The Word Bearers dragged Antonius through the cave passageways. While most of the bleeding had stopped by now, he was in no condition to try and hamper them - and he would never be in such a condition ever again. He knew that. He accepted that.

Still, if some sort of miracle happened and he - and the ponies - survived this whole ordeal, he knew that they would take care of what was left of him. They would not care that he had actually lost most of his uses, they would just be happy that he was alive and with them.
But such a miracle would not happen. He knew that. He accepted that.

The heat in his back had become uncomfortable as they finally arrived in a big cave. About two dozen Chaos Space Marines were there, and at its end, a Word Bearer in elaborate armor was standing in front of an improvised, depraved altar, covered with the blood of former sacrifices. The sorcerer.

“Look what we’ve got here,” the Word Bearer with the thunder hammer called,
“an Ultramarine who ‘volunteered’ to help us. Should be a good sacrifice.”

“Then bring him over,” the sorcerer answered with a strangely pleasant voice, but without turning around.

They continued their way through the cave, accompanied by angry glances from the present traitors, and stopped in front of him. He turned around and scrutinized Antonius through red eye lenses. Then he turned to his two companions:

“Where’s the rest of you?”

“Dead,” one of them answered,
“this shitbag killed them.”

“All eight of them?”

Eight?

“No, just seven. Re’kon is doing some patrolling in the north.”

The sorcerer sighed.

“He just can’t let that be… vox him and tell him to move his ass here, there’s a sacrifice to be made… where did you put the Ultramarine’s ornaments, by the way?”

There was an edge to his voice as he said that, and the traitor who was not busy voxing his companion answered:

“He did not have any.”

“No ornaments?”

“No.”

“So, not a captain? Not even a veteran sergeant? A common battle-brother managed to kill seven of you?”

“We… he surprised us!”

“All seven were surprised?”

The Word Bearer answered with silence and the sorcerer turned to Antonius:

“So, you are the ‘hero of ponykind’. What a peculiar title for an Astartes.”

“When it comes to peculiarity, a daemon-worshipper should think twice before talking,” Antonius replied.

“Thinking twice before talking never is a bad idea, corpse-worshipper.”

The heat in Antonius back was seriously annoying now. He just had to gain a little more time…

“Now,” the sorcerer continued,
“let’s see what you know about those small indigenous creatures. Never know if we could use it, after all.”

The red of his eye lenses got somewhat impure now, and Antonius felt a deadly cold in his mind.
A psionic attack… that was very unfortunate. If this bastard found out about his emergency backup plan, he could still ruin it - and doom all of ponykind.

So, Antonius started reciting the litanies of protection in his mind, only to find out that it did not work. The sorcerer knew the litanies, and he knew how to counter them!

The cold spread through his mind and threatened to overwhelm him. He had to come up with something, anything to save his friends…
his friends.
Thinking of them brought a little bit of warmth back to his mind, like a spark in the darkness, so he continued doing so. He tried to remember every adventure they had had, every social interaction, every joke, every funny misunderstanding.
Slowly, the cold was brought to a stop and even pushed back. All of those fond memories…

Finally, Antonius remembered every detail of every time he had spent with his best friend on this planet - Luna.
The spark in his mind burst into flames and expelled the cold out of his mind.

The sorcerer recoiled and grunted in disgust.

“That’s revolting!” he shouted,
“he’s full of this damned pony magic!”

Antonius started chuckling. He was not just full of some pony magic…

“It’s friendship,” he whispered with a grin,
“and friendship is magic.”

The sorcerer stared at him, his dumbfounded expression almost visible even through his helmet.

“So…” he said after a few seconds,
“this one is insane… well, should still be an acceptable sacrifice. Any last wishes, Ultramarine?”

The heat in Antonius’ back started searing his skin. Any second now…

“Yes,” he answered,
“I do have a wish. Answer me a question.”

“You want me to…? What’s the point of that? You are about to DIE, you… alright, alright. Ask your stupid question.”

And with a last grin, Antonius shouted:

“Have you ever seen the sun rise… STRAIGHT INTO YOUR FACE?”

The sorcerer did not get it.
Well, to be fair, he did not have much time to get it, because at this moment, the fusion reactor in Antonius backpack detonated, creating a small, but rapidly expanding sun inside the cave.

Within a fraction of a second, the Word Bearers in the cave were vaporized. Perhaps the one on patrol was still outside and would survive, but one Chaos Space Marine was not much of a problem for the princesses. Those who really posed a threat were gone now, thanks to Antonius.

