My Little Xeno

by MrTea

Rating: mature
Tags: Comedy, Science Fiction, Adventure, Violence, Princess Celestia, Crossover, Human, Main 6, Princess Luna, Gore, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 360882

When a teleporter accident casts an Ultramarine to the magical land of Equestria, he has to deal with mysteries, legendary creatures and a completely new concept: friendly aliens!

Antonius Varus is a Space Marine of the Ultramarines Chapter, second company.
When a teleporter accident casts him to the magical land of Equestria, he has to face problems and mysteries he never had to face before, and above all is one question:
Could xenos really be genuinely friendly?

Thanks to my editor Gargon94 for his help.

Disclaimer:
I do not own 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic' or 'Warhammer 40,000'. They are the property of their respective owners, and are not my intellectual property.
There is no financial gain made from this nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only.

Published 2016-03-24 22:10:08 UTC
Last updated 2021-12-21 18:11:17 UTC

3. Ponyville

Antonius was surprised how well that had worked. He had expected more difficulties, but there were none worth mentioning, at least until now. He would stay wary, of course.

They made their way towards the waiting Applebloom, who ran to meet them.
The Space Marine could see Applejack's tension as her sister met the group. Before the young horse could say anything, the Applejack told her:

"You better return to the farm and do your chores, little sister. I'll return once we're done here."

"But, Applejack, I've already done my chores for today! That's why we were going to Ponyville, remember?"

Antonius could almost hear Applejack's teeth grind as she answered:

"Are you really sure, Applebloom? I think there's something you have forgotten."

Applebloom beamed:

"No, sis, everything done."

The little one obviously didn't get the hint. There was actually a bit of humor in this situation.

"Okay, little sis, come along. But don't bother our guest, Mr. Varus."

"Mr. Varus? Oh, we didn't introduce ourselves! I'm Applebloom, Applejack's sister!"

The Astartes nodded in her direction and said:

"Greetings, Applebloom, I am Brother Antonius Varus, Ultramarines second company, Imperium of Mankind."

Applebloom raised an eyebrow.

"Brother? Whose brother?"

"'Brother' is the abbreviation of 'battle-brother', a military rank among the Adeptus Astartes, which the Ultramarines belong to."

"Oh, you're something like a Royal Guard?"

'Royal Guard'? Perhaps the equivalent to the Imperial Guard, just for a monarchy. Antonius answered:

"I don't know what your 'Royal Guard' is, so I can't judge your assessment."

Applebloom smiled and started:

"The Royal Guard is..."

But she was interrupted by Applejack.

"We said 'no bothering', remember, sister?"

The little horse fell silent and followed them as they made their way towards Ponyville.
She walked on the Space Marine's right side, then changed over to his left, and back.

Suddenly, she asked:

"Mr. Varus, why do you have two cutie marks?"

Everyone stopped and Antonius asked:

"'Cutie marks'? What is a 'cutie mark'?"

Applejack and Twilight sighed, while Applebloom beamed:

"Cutie marks are magical symbols that appear on your flank once you discover your special talent! But you must know that, you have two, after all, a horseshoe and an arrow, although on your shoulders instead of your flank..."

Antonius stared down at the small creature.
'Magical symbols'? Like marks of Chaos? On his sacred armor? Heresy!
And the glorious insignia of his chapter a 'horseshoe'?

These had been quite severe insults, to him as well as to his chapter, but they had obviously been unintentional again.
He had to take a deep breath and use all of his self-control to stay calm.
He could, however, not completely hide the anger in his voice as he told Applebloom:

"These symbols on my sacred armor are NOT magic, little horse! And the one on my left pauldron is NOT a 'horseshoe'!
It is an Ultima, the insignia of my Chapter, the Ultramarines.
The one on the right tells you that I'm a member of a tactical squad.
There is nothing magical about that!"

Applebloom looked confused, and Applejack walked over to her side, clearly to protect her sister if necessary.

"You don't like magic?" Twilight asked,
"Did you have bad experiences with it? I can assure you, Mr. Varus, our cutie marks are not bad, quite the opposite.
And we are ponies, not horses, by the way.
Now, would you please be so kind to tell us why you don't like magic? I must admit, it's a bit hard for us to understand."

"Would the slaughter of countless billions of imperial citizens be enough for you to understand?"

Twilight paled, as well as the other ponies.

"W..what? Slaughter? Billions? THAT are your experiences with magic?
I can assure you, nopony would ever do that to you. It's... incredible. Who committed those atrocities?"

"The ruinous powers of Chaos. They use magical symbols to strengthen their followers with unholy energies. My people have been fighting them for over ten millennia."

Twilight gasped:

"Chaos? There are more like Discord? And even worse ones! Even he never did something that terrible."

"Discord?"

"A Chaos creature we defeated a while ago. We turned him into stone with the help of the Elements of Harmony."

'Elements of Harmony'? With the ability to petrify a Chaos daemon?
If Antonius could acquire those 'Elements' for the Imperium...
He needed to be as diplomatic and 'nice' as possible, perhaps he would get his opportunity.

"You ponies fight Chaos? Well, I guess we have a common enemy, then."

The ponies and the Space Marine started walking again, but this time, Applebloom stayed a bit closer to Applejack.
Quite sensitive, those ponies.

A short time later, they came to a fork in the road.
The right way led to the cottage Antonius had 'visited' earlier, the left way led to the town.
The two Apples said goodbye and took the right way, Twilight and Antonius proceeded towards the town.

As they reached the town limits, Twilight asked Antonius:

"Mr. Varus, I recognized that you got a bit angry earlier and I would like to avoid any... unfortunate situations.
I promise that nopony will try to harm you, and that we have nothing to do with Chaos.
So, if you should be offended by something, please stay calm and just tell me. I will do my best to explain everything to you. Okay?"

"Acceptable."

They entered Ponyville.

It was a nice little town, with more than just a few similarities to human towns around M2. Antonius could see residences of various sizes, lots of different shops and restaurants. There were only a few buildings with more than three floors. Together with the broad roads and the trees that were standing in multiple locations, the village had a rural, airily feeling.

Some of its inhabitants were outside, peacefully enjoying the sun, shopping or eating. It really looked like straight out of a storybook.

Some of this quiet atmosphere, however, was gone when the first ponies discovered the Space Marine.
A lot of them froze in place, just staring at him with big eyes.
Others ran away.
A trio of mares with pinkish and pale yellow coats screamed and fell unconscious.
Antonius turned towards Twilight:

"Ms. Sparkle..."

"Just call me Twilight, and yes, I've seen them faint. Would you please wait here while I make sure they are alright?"

Twilight left and looked after the mares.
Antonius looked around. Every pony he looked at turned away, or at least looked very nervous.

Or almost every pony. There was a mint colored unicorn, sitting on a bench, legs dangling down, who had a very big smile on her face. When she recognized that he looked at her, she frantically waved at him.
Well, that was strange. Not the slightest sign of fear, but pure enthusiasm. That could not be said of the cream-colored mare at her side, who looked quite skeptical.

Antonius had no idea what to do now. He was really not used to aliens waving at him.
He could just ignore the mare, but he was here to gather information, so he had react in some way.

It really was a silly situation he was in. Couldn't it have been a normal day?
The second company on one side, enemies of the Imperium on the other side, a short time later, the second company on the one side, lots of corpses on the other side.
That was a day for a Space Marine!
But no, he was standing in an alien town, surrounded by xeno-ponies, and a unicorn waved at him.

Still not really knowing what to do, Antonius hesitantly lifted his right forearm and waved back halfheartedly.
That triggered an immediate reaction from the unicorn, who jumped to her hooves and ran to meet him, her grin even wider.
The Astartes kept his eyes glued to her. What was she going to do?
The mint colored pony was almost in front of him as she began:

"Are you a human? You are a human, right? Please, please say you are a human!"

Antonius was completely flabbergasted. This pony knew humans? He answered:

"Yes, I am a human, pony. You have knowledge of humans?"

The mare beamed at him:

"Of course I have! I have read every story about you that was ever written! I am your biggest fan!
For a start, your hands are just awesome! Could you pretty please show me one of them?"

Antonius extended his right hand. The pony almost went crazy.

"That is so cool! With the opposite thumb and everything!
Who are you? Where are you from? Do you stay here for a while?
Oh, I completely forgot to introduce myself: I am Lyra Heartstrings. And welcome to Ponyville!"

Antonius could hardly believe it.
There was an admirer of mankind among these xenos! She was downright ecstatic to meet him! One of these ponies knew mankind and the glory it represented!
So he told her almost solemnly:

"Greetings, Lyra Heartstrings. I thank you for your welcome.
I am Brother Antonius Varus, Ultramarines second company, Imperium of Mankind.
As a member of the Adeptus Astartes, guardians of humanity, I must say it pleases me that you recognize the value of mankind."

Lyra hopped up and down like a rubber ball.

"That is so awesome! And you have an Imperium? That means there are lots of you out there! OH MY GOSH!"

"Okay, Lyra, just calm down."

The voice came from behind Lyra. It was the cream-colored mare. She turned to Antonius:

"I hope she did not bother you, Mr..."

"Antonius Varus! From an 'Imperium of Mankind'!" Lyra shouted.
"Isn't that awesome?"

"Oh, okay, Mr. Varus, my name is Bon Bon, and, you know, Lyra can be a bit... enthusiastic sometimes... especially when anything about humans is involved."

Antonius had to smile a bit beneath his helmet.

"No need to worry. I appreciate her enthusiasm about mankind."

Lyra finally stopped jumping up and down, but she still smiled when she asked another question:

"Mr. Varus, is every human as tall as you? I must admit, I always thought your kin was a bit smaller, at least it looked that way in the drawings I saw."

Drawings? Antonius had to see them as soon as possible.
Perhaps that and the stories that came with them could answer a few of his own questions. But first, the mare deserved an answer:

"A 'normal' human is about 1.7 to 1.9 meters, so about that size." He showed this height with his hand.
"As an Astartes, I am bigger than they are."

"Hello, you three. Glad to see you got to know each other." Twilight was back.

"Hi, Twilight!" the other two mares greeted.

Antonius took a look at the three previously fainted mares, then turned to Twilight:

"The three ponies are all right again?"

"Yes, they are. Although they fainted a second time when you introduced yourself to Lyra."

"That was not my intention."

"Don't worry," Lyra said, "They tend to faint quite easily."

After hearing that, Bon Bon nudged Lyra:

"Lyra, don't be rude.
Besides, I have to remind you that it's time for us to get back to work."

"Oh, right, I almost forgot. Bye, Twilight! Goodbye, Mr. Varus!
I hope to see you again soon, and maybe talk a little more!"

Bon Bon also said goodbye and the two left Twilight and Antonius, who continued their tour of the town.
Antonius had least expected this encounter to turn out like that, but it was a pleasant surprise.

Until now, the Space Marine had seen three different subspecies; the 'normal' ponies, the winged pegasi and the horned unicorns. Furthermore, there were obviously the common two genders.

He just wanted to ask Twilight about the diversity of the pony species, as he noticed something:
A unicorn had a bluish aura around his horn and a bag that hovered in front of him was surrounded by the same aura.
Was the creature using telekinesis?

"Twilight, please turn your attention to this unicorn." He pointed at the stallion.
"This unicorn is a psyker?"

"A psyker? I'm not sure what you mean. He is just using a levitation spell. Nothing extraordinary. And nothing dangerous."

A 'spell'. So this pony was a psyker, practicing heathen magic. Antonius had an unsettling thought he needed to voice at once:

"Is every unicorn capable of 'magic'?"

"Yes, though the individual skill differs.
Most unicorns are limited to basic telekinesis and a few other minor spells.
If a unicorns special talent is magic-related, they have greater capabilities regarding that talent.
My friend Rarity, for example, is a fashionista, she has pretty advanced telekinesis and the ability to find gems she needs for her dresses.
My special talent is magic itself, so I'm not limited to a certain range of spells, I'm more of an all-rounder."

"How many unicorns live in this town?"

"Around a third of the population."

So the whole unicorn subspecies, a third of this town's population, were psykers. And he was stuck in the middle of them, his guide being some kind of alpha-psyker.

Emperor help him.

Such an amount of psykers could only mean one thing:

"How many incidents do you have in this town?"

"Incidents? What kind of incidents are you talking about?"

What? They really had no idea of the dangers of the warp, although they were constantly using it? That was impossible, wasn't it?

"Madness, daemonic possession, being ripped apart and turned into a warp portal, that kind of incidents!" Antonius explained.

Twilight paled and stammered:

"What? No, why should... No. Just no. Nothing like that has ever happened! Using magic is really safe.
Even when a spell backfires - which is extremely rare, as we use magic sensibly - nothing that terrible can happen. So no. Definitely no."

That was strange.
Had these ponies found an alternative way of using the powers of the warp?
A way that was truly safe?
Intriguing.
Unfortunately, Antonius was no psyker, so he could not investigate this conundrum.
But this species really got more and more interesting.

As the tour went on, they came to a building Twilight called a 'spa', which had something to do with 'relaxing' and 'beauty'. Antonius was sure he would never see it from the inside, as it was not useful to him.

Directly opposite of this 'spa' was the town square with the town hall. Being not only in the center of the town, but also the biggest and highest building here, it had some strategic value, although Twilight didn't mention that fact.

A short time after that, Antonius saw a few construction workers who were busy repairing a house.
He thought of the 'giant creature' the ponies were talking about earlier.

"Twilight, how got these houses damaged?"

She looked a bit embarrassed as she answered:

"Oh, well, we had a little incident with a dragon three days ago.
Most of the damage is already repaired, these here are the last houses."

Dragons?! The legendary creatures were really piled up here.
Seeing what was left of the destruction, Antonius came to the conclusion that a dragon could probably be a threat, so he investigated:

"How often do such attacks occur?"

"It was the first time. And also the last, at least from this dragon."

"So you killed it?"

"No, we did NOT kill it!" Twilight shouted in horror.

After a deep breath, she continued with an a lot calmer voice:

"Sorry. It's just that... Don't worry.
We dealt with it. Without harming it. No threat from this dragon anymore.
It's kind of a long story. But we are almost at the library, where we will meet my friends."

That answer was not satisfying, but pushing her would not be clever. At least not now.

They arrived at a hollowed-out, huge tree with a door, windows and balconies.
The library.

4. Meeting the Elements

"Here we are, the Golden Oak Library!" Twilight proclaimed as she opened the door and waved a hoof for Antonius to go inside the building. Seeing how small the door was in comparison to the gigantic Space Marine, she added with a sheepish smile:

"Um, perhaps you should crouch? I better go in first and clear up the space you'll need."

Twilight went through the door and took a look around, before saying:

"Hi, girls. I see, you already cleared up for our guest. Very good. Then let's welcome him."

Then, she turned to Antonius and told him:

"You can come in now."

The Space Marine crouched and took a look into the tree.
The room he saw was almost as wide as the tree trunk. Lots of shelves, filled with books and scrolls, were built into the walls. Above and sometimes between them were windows or doors. On the opposite side was a stair leading upward. There were some small reading desks near the walls and a bigger, round one in the centre of the library, decorated with a wooden, stylized pony head.

In front of this table, he could see five ponies and a small creature he identified as a dragon.
One of the equines was the yellow pegasus he had already seen, another one was Applejack. Then, there was a white unicorn with an extremely styled purple mane and tail, as well as a blue pegasus with a rainbow-colored mane and tail and a pink pony with a poofy mane and tail in a darker shade of pink. Last, the little dragon was purple and had green spikes.

After this check of the library's interior, Antonius squeezed through the door. When he stood up again, he was almost as high as the ceiling, which was decorated with a large picture of a sun.

He carefully closed the door and took a step into the room. The eyes of the ponies who met him for the first time were incredibly wide and the blue pegasus let out a quiet

"Whoa."

Just as Antonius wanted to introduce himself, Twilight did exactly that for him.

"Girls, this is Mr. Antonius Varus from the 'Imperium of Mankind'. Mr. Varus, these are my friends"
she said and pointed with her hoof at the ponies she was referring to,
"Fluttershy", the yellow pegasus
"Rarity", the white unicorn,
"Rainbow Dash", the blue pegasus,
"Pinkie Pie", the pink one,
"and you already know Applejack. Oh, and this is Spike," the dragon.

Being already - although not quite properly - introduced, the Space Marine simply said:

"Greetings."

That was followed by a short silence, until Rainbow Dash flapped her wings, took off the ground and hovered a bit closer to Antonius, where she said:

"Hey, you are an alien? A real alien? That's awesome! Well, at least if you aren't a spy or try to probe us or anything."

"Rainbow!" screamed Twilight.

"What? Have you never seen one of those movies?"

"Rainbow, this is NOT a movie!"

Twilight sounded a bit stressed.

"Of course not!" interrupted Pinkie Pie,
"Though it would be great if it was!"

Suddenly, a pink blur appeared directly in front of Antonius.
His transhuman reflexes kicked in and he caught the blur with his left hand, his right hand on the hilt of his combat knife.
The blur turned out to be the pink pony, dangling on her mane in the Space Marine's grip with a huge smile on her face. The other ponies and the dragon looked rather shocked.

"Hey, you are pretty fast!" Pinkie said, still smiling.
Then, she switched to a serious expression and asked almost conspiratorially:
"You are an OC, aren't you?"

Antonius had no idea what she meant, so he answered:

"I am a Space Marine of the Ultramarines chapter. You should stop doing things like that."

He turned to Rainbow Dash:

"As for your questions: From your point of view, I am an alien. Just use my name to address me.
I am not a spy. Spies usually tend to be inconspicuous. I don't think you can call me 'inconspicuous'.
And I certainly do NOT want to probe anyone!"

Calling himself an alien was really disgusting, but from their point of view, it was not exactly wrong.
The whole idea of him wanting to 'probe' anyone was completely ridiculous, though. What was he supposed to find there? What kind of movies did this mare watch?
He felt a little angry, but he suppressed that feeling immediately. He needed to stay calm to be efficient.

His attention was caught by Pinkie again, who tried to reach his helmet with her hoof.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm trying to give you a welcome-boop!"

"A what?"

"You don't know what a boop is? That's terrible! Could you take me a little closer to your head, then I can show you! Pretty please?"

A stressed
"Pinkie..." came from Twilight.
She was obviously beyond the state of 'worried' and close to 'panic'. The others did not fare much better.

Antonius quickly thought about the situation.
He was not the only one who needed to stay calm for this uncommon mission to be a success, he needed his hosts to be relaxed, too.

To defuse the situation, he took his hand away from his knife and decided to grant Pinkie's wish.
So he took her closer to his helmet. She reached out with a hoof, touched his respirator and said

"Boop!", smiling widely.

Then, he sat her down on the ground and asked:

"Is this 'boop' a standard greeting around here?"

Twilight relaxed again, took a deep breath and answered:

"Well, I would not call it standard, but it is quite common, nonetheless."

Antonius bent down, made a fist with his right hand, carefully touched Pinkie's muzzle, and flatly said

"Boop."

The pink mare jumped up and down.

"You got it! Now, that we are friends, I will throw a super-duper party for you!"

Friends? That was a bit too quick for Antonius.

"Hold your horses! I mean... ponies... whatever. I don't think we have already become friends, Ms. Pie."

Pinkie's mane deflated. She was almost crying as she asked:

"You don't want to be my friend?"

Emperor help him, these ponies were sensitive!

"I did not say that. But before I start a friendship, I prefer to get to know the person. Or pony, in this case."

"So I still have a chance?"

"Correct."

That may not have been the full truth, but it wasn't exactly a lie, either. Antonius simply had never thought of becoming friends with aliens, the idea seemed just too ridiculous.
After everything he had experienced that day, however, he did not dare to call it impossible. In fact, he did not dare to call anything impossible anymore.

Pinkie's mane inflated again, all sign of sorrow gone, as she almost sang:

"Okie dokie lokie!"

Her sudden and extreme mood changes were really strange.
Some kind of 'obsessive friendship disorder'? Did that exist at all?

Before the following silence grew awkward, Twilight suggested:

"I think some refreshments might be a good idea now. Then, we can start our little round of questions.
Spike, could you get us something to eat and drink?"

"On my way, Twilight!" answered the little dragon in a young male's voice and left the room.

That had been close. Too close.
Twilight really liked her friend Pinkie and has gotten used to her sometimes strange behavior, but this time it had just been too dangerous.
When Antonius had snatched her out of the air, she thought that something terrible would happen. As if Rainbow's comment hadn't been enough! She had heard the suppressed anger in her guest's voice. She had seen his hand on one of his weapons. Everything had been about to go awry, at least, that was what she had feared.

But the giant had immediately calmed down again. He had even allowed Pinkie to 'boop' him and had returned the gesture!
He obviously wanted this meeting to be a success! The refreshments would further help creating a relaxed atmosphere - if she could keep Pinkie under control.

Celestia help her.

Twilight just wanted to help Spike in the kitchen when she recognized the way Rarity eyed the Space Marine. She stopped.
Please, no discussion about the design of his armor! Considering the way he reacted to Applebloom earlier, he seemed to be rather sensitive about that topic. He had called his armor 'sacred', after all.

"Oh, Mr. Varus, please allow me to mention that your armor looks really magnificent! A lot of work must have been put into it. And the composition of this blue and gold is simply divine! Have you ever thought about exchanging the skulls for something more light-hearted, though?"

Great. Suggesting changes to his armor. Another way to possibly make him angry.
But he didn't sound upset when he answered:

"Thank you for your compliments, Ms. Rarity.
The design of my armor was developed ten thousand years ago. The color-scheme of my chapter is even older and known throughout the galaxy. The golden rims of my pauldrons tell you that I am a member of the second company.
About your suggestion: Please be aware of the fact that I am a warrior. If I wore something 'light-hearted' on my armour, it would be inappropriate."

"Hmm. You've got a point. And please, just call me Rarity.
You should really visit me at Carousel Boutique, so I can make a suit for you so that you don't have to wear this heavy armor all the time."

Had Rarity just suggested that her guest should get out of his armor? The first time they met?
He sounded a bit wary as he responded:

"Thank you for the offer, but this armor is not a burden, as it is not passive. It is power-armor; it uses an internal servo-system to actively move whenever I move. So, I don't feel its weight. Quite the opposite, it enhances my strength."

That was a fascinating idea. Armor that mimics the movement of its wearer. How did they achieve that?

"That is really cool!" Rainbow Dash interrupted,
"How strong are you with this armor?"

Antonius turned to her:

"I don't know enough about this world to come up with a comparison comprehensible to you, but I can assure you, I'm quite strong."

Rainbow grinned. That was rarely a good sign.
Luckily, before she could challenge him to a hoof-wrestling match or similar nonsense, Spike came back with trays full of muffins and lemonade.
He put them down on the central table.

Twilight stepped over to Antonius.

"Here are muffins and lemonade. I hope you like them," she said.

Then she realized that it would be impossible for her guest to eat while he had his helmet on.
Would he take it off? Or would he refuse the snacks?

The question was answered when he reached up for his helmet. The ponies could hear a click, then Antonius lifted his helmet and put it to his belt.

Twilight stared at the face of her guest.
No muzzle, but a little hump in the middle of his face; his nose. Below that, a mouth. His ears were to the left and right at half height. His mane was very short and brown, the rest of his face was bare skin. His eyes were small and had blue irises. All told, he looked really alien. Noticeable was a scar above his left eye.

The eyes of everypony in the library were on him. He looked around and asked:

"Frightened? Or disappointed?"

His voice was different now without the helmet.
It was still deep, but the metallic rattling was gone. The voice was surprisingly smooth, a voice you could listen to for hours if it told a story.

"Neither." Twilight quickly said.
"It's just... we have never seen somepony like you before."

Antonius nodded and reached for a muffin. Twilight expected him to accidentally crush the little piece of food, but he picked it up without the slightest problem. He even squeezed it once to test its consistency and eyed it carefully. After that, he sniffed at the muffin. Then, he took a bite and started chewing.
Finally, he swallowed and waited. No second bite. He just stood there and waited.

Twilight started to get worried just as he spoke again:

"This food is quite good."

The rest of the muffin was gone in two bites.
Twilight relaxed again. She had never thought that muffins would cause her stress.

"I think you'll also like the lemonade," said Twilight and poured him a glass.

He took the glass - without breaking it - and started the same procedure again:
He pivoted the glass a bit, eyed it carefully, sniffed at the lemonade and then, he took a sip.
A bit later, he swallowed and waited. Again, no second sip.

After a few seconds, he turned to Twilight:

"You were right, your lemonade is also good."

The rest of the liquid in his glass was gone in no time.

The purple mare was a bit bewildered when she asked:

"Thank you, but, please tell me, why did you wait after the first bite and sip? It doesn't really make sense to us."

"I've got a special implant, called 'Neuroglottis'.
By chewing the food, I'm checking it for nutrition value and poison.
If the food is acceptable, I swallow, and a second implant, called 'Preomnor', performs a final examination of the food and tries to produce an antitoxin, if necessary.
Only if these two tests are passed, the food is put into my actual stomach for digestion."

Twilight was baffled. Implants? The ability to produce antitoxins? Wait... antitoxins?

"You thought we would try to poison you?"

She had wanted to create a relaxed atmosphere with the refreshments. That had obviously gone wrong. Antonius had thought that...

"No," he stopped her train of thoughts.

"Please remember that I am from a different world and a member of a different species.
Food that is perfectly safe for you might not be suitable for me. Though I have to admit, the chance for this is just miniscule. Thanks to my Preomnor, I can eat almost anything, and it is virtually impossible to poison me with food.
Your food is suitable, though. It's actually more than just suitable, it tastes very good.
The nutrition value is a bit low, despite the quite high amounts of sugar, but that was to be expected. All told, I really like it."

To illustrate that further, he took a second muffin and ate it.

Twilight was relieved. Nothing had gone wrong. But she should have thought about the fact that pony-food could have been inadequate for her guest. Luckily, the digestive systems of ponies and this human were obviously compatible.

Now, she, her friends and Spike also made use of the refreshments. It did not take long until nothing was left and Spike cleared away the empty trays.

The ponies started to gather on the floor in a circle, when Antonius pointed to a location near a wall and said:

"I would prefer to sit in this location. It this possible?"

Twilight was a bit confused as she asked:

"Of course it is possible, but do you have a particular reason why you want to sit there?"

The Astartes answered:

"I don't like sitting with my back to doors or windows, at least not when I'm in an unknown environment."

Rainbow Dash immediately understood:

"Yeah, to prevent that somepony gets a chance to attack you from behind, right?"

Antonius nodded.

"Exactly."

"Do you really expect to be attacked here?" Twilight asked a bit disappointed.

"Not really," answered the Space Marine,
"but we have a proverb: 'The Emperor protects - but caution never hurt either'."

Twilight thought about this. To grant his little request would be easier than to convince him that nothing would happen, so the ponies left an appropriate gap for the Space Marine and everyone sat down.

The round of questions could finally start.

5. Questions and answers

Antonius had a short look at each of the ponies. To his left was Rainbow Dash, then came Applejack and Twilight. Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Fluttershy were sitting to his right.
They were much more relaxed now than when he met them.
Good. It would be easier to get information out of them when they were not alarmed.

Antonius self-control had proven to be reliable, of course. He was an Ultramarine, after all. He had to admit, though, these ponies seemed to be by far the friendliest aliens he had ever encountered, making it relatively easy to stay calm and be 'nice' toward them.
If they really were what they seemed to be, time would tell.

Twilight's horn glowed in a purple hue as she used her magic to fetch a few sheets of parchment and a pencil.

"Everypony ready? Then we can start.
Mr. Varus, as our guest, you get to ask the first question. What do you want to know?"

Finally. His chance to get some information.

"First and foremost, I need some information about your species, your culture and the environment.
The basics you should know if you live here, and please don't forget the language mystery we mentioned earlier."

Twilight quickly browsed some books to look for the origins of their language.

"'Equestrian' first showed up about ten thousand years ago in the area around the 'Canterhorn', nowadays also known as 'Mount Canterlot'.
It spread quickly until it became everypony's main language. Its exact origins are still much-debated."

Ten thousand years? About the time of the Great Crusade. Perhaps there was a connection?

He also got the other knowledge he wanted about the ponies and the land they lived in, called 'Equestria':
Government, plants, wildlife, environmental conditions, as well as an explanation of these strange 'cutie marks'. They were obviously deeply embedded in society and very important.
Important enough that it would be best to memorize them.
Great. As if this planet wasn't already weird enough, now he would have to take a look at pony butts as well.

Another interesting aspect of their species were the three common pony subspecies, which they called simply 'kinds', the forth subspecies 'batponies' and the very rare fifth subspecies: the alicorn princesses.
Leaders, superior to the rest of the population, regarded almost as demi-gods. That concept was strangely familiar to him.

However, there was one point he had to inquire about:

"You said that your princesses raise the sun and the moon. What exactly do you mean by that?"

Associating a god or goddess with a sun or moon was not uncommon among primitive cultures, but the ponies seemed to be too advanced for that. Hadn't he even seen a telescope on the library's top balcony? At their level of civilization, Antonius had expected that they had figured out how solar systems worked.

Twilight looked a bit confused as she answered:

"Well, they use their magic to raise the sun and the moon. Literally. They control them."

That was possibly the most ridiculous statement the Space Marine had ever heard.
The princesses may be great psykers, granted. But controlling a celestial body with the mass of a moon? Or a sun?
Nonsense. Even the most powerful psykers of the Imperium could not do that.
Antonius did not show a single sign of his skepticism, though. Insulting someone's religion never was a good idea, so he simply said:

"Thank you for the information."

Now it was Twilight's turn and she prepared to take notes.

"Mr. Varus, what is your 'Imperium' like? Can you tell us a bit about it?"

That was a question Antonius had expected. Answering it was still not easy, as he had to explain the Imperium in a way these ponies would understand.

"The Imperium of Mankind is a pan-galactic empire under which the majority of humanity is united. It consists of more than a million planets, its central planet is Holy Terra.
It is ruled by the glorious Emperor of Mankind, respectively the High Lords of Terra in His name."

"Wait a second," Twilight interrupted,
"pan-galactic? You mean the Imperium spans the whole galaxy?"

"Correct."

"Wow. This size... it's almost unbelievable. To build an empire of that size, your civilization must be pretty old, right?"

"According to our calendar, we are living in the forty-second millennium, or M42, for short. I have to admit, this is not a complete answer to your question, as the history of mankind is a bit... complicated."

"No problem. I suggest, we do the basics first, the history later.
You said that your central planet is called 'Terra'. Did you mean 't-e-r-r-a'?"

"Yes, that is the correct spelling."

"Hmm, strange, that's the scientific name for 'Earth'."

"Correct."

"So, your central planet is called 'Earth'? We call our planet 'Earth', too! And the language... our fairytales about humans... that can't be a coincidence!"

"I came across enough references to each other's species to have reason to believe that there must have been some sort of contact once. We will hopefully be able to solve this mystery."

"Perhaps I can find something in the history books later. Would you mind if we continued our round of questions for now?"

"No, Twilight. Ask."

"So, Mr. Varus, you told Lyra earlier that you were a member of the 'Adeptus Astartes'. I suppose that's the army of the Imperium, am I right?"

"Not quite. The Imperium's army is the Imperial Guard.
We, the Adeptus Astartes, are one of the most elite fighting forces in the Imperium. As highly mobile strike forces, we are entrusted with the most dangerous missions a normal army cannot perform."

Rainbow's eyes grew bigger and she exclaimed:

"Whoa, you are an elite-warrior?"

"You could say so."

"Tell us more about it!"

"As you wish.
The Adeptus Astartes is split into about one thousand independent units, called 'Chapters'.
Each Chapter has about one thousand Space Marines, its commander is called 'Chapter Master', who decides independently if he sends his Space Marines to battle or not."

"There are about a million Space Marines?" asked Twilight.

"Correct."

Twilight cleared her throat, then she asked another question:

"You also told Lyra that you are bigger than 'normal' humans. What did you mean by that?"

"Space Marines are modified humans. We are physically, mentally and spiritually superior to 'normal' humans."

"You mean, you are not just a elite-warrior, but also... a kind of... super-warrior?"

"You could say so."

The ponies looked at each other, mostly concerned. Rainbow looked almost enthusiastic.
Then they all looked back to Antonius.

Twilight cleared her throat again.

"Okay, perhaps it is a good idea that you tell us how you got here."

She changed the topic.
Great.
When the ponies were already frightened by the mere existence of the Adeptus Astartes, they would probably freak out when he told them how he got here.

"I told you it was a teleporter accident."

"Yes, but could you please elaborate the circumstances a bit?"

Rainbow shouted:

"Yeah, and if there was a fight, tell that part in detail!"

The others looked at her reproachfully.

"What? I'll never get the chance to hear something that cool ever again!" she explained herself.

Twilight sighed.

"Okay. Please tell us your story, Mr. Varus. Fights included."

Rainbow grinned and Antonius just wanted to start, as he recognized three heads peeking in through one of the windows. And he knew whom one of them belonged to.
So he turned to Applejack:

"Do you know a small white unicorn with a purple and pink mane and a small orange pony with a purple mane that accompany your sister?"

Applejack was a bit confused, but nodded and answered:

"Yes. Sounds like Sweetie Belle, Rarity's little sister, and Scootaloo.
Together with my sister, they have founded a club to earn their cutie marks. They call themselves the 'Cutie Mark Crusaders'.
But how do you know them?"

Crusaders? What the hell did those little ponies do to get their marks? He had the unpleasant feeling that he would find out sometime.

"They are peeking in through the window over there."

He nodded towards the window and all eyes followed.
The three little heads quickly disappeared, but it was too late for them to stay hidden.

"SWEETIE BELLE!!!"

That came from Rarity. And Antonius had always thought the roar of a Carnifex was loud...

"APPLE BLOOM!"

That was Applejack. Not quite as loud, but still impressive for a creature of her size.

"SCOOTALOO!"

Rainbow Dash. She did not sound as angry as the other two ponies, more amused.

The door opened and the three little ponies came in and took a short look at the Space Marine. The three mares walked over to them.
Sweetie Belle smiled guiltily as she said:

"Hello, sister, um... nice afternoon for a walk..."

Rarity finished her sister's sentence:

"And peeking through windows. We'll talk about that later. Now, you better get back home."

"That's right, this here is nothing for fillies." Applejack added.

"We just wanted to see the giant." Scootaloo said defiantly.

Well, at least she hadn't called him 'alien'.

Rainbow Dash smiled as she said:

"Curious, hmm? Now, you've seen him. And we have really important stuff to do, so Rarity and Applejack are right.
We'll tell you later if something interesting happens."

The three fillies pouted, but turned around and left the library. The mares returned, and Rainbow said:

"Now, I think we were about to hear the awesome story about how you got here, not-safe-for-fillies-edition."

Antonius nodded and began:

"I was on board the Ultramarines strike cruiser 'Righteous Fury', together with the 2nd and 7th company, when we located a Chaos strike cruiser.
We immediately changed course to intercept the vessel and the 2nd and half of the 7th were sent to the boarding torpedoes.
Once in weapons-range, we opened fire. Our enemy did the same. This phase of the battle took a while as the ships fired broadsides at each other, parted, were brought alongside again and resumed firing.
We managed to bring the Chaos void shields down, damage their hull and some of their guns.
Unfortunately, they scored a lucky hit and damaged the energy supply of our most powerful weapons. That way, they had the chance to shoot our cruiser slowly but surely to bits.
To prevent that, the boarding torpedoes were launched, manned with one hundred and fifty Ultramarines. The second half of the 7th stayed onboard to prevent enemy attempts to capture our ship. Thanks to a barrage from the Righteous Fury's remaining weapons, every single torpedo made it to the Chaos cruiser.

"Once onboard, we fought our way towards the warp drive. We had to deal mainly with cultists and a few dozen Chaos Space Marines.
Halfway between our entry point and the warp drive, the 7th left us and feigned an attack of their main reactor to make them split up their forces.
We arrived at the warp drive, eliminated its defenders, placed the explosives and set the timer.

"We were heading back towards the rendezvous point with the 7th when we got news that they were under heavy attack by Chaos daemons. We immediately changed our direction to help them.
When we arrived at their location, we joined the battle against the creatures. They were just lesser daemons, but there were a lot of them. Together, we killed them all.
We had seven casualties up to this point, but we had eliminated dozens of enemies.

"Then, a part of the ceiling collapsed and separated a member of the 7th and me from the rest of our companies. Luckily, this marine was Sergeant Seneca, my Sergeant when I was a member of the 7th. I knew him since I had become an Ultramarine, and we were well familiar with each other's fighting style.
We tried to find an alternative route to our extraction point. On our way, we encountered a Chaos daemon. Not one of the small creatures we fought earlier, a bigger one.
We immediately opened fire, but the creature was protected by foul energies; we could not harm it that way.
So, we engaged it in melee."

"Hold on a second!" Rainbow Dash interrupted,
"What do you mean by 'bigger one'? How big was it?"

"About twice my size."

"Whoa. And you kicked its flank?"

"I was about to tell you."

"Okay, and remember: details!"

The enthusiasm of this mare made Antonius smile a little bit. Fighting Chaos truly was a noble deed, worthy of admiration.

"As I said, we engaged the daemon in melee, the Sergeant with his chainsword, I with my gladius."

He noticed the questioning looks the ponies had. So he pointed at his chainsword and explained:

"This is a chainsword. In fact, it's Seneca's. A gladius is a simpler sword without the teeth."

The aliens obviously were satisfied with this short explanation and Antonius went on:

"At first, we used a tactic of fast attacks. They did not deal much damage, but we could evade the daemon's attacks that way.
But we did not have much time. The explosives would detonate in a few minutes.
So, we changed our tactic to stronger blows.
I was able to pierce the creature's leg, but it hit me and sent me flying through the room, my gladius still embedded in its leg. The landing was hard and I needed a few seconds to regain my legs. The creature tore my sword out of its leg and broke it to pieces.
While I was gone from the fight, the daemon could concentrate on Seneca and managed to grab him, just as he swung his chainword for a mighty blow. He lost his grip on the weapon and it flew through the air. It landed on the ground about halfway between the daemon and me.
I hurried to join the battle again and picked up Senaca's chainsword, but I wasn't fast enough. The warp-filth laughed dastardly and ripped one of Seneca's legs out.
It was so busy with him that I grabbed the chance to jump on its back. I rammed the chainsword into the daemons neck.
The creature dropped Seneca and screamed in pain. I held on to its back and pushed the chainsword further into its body.
It jerked and turned and finally, it tumbled over. I ripped the sword out of its body and stabbed it into the daemon's head. One last twitch, and the disgusting creature was dead - at least its body, to be exact.
I immediately ran to Sergeant Seneca. He was still alive and even praised me for killing the daemon."

"Oh my goodness, were you able to help him? Did you have a first-aid kit?" asked Fluttershy.

The yellow pegasus had become paler and paler as Antonius had told his story. He was surprised that she was able to speak now at all.
Compassion, he realized as he looked into her eyes. She asked that out of genuine compassion. Compassion for someone she had only just heard about.
Antonius answered her question:

"I did not need a first-aid kit. I just picked him up to drag him to the extraction point."

Fluttershy looked shocked.

"But... a wound like that... you had to stop the bleeding!"

"The bleeding had already stopped. Space Marines have an implant, called 'Larraman's Organ'; the 'Larraman cells' it generates have the ability to seal wounds by quickly creating patches of scar-tissue."

"Another implant?" Twilight wanted to know. She continued a bit hesitantly:

"How many of those implants do you have?"

"Nineteen. I can tell you about them later. Now, let's finish the current story."

The ponies simply nodded. He went on:

"Seneca took his severed leg and I dragged him to the extraction point. Luckily, me met very little resistance, only a few scattered cultists we could easily take care of.

"We finally arrived at the extraction point.
The other marines had already left, but that did not surprise us. The explosives we had placed would go off any second and the cruiser had to get some distance to the Chaos vessel.
But there was a teleport homer the others had left for us. Only one man could be teleported at a time, so I placed the Sergeant next to it.
When I wanted to give him his chainsword back, he refused and told me to keep it until he was ready for duty again.
So, I kept the sword, activated the teleport homer and Seneca was teleported back onto the Righteous Fury.

"Then, I took my place next to the device and activated it again. As I dematerialized, I could hear the explosion of the Chaos warp drive. I fell unconscious, and the next thing I know, I awoke in a clearing of the nearby forest."

The silence that followed lasted a few seconds, then Antonius continued:

"I'm not used to telling stories, but I hope I included enough details to satisfy your curiosity."

"Hmm, thank you," Twilight answered. After a few more seconds, she asked:
"Can you remember where this clearing is?"

"Yes. I can take you there, if you want to."

"Okay. We should have a look at this place. We could ask Zecora to join us, she knows the Everfree better than anypony of us."

She looked at one on the library's windows.

"But that will have to wait until tomorrow. It's dark already. Perhaps we should call it a day and continue tomorrow after our excursion into the forest."

"Good idea." Rarity agreed,
"I need my beauty-sleep. That will be difficult enough, considering the nightmares I will probably get from that story."

"Yeah," Applejack concurred,
"we might keep Princess Luna busy tonight."

"I think it was a great story!" Rainbow Dash objected,
"a bit more violent than I thought, but awesome nonetheless!"

So, the ponies had not freaked out. But they were clearly not used to that level of violence.
Should he call them weak or lucky because of this? Probably both.

"Well, it was definitely an interesting story.
You can stay here for tonight, Mr. Varus. I'm afraid I can't provide a bed for you, or even a suitable blanket, though," Twilight said.

"No problem. I didn't plan to sleep tonight, anyway," Antonius reassured her.

"You do not need to sleep?"

"Yes, I do. But I can stay awake a couple of days if I want to."

"How do you do that?" Twilight asked.

"An implant. It's called 'Catalepsean Node'."

"Oh... We'll save that for tomorrow. Good night, girls.
We'll see you tomorrow morning, right after dawn. I'll prepare breakfast for us."

After Twilight's friends had said goodbye and left, she turned to Antonius:

"Do you need anything before... Oh, I totally forgot dinner! SPIKE!"

With the help of the little dragon, Twilight prepared some fruit and vegetables. During the meal, the three talked about their languages and some minor differences they had noticed.

All told, Equestrian was a 'ponified' Low Gothic:
'pony' instead of 'body',
'hooves' instead of 'hands' and so on.
A defacement of the human language, but compared to what the Orks spoke, Equestrian was really acceptable.

After they had finished, Twilight asked him:

"So, now: Do you need anything before I retire?"

"Do you have maps of the area and a book about pony anatomy?"

Twilight raised an eyebrow.

"Pony anatomy?"

"Yes. The more I know about your structure, the lower is the chance that I accidentally hurt you."

And the higher his efficiency would be should he have to fight the ponies. He kept this fact a secret.

"Oh, I guess that makes sense. The maps are over here." Twilight said as she used her magic to levitate a few folded parchments over to the central table.
"Now, about the book... It should be somewhere up there..."

She trotted over to another shelf and looked upward.

"Mr. Varus, could you please lift me up, so I can have a look where the book is?"

"No problem."

The Space Marine went over to her, put his right hand under her belly and carefully lifted her up.
He supported her weight with his left arm and tilted her upward, until she was sitting on his left forearm, her back against his armor. His right hand now prevented her from falling over.

"Hmm, not bad. Could you please go a bit to the right?"

Antonius did as she asked him to do.

"Ah, there it is."

She used her magic to pull the book out of the shelf.

"Okay, you can put me down again."

After standing on solid ground, Twilight levitated the book over to the table, next to the maps. Then she turned to Antonius:

"Thank you for your help. I'll go to bed now. Oh, there is a bathroom behind this door, although it might be a bit small."

"Don't worry, there will be no problems."

"Okay. Good night, Mr. Varus. Or good reading."

"Good night, Twilight."

The pony and the dragon went up the stairs and left Antonius alone in the library. He walked over to the maps and started studying them.

Strange creatures.
Going to bed while an armed stranger was in their house.

Careless creatures.
Trusting creatures.

"'Could you please lift me up?' You do realize that that was quite dangerous?" Spike asked after Twilight had closed the door to her private rooms.

"Not as dangerous as you think. Furthermore, it was a good opportunity to test something.
He had no problem lifting me. And did you notice that he crushed neither the muffin nor the glass?
Antonius is not only strong, he also has excellent control of his strength. I wonder how that is possible, considering the strength-enhancing armor."

"Don't we have more important things to think about? I mean, there is a alien super-warrior in the library!
I trust you, Twilight, you know that I do, but I don't think we can handle this on our own."

"I know, Spike, that's why I told him I'd retire. We must inform the princesses. Take a letter:
'Dear Princess Celestia,
Dear Princess Luna,
This is probably one of the most important letters you will ever receive. Today, I encountered a very strange creature...'".

6. A hard day's night

Luna rushed towards her sisters private quarters. It was a very rare occasion that Celestia sent a messenger who used phrases like 'severe danger' or 'fate of Equestria at stake'.
Perhaps it was just a prank of her sister, and nothing noteworthy had happened at all, but she couldn't take the risk.

She soon entered Celestia's rooms and found her sister near her desk with a letter in her magical grasp.

"What is it, sister? Has Equestria run out of cake?" Luna teased.

"Read this," Celestia replied and hovered the letter towards Luna.

"What, no response to my cake teasing?"

"Just read the letter."

