly tall, about Luna’s height and build, with several colors in her hair: pink, yellow and purple. Her voice was soothing and gentle, so much that it seemed love radiated from it.
“If we told you, we would find what we hope for, but we would not find what we are looking for,” Tenner replied.
“Well, enough talk,” Celestia interrupted, seeing the conversation going nowhere, “Why don’t we eat. I’m sure you two are very hungry.” She looked at the Florians hoping that would cause them to remove their helmets.
“We appreciate the offerings,” Yolter said.
“But we aren’t hungry,” Tenner finished his sentence. This was a lie: they were both very hungry and desperate to eat anything on the table. Yolter stared at the wine even, and he hated alcohol, but still so desperate for its sweet quench. Tenner looked at his steak, he loved steak, but he could not remove his helmet and relish the meat’s sating abilities. This was some of the most intense torcher either Florian had experienced.
“Surely you must be,” Celestia said, “Wouldn’t you two feel awful if such delicious food had to go to waste?”
“Sister, I think they’re really not hungry,” Luna said as she remembered a detail of her trip to Auflorsung. It had seemed like nothing at the time, but now it meant so much: Jolterix hadn’t eaten the entire time she was with him, save for a small bowl of ice cream. “When I was in Auflorsung, my guide didn’t eat anything. It’s not too farfetched to assume they don’t eat anything either. Perhaps Florians simply don’t eat like we do?”
“Listen to the woman, Celestia,” Yolter thought.
“Let us leave,” Tenner thought to himself.
“Perhaps,” Celestia said. You both appear to not eat anything. Would anyone mind if the Florians left the table?”
“No,” Shining said actually happy at the idea.
“I don’t mind,” the civilian princess said.
“They may leave,” Luna said. Her word carried much more weight than Shining’s and Cadance’s.
“Very well,” Celestia said, “The Florians may leave the table, but only if you are going back to your rooms.”
“Not a problem,” Tenner replied. He and Yolter stood up and smuggled some food back to their rooms underneath their robes.
After about an hour at dinner, Luna and Celestia went to the Florians’ rooms to check on them even though they were under constant guard. They picked a door and knocked; Tenner opened the door, but didn’t allow Celestia in. Yolter did the same. They both wore their helmets and robes, but it was likely they had removed their armor during their time by themselves.
“Yes?” Yolter asked Luna.
“I’m just here to make sure you’re both fine,” Luna said to him.
“Very well,” he replied, “Is that all?”
“Well,” Luna thought for a moment, “Florians still play games right?”
“That we do,” he said.
“Good, would you like to play something more traditional than your videogames?” she asked him.
“Perhaps, what have you got in mind?” Luna looked into his room and saw a chess set on the table in the corner. “Do Florians know how to play chess?”
Yolter turned around and saw what she was looking at. “Of course we do,” he said, “But it’s been a while, and I might not be as good as I once was.”
“Oh that’s alright,” Luna said, “I can go easy if you want.”
“No, no,” Yolter replied as he walked over to the chess table, “Please, try your hardest.” Luna sat down across from him and placed her chin on her hand in thought; her hand was covered in a blue gauntlet. She still wore her blue military uniform as well as an obsidian crown with a diamond encrusted in the shape of a crescent moon. Two silver earrings sat in her lower ears; the same color as stars. Her hair flowed in some nonexistent breeze: it seemed to hold the stars and looked a lot like a nebula that Yolter had taken an interest in recently. Her solid blue eyes stared at him intensely. He knew he had an advantage because he could see her face, but she couldn’t see his.
“Well?” she asked. Yolter came back to reality. “What?” he asked realizing he had become too caught up with examining Luna. “She’s definitely a twelve,” he thought silently even though Tenner was the one who usually rated women, not Yolter.
“Aren’t you going to make the first move?”
“Oh, sure, unless you want it?”
“No, it’s for the guest,” she said with a grin of anticipation.
“Then,” he began and paused as he ran his hand over the board, “I will do this.” He moved a piece forward.
“Alright,” Luna said. She picked up a piece and moved it with her hand. Yolter responded by placing another pawn. Luna used her magic to move a pawn and Yolter raised his gaze from the board to her.
“Really?” he asked her.
“What?” she replied with confusion.
“Florians win wars without magic,” he said, “I would expect Equestria to do the same. Chess is just a simulated war.” He stood up and leaned over the board as he picked up all of his and Luna’s pieces. He places many pieces by the board and some on the board. Mostly his remained on the board, but he left a few of Luna’s as well as her king. She noticed he had placed the pieces in a checkmate position, favoring him.
“What, do Florians move over the land and move countries as well?” she asked him in a teasing manner.