So, Antonius Varus, Ultramarines second company (and Lord Commander of the equestrian PDF), died.
He died to protect a planet from falling to Chaos - no Space Marine could wish for more.
And he died to protect his friends - Antonius could not wish for more.

Luna had just beheaded a mutated cultist her sister had been so kind to impale with her sword. They worked together really well, all the hours of training with Antonius finally paying off.

Before the Space Marine had come to Equestria, having to do something like this had seemed impossible. Then, after the first attack on Hope, Luna had known that it would become necessary one day. Now, Celestia had realized this, too, and they waged war together to protect their ponies.

Next to defending the whole planet, this battle had a positive side effect - it kept Luna from worrying about Antonius, as she needed all of her concentration for the fight… or rather most of her concentration. She still wondered what her friend was doing, how he was doing, what his plan might be.

She got the answer as a small sun seemed to rise in the north, blinding every combatant for a second.
A icy shiver ran down Luna’s spine as she realized that nopony could have survived such an explosion. No Word Bearer, and also no…

“No…” she whispered as she paled, then a shockwave rushed over her and ruffled her mane.

Her friend Antonius was dead.

“NO!” she screamed and took off, flying northwards as fast as her wings could carry her.

Celestia heard her little sister cry and saw her dart off. And she knew why.
Her first instinct was to follow her, but the battle - while almost won - was still not over… she could not leave her ponies alone… could she?

“Go!” a voice said, and Celestia turned around to see Shadow Stalker.

The batpony stallion had a bleeding gash over his left eye, but he showed no sign of letting that stop him.

“We can take care of the rest of the Chaos forces ourselves,” he continued,
“so you can go and help your sister… your majesty.”

Celestia just nodded and followed Luna.
The blue alicorn was just a dot in the sky in front of her as they hurried northwards in a futile attempt to help Antonius. She knew their help would be too late.
As she was flying, she could hear Antonius voice in her head, reciting something he had promised a seemingly long time ago: ‘I would rather die than let your world fall to Chaos.’
He had been honest. He had just proven it.

Luna suddenly descended and Celestia followed her. As she touched ground, they were both standing next to Antonius’ Land Speeder. The explosion had left some marks on its armor, but it was still hovering above the ground. Luna took a short look at her and said:

“Let us proceed.”

They flew over a partly burning grove and landed again close to the entrance - or former entrance - to the Blue Depths. The area was devastated, scorched and in some cases even turned to glass.

“Look for Tony,” Luna said worriedly and started searching.

Even though she knew it was useless, Celestia did as her sister had asked her to. The entrance to the cave system was collapsed, and nowhere was even the faintest sign of life - not even magic was able to detect anything. After that explosion, it was not at all surprising, of course.

Suddenly, Luna cried out with shock, and Celestia hurried to get to her side. Once there, she had to take a deep breath. Behind a large rock, Antonius’ chainsword was lying, scorched but otherwise intact - even the little pendant Luna had given him for Hearth’s Warming was still attached to its knob… and it was still in Antonius’ severed gauntlet’s grasp.
Luna lit her horn and carefully picked it up. Then she started crying.

Celestia just wanted to hug her as she heard a noise from the former entrance to the cave. She spun around, hoping against all odds - and knowledge - to see a disgruntled Antonius complaining about the loss of his hand.
What she saw was a Space Marine, but one with red armor. A Word Bearer.

She drew her sword, and she had to admit that she was downright eager to avenge Antonius’ death, but she was stopped by her sister.

“Stand back, sister,” Luna hissed,
“this one is mine!”

Luna had separated the gauntlet from the sword and was now wielding the weapon with her magic. Seeing her little sister like that was a sight Celestia would never forget, not just because of the giant chainsword, but especially because of Luna’s expression: anger, hate, and a merciless determination. Her eyes were glowing white, and she seemed to be shining like the full moon.

“Two more maggots to crush,” the Word Bearer spat and drew his bolter.

He was not able to aim, though. Luna had grabbed his wrist with her magic and was bending his arm away from her and her sister. Celestia was well aware how strong Space Marines were, but now, this one had no chance against Luna’s fury.

“NO. YOUR LAST FIGHT, YOU WILL FIGHT FAIR!” Luna thundered with the Royal Canterlot Voice and activated the chainsword.

Not having much of a choice, the Word Bearer dropped his bolter and drew his sword.
He rushed at Luna. Luna jumped forward to meet him. And they clashed.