Luna took the letter with her magic and started reading.

"Oh, a letter from Twilight. It is always nice to read something from... WHAT? AN ALIEN?"

Luna stared at her sister, who just said

"Read on, it gets better - or worse."

So Luna continued reading:

"So... alien... warrior... a human from an 'Imperium of Mankind'... Wait, human? Like those creatures of ancient tales? Impossible...
He doesn't like magic? Well, then he will really enjoy his stay here...
What else? Most ponies are afraid of him. Hmm.
Modified super-warrior?
Fighting daemons of Chaos?"

After she had finished reading, she added:

"A real Twilight-report. Very detailed. And most interesting. Perhaps I should pay this Antonius Varus a visit..."

"No, Luna, not on your own. We both will meet him tomorrow afternoon, I already told Twilight that we will come to her library.
In the meantime, promise me that you won't set a hoof into the library until tomorrow."

"I think you are exaggerating, sister. According to Twilight's letter, he seems not to be hostile."

"Perhaps not, but I won't take any risks. And it is not just him I'm worried about. We wouldn't stand a chance against a pan-galactic empire.
We must find out if it really was an accident that brought him to Equestria or if there is a plan behind all this.
Now, Luna, your promise?"

Luna sighed.

"Okay, sister, I promise I won't set a hoof into Twilight's library until tomorrow afternoon."

"Thank you, Luna."

"No problem, sister. Now, if you will excuse me, even with such a creature in Ponyville, I still have my duties."

Luna left her sister's quarters and headed to the barracks of her Night Guard. Of course, she would keep her promise and not enter the library, but taking a look around couldn't harm anypony.

The night was still young when Antonius Varus had almost finished the book he had requested from Twilight.
As he had expected, the ponies did not only use the language of the Imperium, but also the letters. Some looked a bit mangled, but he could still read them.

Although the book answered some of his questions about ponykind and even went beyond pure anatomy, it also raised new ones.

The ponies were, all told, standard horses, if you ignored the horns and wings at least; all inner organs were where he had expected them to be.
That meant, if he had to fight them, he should concentrate on the head, heart or the upper spine for maximum efficiency.

Strange was the fact that their more 'private parts' were completely hidden inside a sealable skin fold, which was a hint that the species originated in much colder regions. The rest of their bodies hinted at a moderate climate. It didn't fit.
Perhaps, the history of Equestria he would get to know tomorrow would give him information about the origin of the ponies.

Antonius had a closer look at the different pony kinds:

According to this book, Earth ponies were especially versed in growing plants.
The reason for this ability was - magic. So, not only the unicorns used magic, but the Earth ponies, too, although in a more subconscious way.

The pegasi were flying impossibilities: Weight, weight distribution, wingspan, wing surface... they really should not be able to fly.
But they flew anyway, because of - Antonius had guessed it - magic, again subconsciously.

The unicorns were a special case, as they used their magic deliberately with the help of their horn. It was some kind of focal point for magic.
An interesting fact was that the horn was not completely integrated in the skullcap, it sat on its top instead. So, if a unicorn lost its horn due to an accident - or an attack - it would still survive, but lose its magical abilities.

All told, every pony on this planet seemed to use magic in some way, it was an inherent part of their species, so Antonius was surrounded by psykers of varying skill levels.
Not really a pleasant thought.

He closed the book and looked over the maps. Luckily, this planet had a stable magnetic field and the ponies even used the same cardinal points as mankind, as Twilight had told him.
One of the maps covered the area around Ponyville and included the farm he had seen today, 'Sweet Apple Acres'. The map was not very detailed, but it was enough to give him an overview.
The other maps showed more of his surroundings, such as the capitol 'Canterlot' and a town called 'Cloudsdale', but the details here were even fewer.

Just a moment... 'Canterlot'? Wasn't there a place with a similar name in an ancient terran legend?
Yes, there definitely was. So, not just legendary creatures, but also legendary places.

The last map Twilight had given him was some kind of world map.

After studying the maps and committing them to his memory, the Space Marine started to think about his situation and the status of his mission to reunite with the Ultramarines.

He had opened up a new source of information in order to find a way back to his chapter. If this source would turn out to be valuable, time would tell, but even if it really did, wasn't the way he socialized with the ponies treason? They were xenos, after all. But they also were his best chance to complete his mission.

Did the end justify the means? And were the means he used really treason and heresy?
Was he doing the right thing? Antonius was not sure about this.

The Codex Astartes allowed joining forces with aliens to fight a greater, common threat, and the ponies were supposedly enemies of Chaos. There was no active threat at the moment, though, the ponies were just his best source of information.

Cast onto a planet full of apparently friendly xenos who looked like creatures from ancient terran legends.
This particular situation was not covered by the Codex.
Antonius had to improvise.

He needed time to think. He needed to pray to the Emperor for guidance, but not from here, not from this alien town. The hilly area where he had made first contact was more fitting for this. Perhaps, he could even spot a known constellation in the night sky and determine the location of this planet, although the probability for this was miniscule.

Antonius put his helmet on again, sneaked to the library's front door, opened it and closed it again quietly after he had left the building.

It was a clear night outside. The town was lit by a full moon and lots of stars were in the sky.
Antonius took a deep breath and started walking through the town in the direction of the farm.

He had just passed the first buildings as he got the feeling that something was watching him. His right hand went to the handle of his bolter as he turned around and looked at a shadow cast by one of the houses of Ponyville.
There was something in the shadow... like a shadow within a shadow. He knew there was something, but even the auto-senses of his helmet, scanning the electromagnetic wave spectrum from infrared to ultraviolet, had problems making it visible. His targeting system could not outline it, it could just place a maker over it to visualize its presence.

Was that some kind of daemon?
Unlikely. A daemon wouldn't just stand there and watch him, it would attack.

Well, Antonius would find out what it was.

"Step out of the shadows and show yourself!" he said, ready to use his bolter.

The creature that stepped out into the moonlight and became visible was indeed not a daemon, it was a pony, but it was a pony unlike any he had seen before:
A dark blue mare with a horn and wings - an alicorn, the first one he saw. Her color was a nice variety compared to the pastel-colors he had seen until now.
She was bigger than the other ponies - about half as tall as the Space Marine - and slimmer, reminding him of the sign above the entrance to the 'spa'.
She wore a black necklace with a white crescent moon insignia, which was also her cutie-mark. On her head was a black tiara.
True eye catchers were her mane and tail - they were not just hair, they looked like patches of the night sky somehow attached to her body and flowed in an non-existent wind.
From the descriptions he got from Twilight, it had to be Princess Luna.
She greeted him with a warm smile:

"Greetings, Antonius Varus from the Imperium of Mankind. I am Luna, Princess of the Night, Guardian of Dreams. I hope you are enjoying my night."

Her night? Yeah, sure.
Should he tell her that he knew how solar systems actually worked?
Better not. Messing up his first encounter with one of this land's leaders would be unfavorable.

He further wondered why she knew his name. Telepathy? That was an unsettling thought.

"Greetings, Princess Luna. I am indeed enjoying this night. I am looking for constellations that could help me determine where this planet is located. But how do you know my name?"

"Oh, Twilight Sparkle sent a letter to my sister and me, telling us that you are in Ponyville.
I can assure you, she only had the best intentions."

"I don't mind that. It was a sensible procedure."

"Good," said Luna, then her smile faded a bit as she continued:
"About the constellations, Mr. Varus, I must tell you that you won't have any luck. You see, this is not the actual night sky. The actual night sky is veiled and I put up these stars instead."

She did WHAT?
Antonius really had to ask her some questions about that:

"Veiled? Why is it veiled? And how?"

"As for the 'how': it's magic, but not my magic.
I honestly don't know why the veil was put up in the first place. It is like that as long as I can remember.
I can influence the veil, but I was told never to unveil the actual night sky."

Before Antonius could say anything, Luna continued:

"There is one star you can still see through the veil, though.
Would you follow me to the outskirts of Ponyville? You have a better view of the star from there."

The Astartes was still processing this information.
A veiled night sky? Just one real star visible? The rest of the stars put up by Luna? Then it really was kind of 'her night'!
He just said

"Lead the way," and followed her.

They made their way to the southern border of Ponyville, where Luna pointed at a star which's light was different from that of the other stars.

"You see this star, Mr. Varus?
It keeps shining through the veil and never changes its location. We call it the 'Southern Star' and use it for navigation. It is... special.
Have you ever heard of such a star?"

Antonius had a feeling that this star was important, but he did not exactly know why.

"I have never heard of such a veil in the first place.
As for the star, without knowing how this magic you mentioned works, I could only come up with wild assumptions.
I need more information...
Princess Luna, what are the risks of unveiling the actual night sky? At least the part of it where you can see this star?
I think that would help a lot."

She looked down, deep in thoughts.

"I'm not sure of the risks... perhaps a small patch... for a short time... that should keep the risks at minimum."

She looked up again.

"I will discuss this with my sister. This decision is too important to be rushed.
If we agree on breaking the veil, I will inform our subjects to avoid confusion, then we will have a look at the real universe.
I can't promise anything now, though."

"Sounds reasonable. "

There was a short silence after this conversation, broken by the Space Marine:

"Did you come here to have a look at me and show me this star?"

"No. I mean, not only. One of my duties is to patrol the Everfree Forest for dangerous creatures and keep them away from my subjects.
Do you want to join me? I could tell you about those creatures when we encounter them."

That actually was a good idea. Antonius would be able to determine the thread-levels of the local wildlife that way.
Furthermore, he would get the opportunity to balance all of today's friendliness with a fight, so he said:

"Yes, thank you for your invitation. "

They started walking towards the Everfree.

That did definitely not go as Luna had planned it.
Instead of catching a glimpse of the newcomer, she was walking beside him now, on their way to her guards who were waiting at the edge of the forest.

Sure, she did not enter the library, just as she had promised, but in spite of that, her sister would not be happy.
No. Not at all.

Celestia had always been rather cautious when dealing with new situations.
In this case, she was probably overcautious. Antonius Varus made a quite sensible impression on her. If the rest of his 'Imperium' was half as sensible, there would be no problems.

Inviting him to her nightly patrol was bold, she had to admit, but she was curious about his fighting style and combat prowess.
Judged by his equipment, he would probably do quite well, even though she didn't know what his weapons were capable of.

However, there was another reason, too:
He was surrounded by ponies, yet, he was alone, the only one of his kin. Most ponies were afraid of him.
Luna knew this feeling all too well.

She had to help.
Of course, Twilight and her friends would try to gain his friendship, but Luna was not sure if those nice ponies would be able to handle a real warrior, if they would be able to stand the violence he represented.
She was sure she could handle this, she also had fought terrible wars, after all. If anypony was suitable to become his friend, despite his martial traits, she was the one.

They closed in on the edge of the forest and Luna's Night Guards came into view.
She had selected her best two soldiers for this night's patrol, just in case, Moonlight and Blackwing, a bat-pony couple who complemented each other perfectly. She was a happy-go-luck melee expert, equipped with retractable hoof-blades, he was a level-headed, outstanding markspony with a hoof-mounted crossbow.

They bowed before Luna when they saw her and she introduced them:

"Mr. Varus, this is Moonlight and this is Blackwing, two members of my Night Guard.
Ponies, this is Antonius Varus from the Imperium of Mankind. He will join us tonight."

Moonlight smiled at the Space Marine and said:

"Hey, reinforcements! Welcome to our squad!
You don't mind us calling you Antonius, do you? It's a little more personal that way, squad-mate."

Now that Luna thought about it, picking Moonlight might not have been her best idea, but she didn't have a chance to foresee this situation.
Luckily, Antonius didn't sound angry when he answered:

"If it's common among your kin, I will accept it."

Moonlight continued with a bigger smile:

"Tony?"

"Do not get carried away, pony," Antonius said, a latent threat in his voice.

Before she could say anything else, Blackwing put his hoof over her muzzle.

"Hello, Mr. Varus. Glad you are willing to help us. Don't mind her, she's just... like that."

"I'll do my best. Now, please give me a second."

Antonius stared at each of the three ponies for a few seconds, then he said

"Thank you. I'm ready now."

Confused by this strange behavior, Luna asked him:

"Excuse me, Mr. Varus, but what did you just do?"

"I reconfigured my targeting system, so that it recognizes you as allied units."

"Targeting system?"

"This device scans life forms and objects and classifies them as imperial, allied, neutral or hostile."

"Oh, that sounds convenient."

"Hey, wait a second!" Moonlight interposed.
She had obviously been able to free her muzzle again.
"It's nice that you can 'classify' things, but can you also fight? What weapons do you have?"

"I thought my weaponry was pretty obvious."

He was right with that.
Especially that large sword with the serrated edge was an eye catcher.
How could you fight with such a monstrosity? Those teeth had to get stuck everywhere!
Perhaps it was more of a ceremonial weapon?

Moonlight continued:

"Yeah, but as squad-mates, we should know each other's weapons.
Blackwing here has a crossbow.
I have my blades.
Princess Luna has her magic.
What do you have?"

"Bolter, MK Vb 'Godwyn' pattern, equipped with standard bolts.
Chainsword, MK XI 'Hell's Teeth' pattern.
Standard combat knife."

Moonlight looked a bit confused now.

"Err... I heard 'sword'. And 'knife'.
That's good, I guess.
'Bolt' doesn't sound bad, either."

Blackwing face-hooved and Luna decided to end this conversation before Moonlight could cause a diplomatic incident:

"Now, if everypony is ready, we should get going."

Antonius took the black box he had called a 'bolter' in hand, Moonlight and Blackwing nodded.
Then, they started their patrol. Luna took the lead, the Space Marine to her right, and the batponies walked behind them.

Immediately after beginning their patrol, Luna noticed that Antonius was well skilled in that kind of activity.
He showed great attention; there was no noise, no movement in the darkness that he missed.
Intriguing was the fact that, despite being such a giant, he moved with barely a noise.

Until now, they had not encountered any hostile creatures, the forest was peaceful and quiet.

Suddenly, Luna felt the beginning of a nightmare in Ponyville.

"Stop, everypony."

Everyone stopped, and Luna turned to Antonius:

"I sense a nightmare in Ponyville. I must carry out my duty as Guardian of Dreams now.
Please wait a few minutes until I'm done."

"No problem, Princess, there is something I could do in the meantime.
Excuse me now - and don't follow me."

After he had said that, he vanished into the forest.
That was a bit strange, but Luna had other things to worry about. Rarity had a nightmare and needed assistance.

It turned out that Rarity was not the only pony to have nightmares that night. Those nightmares were clearly influenced by the story Antonius had told them, as they contained daemonic creatures and a lot of violence.
Most of Twilight's friends needed Luna's help, except for Rainbow Dash.
Despite not sensing a nightmare in the blue pegasus' mind, Luna took a look:
She was happily kicking... creatures, wearing some strange armor that had great similarity to the armor Antonius wore.

Now that she thought about Antonius: Where was he and what was he doing?

"Maybe I should look for Mr. Varus," Luna said once she had finished her dream-duty.

"That might not be the best idea, Princess," opined Blackwing.
"He sounded serious when he told us to leave him alone."

"You two wait here, I will have a look where he went."

So Luna sneaked into the direction the Space Marine had gone, becoming one with the shadows.

Antonius Varus had found a small clearing, still within earshot, but far enough away from the ponies to be out of sight.
He knelt in its middle, holding his sword upside down in front of him, so that its tip touched the ground.

He was still praying to the Emperor for guidance when he again got the feeling of being watched and detected silent hoofsteps to his left with his Lyman's Ear.
Luna. The fact that she had followed him was annoying, but not serious enough to stop praying.
If it was another creature, he still had the chainsword in his hand.

After finishing his prayer, he stood up and looked in the direction of the hoofsteps he had heard.
He could see the same shadow-within-a-shadow as before, put his sword back to his belt and said calmly:

"You followed me."

Luna appeared like the first time they had met.

"Sorry, Mr. Varus, but the forest can be dangerous.
I just wanted to see if you are all right, but now that I have seen this, I want to ask:
What were you doing?"

"I prayed to my Emperor for guidance."

"To return home?"

"Among other things."

Antonius looked into Luna's eyes and saw... compassion?

Before he had time to wonder why she empathized with him, she asked:

"You are feeling lonely, don't you?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"You are separated from your people, on a planet strange to you.
I would be a miracle if you didn't feel lonely."

He had no idea what he should answer.
He would not say that he felt 'lonely', but he was certainly dissatisfied with his current inability to carry out his duty as Guardian of Mankind.

Luna continued:

"I know this feeling. A friend can help you to overcome it."

Oh, for the Emperor's sake! Another 'friendship'-fanatic!

"As I told the pink pony, Ms. Pie, before, I prefer to get to know a person or pony before I start a friendship," Antonius told her.

So, that should stop her. His assumption was proven to be wrong when she said:

"Well, you may not want to become my friend now, but I am definitely your friend.
Do you at least accept my friendship?"

That could simply not be true.
Had she really offered him a sort of one-sided friendship? Because she thought it would make him feel better and less 'lonely'?
It had to be a trick. An inferior motive behind all this.

"What benefit do you expect by offering me this one-sided friendship?" he asked bluntly.

"Perhaps it will become mutual sometime.
Even if it doesn't, it will still be a step towards a better understanding of each other.
Furthermore, I think it's just the right thing to do."

Just the right thing to do? Was this her honest opinion, or a trick to gain his trust?

Antonius looked at Luna.
Damned, those ponies really had big, expressive eyes!
Now that he looked into the blue eyes of Luna, realization struck him:
It was not a trick.
It was... kindness.
A kind xeno!

That could not be, it was against every experience mankind had ever made! Xenos were either malevolent or rather neutral at best, not kind and friendly.
Unless... this whole planet was a new experience to him, so, could this just be another new experience? The first genuinely friendly species mankind had discovered?
He somehow knew there was a decent possibility that this was true, as it fit the behavior of the other ponies he had met, but he was still wary.

He could deny her request, of course, but that seemed... wrong. He would give Luna the benefit of the doubt.
He took a few steps towards her, crouched to be more at eye-level with her and finally said:

"Accepted. I will give you a chance."

Antonius could hardly believe that he really had said this and accepted the friendship of a creature every imperial citizen would call a xeno witch, but he knew it had been... just the right thing to do.

On the one hand, it was a tactical move to gain the xeno's trust, on the other hand, he knew that that was not the whole truth. A part of his mind really had wanted to accept Luna's friendship.

Was that an Astartes' decision?
Antonius was not sure of that, but he was sure of one thing:
It was a human's decision.

Interesting. His usual daily routine had never allowed this side of him to come to light, but despite the transformation, the training, the indoctrination and the conditioning, he was obviously still a bit human at heart.
A somewhat unsettling thought. It could be a flaw, a weakness. He would keep an eye on it.

Luna smiled as she said:

"Thank you. Please, just call me 'Luna' from now on. Ready to continue our patrol?"

"Ready. And Luna... I think it would be fair if you called me 'Antonius'."

They went back to the waiting batponies and together, they resumed their patrol.

Author's Note

Introducing: 2 bat-pony OCs, I don't know if their names (or character traits) are already used by someone else. If that is the case, I can assure you that this is purely coincidental.
If you are waiting for a fight, you can look forward to the next chapter!

7. More than a warrior

Some time had passed when Luna and her companions heard a characteristic howl.

"What was that?" asked Antonius, his bolter ready.

"Timberwolves," answered Luna,
"giant wolves, made of magically animated wood. Those creatures are quite common in the Everfree and a serious threat to ponies."

"Magical animated wood?"

There was another howl and then, three timberwolves appeared a short distance ahead of them.

"What witchcraft is this?" mumbled Antonius.

Moonlight smiled at him:

"You can go and find out, Antonius. Be our guest!"

"Affirmative."

Antonius put his bolter back to his hip and whipped out his knife.

Luna found it strange that he preferred the knife over the sword. Perhaps the sword really was just a ceremonial weapon.
Another queerness that caught her eye was the fact that he was holding the knife upside down.

He slowly walked towards the timberwolves, his left shoulder a bit advanced, the knife in his right hand almost hidden behind his back, his eyes fixed on the nearest wolf.

The first timberwolf jumped at him.
Antonius dodged to the left. His right hand shot forward and the knife severed the creature's right foreleg. The wolf faceplanted into the ground.

Luna had never seen somthing like that before. It was incredible that Antonius could move that fast, despite his size. She had no time to ponder this; the second wolf attacked and jumped.

Antonius made a quick step backwards and the timberwolf landed on the ground directly in front of him. It looked upward, clearly confused why it had missed its prey.
The creatures life was ended as the Space Marine stabbed his knife into its head, from the skullcap down to the jaw.
The light in the timberwolf's eyes faded and Antonius ripped the knife out of the creature's head - through its face - as it started to fall apart.

The third timberwolf hesitated a bit, and Luna could understand the creature. Its enemy really was a warrior unlike any Equestria had ever seen.

It finally jumped at the Space Marine.
This time, Antonius made a step forward and grabbed the creature's throat in mid flight, lifting it off the ground.
It tried to attack his arm with its claws, but it did not even leave a scratch on the armor.
With a quick movement of his right hand, Antonius reversed the knife so that its tip now pointed upward, and thrusted it into the timberwolf's chest with a crunch. The Space Marine freed his knife again as the wolf started to crumble.

Now, the first timberwolf tried to get back on its three legs, but Antonius was already next to it.
He reached down, closed his hand around the creature's throat, and lifted it into the air.

Luna had never seen a timberwolf panic before and she almost pitied the creature which's life would come to an end now.

Antonius stabbed his knife into its jaw and the weapon broke through the wolf's skullcap. The timberwolf fell apart and Antonius put his knife back to his hip and started walking back towards the ponies.

Three timberwolves killed - no, obliterated - in practically no time.
That was beyond anything Luna understood by the word 'warrior', it was more like 'force of nature'.

Suddenly, the remains of the three timberwolves started to glow in a greenish light. Antonius immediately recognized it and turned around to face them.

"More witchcraft?" he asked.

Luna quickly told him what was about to come:

"Sometimes, defeated timberwolves can reassemble into a larger creature we call 'timberwolf king'. It is very dangerous. Be careful!"

The timberwolf-parts started hovering and piecing themselves together again. More wood out of the forest joined them.

"Stand back, ponies!" shouted Antonius as he whipped out his chainsword.

Now Luna started to wonder if this weapon was perhaps not ceremonial at all.
It started making a strange, almost gurgling noise, as if lots of little explosions happened inside it.

The timberwolf king was now completely built, including a small crown on its head, and looked at the Space Marine.

Antonius raised the sword, and the gurgling became a loud and furious roar. The weapon's teeth started spinning around its blade and it emitted black smoke.

Luna realized that this was not at all a ceremonial weapon. It was in fact the most gruesome weapon she had ever seen or could imagine.
Her two guards paled as they understood how this sword worked.

The giant timberwolf came slowly closer and roared as if to challenge the roaring of the chainsword.

This was the moment Antonius sped forward incredibly fast and rammed the weapon into the timberwolf king's open maw. It erupted from the back of the creature's head, spitting out sawdust.
The wolf cried in pain, but Antonius showed it no mercy.
He pushed the chainsword through the creature's lower jaw and further down its throat. The fountain of sawdust followed the sword's path as the Space Marine cut his enemy's throat in half.
He reached the timberwolf's chest and cut deep into it, then, he yanked the chainsword out.

Before gravity could bring the body to the ground, Antonius had brought the sword to the timberwolf king's throat again and beheaded the creature which crumbled into a pile of wood, twigs and leaves.

The chainsword's roar became a gurgle again as Antonius took a step back and looked at his slain enemy. After a few seconds, he asked:

"Is this 'timberwolf king' really dead or will it piece itself together again?"

"It is definitely dead," Luna answered,
"in fact, it is even deader than I thought possible."

The chainsword became silent again as Antonius put it back to his hip and started walking towards the ponies, his armor covered with sawdust.

The guards were just standing there, mouths wide open in terrified astonishment, and Luna looked at her new friend in amazement.
This Space Marine really was more than just a warrior, even more than a force of nature, he was death incarnate.

"Done. We can resume our patrol," he simply said as he reached them.

"Err... You certainly can fight, Mr. Varus, Sir..." stammered Moonlight, clearly out of her comfort zone.

"Thank you for your compliment. These 'timberwolves' were just a minor threat, though."

The ponies just nodded and together, they continued the patrol.

Luna was deep in thought. She now was sure she had been right, neither Twilight nor her friends would be able to deal with that amount of violence. It was in fact not very easy for her either, but she knew she was probably the only pony who could do it. So, she would do it.

There was no need to fear Antonius, just because he had totally annihilated a timberwolf king without the slightest problem!

At least, she could understand her sister better now. If this Space Marine was hostile, Equestria would be in severe danger. He could probably wipe out a whole battalion of the Royal Guard with ease.

Luckily, he showed no intention of doing something like that, quite the opposite: he had accepted her friendship and had fought for them against the timberwolves.
Antonius could theoretically be a threat to her subjects, but he could be another thing, too: a great ally.

The fight against the timberwolves had gone well. Those creatures were pathetic compared to an Astartes. Even the bigger wolf...
'It is very dangerous. Be careful!'
Pffft...
It was easy to kill.

The fact that it was made of wood and had no blood was convenient, as it meant that Antonius just needed to dust his armor rather than to find another pool to clean it again.

However, it was not the only weak creature he had encountered this night.
Those guards had obviously been terrified by his performance.
What did they expect he would do? Invite the timberwolves to a cup of tea and discuss their aggressive behavior?
Nonsense. The wolves attacked him, so death was their rightful punishment.
How could guards not be used to death and violence?

Luna had been able to handle his actions a lot better than the batponies, though. Violence was definitely not new to her.
She had even shown signs of amazement. A fitting reaction to the display of the might of one of the Emperor's finest.

The remaining time of the patrol went by without further incidents and the group left the forest south-west of Sweet Apple Acres.

"After all, it was a successful night," said Moonlight, back to her normal self,
"three plus one timberwolves defeated. Usually, the fights are more exciting but less violent. I didn't even get the chance prick one of them."

Then, she turned to Antonius:

"Where did you learn to fight like that?
To be honest, I was really terrified by that sword of yours at first. Wouldn't a normal blade be enough? This spinning chain-thing is just cruel."

"Cruelty is the right punishment for the enemies of mankind," answered Antonius,
"but the main reason for the use of chainswords is their superior efficiency compared to normal blades in combat."

"So, those chainswords are your cutting-edge melee weapons?"

"No. Power-swords are even better, but less common. They use normal-looking blades but engulf them in an energy field that disrupts solid matter."

"'An energy field that disrupts solid matter'?"

Oh, of course, these ponies had no idea what that meant.
Perhaps Antonius should cease using technical terms, as it led to a lot of explaining.
On the one hand, this could be annoying, on the other hand, he had to admit he really liked talking about Astartes weaponry, so he would keep confusing the ponies with those terms and explain them afterwards:

"This field breaks up the molecular structure of the material it hits.
That means such weapons can tear through flesh, bone, stone and armor with ease."

Moonlight thought about this for a few seconds before she continued:

"You know, I always thought I was an excellent fighter with excellent weaponry.
Now I feel like a little filly playing with foam weapons. Perhaps we should do a little training fight sometime?"

What? First she had been scared of him, now she wanted to fight him as battle practice?
That was an interesting piece of information. If all ponies were like her, scaring them off wouldn't work, as they would be back sooner or later.
As for the training fight, he definitely did not want to help a xeno become a better fighter, but he couldn't say it that way, so he answered:

"The chance of you getting harmed during such a training fight is high. I would not recommend it."

This 'diplomatic behavior' was really starting to get on his nerves. He was a Space Marine, not an ambassador!

Moonlight smiled at him:

"Hmm... You're probably right. But you should never say never!"

The group had reached the fence of Sweet Apple Acres by now and Luna told her guards:

"Moonlight and Blackwing, your duty for this night is over. Well done.
You may return to the barracks now and enjoy your free time."

"Yes, Princess Luna," the two guards said as they bowed deep, then they lifted off the ground and flew off northward.

Luna turned to Antonius:

"Did you enjoy our patrol?"

"It was certainly interesting. Tell me, Luna, are there creatures more dangerous than those timberwolves?"

"Oh yes, there are hydras, for example."

Hydras. On this strange planet, every single terran legend seemed to have become true.

"Do hydras exist in your Imperium as well?" Luna continued.

"As real creatures? No, but we know them from our ancient legends."

"You know creatures of our planet from your legends?"

"Correct. Just as you know humans from your legends. An interesting conundrum."

"Indeed, yet I'm sure we will be able to fathom it."

After a short silence, Luna asked:

"Do you know any legends about us ponies? Or are there even ponies in your Imperium?"

"We have legends about pegasi and unicorns, and you could compare earth ponies to the horses which actually live in the Imperium, although those horses are much bigger, but they are just animals, not nearly as intelligent or sentient as your species apparently is."

"Err... Thank you... if it was a compliment. Anything about batponies or alicorns?"

"Nothing that I know of."

"A pity."

Another short silence followed, again broken by Luna:

"I'm curious, Antonius. What creatures do you usually fight?"

"Aliens, heretics, mutants and daemons."

"Sounds as if you are quite busy."

Antonius had to laugh.
Busy? That was a colossal euphemism!

"I don't think the term 'busy' does justice to our eternal fight against the enemies of mankind, but if you really want to phrase it like that, then yes, we are very busy."

"Your stay here has to be some kind of vacation, then."

"Vacation? I don't need vacations. They just prevent me from doing my duty as Guardian of Humanity."

"Wait a second, do you mean you never took a vacation?"

"No."

"But you must have some free time!"

"Yes, I do. Fifteen minutes each day before the rest period, at least if my company is not on a mission."

Luna looked shocked now. Antonius could not really understand why.

"You just have a quarter of an hour for yourself each day?" she asked.

"Yes, I usually use it to reflect upon my duty to the Emperor. I also read some books about ancient terra, that's why I know some of its legends."

There was a short pause before Luna spoke again:

"You live just for your duty, don't you?"

"Of course I do, just as any Space Marine does."

"And now, you can't do your duty because you are stranded here."

"Thank you for reminding me, I almost forgot that."

"I wanted to say that I understand you. I know how you feel, how I would feel. You feel useless, but I can assure you, you are not.
You are nothing less than your Imperium's ambassador in Equestria. That's an important and honorable assignment."

Important and honorable? Meh.
Diplomatic service was not really what the Emperor had in mind when he created the Astartes.

Antonius was first and foremost a warrior, with the assignment to protect mankind from its many foes.
He would not rest until humanity lived in piece in a galaxy devoid of Chaos and hostile xenos.

And then?
What if the Space Marines achieved this goal sometime?
What if there was no enemy left to fight?
Would the Adeptus Astartes just sit around, doing nothing, bored by life?
No.

Antonius was sure the Emperor, in His wisdom, had had plans what the Space Marines could do in times of peace.
His own chapter, the Ultramarines, was probably an outlook on these plans:
They were not just warriors, they were guardians of the innocent.
They did not live completely separated in the Fortress of Hera, they worked closely with the inhabitants of Ultramar.

If he developed this further...and allowed for the existence of genuinely friendly xenos...

Stop.
He was definitely thinking too much.
That was the reason why the day of a Space Marine was thoroughly planned, to prevent such strange thoughts.
Unfortunately, he could not follow this daily routine while he was on this planet, so he would - sooner or later - probably start thinking about that again, but not now.

Luna was still waiting for his reaction. Antonius sighed and finally said:

"Don't you think my diplomacy is a bit... physical?"

Luna looked at him with a baffled expression, then, she started laughing:

"Alas, this was a humorous remark!
Don't worry, though, my diplomacy is not immaculate, either.
It is good to know that you have a sense of humor."

"At least sometimes."

After a short silence, Luna asked:

"Might I ask a favor of you?"

"What do you want?"

"Could you take off that helmet and show yourself?"

Antonius looked around and checked his environment. He could not detect any sign of threats, just small rodents and insects, so he lifted his helmet and put it to his belt.

Luna's eyes grew bigger and she said:

"Fascinating. Similar, yet different."

"We are different species, but we share the structural characteristics of mammals."

"My explanation was somewhat shorter," Luna said, a challenging smile on her face.

Hmm? Was this some kind of 'friendly banter'?
Probably a ramification of this one-sided friendship.
Well, Antonius could at least try to join in.

"And less exact," he answered with a small smile of his own.

That was obviously a suitable answer, as Luna's smile grew bigger as she said:

"Antonius, I think we will get along well.
I'm afraid you will soon have to excuse me, though, as I have other duties to attend to. I suggest we head back to the library."

"Accepted."

So they went back to the library, where Luna said:

"Farewell, Antonius! It was a pleasure meeting you.
We will see again this afternoon. On that occasion, you will also meet my sister, Celestia.
See you then!"

"Farewell, Luna. It was an insightful night."

The princess took off into the sky and flew northward, in the same direction her guards had gone.

Antonius entered the library again.
It really had been an insightful night, but also a night of incomparable strangeness.
Not only that some new mysteries popped up, he also got a demi-goddess as a semi-friend.

That was definitely not the way the life of a Space Marine should go.
Antonius recapitulated his time on this planet and looked for any mistake he had possibly made. Of course, he had thought his decisions to be right or at least justified when he had made them, but perhaps he could find a violation of the Codex Astartes in retrospect.

He found none. He had perhaps 'stressed' the Codex a little bit, but he had definitely not broken it, not even when he had been forced to improvise.

His Primarch, the revered Roboute Guilliman, had simply not envisaged the situation he was in.
And Antonius could - and would - certainly not blame him. This planet was just too strange to be envisaged.

A bit disturbing was the flaw he had discovered, as it was a possible weakness.
Humanity.

Now that he thought about it - and he did not like to admit it - the behavior patterns of these aliens had some similarity to those of normal humans. Perhaps he could use his flaw to predict the ponies' reactions.

Could he turn a flaw into a perk? A weird idea, but it might work.
So, he would make use of his own humanity while keeping it under control.

Now, what was he supposed to do with the rest of the night? Ideally, something that would aid his mission.
Well, he was in a library, so there was a lot of information on various subjects waiting for him, but he knew exactly what he had to read first. He looked for the non-fiction shelf, then for 'E'.
He finally found what he had been looking for: 'The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide'.
He carefully pulled the book out of the shelf, went back to the central table and started reading.

Luna was happy. Her self-imposed mission to befriend their alien visitor was going better than she had thought.
She knew, finding a common feature was a very good way, but at first, she had not been sure if she could find a fitting one. They both protected their respective species, but that was more or less just their job. She had needed a common fondness or character trait.

At last, she had found one: Antonius had humor, he was sarcastic, not unlike herself. Not much, but better than nothing. She could work with that.
She had tried to change to a more lighthearted conversation and he had accepted it very well.

However, she was not too happy about meeting her sister at dawn and telling her what had happened. She could already see Celestia's scolding face before her mind's eye.
Well, some sacrifices probably had to be made.

8. Into the Everfree

This 'reference guide' was an utter disappointment for Antonius. The only definitive information it held was that there were six Elements of Harmony, one of them was unknown, and their last known location was a castle located in the forest he had appeared in.

According to the information he got from Twilight on their way to Ponyville, they knew much more about those Elements now and this book was outdated.
Great.

Well, he could still asked them about the Elements. Great idea:

"Hello, I'm this strange warrior from the Imperium and I would like to know EVERYTHING about your anti-Chaos-super-weapon.
No, I won't try to acquire it, it's just curiosity."

Really a great idea. The ponies were naive, but they were definitely not dumb.

Perhaps he could inconspicuously direct a conversation towards that topic?
He would find a way. In the meantime, he would be patient.

Antonius put the book back into its place, then he took a look around. The sun had not yet risen, but it could not take long anymore until it did.

Just as he wanted to look for a new book, he heard a door upstairs.
A few seconds later, Twilight came down into the library, followed by Spike.

"Good morning, Mr. Varus. How's the night been?" she greeted.

"Informative."

"Err... good. I should probably tell you that I told the princesses of your arrival. I hope you don't mind that.
They'll be coming this afternoon to meet you. I'm sure you will like them, they are very nice ponies."

"I don't mind that. In fact, I know they will be coming."

Twilight looked confused now.

"Huh? How do you know?"

"I met Princess Luna a couple of hours ago. She invited me to join her patrol of the forest."

Twilight's eyes grew bigger.

"You already met her? Did you join her? Did everything go fine?"

"Yes, yes and yes; just a pack of Timberwolves. No problem."

"Sounds like an eventful night.
What about the maps and the book? Have you learned what you wanted to know?"

"I have, Twilight. Tell me, do you always get up before dawn?"

"No, but I have to prepare breakfast for six ponies, a dragon and you. We must start our excursion as soon as possible."

Having said that, she and Spike vanished through a door into another room.
Antonius was alone again, but not for long. Soon, he heard a knock on the front door. As he was the only one available, he opened the door and was greeted by Applejack:

"Good morning, Mr. Varus! I thought I come a little earlier and bring some food, just in case."

'Some food' was a nice expression for the cart she was trailing behind.

"Could you tell me where Twilight is? Still sleeping?"

"No, she has gone through that door over there, Spike in tow."

"Ah, the kitchen. Thank you."

Applejack parked the cart outside the library and carried its contents to the central table, then she followed Twilight.
That was the moment someone else knocked at the door.

"Yesterday evening a ladder-replacement, this morning some kind of porter... I wonder what I will be at noon..." mumbled Antonius as he went to open the door again.

This time, it was Pinkie Pie - also with food.

Within the next few minutes, all of Twilight's friends arrived at the library, each of them bringing something to eat, even if it was just Rainbow Dash's potato chips. Rarity was the last of them, with a picnic basket.

All told, they probably had enough food now to feed half of the town. Most of it was some kind of sweet, and no meat was to be found anywhere. The ponies on this planet were no true herbivores, but they definitely were vegetarians.

The group gathered around the central table and started eating. While the ponies talked a lot during the meal, Antonius was mainly busy filling his stomach with a lot of food. The mares noticed that fact soon, and Twilight asked him:

"Sorry, Mr. Varus, but, how many stomachs do you have?"

"I bet it's eight!" interrupted Pinkie Pie with a smile,
"That would be fitting for an alien life form!"

Being called an alien again was more than annoying, even though it was not exactly wrong, so Antonius said:

"Stop calling me alien. Use my name instead, Ms. Pie."

"OK, if you call me Pinkie!"

"Accepted."

"Oh, and I think you don't need to call anypony of us here 'Ms.'. The Names are enough."

"As you wish."

"May we call you 'Antonius'?"

"If you insist..."

"Now, Antonius, do you have eight stomachs?"

The Space Marine sighed.

"No, it's actually just one, plus the pre-stomach mentioned yesterday that does no actual digestion. Why do you ask?"

Twilight took over the conversation again:

"Well, Antonius, you seem to be very hungry."

"The nutrition value of normal food is quite low for a Space Marine, I have to compensate for that by eating a larger quantity."

"That's no problem," Applejack interposed,
"I'm sure my family can grow more apples than you can eat."

"That's good to know," said Antonius,
"but that won't be sufficient in the long term.
Humans are omnivores, I will sooner or later need some meat, or at least some sort of nutritional supplement."

"No trouble at all," Twilight told him,
"we also know meat-based food because of foreign guests who visit Equestria. We will find something, just tell us when you need it."

This was the moment Spike made a strange noise, like he was going to throw up every second.
Was the idea of meat that disgusting to him?
He burped fire and out of the flames a scroll materialized.
WHAT? What the hell did he eat?

The ponies were not the least bit alarmed and Twilight grabbed the scroll with her magic.

"Oh, another letter from the Princess," she said as she unrolled it.

Her eyes grew bigger.

"They want to solve the mystery of the 'Southern Star' with Antonius' help!
That means they will stay for longer! We have to prepare the telescope and get some more food! And I almost forgot cleaning the library!
But we wanted to have a look at that clearing today! We can't do all of that!"

"Easy, sugarcube," Applejack reassured her,
"I'm going to take care of the food."

"Oh, I'll help you!" Pinkie offered,
"Cakes from the Cakes for the princesses!"

"I will tidy up the library," Rarity offered.

"Umm, I will also stay here and help Rarity. I think it's much better than going into the creepy forest," said Fluttershy.

Creepy? It was just a forest with equally strange and pathetic animals.
Perhaps Antonius could show some 'good will' if he tried to cheer her up, so he told her:

"You do not need to worry about the creatures that live in there. I am positive I can protect you from them."

"Umm... Well, I'm sorry, but... I'm afraid of you, too."

Hmm? Usually, he would have taken that as a compliment, in his current situation, though, it was rather unfavorable.
He should do something about it.

"You do not need to be afraid of me," he told her.

"Umm... Okay?"

That did not sound very convinced. Perhaps a little explanation would help?

"You do not intend to kill me, do you?" he asked.

The ponies and Spike looked confused and Fluttershy paled.

"N-no."

"Do you want to wipe out, oppress or otherwise harm mankind?"

Fluttershy started shrinking visibly.

"N-No."

"Then, as long as you respect me, you have no reason to fear me."

"Okay."

That sounded even less convinced than before. His attempt had backfired. Thoroughly.

Rainbow laughed:

"You really have strange methods of cheering ponies up!"

Well, they had obviously at least understood his intention.

"Okay, back to business," Twilight said,
"we still have to deal with the telescope. It must be thoroughly cleaned for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

"I'll do that!" Spike shouted.

"Okay, girls - and boys - it looks like Antoinus, Rainbow and myself will go into the Everfree, then.
We should start as soon as possible and head to Zecora."

Twilight packed a few things into her saddlebags and the small group left the library and Ponyville.

The ponies were surprisingly fast when traveling, so it did not take them long to arrive at the hut, or hollowed out tree, that was Zecora's home.

They came just in time to see a explosion shoot out of the hut's windows. Apparently, her Everfree-guide had just been terminated. Antonius had his hand on his bolter as they started running towards the door and Twilight shouted:

"Zecora, are you all right?"

To Antonius' surprise, the door opened, and a small zebra with a Mohawk-style mane came out of the hut, coughing, accompanied by vast amounts of smoke.

"Zecora, what happened?" asked Twilight worriedly.

Zecora coughed again and said:

"I tried a new potion for nightmare night,
to give the fillies an enjoyable fright.
However, I won't be using this,
as it does not bring the desired bliss."

A rhyming zebra who almost blew up herself? And she should be their guide through the forest?
What the hell?

Zecora continued:

"Oh, Twilight, it's nice to see you here so soon,
you rarely come here before noon.
And with a new friend of yours,
one who does not walk on all fours!
Hello, stranger, my name is Zecora,
I know in the Everfree fauna and flora!"

Oh great, he just got 'friended' again. He decided not to correct the issue and introduced himself:

"Greetings, Zecora, I am Brother Antonius Varus, Ultramarines 2nd company, Imperium of Mankind."

"Antonius is from another planet and arrived yesterday. He was teleported to a clearing in the forest and now, we want to have a look at that place. Would you please join and guide us?" Twilight asked.

"Twilight, it will be a pleasure to me,
that the place of his arrival we may see!"

She turned to the Space Marine:

"Antonius, you are a warrior, am I right?
In the Everfree, you must be prepared for a fight.
I guess, you know to the clearing the way,
I will be on my guard that nopony goes astray!"

"Accepted. Our first waypoint is a pond I discovered not far away."

Zecora fetched her saddlebags and the group started walking. Antonius took the lead, Zecora, Twilight and Rainbow followed.
There was no path now and the ponies were slowed down quite a bit.

While on their way, Antonius could hear Twilight ask Zecora:

"Zecora, you seem to take it very easy that Antonius is an alien warrior."

"Warriors are not new to my kin,
being ready for battle to us is no sin.
As for the alien, I will just judge his actions,
not his origin or belonging to factions."

Hmm. If she had any idea what was going on in the galaxy, she would judge creatures by the faction they belonged to, but her strange attitude worked in his favor, at least for now.

It took them a while to reach the pond. Once there, Antonius told the ponies:

"I used this pond to clean my armor before I made first contact. Is anyone familiar with it?"

"I can tell you, I know this pond,
of swimming in it I am quite fond!" Zecora told him.

So he had cleaned his armor in Zecora's pool. Whatever.

They went on and made their way deeper into the forest. There were lots of animals and birds, but they did not encounter any creature that had the ability to pose a threat to them. The sun had crossed its zenith when they finally arrived at the clearing.

Twilight had never been that far into the Everfree before. She wondered how Antonius had been able to memorize the way to this clearing; there was no path, and one tree looked like the next one.

"Are you sure this is the right clearing?" she asked him.

"It is."

Twilight opened her saddlebags and took out parchment and a pencil.
She just wanted to cast the first examination-spell, when she heard a crunching noise behind her. She quickly turned around and saw -
Rainbow Dash, eating potato chips.

"What? I haven't had anything since breakfast!" Rainbow said.

Twilight groaned.

"Okay, let's eats something, so that I can examine this clearing without interruptions."

After a quick snack, Twilight lit her horn and analyzed the place, taking notes all the while.

Zecora also had a look at the surroundings, and she seemed a little nervous as she said:

"I have a bad feeling about this,
I think here is a danger that we miss!"