“No, but since you used magic, I just figured you were going to play lazily,” he said, “This is how the game would have finished.”
“Impossible,” Luna thought then said, “And how would you know that?”
“Well I’m sure you know Florians are always very intelligent,” he explained, “My IQ is one hundred forty seven. But that was the last time I checked: several centuries ago. Of course it’s gone up since then, probably to around two hundred twenty or so. Go on, go through the game and see if this is where we would have ended up.” He sat down and patiently awaited Luna.
“That’s impossible,” she said when she realized he was correct, “How could you have known that?”
“Well remember: I got my immortality at a young age before my brain power stopped increasing. It’s been one thousand one hundred nineteen years since then, so my brain is very powerful right now,” he explained. Luna gawked at him, completely surprised at how he knew exactly how she was going to play the game. “There’s got to be something more,” she said.
“Well I’ve seen you fight; you’re pretty aggressive,” he said, “I was in the arena that day,” he quickly said.
“I didn’t see anyone else besides Jolterix and me,” Luna said.
“There weren’t many people, I came in towards the end when you two you fighting with swords,” he said as he replaced the chess pieces back to normal and looked into the hallway. Celestia and Tenner walked past, Tenner was still in his clothes and helmet. “I think your sister might know Tenner,” Yolter said.
“What makes you say that?” Luna asked.
“She and Tenner just walked past,” he said, “Plus I know very well he had some relation with an influential woman from this country.”
“When was that? Florians haven’t been here in a long time,” Luna said.
“It was...uhh…probably something like uh nine hundred and…seventy years?”
“That would explain why I don’t remember any Florians in the palace,” Luna said as she recalled her banishment to the moon, “I was on the moon then.”
“The moon?” Yolter asked surprised, “How’d you get up there?”
“Magic.”
“Of course, I should have guessed,” Yolter said. “Unfortunately, Auflorsung hasn’t quite reached that point of leaving the planet; we haven’t set foot on the moon yet.”
“But you’ve got that cannon that rips apart our ‘indestructible’ airships?”
“We do, you know it?”
“I felt its effects.”
“I heard about that,” Yolter said, “Some fleet came in that was blown down and landed somewhere in the mountains. There was one survivor, of course, the guy who came and looked didn’t examine very hard it seems.”
“Now that you bring it up, he didn’t” Luna said, “Wait, how did you know-”
“Plenty of time for idle chat later,” he interrupted her, “But now I have to attend to some business on my disc.”
“Very well,” Luna said. She lost her anger about being kicked out when she realized that Yolter needed to remove his disc to work with it. That meant he would have to remove his helmet and his combat skin, exposing who he was. She stood up and allowed Yolter to walk her out of the room and into the hallway. She saw the sun was setting to which she said, “I should go raise the moon.”
“Ah, yes” Yolter said playing her game of magic, “Time to make it daytime in Auflorsung. I will probably be going to bed as well.”
“Alright,” Luna said, “Have a good rest.”
“Thank you,” Yolter replied as he shut the door.
Luna immediately kneeled down to peer through the keyhole in the door. She saw Yolter walk to the curtains of the windows and close them. His robes dissolved and he was left in his combat skin and helmet. Next, his helmet fell off the back of his head and disappeared, and he reached onto his back and removed his disc. His combat skin dissolved as well leaving him in a pair of shorts and a light shirt. Luna adjusted herself to be more comfortable, causing her to remove her eye from the keyhole. When she looked back, Yolter was gone. Suddenly, an eye came into view, but it was too dark to tell its colors accurately. This surprised Luna enough to knock her back where she sat against the wall and looked up when the door opened. Yolter was back in his combat skin and his helmet was just locking into place.
“Is there something you need?” he asked as his robe appeared and draped itself over him.
“Uhh…no,” Luna said trying to stand up. Yolter extended his arm and helped her to her feet. “I was just-”
“Wanting to see if I brought back that thing you forgot in Auflorsung?” he asked her.
“What thing? What did I forget?” she replied. Yolter went to his bed and pulled up a blue item. “You forgot this in Auflorsung. I figured I’d return it to you.” Luna recognized the blue bra, and she immediately realized she had forgotten it at Jolterix’s house, but how could Yolter have gotten ahold of it? “How did you get that?”
“You left it at my place, remember?” Yolter’s helmet came off his head, exposing his face. His brown hair with blonde streaks and brown eyes with yellow pools was identical to Jolterix’s.
“Why are you going by a different name?” Luna asked him.