The Chaos worshipper was almost as fast as Antonius had been, but Luna was able to keep up with him. The magic crystals in her armor were glowing and she radiated an aura of powerful magic as she parried every attack of the Word Bearer, using and twisting the chainsword with an expertise that was nothing less than astounding.
Her defense was impenetrable, and her attacks left rents in her enemy’s armor, accompanied by showers of sparks.

Suddenly, the Word Bearer produced a knife from his belt and tried to stab Luna, but she grabbed his hand again with her magic and retaliated with a magic blast to his head. The hit from point blank range made him drop the knife and stumble backwards, and Luna jumped after him, the chainsword coming down on his damaged helmet.

He managed to deflect the strike, but another blast made his helmet crack. He ripped it from his head and exposed a misshapen face not even a mother could love.

“Inferior to Tony in every aspect,” Luna hissed malevolently.

While the Word Bearer did probably not understand that remark, he managed to kick Luna, but she skidded to a stop just a couple of meters in front of him. He charged her again, his sword raised above his head, roaring like a wild - and insane - animal.
At that moment, Luna shot forward, accelerated by hooves, wings and magic, and rammed the roaring chainsword into his open mouth.

The Chaos Marine dropped his sword and desperately tried to get a hold of the whirring blade. Luna still pushed it farther into his head, though, creating a fountain of blood and and even less stomach-friendly fluids that shot out of the back of his head.

When his arms finally went limb, Luna ripped the chainsword free and fired a last blast at him, setting his corpse ablaze.
As she stood over her slain enemy, Luna let out a roar of anger and triumph, which quickly turned into one of grief and pain. She slumped down, turned back into her familiar appearance and started crying again.

Celestia slowly walked up to her and sat down next to her. Luna turned her head and whispered:

“We are safe now. The Word Bearer is dead. I killed him. For ponykind. And for Tony… for Tony…”

Celestia pulled her into a hug. Her little sister had gone through so much this day. Everypony had gone through so much this day.
The horrors of war.
The horrors of Chaos.
The horrors of losing good friends.
But Celestia knew that for Luna, things were especially hard. So she just sat there and continued hugging her sister until she raised her head.

“We need to go back and tell everypony what happened,” Luna said.

“Yes,” Celestia concurred,
“I will do that. Take your time, Luna.”

“Let us take Tony’s Land Speeder back to Coltport. We cannot let it hover around here.”

So they arrived at the former battleground a few minutes later. Ponies who were still able to walk carried wounded ones into the town’s hospital. As the princesses approached, Shadow Stalker and Black Harrow came to meet them.

“Report,” Luna said.

“The battle is won, and we annihilated the forces of Chaos,” the batpony responded,
“fifteen soldiers have survived, four of them unharmed. The rest is being brought to the hospital. Once they are taken there, we will see to it that our casualties are buried.”

Just fifteen survivors… what a disaster… but still better than being defeated by the daemon worshippers.

“What about Lord Varus?” Black Harrow inquired worriedly,
“that explosion we saw…”

Luna slowly shook her head and Celestia told him:

“He sacrificed his life to save us… we will commemorate him and the others once we’re back in Canterlot. Now please return to your duties. Well done, soldiers.”

The stallions nodded and left.

“We must inform Twilight and the other ponies,” Luna mumbled.

“I will do that,” Celestia offered.

“Okay. I will help here… and then I will get the Land Speeder back to Canterlot.”

Celestia hugged her sister again, then she took off and headed to the ancient base of mankind.
She did not teleport there directly - at first. She needed some time to think about a way to tell her trusty student, her friends and the others what had happened. And she had to digest it herself.

The repercussions of Antonius’ death were almost impossible to assess. Next to losing a good friend and ally - and next to Luna’s personal feelings - Celestia wondered how the Ultramarines would react to their brother being dead. Well, she could not influence that… just as little as she could find a really suitable way to break the bad news to her subjects. Since her stalling for time had proven to be useless, she teleported with a sigh.

A moment later, Celestia was standing inside the ancient human base, just in front of the door that lead to Al’s core. She took a deep breath and pushed the door opener. The door slid open and revealed the giant room she had last seen moons ago. Next to Al, the ponies they had sent there were present. They had erected a tent village and had managed to make the room look quite cozy.

Now, they spotted Celestia and rushed to meet her, Twilight and the Element Bearers in front. Above them, Al’s head approached, too.

“Princess Celestia!” Twilight exclaimed in relief,
“we are so glad to see you! Please tell us, what has happened? Have we won?”

“Yes,” Celestia answered,
“we have won. The forces of Chaos have been defeated.”

The cheers were almost deafening. The ponies hugged each other and celebrated the victory. Just Celestia stayed calm.
It did not take long for Twilight to notice this, and she asked:

“What is it Princess? What is wrong?”