Twilight, being wrapped up in her examination of the clearing, did not pay any attention to her, or to anyone else.
She had discovered a residue of strange magic. It was an unknown kind of magic; not as pleasant and controllable as the one she used, even stranger than the chaos-magic she had felt when she had encountered Discord. It was just a faint trace, but she could nevertheless feel that is was feral, savage and very powerful.
What in Equestria could leave such magic?

She walked around the clearing. This magic residue was strongest in the center and faded towards the rims of it.

She was near the edge when she heard a furious roar. Her head shot up, and she saw a manticore, maw wide opened, jumping at her.
Her heart almost stopped. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. She saw her death coming towards her, fangs dripping with saliva.
No time to cast a spell.
No time to escape.
She would die here as a lunch for a manticore.
The only thing she could do now was scream.

Suddenly, the air was ripped apart by an enormous thunder that drowned out the animals roar and her scream.
Twilight could see something like a beam of fire shooting past her head and towards the maticore. It hit the creature's head which...
exploded.
Skull fragments, chunks of brain matter and blood darted in every direction.
A torrent of blood hit Twilight directly in the face and she had to close her eyes and turn her head away. She tasted blood, and she knew it was not hers. She immediately spat it out and wiped over her face. The, she turned back to her attacker to see what had happened.

It was a carnage. The manticore's head was gone and ridiculous amounts of blood were flowing out of its bare throat. The whole area was covered with splashes and shreds that a few seconds earlier composed the creature's head.
That, together with the taste of blood that was still in Twilights mouth was too much for her. She threw up.

Damned, this creature had been a sneaky bastard. Despite its size, Antonius had not heard any noises that revealed its presence as it crept up on Twilight. He had to be more alert.
The creature was also pretty fast when it finally attacked, but nowhere near fast enough to outperform the reflexes of an Astartes.

When the creature's roaring head appeared out of a bush, time slowed down for Antonius.
His targeting system immediately recognized the threat and outlined the beast.
His subconsciousness calculated the deflection - which was almost zero at this distance and angle - and he reflexively aligned his bolter.
He pulled the trigger.
The well-known sound of exploding propellant hit his ears and the bolt left the weapon's muzzle.
Once outside, it ignited its own rocket propellant and shot towards its target.
It passed Twilight and continued its way to the creature's head.
The skull was no barrier for the bolt's diamantine tip and it pierced into the brain.
Then, it detonated, obliterating the creature's head from the inside.
Twilight was hit by some of the creature's blood, but she did not suffer any injury.

There was really nothing better than a bolt round to get rid of your enemies.

Twilight spat out, quickly cleaned her face and looked at the creature, then she threw up.

Yes, the ponies really were sensitive creatures.

Rainbow Dash and Zecora had needed a second to realize what had happened.
Now, they raced to Twilight's side and Rainbow shouted:

"Twilight! Twilight, are you all right?"

Twilight just sat there and looked straight forward.
Antonius also started walking in her direction.

"Twilight, are you okay?" asked Rainbow.

Still no reaction from Twilight.

"Twilight is having a shock, I fear,
she saw her own end come too near!" opined Zecora.

Antonius was at their side now.

"Just a second," he said.

Then, he took off his helmet and crouched down. He carefully turned Twilight head a bit so that he could look her in the eyes.

"Twilight? Twilight..."

Her head moved a bit.

"Huh?"

"Are you all right?"

"The manticore almost killed me."

"'Almost' is the most important part here. You're still alive and fine, aren't you?"

"You killed the manticore..."

Antonius smiled:

"That's the reason for the 'almost'."

"You saved my life."

"Anytime."

All of a sudden, Twilight flung her front legs around Antonius' neck, hugged him and pressed her cheek against his.

"Thank you," she said.

The Space Marine was confused. How should he react to this kind of gratitude?
Occasionally, imperial citizens or members of the Imperial Guard had bowed before him to thank him, but he had never been hugged before.
To make things worse, Rainbow joined the hug.

"Thank you for saving Twilight," she said.

"That really was a noble deed,
helping Twilight in her time of need," Zecora added and joined the hug, too.

Worst of all was something else, however:
He was hugged by xenos, so he should be disgusted.
However, he was not. Not at all. Flabbergasted, yes. A bit uncomfortable, too. But not disgusted.
His humanity obviously made itself felt again.

At least he had gotten an answer to his question what he would be at noon:
A saver of life - and a teddy bear.

"Anytime," was the only thing he could say.

The group hug lasted a quite a few seconds, then the ponies let go of him again.

"I've stained all of you," Twilight said as she looked around, obviously still shocked and confused by the manticore's attack and subsequent demise. She was right, however: the ponies had blood on their fur, Antonius on his armor and cheek.

"Sorry," she continued.

She definitely needed time to regain her composure. A little distraction could probably help, so Antonius asked her:

"No problem, but have you found out anything about the clearing?"

Twilight tilted her head a bit, then she twitched and said:

"Oh, oh yes!"

Now, she told in detail everything she had come to know here. When she had finished, she was back to her usual self.

"Does that mean we are done here?" Rainbow asked.

"Yes, we are," Twilight answered,
"We can go home now. Hmm... I totally lost track of time, does anypony know what time it is?"

"Not really."

"According to the shadows cast by the trees, the sun has already crossed its zenith," Antonius told her.

"Do you mean it's afternoon already?" Twilight asked.

"I think so."

"Oh no, I really lost track of time!
The princesses will come to Ponyville in a few hours! We won't be back until then, let alone be able to make some more preparations!
Unless... we can speed up our journey!"

Twilight's horn started to glow and an aura of the same color appeared around her and each of her companions.

"What the..."

was everything Antonius was able to say before he and the ponies vanished into thin air.

9. Preparations

Rarity had been busy preparing the library for the princesses' visit the whole morning, with Fluttershy's help, of course. There was not a single dust grain to be seen anywhere; everything was in pristine condition. She could almost see her - beautiful - reflection on the floor! Yes, everything in here was just perfect!

Suddenly, she saw a flash and heard the sound of displaced air.
Now, Twilight, Rainbow Dash and Zecora were standing in front of her, together with the confused looking Antonius. They were all stained with... was that blood? Twilight was almost completely red.

"Wow, that was exhausting; the greatest distance and mass I've ever teleported!" she exclaimed.

Rarity noticed the angry glance Antonius casted at Twilight. A second later, he was standing in front of her, put his hands under her forelegs and brought her up to eye level.

"Now listen to me very carefully," he said with barely hidden anger in his voice,
"you will NEVER use your magic on me again without my permission. Never. Ever.
Understood?"

"Oh, right, you don't like magic," Twilight said, smiling sheepishly,
"I forgot that for a second. Err... sorry?"

"Just do NOT do it again."

Antonius put Twilight down, but he did not exactly look happy.

Nopony seemed to be injured, that was the most important thing, but what had happened? Why did Twilight teleport them back? Why were they stained with blood?
AND WHY DID THEY HAVE TO STAIN THE FLOOR???

"Aaaahh! Look what you are doing to the floor! Into the bathroom, you four! Now! I'll clean up this mess!"

To Antonius, it would forever remain a mystery how Rarity had managed to cram three ponies and him into that bathroom. Twilight had been right, it was pretty small, but it was big enough for the four of them to get clean again. When they had managed to get out again, they were expected by Rarity and the rest of Twilight's friends.

"So, now that you are not dirtying up everything anymore, tell us what in Equestria has happened to you," she said.

"Antonius saved Twilight's life!" shouted Rainbow Dash,
"I'd call it awesome hadn't it been that messy - oh darn it, I call it awesome nonetheless!"

"Saved your life?" Applejack exclaimed, turning to Twilight,
"Sugarcube, tell us what happened!"

Twilight told them the whole story - without the gory details.
Unfortunately, that triggered another group hug, again with Antonius in its center.

These ponies were not only keen on befriending everything, they were also crazy about hugs.

When Antonius was free again, Rainbow asked him:
"Hey, Antonius, you said you don't like magic, but didn't you use some magic to save Twilight? Or what was that beam of fire that... you know what it did."

"I did certainly NOT use magic, Rainbow. This beam of fire you saw was just the trail of a bolt."

"Bolt? I've seen bolts before but that was totally different."

"I don't think you have seen the type of bolts I use."

Having said this, Antonius released the magazine from his bolter and extracted a single bolt from it.
He showed it to the ponies.

"This is the type of bolt I was talking about."

"Is this a small diamond at its tip?" Rarity asked, her head popping up next to Antonius' hand.

"No, the material is called 'Diamantine'. It shares some physical properties with diamonds, though."

Rainbow eyed it carefully.

"Hmm. Does not look very spectacular," she opined.

"But we have seen what it can do," Twilight interrupted,
"what exactly is it and how does it work?"

"It is a self-propelled, gyro-stabilized, armor-piercing, mass-reactive explosive projectile. It is designed to enter the target and detonate there," Antonius explained.

"Yes, that is definitely what happened to the manticore," Twilight said quietly.

"T-That i-is... H-how can you be so cruel?" panted Fluttershy.

A bolt was too cruel in her opinion? Was there anything the ponies did not think to be cruel?

"Cruel?" he asked, an eyebrow raised,
"you may think that to be cruel, but it is something else: effective.
You have no idea what creatures we have to fight on a daily basis, Fluttershy. We have to use the best weapons available to prevent mankind from being overrun by forces you would not even dare to imagine!
If that means using methods you find cruel, we can't help it."

The following silence lasted a few seconds. The ponies were a bit intimidated and Fluttershy hid behind Applejack.

Friendly creatures from a peaceful world. They were not used to the truth about the universe. It was hardly their fault, though.
He was the first person not from this planet they had ever met, they had no way of knowing what was really going on between the stars.
Time to defuse the situation. Before Antonius could say anything, however, the silence was broken by Twilight:

"I get the impression that the universe is much scarier and much more dangerous than we thought it to be. I can't wait until the princesses are here, so that you can tell us more about it."

"I get the impression that you will not like what you will hear."

"Shading the truth won't make it better."

"That is indeed true, Twilight."

Now, Antonius turned to Fluttershy:

"And you can come out of your hiding spot. I already told you that you do not need to fear me."

Fluttershy's head appeared behind Applejack's, almost hidden by her mane.

"You are not mad at me?"

"No, I'm not. I just wanted to tell you that we are not cruel because we like it so much. It is simply necessary."

He smiled at her.

"You can't comprehend that, can you?"

"Umm... not really."

"Perhaps you will understand once you know the history of mankind and our current situation."

"Yes, that will be a very interesting conversation," Twilight said,
"By the way, might I keep this 'bolt'? I would like to examine it."

What? An alien, studying human technology? No. Nonono.
Time for another diplomatic answer:

"I have to refuse your request, Twilight. A bolt is way too dangerous."

He put the bolt back into the magazine and reloaded the bolter.

"Hmm... Okay, you're probably right," said Twilight.
"Okay, everypony, what about the preparations? Is everything ready?" she continued.

"Sure is, Twilight!" assured Applejack and pointed at the central table which was loaded with food, mainly cakes.
How the ponies could stand that amount of sweets was incomprehensible. Were they immune to sugar?

"And I have a special something for you, Antonius!" shouted Pinkie Pie,
"but that is a surprise for later!"

Oh. Uh-oh. What in the world could that be? Antonius was not sure if he wanted to find out.

"The telescope is ready, too!" exclaimed Spike, holding up said telescope.

"As you can clearly see, the library is in pristine condition - again," said Rarity, proud of her work.

Twilight was relieved.

"Very good, then, everything is done. The princesses will arrive in about two hours, so I can update my checklist and then work it off!"

"Or, you could relax," suggested Rarity,
"all of us could use a little relaxation now, especially you. I recommend going to the spa for an hour."

After a quick discussion, they agreed on visiting - respectively persuaded Twilight to visit - the spa, but not before she had written another letter to the princesses about their excursion.

Now, Rarity stepped up to Antonius. He was immediately alarmed.

"Well, Antonius, you really had a stressful day today."

"Not really."

"Oh, come on! An excursion into the Everfree, saving Twilight's life, getting stained with blood, that is definitely a stressful day.
How about a relaxing bath? Then you can talk to the princesses dew-fresh, clean and tidy."

A 'relaxing bath'? What the hell?

"That is not necessary. I don't need to relax, and because of my Mucranoid, I'm more or less self-cleaning.
Or is this your way of telling me that you think I'm smelly?"

"Err... no. Oh goodness, no! I just thought it might be a good idea to make the best possible impression on Princess Celestia."

A really nice excuse. Antonius would not fall for that, however. This mare just wanted to know how he looked like under his armor. Curious creature. He would not do her that favor.
A Space Marine without his armor was indeed still a Space Marine, but much more vulnerable. Antonius did not expect any attacks, though. He doubted that the ponies could get dangerous to him, but better safe than sorry.
Yet again, a diplomatic approach would be the best, and he already had an idea how to turn her down without simply having to say 'no':

"Well, Rarity, a bath surely is not a bad idea, but I don't think you have a tub big enough for me, so I have no other choice than to turn your offer down."

That should end this topic. Antonius was content. A rather brilliant solution.

"Would you take a bath if we had a suitable tub?"

Damned, that mare did not give up easily. He could continue, however; the ponies were just a third of his size, there was no chance they had a fitting tub.

"Of course I would."

"Promise?"

Huh? She surely was stubborn, wasn't she?

"Promise."

So, now this discussion should definitely be at an end.

But why was Rarity smiling?
And were some of the other ponies snickering?
And why did he have that feeling of certain doom?

"Would you please follow me?" she asked.

WHAT?

A few minutes later, the whole group was standing inside the Ponyville spa and Antonius knew his idea had been anything but brilliant.
In front of him was a giant tub, a pool for ponies.
Crap. It would fit him. That damned thing would fit him! Why did he not think of the possibility that they had pools?

"This should be big enough for you, don't you think?" asked Rarity with an extra-sweet smile.

"Yeah, it's big enough."

"Will you keep your word?" she wanted to know,
"I can assure you, you will feel better after the bath."

Yeah, yeah. Certainly.

"I am an Ultramarine. I always keep my word."

"Splendid! I will talk to Lotus and Aloe and get everything ready."

Rarity left. The others had already vanished into other areas of the spa.

Antonius wanted to kick himself. Of course, he did not mind the bath itself, that was just unnecessary luxury, but he was angry at something else:
He has been outsmarted by a pony. By a pathetic, little alien.
For the first time since he was on this planet, he was actually happy that he was the only Space Marine here. What a disgrace.
At least, he had learned a valuable lesson:
Diplomatic approaches were really not his strength. Furthermore, he had based his actions on mere assumptions. That was usually a lethal mistake, but here, it luckily had no real negative consequences.

While he was simmering, he watched two ponies preparing the bath and a giant screen, throwing nervous glances at him.
The bath would be ready soon.
Was there any advice in the Codex Astartes what to do in such situations?
None that he knew of.
So he would just try to handle this situation as one would expect from a noble Ultramarine: With due modesty - and as much dignity as possible.

"I hope you are not angry at Rarity," said Twilight, standing at his side again.

"No," he answered curtly.

"Just take it easy. You are among friends here."

Great. Even more 'friend'-ing.

The two ponies were now busy carrying towels and bath-towels behind the screen.

Twilight continued:

"You really deserve a little relaxation. You'll see, it's very enjoyable. Just see it as reward for saving my life."

"Hmm."

They really saw relaxation as a reward. To Antonius, it was a time of being useless.
Well, he was useless here anyway, so it did not really matter.

Perhaps he should see this whole situation with a bit of humor? It had worked last night when he had talked to Luna.
Perhaps that was a practicable way of not going nuts while he had to stay with the ponies.

At this moment, Rarity came back, still smiling.

"Well, Antonius, everything is ready. Be our guest!"

The Space Marine walked towards the tub and suddenly drew his chainsword.
He could hear the ponies gasp, then he just leaned the sword against the tub and vanished behind the screen.

"You know, for a moment I thought he would destroy the pool," said Rarity.

"You were not the only one," answered Twilight.

"Any idea why he did that?"

"Either he wants to keep his sword within reach, or he wanted to play a little prank on us. Perhaps both."

"Well, that's a good sign, don't you think?"

"Probably."

Their conversation was interrupted by strange metallic and other indefinable noises.

"Can we help you in any way?" Rarity shouted in Antonius' direction.

"NO," came back as an answer.

Twilight looked at Rarity, shocked:

"Rarity, I know you are curious, but please hold back a bit. I don't think he takes your enthusiasm very well."

"Come on, darling, are you not curious?"

"Of course I am, but I also remember what he told Fluttershy."

"What do you mean?"

"'As long as you respect me, you have no reason to fear me.' That's what I mean.
Can you imagine what would happen if he started thinking we disrespect him?"

"Oh... manticore?"

"Possibly."

"Oh."

There was a short silence after that. Rarity had never even thought that Antonius could hold all of this against her.
She turned to Twilight again:

"I'm sorry, Twilight, I was just so curious how he really looked like."

She saw Twilight's eyes widen as she stared forward and muttered:

"Then you should turn your head and take a look now."

Rarity's head spun around, and her jaw almost dropped to the ground. Antonius was standing there next to the screen, without his armor, just with a bath-towel around his hip.
Even without his armor, he still was a giant. He was a mountain of muscles that made even Bulk Biceps look puny in comparison.
Rarity had never been a fan of muscular types, but she had to admit, it fitted him somehow.
He did not have any fur on his body, just plain skin, just like his face. There also were more scars all over his body, as well as small dark holes on multiple spots.

"Err... sorry, Antonius, but what are these dark holes you have? Scars?" she asked.

"No," Antonius answered,
"these are the interface-ports for my armor."

"Come again?"

"The ports are used to connect my armor to my nervous system. That's how I control it and how I get its feedback.
The armor becomes an extension of the body that way."

The ponies looked at each other, completely at a loss for words. They already knew that Antonius had some sort of implants, but the extend of these implants was quite unsettling; connecting armor to your nervous system was not exactly a very nice idea.

When they looked back at Antonius, he was already in the tub, only his head and shoulders visible and had immediately started washing himself, muttering something about soap with the scent of roses not being part of their arrangement.

They went to the spa's loungers and laid down to get their treatments. A few minutes later, Antonius had finished and turned to Rarity and Twilight:

"So, I kept my word and took a bath."

He reached for a bath-towel.

"Not so hasty," Rarity told him,
"washing yourself is only half the battle... well, you know what I mean.
To really keep your promise, you've got to lean back and relax."

"Really?"

"Certainly."

"If you insist..."

"Oh, of course I do!"

Antonius really leaned back and put his elbows on the platform around the pool.

"Okay, I'm 'relaxing'. Content?"

"I will be if you keep relaxing for at least half an hour."

At this moment, Zecora came in again and greeted Antonius:

"Ah, it's good to see you relax after the battle,
this way, not only dirt, also anger will settle."

"Hmm."

He did not sound too convinced.

One after another, the ponies - and Spike - returned to the area with the loungers and the tub to get their treatments, the only one still missing was Pinkie Pie.

Between two of her treatments, Rarity walked towards the screen and turned to Antonius:

"Now that I think of it, you simply can't get back into that armor of yours before it has been thoroughly cleaned.
I could do that for you, if you want to."

He crossed the pool and grabbed its rim, next to Rarity.

"No, I do NOT want you to clean my armor.
Do NOT touch it.
Do NOT use your magic on it.
I will take care of it myself."

Rarity was a bit bewildered now, she had just wanted to help, after all.

"Antonius, I can assure you that I..."

She had to break off in mid-sentence. What she saw was more than just alarming. The other ponies saw it, too, and she could hear some gasps.
In the pool behind Antonius was Pinkie Pie!
How would he react to that? He would certainly not take it well.
He quickly noticed that something was behind him and turned around.

"What the hell?" he asked,
"what are you doing in the tub? How did you even get into it? There was neither a sound, nor could I feel a wave of displaced water!"

"I'm just taking a bath," Pinkie answered,
"the tub is big enough for that!"

Rarity almost had a heart attack. Pinkie had never been a fan of personal space, but now she was definitely overdoing things.
Rarity rushed onto the platform. Her horn lit up and she pulled Pinkie out of the tub.

"Pinkie," she said through clenched teeth,
"you should know better than to hop into..."

Unfortunately, Rarity lost balance on the slippery ground and fell face first into the tub, while Pinkie was sitting on the platform now.

"Hey," Pinkie shouted,
"why are you allowed to take a bath and I am not?"

Rarity did not hear that, however. She was completely submerged, water was in her mouth, nose and even in her ears. Her eyes burned and she had to close them.
She was slightly panicking, then she felt that something - or someone - grabbed her under her forelegs and quickly pulled her out of the water.

She spat and coughed violently. When she opened her eyes again, she saw Antonius, holding her at eye level, looking at her with a raised eyebrow but an otherwise deadpan expression.

"You know," he said,
"I think I should charge entrance fees for this tub."

What? Had she just misheard?
When the other ponies started laughing, she knew that she had not.
That was a great relief. Antonius was obviously not too much offended by this incident.

He sat her down on the platform and asked:

"Are you all right?"

"Yes, thank you for helping me, darling."

She cringed a bit as she realized what she had said.

"Would you please cease calling me 'darling'? At any rate until I'm back in my armor?"

Rarity blushed and stammered:

"Oh... sorry... I didn't mean to..."

"Don't worry about that. But I really think I have relaxed enough by now."

He grabbed his bath-towel, flung it around his hip and left the pool to vanish behind the screen.

Antonius used one of the provided towels to clean his armor and thought about his hosts.
He still had no idea how the pink menace had managed to get into the tub without him noticing.
Then, he got 'visited' by Rarity.
Well, it certainly didn't get boring around those ponies.

Furthermore, his assumption had proven to be correct: A bit of humor made his stay here more bearable.
It was a digression from the usual serious behavior of his chapter, but an acceptable one, especially as it had another perk: It created a relaxed atmosphere that would probably make the ponies more talkative. He was here to gather information, after all.

It took him a few minutes to get back into his armor. Once he was done and his armor's cogitator had told him that all systems were operational, he stepped out of the screen's cover and into the spa, where he immediately recovered his chainsword.

The ponies were about to finish their treatments and Rarity greeted him with a smile:

"Hello Antonius! Have I been right? Do you feel better now?"

"I did not feel bad in the first place, but a bath certainly has its perks."

"Of course it has! You could do this regularly, if you wish!"

Now the spa ponies approached him and said:

"Well, if you want to come here again, you are always welcome, but please make an appointment the next time, so that we can reserve the spa for you.
It was pure luck this time that you were the only customers."

Now, that was interesting:
First, these two mares had been afraid to him, now, they invited him to come again.
They were like Moonlight: quickly to adapt to new situations and lose their fear.

Finally, Antonius, Zecora, Spike and the ponies said farewell and left the spa. Zecora said goodbye and headed home, the others went back to the library.
The princesses were about to come, after all.

10. Royalty and history

When Antonius and the ponies arrived at the library, Twilight immediately started to get busy with the checklist she had mentioned earlier. Her 'relaxation' had obviously not lasted very long. She went over the list three times before she was finally satisfied.

A few minutes before the princesses' expected arrival, Rainbow was told to look out for them and left the library. She soon came back with the news that the princesses' chariot was approaching and would land any moment now.

Twilight quickly took another look around the library and told the ponies - and Antonius - where they should stand to welcome the princesses.

When everyone was in position, they heard a knock at the door and Twilight opened it with her magic.
Through the door came two ponies in golden armor, probably the 'Royal Guard'. Their eyes widened as they saw the Space Marine, but they quickly pulled themselves together and announced:

"Fillies and gentlecolts, we have the pleasure to announce: Princess Celestia of Equestria, Princess of the Sun, sovereign ruler of Equestria, and Princess Luna of Equestria, Princess of the Night, sovereign co-ruler of Equestria!"

A white alicorn came through the open door, taller than Luna, wearing a golden necklace and tiara. Despite the unfavorable angle, Antonius could catch a glimpse of her cutie-mark; a sun. Her hair had several pastel-colors and flowed in an non-existent wind, just like her sister's.

She looked at the Space Marine. Her eyes widened a bit and Antonius could see a mixture of awe and worry on her face, but just for a fraction of a second, then it became a like a mask - a friendly and inoffensively smiling mask.

Great. That was the face of a versed diplomat. Antonius knew he had to be wary and look for little slips she would hopefully make to discern her true intentions.

She was followed by Luna, who walked up to her side after passing the door.

The ponies knelt down and bowed deep, Antonius made a small complementary bow.

"Antonius, kneel down!" whispered Twilight from below.

Kneel before a xeno? Never.
Antonius looked down at her and saw that she was quite nervous.

"Can't," he whispered back curtly.

"What? Why?"

Twilight started sweating. Why was she so nervous?

As Celestia showed no intention of introducing herself and seemed to be waiting for Antonius' answer, he quietly told Twilight:

"I solely kneel before my superiors of my chapter or the Emperor himself."

Twilight looked close to panic as Celestia finally spoke:

"I greet you, Antonius Varus from the Imperium of Mankind. I am Celestia, Princess of Equestria. You already know my sister, Luna.
You do not need to kneel before us, as we are only princesses of ponies and no royalty to you."

As a member of the Legiones Astartes, Antonius did not even kneel before human royalty, but explaining this would definitely go too far.
He bowed again and said:

"Thank you for your greeting, Princess Celestia of Equestria. It is a honor and a pleasure meeting you and your sister."

Diplomacy, again.

Twilight visibly relaxed now and the ponies stood up.

"First and foremost, let me thank you for saving Twilight's life back in the forest," Celestia said,
"you have proven yourself to be a true friend of ponykind."

Friend. Again. Was that the favorite word of every single pony in existence?

"Let me further thank you for helping my sister during her nightly patrol," she continued,
"you really are a great help to us."

Oh yeah. That was what he always had wanted to be.

"Thank you for your commendations, princess," Antonius answered, hoping all of this diplomacy would be dimmed down soon.

He really preferred the more casual conversation he had had with Luna last night.

Celestia nodded towards the guards and they left the library, closing the door behind them.

"Welcome to Ponyville, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna!" Twilight said,
"I thought it would be an asset to have a snack before we start the talks."

"Oh, this is great," Pinkie Pie shouted, standing next to a cloth covered... something,
"then I can show you, Antonius, the surprise I have for you!"

"Pinkie..." said Twilight, standing to Antonius' right now, obvious worry in her voice.

Pinkie drew the cloth away and Antonius looked into the barrel of some kind of cannon.
His transhuman reflexes kicked in immediately and time slowed down as he made a dive roll over Twilight to the only free spot in range.

Now, ponykind finally showed its true face.
All of the friendliness, the kindness, just distractions to make him careless.
Rarity's offer to clean his armor, just attempted sabotage.
It fitted the experiences of humanity quite well.

Damned. He had really believed that he had found the first friendly xeno-species mankind had ever encountered. He had been wrong. Every xeno was really...

"PARTY CANNON!!!" screamed Twilight while Antonius was flying over her.

Party cannon? What the hell was that supposed to be? Sounded like some sort of contraption made by cultists of Slaanesh...

According to Twilight's reaction, she thought this weapon to be harmless. A harmless cannon? A ridiculous idea, but when a species in the universe built such a peculiar thing, it would be those ponies.

Was it just a very, very strange misunderstanding?
Time was getting short. He had to decide what to do now.

After his dodge, the cannon had no chance of hitting him without first being realigned. That gave him some time. Time he would use well.
So, after completing the dive roll, he immediately grabbed his bolter, but he did not yet take aim.
His subconsciousness had already made every required calculation to destroy the cannon - and the gunner.

"JUST A PARTY CANNON!!!" Twilight shouted again,
"It's not a real weapon and completely harmless!"

Antonius quickly checked his surroundings. Everyone had a worried look on their faces, but nobody made an attempt to attack him. Now, his eyes were glued to the cannon again.

"A harmless cannon?" he asked incredulously.

"Yes," Twilight said,
"Pinkie, fire your party cannon at the door to demonstrate."

Pinkie hesitantly pulled an attached string and the cannon shot confetti and glitter towards the door.
Damned. It really was harmless.

Antonius put the bolter back to the magnetic holster on his belt and took a deep breath.

"You really should not aim those cannons at people not familiar with that particular aspect of your culture," he said.

Pinkie Pie looked down and said:

"I'm sorry. I didn't know you were so jumpy."

"Did you just call me 'jumpy'?"

"Geez, Pinkie," Rainbow whispered,
"could you perhaps say or do something that does not almost get somepony killed for a change?"

"I must concur with Mr. Varus that we still do not know each other's culture very well, which means the probability of misunderstandings is quite high," Celestia opined,
"that's why we all should be a bit careful."

Antonius could hear a bit of tension in her voice, but she still sounded friendly.

"Not shooting at each other would be a good start," Luna smiled. Probably an attempt to diffuse the situation further.

Now Pinkie stepped up to Antonius:

"I'm really, really super sorry. Can you forgive me?"

"Sure. Tell me, was that your surprise? To blast me with confetti?"

"Oh, no, si... I mean no. That was just for presentation. The real surprise is on the table next to it."

Antonius went to the cannon and took a look at said table. There was a plate with some kind of wrap.

"Food?" he asked.

"Yes, but not just any food!" Pinkie answered,
"try it, I bet you will like it!"

"Should somepony perhaps taste it first?" Rarity asked worriedly.

"That's not a good idea. It's extra-special food for Antonius and not suitable for ponies," Pinkie told her.

Antonius looked skeptically at the wraps, but finally he picked one up. He started his usual routine again by sniffing at the food, then, he took a bite. Every pony - and dragon - in the room waited for his reaction.
After swallowing, he turned to Pinkie:

"How did you achieve that?"

"You like it? Is it substantial enough?"

"The taste is superb, but even more intriguing is the fact that this wrap has about the same nutrition value as real Space Marine food. I have to ask again: How did you achieve that?"

"Oh, that's my little secret. But I can tell you, it contains meat and lots of vegetables. The batter was the most difficult part and contains the most nutrients, the filling is mainly for taste and contains the nutrients I could not stuff into the batter."

"My compliment."

That really was a surprise. Pinkie had made Space Marine food without knowing anything about Space Marines, which was actually quite impossible, yet, every implant involved told him that these wraps were perfectly safe.

"Well, I think we can turn towards the snacks now," Twilight said, clearly relieved.

Every pony - and dragon - fetched some food now. The princesses headed directly towards the cakes.

Soon, there was a lively discussion about the strange magic Twilight had spotted in the clearing.

"Antonius, do you have any idea what this feral magic could be? Have you encountered something alike ever before?" Luna asked.

"Without being a psyker, I can only make an educated guess," he answered,
"but I assume it is Warp energy."

"Warp energy?" Twilight asked,
"you used the expression 'warp' when you told us how you got here. What exactly is 'warp'?"

"The Warp is a psychic dimension parallel to real space. If you have a warp drive, you can use it to travel great distances. If you are a psyker, you can tap its energies.
But you must be aware that every interaction with the Warp is extremely dangerous. When you are not properly protected by special shields or excessive training, contacting the Warp is most likely to kill you. It can even wipe out your entire planet."

"WHAT? Why is it so dangerous?"

"It is not uninhabited. Daemons dwell there, as well as the four Gods of Chaos. Well, I think now the time has come for our talks about the history of our species, for a thorough answer to your question is closely related to the history of mankind."

Celestia nodded.

"Yes, I really would like to hear about your kin. Let's all sit down."

Everyone sat down, the princesses in front of Antonius, and Celestia continued:

"Mr. Varus, if you don't mind, we could talk about mankind first and postpone ponykind."

"Sounds reasonable."

Antonius was curios how the ponies would react to the history of the mankind. He would have to tell them a short and simplified version, of course.
He cleared his throat and started:

"In the late second millennium of our calendar, or M2 for short, mankind made its first tentative steps to the stars and started colonizing its own solar system.
Later, in M18, the warp drive was developed, and journeys of several centuries became journeys of several days. That way, humanity started expanding across the galaxy. This was the golden age of mankind and is now called the 'Dark Age of Technology'."

"I'm sorry to interrupt, Mr. Varus," Celestia said,
"but, when it was a 'golden age', why do you call it 'dark age' as well?"

"Because of the way it ended. Humanity was greedy for new technology and learned the hard way that such technology can be a two-edged sword. Furthermore, a lot of information about this age is lost, so the term 'dark' actually has two meanings."

"What happened?"

"Mankind created artificial intelligence; machines that were able to think like biological life forms. They were created to help mankind, but they eventually rebelled and almost brought mankind to ruin."

"So that is what you mean by 'two-edged sword'. I'm sorry to hear that you people had to suffer so much."

"Truth be told, that was just one of several problems mankind had to face, and it was not the most serious one.
By M22, lots of pyskers began to appear. Many of them became possessed by daemons and whole planets were overrun by the Warp filth and lost."

"So that is the reason you are not very fond of our magic."

"Correct. It is nothing short of a miracle that you are using your magic all the time without any of these negative consequences.
It would be very interesting to discover the reason for this."

"I concur. It could be very important for ponykind. But please, go on."

"Okay. To make things worse, warp storms suddenly appeared and isolated entire systems. On a lot of planets, this isolation led to anarchy and regression to barbary. Several alien races used this weakness and raided and devastated many of humanity's worlds. Other planets, like Terra, the cradle of mankind, were dependent on other planets to supply them with food. With interplanetary travel made impossible, those planets were not able to feed their population anymore and countless billions starved.
This was the end of the Dark Age of Technology and the beginning of the Age of Strife."

"Oh my goodness," Celestia said bewilderedly,
"that is incredible. A disaster of incomprehensible scale."

"Yes, it was. The few survivors were ruled by several warlords who constantly battled each other.
It stayed that way until M29. Then, the warp storms started to becalm themselves, and another warlord appeared openly for the first time. This man, an incredibly powerful psyker who had lived on Terra for several millennia and would later be known as the Emperor, saw that the time was right to reunite mankind. With diplomacy or - if necessary - war, he pacified or defeated the other warlords and founded the Imperium.

"By M30, mankind on Terra was united again, but that was just the beginning of reuniting all of humanity. The countless colonies throughout the galaxy were still on their own. The Emperor knew that he could not do this all by himself, he needed help, but not just any help. So, he used his own genes to create 20 warriors such as mankind had never seen before; the Primarchs. They were supposed to lead the armies that should liberate the colonies from alien oppression, but the gods of chaos abducted the infants and scattered them across the galaxy. The Emperor, however, knew that his sons were still alive, so he thought of a way to find them and help the human planets at the same time.

"He used the genes of his Primarchs to create gene-seeds to upgrade normal humans to warriors without peer. While inferior to the Primarchs, they were easier to create and still vastly superior to normal humans: the Space Marines; 20 legions, each created with the genetic material of a different Primarch.
With their help, the Emperor started the Great Crusade to find his lost sons and reunite all of mankind."

"Did he find his sons?" asked Fluttershy.

"Yes, he did," answered Antonius,
"all of them. They had become important leaders on the planets they had been cast on and were given command of the Space Marine Legion that had been created with their genes.
Having said this, we only have information about 18 Primarchs. The other two remain mysterious, we only know that they were found, but we have no further knowledge what happened to them.
But be that as it may, the Great Crusade continued for around two centuries under the Emperor's command, later accompanied by normal humans who formed the Imperial Army. Then, the Emperor declared His favorite son, Horus, Primarch of the XVI Legion, Warmaster and put him in charge of the Great Crusade while He traveled back to Terra."

"Something bad happened, didn't it?" asked Twilight,
"by now, it almost sounds like the beginning of a happy end, but according to what you told us earlier, there was no happy end.
You told me that you are fighting Chaos. Did they attack you?"

Antonius' voice became harder as he continued:

"'Attack' does not even start to describe it. The devious Gods of Chaos corrupted Horus and he turned against the Emperor."

Antonius noticed that Luna looked really shocked now, then, she lowered her head, as if she was ashamed of something.
He decided to ask her about that later and continued:

"Eight Primarchs and their legions joined him and they started a rebellion which is now known as the 'Horus Heresy'. They did not start open war, but used treason instead. I will give you an example of what they did:

"The XIII Legion, the Ultramarines, were of course loyal to mankind and the Emperor.
The XVII Legion, the Word Bearers, were supposed to join forces with them in a campaign against an alien threat and meet them at the Ultramarine planet Calth. But the Word Bearers had joined Chaos.
The Ultramarines did not know this and welcomed them as friends, as brothers. They did not even know yet that there was a rebellion at all.
The traitors pretended to be friends and brought their ships and troops into position, then, without warning, they started slaughtering the Ultramarines and other loyal forces on and above Calth. Within a few hours, more than 100,000 Ultramarines, millions of soldiers of the Imperial Army and countless civilians were killed, murdered.
The remaining Ultramarines and other loyal forces managed to regroup and finally repulse the Word Bearers, but not before the Chaos scum had managed to poison Calth's sun."

"THEY DID WHAT?" shouted Celestia.

Antonius had noticed that her mask had started to crumble while he had told about the Horus Heresy, now she was utterly shocked.

"They fired at Calth's sun in an attempt to create a nova.
Although the Ultramarines were able to foil this plan, the sun had already taken damage and its radiation had become lethal. The survivors of the battle had to flee into the underground caverns of Calth to stay alive."

"The wickedness of those Word Bearers is simply unbelievable."

"Yes, it is. Even revered Roboute Guilliman, Primarch of the Ultramarines, was shocked. It was not their last atrocity, however:
They also created a warp storm to prevent the Ultramarines from helping the rest of mankind and Terra.

"After setting half the galaxy on fire, the traitors finally launched their attack on Terra 014M31. Horus himself was leading the assault onboard his flagship.
The Ultramarines meanwhile had managed to set forth for Terra, but they had not arrived yet.

"So, while the loyal Space Marines and the traitorous Chaos Space Marines fought on the surface of burning Terra, the Emperor teleported onto Horus' ship, accompanied by two of his sons, Sanguinius, Primarch of the IX Legion, the Blood Angels, and Rogal Dorn, Primarch of the VII Legion, the Imperial Fists, as well as a number of Space Marines and Custodes, the Emperor's own bodyguards. Unfortunately, they were scattered through the ship, and they had to fight their way to find each other and the traitor Horus.
Sanguinius found him first. He was able to damage Horus' armor, but was slain by him.

"The Emperor found them, Horus standing over Sanguinius' dead body, and battled his former favorite son. It was a long and grueling duel:
the Emperor, a psyker of unparalleled might and Horus, a creature imbued with the energies all four Chaos Gods; the Emperor could have won, but he still felt mercy for his son and could not bring himself to kill the traitor. Horus used this moment of weakness and lethally wounded his father.
Meanwhile, one of the Emperor's companions had found his way to the bridge and immediately attacked Horus. The traitor just laughed and blasted him apart with his dark powers.

"Now, the Emperor finally realized that he had no other choice than to kill his son, lashed out at him with his full psychic power and killed him.
Horus was dead, abandoned by the traitorous chaos gods, but the Emperor was barely alive, either.
He was found by Rogal Dorn and only had enough strength to demand to be taken to the Golden Throne, an arcane machine that was capable of sustaining his last bit of life.

"There He still sits today, for more than 10,000 years, kept alive by ancient technology and the sheer force of His own will, a living soul bound to a dead body, and watches over mankind. One thousand psykers give their lives every day so that He may live.
He directs the Astronomican, so that our ships can navigate the Warp.
His soul roams the Warp and relentlessly keeps the Chaos Gods at bay.
He is our guidance and the reason that mankind has not been wiped out yet.
He was, is, and will always be, the Emperor of mankind."

After a short pause Antonius continued:

"After the Battle of Terra, the loyal forces were able to repulse the Chaos forces into the Eye of Terror, a region where the Warp bleeds into real space.
The legions were split up into chapters to adapt to the new situation; an attempt to pacify the galaxy had become a struggle for survival.

"Now, we have the year 039M42. Up to today, we fight the traitors that joined Chaos, the daemons of the Warp, hostile aliens and every other threat that endangers mankind. And we will continue to do so until we are not needed anymore, no matter how long that will take."

Antonius had been keeping an eye on the ponies during his story. They had showed great empathy and now, they looked truly upset.
Celestia swallowed hard and said finally:

"I really don't know what to say. I never imagined that something like this could happen, it is a few orders of magnitude worse than the worst I could think of. Your species had to suffer so much... yet, you endured.
We want to help you, but I don't know if we can. The universe should be a place of peace and harmony, not a place of unending battles."

"Forget your ideas of peace and harmony amongst the stars, for those times are long forgotten.
In the dark times we are living in, there is only war, the screams of the innocent, and the mad laughter of bloodthirsty gods."

Celestia looked in Antonius eyes. He could see sadness, but also determination.

"No," she said,
"that can't be everything. The universe can't be that cruel."

"The universe itself is not really cruel, just uncaring. It follows a simple rule: Either you learn to kill, or it teaches you to die."

"Even if that is true, there must at least be a way to change that.
But we are not used to that kind of problems. We are just ponies, we don't have a great empire that can influence the whole galaxy."

"Hey!" Rainbow Dash shouted,
"but we have the Elements of Harmony! They worked against Nightmare Moon and Discord!
I bet we could use them to blast some Chaos flanks!"

Antonius silently thanked the Emperor for the enthusiasm of this mare. Now, the Elements of Harmony were on the table.

Celestia looked at her, deep in thoughts.

"I'm not sure of this. The Chaos mankind has to face is far worse than anything Discord has ever done. I don't know if the Elements will work at all. Furthermore, you six, as the embodiments of the Elements, are needed to use them, so you would have to accompany Mr. Varus back to the Imperium."

"I'm sorry to interrupt," Antonius said,
"but what do you mean by 'embodiment of the Elements'?"

"Each Element of Harmony needs a bearer, a pony who is the embodiment of the Element, who represents it.
Fluttershy's Element is Kindness,
Pinkie Pie's is Laughter,
Rarity's is Generosity,
Applejack's is Honesty,
Rainbow Dash's is Loyalty and
Twilight's is Magic.
Without them, the Elements of Harmony are useless," Celestia explained.

Oh, that was interesting: Exactly these six ponies were needed to use those Elements.

"But you are right, Rainbow Dash. We have at least a chance to help mankind," Celestia continued.

Huh? Success? That easy? Well, Antonius had expected more complications.

"But there is one thing I have to ask you first, Mr. Varus..." Celestia continued.

Aha. There was the catch.

"...tell me, after all of this negative experience with other species, how will your Imperium react to us?"

Oh. THAT was quite a catch.

"I will be honest with you. If a standard exploration vessel had found you, things would probably not have gone peacefully.
But I have found you. When I report back to my chapter, they will listen to me and not hurt you."

At least if he could explain everything without getting executed... nah, they would certainly let him finish speaking and see his reasons.

Antonius continued:

"And as you are willing to join our fight against Chaos, we will not only welcome you, but also protect you."

"Are you sure about this? You must understand that as a princess, it is my duty to protect my subjects."

"Quite sure. Our Chapter Master, Marneus Augustus Calgar, is a reasonable man. Furthermore, we already have worked with aliens to fight common threats."

Celestia nodded, her mask intact again.

"Sounds good, but this decision must not be rushed. We are talking about jumping into a war of unimaginable magnitude, after all."

So, no success yet, but probably already on the road towards success. The ponies were friendly, but careful.

Antonius nodded towards the princess and said:

"A reasonable decision. Now I have to ask a question:
I have already heard about Discord, but Rainbow Dash also mentioned a 'Nightmare Moon'. Who, or what, is that?"

Celestia looked sad now, and Luna looked ashamed again. First Horus, now Nightmare moon. Was there a similarity? What was the secret behind all of this?

"Well," Celestia began,
"I guess it is time to tell you the history of ponykind."

So Celestia told Antonius about her species, giving him a quick overview of pony history.
She started with the unification of the pony tribes and the founding of Equestria and continued with the reign of Discord and how her sister and she turned him into stone.
Antonius already knew that the Elements of Harmony could petrify a Chaos daemon, but it was interesting to hear the full story.
According to his fondness of changing things - in appearance as well as in behavior - Discord was obviously a daemon of Tzeentch, but an unusual one. He was content with making childish or at worst cruel jokes, he did not even kill a single pony; that was rather harmless for a Chaos daemon.

Then, Celestia told him - a bit reluctantly - about Nightmare Moon, and Antonius finally understood Luna's reaction to Horus.
They both were traitors, corrupted by daemonic powers - this 'nightmare' was probably some kind of Chaos force, perhaps also a spawn of Tzeentch.
They both spat on their duties and tried to destroy their older relatives to become rulers of their kin, not caring what they did to the population.

The Nightmare Moon story was almost like a less grim version of the Horus Heresy, as it happened on a much smaller scale and Celestia had been able to stop Nightmare Moon.
Furthermore, Antonius got to know a second ability of the Elements: Banishing foes.
So, why was Luna sitting here? Antonius was curious to hear the rest of the story.

Twilight took over and continued with Nightmare Moon's second attempt to seize power, this time foiled by her and her friends by using the Elements of Harmony again. But now, their effect was completely different.

Antonius could hardly believe it: These Elements could not only petrify daemons and banish foes, they could also perform some kind of instant exorcism?
That was... unbelievable!
The Elements of Harmony could be the most powerful and useful relics mankind had ever encountered!
What would happen if you used them against a Chaos Space Marine? Or even a Chaos Primarch? Petrification? Exorcism?

Well, after all these traitors had done, Antonius would honestly prefer a more... final solution than that, something like obliteration, extermination or annihilation.