“I’m not really,” he said. “In Auflorsung, your “j” is pronounced like your “y,” so my name is pronounced “Yolterix,” there, but “Jolterix” here. I just used Equestrian grammar because I figured you’d recognize it better. Also, if you are good friends with someone, you rarely use all syllables in their name, so Tenner calls me “Yolter.”
Luna quickly hugged him and said, “You know you could’ve told me.”
“I guess,” he said hugging her back, “But then again we still wouldn’t have found what we were looking for.”
“Which is?”
“If Equestria is worth maintaining. If we told you why we were here, none of its leaders would have been honest with us, so we wouldn’t have found out for sure. You understand?”
“Yes, I do,” she said, “But why are you helping us without expecting anything in return?”
“Florians face extinction just like you. If Discordia annexed Equestria and the Crystal Empire, then Equestrians and Crystallines might become extinct. Plus it’s not like we can’t just fire off a couple Mesa shells and Discordia will continue.”
“But why you? You’re not in the military anymore.”
“Nope, but remember, I said that wasn’t the last you’d see of me. Also, Dezler figured I’d be the one to do it since I know you so well. Remember after your meeting with Dezler he and I spoke for a few minutes?”
“No, well vaguely.”
“He told me I was to escort you home, then find out if Equestria was worth protecting. He said I can go about it anyway I wanted to.”
“Oh, I remember that now, yeah. And one more thing,” Luna laughed, “Why are the lights on your clothes yellow instead of white?”
“They’re white if we’re in our own lands. They’re yellow if we’re in a foreign country,” he explained, “You didn’t put your disc on since you got back, did you?”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Just as well,” he said. “Oh yeah, don’t you have a moon to raise?”
“Come on.” She grabbed his arm and pulled him into the hallways where he placed his disc on his back. Luna led him to the tallest tower in the castle where they emerged on the roof. She outstretched her hands and a blue mist appeared a round them: magical residue. Beyond the horizon, the moon began to float just above it. Luna left it a few degrees above the horizon and turned around. “It’ll be able to make it the rest of the way,” she said.
“So that’s it?” he asked, “No big magical incantation or anything?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re not gonna make it more flashy? A ceremony like that is hardly worth watching. If you’re gonna tell them you raise the moon, at least make a show of it.”
“What? I don’t understand.”
“Oh, come on. We all know Equus spins on an axis and that’s what raises the moon and the sun.”
Luna smiled at him, “I think you just can’t handle the fact some people might be more powerful than the Florians.”
“And I think you might be afraid I’ll tell everyone in Equestria that you and Celestia are fakes, and that you mooned me.”
“You’re really not letting that go, are you?” Luna’s face became stern.
“Nope.”
“Come on, you know Celestia would burn you at the stake for that.”
“Then while I burn alive, I’ll just inform her how you can’t keep track of your underwear,” he teased her.
“Then I’ll burn you myself,” she said as a blue flame appeared in her hand. Jolterix cupped it with his hands, cutting off the flame’s oxygen, effectively putting it out. Luna looked at her hand and then at Jolterix who returned the gaze with a smile.
“I’m afraid you’re still at the mercy of science and physics,” he said, “My combat skin is completely fireproof.” He sat down and looked up at the sky.
Luna looked at him with an annoyed look and turned around. “Fine,” she said as she sat down with him.
“The aurora’s clear tonight,” he commented seeing the strands of light from the Crystal Empire.
“Those lights?” Luna asked, “Those are from the Crystal Empire. Their crystals put out magic into the sky which rains down on Equestria and other countries. It gives us our magic.
Jolterix looked at her for a few seconds and said, “Wanna play me in a videogame?” he asked.
“Yes!” she said happily, “I won’t be so easy to beat like in chess.” She wondered why he would change the subject so abruptly; but she knew Jolterix, if not all Florians, was extremely indirect about things. “He’s probably gonna use the games to tell me something,” she thought.
“Good, I love a challenge,” Jolterix said. Luna grabbed his arm again and he raised his helmet when they went back into the castle. They walked quickly passed many doors and they soon passed Celestia’s grand room only because it was on the way. There was a cracking sound and some kind of yelling coming from inside. “Hang on,” Jolterix said. He removed his helmet and pressed his ear against the door. After a few seconds, he cracked it open and peaked in. He shut the door and stared blankly at it.
“What’s going on?” Luna asked him.
He turned to her and said, “Uhh…well…you’re not old enough to know.” He quickly raised his helmet to keep any passers-by unaware of his looks.
“I’m pretty sure I’m a few centuries older than you,” she replied.
“Bitch, you might be,” came a voice. Tenner was poking his head through the door. Somehow he appeared to only be wearing his helmet, maybe more, but he wasn’t wearing a shirt.