“Our casualties.”

The ponies calmed down immediately.

“Oh… where’s Princess Luna? Is she hurt?”

“No… she’s physically fine. By now, she’s probably on her way back to Canterlot with the Land Speeder.”

“The way Antonius drives that thing, they’ll be in Canterlot before we are,” Rarity snickered.

“No,” Celestia replied, aware that the time had come to tell them.

“Excuse me, Princess,” Twilight said,
“but what do you mean by ‘no’?”
Her eyes widened as she started suspecting the truth, and she continued:
“Do you want to say that…”

“Pfft, no way,” Rainbow Dash interrupted her,
“there really is no chance that Antonius got hurt or something. I mean, you have met him, huh? All armor, weapons and prowess. All awesome. He’s certainly fine.”

“We had to fight more than two dozen Chaos Space Marines,” Celestia told them,
“there was no way for us to win in a conventional fight, so Antonius devised an… unconventional plan. He sacrificed his life to save us.”

The ponies went dead silent. Then, most of them started crying. Losing a friend was always bad, but losing somepony in such a way…

“What… what happened?” Twilight inquired.

“I’m not sure… he somehow got inside the Word Bearer’s impromptu base and destroyed it, probably with his armor’s fusion reactor, judged by the explosion we saw.”

“Then… he sorta died on purpose?” Applejack asked.

“It was an act of desperation,” Celestia corrected,
“and the only way to save us. We all owe our lives to him.”

The ponies were hugging each other again, but this time, to console each other. Moonlight and Blackwing were doing their best to take care of Stormy, who was suffering from a crying fit, hugging her little Space Marine plushie she had gotten from Antonius.
Celestia had done her best to remain calm, but now, the sadness washed over her like a wave and she could not take it any longer. She got down on the ground and cried together with her subjects.
As she looked up, she saw Al’s head hover above her.

“The loss is confirmed?” he asked.

“Yes,” Celestia answered,
“nopony could have survived that explosion… and we searched the area.”

“Is the defeat of Chaos confirmed, too?”

“Yes.”

“Then, I will reestablish communications and see to it that my reactor gets refurbished - it already took me too long to achieve that.”

“What happened is not your fault, Al.”

“I know… and although my calculations prove it, I still feel like I should have done something… but that’s probably the downside of being alive.”

“Probably,” Celestia answered, then she turned to the ponies:
“Now, let us get back to Canterlot, my little ponies. The war is over, and it is time to commemorate our fallen friends and celebrate their bravery.”

On the third day after the battle, Shadow Stalker and Black Harrow requested an audience with Princess Celestia. They had, together with some ponies from Coltport, searched the area of the battle and the surroundings of the former entrance of the Blue Depths to make sure that every bit of equipment Chaos might haft left in Equestria was destroyed.

“Hello, my little ponies,” Celestia greeted them,
“you are done with your task? Every remnant of Chaos is destroyed?”

“Yes, your majesty,” the batpony answered,
“and, we have found this.”

Now Black Harrow stepped forward and held up a broken Astartes helmet. It was mostly blackened, but a few spots of blue were still visible.

“We found it at some distance from the cave… it must have been hurled away by the explosion.”

Celestia took the helmet with her magic.

“Antonius’ helmet,” she mumbled.

The stallions nodded silently.

“It will get a place of honor,” she continued,
“along with the gauntlet.”

The chainsword, Luna had kept. She should tell her that the helmet had been found. It wasn’t a bad idea to look after her little sister anyway; she hadn’t left her quarters since she had returned to Canterlot.

“Thank you,” Celestia said,
“the commemoration will be tonight.”

Shadow Stalker and Black Harrow nodded and left.
With a sigh, Celestia got up and walked to her sister’s quarters.

“Luna?” she called.

“Come in,” Luna answered.

Celestia opened the door and entered the room. Luna was sitting on her bed, polishing the chainsword with a piece of cloth.

“Luna… you are still cleaning the sword? It was pretty immaculate after the first day…”

“Maybe… but I do not want any remnant of those bastards to tarnish it.”

“It’s three days now, Luna. Please stop.”

“Maybe… why did you want to talk to me, sister?”

“They have found Tony’s helmet.”

Luna closed her eyes for a second, then she looked up from the sword and took the helmet with her magic.

“Ruined,” she stated,
“we will leave it this way - just like the gauntlet. We will put them both in the display case below the stained glass window. Everypony shall see the scorch marks and realize what Tony has done for us.”

“I agree,” Celestia replied.