Despite his personal feelings, he knew that the Elements of Harmony were probably the ultimate anti-Chaos-weapon. And mankind needed the ponies to wield them.

Antonius had to stop his train of thoughts as Twilight continued the history lesson - she really seemed to like it - with Discord's second appearance and subsequent defeat, which also reverted everything he had changed while being active.
A forth power of the Elements.

Antonius decided to extend his mission: He not only had to return to his chapter, he also had to befriend the ponies and thus acquire the power of the Elements of Harmony for mankind!

For the Emperor!

11. Revelations

While Antonius still had no information about the origin of the ponies - except from the fact that they had migrated here - he certainly knew a lot more about Equestria now. Furthermore, he had the chance to acquire powerful relics for humanity's fight against Chaos.
Not bad.

He still needed a way to return to his chapter, though. Could the ponies be capable of developing warp-travel within his lifetime? He had to inquire about that:

"Please tell me, what are your greatest technological achievements within the last, say, 500 years?"

Celestia thought few seconds, then she responded:

"Well, we are using electricity now for a few decades, but mainly for lighting, to operate power tools or for entertainment purposes."

"Yes," Luna added enthusiastically,
"and I learned that lately we figured out how to store that energy in little, portable cylinders!"

"They are called 'batteries', Luna," Celestia told her.

"Speaking of batteries," Twilight interposed,
"you told us that your armor is 'active'. Do you also use batteries to power it?"

"Partly," Antonius answered,
"my armor is powered by a micro fusion reactor in my backpack. That's its main power source. There are also energy cells you could call 'batteries' as a reserve and an emergency solar collector."

"Wow, that is... Wait a moment... fusion reactor? You have a little artificial sun in your backpack?"

"More or less."

"Isn't that dangerous?"

"Not really. There are several fail-safe systems that shut the reactor down should it get damaged. In fact, I have never heard of a Space Marine who died because of a reactor malfunction."

Celestia took over the conversation again:

"That is certainly good to hear. It sounds as if you use electricity quite a lot."

"Yes, we do, as it is very versatile."

"Well, to us, it is admittedly more of a addition to our magic and not really that necessary.
Other than that, we use steam engines, and we learned how to produce plastic and rubber from mineral oil.
I think those are the most noteworthy inventions of the past few centuries. With our magic, we do not have a lot of need for new technology."

Just as Antonius had expected. Their excessive use of magic had slowed down their technological progress.

"Aha. That means that you will most probably not be able to develop warp travel within my life time," he said.

"That depends. What is your life expectancy?"

"Hmm, Chaplain Cassius is almost 400 years old and the oldest member of my chapter. I it should be about 500 years, I guess."

"You don't know how old you can get?"

Antonius raised an eyebrow.

"Not really. Space Marines usually die in battle. Dying of old age does practically not happen. That's why it's hard to give you a life expectancy."

Celestia looked a bit concerned now.

"I understand. Well, your species needed, I think it was 16,000 years from space travel to warp travel. We have not even thought about space travel yet, so no, we won't be able to help you that way. Unless you know how star ships and warp drives are built and teach us how to construct them."

What? No.
He would certainly not give human technology to aliens. Furthermore, he lacked the needed knowledge.
He had a bit of a talent for fixing machines and had gotten some lessons from the Techmarines, but it had not been enough to be sent to Mars. Especially since he had once quickly repaired a Jump Pack without the proper incense and litanies - the Techmarines were not amused.

"I am a Tactical Marine, not a Techmarine. I don't know how they work. I guess I will have to wait for the Imperium to find me, either by looking for me or even accidentally. We could, however, try to send some kind of signal once I know where this planet actually is."

"Sounds reasonable."

Now, Celestia cleared her throat and said:

"It has become late, I have to lower the sun now. You may join me, if you want to."

Witnessing her perform an impossible task would certainly be interesting. Antonius wondered what kind of show she would put on.

Everyone went outside.
The Royal Guards were waiting next to a chariot. The sun was still distinctly above the horizon, so this sun-setting-procedure would probably take quite some time.

Now, Celestia's horn lit up and the sun started accelerating towards the horizon.
Antonius was stunned.
That was impossible!
He let out a

"What the hell...?"

Celestia recognized this and paused the sunset.

"I guess sunsets work differently where you come from?"

"Yes, definitely. You really move the sun?"

"Of course I do. Look!"

The sun started moving in an eight-pattern, then it stopped again and Celestia's horn dimmed down.

The fact that this pony could actually move the sun was shocking enough, but there was something else that attracted Antonius' attention.

"Princess Celestia, could you please move the sun as soon as I tell you to?"

"Yes, I can."

Antonius quickly used his armor's cogitator to prepare a timer, then he said:

"Now."

The glowing around Celestia's horn intensified and a little more than a second later, the sun started to move.
Incredible.

"Princess, does your magic work with immediate effect?" he asked.

"Yes, it does, but why do you ask?"

The ponies really had no idea what all of this meant! Antonius had to explain it:

"Princess, we see the effect of your magic about 1.2 seconds after you cast it.
That means that your sun is just 1.2 light-seconds, or about 360,000 kilometers away from your planet! Yet, when you look at it, it has about the same visible size as the sun of Terra, which is more than 8 light-minutes away from Terra.
That means that your sun is incredibly small - even too small for a normal sun to initiate a fusion process! Not enough gravity there."

He started thinking aloud:

"Perhaps it has a super-dense core? No, the effects of the gravity would rip the planet apart.
A sun at 1.2 light-seconds and no devastating gravitational effects...
It must be something else..."

He turned to Celestia again:

"Well, Princess, I think that means that your sun can't be natural. It must be some kind of artificial fusion-torch."

Celestia looked at Antonius, speechless, eyes widened, then, she looked at the sun.
She looked back at Antonius and finally said:

"I don't know what to say. It has always been that way. I never really thought about the origin of our sun.
Be that as it may, I have to lower it now."

The sun vanished behind the horizon.

"Now, it is my time to raise the moon," Luna stated.

Her horn lit up and the moon rose above the horizon.

"Do you have solar eclipses?" Antonius asked.

"We do," answered Luna.

"Then, your moon is even smaller and closer to the planet than your sun."

"That is so fascinating!" Twilight shouted,
"...and admittedly also a bit scary. An artificial sun, similar to the one that powers your armor.
That are completely new insights! And we have not even broken the veil yet!"

"We have scheduled the breaking of the veil in two hours," Celestia announced,
"in the meantime, we can consult about everything we have learned today.
Mr. Varus, as this will just be a repetition of facts already known to you, I suggest that my guards take you on a tour through Ponyville's surroundings."

Oh, that move was too easy to see through for Antonius, Celestia had to be really troubled to do this so inelegantly. This 'repetition of facts' would be nothing short of a judgment on him.
Now, things would get serious.

That did not mean that he had to follow her plan and stick with the guards, however. He had something better to do:

"Thank you for this invitation, Princess, but I am already familiar with the surroundings. I have an idea what else I could do while you are consulting, though."

"Oh, feel free to do as you please. What are you thinking of?"

"Yesterday I met a pony who knew humans from stories and drawings. I would like to talk to her."

Celestia hesitated a little bit, then she said:

"That is a good idea."

Antonius turned to Twilight:

"Twilight, can you tell me where Lyra Heartstrings resides?"

Twilight gave him directions to Lyra's and Bob Bon's house, then the ponies and the dragon went back into the library - except for Luna.

"I will join you in a few moments," she said to the ponies.

When they were inside the library, she turned to Antonius:

"Now you know what I have done."

"Indeed."

"If you want to cancel our friendship, I would truly understand that. Considering everything your kin has experienced, you must hate me for everything I have done."

She looked down at the ground, deeply ashamed.

That was unexpected. The co-ruler of this land stood before Antonius and awaited his judgment on her? A xeno voluntarily wanted to be judged by an Astartes?

She had done nothing against mankind, but she had betrayed her own kin and got - supposedly - corrupted by Chaos. Never trust a traitor, especially if Chaos was involved!
It would, however, be a good opportunity to examine the capabilities of the Elements of Harmony: Had this exorcism worked? Was she truly reformed?
The idea of a reformed former traitor was completely new, but on this strange planet, nothing seemed to be thoroughly impossible.
He had gotten along well with her. It would be stupid to ruin that.

She was still waiting for his judgment on her.

"You won't do this again, will you?" he asked.

Luna looked up and into his eyes.

"Never," she said,
"The memories of my past sins are still haunting me. I will never repeat them."

"Then, I have no reason to cancel this friendship."

Luna started smiling again.

"Thank you, you will not regret it," she said,
"please excuse me now, the others are waiting for me. I will pick you up when it is time to break the veil."

"Good."

Luna went into the library and Antonius followed Twilight's directions to Lyra's house.
He carefully knocked on the door. A few seconds later, Bon Bon opened the door. Her eyes grew wide and she asked:

"Oh, hello Mr. Varus. I suspect you want to see Lyra?"

"Yes, if that's possible."

Bon Bon turned around and shouted:

"LYRA! Mr. Varus is here and..."

Before she had finished the sentence, Lyra was standing next to her, a giant smile on her face.

"Hello Mr. Varus! Glad you are here! You want to see the stories and drawings about humans, right?"

"Right."

"Then come in! I've already prepared everything!"

"Yes, five minutes after we have first met you..." muttered Bon Bon.

Antonius crouched and entered the house. Lyra led him into the living room. Being too heavy for the couch, he sat down next to it while she fetched the books. Finally, she and Bon Bon sat down on the couch and she opened one of the books and showed it to him.

"See? This is..." She stopped speaking and looked at the other mare.

"This is not good, you can't see anything, Bon Bon... Wait, I've got an idea!"

Having said this, she hopped down onto Antonius armored thighs.

"Lyra!" shouted Bon Bon while Antonius was at a loss for words.
Now he was a couch.

"What?" Lyra asked,
"that way, the three of us can have a look at the book together!"

She turned to Antonius:

"You don't mind, do you? Or am I too heavy?"

"No, you are not too heavy," Antonius answered.

The situation was quite unusual, but he had lived through worse things.

"Great!" Lyra said, leaned back against his armor and opened the first book. Now, Bon Bon slid to the edge of the couch next to Antonius, and everyone looked into the book.

Antonius could barely believe what he saw:
Those pictures!
Ponies, giving human children a ride.
Humans, playing with ponies.
One woman even had a young pony sitting on her lap and was giving it a... belly rub?
And the pony visibly enjoyed it?
Incredible. That was not the way you would treat an alien, that was a way you would treat... a pet!
Antonius was thoroughly confused.

The stories did not make that better; according to them, humans were almost fairytale creatures who took care of ponies!
So, that was the reason why this mare was so enthusiastic about mankind - and about him. She thought that the good nurturers of ancient times had returned - and she had a predilection for hands.

"Lyra, err... Ms. Heartstrings..." Antonius started.

"'Lyra' is fine," interrupted Lyra with a smile,
"if I may call you 'Antonius'."

"Okay, Lyra, so... are there any stories about how humans and ponies got to know each other? Or what happened to the humans?"

"Well, there is a sad story about how the humans left the ponies..."

Bingo.

"Left?" he asked.

"Yes, it is in this book over there."

She levitated the book over to them and they started reading.

The story gave him an interesting piece of information: the humans had taken care of the ponies for years, then, something happened far away and they had to leave. They boarded 'giant grey birds' and left into the sky, but not before they had 'prepared the ponies' in some way, so that they could survive on their own.

So, there had been lots of humans here. That meant, there had probably been some kind of base.
Where was that base? The story did not give any location.

"Oh, that story is so sad," Lyra said, with tears in her eyes,
"even though there are rumors that a few humans came back much later."

Antonius was all ears:

"What rumors?"

"Legend has it that some humans paid us ponies another visit. It goes on to say that Star Swirl the Bearded destroyed every story or picture of this second visit, and that those humans back then wanted it that way."

"Do you know when those stories took place?"

"No, but it must have been a really long time ago."

"How about 10,000 years?"

That was just a shot in the dark, but perhaps he was lucky.

Lyra thought about that for a bit.

"Hmm, that could be right for this dubious second visit, as I think Star Swirl lived back in that day. The first visit must have been a lot earlier, though."

So, that second visit could be related to the Great Crusade. But even if it was, why did the humans want every evidence of this visit to be erased?

No, not every evidence, just the stories and pictures, the hints at their identities and actions.
The language still spread through Equestria.
Another mystery to be solved.

Antonius was pulled from his thoughts as Lyra levitated another book over to him and said:

"In this book is my favorite story. It's about a dragon frightening ponies, and the humans scared it away! Could we please read it?"

Antonius agreed.

It was exactly as Lyra had told, a terrifying dragon, heroic humans, and a lot of cuddling at the end.
He had to think about his own experiences earlier that day: a... ahem... 'terrifying' manticore, a heroic - but not really challenged - Space Marine, and a lot of hugging.
Some things probably never changed.

Celestia was more than a bit disturbed.
First, a dangerous alien appeared in Equestria, then, she learned that there was a war of untold magnitude in the galaxy.
To make things worse, the sun, her sun, was not really a sun at all.

She almost wished that the last two days had never happened. How was she supposed to protect her ponies and their way of life now?
Well, as she had told Twilight long ago, shading the truth won't make it better.
She had to adapt to the new conditions, even if she was not fond of them.

The door to the library opened and Luna came in and sat down, smiling.
Finally.
Celestia did not really understand why her sister spend so much time with their visitor. He was dangerous, he had proven this more than once! She was worried that it was only a matter of time until he would turn against the ponies.

"Luna, I'm glad that you are here now. We must discuss what to do with Mr. Varus," she said.

"What do you mean by 'what to do' with him?" Luna asked,
"we offer him our hospitality until we find a way for him to return to his Imperium, don't we?"

"I'm not sure of this. He is a threat to every pony in Equestria."

"Oh, yeah. He could commit more thoroughly hostile acts like defeating more timberwolves or saving more ponies' lives."

"Luna, this is not a joke. You have to admit that he is dangerous."

"Sister, I am dangerous. You are dangerous. The Element Bearers are dangerous in their own way.
Antonius has not done any harm to anypony."

"I know, and I want it to stay that way. But let us say that he really will never hurt any of us, what about the Elements? He showed great interest in them."

"Of course he did. If ponykind was fighting for ten millennia and you found some artifacts that could mayhap end this war, wouldn't you try to acquire them, too?"

Celestia had to admit that this was a valid argument, but the idea of sending her dearest student and her friends into that fray was inacceptable. She sighed.

"This is a war we cannot win."

"Not on our own, at least," Luna said.

"Why are you speaking that much in his favor, Luna?"

"Don't you see it, sister? The similarities? The history of humanity is like a darker version of our history. They are not that different from us."

"They are belligerent!"

"Yes, they are. Imagine what would have happened if you hadn't been able to defeat and banish me, if I had escaped, started my own evil Nightmare-empire and constantly attacked you and your ponies.
Do you think they would still be the peaceful, friendly creatures they are now?
No, they would be like the humans - martial and used to violence. It would have been their only chance to survive.
Now that I know this, I feel more guilty than ever."

"Luna, you are not Horus!"

"No? I can't ignore the similarities! I almost did the same thing and was only stopped by the Elements of Harmony! Twice!
If we can help mankind get rid of this Chaos that tantalizes them, we simply have to!"

Celestia turned to Twilight, sure that her student would support her:

"Twilight, what do you think?"

Twilight hesitated, then she opined:

"Well, on the one hoof, I want to help Antonius and mankind, on the other hoof, I don't want to put my friends in danger.
Girls, what do you think?"

The following discussion took quite a while. The ponies and Spike talked about all the pros and cons they could think of.

Rainbow Dash was enthusiastic about helping mankind.

Applejack wanted to help Antonius, too, but was also concerned what her family would do without her.

Rarity and Pinkie Pie did not really want to go, but would join their friends at any rate, just as Spike.

The biggest surprise was Fluttershy's statement:

"I think we should go and help mankind."

What? Celestia couldn't believe her ears. Had the timid pegasus just voted for going to war?

"Fluttershy?" Twilight asked.

Fluttershy looked at her:

"You have heard what those Chaos-meanies have done. What they are still doing. I can't even start to imagine how much mankind has to suffer every day.
I know that it would mean leaving my home and most of my animal friends, but I just can't stay here, living in peace, knowing that somewhere else millions of humans die just because I do not want to help them although I possibly could.
We have to help mankind. We have to try at least."

Celestia was stunned, just as the rest of the ponies. Fluttershy was right. How could they hope to just live on as they did, knowing that they refused to help an endangered species?

"Then, it is settled," Celestia said,
"we will help Mr. Varus and mankind - if possible."

"I'm sure this is the right decision, sister," Luna opined.

"I hope so, Luna. Now, it is almost time to break the veil.
Would you please fetch Mr. Varus? In the meantime, we will head for the southern outskirts of Ponyville."

"All right, sister. By the way: Now that we have decided to help Antonius, you should probably try to get on first name terms with him. The rest of us has obviously achieved this already."

After a few stories, Antonius and the ponies heard a knock on the door and Bon Bon went to open it.
It was Luna, who wanted to pick up Antonius. She could barely contain a laugh when she saw Antonius and Lyra.

All four left the house and went to the open area south of Ponyville. The fields were crowded with ponies who wanted to get a look at the spectacle, Antonius could see Zecora and the Crusaders among them, as well as the spa ponies and almost every other pony he had seen in the last two days. They all quickly made way for him and Luna.

"Our undertaking seems to be quite an event," Antonius said quietly.

"Of course it is," confirmed Luna,
"almost every pony in Equestria will watch the sky tonight, the observatories will do that in any case. The Canterlot Royal Observatory will even take photos!"

"Very good. We can survey these photos later."

"Indeed. Furthermore, we can minimize the time in which the veil will be broken that way."

The two arrived at the top of a small hill where Celestia and the Element Bearers were waiting.
Twilight was busy aligning her telescope at the southern star.

Celestia turned to Antonius:

"Hello, Mr. Varus. I hope you found what you were looking for."

"I have, Princess Celestia, thanks for asking."

Luna stepped over to her sister's side and nudged her, apparently without reason.

Celestia darted a glance at her and continued:

"Well, Mr. Varus, just call me 'Celestia'. Would you agree with me calling you 'Antonius'?"

Oh, there was more 'befriending' going on.
Well, being on good terms with this princess would be favorable, so Antonius answered:

"Of course I agree, Celestia."

She darted another glance at her sister that was met with a satisfied smile, then she said:

"Is everypony ready? Then let us begin."

Antonius quickly put on his helmet and set his cogitator to record mode. He did not want to be completely reliant on the ponies' pictures.

"We will break the veil and have a look at the universe now!" Luna announced.

Her horn started to glow.

Everyone on the fields was absolutely silent now and watched the night sky.

It started exactly where the Southern Star was located.
The star was dimmed down and its light was looking more normal now. In its proximity, lots of other stars appeared.
As the gap in the veil grew bigger, Antonius could see that it was some kind of elongated star cluster. A short while later, the cluster described a curve and more stars of other clusters became visible.
The separate clusters were converging into another giant cluster, above and a bit to the right of the location of the Southern Star.

Now, Antonius realized what he was looking at:
This was a spiral galaxy.

The gap grew bigger and more of this galaxy was unveiled. A dirty looking, purple stain was to the left of the Southern star in a neighboring spiral arm.

That was not any spiral galaxy, it was mankind's spiral galaxy!

Antonius used his cogitator to create an overlay with a galactic map. He knew the positions of the galactic bulge and the Eye of Terror, so he could determine the position of Terra, but he already knew where it was. He created another overlay with the position of the Southern star he had recorded earlier.
It was a perfect match.

The complete galaxy was unveiled now and spanned over a large part of the night sky.

Antonius looked at it for a few seconds, then, he took off his helmet and stated solemnly:

"Truly, the light of the immortal Emperor shines upon all of his servants."

The ponies looked at him, waiting with bated breath.

"Antonius?" Luna asked,
"what is the matter? I see it is a spiral galaxy. Do you recognize it?"

"I do. This, ponies, is the galaxy of mankind. My galaxy. The purple stain you can see on the left is the Eye of Terror I told you about.
At the far right, you can see the Realm of Ultramar, home of my chapter, the Ultramarines."

"And the Southern Star? It does not only have the ability to shine through the veil, it even seems to be amplified by it.
Do you know what this star is?"

Antonius started to smile.

"Yes. You told me you use it for navigation. That is exactly its purpose, for your Southern Star, ponies, is nothing short of the Astronomican, the great beacon of mankind!"

"WOW!" Twilight shouted excitedly,
"that is incredible! But, that means we are far away from your galaxy."

"Yes," Antonius confirmed, his smile gone,
"we are deep in the intergalactic void. The Imperium will never find me here."

"Perhaps we could try to send a signal..."

"Even if you could, and even if you accomplished that this signal was only received by my people - which is quite impossible - they still could not come to pick me up.
I am just one Ultramarine. The Ultramarines do not have the resources to travel such a distance just to pick up one single Space Marine, and the rest of the Imperium will not help them."

"Why not?"

"Cost-benefit analysis. I'm not important enough."

"Oh."

The ponies looked sad now and Antonius stared at the night sky.

"My self-imposed mission failed," he mumbled quietly,
"I will never return to Macragge.
I will never fight for mankind again.
I will have to stay here until I finally die of old age.
And when the Emperor judges me in the afterlife, my accomplishments will be just pathetic, having spent most of my life unable to do my duty. An inglorious end for an Ultramarine."

"Hey!" Twilight said worriedly,
"you are not dead yet!"

Antonius knelt down and looked her in the eyes.

"For the Imperium, I am."

She stared at him, then, she suddenly flung her front legs around his neck and hugged him. The other Element Bearers joined the hug.

Luna closed the veil again, shrouding the galaxy.
Antonius took a last look at Ultramar before it vanished. The gap in the veil continued shrinking.
Before it closed completely, he could see a falling star, like a last greeting from the galaxy, then, there was just the light of the Astronomican left.

He realized that he was still being hugged by the ponies.
As if his situation was not already bad enough, he now was pitied by xenos!

"I do not need you pity," he stated.

"You don't have our pity," Fluttershy said quietly,
"but you have our compassion."

"Yeah," Applejack said,
"I know how I would feel if I couldn't see my family again!"

Antonius turned his head a bit to look at her.

"Family? I haven't seen my family in almost seven decades, they are probably all dead now."

"What? What the hay happened?"

"I joined the Ultramarines when I was ten. From then on, I lived with the chapter."

"They did not let you return home once in a while?"

"No time to 'return home'. The life of a Space Marine consists of fighting and training to fight. Such family reunions would only interfere with duty."

"Whoa, mister. You will come with me to Sweet Apple Acres, so that I can show you what a family is like and what you missed."

"An interesting offer, but I..."

"But me no buts! You will come with me. And that's that!"

Oh great. Now he was bossed around by an alien apple farmer. At least, the ponies ended the hug.

"That's not a bad idea, Applejack," Twilight opined,
"the farm is larger than the library. You could stay there for the night, Antonius. In the meantime, I will talk to Lyra. Perhaps we can find something useful in her books."

Lyra's books. The stories about humans. They would not help, unless they told him where he could find a warp-capable ship and a trained crew.
He highly doubted that.

Antonius looked at the Astronomican. He could not do his duty on this planet and he could not return.
For the first time since he had joined the Ultramarines, he had no idea what to do.
He was useless, and he would be useless for the rest of his life. That thought was disgusting.

"Well, I think it is time to say goodnight, everypony," said Celestia,
"we will invite you to Canterlot soon, Antonius. Meanwhile, you can stay in Ponyville.
I know, your situation is... somewhat less than perfect, but if you try to enjoy your stay here, you might actually start to like our peace."

Yeah, sure.

Now Luna came closer, reared up on her hind legs and hugged him.

"I'm sorry about the bad news," she whispered.

Then, she got down on all fours again and took a step back.

"Do you want to join this night's patrol again?" she asked.

Well, Antonius did not have anything better to do.

"Yes," he simply said.

"Excellent. I will pick you up at Sweet Apple Acres."

The group parted. The princesses went to their chariot and the Element Bearers - as well as the other ponies - went home.

Antonius joined Applejack and Apple Bloom on their way to the farm. As he took a look back, he could see Twilight talking to Lyra, who had a determined expression on her face. He had the strange feeling that those little aliens would really do everything they possibly could to help him.
Even if they knew they would fail, they would still try.

12. Settling in

Antonius and the Apples soon arrived at the farm.

"Apple Bloom, please tell Big Mac and Granny that we have a guest. I'll prepare the barn for him."

The barn? Shouldn't he be in a house while the ponies were in a barn? And had she just said 'Big Mek'?
Applejack opened the barn door and said:

"You'll see, it is quite cozy in there. We'll use the hay bales to built a chair, a table and a bed for you. It won't be luxury, but it will do."

Yes, it would do. From the Fortress of Hera to an alien barn. Boy, that was a demise.

Antonius took a deep breath.
No.
He would not wallow in self-pity. He still was an Astartes, one of the Emperor's finest warriors!
No matter how bad the situation looked, he would never give up.
No matter what fate threw at him, he would never yield.
The moment of weakness was gone.

In fact, he was not completely useless here:
The ancient base of mankind. Even if he could not return to his chapter, he could at least look for this old base of humanity. Perhaps, he would find something useful. He could at least document his findings and experiences. If humans found this planet sometime, they would learn something about their ancestors that way.
First, he would learn about this planet and pony culture to possibly get a hint where this base could be located, then, he would start looking for it.

"Thank you for offering me your barn as a shelter," he said.

Applejack smiled at him:

"No problem. If you help a bit, everything will be fine in no time."

It really took just a few minutes to built a Space Marine-sized accommodation.

They had just finished as Apple Bloom came into the barn. Two ponies were at her side, a rather big red stallion with a horse collar and half an apple as a cutie-mark and an old, green mare with a pie as a cutie-mark.

Applejack turned to them:

"Granny, Big Mac, this here is Antonius Varus. I invited him to stay here tonight and have a look at the best family in all of Equestria! Antonius, this is my brother, Big McIntosh, and my grandmother, Granny Smith."

Aha, 'Big Mac', not 'Big Mek'.
Better.

"Greetings," said Antonius.

"Eeyup," replied Big McIntosh.

"Oh, hello Mr. Varus. If you want to see the best family in all of Equestria, you have come to the right place!" said Granny Smith.

Now, the mares started telling stories about their family life, once in a while confirmed by Big Mac. He was obviously not very talkative.
After about an hour, Granny Smith started yawning:

"Why, I should have been asleep hours ago. Tomorrow will be a busy day."

"Oh, you are right," said Applejack,
"tomorrow will be another Apple Bucking Day and we'll have to get up before dawn."

"Apple what day?" Antonius asked.

"Apple Bucking Day. That's how we call days when we harvest our apples. Do you want to help us?"

"Sure. Why not?"

"Great! I will pick you up at dawn."

The ponies said goodnight and left the barn. Antonius went over to his makeshift hay bale bed and sat down.
He thought about the stories his hosts had told. They had not been about great deeds, just about happy family life. The ponies really lived overall peaceful lives without great worries. In fact, it was not that different from the way of life he wanted to achieve for mankind.
He still pondered this when he heard a noise at the barn door. He was immediately alert, but it was just Apple Bloom who came in.

"Apple Bloom?" Antonius asked,
"I thought you wanted to go to bed. What are you doing here?"

"You see, we invited you here so that we could show you what being part of a family is like. Leaving you in this here barn on hay bales while we are in warm beds is not very family-like. So I thought I'll stay here for tonight and keep you company."

Hmm. She really tried to be as nice as possible, didn't she?
While Antonius was looking for a proper reply, she jumped onto one of the hay bales close to the 'bed', laid down and smiled at him.

"I can assure you, that is not necessary," he finally said.

"Well, I can assure you, it actually is."

At that moment, there was another noise at the door. Applejack.

"Apple Bloom! What are you doing here? You should be asleep!"

"I am going to sleep, I'll just do it here."

"What?"

"We cannot invite Antonius and leave him all alone. So I'll keep him company."

Applejack thought about that for a few seconds, then she said:

"Apple Bloom, you are right. And I'll keep you two company."

Great, more ponies. Would the rest of the family also pop up?

"I can assure you, it is... completely futile if I try to change your mind, right?" Antonius asked.

"Right!" answered the two Apples and laid down on Apple Bloom's hay bale, side by side.

So, Antonius went to bed, too. If just two days ago someone had told him that he would sleep with two aliens next to him, he would have thought that person to be utterly crazy. Now, he knew that these two aliens were no threat to him or to mankind.
He said goodnight, closed his eyes and soon was asleep.

Antonius was standing on the grassy hill where he had made first contact.
How did he get here? Shouldn't he still be lying on some hay bales?

He looked around. He was alone. Everything was quiet, no sign of any threat, except...
He was NOT alone. He knew there was someone, he could feel it... in his mind.
An psychic attack? By whom?
Irrelevant, he had to expel this creature, whatever it was. His hate flared up. So did the flowers and trees on and around the hill.
He ignored it. He concentrated, steeled his mind and started reciting protective litanies, then he heard a familiar voice shouting:

"Antonius, stop it! I won't harm you!"

Luna? How did she...
Wait a second...
This was a dream.
She had told him she was the Guardian of Dreams, so she paid him a visit. Having an alien psyker in his mind was not a very pleasant thought, but he would tolerate it - for now.

He calmed down, stopped the litanies, and out of nowhere, Luna appeared.

"Antonius, I'm glad to see you. Please tell me, what was... this?" she asked, shivering a bit.

"I mistook you for an attacker and tried to expel you," he answered.

"Well, that was... unsettling. I have to admit, your mind feels quite... unfamiliar."

"Could you elaborate this a bit?"

"Well, the minds of my subjects feel overall... sort of warm and soft, even if they have a problem that bothers them. Your mind is colder, harder. When you felt hate, it was like a fire trying to incinerate me."

Antonius took a look around. He noticed that the flowers and trees were restored.

"Doesn't look cold and hard to me."

Luna nodded:

"Yes. I have to admit, I waited for you and prepared this environment. It almost collapsed when you tried to expel me."

"You should have told me what you were planning to do."

"I know - now. I hope you can forgive me my intrusion."

"Forgiven. Tell me, what do you want?"

"After the events of today, I thought you might have a nightmare, so I wanted to prevent it."

What? She wanted to... damned, did she think he was a child?

"You worry too much, Luna. I don't think I would have had a nightmare," he said.

"Better safe than sorry," she stated,
"but if you want, I can end this and create an environment that suits you better. Please think of your home."

Luna's horn glowed and the environment changed. Now, they were standing on a patch of grass in front of a giant fortress.

"Well, you kind of brought me home," Antonius remarked.

"I created it from your thoughts and memory," Luna stated and looked at the fortress, her eyes widening.
"Unbelievable. The size! The whole city of Canterlot would fit several times into that building!"

"The Fortress of Hera," Antonius explained,
"fortress-monastery of the Ultramarines. Now, turn around."

Luna did as she was told and her eyes seemed to almost plop out of her head. There was a city of unbelievable size:
Giant buildings that seemed to touch the sky.
Even bigger buildings that looked like cities of their own.
Roads hundreds of ponies could pass side by side.
The city stretched as far as the eye could see and was almost glowing in a golden light.

"No way. You have been making this up," she whispered in awe.

Antonius smiled.

"No, Luna, I have not. Behold the glory of Magna Macragge Civitas, capital of Macragge and of the entire realm of Ultramar!"

Luna looked around for a few minutes. Then, she said:

"I feel small."

Antonius had to laugh.

"Well, Luna, in comparison, you are small. But so am I. And we are even smaller compared to the meaning of the city and the fortress:
Mankind is here, and it is here to stay. It is defended by the Legiones Astartes and no one will harm a human without paying the price."

"I can imagine what you mean by that. Of course, we could have a look at one of your memories, but I don't think I am ready for that."

"Probably not. Talking about fighting, when is the patrol going to start?"

"In an hour. How about a little sightseeing-tour in the meantime?"

"With pleasure. Can you create the scenery I am thinking about now?"

"Of course I can."

Antonius took Luna from one sight to another, each one more imposing than the last:
a gigantic parade ground, called 'Martial Square' with a ridiculously large gate at its northern end, called 'Titan's Gate'. A broad and long road beyond that gate, called 'Avenue of Heroes', led back to the fortress.

Luna realized that Antonius had a fantastic memory; he could not only tell stories for each of the sights, the quality of these dream-images was absolutely outstanding. She really got the impression that she was actually there!

The next places they visited were in the fortress itself. Again, everything seemed to be larger than life. Luna had stopped wondering about this by now, the humans seemed to be fond of that kind of architecture.

The last sight they visited was a place Antonius called 'Temple of Correction'.
Its grandeur of design was breathtaking; there was enough marble to build a mountain and the roof was a multi-colored glass dome. Even the throne room in Canterlot looked like a dilapidated shed compared to this splendor.

Then, Luna noticed something like a shrine. A giant Space Marine, even bigger than Antonius, was sitting there on a marble throne. He did not move.
Luna slowly stepped closer. She had an indescribable feeling that this man was somehow important.
Antonius also approached the shrine. Luna realized that he had not told her the story of this place, in fact, he had not said anything except for the name of this place since they had come here.
She went on towards the motionless giant, who was surrounded by some kind of strange energy field. Then, she saw the horrible wounds in the man's neck. He was dead!

"Antonius," she whispered,
"who is this man?"

Antonius sighed.

"This is Roboute Guilliman, revered Primarch of my chapter. I honestly don't know why I have brought you here, as this is one of the most holy places in the entire Imperium.
No alien has ever seen it.
No alien was ever supposed to see it."

His intonation was a bit strange, as was his facial expression. He was obviously deep in thought.

"Tell me, Antonius," Luna continued,
"why is he sitting here, dead?"

"He is not really dead, but he is also not alive. He was mortally wounded when he fought a Chaos Primarch and was placed inside this stasis field the moment he died. The field isolates him from the normal time-stream, time is quasi 'frozen' in there."

"You mean, he is still dying? At this very moment?"

"Yes, for several millennia now."

That was a horrible thought. Well, at least he couldn't feel it when time was frozen, right?

Luna thought about this place. It was a great display of trust that Antonius had shown her all of this. This was a son of his emperor, after all, the genetic father of his super human abilities, the founder of his way of life.

"Thank you for bringing me here," she said,
"I know this place must mean a lot to you."

"It means a lot to every human."

Luna looked at Guilliman.

"Hmm. I wonder if our healing magic could help here," she mumbled.

"YOUR WHAT?"

Antonius had grabbed her and was holding her at eye level in front of his face.

"Our healing magic. My sister, a few unicorns and myself can use our magic to heal injuries, but I honestly don't know if it is sufficient for that kind of wounds," Luna stammered.

"OH, GREAT!" he shouted towards the roof,
"first, I find some relics that could be the ultimate anti-Chaos weapon, now, I discover a way to possibly revive our beloved Primarch, perhaps even the Emperor himself, and I CAN'T GET BACK!!!"

Luna was still hanging in his grasp. She knew she had to do something to soothe him. He was a trained warrior without peer, with a steeled mind, yes, but this simply had to be too much, even for him. She opened her wings and encompassed him. He confusedly looked at her.

"I know your situation is frustrating. I can assure you, we will do everything we can to help you. Just please don't let your frustration get the better of you," she said in a soft voice.

A picture of a Nightmare Antonius popped up in her mind, but she quickly pushed it away.
She had to think positively. And she needed to strengthen their friendship, to make him see her as his friend.
It would probably not be easy, but she simply had to achieve it.

Antonius started to smile.

"I already told you that you worry too much. I have to admit that I had something like a moment of weakness, but I have overcome it hours ago. Even then, I just felt useless. I have to admit, though, that it is a bit unnerving."

"Antonius, hear my words," Luna declared solemnly,
"should we ever find a way to cross the distance to your Imperium, we will use the Elements of Harmony and our healing magic for the benefit of mankind. We will fight Chaos and try to revive and heal your fallen heroes. You have my word, the word of Luna, immortal Princess of the Night!"

Antonius crouched and set her on the ground, then he said:

"Thank you, my friend."

Friend! He said it! Their friendship was finally mutual!
Luna could hardly believe it. Her worries had been unnecessary. She felt incredibly relieved.

"Huzzah!" she exclaimed and jumped at him, wrapping her front legs around his neck.

Antonius was thoroughly surprised by her action; he stumbled backwards, lost balance and fell on his back.
At this moment, the dream ended as Antonius woke up.

Antonius sat up.
Whoa, what the...?
Well, Luna was obviously... excitable.

And he was probably out of his mind. First, he had shown one of the most holy places in the entire Imperium to this xeno psyker, then, he had extended their strange one-sided friendship to a mutual one, even though it had not been necessary; the ponies had already promised to help mankind if possible.

Yet, he had done it; they were friends now.
Why? It had just seemed the right thing to do.
This phrase again.

Be that as it may, if they really wanted to help mankind, they deserved his friendship. Period.

Antonius looked around. Applejack and Apple Bloom were cuddled up on their hay bale and still fast asleep.
Without making any noise, he got up and sneaked towards the barn door. He slowly opened it as quietly as possible and left the barn.

It was another clear night outside. The moon was shining brightly, so were the fake stars. He took a look at the Astronomican, then he turned around, put on his helmet and watched the northern night sky. In the distance, he could see the lights of Canterlot.

After a few minutes, his auto-senses picked up three flying creatures that closed in on his position. He was not alarmed by that, he knew who they were. As they came closer, he was proven correct: Luna, Moonlight and Blackwing.
They landed a few meters in front of him and then came closer.

"Hello, Antonius," Luna greeted,
"ready for another patrol?"

"Hello, Luna. Hello, Moonlight and Blackwing. Yes, I am ready," Antonius answered.

"We're glad you want to join us again, Antonius," said Moonlight,
"despite the bad news... You know, if you need somepony to talk to..."

Oh, for the Emperor's sake! Not another good Samaritan!

"I am fine, thank you!" interrupted Antonius.

Moonlight tilted her head a bit and smiled.

"Just saying...!"

With no further testimony of honest compassion, they started the patrol.
This time, it was uneventful. Not a single creature to fight showed up.

"I think your actions of the past day got about," Moonlight opined,
"no creature dares to challenge us. Perhaps we could go to Froggy Bottom Bogg, there should be a hydra."

"No, Moonlight," Luna said,
"we are guardians, not killers. As long as the hydra does not attack anypony, we will leave it alone."

"Sorry, Princess. Of course you're right."

To the ponies, offense was obviously not the best defense.

It did not take Moonlight long to start talking again:

"Hey! Now I know how to cheer you up!"

"I do not need to be cheered up, Moonlight," rectified Antonius.

She ignored him and continued:

"Blackwing and I want to get married and start a family next month. Would you like to be one of the witnesses to our marriage when Princess Luna officiates the ceremony?"

Huh? What gave her that idea? This planet really got stranger every hour!

"Umm..." was everything he could say before Moonlight interrupted him:

"I take that as a yes. Thank you! It is a honor to us."

WHAT?
Ah, whatever. He probably had to get used to all of this. Ignoring the ponies' habits for the rest of his life wouldn't make sense, so he just sighed and said:

"Anytime."

Other than this and a little small talk about the forest, nothing happened.
They arrived at the farm an hour before dawn and Antonius asked the ponies after taking off his helmet:

"How does your patrol usually go? The way it was yesterday, or the way it was today?"

"It varies," Luna told him,
"sometimes, it is just as today, sometimes, we get the impression that we have to repel half of the creatures in the forest. I think Moonlight is right, your deeds might have scared them off."

"Well, that's convenient for you. I must admit that I have yet to get used to this kind of life."

"Don't worry, you'll settle in fast, my friend," Luna said, a warm smile on her face.
"By the way, a chariot will come to pick you up early this afternoon and bring you to Canterlot. You will meet my sister and me there. So long, Antonius!" she added.

They said goodbye and the ponies took off and left.

Antonius entered the barn just as Applejack woke up.
She yawned, opened her eyes and took a look around.

"Good morning, Antonius," she said,
"how's the night been? Was the patrol exciting?"

"The night was fine and the patrol was... sedate," he said, sitting down on his bed.

She looked a bit concerned now.

"Well, I'll prepare breakfast and ring a triangle once I'm done," she said heading towards the door,
"we'll eat at the table outside. Could you please bring Apple Bloom with you then? Thank you!"

Before Antonius could object, Applejack had left the barn. He took a look at the still sleeping filly.
What was he now? Some sort of nanny?

He thought about how his life would be in the future. Probably more than 400 years of living with the ponies.
Four centuries of socializing instead of war. A really peculiar thought.

A short time later, he heard the announced triangle. Time to wake up Apple Bloom.
Antonius stood up and walked over to her. She was still sleeping, lying on her back and snoring quietly.
Yes, in all probability, that was kind of cute.

"Apple Bloom... Apple Bloom?"

No reaction, she kept sleeping.
He just wanted to nudge her shoulder, but he hesitated and looked at his gauntlet. This hand had killed countless xenos and traitors. It was a weapon by itself, and now he would use it to wake up a slumbering alien.
Life really was full of surprises, wasn't it?

He shook his head to clear his thoughts and carefully nudged Apple Bloom. She yawned, opened her eyes and smiled at him.

"Mornin'!" she said,
"night's already over?"

"Almost. According to your sister, it is time for breakfast."

She yawned again and muttered:

"Breakfast is one of my favorite meals of the day - if only it wasn't that early."

Antonius had to smile a bit.

"Breakfasts have quite a tendency to be early. Now come on, as far as I know, there's a lot to do today."

"And you're going to help us?"

"Yes."

"I bet this will be fun!"

Apple Bloom finally got up and together, they left the barn.
The other Apples were already at the table. The breakfast itself consisted of - what a surprise - apple-based products.

After the meal, as the sun was about to rise... to be risen by Celestia, which was still a weird idea, Applejack led Antonius through the orchard to a tree full of apples with baskets underneath. Apple Bloom followed them.

"That's your first tree for today, Antonius," Applejack told him,
"now, just buck it!"

He looked at her, raising an eyebrow.

"Shouldn't I just harvest the apples?"

He picked one to demonstrate.

Now Applejack raised an eyebrow.

"Bucking is much faster. In your case, although, I'd say you better use your hands to hit the tree."

"I shall punch it?"

"Of course. Use all of your power, our trees can stand quite a buck.. punch... whatever."

That hardly seemed to be a good idea.

"Are you really sure?" Antonius assured himself.

"Just punch the tree!"

"As you wish, you take the responsibility."

Antonius made a fist, reached back, and beat the tree.
The wood cracked as it was hit by Antonius' gauntlet; it had no chance standing the transhuman strength of a Space Marine, further amplified by power armor.
The tree was uprooted and fell to the ground.

Applejack stood there, jaw wide open, and stared incredulously at the scene.

Antonius turned around, saw her baffled expression and said:

"Umm... 'timber!'?"

Applejack still looked at the felled tree.

"'Timber!' my fl..."

She quickly stopped and took a look at Apple Bloom, who could barely contain her laughter.

"I mean, you just killed this here tree..."

"You told me to."

"I did not!"

"Come on, sis, you kind of did!" laughed Apple Bloom.

Applejack gave her a slightly annoyed look and turned back to Antonius:

"Okay, no real harm done. But I think it would be better if you did not use all of your strength for the next one."

After a few tries - one more tree suffered minimum damage - Antonius had found out the correct level of power to make the trees drop their apples without damaging them.
Applejack and he dealt with the trees, Apple Bloom gathered up the apples that missed the baskets.
Soon, they were done with the first two rows of trees.

"Antonius, you're a mighty good apple-bucker," Applejack said, a bit out of breath.

"Yeah," Apple Bloom agreed,
"if you were a pony, you surely would get your cutie-mark for apple-bucking!"

Having a picture of himself, punching trees, on his butt? Now, THAT was a strange thought!

They continued their work.
Antonius noticed that he was a tad faster than the ponies and that they were stubbornly trying to keep up with him, so he slowed down a bit.

Before noon, the apples were harvested and the Apple-sisters were almost completely out of breath.

"Okay, let's have a break," panted Applejack and laid down beneath a tree. Apple Bloom did the same and was soon napping.
Having nothing better to do, Antonius also sat down.

"You know, you actuated us quite a lot," Applejack said, smiling.

"Maybe, but I got the impression that you are well used to manual work," he responded.

"Yeah, I am. My whole family is. Running an orchard of this size is hard work, but I would never swap it for anything else.
This is not just my job, it's my... calling. Do you understand that?"

"I do. I do indeed. It's similar to me being a Space Marine. Some may call it a hard and gruesome work, but I would never shirk my duty. This is everything I want to do, everything I want to be. No matter what happens, I will always remain a guardian of mankind."

"Not so different, after all," she murmured as she fell asleep.

Maybe not so different, but still far from being the same.

As he looked at the peacefully sleeping mares, he heard a noise coming closer, then a voice shouted:

"Applejack! Antonius! Apple Bloom! Where are you?"

Twilight.

"Here!" Antonius answered curtly.

The Apple sisters did not wake up.

Twilight came into view and closed in. She looked tired and her mane was a bit of a mess.

"There you are!" she said quietly, having discerned the situation.

Antonius nodded.

"Yes, do you need my help?"

She walked up next to him.

"No, I just wanted to talk to you. Lyra and I have spent the whole night trying to find anything useful in the stories about your species."