Luna turned at him with a furious look and there was a thunderclap.
“Tenner, I think you should really pay attention to which princess you’re talking to,” Jolterix said as he placed his hand on Luna’s shoulder to calm her down, “This one doesn’t like it when you call her ‘bitch.’”
“Yeah, probably, but uh, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t peak in,” Tenner replied, “There’s a sock on the doorknob for a reason.”
Jolterix looked at the doorknob and saw the sock.
“Anyway, Celestia and I are doing some, uh, research and we don’t want to be disturbed,” Tenner said before disappearing behind the door.
Jolterix and Luna made eye contact, and their faces were completely drained of color. “Well, I think if you have anything to get these images from my head, I would be eternally grateful,” Jolterix said.
“OK, well, follow me,” Luna said, “Hours of shooters should fix that.” They soon arrived to Luna’s room and Jolterix got a glimpse of Luna’s system. It was an old type, at least thirty years old. It was amazing to him that it still functioned, but he kept his mouth shut. “Alright, well what games do you like?”
Jolterix hadn’t thought about that until now, of course it was too late; and he couldn’t remember what Luna and he played in Auflorsung. “Well, any shooters or RPGs?”
“Oh, this one,” Luna held up a game. “Grenzenlos” was its name.
“Grentsenloce,” Jolterix said pronouncing the name, “It translates to limitless.” He looked up from the game to Luna, “I’ve played it.”
“Good,” Luna said as she placed the game disc into the console, “Then I don’t have to go easy on you.” Jolterix smiled at that, “I think I’ll be the one who goes easy on you.” He picked up his controller and removed his disc from his back, causing his combat skin to dissolve so he could be more comfortable.
After a few minutes of sitting through the loading screens and Jolterix reading what they said at Luna’s request, the game finally began. It seemed to be a fantasy style, but it was also true to the Florian culture: similar clothing and weapons, but also special abilities such as slowing time, teleportation, and other things. The abilities, however, were heavily restricted and could only be used three times in one match. Luna got very far ahead of Jolterix before he was able to regain his bearings: he hadn’t played that game in thirty years. He was able to use his character’s energy abilities to get his revenge; meanwhile Luna was getting frustrated because she was so used to winning at this particular game.
“Huzzah!” she screamed when she finally scored a kill on him, “How many points do I receive?”
“Not enough to catch up to me,” he replied with a smirk. Luna glanced at him with an angry stare then looked back at the TV. She put all she had into it and was able to destroy Jolterix by the time the match was over.
“Wasn’t that fun?” Luna asked rhetorically having been satisfied by another victory.
“I seem to remember you weren’t capable of any of that in real life,” Jolterix teased her.
“I didn’t use magic because you can’t use magic,” Luna said.
“Maybe not, but then again, it’s not like you weren’t allowed.”
“You could have said that at the time.”
“Ah well, it’s over and done with now.” Jolterix stood up, “Could you point me to the kitchen? I want to get something to drink.”
“Just go to my side table,” Luna replied, “There’s water over there.”
“Did you drink out of it?”
“Not yet.”
“Good,” he said. There was a whooshing sound and Jolterix had disappeared, and reappeared next to the side table. He took the water and drank it all in one sitting it seemed, and suddenly he was sitting next to Luna again.
“How did you do that?” she asked. She was used to magic shows and sleight of hand tricks that normal people couldn’t see, but an aliman like Luna or Celestia, could always see them. This was the first time anyone moved fast enough to elude her eyes; especially their entire body.
“Those powers in the game,” he said, “Do you think they’re fantasy, or inspired by something real?”
“I just thought they were a kind of made-up magic,” she replied not knowing what was going on.
“Not quite, they’re Florian abilities,” he said. “See those crystals from the Crystal Empire put out energy.”
“Yeah, that’s how Equestria and many other nations get their magic,” she said, “Like I told you about earlier.”
“Yes,” he said. This surprised Luna; she had expected him to challenge yet another aspect of Equestrian culture, but this time he surprised her. “Some of it gets around to Auflorsung as well, and we don’t use it externally, but internally.”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you know what an adrenaline rush is?”
“Of course, everyone does.”
“Florians use that energy you call magic to supercharge our senses. It’s really cool, we can slow time and create powerful illusions,” he said proudly. “The only trouble is it only works on you Easterners.” Luna laughed for a minute. There was no way Florians could manipulate time itself; not even Discord could do so. “I’m sorry,” she said, “I just have trouble seeing how Florians, even though you’re as powerful as you are, can slow down time.”
“It’s a type of illusion,” he explained, “Like when you get an adrenaline rush things look like they happen slightly slower. It’s the same thing for us, except that we do it better.”