“The window is ready?”

“It has been installed an hour ago.”

“The statue?”

“Will be finished before the commemoration.”

“Good.”

“Do you want to come with me to the throne room? You’ve been here for three days.”

“I… needed some time for myself.”

“I know, Luna. And I know how you feel. Losing somepony you love is always hard.”

“I will never see him again… I can only hope that he was granted this ‘Emperor’s Peace’ he has told us about… I hope his emperor was able to find him at all this far away from the Imperium…”

“He was, Luna.”

Luna raised an eyebrow.

“You sound very confident in that regard,” she stated,
“but since he also helped me reach Macragge, it is somewhat probable.”

“More than just probable. You know that I can access the intermediate plane that lies between our world and the Great Beyond?”

“Yes, of course… wait… do you mean…?”

“When I saw the explosion, I immediately entered it with my mind. I hoped I could intercept Tony’s soul. While I knew I couldn’t hold him there forever, I thought that… I could grant the two of you a few more minutes together.”

Luna was on the edge of tears again and asked:

“And what happened?”

“I wasn’t the first one there,” Celestia told her sister,
“there was a golden light that gathered Tony’s soul and vanished.”

“The Emperor of Mankind,” Luna whispered,
“now, we can only hope that he will be satisfied with Tony’s decisions and deeds…”

“I don’t think he would expend the effort to come here and pick Tony’s soul up only to drop him again. I am sure, Tony - wherever he is - is fine.”

“A nice thought,” Luna said, a little smile appearing on her face.

“We will still have to tell the Ultramarines when they arrive… they certainly won’t be glad to hear such news.”

“I will tell them, sister. It is my duty, since I was his commander… and his friend.”

That evening, they commemorated the losses they had suffered. A lot of good ponies had died, and each of those deaths was a disaster, but Tony’s demise hit especially hard. Some ponies reminisced the times they had been together, ranging from fights to just goofing around.
Although he had been in Equestria for just a little more than a year, he had somehow belonged here, a part of their society that would be sorely missed.

Celestia took a look at her sister. Luna was keeping it together quite well, although she could see her jaw tense whenever Tony was mentioned.
Celestia remembered how bad she had felt after the mirror incident with her Sombra and wondered what was worse, losing a friend to dark magic or death. A question without an answer…

In any case, Tony would be remembered.
A stained glass window in the throne room depicted his heroic missions for ponykind. Beneath it, a display case with his helmet and gauntlet had been set up - the only window with such an addition.
Furthermore, a statue of him had been put into the royal sculpture garden and his story had been added to the history of Equestria.
He would be remembered.

Luna was back in her quarters after the commemoration. Although it had been dignified and appropriate, she was happy that it was over. She closed her eyes for a second, then she walked to the table she had placed the neatly polished chainsword on.

“Do not worry,” she mumbled,
“you will not be put out of service. You will be my weapon from now on, and you will continue to fight evil wherever and whenever it rears its ugly head… it is the least I can do to honor Tony’s memory.”

As she heard a knock on the door, she put the weapon down again, turned around and said:

“Come in.”

She thought her sister would show up, but it was Stormy Skies, Moonlight and Blackwing.
The filly approached her, the little Space Marine plushie in her hooves. Luna took a deep breath.

“Princess Luna,” Stormy said,
“I know that you and Antonius were very good friends… and while I have my parents to help me… perhaps… I thought… you might need this more than I do.”

Having said that, she held out the plushie.
Luna was on the edge of tears, but she took it with her magic.

“I… thank you,” she whispered.

Stormy hugged her leg, then she returned to her parents.

“If you need us,” Moonlight said,
“just call. Or come over. We’ll always be there.”

The princess just nodded, and the ponies left the room.

Luna went to her bed and put the little Ultramarine on one of her pillows where it could watch over her, then she lay down and looked at it.
It really looked a lot like Tony. Unfortunately, it could not put an arm around her, as he had done sometimes. Thinking about those fond memories made her smile, but reality soon caught up with this feeling and stained it with a decent amount of sadness.

“Goodbye, Tony…” she mumbled as the efforts of the day made her fall asleep.

And far away, the Sword of Iax was plowing its way through the miasma of the Warp, on its way to retrieve a lost brother.

To be continued…

Author's Note

Well, that's it. The end of the first piece of fanfiction I've ever written.
To be exact, it's actually just the end of the first part. After a little break, I'm planning to write a sequel.
Anyway, I hope that it was enjoyable, and I'd like to thank my followers, readers, and of course my proofreader/editor for his help.
See you later!