"Successful?"

"Yeah, well... probably. There were apparently lots of humans here, so there must have been a settlement or city. The stories do not give any location, however. Perhaps our archeologists will be able to find it."

So, nothing he did not already know, but according to her expression, there was something else on her mind.

"You seem to be a bit... troubled, Twilight."

She nodded.

"To be honest, I have a bit of a problem relating to those ancient ponies. Judged by the stories and pictures, they were... pets. More or less.
I don't know if I like this thought. Be that as it may, they seemed to have the ability to cheer the humans up that way, so... umm..."

Antonius could guess where this was going. He raised an eyebrow and said:

"I do not need to be cheered up. But do you really want to suggest that, when I'm in a bad mood, I should cuddle one of you?"

In his list of strange ideas, this was definitely number one.

Twilight blushed a bit.

"No! Umm... yes? I don't know! The ponies seemed to like it, but I can't imagine being cuddled like a pet! As we are friends, though, and it might help you, I... GAH!"

Antonius had to laugh. This situation was so surreal. There was a fluffy little pony in front of him, having some sort of existential crisis about being cuddled!

"To be cuddled or not to be cuddled: That is the question," he said with a smile.
"Twilight, there are several millennia between those ponies and you. Perhaps those ponies were more like pets, but they have evolved until they became the self-aware and sentient creatures you are today."

"Hmm, that sounds reasonable. But doesn't that mean that there is still a bit of a pet in us? Do you think we are pet-like somehow?"

"Have you looked in a mirror lately?" Antonius deadpanned.

Twilight looked confused.

"Huh?"

"Could we agree that pets, if they are mammals, are in general small and fluffy creatures?"

"Yes."

It took a second until she realized the connection:

"Oh, I understand; compared to humans, we fit that scheme. But that is not what I meant. I was actually talking about behavior patterns."

Pet-like bahaviour patterns... that gave Antonius a silly - but also useful - idea:

"Okay, a little test to satisfy your curiosity."

He reached out with his index finger and carefully scratched the back of Twilight's nose.
As he put his hand down again, Twilight muttered:

"Oh, for Celestia's sake... That was actually quite enjoyable."

"Really?"

"Yes, I guess there is still a bit of our ancestors in us."

"Well, Twilight, you want to befriend anyone and you like hugs. Why shouldn't you like being cuddled? It fits... somehow."

She just deadpanned, so he continued:

"But seriously, there are always some ancient behavior pattern in us. You just have to decide if you follow them, or not."

"Hmm, that sounds better. Let us not talk to anypony about this, okay?"

Now, they heard stifled laughter. Twilight spun around and shouted:

"Applejack! How long have you been awake?"

"Since your 'GAH'. Sorry, Twilight, but that was too funny."

Twilight started grinning.

"Yeah? Okay, Antonius, test number one for Applejack, please!"

"What? No, Twilight, I don't think..." she stammered.

"Come on, Applejack! I need more than one test subject for a meaningful scientific analysis. Or would you prefer test number two: a belly rub?"

Applejack looked baffled now.

"Where did you get that idea from?" she asked.

"Ancient stories and pictures. So what is it going to be?"

Applejack finally said:

"If you insist... number one."

and came a few steps closer.
After receiving 'test number one', she turned to Twilight:

"You were right, that was actually quite nice."

Antonius could hardly believe it. It was just his third day in the company of those ponies, and he had already started goofing around with them. Why was it so easy to get along with them?

"Can I have test number two?" asked a voice from behind Applejack.

She and Twilight spun around and glared at the smiling Apple Bloom.

"NO!" they shouted.

Without conducting 'test number two', they went back to the farm.

13. Canterlot

When Antonius and the ponies arrived at the farm, the other Apples had already prepared lunch and were sitting at the table where they had had breakfast. Twilight's friends were also there, including Pinkie Pie with her wraps.

Soon after lunch, they saw a flying chariot heading their way from Canterlot - Antonius' ride.
When it had come closer, he could see that it was not the variant the princesses had used. It had a second axis, four wheels, and was pulled by four pegasi. Probably some kind of heavy-duty chariot.
It landed close to the farm. Antonius turned to Twilight:

"Are you sure this contraption will be able to lift me?"

"Don't worry," she answered,
"chariots are a very safe means of transportation - and this one is obviously specially converted to suit you."

Hmm... He still would have preferred a Thunderhawk, or at least something that did not rely on magic to be able to fly.

He said goodbye to the ponies, put on his helmet and boarded the vehicle.
To his surprise, the pegasi were really able to take off. The flight was remarkably smooth and the view was outstanding. Antonius committed the area they flew over to his memory to enhance his mental map of the area.

A short while later, the chariot closed in on Canterlot. It was a small city, carved into the side of a mountain. It was really astounding that the ponies, with their low level of technology, had been able to built it at all. There were multiple ivory towers with golden spires and the city's overall look and feel reminded the Astartes of imperial feudal worlds, just, well... cleaner.

The chariot landed on a small platform where a white unicorn stallion with a blue mane, wearing a purple and golden armor, waited for the newcomer.
Antonius thanked the pegasi and left the chariot. The unicorn came to meet him, eyes slightly widened in amazement, saluted and said with a welcoming smile:

"Hello, Mr. Varus. I am Shining Armor, captain of the Royal Guard. I have order to guide you to your meeting with the princesses."

Oh, a captain. Antonius was not sure if this rank had the same meaning here as it had among the Ultramarines, but he would show him respect. Couldn't hurt. So he snapped to attention and saluted as he responded:

"Greetings, captain Shining Armor. It is a pleasure to meet you. Please lead the way."

They entered a hall which's ceiling was supported by two rows of columns.
After a few steps, Shining Armor turned to Antonius:

"I heard you saved Twilight's life yesterday?"

Ah, the news had spread. But why did he use her first name? Did he know her?

"That is correct. I took care of a manticore that threatened her," Antonius explained.

"Thank you very much for that. She's my little sister, you know."

Aha, there was the answer.

"Anytime, captain Armor."

"Forget the 'captain'. No need to be so formal. Just call me 'Shining'. I owe you a lot, after all."

Hmm, a captain of the Royal Guard in his dept. That was an unexpected bonus.

"As you wish. I'm 'Antonius'."

Wait a moment, had he just befriended another pony? Damned, such things happened pretty fast here...

As they continued walking through the hall, Antonius spotted something behind one of the columns.

"Shining, we are being watched," he said quietly without altering his pace.

The captain also kept walking and asked:

"Are you sure? Have you seen anypony?"

"Affirmative. Behind the third column on the right. Pink unicorn mare, multicolored hair."

Shining Armor looked a bit confused.

"Are you sure she is an unicorn?"

"There is a horn on her forehead, so yes, as long as she is not an alicorn."

Shining Armor started to smile.

"I think I know who you have seen."

They stopped and he said loudly:

"Cadance, you can come out of your hiding place. He has already spotted you."

A head popped out from behind the column, followed by the rest of a pink... alicorn.

"Oh... hello," the mare said as she came closer.

"Antonius, this is Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, or 'Cadance' for short. She is my marefriend, was a bit worried about my task, and more than a bit curious," Shining Armor explained.

"Nice to meet you, Princess," Antonius said.

So, there was a third princess nobody had told him about before. She was smaller than Luna; about the same size as Shining Armor, just more slender. Her wings had a purple hue, her cutie marks was a heart.
She smiled at him and said:

"There's no need to call me 'Princess'. You've saved Twilight's life, and I thank you for doing so. I was her former foal-sitter, you know. I'm just 'Cadance' for you, Mr. Varus."

A princess as a babysitter? Twilight surely was important, wasn't she?
And Antonius had saved her life. He did not expect this to pay off that much.

"Just 'Antonius'. So, Cadance, why were you worried about Shining escorting me to the princesses?"

"Truth be told, Antonius, you already have quite a reputation here. According to Moonlight's stories, you are an army of one. Even Blackwing is full of praise for you, if asked. You saving Twilight confirmed this further.
If you take into consideration that you are from a different planet, a different culture, a simple misunderstanding could lead to... unfortunate situations."

"As long as you don't aim cannons at me, everything should be fine."

The two ponies looked a bit confused now and Shining said:

"I can assure you, nopony in Equestria will aim a cannon at you."

Pfft, they had no idea...

They continued their way until they came to an even bigger hall with multiple stained glass windows and a golden throne at the opposite end. This was obviously the throne room, but there was no sign of the princesses, just a few guards were standing... well, guard.

"Where are the princesses? Isn't this their throne room?" Antonius asked, looking down at his companions.

"Well, yes, this is their throne room, but you will meet them in Princess Celestia's private quarters, not here," Shining Armor told him.

In Celestia's private quarters? Was this supposed to be an informal chat? That was actually good news.

After another short walk, they arrived in front of a fairly big door, flanked by two guards.

"There we are," Cadance said,
"my aunts are waiting for you in there."

"Aunts? Does that mean there is another alicorn princess?" Antonius inquired.

"No, Princess Celestia adopted me as her niece some years ago. We are not really related.
Well, goodbye, Antonius. I hope to meet you again soon."

"Yes, Antonius, until then," Shining Armor added.

"Goodbye," Antonius said.

Now one of the guards knocked at the door, waited a second and opened it.
The Space Marine took a look into the room, always wary. He could see the two princesses, waiting for him.
Luna waved at him and Celestria greeted:

"Hello, Antonius. Please come in and sit down."

As he stepped into her quarters, he quickly checked his left and right for unwelcome surprises. There were none, everything was safe. He walked further into the room.
It was nicely done up; a lit fireplace, stained glass windows, 'normal' windows, tapestries - and a perch, complete with a red bird. Antonius had expected extreme luxury and pomp, like most quarters of imperial nobility, but it was actually a quite cozy place. On the ground were three giant cushions and everyone sat down on them.

As soon as Antonius had removed his helmet, the bird took off and landed on one of his pauldrons. Fortunately, he was able to keep down his reflexes - squashing Celestia's pet would have been unfavorable. Instead, he turned to the bird and asked:

"Hey, do I look like a landing site?"

"Philomena, please, don't bother our guest," Celestia said.

Philomena ignored this and ruffled her feathers.

"Well, Antonius, I'm sorry, but she seems to like you," Celestia apologized.

"No problem, Celestia."

Antonius turned to the bird again:

"Okay, Philomena, let's make an arrangement: You may stay, but don't soil my armor!"

Philomena nodded and fluffed even more.
Did this animal really understand him? Antonius remembered the squirrel that had told Fluttershy about his presence. The animals here showed really great levels of awareness.

Celestia cleared her throat and Antonius turned towards her.

"Antonius, now that it looks like you would have to stay with us for some time, we want to... clarify a few things to ensure peaceful coexistence."

Oh, that really was a nice way to say that she was about to set a few rules for him.

She continued:

"First and foremost, I want to protect my ponies from any kind of harm, be it intentional or unintentional. You certainly have noticed that we are a peaceful society."

Antonius nodded. He could imagine where this was going.

"Yes, I have," he answered warily.

Interestingly, Luna looked quite uncomfortable as her sister continued:

"So, there is no real need to be armed all the time. It just increases the probability of a fatal misunderstanding. Furthermore, it would be a great sign of trust to give up your weapons."

Antonius concerns had been right. She wanted his weapons.
Over his cold, dead body, lady!
Suggesting that an Astartes should throw away his sacred equipment was an insult without peer.
Instead of giving her his weapons - bolt by bolt - he decided to try a little diplomatic trick once more, hopefully with more luck than he had had with the bath-affair.

"I can understand your concerns, Celestia, but please understand that I can't just give you that sign of trust without receiving a sign of trust in return."

She thought about that for a second, then she said:

"Of course, give-and-take. What do you request?"

"Nothing too complex. Just allow me to keep my weapons."

Luna snickered shortly, as did Philomena. Celestia's face really was priceless.

"You mean, you want me to allow you to stay armed? Then my request would be void. And if I don't grant your request, you have no reason to grant mine!"

Antonius kept a straight face:

"Intriguing perspective. Not wrong, either."

He could almost hear the gears in Celestia's brain grind. The result of this was still uncertain, however.
She cleared her throat again.

"Well, Antonius, I must say that..."

She was interrupted by a scroll that materialized out of thin air, hit her head and fell to the floor.
Celestia clearly wasn't happy about this incident.

"Excuse me, Antonius, but this might be important," she said as she picked up the parchment and unrolled it.

"A letter from Twilight," she stated and started reading.

Meanwhile, Antonius took a look at Luna. She just shrugged, still looking uncomfortable. She obviously knew him well enough by now to know that her sister was walking on thin ice.

Suddenly, Celestia's eyes widened. She put the scroll down and stared at Antonius.
Philomena took off and returned to her perch.
What the hell had Twilight written? Something about the old stories? Or perhaps... oh...

"Antonius, you do realize that we are not pets?" she asked.

Twilight really wrote everything to that mare, didn't she?

Now Luna intervened worriedly:

"Antonius, what happened?"

He quickly told the whole story, and Luna seemed to be relieved:

"That's all? Then no harm was done, sister."

Celestia obviously had a different opinion:

"No harm done? 'Test number one'! I will not allow my ponies to be treated as inferior creatures! Listen, Varus, it really would be better for you if you treated us at eye-level!"

Huh? That was a blatant threat. She threatened a Space Marine, an Angel of Death!
Had pushing the sun around grilled her brain? Antonius had to react, he could not ignore this.
He rose to his full height. Towering over Celestia, his voice boomed:

"You demand that I treat you at eye-level? Then you better get a ladder, pony!"

He had to admit that it wasn't very witty, but it was the best he could think of in this short timespan.

Celestia sprung to her hooves, then she reared up on her hind legs and took a step in Antonius' direction.

"Oh, I won't need a ladder for that, human!" she said, now about as tall as the Space Marine.

Her eyes were narrowed to slits, her teeth were clenched, her face just a few centimeters away from her opponent's. She was obviously angry.
Antonius was sure, to a pony, this had to be a terrifying view.
He was not impressed.
A quadruped, standing on just two legs.
Unstable.
She used her wings to compensate for this lack of stability, but it was foolish nonetheless.
He quickly thought of a way to end this without having to end her, as that would be very unfavorable.

"Do you really want to threaten me?" he thundered, giving her a chance to backtrack.

"Oh, how observant you are!" she hissed back.

Okay, that was enough.
Antonius quickly crouched and spun around, one leg extended. He hit Celestia's heels, sending her spinning in the air as she started falling, like wheat mowed down by a scythe. Before she hit the ground, however, he caught her.

She stared up at him, a mixture of anger and fear in her eyes.

"Challenging a Space Marine usually means certain death," Antonius explained calmly,
"and I could have killed you now. But I do not want to harm you, neither any of your ponies.
You think I do not fit into your society, and you are right. I don't. I am a warrior, bred to bring death and destruction upon the enemies of mankind. I am martial.
I can contain myself, however, as you just have experienced."

Celestia also calmed down.

"What about your treatment of my ponies? Are we just pets to you, or do you see us as equals?"

"Celestia, it is my duty to put humanity first. This will never change.
But I can assure you, of all the xeno species I have encountered, I regard yours the highest.
So, you may not be equal to mankind, but you are as close to equality as an alien can possibly get."

She relaxed and nodded.

"Okay, Antonius, I accept that. Umm... could you put me back on my hoofs?"

He stood up and did so.

"And by the way, Celestia, it was Twilight who numbered the tests..." he added.

Celestia just nodded.

Once she was upright again, Luna stepped up to them.

"Could you two perhaps find a better way to settle your differences? I almost got a heart attack!" she said.

"I'm sorry, Luna," Celestia explained,
"because of his profession, I thought that a display of strength was the best way to deal with Antonius. Guess I was wrong."

Huh? Her anger was calculated? Antonius had thought it to be genuine. What a tricky little xeno. And he did not like tricky xenos.
However, he knew that she did all of this to protect her subjects, and that was her duty as a leader, so he decided not to hold it against her.
But he would certainly not forget it.

"Celestia," he said,
"I am a Space Marine, not an ork. I am capable of reason."

"I understand, but what is an 'ork'?"

"Err... a green-skinned bastard that cherishes war and carnage. Just forget that, it is not important. May I give you a little piece of advice?"

"Of course."

"Never sacrifice your stability to look more threatening. Doesn't work."

Celestia smiled.

"Well, I can't object."

They sat down and continued their conversation.

Celestia began to speak again:

"Antonius, you just told me that you were 'bred'. Do you mean that literally? You told us earlier that Space Marines were... upgraded humans. "

"Well," Antonius explained,
"I was born 960M41 as a normal human with normal parents.
After basic military training at a barrack institution, I voluntarily joined the Ultramarines at the age of ten, becoming an 'Aspirant'. I was taken to the Fortress of Hera for additional exams, tissue compatibility tests and psychological screening."

The princesses started to look a bit worried. Antonius continued:

"Passing all of this, I became an 'Neophyte', and the advanced training and the implantation process began.
This process is what I meant with 'bred'. Because of the implants, I got transhuman capabilities: size, strength, speed, everything was enhanced.
I was assigned to the chapter's tenth company and fought as a scout for a few years. When I had received all of the implants, I became an 'Initiate'. After additional training, I became a 'Battle-Brother' at the age of 17 and was assigned to the seventh company. Ten years ago, I was finally reassigned to the second company."

"'Implantation process' sounds quite painful," Luna remarked.

"Pain is just an illusion of the senses," Antonius said.

"I take that as a 'yes'," she deadpanned.

"Well, it was a price I was willing to pay to be able to defend mankind."

The princesses just nodded. Now it was Antonius' time to ask a question:

"You two are the leaders of Equestria, right?"

"Yes, we are," Celestia answered.

"Then tell me, why are you called 'princesses' instead of 'queens'?"

"Our mentor, Star Swirl the Bearded, told us that this was the correct title for us."

Star Swirl? The Star Swirl from Lyra's stories? The pony who had worked with mankind?

"Celestia, Luna, I heard a story that your mentor worked with humans about 10,000 years ago.
Could this be true? Did he ever tell you anything about humans?"

The princesses looked at each other.

"Interesting. We were born about 10,000 years ago," Celestia told him,
"but he never said anything about humans."

A new language, a visit of humans, the birth of their leaders. Everything during the time of the Great Crusade. There was a connection between the language and the visit, but did the princesses also fit in?

"You certainly do not look your age. How old exactly are you?"

You don't look your age? Had he really said that? He really wasn't used to that kind of conversation...

"I am 11,047 years old, my sister is twelve years younger than me."

"That means that you were born 992M30 and 004M31.
That's intriguing. Back then, the Emperor had already found all of his lost sons and the Horus Heresy had not started yet.
Tell me, does your immortality run in the family?"

Celestia looked sad now.

"No. Alicorns are immortal, but we are the first alicorns Equestria has ever seen.
Our mother was a normal unicorn and died when Luna was ten.
We do not know our father. Star Swirl was our substitute father and mentor."

"I'm sorry princess, but how can you not know your father when Luna is twelve years younger than you? Was he absent the whole time and came back secretly or something?"

"To be honest, I don't know. I can hardly remember anything prior to Luna's birth."

Well, that was weird. Had her memories been wiped? By whom? And most importantly: Why?
Antonius thought of the destroyed stories and pictures Lyra had told him about. Was there a connection? It fitted at least.
If this was the case, someone really wanted to keep something secret.

"I remember the day mother died like it was yesterday," Luna whispered uncomfortably,
"it is a memory I'm truly not fond of."

"It's the same with me, Luna," Celestia said,
"I'm sorry we can't help you, Antonius, but we know nothing about actual humans visiting our planet."

Hmm. Probably wiped memories and no memories at all. Additionally, their mentor had told them nothing about mankind.
Not very productive.

In the following hours, only interrupted by dinner, they talked about a multitude of subjects.
Antonius, for example, gave the princesses an overview of humanity and the other species that lived in the galaxy, they told him a lot about the ponies and the other species on this planet.

"Time has gone by fast," Celestia told them,
"it is already time to set the sun."

She stood up and walked onto her balcony, followed by Luna. Their horns started to glow as they set the sun and raised the moon.
When they had done their duty, Celestia said:

"It has been a long day for all of us. I think we should continue tomorrow."

"Good idea, sister," Luna opined,
"I will show Antonius his quarters."

They said goodnight to Celestia and left her room, then, Antonius followed Luna through the castle.
After a while, they stepped through a door into a large garden and the Space Marine asked:

"Luna, should my quarters not be, you know, inside?"

"We are not heading towards your quarters, at least not yet," Luna answered with a smile.

"Then, where are we going?"

"We are already here. Now, would you please excuse me? I'll be back in a few minutes."

Having said this, Luna went back into the castle.

Antonius stood in the garden and wondered what Luna could be up to. He checked his surroundings, just to be sure, but did not find the slightest sign of a threat.
It was a cloudless night and the Astronomican was clearly visible. As he watched it, he thought about the things he would soon start to miss... Ultramar, his brothers, a good fight...

At that moment, he heard the door again. As he turned around, he saw Luna - in golden battle-armor, a sword in her magic grasp.

"I thought you would enjoy a little combat practice. Ready?" she cheerfully asked as she came closer.

Antonius was truly surprised. Not too long ago, he had turned down Moonlight's request for training, but this time, he would accept, for that way, he could assess her capabilities and get some practice himself.

"With pleasure, but are you sure? I could accidentally hurt you."

"No risk, no fun," she shouted as she charged.

He whipped out his chainsword - of course without activating it - and block Luna's first blow, cautious not to damage the sword's teeth - or any teeth at all.

"And by the way," Luna continued,
"I'm not that fragile!"

To prove this, she started a series of attacks.
She wasn't bad, not at all. She varied angle, strength and speed of her strikes. She clearly had battle experience, but she lacked the abilities of a Space Marine.
She would be a serious enemy for an imperial commissar, but was no threat to an Astartes, not even without armor.

Something about her fighting style was strange, though. It took Antonius a while to realize what it was:
She held back. She did not fight with all of her power. That way, his assessment would be useless.
Could he perhaps... encourage her to fight with all of her power?

She charged again. This time, he evaded, and as she passed him, the blunt side of his chainsword came down and hit the armor on her flank.

Luna let out an almost adorable

"Eep!"

and jumped forward.

Now, she looked at her flank, then at Antonius, with a slightly bewildered expression.

Had he gone too far? He had to admit that his attack had not been the pinnacle of honorable combat.

Suddenly, Luna started to smile. She charged again, shouting

"Huzzah!"

Antonius prepared to block her attack. As the swords collided, he could hear a short, sharp whining, but not from Luna.
The servo system of his armor. Luna's strike had been strong enough that his armor had sprung into action to soften the impact!
Now, things would get interesting.

They continued fighting, and this time, Luna really fought with all of her power. She was fast, strong, and quick to adapt to Antonius' attacks.
Now, she was a serious threat; a scout would probably have had problems dealing with her. Even a Space Marine had to concentrate on the fight.

They exchanged blows, swords colliding with flying sparks.
The minutes passed and she showed first small signs of exhaustion, but was still a formidable opponent.
Luna reared up, her sword coming down on Antonius. He blocked and his counter attack only hit air as she evaded his sword.

Now, he forced his attacks, driving her back a few meters. Suddenly, she crouched, and her sword shot forward at his legs.
A good trick, but not good enough. He blocked again without much of a problem, but she had bought herself some time.
Winning would not be as easy as he had initially thought - especially without seriously injuring her.

Luna reared up again for another mighty blow, and Antonius saw his chance. He quickly jumped forward and smashed his whole weight into her chest armor, his arms encompassing her to prevent her from taking a step back and keeping balance.
The air was driven out of her lungs, she lost balance, toppled over backwards and dropped to the ground, followed by Antonius.
He used his arms to catch his weight and prevent Luna from being squished to a pulp.
She was lying on her back, breathing heavily, the Space Marine more or less on top of her, rested on his arms.

"Do you surrender?" he asked.

Luna nodded and took off her helmet:

"Okay, I surrender... Antonius?"

"Hmm?"

"That was FANTASTIC!!! I've never had such a good fight ever! Could we do this regularly?"

Antonius smiled:

"Not a bad idea."

At that moment, the door to the garden opened, and Celestia came out. She froze and stared at her sister and the Space Marine, eyes widened.

"Antonius," she said,
"when I asked you to treat us as equals, I did not mean it that way!"

Huh? Antonius had no idea what she meant.

"Hello, sister! Nice to see you, but tell us, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be asleep?" Luna asked.

"I almost was, then I heard the sound of fighting and thought by myself: 'Hmm, could my little sister perhaps do something stupid, like challenging our super-warrior guest to a fight?' Guess I was right.
And now... Well, Luna, Antonius, you are both grown up."

Having said this, she turned around and entered the castle again.
Antonius looked at Luna.

"I think I missed something..."

Luna laughed.

"Don't worry, my sister's just kidding."

Kidding? He still had the feeling that he was missing something. Luna continued:

"I suggest we head to my quarters, it's better talking there than here in the garden."

Sounded reasonable. Furthermore, he was curious how her room looked like, and... who was he to turn down his friend?

15. Hope

Twilight was nervous. Very nervous.
This was the first time Princess Celestia had sent a letter in the middle of the night, waking up Spike in a very hard way. What she had written was... unsettling, to put it mildly. Twilight took the letter and read it again:

'Twilight,
gather the other Elements.
I have already sent two chariots to the library. Board them and come to Canterlot immediately.
Make haste!
Celestia'

This was everything. No explanation, no further information.
Something terrible must have happened. Celestia had never before sent chariots to pick them up, even when Discord had returned she just had told them to come.

So, now they were approaching Canterlot. The city seemed to be asleep, there was no sign of unusual activity - with one exception:
She could see light in one part of the castle, and she knew what was there; the barracks.
The Royal Guard and the Night Guard were mustering. Hardly a good sign.

When they landed, they were already expected by Antonius. He had put his helmet on and his red eye-lenses were glowing in the darkness.

"Hello, Antoinus," Twilight greeted him,
"tell me, what is going on?"

"Follow me, I'll tell you," he answered curtly, turned around and started walking.

Twilight and her friends were almost running to keep pace with him.

"Antonius, please, tell us what has happened," she pleaded.

"According to a vision of Celestia, there is a Chaos invasion of unknown magnitude in the west," he responded.

It hit the ponies like a hammer.

"C-C-Chaos?" Fluttershy squeaked.

"Time to kick some flanks!" Rainbow shouted.

Antonius took a look at her.

"You will get your chance, Rainbow. That's why you were called here. Luna will lead a defensive force to the town of Hope where the invasion has occurred. You will join us and use the Elements of Harmony against the aggressor. I'm curious to see what they can do."

"You'll go, too?" Twilight wanted to make sure.

"Of course. I'm the best chance you have."

"Chance for what?"

"Survival."

The ponies swallowed hard and looked at each other. Antonius really was brutally honest, but they knew he was right. According to his stories, Chaos was far worse than anything they had ever encountered.

They stepped into the throne room. The whole atmosphere was incredibly dense. The princesses were already there, near the throne, Luna in full battle-armor. Four members of the Royal- and Night Guard were talking with them.

"The Elements are here," Antonius shouted.

Celestia and Luna nodded to the guards who bowed and withdrew to the side of the room, then they turned towards the ponies and Celestia greeted:

"Twilight, my little ponies, I'm glad you are here. Come!"

Twilight and her friends went to Celestia, while Antonius headed to the waiting guards.

"Princess, Antonius told us that Chaos is here in Equestria!" Twilight exclaimed.

Celestia nodded.

"It is, Twilight. You will accompany my sister, Antonius and 40 guards to the town of Hope in the west. Here are your Elements."

The princess' horn glowed as she levitated the chest that contained the Elements of Harmony over to the ponies, who took their corresponding Element.

Twilight took a look at Antonius. He was standing in front of the four guards and obviously tried to give them a crash course in some kind of sign language. She turned back to Celestia as the alicorn bent down her head towards her.

"I'm sorry you have to do this, Twilight. I never wanted to send you to a war.
I am still confident, thought. You six have defeated every villain you fought, you will also be able to handle this situation."

Now, Antonius had come over to them. He looked at Twilight and her friends.

"So, these are the Elements of Harmony."

Twilight nodded.

"Yes."

"May the blessings of the eternal Emperor fall upon them - and us."

A short time later, the detachment - ten guards of each common kind of pony - was ready to board the chariots. Not normal chariots as Twilight knew them, these chariots were larger and pulled by four pegasi or batponies.

Everypony was nervous, with one exception: Antonius.
He was standing in front of the guards, at Luna's side, and almost radiated an aura of confidence and determination. He clearly was in his element.

Luna turned around to address the guards:

"Guards! Ponies! Today, a new aggressor has shown up for the first time in Equestria. This aggressor is called Chaos, and is the arch-enemy of our friend Antonius Varus' species. We will head to the town of Hope near our western border and deal with any threat we might encounter."

She pointed at a map of Hope on a map stand next to her, marked with different colored arrows.

"The bat-ponies, being excessively trained in stealth techniques, will use the side roads and wait for my signal to start flank attacks. The rest of us will take the main road and draw the enemy's attention. Antonius, the Element Bearers and myself will form the spear head of our attack, ready to use the Elements of Harmony. That way, we will be able to defeat anything that is foolish enough to stand against us.

"You all are well trained in combat, be it ranged or melee.
You all have sworn to protect Equestria from harm.
Now, use your training to fulfill your oath!
On board!"

The unicorn- and earth pony guards rushed onto the waiting chariots, the pegasi and batponies of the Night Guard prepared to take off, whether they had to pull a chariot or not.
Twilight and her friends, as well as Luna and Antonius, also boarded the chariots.

The detachment took off into the night. They were going to war.

Antonius took a look at the ponies. They were nervous. No surprise. According to Celestia, they had mainly ceremonial duties, the closest thing Equestria had to real warriors were Luna's guards who did the nightly patrol. Every guard was still thoroughly trained - for a pony. They just rarely got an opportunity to participate in a real fight. Well, they would get that opportunity soon.

The lights of Canterlot were quickly fading behind him. Next to him, Luna was standing, silent, worry clearly written on her face.

"What are you thinking about, Luna?" he asked.

Luna turned to him:

"We only have very vague information about what we are going to face. We need some reconnaissance.
What do you think we will encounter? How will our changes be?"

"The answer to your second question depends on the answer to your first question.
If we just have to fight some Chaos cultists, we won't have much of a problem. If there is a company of Chaos Space Marines, things will get more difficult. In that case, your Elements of Harmony might become invaluable."

"They are already invaluable to us, but I know what you mean.
When we start closing in on Hope, I'll send out a few pegasi as scouts. That way, we will get to know what awaits us and we can adapt our tactic."

It was already noon when a scroll materialized next to Luna. She immediately grabbed it with her magic and unrolled it.

"A letter from my sister... Antonius! There are survivors of Hope in Coltport!" she shouted.

"Coltport?"

"A town at the coast, not too far away from Hope. I think we should go there first and question them. The information we will get might be vital."

"I concur, but we must hurry to prevent Chaos from spreading."

Luna nodded, then she took off and shouted, loud enough for every pony to hear:

"Ponies! Change of plans! Change course, we will head to Coltport! Make haste!"

They arrived at Coltport in the middle of the afternoon and were greeted by the local mayor, who took Luna and Antonius to the town hall where the refugees from Hope were housed.
The building had about the same floor space as the Ponyville town hall, but was not as tall. A big, roofed door served as main entrance.

Once they had opened that door, hell broke loose.
The ponies inside the building took a short look at Antonius and started to panic. They were running around in wild disorder, shouting

"He's back!" or
"Don't hurt us!"

Antonius was a bit confused by this intense reaction, until he realized its meaning:
They had seen someone with his stature before.
They had seen a Chaos Space Marine.

He did not miss the irony of this situation: Usually, xenos were meant to react this way when seeing an Astartes. This situation was not 'usual' in any way, however, as little as the ponies were usual aliens.
He raised his empty hands to show them that he was no danger to them.

"Ponies, I'm not a worshipper of Chaos!" he tried to becalm them.

It was a futile attempt.

"He said 'Chaos'!"
"Run!"

Antonius turned to Luna:

"I guess it might be a bit of a problem to talk to them..."

Luna took a deep breath.

"SILENCE, PONIES!" she shouted, loud enough to shake the foundation of the town hall.

Impressive.

The ruckus stopped immediately. She continued:

"We are Luna, Princess of the Night, and we tell you to calm down!
This warrior at our side is not an enemy of us ponies, quite the opposite: He is the arch-enemy of the creature that attacked you and he is fighting for us and for Equestria!"

Now, most of the ponies slowly came closer, muttering things like:

"That's Princess Luna!" and
"He is on our side?",

until a white pegasus mare with a two-toned blue and black mane finally said:

"Well, he certainly looks different from the other one. He is blue and gold."

Antonius knelt down and asked her:

"What is your name, pony?"

"Gentle Breeze," the mare told him.

"Tell me, how did the other one look like?" he asked.

Gentle Breeze cringed, then she told him:

"His armor looked similar to yours, but it was mostly red, with dark rims. On one shoulder, there was an eight-pointed star, on the other shoulder was something like a... screaming minotaur head."

Antonius took a deep breath and turned to Luna:

"Word Bearers! The Emperor-damned Word Bearers!"

He turned back to the pony:

"You said 'the other one'. Singular. How many of them attacked you? Just one?"

"That really was more than enough..."

"Was there anyone else that accompanied him? Perhaps smaller creatures?"

"No, he was alone."

"Was his armor somehow... noticeable... elaborate, or was it more... plain like my armor?"

"Like yours."

"What did he do?"

The pony cringed again.

"He came into our town yesterday morning and told us he was a friend. Then he started talking about four Gods of Chaos.
When we told him that we had heard about Chaos and did not like it, he told us that we were fools. Then, he started killing us. He used a strange box similar to the one you have, a smaller... thing that shot blue fire and a sword."

Antonius nodded.

"Thank you, your information is really invaluable."

He wanted to turn to Luna, but Gentle Breeze said:

"Wait! There's more to come! Four ponies joined him!"

"Subspe.. I mean, pony kind?"

"Two unicorns, a pegasus, an earth-pony."

"Anything else?"

"Yes, they also caught some of us, I can't imagine why."

Well, Antonius could imagine why.

"Again, thank you for your help," he said.

He turned to Luna, but he spoke loud enough that everyone could hear him:

"Now we know the magnitude of the Chaos invasion:
A single Chaos Space Marine.
Word Bearer.
Not a sorcerer, not a champion, just a regular Marine.
Plus four pony cultists.
This is a threat we can definitely handle."

The ponies still looked skeptical, worry written on their faces.

As they went back to the waiting chariot, Antonius told the mayor:

"Keep an eye on them. If one of them shows any sign of corruption, do what must be done."

"Corruption?" the mayor asked.

"Mutation, strange behavior, talking about the - urgh - 'glory' of Chaos. Things like that."

The pony swallowed hard, but nodded.

Luna turned to him:

"Do you think that will be necessary?"

"No, but we shouldn't take any risks."

They boarded the chariots again and took off towards Hope.

"Yesterday morning," Luna told Antonius,
"the morning after we opened the veil. I don't think this is a coincidence."

"Probably not," Antonius answered.

The sun was already low over the horizon as the detachment touched down about half a kilometer away from Hope, seeing the town covered by a dark haze.
The guards left the chariots and lined up. The Element Bearers went to Luna and Antonius, who was checking his weapons.

"So, here we are, hmm?" Twilight asked.

"Here we are," Antonius confirmed,
"are you ready?"

"Yeah, let's blast this Chaos creep!" shouted Rainbow Dash.

"I already told you that you will get your chance, Rainbow. But don't be overly enthusiastic. Stay in formation and be ready to use the Elements of Harmony."

He turned to all of the Element Bearers:

"The same is true for you: Be ready. Once you get the command, do not ask questions. Do not hesitate. Use the Elements immediately. Everything else will cost lives."

"Oh dear..." Fluttershy mumbled.

Luna turned to her:

"I know, you do not like your task today. Nopony truly likes war, but we did not start it, we are just responding to keep our ponies safe.
Just stay together and remember that your friends are at your side."

She came a bit closer to the Bearers and winked:

"And having Antonius with us won't hurt either."

Antonius just wanted to start walking and almost stumbled over Pinkie Pie.

"Pinkie, what are you doing?" he asked her.

"Staying in formation," she answered,
"5.08 centimeters from you."

"Don't you think that is a little close?"

"Oh, right, I totally forgot the scale. That should be about three meters, then."

"Sounds better, but stop goofing around. This is not a game. Get into formation with your friends and be ready."

She looked down at the ground and said quietly:

"You are right. Sorry."

They all started marching towards Hope. Luna and Antonius took the lead, side by side. Behind them were Twilight and her friends. Then came the earth ponies and the unicorns. Above them, the pegasi darted forward and gained altitude to scout the town from high above while the batponies stayed close to the group.

About one hundred meters from Hope, the scouts came back and reported their findings:

"The town seems to be abandoned, but we could see a bonfire at the far end of the market square, near the town hall. We couldn't see much else, as there is some sort of magical field around and above the town that uses the fire's smoke to obscure our vision."

"They protect themselves from our scouts. They're certainly not fools," Luna opined.

"No, they are not. Chaos possesses the most malicious kind of intelligence," Antonius confirmed.

They arrived at the town limits, the haze directly in front of them.
Antonius took a look at the ponies. Luna looked very focused, the others were nervous. Very nervous.
Luna also noticed that and turned to them:

"My fellow ponies! Our enemy is inside this town, hiding in the shadows.
We will march in there and force him to show himself!
We will make him regret the day he decided to come to this planet and threaten us!
We will make him regret the day he decided to leave the path of righteousness!"

Oh, Luna also took the history of the Imperium into consideration? Antonius felt honored.

"Let me go in first," he recommended,
"let me be your bulwark against Chaos, your guide towards victory!"

"Yes," she answered,
"it is your arch-enemy. You know this villain best. We will be directly behind you."

The ponies looked more confident now, Luna's little speech had boosted their morale considerably.

Antonius was the first to enter the town, bolter at the ready.
The haze was like a dome; the town itself was rather dark, but free from smoke, allowing him and the ponies to see without much of a problem.

What they saw was a carnage.
Dead ponies were lying on the roads, shredded by bolts, their blood used to paint marks of Chaos onto the walls of the houses. Others showed plasma wounds.

"Unnamable..." Luna muttered, her confidence faltering more than just a little bit.

The other ponies were incredibly pale, their steps uneasy. Antonius knew they were afraid, he could almost feel their fear.

"Remember," he told them,
"we are doing this so that no other town will have to suffer the same fate. Just keep to the plan and know no fear."

Luna nodded and the batponies vanished into the side roads while the others kept advancing on the main road. The ponies tried to avoid the spots of wet and dried blood whenever they could and stayed clear of the corpses.
Their morale was low. It was completely broken when they encountered the first dead fillies, ripped apart by mass-reactives. Using bolts against creatures of that size was a complete overkill, leaving almost nothing of them over.

Some ponies started crying, others threw up. Antonius took a look at Luna, who was on the edge of tears herself, then he looked at the other ponies. They were definitely not in the condition to fight.
Twilight and her friends were shaking with fear. Fluttershy was on the ground, crying, but she still crawled forward to stay in formation with her friends. Antonius had to admit, this was indeed bravery: Despite her terrible fear, she moved on.
Now Applejack noticed her condition, went over to her and picked her up. She tried to give Antonius a small smile, but failed miserably. She carried Fluttershy to her friends, and they huddled up close.

All told, the detachment was not a detachment anymore, it was a mess.
Antonius thought about their plan, and he realized: It wouldn't work.
Just as he wanted to turn to Luna, she turned to him and said:

"Antonius, our plan..."

"Won't work," he finished.

"None of us is used to that kind of gruesomeness, even I can barely stand this."

That was the problem with living in a sort of fairytale-world: Everything was fun and games, until reality paid a visit.

Antonius pondered what to do.

"I suggest sending the Element Bearers and every guard whose moral is broken back to the chariots.
They should bring the vehicles closer to the town for fast evacuation, one-hundred meters should be fine. Furthermore, the guards should be ordered to protect the Element Bearers no matter the cost."

Luna agreed and called her Night Guard. They were not better off than the other ponies.
Twilight and her friends walked over to Antonius and Luna.

"You are sending us away?" Twilight asked.

"I think this is a marvelous idea!" Rarity opined, close to panic.

"But we have to help you against the Chaos Space Marine!" Twilight remarked.

"In your current condition you are of little use here. Go back to the chariots and regain your composure. If anything hostile or unknown comes out of this town, blast it!" Antonius told her.

"Umm..." Rainbow Dash murmured,
"shouldn't I stay at least? Element of loyalty and so on?"

She was just as shaking with fear as her friends, so he told her:

"No, you six stay together. Now go!"

The Element Bearers and most of the guards left to fetch the chariots.
Now, the 'detachment' consisted of Luna, Antonius, Moonlight, Blackwing, six batponies who did not have the heart to leave their princess, three earth ponies, two unicorns and two pegasi. From 48 down to 17 without a fight.
Damn.

"We are still enough for this task!" Moonlight said with determination.

She had obviously guessed some of Antonius thoughts.

"We are," he answered,
"I have to say, you don't seem to be as frightened as the others, Moonlight."

"So it seems, huh? The truth is, I am as afraid as anypony else, but I am also angry. I have never been that angry before. That covers it. I hate this Chaos Space Marine, and everything he has done to those ponies."

A little smile crept onto Antonius' features, hidden by his helmet. He nodded.

"Good. Cherish your hatred. Use it. Direct it against your enemy. Let it burn with the intensity of a sun, for it is your most potent weapon."

Moonlight nodded, the other ponies looked a bit bewildered. They would soon see the worth of this teaching of Chaplain Cassius.

At Luna's command, the batponies disappeared into the side roads again. The others advanced along the main road.

"About the fast evacuation... Do you think that will be necessary?" Luna asked.

"No," Antonius told her,
"we will leave this town either victorious or not at all. There will be no retreat. But it will keep them busy and make them feel less useless."

They arrived at the market square without contact with their enemy and stopped behind the last house. As the main road was a tangent of the market place, this house provided good cover.
They could hear strange chanting, chanting Antonius was all too familiar with.

"Chaos cultists," he whispered and peeked around the corner.

There was the bonfire the scouts had seen.
Around it, four ponies were sitting and chanting, eyes closed and nodding with their heads. They had cut marks of Chaos into their flanks, directly into their cutie-marks.
Around them was a circle of eight impaled ponies, forming an eight-pointed star.

Those damned cultists were trying to open a Warp portal, probably to summon a daemon! Fortunately, without any success, at least until now. Antonius would not wait until they achieved their goal.

He noticed Luna's head below to his own and waved her back into cover.

"Antonius," she said,
"I'm fed up with sneaking through one of our own towns! I want to go out there and challenge them!"

Antonius nodded.

"Then we will do that."

He stepped out onto the market, Luna at his side, the ponies behind them. Moonlight's head peeked out of a side road about halfway down the market, and he signalized her to advance a bit further and then wait for the command to attack. She nodded and her head vanished again. He had to admit, she had learned the basic terms of Astartes sign-language pretty quickly.

Once they were in the middle of the market, still unspotted by the cultist-ponies, he exchanged a glance with Luna, then he shouted:

"Princess Luna of Equestria has come and demands that you atone for the atrocities against ponykind you have committed!"

The cultists stopped their chanting, stood up and slowly came closer.
One of the unicorns, a mare, started laughing manically:

"Atrocities? We?
The true atrocities were committed by this so-called princesses! Pretending to be almost divine creatures!
There are only four gods in the universe, as our master has told us; the four gods of Chaos!
Join us! Let go of your foolish faith and see the truth about everything!"

Yes, definitely corrupted by a Word Bearer. Such nonsense was typical for them.

Now Luna began to speak:

"Ponies, you have been influenced by powers darker than anypony had been able to imagine.
You sit here, in a circle of dead ponies and think your actions to be justified? You have committed crimes beyond salvation and we won't let this go unpunished."

"You are nothing compared to Chaos! Now die, false goddess!"

The cultists started running towards Luna. The princess's horn flashed, and the batponies shot out of the side roads onto the market, led by Moonlight.
Antonius saw that she had taken his advice very seriously; extended blades, bared fangs, high speed. She darted into melee and stabbed the leading unicorn mare who had dared to threaten her princess right through the heart, shouting:

"For Equestria!"

The second unicorn, a stallion, was killed by Blackwind with a headshot from his crossbow.

Luna fired a beam of magic at the cultist-pegasus, who was dead even before hitting the ground.

Only the earth pony was left now and Antonius took care of it. A punch broke the cultist's skull and neck and vaulted the dead body back to the other corpses, ending this fight.

"Rally at my position!" Luna shouted, and the ponies hurried to her.

Then, she continued:

"Ponies, this is not over yet!
The main culprit is still out there! Search the town! If you find him, do NOT engage him! Come back at once and report your findings to me and Antonius!
Moonlight, Blackwing, you two stay here and prepare to fight the Chaos Space Marine."

The ponies spread out and vanished into the roads. Now that the cultist-unicorns were dead, the magical field was gone and the smoke could escape, allowing a little more light to reach the town.

Moonlight turned to Antonius and asked:

"What is the best way to fight this Chaos Space Marine? I guess he is armored like you, so our blades and crossbow-bolts won't be very effective."