“Can you teach me to do all that?” Luna asked.
“No, the same way you can’t teach me to raise a celestial body,” he replied.
“What about making illusions?”
“Probably not; it doesn’t work on Celestia, you, or that other princess.”
“Cadance is her name,” Luna said, “And why not?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “But if I have to guess it’s because we’re related.” Luna looked at him oddly.
“Not like that,” he said, “I mean our species is related and different from a citizen’s, not that you and I are related. It would make sense because one Florian can’t do any of that to another Florian unless they both agree to it.”
“Alright, but remember that asteroid video you showed me?”
“Yeah.”
“Why couldn’t you just use your magic to show me? I would have let you.”
“Because it takes all of my concentration and I was flying a plane; it would have been dangerous.” Luna nodded in acceptance of his answer. “What else can Florians do that you haven’t said yet?”
“Stuff,” he said, “You’ll find out as we go, I’m really not supposed to be telling you in the first place, nor am I supposed to really be here without blending in.” Luna raised an eyebrow which he answered with, “Florians aren’t supposed to be interfering with the natural ascendance of life.” Luna didn’t let her eyebrow down. “Never mind,” he said, “It’s a lot to explain and I’m afraid we haven’t got the time.”
“Why not?”
“I want you and Celestia to bring Discordia’s leader here for a type of diplomacy,” he explained, “If he sees Tenner and I, then he might think twice about attacking this place if you have Auflorsung behind you.”
“Hmm…you’re probably right,” Luna agreed, “I will speak with Celestia in the morning. So why did you just now show me your magic, especially since it’s such a weird time to bring it up.”
“Your game made me,” he said, “I focused too hard and it just started up. The characters move too slowly to make it useful, though. And I wasn't planning on teaching you about my magic."
The next day Luna had talked Celestia into requesting an audience with Discord, the dictator of Discordia, within several days. When he finally did arrive, neither Florians had shown their faces to anyone except Luna and Celestia: Jolterix removed his mask to Luna as Tennerac removed his to Celestia. They carried on their usual business as it had been while they awaited Discord’s arrival. Within three days of sending the invitation, Discord had arrived with his secretary or herald; it was unclear her roll.
The Florians along with the Crystal Royalty and Luna and Celestia were attempting a treaty in the throne room. The Crystal Royalties desperately wanted Auflorsung’s protection: Cadance tried everything to appease them for whatever good it might do in the future, while Shining was much more professional about it, but still did the same thing; he clearly hated it. The Equestrian Princesses, particularly Celestia, were being much more difficult; whether it was to show their stubbornness or whatever reason was unknown.
The Florians themselves naturally preferred Cadance’s terms over anything else as she was so willing to comply with their wishes. Their seating arrangement was more informal than anyone would have anticipated: Celestia was on her throne with Luna next to it, the Florians in large chairs on the floor, and Cadance and Shining in chairs opposite the Florians. The door was to the Florians’ left and the Crystal Royals’ right when it swung open.
In the doorway stood an elderly man and a younger woman. The man was dressed in extremely odd attire: a brown suit with a yellow right sleeve, and the bottom half of the left sleeve was also yellow while the top was brown. His dress pants were green on the right, but tan on the left with a dark brown shoe. His coattails were red and he had a white streak and a blue streak in his back-swept hair: obviously Discord. Another noticeable detail was he had one long tooth poking from his lip. The younger woman, however, wore a hat with a small propeller on it and a purple dress. Her hair was purple and white and seemed to be shaped like a cloud. Her eyes were purple and white swirls in them; like a spiral wheel.
“Well, well,” the old man said, “It appears Equestria has some visitors.”
“That we do,” the woman agreed, “I’ll handle them.” She drew two flintlock pistols from her side: wooden with little metal and archaic looking. Everyone in the room except Discord and the Florians flinched at the sight of the weapons: even Celestia despite her usual stern look and unbreakable glare. It was obvious just how afraid they were of Discordia’s advances in weaponry. The woman fired both pistols at the Florians, releasing a loud pop from the exploding gunpowder and a lot of smoke. The ammo balls simply bounced off the Florians’ combat skins doing them no harm at all to which they quickly stood up and began clapping and cheering, earning them slack-jawed gazes from everyone especially Discord.
“Bravo!” shouted one Florian as he clapped.
“That was great!” the other greed.
“Gunpowder!”
“Well it didn’t really hurt.”
“Eh…it could’ve been a bit better,” one stopped clapping.
“It didn’t even break the sound barrier!” the other said as he stopped his clapping as well.
“It’s kind of embarrassing, really.”
“We’re so far beyond simple guns like that!”
“It’s insulting!”
“It’s condescending!”
“Boo!”
“Boo!” The Florians sat back down and threw the musket balls onto the floor and waited patiently for whatever was next while the other occupants stared at them with slack-jawed looks of confusion.
Finally Discord broke his confused trance and asked “Why aren’t they dead?” The woman next to him simply shrugged and they stared at the Florians.
“Believe it,” Tennerac said, “We’re from Auflorsung.” Nothing more needed to be said: Discord understood what exactly that meant and he almost took a step back before regaining his composure.
“Well,” he said, “Surely you must be so tired from your long journey; why don’t you two have a rest while the Equestrians and I have a little diplomatic discussion?”
“No, thank you,” Tennerac said, “We’re very comfortable right here.”
“Well,” Discord began again, “Surely there’s something that you two must do, I mean I think Screwball here would like some company from people more her age?” He was unaware of the Florians’ indefinite lifespan and assumed they were in their twenties like Screwball, based on their voices.
“Well, it’s certainly nice of you to consider,” Jolterix replied, “But we must refuse.” He looked directly at the woman next to Discord, “Sorry, Screwball.”
“Very well,” Discord gave in, “You may stay.” He was unwilling to challenge a Florian, let alone two; even with his magic.
“Like we need your permission anyway,” one of the Florians said. Discord simply looked at them but said nothing.
“Well, now that the introductions are out of the way, may we begin?” Celestia asked; the fear from the flintlock pistols gone from her voice.
“We may,” Discord agreed.
“Good,” Celestia replied. They returned to their treaty terms and added Discordia and the possible outcomes that Auflorsung could impose upon it if it continued to improve its militaries. Discord himself could barely hide his frustration: never before had he been in a position to take orders or that of no power.
The night soon came and everyone went off to their respective rooms and to bed; save for Luna who stood awake to keep the night, and Jolterix who for some reason refused to become diurnal for Equestria. After raising the moon, she went to make sure everyone was sleeping as she normally did; however now she kept her guard up because of Discord’s presence. Passing his room, she saw he was sleeping like any normal person and decided she would check again in an hour: she didn’t trust him.
Meanwhile, Jolterix was sitting at his table in his room. He wasn’t tired as he always found hours in the day to sleep and he was naturally nocturnal as all Florians were. He removed his disc from his back which dissolved his combat skin, leaving him in a shirt and shorts. A holographic display popped up on his disc and began going through his music selection. He finally found a song and he placed the disc over the table where it hung freely in the air despite it being attached to nothing. The music began playing and Jolterix removed his combat disc from his belt and placed it on his back. His combat skin and helmet arose just like they normally did: his combat disc and leisure discs functioned nearly identically except that he couldn't access music, movies, or anything other than weapons from his combat disc. Jolterix soon found himself bobbing his head up and down with the tempo. The bass and synth orchestra was something that relaxed him and he soon lost focus from his work. He stood up and began walking around the room closing the curtains so no one could see in, trying to time his actions to the guitar’s riff and drum beats. He kept up a decent pace with short strides for his legs' lengths, all the while bobbing his head up and down.
The main riff began with the synth, guitar, and bass and Jolterix began doing what some might consider dancing: flailing his arms and legs around carelessly. He soon lost himself in the music and lost care for the world around him, however every so often he glanced up to make sure the door was locked. He wasn’t worried about the windows as the curtains were closed and no one could see in.
Suddenly, the door opened and Princess Luna stood staring at him, and he stopped immediately in whatever position she caught him in. The music still played in the background, but Luna stared at him with a straight face. He returned the glance from behind his mask: presumably a straight face as well. The two stared at each other for a few seconds and the main riff began again.
Luna stopped standing and began to shake her fists from side to side next to her shoulders. She put on a goofy smile and began her “dancing” as well. She approached Jolterix and let the doors close by themselves behind her. Seeing this, Jolterix restarted his limb-flailing and joined Luna. Together, the two “danced” in the middle of the room. Luna let out a “Yay!” but it was barely audible above the music. As if her daft dancing wasn’t enough, she was still in her military uniform which made her look even more fatuous. Her obsidian and diamond crown stayed on her head despite her movements, and never had she looked so un-princess like.
Jolterix looked similar to Luna, but the fact he was completely covered by black armor and a helmet helped to soften his daft looks. The fact he was completely covered did not stop him from blushing, however; neither did the fact Luna was dancing with him just as poorly as he was. The song finally finished and they hugged tightly.
“We’re so weird,” Luna said happily.
“We are,” Jolterix laughed as he removed his helmet.