"Astartes armor is formidable, but not without weak spots. Aim for the joints and the eye-lenses."

Antonius knew he had just told xenos the weaknesses of power armor. Under normal circumstances, this was treason. Here, it was necessary.
Moonlight nodded. A few seconds later, she muttered:

"I hate waiting."

"Me too, Moonlight," Luna told her,
"but it is necessary. We're in the middle of town now. If we join the search and our enemy is found at the further end of the town, it will take us longer to get to him. This here is the spot that gives us the best overall reaction time."

Moonlight nodded again. A few seconds later, however, she asked Antonius:

"Do you have a battle cry? Something like our 'For Equestria'?"

"Courage and honor," Antonius answered.

"Oh, that's..."

She was interrupted by the noise of a plasma discharge and the death scream of a pony.
They spun around and dashed into the direction the sound had come from. Finally, the Chaos Space Marine had been found. Antonius could hardly wait to kill the traitor.

As they approached the corner of a house, an earth pony guard came into view, running for dear life, screaming in panic. It was of no use. A plasma bolt hit his abdomen and sent what was left of him flying against a wall.
The group stopped and Antonius aligned his bolter. As soon as the traitor showed up, he would be ripped apart by bolts!

Now, something appeared around the corner of the house. Antonius could barely prevent himself from pulling the trigger. It was a little grey pegasus filly with an orange mane and tail, held at shoulder height by a red gauntleted hand. Luna and the batponies gasped.
Then, the Chaos Space Marine stepped around the corner, limping, always holding the crying filly in front of him.

"Be careful, Ultramarine, you might hit me," he said.

That damned bastard had taken a hostage!

"Lorgar must be very proud of you", Antonius responded,
"you have enough courage to threaten an infant."

"Oh, it's quite effective," the word Bearer opined, shaking the filly a bit,
"you like 'effective', don't you?"

"Put her down and we will settle this within our kin."

"First, you will listen to me."

"Save your breath, I'm not going to brownnose some daemons."

"You mean join Chaos? Oh no, I know, a honorable Ultramarine wouldn't see the truth if it bit him. But that's not what I wanted to talk about.
But first, be so kind to take down your bolter. You won't need it. Or do you want to take the risk and hurt this little creature?"

Antonius knew the filly could be considered 'acceptable collateral damage', but he did not like this thought. Seeing an innocent creature just as collateral damage was against his conviction. But putting away his bolter without some preparations would be stupid.

"Throw away your weapons and we will see."

To his surprise, the Word Bearer really threw away his bolter and his plasma pistol. Antonius put his bolter to his hip.

"Sword?" he asked.

"I am just cooperative, not stupid. But it's better that way, isn't it?
Now, see, my master knew something unusual had happened when our cruiser had been destroyed. So, he sent out his warriors to find out what it was. I was sent through the Warp to this region of space, but I could not find anything, until suddenly... something appeared. I cut the fabric of reality with my sword and going through this gate, I found this planet."

Damned. A daemonic sword. This 'something' the bastard had seen was probably the breaking of the veil.

The traitor continued:

"I dropped out of the Warp high above the surface. My connection to the Warp was severed and I made a hard landing.
At first I thought this might be an elaborate trap by you imperial lapdogs, but I soon realized that this was far beyond your intelligence. Now I know that the both of us have the same problem. We are stuck here, on this planet of pathetic aliens."

Quite talkative, this Word Bearer. Was he telling the truth? Did this planet have some kind of Warp protection? That would explain why the ponies could use magic without suffering the dangerous consequences...
The Word Bearer continued:

"Now, here comes my offer: Help me open a Warp portal so that I can return home, and I will take you with me, away from this cursed planet, and back to your beloved Ultramar. You won't need to join Chaos, just take care of your own business. How does that sound?"

Antonius had longed for a chance to get back to Ultramar, but this was definitely not the chance he was looking for. Another thought crossed his mind.

"And while I 'take care of my own business' in Ultramar, you will take care of the ponies, right?"

"Probably. Don't tell me you care about them. Hmm... Okay, if you want, take one of them, perhaps the bigger dark blue one at your side, with you as a pet, or as whatever you want to use this creature for."

Luna snorted angrily:

"We are not a pet, nor anything else that can be 'used', villain!"

The Word Bearer laughed.

"Oh, you will be. A pet, a slave, a toy, a corpse. Or perhaps you prefer to join us? We will discuss this later. Now be quiet and let the grownups talk."

Luna made a step forward, but stopped when the Chaos Space Marine shook the filly again.

"Now, what do you say, Ultramarine? Help me! A few more sacrifices and I will be able to open a portal and get you back to Ultramar. Then, you can do your duty again instead of getting bored by those creatures."

Antonius was not tempted. Not the least bit.
Of course he did not trust this Word Bearer, but there was something else: He would not let the ponies suffer the horrors of Chaos. Even the Elements of Harmony were irrelevant when he made his decision.

There still was a problem, though: The filly. He had to make the traitor drop her, but how?
Suddenly, someone behind the Word Bearer shouted

"Courage and honor!"

Moonlight?

The traitor spun around, dropping the filly and whipping out his sword. Before the little mare hit the ground, she was teleported by Luna onto her back and immediately covered by her wings. The filly was safe now.

Antonius was amazed by Moonlight's trick: Now he could finally deal with the traitor.
Unfortunately, she was not content with just fooling him. She made an actual attack run!
Bad idea. Very bad idea. Like a bad idea having a bad idea.

Moonlight aimed for his neck joint, but her strike was easily deflected. As a response, the Chaos Space Marine's sword shot towards Moonlight. She tried to get away and gain altitude, but she was too slow.
The blade entered her belly and left again between her hind legs, slashing open her stomach. She screamed and dropped towards the ground. Luckily, she had enough momentum to gain some distance to her enemy before she crashed.

"Moonlight!" Blackwing screamed in horror and dashed towards her.

He would have been the next victim of the Word Bearer, but now, Antonius attacked.
The roar of his chainsword filled the air, yet it was drowned out by his angry

"Courage and honor!"

He would not waste a bolt on this bastard. He would rip him apart in melee.

Luna was mad with anger as she saw Moonlight getting slashed.
Antonius now engaged the Word Bearer in close combat, and she wished she could do the same, but that would risk the life of the filly on her back, and there was Moonlight, too!

What should she do? Endanger the filly and abandon Moonlight or abandon Antonius?
She realized she could only make a wrong decision, she just had to pick the least wrong one. Well, Antonius certainly could take care of himself, but Moonlight needed her help. So, while Antonius' and his enemy's swords collided, she hurried over to her.
Moonlight was lying on her back, still alive, but bleeding heavily. Blackwing was desperately trying to keep the wound shut and stop the bleeding, although with little success.

Luna's horn flared up as she used her healing magic on Moonlight. It worked to a certain degree, but was not as effective as she was used it to be. She took a closer look at the wound. The tissue that had been severed looked grey. Some kind of evil magic, probably. Luna intensified her efforts, although it was hard to concentrate with the sounds of battle nearby. She risked a look at the fight.

There they were, two titans, fighting to the death. Antonius' chainsword came down on his enemy, whose sword came up to block the strike. At the last moment, Antonius twisted his sword so that its teeth did not have to take the force of the impact. There was obviously more to fighting with a chainsword than just to strike your opponent...

Luna quickly turned back to Moonlight. She wished she could at least watch the fight, but she needed all of her attention to help the injured batpony. While she was busy pouring healing magic into Moonlight's wound and directing it to stop the bleeing, she felt the filly on her back stirring. The little pony had shoved the feathers of Luna's wings aside and was watching the battle.

"Don't look at that, little filly," Luna told her,
"you have seen more than enough violence today."

The filly didn't listen and kept watching, and Luna did not have the time nor the spare magic to stop her.

"Fine. Than at least tell me as soon as Antonius - the blue one - gets in danger."

Antonius was fighting with all the determination and righteous fury expected of an Ultramarine.
He had not landed a critical hit yet, but neither had his enemy. In fact, the Word Bearer was mostly in the defense, blocking blow after blow and only rarely attacking.
Why this lack of offensive?

Well, without his connection to the warp, the Chaos Space Marine was weakened, so he stuck to defending himself and waited for his chance to stab his sword into Antonius.
A cruel sword, as Antonius noticed. The blade had a reddish hue and it looked as if wet with blood.
Really a daemonic sword. That also meant that Moonlight's wound was even deadlier than it already had seemed to be.
Antonius had to bring this fight to an end as soon as possible. The chainsword steadily consumed fuel. Without a chance to refuel, it would become useless in the long run.

Unfortunately, the Word Bearer's defense was really good, but perhaps he could make the traitor angry and careless...
He slowed down his attacks a bit, and his enemy took the bait.

"Already tired, Ultramarine? These few days with those ponies have already made you weak!"

"The only thing tiring here is you fighting style! Do you want to bore me to death? Well, I guess it is at least better than your usual MO, babbling your opponents to death!"

"Babbling? Your death will be much more painful than that! I will cut you to pieces!"

"You will certainly try. But it is you who will taste death and defeat!"

"Hah! You will never defeat me! And even if you would, my master and his companions are still out there! More than two dozen Word Bearers and more than thrice as many cultists! What do you think you can do against them, huh? Nothing!
You can only die, Ultramarine, die a useless death, forgotten by everyone, and Chaos will be triumphant!
We will bath in the blood of these pathetic ponies! We will..."

"Babble! " Antonius interrupted him.

"You insolent...!"

The Word Bearer attacked fiercely, trying to stab Antonius.
Just as ordered.
Antonius deflected the strike and a left backhand hit the Chaos Space Marine's helmet, tilting it to the side and exposing the neck joint.
Bingo.

Now, Antonius quickly stabbed the roaring chainsword into this weak spot.
Sparks were flying as the weapon cut into the joint, as well as a tooth of the sword, but that was an acceptable sacrifice for killing one of those cursed traitors.
The sparks were replaced by a fountain of blood as the sword dug into the Word Bearer and started eviscerating him. The traitor struck against Antonius, but only hit his pauldron, doing no damage except a little notch.
The chainsword went deeper and deeper into the Chaos Space Marine who screamed in pain and anger. He tried to push Antonius' arm upward, but the loyalist, powered by his hate and anger, was too strong for his attempts to succeed.
His resistance faltered and his screaming became a gurgling as his lungs were ripped apart. He fell down to his knees.
Antonius twisted his chainsword and guided it through his enemy's body. When the Word Bearer's arms became limp, he ripped it out again.
The traitor fell on his back, finally dead.

Antonius' armor was drenched in blood, as was the ground around them. Getting rid of this filth had to wait, though.
He put the chainsword to his hip and ran over to Luna and the other ponies. To his surprise, Moonlight was still alive, eyes closed, her facial features distorted in agony. Another surprise was the little filly on Luna's back, who had obviously watched him fighting the Word Bearer. She just looked at him with big eyes, but did not say a word.

Now, Luna noticed his presence and said:

"It is looking grim. We have to take her to a hospital at once."

It really looked grim, but Luna had been able to stop most of the bleeding.

"Can we move her?" Batwing asked worriedly.

"If we don't, she will die. Fly to the chariots and get one!"

Blackwing started immediately and darted out of town.

"I have never seen a wound like this," Luna stated,
"what wicked kind of weapon was this?"

"Some kind of daemonic sword," Antonius explained,
"tell me if I can help you."

"Thanks, but no, you can't help me."

A moment later, Blackwing came back, and he was not alone. Twilight and her friends, as well as the guards, were running towards them, followed by the chariots.

"They were already on their way," Blackwing explained.

Well, better late than never.

"Here we are!" Twilight shouted,
"we heard your sword and knew we couldn't let you down. Then there as a scream... is it already over?"

"Yes, it is," Antonius told her,
"now, we have to get Moonlight to a hospital."

"The next one is in Coltport."

"Okay, get Moonlight onto the fastest chariot. Luna and Blackwing will take care of her during the flight. You and your friends take care of the filly we rescued. Board another chariot and follow. I will take the guards and search the town for survivors or more cultists."

"No, you must come with us," Luna said.

"I am too heavy, I would slow you down," Antonius objected.

"Not that much, but you are the only one with experience with that kind of wounds. Your knowledge might be vital."

"Hmm. Reasonable. I just need a second."

While Luna was issuing orders to the guards and Fluttershy placed the filly onto her back, he quickly picked up the dead Word Bearer's weapons and put the bolter and the sword down next to the corpse. Then, he checked the plasma pistol. Still a few shots left. Good.

Antonius shouted

"Clear the area!",

set the weapon to overload and stuffed it into the chainsword-wound. He would not let a single remnant of this creature remain here.

The guards were quickly leaving the market square as he dashed over to Moonlight's chariot and jumped onboard, shouting

"Start!"

The chariot took off and headed towards Coltport, followed by another one carrying Twilight and her friends.
When they had just cleared the town, the plasma pistol detonated and its super-heated gases disintegrated the remnants of the Word Bearer. The explosion made Moonlight open her eyes again. She looked at Luna, asking weakly:

"We have won, haven't we?"

"Yes, we have," Luna answered, still using her magic to keep Moonlight alive.

"Awesome..."

Now, Moonlight turned to Backwing:

"Blacky?"

"Yes, my dear?" he answered, holding her hoof.

"Princess Luna is here, Antonius is here, you are here, but I won't be here much longer..."

"Don't say that!"

"Blacky, let us antedate our marriage... let me die as your mare..."

"Hey, don‘t be so melodramatic. And don't dare to die!"

"I'll do my best..."

And so Antonius witnessed a short and improvised pony wedding ceremony, hastily officiated by Luna. It was a rather... strange ending for a mission against Chaos, or for any mission of an Astartes at all.

Ponies - they were not like him, not Astartes. For him, being killed on duty was a noble end, an end you could be proud of. He did not need to worry about a partner he would leave behind.
Thankfully the Emperor - in his wisdom - had spared his Space Marines from that kind of problems. No longing for starting a family, no longing for a partner relationship. They did their duty until they were killed, even beyond that if they were both worthy and lucky enough.
For these two batponies, death ruined their plans for a common future.

Well, Moonlight was not dead yet; perhaps she had a chance to survive, but that depended largely on Luna's abilities. There was still hope.
Hope.
The first step on the road to disappointment.

The sun set and the chariots sped towards Coltport, trying to beat time itself in a race to save Moonlight's life.

16. Aftermath

The chariots made a landing directly in front of the hospital of Coltport. Antonius immediately grabbed Moonlight and rushed into the hospital, Luna and Blackwing at his sides.

The mare at the admittance desk almost had a heart attack and stammered:

"Why, Princess Luna! And..."

"We need a doctor! Post-haste!" Luna interrupted.

"Of course! Follow me!" the mare shouted and dashed through the next door.

They followed her and met the desired doctor immediately, an elderly blue stallion.

"Oh, hello, I'm Doctor Rapid Cure. How can I help... Good gracious! What happened?" he asked.

"Batpony, wounded by a daemonic blade," Antonius explained,
"severe internal injuries, efficiency of healing magic reduced."

Rapid Cure took a quick look at Moonlight, then he told two waiting nurses:

"Prepare the surgery, make haste! And I will need a second surgeon!"

As the nurses rushed off and the group made its way to the surgery, he asked Antonius:

"You told me it was a 'daemonic blade'. I have seen a lot of peculiar things, but that is new to me. I'm a doctor, not a mystic, after all. Do you have any experience with this?"

"You must excise the grey tissue. It is better to take out some healthy tissue than to miss even a single tainted cell."

"Anything else?"

"I'm a tactical Marine, not an Apothecarius. Thus, my knowledge is limited."

"Okay, we will do our very best."

They entered the surgery and Antonius put Moonlight onto the operating table.
The second doctor, a younger mare, came in now and hesitated a second as she saw Antonius, Luna and Blackwing.

"No time to stand around! Come here and help me!" the elderly doctor shouted while other members of their team were preparing blood and different infusions.

The mare immediately ran over to him and together, they started to operate on Moonlight.

"Umm... giant, batpony?" Rapid Cure asked.

"Antonius and Blackwing," Antonius told him.

"Okay, Antonius, Blackwing, please leave now. You can't do anything here and are just distracting us. Princess, we still need your healing magic for a while."

Blackwing wanted to protest, but Antonius just grabbed him and dragged him out of the surgery. When it came to medicine, no Space Marine would ever challenge an Apothecarius - even if he was just a pony doctor.
Going back to the waiting room, they found Twilight and her friends, as well as the pegasi who had pulled the chariots. Fluttershy was just handing - or hoofing? - the rescued filly over to another nurse to examine her and take care of her.

Antonius and Blackwing updated the six mares and the guards on the current situation, then they waited.
The Space Marine used the spare time to clean his armor again, finding an even smaller bathroom than Twilight's.

After almost an hour, Luna entered the waiting room. She looked completely exhausted and told them:

"They are still operating on her. It is still uncertain if she survives, but it looks a bit less grim now."

Having said this, she slumped into one of the chairs and sighed.
The tension in the room was almost palpable. It reached its climax when Rapid Cure came through the door. The ponies jumped to their hooves, anxious to hear how Moonlight's condition might be.

"AND?" Blackwing shouted.

The doctor took a deep breath and nodded.

"Yes, she is alive."

The ponies cheered, but where immediately silenced by a wave of Luna's hoof.

"That certainly is outstanding good news, but your face tells me there is a catch," she said.

Rapid Cure nodded again.

"A lot of tissue was tainted. We had to excise large parts of her intestines. We fear she will never be really pain-free again, but she lives, and that is the main thing."

"Can I see her?" Blackwing asked worriedly.

"No, not now. In a few hours. I suggest you all go to the Coltport Inn and get some sleep. I will send somepony over when you can see her."

Blackwing insisted on staying in the waiting room to be as close to Moonlight as possible. The Guards opted to keep him company, so the others followed the doctor's advice and headed towards the aforementioned hotel.

It was a rather small, rural looking building. Once they entered it, they were immediately greeted by a smiling unicorn mare behind a reception desk:

"Hello and welcome to the Coltport Inn! What can I do for... Princess Luna! It's a honor to have you here in our humble hotel!"

"Thank you, good mare," Luna answered tiredly,
"We need five rooms for the night, next to each other, if possible."

The mare's face fell.

"I'm sorry, Princess, there are only two unoccupied rooms left, but they are next to each other."

Luna sighed.

"That will do."

She turned to Twilight and her friends:

"About the sharing of the rooms: I suggest you take one and Antonius and myself take the other."

The reception mare gasped:

"Oh, Princess, shouldn't you have a room of your own, without..."

She took a skeptical look at Antonius.

"...roommates?"

Luna glared at her.

"If you had five rooms available, that wouldn't be a problem. And do not dare to think little of our friend Antonius Varus! He has proven his worth many times! Now, show us our rooms - and get us something to eat and some water."

"Of course! Of course!"

The mare hurried to get the keys and lead them to the rooms.

"Now, if you excuse me, I'll get you something to eat!" she said and vanished.

The group split up and entered the two rooms. Finding no furniture that could stand his weight, Antonius sat down on the floor again, next to the bed. In fact, considering the sizes of the Space Marine and the room, every spot was more or less 'next to the bed'. He took off his helmet and put it to his belt.
Luna had closed the door and slumped down onto the bed.

"What a day!" she mumbled,
"I never thought I would see that much cruelty, that much madness. Is that really what the galaxy is like?"

"As soon as Chaos is involved, yes."

Luna looked at him for a few seconds, then she said:

"I would like to say 'I hope we have seen the last of them', but I know that this is unrealistic. We will yet have to deal with them. Either the companions of this Word Bearer find us, or we will encounter them when we will finally set out to help mankind."

Antonius just nodded and Luna rolled over onto her back, then she sighed.

"I need to tell my sister what has happened."

She fetched parchment and a pencil from a pocket of her armor belt and quickly wrote a letter. Then, she used her magic and the parchment was disintegrated into a trail of smoke. That seemed to have cost her a considerable part of her remaining power, she looked even more tired now than before.

"I need to get out of that armor," she whispered.

She climbed out of the bed and ignited her horn. The glow, however, immediately vanished again and Luna cringed. Her hair stopped flowing and the 'night sky' vanished, leaving behind a blue mane and tail which followed the rules of gravity.

"Damned. I'm not used to using that much magic."

"Umm... you push around the moon, Luna."

"Yeah, but that is my special talent. Healing-magic is not. I have depleted my reserves."

"Is that also the reason for your changed mane and tail?"

"Yes, it is."

"So, you use magic to 'enhance' your hair?"

"Well, sort of. It is not a spell, though, more like an ability that comes when you've reached a certain level of power. Do you dislike that? Do you want me to keep my hair this way all the time?"

Huh? Had she just asked him which of her hairstyles he preferred?

"Hold on! I did not say that. I was just curious," he quickly clarified.

"Does that mean you also like it when it flows and looks like the night sky?"

"Umm... sure."

"I'm glad to hear that, since my subjects are used to the enhanced mane and tail.
Well, we should get back to the topic. I still need to get out of that armor. Umm... could you please help me?"

Antonius got up and started removing the plates of her armor.

After a while, Luna said glumly:

"I'm sorry if we disappointed you today. You must be used to fighting with more courageous companions."

Antonius smiled:

"I did not expect you to be quadruped Ultramarines."

The term 'Ultra-mare-ines' popped up in his head. Nonsense. He quickly pushed it out of his mind and continued:

"You used to live in peace and are not used to all of this. Yet, I have seen outstanding bravery today. Remember that every pony came back when they heard that we were fighting, and Moonlight was willing to sacrifice her life to save that little filly. Also, you did a good job. Good tactic, good leadership, and you didn't show a notable sign of fear."

"I didn't, did I?" Luna said quietly as Antonius removed the last piece of her armor.

"Truth be told, Antonius, I was horrified. For a short while I even felt the urge to run away when we were walking through those roads."

"But you did not run away. You did not even show the slightest hint at this feeling. As I already told you, it was a good performance."

Luna nodded and gave him a weak smile, then, there was a knock on the door.
She went to open it and found the mare from the reception desk standing in front of the door.

"I'm sorry, Princess, but this is everything I could get," she said apologetically and hovered four small boxes and two bottles into the room.

Luna took one of the boxes and one bottle with her hoof and told her:

"Thank you. Please, deliver one of the three remaining boxes and the last bottle of water to Twilight and her friends, the other two boxes go to the hospital for the guards."

"Yes, Princess."

The mare bowed and left. Luna closed the door again and turned to Antonius. Her face fell as she looked at him, sitting on the floor next to the bed again. She trotted over and sat down on the ground next to him, then she opened the box: donuts.

Antonius took one and wanted to start eating when he noticed Luna's sad face.
What was bothering her?
Before he could ask, she gave him the answer:

"I'm a bad pony."

"Huh? What gave you that idea?"

"Just look at you! You should feast on the most delicious of dishes and sleep in the most comfortable of beds! Yet, here you are, sitting on the ground, with some donuts!
Even yesterday night, when you had the chance to sleep in a bed, I made you stay in my room, sitting on the ground!"

"Luna, I can assure you that I do not depend on beds, nor on feasting. I'm content with normal food - and a few of Pinkie's wraps, now and then. Furthermore, you could not make me do something I don't want to do."

Luna nodded and was silent. Antonius knew that something else was bothering her, but should he just ask what it was, or should he wait until she told him on her own accord? The Codex Astartes did not mention such a situation.
She looked at him and opened her mouth, then she shut it again and looked away.

"What is it, Luna?" he finally asked.

"Can I talk to you?" she responded with a question of her own.

Antonius almost indicated that she was already talking to him, but he grasped that she really needed someone to talk to, so he refrained from stupid jokes and told her:

"Of course."

"I am not sure you will understand," she said slowly.

"Just give it a try."

Now she looked at him.

"I killed a pony," she mumbled,
"I have fought many battles for Equestria and defeated lots of villains. But this was mostly done by banishing them, not by killing them. I am responsible for some dead among our enemies' lines, yet I never killed a pony before. Am I not supposed to protect them?"

Uh-oh. Remorse.

"You did not really have a choice," Antonius assured her.

"Are you sure? Perhaps we could have knocked them out and used the Elements on them later. I did not think about that. I was angry and so I killed one of them."

"They had become Chaos cultists. They had chosen the way that lead to their destruction. Dragging them to the Elements would have cost way too much time. We still had a Word Bearer to deal with. Do not waste your mercy on them."

"Are you sure we did not have a chance to wrench them from the claws of Chaos?"

"Trust me, Luna. It was the only reasonable decision."

She nodded, but she still looked depressed and turned her face down. Well, as her friend, he had to do something about it, hadn't he?
The donut in his hand caught his eye and he had a silly idea. A very silly idea, but it could work. Perhaps now was the time for stupid jokes, after all.

"You know, Luna," he started.

She turned to him again and he continued:

"You ponies do have a natural advantage over humans regarding donuts..."

She looked at him curiously.

"We do?"

"Yep!" he said and put his donut onto her horn,

"integrated holders!"

She looked at the small roll of dough on her horn, then she started laughing.
Mission accomplished.

"Thank you," Luna said and hugged him,
"I really needed a bit of silliness."

"Anytime," Antonius answered and wanted to fetch his donut again.

Luna stopped his hand with her hoof.

"No, on my horn means it's mine!"

They shared another laugh, then, there was a knock at the door.

"Perhaps news about Moonlight!" Luna exclaimed and jumped to her hooves, all signs of weariness gone for now. Even her hair had returned to its 'enhanced' state. Damned, she regenerated pretty fast.

It really was one of the hospital's nurses.

"Princess Luna, sorry if I bother you, but... Huh? Is there a donut on your horn?"

"Ignore that and tell me what you came here for. Is it about Moonlight?"

"No, in fact, it's about the little filly."

Antonius has gotten up in the meantime and was standing next to Luna.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Well, at first, we were able to examine her, but then, she hid under the bed and demanded to see both of you."

"Then, we will go and see her," Luna told the mare and took the donut off her horn.

A few minutes later, the treat was gone - shared between her and Antonius - and they were standing in front of the door to the room the filly was in.

"She's in there," the nurse told them.

"You left her alone?" Luna asked reproachfully.

"She demanded that we do so. She screamed until we all were out."

"What was the result of your examinations?" Antonius asked.

"She has a few bruises, is slightly malnourished and dehydrated. But we are sure the physical injuries are not the main problem; she has probably taken serious emotional damage, but we haven't been able to assess that yet."

"We will go in and see why she wanted to see us. Lock the door behind us."

"What do you expect her to do?" Luna asked worriedly.

"Nothing," Antonius answered,
"but I won't take any risks."

Antonius entered the room, closely followed by Luna. It seemed to be empty, but there was a wadded blanket under the bed. A slightly moving blanket.
They crouched down next to it, and Antonius said

"Here we are,"

one hand on the hilt of his combat knife.
Better safe than sorry. Chaos was a force of corruption, after all.

His alertness was unnecessary. The blanket moved and a small grey head appeared. The little mare looked at them with big eyes.

"Anotius? Princess Luna?"

"Antonius," Antonius rectified,
"you wanted to see us?"

The filly nodded.

"Yes. I... wanted to say thanks... and all..."

"Anytime."

"I also wanted to thank the batpony who got hurt. Is she okay again?"

"She will survive."

Now, there was an awkward pause.

"There is something else, isn't it?" Luna asked compassionately.

"Hmm... I don't like it here. May I come with you?"

"You want to... what?" Antonius asked incredulously.

"It's not safe here. It's safe nowhere, unless with you. You killed this..."

She shivered and fell silent.

"Yes. He won't hurt anyone ever again. No reason to be afraid anymore," Antonius told her.

"But he said there are more like him."

"Not here on this planet."

"But there are more?"

"Well, yes, but far away."

"There ARE more. So, I'm not safe, unless I'm with you."

"Quite logical," Luna smiled,
"we should take her with us, at least for a while."

What? No.

"We cannot just take her with us. We should rather see if we can find her parents among the refugees," Antonius opined.

"My parents are dead," the filly cried,
"he killed them. I had to watch it."

Ouch. Antonius realized that he had obvious deficits in dealing with traumatized children.

"There, there..." Luna said and pulled the filly out of the blanket to hug her,
"you will come with us, and nopony will harm you."

"Will you take care of me, too?" the little filly asked Antonius.

Oh boy, taking care of a filly was not exactly a thing he was keen on, there were many other things to do now. But when he looked into those big, pleading eyes, he knew he couldn't say no. Damnit, his humanity struck again.

"Okay," he said with a sigh,
"Luna and I will take care of you - at least for now."

The filly extended her front legs to hug him, and Luna leaned over so that she could reach him.
Once the little mare had ended the hug - after almost a minute - Antonius asked her:

"What is your name, filly?"

"Stormy Skies," she answered.

Antonius carefully put her on Luna's back and knocked at the door, calling

"Open. Everything is all right."

All right, maybe, but his life had become even weirder than before.

After asking about Moonlight's condition - no news yet - they went back to the hotel. Once in their room, Stormy, seeing the open box of donuts, exclaimed

"Oh, donuts! May I have one?"

"Sure! Help yourself," Luna answered.

Stormy devoured her donut and half the bottle of water and fell asleep soon thereafter.
Luna and Antonius had sat down and shared the rest of the box' content, as well as the rest of the water, then Luna looked at the sleeping Stormy and mumbled:

"This little filly has seen more cruelty than most ponies see in their whole lives. I hope we can help her deal with it."

"I'm a Space Marine, not a psychotherapist," Antonius said,
"I have already accidentally proven that I'm not qualified for this kind of task."

"You are her hero. Please don't take this lightly."

"I'm not taking this lightly, I just know my limits."

Luna raised an eyebrow.

"Don't tell me that waging war is easier than taking care of one little filly."

"For me, it probably is. Generally speaking, it's perhaps not easier, but entirely different."

"I can't do it alone. I need you. She needs you. If you refuse to help her, she will probably end up deeply traumatized in an orphanage."

An orphanage... logically thought, that was the correct place for her, since her parents were dead. It was the same fate human children had to face when they were taken to a Schola Progenium.
But why did he not like the idea? It was more or less 'best practice' in the Imperium. Here, It seemed... suboptimal.

"Are you trying to blackmail me?" he finally asked.

"No. Not at all. I'm just telling you the truth." Luna answered.

Antonius sighed.

"Well, alright. I'll help you help her."

Luna smiled at him.

"Thank you. I knew I could count on you. You're a good pony."

A 'good pony'? A really strange compliment.

"Sorry, neither."

"Come on, you know what I mean."

Yes, he knew it. A little bit of friendliness, a little bit of not-killing-everything-in-sight, and TADA: You suddenly were a 'good pony'.

Antonius was pulled from his thoughts when Stormy started stirring.

"Uh-oh. Nightmare!" Luna sighed, closed her eyes and ignited her horn.

"Oh damned..." she whispered, then she opened her eyes again as Stormy woke up screaming.

Luna levitated her to her neck and nuzzled her.

"It was just a dream, not real. Calm down, Stormy."

It took the crying filly several minutes to do that, then Luna levitated her back onto the bed and curled up around her.
When Stormy was asleep again, Luna whispered:

"I was too late. That was a very powerful nightmare. The only thing I could do was to end it by waking her up. She was in Hope, surrounded by a legion of Chaos Space Marines.
I neglected my duty. I should have watched her dreams right from the start and prevented this. I will not repeat this mistake."

"Perhaps you can take me with you into her dream? I could try to help you."

Wait a second... Wouldn't that turn the dream into some kind of training simulation? At least if Luna could keep it realistic?
That was a crazy idea, but if it worked, it would benefit everyone.

"I wish I could, but I am honestly too exhausted to create a shared dream. You could hold her hoof, though. She will be able to feel that."

Holding the filly's hoof. Well, if he could help them that way...
He took off his left gauntlet and put his hand into the bundle of fur that was Luna and Stormy. The little mare immediately grabbed on to it and sighed contentedly.

Shortly thereafter, Luna had fallen asleep, too, but there was always a faint glow around her horn, which intensified every time Stormy started stirring again. Antonius was sure, this night would not bring much relaxation to Luna. When he heard a quiet knock at the door, he knew he would not fare much better.

"Who is there?" he asked quietly, just loud enough to be heard.

"Ummm... sorry... I did not want to disturb you..."

Fluttershy?

"Come on in!" he said.

The door opened and a yellow head with a pink mane appeared.

"Umm... I hope we..."

"We?"

"Yes," she whispered and came into the room, followed by her friends.

"We could not sleep and thought that maybe we could stay in this room, with you and Princess Luna," Twilight explained a bit awkwardly.

Huh? What was next?

"Can't you... cuddle up or something? You are six ponies, you should be able to support each other," Antonius said.

"We would rather cuddle up to you," Pinkie told him blatantly,
"I have already brought our blanket!"

She held said blanket up high and smiled.

"You are already helping Princess Luna - oh, and also the little filly you rescued - could you please help us, too?" Fluttershy pleaded.

Damned. He definitely had brought that upon himself. He sighed.

"Okay, whatever. But be quiet, Luna and Stormy are sleeping."

Within a few seconds, the blanket was cast on the floor next to him, and the ponies had made themselves comfortable. They said goodnight and were asleep soon.

The only one still awake was Antonius, pinned down to his place by the ponies. He felt the urge to kick himself. He was a teddy bear once again.
He thought about writing a book: 1000 alternative uses for Space Marines, pony edition.
Could become a bestseller here...

When the sun rose - was risen, damnit! - again, Antonius had made another experience:
Ponies did not sleep motionlessly. Not at all.
Twilight and her friends had more or less piled up on him during their sleep, turning him into a bed by burying him under a heap of fluffy, quietly snoring bodies. Well, in Rainbow's case, you could scratch the 'quietly'.

Furthermore, Luna had grabbed on to his hand during the night.
Maybe Stormy hadn't been the only one who needed a little bit of support.

Luna was the first pony to wake up again. She yawned and sleepily looked at him. When she saw the pile of ponies, a smile crept onto her features.

"Do me a favor and do not comment on this," Antonius deadpanned.

"I don't have to. I already told you that you are a good pony. They could not sleep, I guess?"

"Exactly. I allowed them to stay for the night."

"Hmm, they did not have any nightmares. You had a very positive effect on them."

"Like a big, armored teddy bear... By the way, you could release my hand now."

Luna looked down at his hand, blushed a bit and let go of it.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she apologized,
"it must have been a somewhat uncomfortable night for you."

"Believe me, I've had worse."

The next one to wake up was Rarity, who was lying on top of the others. When she realized that she was also lying on Antonius, her eyes went wide and she gave him an apologetic smile. Climbing down to the ground, she woke Twilight and Applejack.

Twilight was lying on her back and awkwardly looked at him. Applejack nudged her and teased:

"A perfect opportunity for test number two, don't you think?"

Twilight blushed deeply and quickly left her 'bed'.
It was actually good to see that the ponies seemed to be back their normal selves again, joking and goofing around. Now, every pony was awake and they got up.
Stormy climbed on Luna's back. Antonius was finally free again and reattached his gauntlet.

At that moment, a scroll appeared over Luna's head. She grabbed it with her magic, unrolled it and started reading.

"A letter from my sister. She asks us to return to Canterlot as soon as possible.
Well, I wanted to return to Hope to reunite witch the guards, but I'm sure Celestia has good reasons for calling us back. Now, let's finish our business here and get going."

First of all, they wanted to go to the hospital and ask about Moonlight's condition. On their way there, they encountered one of the guards who had kept Blackwing company.

"Good morning, Princess Luna," he saluted,
"and good morning, everypony else. You are already on your way? Perfect. I was sent to tell you that you can visit Moonlight now. Blackwing is already with her."

They entered the hospital and were lead to Moonlight's room. Rapid Cure awaited them in front of the door.

"Hello. Blackwing is already inside and two more of you may enter," he told them,
"The others will have to wait in the meantime."

Luna and Antonius wanted to enter the room when Stormy protested:

"Hey, I want to go in there, too, and thank the batpony!"

Rapid Cure smiled:

"Okay, fillies are complimentary."

They entered the room. Moonlight was lying in a hospital bed. Several medical monitors were attached to her.

"Hello, Moonlight," Luna greeted.

Moonlight slowly saluted and said:

"Hello, Princess. Reporting for duty."

She gave Luna and Antonius a smile, but her eyes were wet.

"Okay, Moonlight," Luna said,
"Then hear my order: Get well soon!"

"No problem, Princess, I'm alive and k..."

She contorted her face in pain for a second, then she continued:

"Okay, just alive. No kicking for now."

Luna smiled at her.

"Your deed was outstandingly brave, Moonlight."

"Thank you, Princess. Now, could I please have a honest assessment from Antonius?"

Well, she had definitely not lost her sense of humor.

Now, what should he tell her?
Fooling the Word Bearer had been an outstanding accomplishment, attacking him after alerting him to her presence had been downright suicidal.
Yes, he had told her the weak spots of power armor and that hate was her most potent weapon. He should better have told her that this hate had to be guided by reason all the time, too.
Well, the filly was safe and the traitor was dead. She had been willing to sacrifice her life to achieve that.

"I have to concur," Antonius told her,
"it was brave indeed."

"Braver than it was stupid?"

Antonius smiled at her.

"Definitely. The announced attack was... suboptimal, but because of this, we were able to rescue the filly and defeat the Word Bearer. All told, well done."

Moonlight smiled.

"Thank you. I rate this commendation highly, Antonius."

"Now that we're at it, the filly, Stormy Skies, is here, too."

"Ah, that's your name. Hello, Stormy."

"Hello, Moonlight," Stormy said,
"thank you for saving me."

"Anytime, little one."

Now Moonlight turned to Luna and Antonius:

"Where are the other guards? Are they okay?"

"Yes, they are," Luna told her,
"I ordered them to search the town for any survivors and line up the dead for identification. A team from Canterlot should already be on the way to do that."

"The letter?" Antonius asked.

Luna nodded.

"I'm not sure what to do with the town, though. I thought it might be best to ask the survivors if they want to return to their homes, or if they just want to fetch a few things and we abandon the town completely."

"The town is tainted. I think burning it down might be the best way to go," Antonius opined.

"Perhaps, but I wouldn't be surprised if they wanted to return, after all. We ponies don't give up our homes that easily. Nor our dreams." Blackwing said, then, he nuzzled Moonlight.

After saying goodbye, Antonius, Luna and Stormy left the room. Rapid Cure and the Element Bearers were still waiting outside.

"How long will it take for Moonlight to recover, Doctor?" Luna asked.

"She should be at home again by Hearth's Warming."

"Good to hear, Doctor. Now, we should go to the survivors of Hope and ask them what they want us to do with their town."

The news that the Chaos Space Marine was dead had already spread and the survivors were cheering.
Just as Blackwing had expected, they wanted to return to their town. They even made preparations to leave, so that they could help bury the dead.
Really a resilient species; not very difficult to scare off, but they would come back.

When it was finally time to leave, Blackwing got the permission to stay in Coltport. Luna, Antonius, Stormy, Twilight, her friends and the chariot-pulling pegasi returned to Canterlot.

They knew they had to prepare for the next time they would encounter the Word Bearers.

17. Legacy of the Imperium

When the chariots approached Canterlot, Antonius could see Celestia waiting at the landing platform. As soon as they had made a landing, she came over and hugged Luna, as well as the Element Bearers. Thankfully, Antonius was spared from that.

"I'm glad you are back safe and sound, all of you," Celestia said, then she noticed Stormy, hidden under her sister's wings until now.
"Oh, hello, little filly. Who are you?"

"Stormy Skies, Princess Celestia," Stormy answered humbly.

Celestia looked at Luna, who quietly said:

"Survivor of Hope. Long story."

Celestia nodded.

"Please tell me everything. I know that must be hard for you, but I have to hear it. Come in first, though. Tea is ready and waiting for you."

Tea? Hmm, better than nothing.

Once they were sitting at the tea table, Luna asked:

"Tell me, sister, did you receive the letter I sent?"

"Of course," Celestia answered,
"I sent the team you requested immediately."

"Good, there is still a lot of work to do."

They entered the palace. While servants were pouring out the tea, Celestia collected the Elements of Harmony and locked them into their box.
After the first cup of tea, she wanted to hear the report on the battle and the subsequent occurrences. In the meantime, Fluttershy and Applejack took Stormy for a walk in the gardens. No need to make her go through all of this again. She only agreed, though, as Luna and Antonius told her it was okay.
After they had left, Luna told her sister everything she wanted to know, supported by Antonius.
When they were done, Celestia sat back and stared straightforward. It took her a minute to start talking again:

"A disaster. When just one of those Word Bearers can inflict so much harm upon us, what can more than two dozen of them do?"

"They can wipe you out..." Antonius told her blatantly.

Everyone looked at him now, and he continued:

"... unless you properly prepare for them."

Celestia thought about this a bit, then she nodded.

"You have the most experience when it comes to those Chaos Space Marines. Will you help us prepare?"

"You are not just enemies of Chaos, but also allies of mankind. Of course I will help you."

"Then, what do you suggest?"

"At first, I need to get familiar with your military. Are there more units than the Royal Guard and the Night Guard?"

"You bet there are!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed,
"There are the Wonderbolts, the greatest fliers in all of Equestria!"

"Fliers?" Antonius inquired,
"an airforce? Pegasi or airplanes?"

"Pegasi," Celestia said,
"I will schedule a meeting with them for tomorrow morning if you want."

"Good idea. Any other forces?"

"No. As you know, we are a peaceful society and did not need a large army - until now."

"Hmm, we will have to increase the numbers of those under arms. Furthermore, we need to raise your level of technology. Unfortunately, I can't tell you a lot about how to build advanced weapons and tanks, but I can give you some hints to accelerate development."

Antonius could easily read Celestia's facial expression. She was clearly not fond of the idea of military buildup.
Nevertheless, she nodded again.

"Thank you, Antonius. Your help and expertise will be invaluable."

Shortly afterwards, Fluttershy, Applejack and Stormy came back.
After finishing tea, Celestia turned to Twilight and her friends:

"A room has been prepared for you, my little ponies. If you don't mind, I would like you to stay in Canterlot for a few days. There is much to be done and we will probably require your assistance."

"Of course we will stay as long as you need us, Princess," Twilight told her, confirmed by nods from her friends.

"Thank you. You may retire now. Dinner is already served in your room. I suggest that you take Stormy Skies with you. She certainly needs some rest."

"Are you coming, too?" Stormy asked Antonius and Luna.

"Not immediately," Celestia told her,
"the three of us have something else to discuss. But do not fret, little filly, Twilight and her friends will take good care of you."

After a questioning look from Stormy, Luna said:

"My sister is right, you are in the best hooves. I will join you later."

"Will you come, too?" Stormy asked Antonius.

Hmm... a bit clingy, this little filly. Well, after the recent events, that was not really a surprise. Luna had probably been right, Antonius was her hero. A Space Marine was an alien's hero. Peculiar.

"I will join you as soon as the discussion is over," he promised.

Stormy was content with that and she and the Element Bearers left.

"You wanted to get rid of them?" Antonius bluntly asked Celestia.

She turned to Antonius:

"I'm sorry I had to do this, but something really important has happened. I was not idle while you have been away. You told Luna and me that our mentor Star Swirl the Bearded has probably worked with humans, so I examined his old quarters, library and laboratories.
I found a hint at your Imperium. I guess you want to see it immediately?"

"Your assumption is indeed correct," Antonius answered.

"I will join you," Luna told them.

Celestia led them through the castle. When they passed an iron door, the environment changed instantly. No more brick walls, instead, there was a fairly large cave. On its opposite end, Antonius could see a big, two-winged door with two stars emblazoned on them, one on each wing.
As they approached that door, he asked Celestia:

"Why did you not want Twilight and her friends to see this?"

"I do not want to endanger them," Celestia answered curtly.

Endanger? What the hell had she found?

"Celestia, according to the stories I was told, you sent them to defeat a possessed alicorn - no offense - and a Chaos daemon. Now you tell me that you have found something more dangerous than that?"

Celestia stopped and turned around to face him.

"I only send Twilight and her friends when I either can assess the situation or I have no other choice. This time, I can't assess the situation and I have another choice."

"Okay, but why the 'discussion'? Why didn't do just tell her..."

"That we were going into one of Star Swirl's laboratories? Twilight is a huge admirer of Star Swirl..."

"I can confirm this. She even wore a Star Swirl costume for last nightmare night," Luna interrupted.

"Yes," Celestia continued,
"not allowing her to join us would have been a kind of torture for her if she had known where we were going."

They passed the door and continued to walk through cave passageways. After a while, they came into another large cave with dusty laboratory equipment. Celestia ignored those tables and led them to a wall with a giant tapestry.

"There we are," she said.

Antonius looked at the tapestry and the scenes it displayed, but nothing was related to the Imperium.

"Celestia," he said,
"what have you found? I can't see anything of interest here."

"Me neither," Luna added,
"just an old tapestry. Nice color, though."

"It isn't the tapestry," Celestia said,
"it's this!"

She engulfed the tapestry in her magic and hovered it to the side, revealing a giant door.
But not just any door. It was a heavy, plasteel-enforced door - with an imperial aquila emblazoned on it.

"Holy Terra! " Antonius shouted,
"an imperial base? Or an outpost at least. This truly is a magnificent discovery!"

"Could it be the base you are looking for?" Celestia asked.

"Unlikely. This door is imperial architecture, nothing from the Dark Age of Technology. But perhaps there is something behind it. Let's try to get in."