“Anyway, I’m here because I might have found a way to teach each other our own magic,” Luna said as she produced a thick book from seemingly nowhere. “It wasn’t easy to get, but it seems the library had something that survived a thousand or so years and it has a page on Florians,” she opened the book to the relevant page, “I know it’s not much, but it has a couple paragraphs that talk about sharing magic.”
“Well go on,” Jolterix urged her, “read it.”
“Patients,” she scolded him. She cleared her throat, “Magic of those from the Empire hight Auflorsung atte opposite world’s side, even upon journey here, certes is not like our own. It is of an internal kynde, only of affect to themselves.” She looked up to make sure Jolterix understood Middle Equestrian.
“Magic from the Empire called Auflorsung at the other side of the planet, even if a Florian came here, is certainly not like yours. Florian magic is of an internal nature, and only affects Florians, not Equestrians as well,” he said when he saw Luna wanted to know if he understood. “The last time I was here, that’s what I spoke,” he said.
“Very well,” she said and continued reading: “Al be that it seems constant, one Florian als one Aliman: both of internal magic and external magic anon will ay work.”
“Although it seems constant, if one Florian and an Aliman-whatever that is-both do their separate magic at the same time, it will always work,” Jolterix translated to prove he still understood.
“I’m an Aliman,” Luna said, “A human who has all the traits of the citizens.”
“So according to that book, if you and I worked our magic together at the same time, we could learn each other’s powers and use them?” Jolterix clarified.
“That’s right,” she smiled.
“And how do we go about doing that?”
“The book doesn’t clarify: I guess we just keep trying stuff till it works,” Luna said, “You’ve got a big brain, I’m sure we can figure something out.”
He gave her an odd look, “We may as well,” he said. “Since that book calls my magic ‘internal’ and yours ‘external,’ why don’t we do this,” he stood behind Luna and placed his hands in her palms and brought their hands together, “See, now my hands are ‘internal,’ and yours are ‘external.’”
“Now we both use our magic at the same time?” Luna clarified for herself.
“Exactly,” Jolterix said. He shut his eyes and when he opened them again, Luna’s movements were slowed dramatically. He had to wait about thirty seconds to him before Luna’s magic sparked up. As it did, time went back to normal, but quickly slowed to how it was: interference from Luna’s magic. It was likely he was giving Luna interference as well, but it was too slow to tell; possibly too quickly for her to tell either. Suddenly, the blue energy cupped around his hands and Luna’s movements sped up to match his own. He broke away from her and the blue mist followed his hands while some stayed with Luna.
“It works!” Luna exclaimed. There was a noticeable difference between the time when her mouth moved and when Jolterix heard her voice, although it was very slight.
“It does,” he said. Suddenly, there was a sound like rushing wind and time went back to normal. The blue mist faded from his hands. “But it didn’t work long,” he added.
“We can keep practicing,” she said, “But first I want to know: why does that book call Auflorsung an Empire?”
“You didn’t know it was?” Jolterix asked her, “Actually that makes sense.”
“I don’t expect you to know Auflorsung is an empire instead of a country; especially since you know so little as it is. Anyway, yes Auflorsung is an empire. It covers the entire world that is not already taken by your allies: the west hemisphere. Anyway, there’s a country called Alba, that’s where I’m from; at home I’m an Alban, but here I’m an Alba-Florian, or just a Florian. There’s Deutsch where Tennerac is from; Fjorl, where Dezler comes from, and there is a country called ‘Auflorsung,’ where the empire actually sprouted from, and the name stuck: that’s where we were when you and I met. It’s actually a crater, the whole country. That’s why mountains surround the whole thing. Alba is two craters: so there’s a big mountain range in the center but on either side, they quickly slope into the sea; like I said before, Auflorsung has been plagued by asteroids for a long time,” Jolterix explained.
“What are the Albans like, then?” Luna asked trying to keep him on track. Jolterix immediately grew a large smile on his face. “Well we’re an interesting bunch, but I’ll start from the beginning. Before we had a modern civilization, we lived in tribes, head-hunted, and went into battle naked.” Luna shot him a weird glance which he understood.
“It’s a psychological thing, I think,” he said. “Anyway, when the first empire came through, several millennia ago, we were able to hold them off so they built a big stone wall to separate us. Then over a few centuries we kind of evolved mentally and everything. That, I bet, would have been a fun time to be alive because that’s when we created kilts, or skirts for men. We’ve got our language: Gaidhlig and I find it to be much less guttural than Florian Common.”
“You named your language garlic?” Luna asked mishearing him. “How did a race that made skirts for men and a language called ‘garlic’ become the most powerful?” Luna asked herself silently.
“No, Gaidhlig: Gah-lik,” he pronounced. “So then we lived happily like we did, then the Auflorsung Empire, or “Grossereich” as they call it, came into being and sort of placed us under their rule without fighting or anything. Some treaty, I don’t know, I wasn’t there. Then a thousand years later I was born, and then a thousand years after that I met you, which leads us up to today.”
“Uh-huh,” Luna said not quite sure what to say. “Then what about you, yourself?”
“Well I was born one thousand, one hundred nineteen years ago in Alba,” he began before Luna interrupted him.
“Ha, so I am a few centuries older than you: I’m one thousand, four hundred twenty-two,” she said proudly.
“Then that makes you as old as my mother,” Jolterix said.
“Is that weird to you?”
“Not particularly,” he replied. “So then…let’s see I was born, then went to a school in Alba, then high school in Alba, then college in Alba, then I got into the military, as is required of all Florians. I got training as a pilot in college so the same was in the military. I’ll be honest with you: the military there was a joke. No one will attack a country that they’re not even sure exists so training was a minimum, discipline was a minimum…it was a fun time. I’m sure you remember Dezler say something about how he and I were on the same carrier during that time. We got out at the same time, he went into politics, and I remained a pilot. Tennerac…I didn’t meet him till afterwards.”
“Sounds like a full life,” Luna said, “Much more than I’ve done.”
“Which is?”
“I was born several years after Celestia during a war. Discord’s people were hunting mine for our body parts since we found a way to become immortal through magic, but his people couldn’t do that. They killed us and harvested our organs, then assimilated them into their own bodies so they could live forever. My people, Alimen fought back and killed most of the Draconnemen: Discord’s people. We killed them off, but they killed us off as well. My parents built a castle in the Everfree Forest where Celestia and I were born. When I was still little, two Draconnemen came and my parents had to fight them. They killed my dad and my mom died a few decades later from wounds. Celestia raised me from then on, and when we were older we formed this kingdom: Equestria. After a hundred years at the most, I became tired of her being the favorite and the main ruler, so I rebelled. She banished me to the moon for a thousand years because of it, and I only returned several years ago,” Luna explained her past.
Jolterix looked at her and stopped leaning against the balcony’s rail. “I’m so sorry,” he said solemnly. To Jolterix, he saw what he interpreted as the real reason why they needed Auflorsung’s help so much: Discord has caused a genocide before and nearly drove a race to extinction. She didn’t want to let that happen again, and he understood being a Florian threatened by extinction as well. He and Tennerac had decided a while ago that Equestria would receive military aid from Auflorsung, but he had yet to tell Dezler. He raised his helmet and turned back to Luna when she spoke.
“It’s fine,” she said, “There’s nothing that can be done now.” Jolterix simply nodded. “Especially since your and Tennerac’s presence alone has got him scared. I’ve never seen him like that,” she said smiling as if that was vengeance enough, but they both knew it was not. They stood in silence for a few moments and Luna looked at Jolterix. “Why did you stop talking?” she asked him. He ignored her inquiry and she sighed and looked into the night again. “Maybe he’s crying?” she wondered to herself with a smile. “How adorable: the invincible Florian is crying.” She smiled at that thought as she stared into the distance losing track of time.
“I think he’ll be scared when he sees this,” Jolterix finally said after an unknown amount of time. He looked up and Luna followed his example. The stars became distorted and the sky began to ripple until a visible slit tore its way across the night sky. It ripped open and sunlight poured through and a scarred land could be seen in the tear: Auflorsung or a protectorate of the empire. Inside the portal, above the cratered ground were large black objects slowly rising, or falling towards Equestria. They passed through the portal and they hovered completely still over Equestria: gigantic ships hovered silently over the land. About five ships, all weaponized and intimidating from their looks alone. Red lights stretched from the front to the rear of the ships in lines and, on occasion, intricate symbols: possibly insignias of different Florian countries. The hole in the sky sealed itself and the sunlight went away, returning Equestria back to night.
“What’s going on?” Luna asked with evident fear in her voice.
“Well I talked with Tennerac just now and we agreed that Auflorsung should help Equestria in this fight. We both got on the radio with Dezler who allowed it, and we opened the portal and now the military has arrived,” he explained.
“What portal?” Luna asked, but she was really trying to ask how the portal worked.
“Imagine a piece of paper: Equestria on one side and Auflorsung on the other. You just fold the paper so Auflorsung sits above Equestria and you can travel very fast in between the two lands. That’s basically what that portal did there,” he explained knowing what Luna was trying to ask him. “Tomorrow, your citizens are in for a big surprise.”