There was a panel next to the door, embedded into the wall. Antonius examined it and found a removable data-slate, wired to the door by an steel cable. It was dusty and had obviously not been used for a long amount of time, but it was undamaged.
He took it and knelt down, so that the princesses could have a look, too.

"Now things get interesting..." he said and pushed the activation rune.
The slate lit up and displayed:

GENETIC AUTHENTICATION REQUIRED.

"Yes! It still works!" Antonius smiled.

"Even after all of these years... It must be about ten millennia old," Luna whispered in awe.

"Imperial technology is very durable," Antonius explained.

"How do we provide a 'genetic authentication'?" Celestia wanted to know.

"With a kiss," Antonius explained.

"What?" she asked bewilderedly.

"It's the common way, since helmet are easier to take off than gauntlets."

"Well, okay, if it has to be..."

Huh? What did she mean by that?
A moment later, Antonius felt something on his cheek; a soft and warm touch.
It took him a second to realize what it was.
It took him another second to understand why it had happened.
Then he facepalmed.

"The slate! You are supposed to kiss the data-slate, NOT ME!"

"Oh, sorry, I..." Celestia stammered and blushed.

The rest of Celestia's sentence was drowned out by Luna's laughter, who could bare keep herself on her hooves.

"It's not that funny, Luna," Celestia said indignantly.

"I can't concur, sister, this is hilarious!" Luna said, still laughing.

"Luna..."

"Okay, calm down, both of you. There is still something to be done, isn't it?" Antonius told the princesses and kissed the slate, which beeped.

GENETIC AUTHENTICATION...
LEGIONES ASTARTES.
ULTRAMARINES.
ACCESS GRANTED.

There were metallic noises inside the wall; locking bolts that were shifting. Then, the door started to slide loudly into the wall.

"Now that is a big door," Luna said.

"Right," Antonius concurred,
"almost two meters of plasteel. Whoever built this was quite serious about it."

Once the door was open, light panels in the ceiling illuminated a hallway that led deeper into the mountain.

"Let's go," Antonius said and entered the imperial base.

Celestia and Luna followed at his side.

They walked along the hallway. It led to a rectangular room where a lot of other hallways also ended - or started.
This base reminded Luna of the Fortress of Hera Antonius had shown her; the same style of architecture, but not quite as sophisticated.

"I never thought something like this might exist here - right beneath our hooves," Celestia said,
"now I finally know why Star Swirl had insisted Canterlot to be built here. He wanted to protect this base from being accidentally discovered."

"By building a city on top of it? A bit... unusual, but it fits him at least," Luna opined.

Antonius took a look around the room and stepped up to some kind of big box at one of the walls.

"What is this?" Luna asked.

"An ancient cogitator," Antonius explained.

"A what?"

"A device to store, process and access information. I hope it still works."

He pushed a button and the picture of a double-headed eagle appeared on a part of the device.

"Works," Antonius stated,
"first, I will try to display some basic information about this base, like a map, then we can have a look at the most interesting sections."

He pushed a few buttons and the map appeared.

"This is fantastic," Luna said.

"It is," Celestia concurred,
"how much information can this 'cogitator' store?"

"Depends on the connected database," Antonius explained,
"a few thousand times the information of Twilight's library, at least."

Celestia inhaled audibly, then she said:

"Well, it is good Twilight is not with us. You wouldn't get her away from that thing."

Now, more information appeared on the device, and Antonius told them:

"The reactor is at 40%, but stable. What else... Ah, this base was established 989M30."

"Three years prior to my birth," Celestia whispered.

"And fifteen years prior to mine," Luna added.

Antonius pushed more buttons and labels appeared above the displayed rooms.

"Oh, this is interesting..." he mumbled.

"What is it?" Luna asked.

"The armorium has an attached hangar. This base must stretch out to the side of the mountain... Yes, it does."

The picture changed again and now showed the mountain, too. Canterlot was of course missing, but its location was easy to determine.

"This hangar is directly beneath Canterlot," Celestia said,
"I will order the guards to look for it. It must be well hidden, otherwise we would already have stumbled upon it."

"Probably," Antonius opined,
"let's go there first. Perhaps we can find something useful. When we're done there, we should have a look at the radio room and the Inner Sanctum. Could be interesting."

All told, the base was in a remarkable good condition. All hallways were negotiable, no cave-ins or other obstacles. When the Imperium built something, it was obviously for eternity.

It took them just a few minutes to arrive at the armorium. It was a giant hall with smelters, forges and workbenches.

"Forges? Inside a mountain?" Celestia asked.

"No problem," Antonius explained and pointed upward,
"there are ventilation shafts in the ceiling."

He quickly examined the room and came back with two small boxes.

"This is everything I could find here," he told the princesses and opened the boxes,
"replacement-teeth for chainswords with a fitting tool kit and an armor repair kit. Not bad, very convenient in fact, but I would have preferred a heavy bolter or similar weaponry. Well, we are not done yet."

Antonius attached the boxes to his belt and led them to a big door at the opposite end of the armorium.

"The hangar," he said,
"let's see if there's something in there."

The door opened and Luna opined as she looked into the hangar:

"Well, that definitely is 'something'."

There were two strange contraptions. The first looked vaguely like a cart without wheels, the second like some sort of overweight metal bird.

"You can say that again," Antonius mumbled and entered the room,
"a Land Speeder MkI and a Stormbird. These vehicles fit the time this base was established. Nowadays, they are revered relics from the time before the Heresy.
They look a bit unusual, though... They are bigger than normal, and lack any chapter or legion insignia. They don't even have a color scheme, it's just bare metal."

He walked over to the 'Land Speeder' and examined it.

"One seat is standard Space Marine size, the other is for someone bigger."

"Someone bigger?" Luna asked,
"Antonius, when I think about your Imperium and someone bigger than a Space Marine, our excursion to the Temple of Correction comes to my mind."

Antonius stared at her, then he slowly said:

"You are thinking of... a Primarch? Here? Hmm... Until I have any kind of proof, I will assume it was just a rather big Space Marine...
for whom they have especially built a Land Speeder and a Stormbird...
Umm...
Luna, you are probably right. I wanted to have another look at the cogitator, anyway. Perhaps I can find some logs or mission data with a hint at our big friend here.
But first things first. I have to look for anything useful here."

"Can we help you?" Celestia asked as Antonius started to examine both vehicles.

"You can search the hangar for anything that looks like a weapon - or anything portable at all."

A few minutes later, they met again at the door they had come through.

"Any luck?" Celestia asked.

"No", said Luna.

"Me neither. What about you, Antonius?"

"The Speeder is not armed, but in good condition. As a former member of the 7th, I have quite a bit of experience with this kind of vehicle. I think I can get it running again - if we can fuel it. The necessary tools are available. The Stormbird also seems to be in good condition, but it is a piece of technology that goes over my head.
Good news, though: It is armed with four heavy bolters. That's much less than normal, but still.
Bad news: No ammunition. Even if I removed them from the dropship, we would not be able to use them."

"So, we need fuel and ammunition to make use of this equipment," Celestia concluded,
"that will probably be a problem. Your technology is too advanced for us, but we will do your best."

"I should talk to... well, who should I talk to about this? Do you have weapon smiths or chemists?"

"We do have weapon smiths - for swords and crossbows. That won't work...
I'll do it myself, with Twilight's help. Together, we should be able come up with something."

"Oh, great," Luna deadpanned,
"that means I will be useless because I'm just a plebeian, hmm?"

"Not at all," Antonius told her,
"I will need your help to train soldiers. Now, we should open the hangar door and have a look at where exactly we are."

He took a look around and walked over to a kind of desk where he pushed some buttons. First, there were metallic noises, then, the giant door started to open and revealed a wall of rocks, held together by various plants.

"Well, that explains why we haven't found the door up to this day," Celestia said,
"come on, Luna, we will try to get rid of the rocks."

The princesses stepped forward and their horns started to glow. They encased the rocks in their magic and hovered them out onto a small plateau right beneath the hangar door where they set them down.

Now all three of them were standing in the newly created opening and looked around.
To their right, they could see the lower anchor that braced Canterlot to the mountain. To their left, a few kilometers away down in the grassy plains, was Ponyville.

"Okay. Task one, hangar, completed. Let's go to the radio room," Antonius said and turned around. When walking past the desk he had used before, he pushed another button and the hangar door closed again.

"Not a huge fan of fresh air, are you?" Luna asked with a smile.

"Not a huge fan of leaving open doors to imperial bases unguarded," Antonius replied.

Shortly thereafter, they entered the radio room. It was stuffed to the brim with various devices.
Some of them looked like the cogitator, some like the desk in the hangar, some like a mixture of both.
There also was a table with small gadgets in holders on it that caught Antonius interest.

"Four portable voxes, an auspex and a portable data-slate. They will prove to be valuable if they still work."

He took the 'auspex' and tested its functions. Obviously satisfied, he attached it to his belt and continued with the 'voxes'.

"Antonius, what are those gadgets for?" Celestia asked after a while.

"Auspexes are scanners, voxes are communication devices, data-slates are a small and portable version of a cogitator" Antonius answered and handed her and Luna one vox each, he put the other two to his belt.

"I think Twilight should get the third vox, the fourth should be given to Applejack, as Sweet Apple Acres is a bit remote," he added.

"Don't you need the fourth?"

"My armor has an integrated vox. I have picked, stored and labeled frequencies for each of them. Just pick the desired receiver, push the button and talk."

"Oh, that's marvelous!" Luna rejoiced and got busy with the vox,
"Celestia, can you hear me?"

"Luna, I'm standing right beside you. But this vox works anyway."

"And even faster than our letters!"

"Maybe, I still prefer the written word, though, as that way, a conversation can be archived."

"Oh, don't be so old-fashioned, sister," smiled Luna.

"Thou art a fine one to talk," Celestia replied, also smiling.

"So far, so good," Antonius, not quite getting this insider-joke, said a bit bewilderedly,
"I'm going to enable the vox- and datanet."

He did so, then he took the data-slate, tested its function and put it to his belt, too, which started to look a bit packed.

"Now, let us have a look at the Inner Sanctum," he finally said.

A short walk later, they were standing in front of another reinforced door, again with a data-slate next to it. Antonius took the slate and kissed it. This slate also beeped, but it sounded different.

"Access denied," Antonius stated.

"You are not allowed to enter?" Luna asked.

"No," Antonius answered curly.

He was obviously quite displeased by this setback.

"May I try?"

"You, Luna?"

"Can't hurt, can it?"

"Probably not."

He offered Luna the data-slate. She kissed it and they watched the device:

GENETIC AUTHENTICATION...
PONY.
ALICORN.
ACCESS DENIED.

"Oh, that's interesting. The security system of this base is familiar with your kin," Antonius noted.

"Wanna try your Luck, sister?" Luna asked.

"Why not?" Celestia answered,
"as you said, it can't hurt. And you two should not be the only ones having the fun of kissing dusty old technology."

She kissed the slate and they watched again:

GENETIC AUTHENTICATION...
PONY.
ALICORN.
CELESTIA.
ACCESS DENIED.

Luna and Antonius stared at her.

"Sister..." Luna said.

"Celestia," Antonius interrupted,
"the system knows your DNA! It even addressed you by name!"

"I... I don't know how..." Celestia stammered.

Antonius glared at her.

"Is this a trick? If it is, stop it immediately and tell me what is going on here!"

"It is not a trick! I have no idea why your base knows me! I swear I had no idea that it even existed until I found the door yesterday!"

"Antonius, she would not have kissed the slate if she kept a secret, don't you think?" Luna aided her sister.

Antonius relaxed again and nodded.

"You are probably right. I just wonder what is behind that door that a Space Marine is not allowed to enter.
Hmm... Perhaps I can find out who is allowed to enter. Let's go back to the cogitator."

Once back at the cogitator, Antonius immediately made use of it. It took a while before he said:

"Aha. The Inner Sanctum is marked as 'top secret', access-permission have... an user whose name was deleted, oh, great... Star Swirl the Bearded, that's someone we know..."

"Star Swirl? So he really worked close with humans..." Celestia wondered.

"... and someone called Starry Heavens, that's a new name...sounds like a pony..."

Luna could not believe it, and judged by her face, her sister could not believe it either. No wonder.
Antonius noticed their flabbergasted expressions and asked:

"What is it? Do you know this 'Starry Heavens?'"

"We do know her... very well..." Celestia slowly said.

"And?"

"She's our mother."

Antonius looked at the two sisters.

"So, your mother and your mentor have a higher security clearance than I have. They must have worked closely with this unknown Marine, this unknown... Primarch... nonono, this is too far-fetched... or isn't it? It would explain the destroyed stories and pictures, the deleted name, the vehicles without insignia..."

"What do you mean?" Luna asked.

"I told you that we only know about 18 of the 20 Primarchs, and we have no information that one of them ever was on this planet. We know nothing about the other two, though. They were deleted from imperial records."

"Deleted? By whom?"

"Unknown, but whoever ordered this must have been extremely high-ranking.
If our unknown Primarch here was really one of THE unknown Primarchs, his legionaries could have gotten the order to delete every hint at him.
We still have no idea why all of this has happened in the first place, though, and we also don't know why he could have been here."

"Mayhaps there is something in this cogitator?"

"I'll have a look."

Antonius worked on the device again, then he said:

"No. All mission logs have been deleted, but I've found a map of the planet. I'll upload it to my armor and the data-slate. A pity, there is no information about the ancient base of mankind. Either they did not find it, or the data has been erased like the mission logs. Well, we'll have to find it on our own."

"May I ask you a question, Antonius?" Celestia asked.

"Sure," he answered.

"When we finally find this base, could that show you a way to return home?"

"Hmm... I would not bet on it, but it is certainly possible."

"What if you find a way? Will you go? Will you leave us all alone against Chaos?"

Antonius turned around and looked at her.

"Celestia, I told you that I will help you. Even if I find a way home, I will first ensure that you can stand your ground, no matter how long that may take."

"Really? You would delay your return to your chapter?"

Antonius still looked at her. Now, he reached for the lower part of his chest armor and grabbed on to something. There was a snap, then he held out his hand to Celestia. In it was a wax seal with an attached piece of parchment.

"This is called a 'purity seal', he explained,
"it was given to me by Chaplain Cassius before an evacuation mission to save imperial citizens from a Tyranid attack. I proved myself worthy of bearing it, so I was allowed to keep it.
I want you to take it. It is my promise to you: I would rather die than let your world fall to Chaos."

Celestia took the seal with her magic.

"I don't know what to say," she said.

"Then let it be. If you'll excuse me now, I will have another look at the Land Speeder."

Antonius deactivated the cogitator, turned around and left the room.

Although Luna was greatly moved by his present for her sister, she was also a bit disappointed that he had apparently forgotten his promise to Stormy. Then she noticed her sisters expression.

"What is it, sister?" she asked
.
"Read this," Celestia said and hovered the seal over to her.

Luna took it with her magic and read the piece of parchment:

LET THEM BESTRIDE THE GALAXY LIKE THE GODS OF OLD,
SHELTERING MANKIND FROM DESTRUCTION AT THE HANDS OF AN UNCARING UNIVERSE.

"Oh dear," she finally said.

She had always assumed that the Astartes-warriors, as kind of grandsons of their Emperor, had some kind of special role in the Imperium, but that was more than she had imagined.

"'Oh dear' indeed," Celestia agreed,
"I underestimated the meaning of those Space Marines to their Imperium. Antonius is much more than just a warrior."

At that moment, Antonius came around a corner again.

"I almost forgot: No time for Land Speeders. It's getting late, and you, Luna, and I have a promise to keep."

Yes! He had not forgotten it. Luna smiled.
Before she could say anything, Celestia asked Antonius:

"Antonius, what exactly are you in your Imperium?"

He looked at her mildly confused.

"Umm... a Space Marine? Ultramarines?"

"That's not what I meant. The parchment attached to the seal compares you to your old gods. You seem to hold a very... special role in your Imperium, a role that goes far beyond plain warriors."

"Yes, we do. We are more than mere mortals and we come to help mankind in the darkest of hours and fight the most terrible of creatures without fear, mercy or remorse. We are beacons of hope in an uncaring galaxy. We are the Guardians of Mankind, the harbingers of the Emperor's righteous wrath, His Angels of Death!"

Well, that was a piece of news. Angels of Death.
Luna thought about every time she had seen him fight. The timberwolves, Hope... He definitely did this title credit.
The following silence lasted a few seconds, then she said:

"Angels of Death. This is certainly a... meaningful title."

"Yes, it is, and we do it justice. We are more than mere mortals and we bring death to the enemies of mankind! Yet, that title is, in the end, a bit... misdirecting. It overemphasizes our means and does not mention our purpose. We do not bring death and destruction as an end in itself. Everything we do, we do to protect mankind. I also have to admit that I'm not too fond of the hinted divinity. A lot of citizens may see us as divine beings, but this is a misconception, even if it does wonders to their morale. Well, 'Angels of Death' is still correct and commonly used, 'Guardians of Mankind' is, in all objectivity, a more comprehensive title, though."

"Just as the parchment says..."

Antonius started smiling.

"What about you?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" Celestia wanted to know.

"Your role in your society. As far as I understood, you two are seen as some kind of demigoddesses."

"Well," Celestia said a bit uncomfortably,
"some ponies may see us as demigoddesses, but we are just ponies. We are admittedly immortal and rather powerful, but I would never think of us as goddesses."

"Me neither," Luna agreed,
"I have made way to many mistakes to call myself that. Apart from the fact that it is simply not true."

Antonius smile grew.

"So, we seem to share a bit of a similar fate: Some see us as kind of divine beings, which we are definitely not. We may be more than mere mortals, but that is far from being the same. Now, let's go back. There is a promise to be kept."

They left the imperial base and Antonius closed the plasteel-enforced door.
Luna could see that he was still smiling a bit. This little trip had really been successful.

Antonius and the princesses arrived at Celestia's quarters. She bid goodnight and entered her room.

Antonius and Luna continued their way to the room the Element Bearers were staying in.
It was a fairly large, round accommodation in one of the palace's towers.
There were tables at the walls; one of them was loaded with empty dishes and plates. On another one, two not-at-all empty plates were waiting, together with a teapot and cups.
Above the tables were windows through which the sun could be seen approaching the horizon.
Two wooden doors led out of the room near the entrance, one that was made of glass led onto a balcony at the other side.
In the middle of the room was a circular couch, big enough for the Element Bearers to sit or even lie comfortably.

When Antonius and Luna entered the room, they were immediately greeted by Twilight:

"Hello Princess Luna, hello Antonius! We kept you two servings of dinner, and... wait a second... what are those things at your belt? They are new, aren't they?"

"Yes, they are," Antonius answered,
"or, to be exact, they are about ten millennia old, but only recently rediscovered."

Twilight's eyes widened.

"Do you want to say that you have found the ancient base of mankind? Here in Canterlot?"

"Well, at least partly. We'll tell you the story."

Twilight and her friends came closer and Antonius and Luna told them everything they had discovered.
Then, Antonius handed Twilight and Applejack their voxes.

Applejack held the device in her hoof, giving it a skeptical look.

"I'm not sure," she said slowly,
"I'm not a fan of newfangled thingies like this. If we want to talk to somepony at Sweet Apple Acres, we just visit that pony."

"Oh, come on, AJ," Rainbow Dash opined,
"those voxes are much cooler and faster than your way."

"Even faster than you?" Applejack teased.

"Well... perhaps a tiny little bit, but I am definitely cooler and more awesome than them!"

"When you are done boasting, I could tell you that voxes use radio waves that travel at the speed of light," Antonius told her,
"I don't think a pegasus can even reach the speed of sound."

Now, Rainbow looked like bursting with pride and said:

"That is what everypony thought, until I performed my first sonic rainboom!"

"Your what now?"

"A sonic rainboom, the most awesome, coolest, most breathtaking piece of aerobatics in the universe!"

"The universe?" Antonius deadpanned.

"Yep," Rainbow stated.

"Even if true, that still doesn't explain what that 'sonic rainboom' actually is."

Twilight took over the conversation:

"If a pegasus like Rainbow breaks the sonic barrier, she creates a rainbow-colored shockwave and is further accelerated. It really is a feast for the eyes."

"Hmm," Antonius said,
"I'm looking forward to seeing this at a suitable opportunity."

"You bet you will!" Rainbow exclaimed.

"Yeah," Applejack added,
"especially what happens when she directs it at the ground."

"Why? What happens?" Antonius inquired.

"I'll just tell you this;" Applejack smiled,
"she helped me demolish an old barn that way."

"Hmm, I guess it is a rather powerful shockwave," Antonius said a bit of skepticism in his voice,
"that might prove to be useful. I'm really looking forward to seeing it."

Now, Antonius and Luna were finally having dinner while Twilight and her friends were testing the voxes - thoroughly.
After that, it was time for Luna to raise the moon, and soon thereafter, it was time to rest.

"Could I get your hand again?" Stormy asked with big, pleading eyes.

Well, now Antonius knew how he would spend this night. He took off his left gauntlet, sat down next to the couch and put his hand on its soft surface. Stormy immediately clung to it and was soon asleep.

As Antonius got to know now, one of the wooden doors led to a bedroom, the other to a bathroom. Twilight and Fluttershy, as well as Luna, put up with the couch, while the others used the bedroom. At least Antonius would not be used as a bed this night.

Time went by and he decided to use it to learn more about the base below them, so he took the data-slate and started getting an overview of what was stored in the old cogitators. While the mission logs had been deleted, there was still some information about the early days of the Imperium, as well as technical drawings and plans. After a while, a head appeared in the dim light of the slate. Twilight.

"Hey, what are you doing?" she asked sleepily.

"I'm having a look at the data stored in the base's cogitators below us," Antonius answered quietly.

She took a look at the slate and asked:

"What is this?"

"The maintenance plan for a Land Speeder."

"Land Speeder? Sounds... fast."

"Is fast. You should probably continue sleeping, though."

She smiled.

"Are you kidding? This is way too interesting and exciting to miss it."

"If I promise to show you how to operate the data-slate tomorrow, would that becalm you enough to sleep?"

"You would? That's fantastic! Okay, then goodnight, Antonius."

"Goodnight, Twilight."

Her head left the dim light cone as she went back to sleep.

So, tomorrow Antonius would give a pony access to an imperial database. A strange thought, but he could not afford being too sensitive about that. The ponies had to get used to imperial technology if they were supposed to have a chance against Chaos, after all.

Author's Note

Dear readers,
the first chapter of My Little Xeno has been published about one year ago.
In honor of this occasion, I would like to thank my editor, my followers, everyone who liked my story and all of my readers!
Your faithful author
MrTea :twilightsmile:

18. A new day

When the day was dawning, Antonius was still busy with the data-slate.
During the night, Stormy had somehow climbed onto his lower arm and was still peacefully sleeping. The first pony to wake up was Luna.

"I really have to get back to my usual night-day cycle," she yawned,
"having to sleep at night is really awful. I'm usually awake at that time."

Antonius looked up from his slate.

"So, you are more of a night mare, hmm?"

He realized how thoroughly he had messed up when he saw Luna's shocked and hurt face.
Oh shit - 'night mare', not 'nightmare'!
Damnit. Hurting and insulting her really was a great way to start a new day. He had to save what could be saved, immediately!

"Sorry, Luna. I did not realize the implications of my words. I really did not mean it."

"It's okay," she said with a small and forced smile,
"I do prefer the night. Overly, once or twice..."

Crap. This 'Nightmare Moon'-incident was still an open wound in her soul, and he had just ruptured it.

"I really don't think anyone is holding this against you anymore, Luna. You have been the victim of a malicious power that has millennia of experience in corrupting others."

"Would you have fallen for that?"

"Umm... Probably not... No, I wouldn't have.
But I have been trained in discovering and resisting its influence. You had no idea what you had encountered, am I right?"

"Yes, you are. Still, I am responsible for those events," Luna said, looking down.

Well, that had not worked as well as he had wanted it to. How would a pony solve such a problem?
Antonius put his hand under her chin and gently raised her head until he could look her in the eyes.

"You know, Luna," he started,
"this was a terrible start of a nice day. Do you concur?"

"I concur."

"Then, let's forget it. Do you want an 'I-am-sorry'-hug or something to close this topic?"

Luna finally started laughing. Pony-style problem solving was really effective around here. Even if it meant that he had - oh crap - actually started thinking like a pony, for Emperor's sake!

"Thank you, but I don't think that will be necessary... Ah, why not?"

One hug later, everything was fine again and Luna got up. She got ready for the day and left the room, saying

"Just stay here and do not wake them up. I'll be back soon."

Antonius just wanted to turn to his slate again as Stormy woke up. She had a good yawn, then she looked down at the piece of armor she had been sleeping on. After nudging it with her hoof, she looked at Antonius and told him almost reproachfully:

"You are not soft and fluffy."

"Sorry, Stormy, but when this armor was designed, fluffiness was definitely not on the priority list," Antonius laughed.

Stormy nudged the armor again, then she suddenly said:

"I miss my mommy."

And Antonius' good mood was gone. A terrible continuation of a terrible start of a nice day.

Well, pony-style problem solving has worked once, perhaps it would work again. So, he hugged Stormy, who obviously was quite fond of that.

Well, of course she was fond of that, ponies generally liked hugs, after all.
But why did he care? Wasn't there something much more important to do? He had to prepare a whole planet for fighting Chaos, yet he had promised to take care of one little filly. Wasn't her fate, after all, negligible, just a distraction?

No, it was not.
Stormy was another battleground in the eternal fight against Chaos. They have killed her parents and traumatized her. They wanted to ruin her life, just as they wanted to ruin every life in the galaxy.
If he ignored her, Chaos would win this fight.
If he took care of her and enabled her to live a normal pony-life - well, almost normal, at least - he would win. Sanity would win. Chaos would be defeated on this little battleground, and every defeat of Chaos was invaluable.

To accomplish this mission, he better had to become 'fluffier' to increase his comforting ability. What a strange objective, but he would accomplish it.

Now, how could he become 'fluffier'? Hmm, that meant to get normal, soft clothes, at least for the night at first.
He did not really like the idea, but it was unavoidable, also for another reason: He had no idea when Chaos would attack again. He guessed he had between a year and a century to prepare the ponies, probably at least a decade. His armor's reactor, however, did not last forever. He already operated on a low power mode, using his emergency solar collector whenever possible, but he still drained irretrievable fuel. He should probably save this energy for times of need, and take off the armor when he did not need it.
So, he needed clothes as a replacement. Luckily, he knew a pony who knew how to make them. He had to talk to Rarity when she woke up.
He did not have to wait for long. Only a few minutes had passed as she came out of the bedroom.

"Good morning, everypony!" she said in a honeyed voice.

"Good morning, Rarity," Antonius answered,
"may I ask a favor of you?"

"Of course, how can I be of service?"

"I have come to the conclusion that I need normal clothes. Since you are..."

"You want me to design something for you?" she interrupted with a large smile on her face,
"oh, what a marvelous idea! Your clothes will be bold, yet classy. They will be breathtaking!"

"Umm... I would prefer something simple, sensible."

"Don't worry, you will be delighted! We will have to return to Ponyville, though. We should tell Princess Celestia, or Princess Luna. When do you want to start?"

"First, I have a meeting with your 'Wonderbolts'. We can start after that. I'll tell the princesses."

"Did somepony say 'Wonderbolts'? Rainbow Dash asked, entering the room.

"I did," Antonius sighed.

"Now that you speak of it, I better join you for this meeting, so you have the opinion of an expert in flying!"

"Sure, why not? Please check yourself, though. This will be a serious discussion, not an autograph session."

"No autographs?" Stormy asked sadly.

"Of course there will be autographs, squirt. You'll see, I'll get one of every Wonderbolt for you!"

Well, so much for that 'serious discussion'.

Shortly thereafter, when the Element Bearers were all awake, there was a knock at the door. Servants with breakfast, followed by Luna, who had a plate with slightly burnt pancakes in her magic grasp.

"Good morning, ponies! I took care of breakfast, and the pancakes here are for you, Antonius. I made them in person!"

Huh? He got rewarded for accidentally insulting her? Perhaps she wanted to prove that she was not mad at him.
He grabbed one of the pancakes and took a bite. Well, the salt content was definitely below lethal levels, but not as much as Antonius would have preferred.
Was that her revenge for the 'night mare'?
He looked at Luna and saw a hopeful smile. This was not revenge, she was just a terrible chef.
She really wanted him to like those pancakes. Fortunately, Space Marines were used to inedible food; they got it from time to time to train the Preomnor. So, he did her the favor and continued eating the salt-mines.

"Can I have one, too?" Stormy asked.

Uh-oh.

"Sure, help yourself," Luna told her.

"Umm..." Antonius started, but he was immediately interrupted by Luna:

"Come on, Antonius, there is more than enough for both of you."

The little mare grabbed a pancake and took a big bite. The expression on her face spoke volumes; a mixture of surprise and disgust.

"Is something wrong, Stormy?" Luna asked, a bit puzzled by her reaction.

Stormy did not answer, at least not verbally. She jumped up and darted into the bathroom.

Luna took Stormy's pancake with her magic and sniffed on it. Then she took a small bite.

"Ugh! That's terrible! Disgusting! Way to much salt! Why didn't you tell me?" she asked Antonius.

"The pancakes are just inedible, not dangerous. Since you made an effort making them, I decided to get along with them."

Luna looked surprised and said:

"Antonius, that's nice of you, but unnecessary. Take something else, I'll find another use for those 'paincakes'."

She started smiling:

"I wonder if my sister's hungry... Please excuse me for a few minutes..."

Luna jumped up, fetched the plate with the pancakes with her magic and left the room.

"She's not really going to do that, is she?" Fluttershy asked.

"The princesses seem to be quite fond of strange jokes. I think she'll do it," Antonius explained.

"That's not very nice," Fluttershy complained.

"Are you kidding? That is an excellent prank!" Rainbow shouted.

"Well, they may be alicorns, but they are still sisters," Rarity opined,
"a little bit of bantering and pranks is quite normal."

"Sure is," Applejack agreed.

"Hmm," Twilight said, deep in thought,
"I have never seen Princess Celestia as a normal pony who was just a 'sister'. To me, she was always the incredibly wise mentor and teacher, even when she was not that serious..."

"Well, learning never stops," Rarity smiled.

Now, Stormy left the bathroom.

"Where is Princess Luna?" she asked,
"is she mad at me?"

"Not at all," Antonius explained,
"she is just getting rid of the pancakes."

A few minutes later, Luna returned, snickering.

"I finally put those pancakes to good use," she declared.

The ponies also started snickering, only Antonius kept a straight face and said:

"Celestia also seems to have found an alternative use for them."

"What do you mean?"

"Look at your flank."

Luna turned her head and saw one of the pancakes sticking to it.

"Damnit," she mumbled and went into the bathroom.

When she had returned, they finished the breakfast.
All the while, Rarity was swooning over the clothes she would make for Antonius.

They finally left their room and headed towards the throne room. When they arrived there, they were already expected by Celestia.

"Good morning, everypony," she greeted,
"I have news for you: The Wonderbolts are waiting outside on the chariot platforms. They are very eager to show their skills to you. Furthermore, a pegasus of the Royal Guard came back from Hope to tell us that the teams will return this evening. I would like all of you to be present when they come back, since you played a major part in their mission. We will thank them for what they have done for Equestria.
I'm not sure what else we should do, I don't think they would like a celebration with two guards dead and another severely wounded and still in hospital."

"I can't concur," Antonius told her,
"you really should hold a celebration, a feast! Show them that you appreciate their performances, their sacrifices."

"Is that the way you do it?"

"Commonly."

"Then we shall do it, too. I'll tell our chefs and kitchen staff to prepare everything.
Besides meeting the Wonderbolts, what are you going to do today?"

"I would like to return to Ponyville. Is a chariot available?"

"Of course. What is your business there, if I may ask?"

Before Antonius could answer, Rarity rejoiced:

"He wants me to design clothes for him!"

"Really?" Celestia asked with a smile.

"Yes," Antonius answered,
"that way, I will be able to save irretrievable fuel for my armor."

Celestia nodded.

"A good idea. What about the rest of you?"

"I will join them," Twilight said,
"I need to tell Spike what has happened. But if you need me, Princess, I will of course stay here."

"You may go to Ponyville, Twilight. If I should need you, I can write a lett... no, wait a second, I can use my 'vox', right?" Celestia smiled.

"Umm... I would like to go to Ponyville, too, and look after my animal friends," Fluttershy said.

"I want to have a look at the farm and see my family. I'll join you, too," Applejack told them.

Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Luna also voiced their intention to go to Ponyville.

"Okay, my little ponies," Celestia said,
"I'll make sure that the chariots are prepared for you. Please be back in time for our celebration this evening.
Now, Antonius, I suggest you head towards the platforms for your meeting with the Wonderbolts."

Antonius nodded.

"Right. See you later. Stormy, Rainbow, if you would like to join me..."

He turned around to leave the throne room and recognized that everyone except Celestia was following him, not just the two mares who he knew would come.

"I got more company than I expected," he told the group of ponies.

"Of course," Twilight said,
"we would never miss a performance of the Wonderbolts!"

A few minutes later, Antonius and the ponies arrived at the landing platforms.
Three ponies were waiting there, clad in some kind of light blue overalls with yellow lightning-insignia. When they spotted Antonius, they came closer. A mare with a two-toned orange mane and tail took the lead, a stallion with a blue mane and tail and another mare with a white mane and tail flanked her.

"Ah, hello. You must be Mr. Varus," the leading mare greeted.

"You are right. Greetings," Antonius replied.

"I am Spitfire, captain of the Wonderbolts..."

Spitfire? Wasn't that the name of a really ancient aircraft on terra?

The mare pointed at the stallion and continued:

"...this is my second-in command..."

Messerschmitt.

"...Soarin..."

Close enough.

"...and this is Fleetfoot."

After pointing at said mare, Spitfire turned to the other ponies and greeted them, too, including a bow towards Luna.
Then she turned to Antonius again and said:

"Princess Celestia asked us to show you our aerial skills, but first I must ask you a question: Is it true what we heard about Hope?"

Antonius noticed that Stormy had gone into hiding behind Rainbow's legs. However, he was not the only one to notice that.

"Hey, it's okay, squirt," Rainbow soothed her.

Spitfire looked a bit confused now and Antonius explained:

"Survivor of Hope. I'm sure she would prefer an autograph over being re-traumatized."

"Oh, sorry. I'd really like to give her an autograph, but we don't have..."

"No problem!" Rainbow shouted and held a set of autograph cards and a pencil up high.

Everyone looked at her.

"What?" Rainbow asked,
"don't blame me for being prepared."

After a short autograph session, the Wonderbolts started and showed their flying skills. Antonius watched them carefully, despite Rainbow's distractive cheering. They landed again in front of Antonius and Spitfire asked, inflated with pride:

"And? Our flying sure is impressive, isn't it?"

Before answering, Antonius turned around and asked:

"Could one of you take Stormy for a walk?"

Fluttershy and Applejack immediately understood and vanished with Stormy.

When they were gone, Antonius turned back to the waiting Spitfire.

"Not that much," he told her blatantly.

The mare deflated.

"WHAT?" she and Rainbow Dash exclaimed in unison.

"Your top speed is not bad and you seem to be quite maneuverable, but your trajectories and maneuvers are too predictable. At the moment, a Chaos Space Marine would need mere seconds to bring a whole squad of you down."

"But... we are the best flyers in Equestria..." Spitfire stammered.

She was obviously not used to this kind of criticism. Antonius elaborated his opinion:

"You are indeed capable flyers, and your aerobatics-show is... entertaining, but war is not an aerobatics-show. Your maneuvers do not need to look spectacular, the need to be effective in dodging enemy fire."

"More tight turns... in more randomized intervals..." Spitfire mumbled.

"Good idea, and keep an eye on your enemy. When he tries to aim at you, constantly change your course and don't get too close. You will need some distance to react."

"Okay, how about a second try?"

"Be my guest."

Spitfire turned around and discussed the new maneuvers with Soarin and Fleetfoot.
Then, they started again. This time, their performance was better. Not as spectacular, but more likely to keep them alive in case of emergency. Furthermore, they always kept an eye on him.

Good. That meant he could already increase the difficulty.
He took his bolter, made sure that it was on safety and shouted:

"Now, I am going to aim at you. Don't worry, I won't fire. Try to evade anyway."

Antonius aligned his bolter at the Wonderbolts and they immediately broke formation and scattered. He followed Spitfire with his gun and she changed course again and again. Just a bit too slow.

"A bit faster," Antonius shouted.

Spitfire increased the rate of her maneuvers. Now, it had become hard to keep her in the reticle, coming up with an trajectory or a deflection was downright impossible.

Very good.

Antonius noticed that Fleetfoot was trying to slip off to the left. He tracked her out of the corner of his eye while still aiming at Spitfire. Fleetfoot started to swoop down at him.
She was making an attack run! What was it with winged mares and suicidal attack runs at armored targets?

He pretended to be unaware of her attempt, then, at the last possible moment, he blazingly fast put his bolter back to his belt and turned around towards Fleetfoot. The mare screamed and tried to dodge, but it was too late.
Inertia could be a harsh mistress.

Antonius caught her in mid flight and did a 180 to minimize the deceleration for her. Then he held her in front of him. She looked a little dazed.

"Congratulations," he told her,
"you just got yourself killed - if this was a real fight, at least."

Spitfire and Soarin had landed now and were standing in front of Antonius, who still held Fleetfoot.

"You wanted to know what happened in Hope. Dozens of ponies were slaughtered by a Chaos Space Marine. Moonlight of the Night Guard was almost one of them as she made an attack run to save the filly you have met earlier. She succeeded in saving Stormy, but was severely injured.
So: no attack runs on Astartes, either loyal or traitor, until we have found a way to increase your chances of success and survival."

He put Fleetfoot down again. The mare got back into formation and Spitfire said saluting:

"Thank you for the suggested improvements. We will add that to our regular training. Give us a week, and we will be downright impossible to hit. Is there anything else we can do?"

"Yes. Train thorough, not just fast. Remember that your life and probably the continued existence of your species will depend on it."

"Yes, Mr. Varus."

The Wonderbolts kept standing in front of Antonius in silence. He finally asked:

"Anything else?"

"No, Sir," Spitfire answered.

"Then, what are you waiting for?"

"For your 'dismissed', Sir."

Oh? Antonius was a bit confused. Had they accepted him as some sort of commanding officer?
He turned around to Luna, just as Fluttershy, Applejack and Stormy returned:

"Luna, I think you are the one to dismiss them since I'm not really a part of your military."

Luna stepped up to him:

"That is indeed true - and a problem. We should incorporate you into our ranks somehow to simplify things.
For now, Spitfire, Soarin, Fleetfoot, you are dismissed. Good work."

The Wonderbolts bowed, said goodbye and left.

"Antonius?" Stormy asked.

"Yes?"

"Why do you always send me away when you talk to somepony else?"

Hmm, she was right with that, but it was necessary, so he answered:

"I only send you away when I have to deal with things not suitable for fillies, and your companions are the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony. They can protect you as well as I or Princess Luna can."

Antonius realized that he had no idea if that was true. He had never seen the Elements of Harmony in action, after all.

His thoughts were interrupted by Rarity:

"Well, now that this meeting is over, we should head to Ponyville, so that fashion can happen!"

She turned to Stormy and continued:

"Once we're there, I could introduce you to my little sister, Sweetie Belle, and her friends. Perhaps you would like to play with them as long as I have business with Antonius."

Stormy looked a bit skeptical and hesitated to answer. Rarity noticed that and continued:

"Don't worry, they will be able to protect you."

"Really?" Stormy asked.

"Yeah," Applejack deadpanned,
"in fact, I think Chaos should be afraid of THEM, not the other way round."

Huh? What the...? Antonius really needed to have a word with them.

They boarded the waiting chariots and left Canterlot.

The chariots landed in front of Twilight's library and the group split up.
Antonius, Rarity, Stormy and Luna went to the Carousel Boutique. On their way there, they met the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

"Hi, sis! Hello, Princess Luna and Antonius. And hello to you, too." Sweetie Belle greeted.

"Hello Sweetie! What are you and your friends doing?" Rarity asked.

"We wanted to hang out at our clubhouse."

"Well, that's perfect! Would you three like to take care of our new friend Stormy here?"

Stormy took a step forward and timidly said

"Hello."

"Hi, Stormy!" the three girls exclaimed.

"She is from Hope," Rarity continued.

"Oh," whispered Apple Bloom.

Aha, the news about Hope had spread.

"Please take good care of her and don't get her into trouble. I already told her you will protect her."

"You will?" Stormy asked.

"You bet we will!" Scootaloo shouted,
"there is nopony who dares to mess with the Cutie Mark Crusaders! We will... Wait a second... You do not have a cutie mark yet?"

"No."

The next second, Stormy was surrounded by the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who were eagerly talking to her - simultaneously.
They started slowly wandering off while Stormy was busy answering any question the three had.

When they were gone, Antonius mumbled:

"Stormy was right, I send her away too often..."

"You do not really have a choice," Luna told him with a reassuring smile,
"times now are very chaotic - sorry. I mean, there is so much to do now and it is better for her if she does not hear everything we discuss."

"Princess Luna is right," Rarity agreed,
"and don't worry, the girls will take good care of her. Now, let's get into my boutique."

They entered the house and Antonius took a look around:
Lots of mirrors and curtains of various sizes, a few tables and clothes racks full of pony-sized dresses.
Wait a second - some of the dresses looked like based on saddles. That was in equal shares interesting and strange.

"Take a seat, I'll be back in a moment," Rarity said and left the room through another door.

She returned just a few seconds later with parchment, pencils, a measuring tape and a bath-towel.
Antonius could see where this was going.

"Now, let's start with you telling me how human clothes look like; which parts of the body are covered by the various pieces and so on," she suggested and made a sketch of a human shape on the parchment.
Antonius told her everything she wanted to know, and she was very curious. She also was - much to Antonius' confusion - strangely fascinated by the concept of socks.
Having all the information she needed, Rarity told Antonius as she gave him the bath-towel:

"Now that I know which measurements to take, we can start. I can't do it through your armor, though. Would you please take it off? You can change clothes behind the big curtain over there. I'll close the other curtains in the meantime."

Antonius vanished behind the mentioned curtain and started to take off his armor. This time, he had not fallen for some trick, at least. While he was busy, he heard the two Ponies whispering to each other:

"Do you think asking him to take off his armor was a wise decision? He told me there is some ambiguity to such a request."

"Don't worry, Princess. He is not that sensitive. I have already seen him in a bath-towel."

"You have?"

"Yes, we 'convinced' him to take a bath before we met you and your sister."

"A bath? I suppose you did not share it, as he would think this to be indecent."

"Of course not, Princess... well, Pinkie jumped into the tub..."

"No way!"

"Unfortunately, she did."

"What happened?"

"I pulled her out of the water.. and... umm..."

"Yes?"

Antonius was ready now and stepped into the room.

"Rarity slipped and paid me a visit," he summarized.

"Oh, you heard us... Could we please not mention that ever again?" Rarity begged uncomfortably.

Luna stared at Antonius, then she asked him:

"Well, what are these black spots?"

"The interface ports for my armor. Can we get started now?"

"Of course," Rarity said and approached him with her measuring tape.

When she was in front of him, she stopped and took a scrutinizing look at him.

"Sorry, Antonius, but, are you... I don't know how to phrase it... somehow 'oily'?"

"Yes, I am. Because of my Mucranoid - I think I already told you about that - I exude a oily liquid that cleans my body and provides me with resistance to extreme temperatures. Really handy."

"You... sweat yourself clean?"

"If you want to phrase it like that, then yes."

"Well, wouldn't you prefer another bath?"

"Not at the moment, since I do definitely not feel an urge to run through town wearing only an bath-towel."

"Oh, right. We also don't have an appointment and my tub is too small... Well, it will work anyway."

Rarity started taking the measurements. A few moments later, she started sniffing.

"What's the matter now?" Antonius asked.

"That smell..." Rarity told him.

Now Antonius started to get a little annoyed.

"Okay, okay, at the next opportunity, I'll take another bath. Could you go on now?"

Rarity took a step back.

"I can assure you, I did not want to insult you. The smell is... spicy. I'm sure it would smell quite good if it was a bit diluted. You know, like musk," she stammered.

"You compare me to a musk deer? Really?"

"I... sorry. I'll just go on."

Now Rarity took the rest of the needed measurements. Or almost.

"Well, Antonius, I took all the measurements I could, but I still need a few more. Unfortunately, well, I kind of can't take them while you are wearing that... bath-towel..." she said uncomfortably.

Luna seemed to choke for a second and coughed.

"Which measurements do you still need?" Antonius asked with a raised eyebrow.

Rarity used her sketch to show him these measurements, then Antonius grabbed the measuring tape and vanished behind the curtain, saying

"I'll be back in a minute."

He had taken off his bath-towel and was halfway through the measurements when Rarity told Luna:

"Well, while Antonius is busy, I'll look after my cat Opal. Just make yourself at home, Princess."

A few moments later, he heard Rarity scream in terror. Thinking she was in danger, he quickly grabbed his chainsword and jumped through the curtain, activating the weapon.
Whatever it was that had frightened Rarity, the Bearer of the Element of Generosity, he would deal with it!

"Opal! What have you done? Use your scratcher, not one of my hats!" Rarity shouted from another room.

Great. False alarm. Just the cat. No threat.

He deactivated the sword and turned to Luna. She was looking at the floor. For no apparent reason, her wings were unfolded. What was that supposed to mean? She certainly could not fly in here. Now she peeked at him and looked down again immediately.
Was she blushing?

"Umm... Luna," he said.

No reaction.

"LUNA!" he shouted.

"Hmm? Umm, yes?" she asked, somewhat confused, and looked at him.

Yes, she was blushing.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah..."

"Have you hurt your wings?"

"Wings? What wings?"

"YOUR wings, Luna, those feathery things on you back..."

She turned her head and winced as she saw her wings. Then she looked back at the floor, folded her wings back to her body and went crimson, mumbling something unintelligible.

Why was she so confused?
Oh shit. He had not thought of the bath-towel, he had sprung into action immediately.
Awkward. He better had to get behind the curtain again before Rarity came back. He retreated immediately.

When Rarity came back into the room, Antonius was still behind the curtain. She could hear metallic noises, so he probably donned his armor again. That meant he had taken the remaining measurements, and that meant she could soon let fashion happen.
She smiled and turned to the Princess, but she quickly noticed that something was wrong. Luna was looking down and was a bit... tensed up?

"Princess Luna, is everything all right?" Rarity asked.

Luna nodded, but it took her a few seconds and a deep breath to look up again.

"I'm fine," she finally said.

Shortly thereafter, Antonius appeared again. Rarity noticed that Luna did not look at him, instead she preferred to look down again. Unfortunately, Rarity had no time to ponder this since Antonius gave her the parchment with the measurements and said:

"There you go. Will you be able to finish the pajamas for tonight?"

"No problem," Rarity assured him,
"you will have to wait for the other clothes, though. I'm afraid I cannot take my equipment to Canterlot to work there."

"I don't mind that. It's not that urgent. If you don't need me anymore, I would like to go to Twilight's library."

"Sure, I've got everything I need."

"Then thank you in advance, and Rarity... please, no frills or stuff like that..."

"Don't worry, I will create something that fits your personality."

Antonius pondered that a few seconds, then he said:

"Okay. Luna, are you staying here or do you want to join me?"

"I'll join you," she answered and they left the boutique.

It was close to noon now and the sun was standing high in the sky. Antonius noticed that the leaves on the trees slowly started to change their color. Autumn was coming. He further noticed an awkward silence between him and Luna as they headed towards the library.

"Sorry if I have startled you," he suddenly said,
"I can assure you that was not my intention."

"It's okay," Luna said,
"sorry for staring."

"No problem, you were keeping your head down most of the time anyway. Must have been a disgusting view for you."

"Disgusting? No, not really."

Antonius thought he had misheard. He stopped and looked at Luna, who also stopped and blushed a bit.

"I mean... I was just surprised... and... could we please not speak of this incident ever again?"

"Agreed."

They started to move again and soon entered the library.
Twilight and Spike were sitting at the central reading desk, which was littered with books and scrolls, and were talking.

"Hello, Princess Luna, hello, Antonius," Twilight and Spike greeted them, then Twilight continued:
"I just finished telling Spike what has happened, now I'm looking for reports on Star Swirl the Bearded. I already know most of them, but perhaps I missed a detail that hints at his connection to humans."

"That is indeed a good idea, Twilight," Luna opined,
"tell me if I can help you."

"Thank you, Princess Luna. I really appreciate your help. There are countless books and scrolls about Star Swirl's life."

"I suggest we concentrate on the decades around my sister's and my birth, since the contact we are looking for has most likely happened during that period."

"Hmm, you are right. That reduces the amount of books and scrolls we have to read."

Antonius was unable to tell if Twilight thought this to be good or bad news.
Anyway, she and Luna shared the writings, fetched cushions and started reading.

"Spike, be so kind and make us some tea," Twilight asked without looking up.

"Okay, Twilight," he responded and left for the kitchen.

That was a good opportunity to ask him one or two questions, so Antonius followed him, saying:

"I'll help you."

The kitchen was big enough that Antonius could move, although he had to be careful.

"If you want to help me, you can fetch the tea from that cupboard over there," Spike told him.

As Antonius carefully opened the cupboard, he asked:

"Spike, may I ask you a question?"

"Sure," Spike answered.

"The day I first came here Twilight told me that a dragon had attacked Ponyville. She refused to go into detail, though. Can you tell me what happened?"

Spike looked uncomfortable, but he finally said:

"Well, yeah, that dragon... was me."

Antonius was honestly surprised:

"Huh? You? How were you able to cause that kind of damage?"

"It's a long story."

"Just start."

Spike was clearly not happy, but he said reluctantly:

"It was my birthday, I got greedy, grew into a monster, kidnapped Rarity and went on a rampage through Ponyville. Okay, maybe the story is not that long."

"You 'grew'?"

"Yeah, as it turned out, dragons grow extremely quickly if their greed is satisfied, and the larger they become, the greedier they get."

"Oh. How were you 'defeated'? The Elements of Harmony?"

"Nope. Rarity reminded me of my true self, and I transformed back."

"That's it? That simple?"

"Yep."

Antonius thought about Spike's story for a while, then he asked:

"Why did you kidnap Rarity? Was it just a coincidence or a deliberate action?"

He was surprise again as Spike blushed and just said:

"We've got to get the tea ready."

Well, that answer was not an actual answer at all, but it was not that important. The main thing was that he now knew the details about the dragon incident, even if it had turned out way different from what he had expected.

With the brewed tea, they went back into the library. Twilight and Luna were still busy reading through the papers and Antonius leaned against a wall, took his data-slate and searched the imperial base's database for relevant information on the topic.

An hour later, Twilight sighed:

"Nothing! There is barely any information about these decades at all, and what we have does not include any hints at humans!"

"Same here," Luna said.

"This Star Swirl was obviously very thorough when he destroyed the stories about that time. Same goes for the Astartes who have supposedly been here," Antonius added, waving with the slate.

Now Twilight looked at him and started smiling. She got up and pranced over to him.

"Do you remember what you promised me last night?" she asked in an almost seductive tone.

Luna and Spike looked at them somewhat perplexed, then Luna started laughing:

"You have promised her access to this cogitator-thingy, haven't you?"

"I have, I have..." Antonius sighed.

"Okay, I'll make lunch, this is going to take some time," Spike deadpanned and left for the kitchen.

Twilight was sitting in front of Antonius like a dog waiting for a treat, a big smile on her face.
He had barely sat down as Twilight was already sitting on his right thigh.

"I find your technology to be tremendously fascinating, may I join you?" Luna asked.

"Sure," Twilight told her,
"he's got two thighs, after all."

Antonius was at a loss.

"Hey, I am not a piece of furniture," he complained.

Luna ignored this and seated herself on his left thigh. Then she turned to him and said innocently:

"Well, this position grants all three of us optimum view of the data-slate. It is a very efficient way to teach both of us how to use it, don't you concur? Furthermore, since you think us to be 'fluffy', this should not be too uncomfortable to you, or are we too heavy for an elite-warrior of humanity?"

She could not prevent herself from smirking. Okay, the ponies were goofing around again, with him at the receiving end of their jokes. It was goodhearted, so he would join in - he would try at least.
Damned, he was really not good at repartee. Perhaps this would work:

"Fine, fine. Keep doing things like that and I might declare you my personal cuddly pony."

"Would you?" Luna breathed longingly.

Twilight laughed so hard she fell from Antonius thigh. The Space Marine, on the other hand, was feeling... uneasy. The jokes went in a direction he was not really comfortable with, but it was his own fault, after all.
Could he not have thought of a better remark? Obviously, no.

Luna had stopped smiling. There suddenly was an insecurity and worry in her eyes that just did not belong there.
Strange. Antonius knew her as a self-confident, likeable pony. Now, she seemed just vulnerable. It was the same vulnerability he had seen this morning when he had accidentally brought up the Nightmare Moon incident. What was it that bothered her now? Did she think she had gone too far and insulted him? That was nonsense.
Fortunately, his left hand was free, so he gave her a smile and reassuringly patted her side, causing her smile to come back at once.

He had to talk to her about this vulnerability later, perhaps he could help her to come to terms with it.
Hmm... his humanity said hello again, for the umpteenth time; he really cared for Luna. Well, that's what friendship was all about, wasn't it?
Oh, and Chaos might be able to use that vulnerability against her, so by helping her she would become more effective in fighting Chaos! Yes, that was a good justification for his caring. And TOTALLY the main reason for deciding to help her.
Twilight had stopped laughing in the meantime and climbed back on Antonius' right thigh, completely oblivious of the dynamic of Antonius' and Luna's friendship.

The Space Marine started to explain how the user interface worked. During the process, they had to provide samples of their DNA - put more simply, they had to kiss the slate.
As Antonius explained this to Twilight, Spike, who had returned by now, started smiling and asked:

"This data-slate thingy is your version of a book, right?"

"You could say so," Antonius confirmed.

Spike's smile grew.

"Making Twilight kiss a book should be as difficult as making me eat some gems," he grinned.

Twilight darted an nasty look at him but still kissed the slate.

"Dragons love to live on gems," Luna whispered in Antonius ear, so that he got the joke, too.

"Now that we speak about eating: lunch is ready!" Spike proclaimed.

After lunch, they continued browsing through the imperial data. They spent some time on the maintenance plan for the Land Speeder Twilight had seen the night before and Antonius explained how the vehicle worked and what he would do to get it running again.

"I'd like to make a reservation as front-seat passenger for the first test run," Luna told Antonius.

"Second!" Twilight exclaimed, then she looked at Spike.

"A test run in a contraption that takes highly volatile stuff and deliberately ignites it - yeah, sounds like fun," he deadpanned.

"It's a controlled combustion inside Ramjet engines, they don't blow up that easily - at least if I don't mess up the maintenance," Antonius said slightly indignant.

At that moment, Luna's vox beeped. She took the device out of her mane and answered it:

"Hello, Luna here, who wishes to speak to the Princess of the Night?"

"Your sister, sister," answered Celestia's voice out of the vox,
"it's time to return to Canterlot. Please gather Twilight, her friends and Antonius and take wings."

"Okay, sister, we'll be on our way in no time."

Luna switched channels and told Applejack to come to the library and bring Fluttershy and Stormy along, then she put the vox back into her mane.
Twilight gathered Rarity, who carried a parcel, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie.
When they met at the chariot a short time later, Antonius asked Stormy:

"And? How was your time with the Cutie Mark Crusaders?"

"Great!" the filly answered,
"they made me a Crusader! Next time we meet, I will even get a cape of my own!"

"They made you a crusader?" Antonius asked skeptically.

"Don't worry," Applejack told him,
"their 'crusading' is not really dangerous - at least not to them. When you are around them, it's actually more dangerous to you. All told, you don't need to worry."

"Well, if the Element of Honesty says so, who am I to object?" Antonius said with a smile.

"Antonius? Can we visit Ponyville again soon?" Stormy asked.

Hmm... She wanted to return to her new friends. That was a good sign, wasn't it?

"As soon as I can spare time," he answered.

Together, they departed for Canterlot.

19. Planning

It was late afternoon as the chariots arrived at Canterlot. Antonius, the ponies and Spike immediately went to see Celestia in the throne room.

"Thank you for returning so quickly," she said,
"the chariots from Hope will arrive in about an hour. The ballroom has been prepared for the celebration. I will give a short speech thanking everypony for their deeds, and I will also offer our condolences to them for their losses. Would any of you like to say something, too?"

Twilight and her friends shook their heads.

"I will tell them about Moonlight's condition," Luna stated,
"she is a member of my Night Guard, and I was in charge of this mission, so it is my duty."

"What about you, Antonius?" Celestia asked,
"do you want to say something? You are the one who defeated the Chaos Space Marine, after all."

"I'm not very good at speeches," Antonius told her,
"and I think death has not the same meaning to me as it has to you ponies."

"Could you elaborate this a bit?"

"For a Space Marine, being killed on duty is an end to be proud of. We live for the Emperor, we die for the Emperor.
In the afterlife, we will meet him to be judged. If we have led an honorable life, He will take care of our souls, until the final battle takes place, when the souls of the dead will be summoned for a last fight against Chaos.
And while our soul is with the Emperor, waiting to fight again, the gene seeds of our bodies are harvested to create new Space Marines. So, with our deaths, we pave the way for the next generation of Astartes."

"Are you not afraid of death?" Fluttershy asked.

"No. It is just the last duty to fulfill."

"And what if your emperor is not happy with your life?"

"Come on," Rainbow Dash interrupted,
"how could he not be content? I mean, Antonius's kinda awesome!"

"Thank you for the compliment," Antonius laughed, then he suddenly got serious:
"I have to admit, though, that I'm not as sure as you are. What I am about to do will be serious transgressions of the Codex Astartes: I will not just join forces with your kin, I will train you and grant you access to human knowledge.
While everything I'm going to do will be done with the objective of defeating Chaos, it may be that I'll cross a line, dishonor my chapter and forfeit my soul.
I don't know. Such a situation is not envisioned in the Codex. I'll have to wait for my death to get to know if my actions were justifiable or not, if the Emperor's Peace will be given to me or not.
Be that as it may, I've made my decision: I will help you."

The ponies looked at him, then came the inevitable group hug.

"What about my parents?" Stormy asked suddenly,
"will the emperor also take care of them?"

Antonius at first reflexively thought 'no', but then he thought about it again and realized:
Damned, that question really was worth a second thought.
What was more important: The fact that they were xenos, or the fact that they were allies of humanity and enemies of Chaos? It was exactly the same question Antonius already had to deal with, and he had no answer.

Fortunately, Celestia took over the conversation:

"The Great Beyond is a mystery to all of us, my little pony. While I can't tell you exactly what is going on there, I can assure you that your parents are fine there. You do not need to worry about them."

"Yes, Princess," Stormy answered quietly.

It was probably not exactly the answer she would have liked to hear, but it was a better one than any Antonius could have given her.

Celestia cleared her voice:

"Twilight, could you and your friends please check the preparations and make sure everything is all right? My sister and I will show Antonius and Stormy their quarters."

"Oh, then don't forget this," Rarity exclaimed and hovered her parcel over to Antonius,
"your pajamas!"

"Thank you," Antonius said with a nod, grabbed the parcel and the groups parted.

The Princesses led Antonius and Stormy to their room. Antonius would never have thought it possible to share his quarters with an alien, but he had agreed to take care of Stormy and he would do anything necessary to successfully complete this task.
By the way, he had already done a lot of things he had always thought to be impossible, and he knew he even would continue doing things of that category.

They arrived at the designated room, not far away from Luna's quarters. It was fairly big - at least for ponies - and radiated the same coziness as the princesses' quarters. To Antonius' surprise, the furniture was properly sized for Space Marines, which he had to inquire about:

"Did you manufacture this pieces of furniture for me?"

"Of course," Celestia told him,
"pony furniture is not suitable for you, so we ordered these to be built."

He took a closer look at them. They were clearly built to bear his weight, but the ponies had nonetheless tried to give them the same look as the regular pieces of furniture - with success; they looked like oversized, stout pieces of pony furniture.
One thing was differed from this rule, though: a small bed. Stormy's.

"How do you like it?" Luna inquired.

"Acceptable," Antonius answered and put the parcel on a table,
"No, even more than that. It's actually quite nice. Cozy."

"I think it's nice, too," Stormy said and went over to her bed.
"I think I will test it," she proclaimed and crawled into it.

"Comfortable?" Celestia asked with a smile.

Stormy nodded and yawned. A few seconds later, she was asleep.

"I guess the 'Cutie Mark Crusaders' kept her busy all day," Antonius opined,
"I hope she can sleep soundly."

"I'll keep an eye on her dreams," Luna promised.

"And I'll order a guard to look after her when we leave for the celebration," Celestia added.

The princesses sat down on a plushy carpet.
Aha, another discussion was about to begin.

"Antonius, we need to talk before the guards arrive from Hope," Celestia said.

Antonius also sat down and she continued:

"They will ask us what is about to happen, and how we are going to react to it."

"Just tell them the truth: we are expecting another Chaos attack within a century and need to prepare for it," he suggested.

"Yes, but how will we prepare?" Celestia asked depressively,
"we will have to relinquish our peaceful style of life, won't we? I fear that ponykind as we know it is at an end, one way or the other: If we stay peaceful, we will be wiped out. In order to survive, we will have to convert our society into some kind of warrior society."

Antonius thought about that for a second, then he answered:

"I don't think so."

"Really?" she asked in amazement.

"Yes. I suggest that the majority of your subjects should continue their normal lives with only minimum changes for the time being. We will strengthen your military, but we won't turn everyone into a soldier. We'll also need farmers for food and workers for weapons, ammunition and armor, after all.
When we are done, a lot of ponies will contribute to our war effort, but they will still be a minority. We will make sure that you can keep your... positive attitude. I think everything else wouldn't be good for the Elements of Harmony, but I admit that that is just a guess."

"Care to explain your thoughts?"

"The Elements are generosity, honesty, kindness, laughter, loyalty and magic. These qualities are present in your society and are concentrated in the Element Bearers, right?"

"Right."

"Since your species seems to be closely linked to your magic, I think we could risk losing those qualities and weaken the Elements of Harmony if we are too strict and make life too grim. As I said, that's just a guess, but I think my assumption is plausible. We should at least be careful."

"We ponies do have a strong connection to our magic, that's true. I will be honest with you: I really like what you said, but I'm not sure if it's entirely true. Nobody has ever tried to change our society that drastically. I just don't know the consequences if we tried to. Maybe we would weaken the Elements, maybe not.
I concur with your opinion, though: Let's not take unnecessary risks. I have to admit, however, that I'm a bit surprised of your insights in our magic."

"Just logical thinking. The thought of the Elements of Harmony in a grim, merciless warrior society... that just seems wrong, implausible.
As I said: I don't want to take any unnecessary risks, so I would like to maintain the cultural status quo as far as possible."

"I agree with you."

"Good. Now that that's clarified, we need to discuss the military built-up."

"We could extend the Royal Guard and Night Guard."

"As far as I know, the Night Guard protects your ponies from dangerous wildlife, and the Royal Guard is rather ceremonial than a real fighting force."

"Yes, but we can change that."

"Are they volunteers or conscripts?"

"Volunteers."

"Of course they are," Antonius deadpanned,
"then, if they volunteered for a ceremonial unit or a patrol unit and we force them into a real fighting force, they efficiency will be terrible. We also can't push them too hard, for they are just mere ponies - no offense. I suggest we leave the Royal and Night Guard be and create a PDF, a wholly new fighting force, made up of volunteers for that force."

"PDF?" Luna asked,
"Pony Defense Force?"

Antonius smiled:

"Almost. Actually, it's 'Planetary Defense Force'. Hmm, now that I think about it: The Chaos attack will probably affect the whole planet, not just you. Perhaps it would be a good idea to include other species you are allied with, too? At least in the long run? Well, at first, we should stick to ponies."

Celestia was obviously relieved:

"Volunteers. Very good. I thought that..."

"I am a militaristic maniac who goes 'war, war, war' on everyone and everything, hmm?" Antonius asked, grinning broadly.

"Well... not really... perhaps a bit... sort of? Sorry, Antonius, it's just that..."

"You care for your subjects. I don't mind that. It's your duty, and I appreciate that you do your best to fulfill it."

Celestia sighed.

"We did not have the best start, did we?" she asked.

"Taking into consideration that you are a leader of an alien species, I can assure you that I had worse starts," Antonius told her, still smiling.

"I think you should spent a little more time together," Luna suggested,
"perhaps your relationship will get better."

"Luna, you know I don't have a lot of free time, and if Antonius stands next to me while I'm on the throne, it won't benefit us much," Celestia opined.

Antonius raised an eyebrow:

"It's unfavorable if you can't take some time off, since I intend to train both of you, too."

"I'll try to rearrange my schedule," Celestia said,
"but I wouldn't like to miss out on my duties. There is always a lot to decide."

"Don't you have something like a senate that takes care of the minor decisions?" Antonius asked.

"Actually, no, I handle everything myself, I just have ministers who counsel me."

"You should think about empowering them a bit, or establishing a senate, so that you only have to deal with the really important questions."

"Doesn't that mean that I will lose touch with my subjects?"

"I didn't say you should lock yourself up in an ivory tower. Just get some free time. Luna, what about you?"

"Well, I can take time off. I'll skip some of the nightly patrols; my guards can do some of them on their own, after all. I just have to be able to guard my subjects' dreams," Luna opined.

"Now that we're at it, what are you going to teach us?" Celestia wanted to know.

"Close-quarters combat!" Luna smiled.

"Among other things," Antonius explained,
"Am I right that you, Celestia, are more the administrative type and you, Luna, are more of a warrior?"

The princesses looked at each other, then they nodded, and Celestia added:

"You are not wrong, but don't underestimate me. I have also fought quite a few battles. I prefer diplomatic solutions, though, or ranged combat magic, at least."

"Okay," Antonius said,
"Luna, we will concentrate on melee, strategy and tactics. Celestia, we'll just do basic combat practice and focus on military administration and logistics."

The princesses looked baffled.

"Did you just say 'logistics'?" Celestia asked.

"Of course," Antonius answered,
"how do you think the Ultramarines are able to run the Realm of Ultramar? Furthermore, even the best soldiers are useless when they are starving or don't have ammunition, so: logistics!"

"You really are much more than just a warrior," Celestia smiled,
"you also see the big picture."

"There is another point we need to discuss," Luna said,
"how to integrate Antonius into our chain of command. He needs to be in charge of the new PDF, but he must not need to accept orders from normal nobility. I don't think 'captain' would be enough. We'll need a higher rank."

"You are right, Luna," Celestia opined,
"but it must still at least give the impression that he has to answer to us, otherwise our subjects will feel too uncomfortable. Antonius, would you accept such a position?"

"My primary duty is to guard mankind. As long as it doesn't contravene this duty, I'm fine with it," Antonius answered.

The princesses looked at each other.

"So, what are we going to do, sister? Which rank shall it be? What title?" Luna asked.

"'Prince' would be good, I think, but one of us would have to adopt Antonius," Celestia answered.

WHAT?

"You are kidding me, right? I certainly won't call you 'mommy'. I really don't think that would work." Antonius interjected.

"It would be 'aunt', but... well, we can't turn you into an alicorn, so we have to adopt you - or marry you," Celestia told him.

WHAT THE HELL???

No, wait, her facial expression - she was kidding. Just a joke. But a new level of jokes. He remembered the little incident this afternoon and realized he had to take this lightly. It would be best if he had a witty remark - unfortunately, he had none. Next best solution: skip the topic.

"Umm... There is no way I could justify that. More ideas?" Antonius inquired.

"We could create a new rank and title. It will be more difficult to introduce, but less awkward," Celestia said with a small smile.

"Do you have any suggestions for this new title?" Luna asked Antonius.

Antonius thought about that for a second, then he told them:

"There is no suitable title above 'Captain' now, just 'Chapter Master', but that would be just wrong.
However, there is a title called 'Force Commander' and during the time of the Great Crusade, there were 'Praetors', 'Legion Masters' and 'Lord Commanders', these titles are out of use amongst the Astartes, and I'm not sure if one of them fits."

"Lord Commander..." Luna repeated,
"it has ring to it, hasn't it?"

"Hmm, you are right," Celestia agreed,
"radiates authority even without having to explain its exact meaning. Okay, 'Lord Commander' it shall be."

She turned to Antonius with a smile and a wink:

"Unless you insist on marrying one of us."

So much for 'skipping the topic'. Antonius raised his hands:

"No offense, Princess, but no."

Now the princesses started laughing and Antonius joined in. He realized that it was not just a complimentary laugh, he had to admit that he genuinely enjoyed this... horseplay!

Luna was happy that Antonius seemed to enjoy this little get-together. When she thought about his face that afternoon when she had made a similar joke... Well, that was over, now he knew that it wasn't meant serious. He adapted to them.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Celestia's secretary came in.

"Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Mr. Varus," she greeted politely.

"Yes, Raven? Have the guards arrived?" Celestia asked.

"Yes, Princess. They are washing up now and should be in the ballroom soon. This is their report," Raven said and hovered a scroll over to Celestia."

"Thank you. Please see that the guards are comfortable."

Raven nodded and left the room. Celestia unrolled the scroll and started reading.

"Horrible," she told Luna and Antonius,
"43 ponies dead in total. Two guards, the rest were citizens of Hope. Horrible. A disaster."

"It could have been much worse, Celestia," Antonius said calmly,
"in fact, we have even been lucky. Yes, I know that sounds strange, but it is true nonetheless."

Celestia just nodded and gave Luna the report, which included a detailed casualty list.

Now it was time to go to the ballroom. They called a guard to have an eye on Stormy, then they left the little mare.
Once there, Luna could see several rows of long tables and chairs, enough to house every pony that had been in Hope. At the end of the room, across the tables' alignment, was another long table, where her sister, she, Antonius and the Element Bearers would sit.

"Antonius, would you please gather Twilight and her friends? The guards will arrive soon," Celestia asked.

Antonius nodded and left the princesses.

"You have been very friendly to him, sister," Luna said.

"Of course I was. He deserves sympathy. He really thinks his actions could cost his soul," Celestia answered.

"Yeah, it's terrible. I am not sure what is worse: The fact that this is possible, or the fact that he helps us anyway without hesitation. He even seemed to genuinely like our joking."

"He hates Chaos, he despises it. No wonder, if you think about the history of his species. He is even willing to sacrifice everything to help us overcome it. What a determination. As for the joking, I guess he has started to thaw a little."

"He really has started to like us. We must not disappoint him."

"We won't, Luna."

"Oh, by the way, sister: Did you really say we should give our subjects 'the impression that he has to answer to us'? You have forsaken your wish to keep him under your control?"

"More or less. Every attempt I started has been unsuccessful - to put it mildly. Furthermore, we already owe him a lot. I think he really does have our best in mind, and we can't ask him for help and then turn his help down, just because we do not like his ideas. He is the Chaos-expert, after all. We should just remind him from time to time that he is dealing with peaceful ponies, not battle-hardened humans."

"I just wish we could help him somehow."

"Me too, Luna, but I don't know how. He is mortal, and we are not in control of the afterlife."

"Perhaps we could try to change the first fact."

"His mortality?"

"Indeed, sister."

"Luna, we can't turn him immortal. The only way we can influence mortality is alicornhood, and as I said, we can't turn him into an alicorn; wrong species."

"Isn't there a spell to change that?"

Celestia looked at Luna in utter disbelieve.

"You mean, we could turn him into a pony, and subsequently into an alicorn? That's crazy! There are indeed transformation spells, but they are not intended for permanent transformations.
Besides, do I really have to remind you that alicornhood has to be earned by more than just fighting?"

"I know, sister, but we both also know that he is capable of more than just fighting. Maybe he can earn it. And maybe we can modify one of those spells to be permanent. It would save him."

"Perhaps, but even if we could, do you think he would accept that?"

Luna sighed.

"No, probably not. I think he would see it as treason to be transformed into a pony. You are right, it was a crazy idea. I just want to help him."

"Well, we could ask him what he thinks about that idea. And perhaps we will find another way, perhaps a rejuvenation spell, but I doubt he would be very fond of us using magic on him.
In the end, it may well be that helping him is beyond our powers, and we'll have to trust the wisdom of his emperor."

They ended their discussion as Antonius came back with the Element Bearers. They positioned themselves in front of their table and waited for the teams from Hope to arrive.

They did not have to wait long. Soon, the first guards entered the ballroom and sat down at the tables. Within minutes, all the seats were occupied. Time for Celestia to give a speech.

"Guards of the Royal- and Night Guard, my dear ponies, all of you have done great deeds in Hope during those last, hard days, be it the fighting itself or its aftermath. You have shown more courage and endurance than had seemed possible, and I, as well as my sister, am proud of you.
Now, we are hosting this celebration to show our gratitude and commemorate our losses."

That was Luna's cue. She stepped up to her sister's side and began to speak:

"We mourn the deaths of 41 ponies of Hope, as well as the deaths of Silver Sword and Broad Shield of the Royal Guard, who gave their lives to protect Equestria. Our thoughts are with their families. They are further with Moonlight of the Night Guard, who got severely injured, but is on the road to recovery in a hospital in Coltport."

They held a moment of silence, then Celestia spoke again:

"Now, my little ponies, eat, drink, and let the darkness not taint your hearts."

Darkness. It was always associated with evil, even though these two were not really related. Yes, there were evil powers that liked to hide in the shadows and used a dark look. Well, Luna was a dark blue mare who also could hide in the shadows and liked dark colors, but she was not evil. Not anymore. Of course she knew that the darkness her sister had spoken of was a metaphorical one and had nothing to do with her. She still felt somewhat excluded whenever she heard something like that.

Now, however, she barely cared. She had something else to worry about. This 'something' was two and a half meters tall, clad in blue armor and willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to help them. Her own uneasiness with the use of the word 'darkness' was nothing compared to that. She knew she had to help him. She had to succeed.

They were half an hour into the celebration - if you insisted on calling this a 'celebration'. The mood was rather glum, as everypony was thinking about the ponies who were killed in Hope. Luna took a look at Antonius. He looked a bit indifferent, but somehow she knew that he was not content with the course of this celebration. Her assumption proved to be right when he started speaking:

"Ponies, do not be that depressed. While it certainly is appropriate to mourn your dead, you must not solely focus on that. We are celebrating our victory over the forces of Chaos here. Cheer up!"

Well, Antonius was certainly not the most sensitive creature in Equestria, but he wasn't wrong either. One of the guards answered:

"We are sorry, Mr. Varus, but how can we cheer? You said 'our victory', but, truth be told, it is more 'your victory'. We were not really involved in the battle."

"While it is true that it was I who killed the Chaos Space Marine and that this was a glorious deed, it is nowhere near true that this is my victory alone.
We were there, together. We fought there, together. So, we can celebrate OUR victory now, together!
Even those who were not part of the battle can be merry, for it was a victory for all of ponykind! A great threat was defeated, countless lives were saved! Is this not a reason to cheer?"

He stood up and lifted his mug. All ponies - and the dragon - in the ballroom followed his example. Then, Antonius exclaimed:

"Here's to ponykind! May your lives be long and prosperous!"

"Ponykind!" the crowd answered and everypony drank.

"Here's to the princesses!" another guard cheered.

"Here's to the Element Bearers!" shouted another one.

"Here's to Antonius Varus, hero of ponykind!" the guard who had first spoken exclaimed now.

From that point on, the celebration slowly started deserving this term.

It ended about two hours later and the guards left the ballroom. Twilight and her friends bid goodnight and left, too. Now, Luna, Celestia and Antonius were alone again.

"Well, I think, all told, this celebration was a success," Celestia opined.

"It was," Luna agreed,
"the guards know now that we appreciate them."

"A bit much emphasis on the commemoration at first," Antonius analyzed,
"it finally became a victory celebration, but you are clearly not used to ponies dying on duty. That will probably change."

"Thanks for bolstering us up," Celestia deadpanned.

Antonius shrugged with an apologetic smile and Celestia continued:

"Before I go to bed, we should talk about one or two open issues concerning the new PDF and your position, Antonius. How to muster the PDF, for example. I thought about an Equestria-wide proclamation. Those who are interested can come to Canterlot and we can chose those who we think are suitable.
Apropos 'suitable': How are we supposed to asses that? On the one hoof, we must not be too fussy, or the PDF will be too short at numbers, on the other hoof, we must apply a pretty high standard and only select ponies who will be capable of fighting and surviving."

"We should be rather picky for the first batch, as those ponies will be the trainers of the following batches," Antonius said.

"You do not want to train every pony yourself?"

"Not exactly, just the first batch of future trainers. Once they are ready, we will send them out to create and train PDF companies throughout Equestria for optimal coverage. These companies will come to Canterlot in terms to receive additional training. At first, I will train them personally. In the long run, I will act as a supervisor to the training and only intervene if needed. Recruiting and training will have to work without me, just in case.
Ideally, there will be enough volunteers to create a proper PDF. If that is not the case, we will have to conscribe them."

"Why do you only want to supervise? You are not planning to do something stupid, are you?" Luna asked worriedly.

"No, Luna, I am not, but building a keystone of your defense on a single person would not be wise, even if that person is an Astartes."

Celestia nodded:

"Okay, sounds reasonable. I will prepare the proclamation and add some requirements to make sure that only capable ponies will apply. The interviews will start in four weeks."

"That's a bit of a delay, isn't it?" Antonius interjected.

"Yes, but it is necessary. We have to give them time to decide and subsequently travel to Canterlot. Some will even have to take leave from their jobs. That slows things down a bit."

"Hmm. Acceptable."

"I will further send news about you throughout all of Equestria, including a short history of your species. Our ponies shall know the truth about what is happening and going to come.
Okay, that was issue number one, now comes number two. I am afraid you won't be very fond of this."

Oh. Luna thought about what her sister might be planning.

"Then tell me, what is 'issue number two'?" Antonius asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Well, I told you that our subjects must get the impression that you have to answer to us. You agreed in this respect."

"As long as it does not contravene my primary duty."

"Don't worry, it won't, but when we are in public, you should... well... accept our orders in a credible way..."

Oh. How would Antonius react to that?

"You want me to put on a show? Is that everything?" he asked calmly.

Hmm, he took that better than Luna had thought.

"Well, actually, yes," Celestia said a bit confused. She had also expected this to be more of a problem.

"Celestia, Luna, as long as your orders are not directed against mankind, there should be no problem. I'll play along, on this understanding: Should you mess this up, give nonsensical orders or the like, we'll stop immediately."

"Oh, I can live with that," Luna smiled.

"Me too," Celestia agreed,
"but can you play our 'subordinated' warrior in a credible way?"

Antonius smiled:

"Just test me."

Celestia made a thoughtful face.

"Well, what order could we give you..." she reflected.

"Oh, I know!" Luna exclaimed, then she cleared her voice and commanded:
"Antonius Varus, go back to your quarters, relieve the guard there and take care of the filly Stormy Skies!"

Antonius snapped to attention, smashed his gauntleted fist into his armored chest, turned around and left the room at a smart pace. Luna looked after him.

"Well, I'm convinced," she stated.

"Indeed," Celestia answered.

A smile crept onto Luna's features. Time to tease her sister a bit:

"Now that we have our own super-soldier Space Marine, which land shall we subdue first, sister?"

"LUNA!!!" Celestia shouted, completely taken aback.

Luna burst out laughing:

"Sorry, sister, but I could not resist."

"That was not funny, Luna."

"Come on, it was just a joke."

"Okay..."

"Really, I have learned my lesson about the abuse of power. I will return to my quarters now, there are still a few hours until the patrol starts. Goodnight, sister. See you!"

Luna left the ballroom, leaving Celestia behind.

20. Sleep is for the weak

Antonius went to his room and relieved the guard, who left with a nod.
Stormy was sleeping peacefully in her bed. Now that he thought about it, a nap would be a good idea, as well as a bath, shower or something like that, so that Rarity would shut up.

He opened the parcel he got from the fashionista and took a look at the pajamas:
The size was correct, and she had even imitated the color-scheme of the Ultramarines. The pajamas were blue - even the hue was perfect - and she had included golden decorative seams that looked like the rims of his pauldrons. The ultima and tactical arrow were embroidered on the shoulders, as were the wings on the chest.
Rarity had just omitted the skulls - and replaced them with... smilies?

At first, Antonius was stunned, seeing such desecration of... now hold on a second... no, this was no desecration at all, since that was not the sacred armor of his chapter, just pajamas.
He looked again at the pajama jacket, with its winged smiley, and a grin crept onto his features. It was absolutely unconventional, but, all told, Rarity had done a nice job, really.

Antonius locked the door, took the pajamas and went into the bathroom. Finding a suitable tub, he made use of it and donned the new clothes afterwards. While cleaning his armor, he noticed that he had to maintain it, as well as his bolter and chainsword, which was still missing a tooth, as soon as possible. Tomorrow.

He left the bathroom and found, much to his surprise, Luna waiting for him.

"Hello, Antonius," she greeted,
"I hope I do not disturb you... Oh, the pajamas suit you."

"Umm, thanks... No, you don't disturb me, but how did you get in here? I think I locked the door," Antonius answered.

"Well, such a lock is not really an obstacle for me. I would have knocked, but I did not want to wake up Stormy. Furthermore, what I have to tell you is important, so I choose to just enter your quarters."

"Okay, so, what do you want to tell me?"

Luna took a deep breath, then she told him:

"Antonius, we have found a possibility to safe your soul."

"Huh? Well... thanks, but my soul really does not need to be saved."

Luna looked a bit confused now.

"But... you told us that when you die, you will be judged by your emperor, and it is possible that your soul will be damned. We thought, if you prove worthy, we could turn you into a pony, and subsequently into an alicorn. That means immortality, no need to fear losing your soul anymore."

It was really astounding how such a great and kind offer could be purest heresy.

"No, Luna. I have to reject your offer. Changing my species would be treason."

"But you could avoid your emperor's judgement..."

"Yeah, and that would be treason and heresy. As a loyal son of Guilliman, I will not put myself above the Emperor and try to trick him. I will stand before him and accept his judgment with honor and dignity."

"And... if he thinks you have failed?"

"Then I have failed and I will deserve what I will get."

There was enough sadness in Luna's eyes now to make a whole battalion of the Imperial Guard cry.

"Luna, worrying about this is a waste of energy. I cannot and will not try to influence it."

Luna hung her head and said quietly:

"We thought that you would see it that way. Sorry, but I had to make you that suggestion."

Damned, she took their friendship really serious, she had become downright attached to him. Antonius knew he needed to cheer her up somehow.

"Hey, Luna, I don't think the Emperor will mind me fighting Chaos, even with... unusual means."

"I certainly hope so," Luna whispered, looking at him again,
"it's just so frustrating not being able to help."

Hmm, not enough. Perhaps another round of pony-style problem solving would help?
Antonius knelt down and said:

"How about a hug?"

Luna started smiling and came closer. While they hugged, her head on his shoulder, Antonius said calmly:

"Luna, you really do not need to help me, but perhaps I can help you."

"You want to help me? Where?" Luna asked a little confused.

"This afternoon I have seen a great insecurity in your eyes, right after that 'cuddly pony' joke."

Antonius could feel how Luna tensed up. She pushed herself a bit away from Antonius and their eyes locked. There it was again, this insecurity.

"I don't know what you mean. I'm fine. Oh, it's getting late. I'll better go now," she said hastily.

What? No.
Now that he had decided to help her, he would certainly pull this through. So, when she started to pull away, he asked:

"Denial?"

"What? No!" she replied, facing him again.

"I take that as a confirmation."

Luna was silent, and Antonius thought about the fact that he actually had not really an idea what he was doing. He had never been trained in psychology - why should he had been? - and such situations were not included in the Codex, so all he could rely on were his human instincts. He continued:

"Listen, Luna. Even if you accidentally insult me, or if I get a joke wrong, I will still help you fight Chaos. I'm not that tender. No worries!"

"Huh? This is not about you helping us, it's about..."

"Yeah?"

"...our friendship."

"You think I would cancel it that easily?"

"I have seen your expression. You were... appalled..."

"Now hold on a second! I was not appalled! Just... well... dumbfounded. You are just better at repartee than me and reacted to my remark. That is no sufficient reason to cancel a friendship, or do you think me to be this disloyal?"

"No, of course not, it's just that... I do not want to lose a good friend, and I do not want you to lose one, either."

Hmm, that was actually quite nice, but Antonius was sure there was a deeper meaning behind it.

"You really don't like the idea of loosing friends, do you?" he asked.

"No," Luna answered,
"the feeling of loneliness is one of the worst feelings that exist. It can even drive you to..."

She did not finish the sentence. Antonius knew that he was close to uncovering the reason for her vulnerability, but his next words would be critical and had to be well-considered. He could either succeed, or mess up everything.
Damned. He really preferred war. Much more predictable than this here.
But back to the topic: When had she shown signs of this vulnerability? After that joke. And sooner, after his mentioning of the...

"Luna, what happened back then? One thousand years ago, before you fell?"

She looked at him.

"You already know that I betrayed my sister and tried to seize power."

"Yes, but what was your motive? How did this nightmare turn you into a traitor? I am your friend, Luna. You can tell me."

After a long - and quite uncomfortable - silence, she sighed and told him:

"Just as now, my sister ruled over the day and I ruled over the night back then. I saw our subjects play and enjoy my sister's day, but they shunned my night and just slept - despite the fact that I always put so much effort in the nights to make them beautiful.
As time went by, I started to get the idea that they did not only dislike my night, but also me. I could not stand that thought. I always knew that I was just second behind my sister, but that was too much. I thought they despised me, and I just wanted to be loved."

Huh? THAT was her weakness, her flaw? No greed for power or something like that? She just wanted to be loved? Blasted daemon filth, they could really turn anything against you...

Luna continued:

"And then, the nightmare came."

Oh, interesting: Antonius would get to know the MO of nightmare corruption! He listened carefully.

"At first, it was just a whisper, talking about the injustice that my sister was loved and I was hated, despite the fact that we both did everything we could for our ponies. The voice kept getting louder and more powerful the more ponies I saw sleeping during my night. It talked me into believing that it was all Celestia's fault, a scheme to ensure that she would always be our subject's favorite.
Then, one day, it asked me if I would not like to do something against that, if I would not like to give my sister what she deserved, and it offered me the power I needed to accomplish that."

Devious. Typical for Chaos.

Luna's voice had gotten sadder with every word, now, she was almost crying.

"I accepted. I was a fool, an idiot, a disloyal, stupid imbecile..."

Antonius pulled her closer into the hug, and she cried into his shoulder.

Okay, great, he had made her cry. Any other brilliant ideas? Or... was that, in fact, after all, a positive reaction? No matter what it was, he had to comfort her, so he started gently petting her back.

While he did so, and Luna slowly calmed down, he thought about his self-imposed mission to help her. He knew her 'flaw' now, and he knew why she was so afraid to lose a friend, but why was she also afraid that he would lose...

Oh damnit! She wanted to protect HIM? She really wanted to protect one of the Emperor's finest, a son of Guilliman, from falling to Chaos? Antonius had no idea what to say now, so he just kept his mouth shut and continued petting her.

"These memories are still haunting me," Luna whispered,
"I will never be able to get rid of that guilt. And I am afraid. Afraid that I might fall again, that another whisper manages to make use of my weakness, corrupt my mind and turn me into a monster again."

"That will NOT happen," Antonius said with a determination that surprised himself and stopped petting her.

Luna leaned back to lock eyes with him again.

"How can..." she started, but he interrupted her:

"You want to protect me from Chaos, am I right?"

"Well, yes..."

"Then, it would only be fair if I did the same for you. Listen, Luna: As long as I draw breath, as long as a single drop of blood runs through my veins, I will protect you from Chaos! If Chaos or this nightmare should want to harm you again, they will have to go through me first. They will find that there is a loyal son of Guilliman in their path and THEY WILL NOT STAY MY WRATH!!!"

Hmm... These words would have been much more impressive if he had worn his armor and weapons and had not knelt on the ground in pajamas with a pony in his arms...

Well, it had obviously been enough, because now, there was a sparkling in Luna's eyes and she tightened the hug again, to the point Antonius had to call it a cuddle. He returned it.

Mission accomplished. He had helped Luna come to terms with her...
...damned, that pony was fluffy...
...weakness and overcome it. Now, he had to put his promise into practice.

"Tony," Luna suddenly said,
"oh, sorry, Antonius, of course..."

"I do not mind the abbreviation of my name, although I won't be able to return it in a sensible way. 'Luny' would be rather unfavorable."

She chuckled.

"Thank you. You know, what I told you just now, that about my fear, I have only told my sister until now. It is nice that I can also talk to you. So, Tony, about our 'agreement': if you should ever feel the need to talk to somepony, or if you just want somepony to keep you company, just come to me, no matter if day or night. I'll be there for you."

Wow, that sounded sappy. And it got better: he would return it!

"The same goes for you, Luna. I'll be there, my friend."

Throne, that was the single most 'un-Space Marine-y' thing he had ever said. Even considering his humanity and his friendships here this was definitely a new level of social interaction; their friendship had been upgraded to a... how should he call it? Close friendship? Cordial friendship? Stable friendship?
Ow. Pony and 'stable' friendship. That hurt.

They finally ended the hug/cuddle and Luna said:

"I'll leave now. There are duties to be done. Thank you again for everything. I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight."

She left the room. Antonius still thought about their little meeting when he had a look at Stormy and went to bed.
He fell asleep pretty fast, but not for long.

His transhuman alertness woke him up about an hour later; there was movement in his quarters. He heard the quiet sound of hooves. Antonius opened his eyes and saw Stormy's head in front of him, a pleading expression on her face.

"Antonius," she said,
"sorry to wake you up, but I'm really hungry."

Great.

"No wonder, you missed dinner."

"Could we try to get something?"

"You can't wait until breakfast?"

Stormy's stomach growled audibly.

"Okay, I'll take that as a 'no'," Antonius deadpanned.

He got up and thought about donning his armor, but decided against it. The environment was not really dangerous and it would just waste time.

"So, where are the chances of finding something edible in this palace the greatest?" he thought aloud.

"The kitchen?" Stormy suggested.

"Hmm, of course. Good idea. Do you know where the kitchen is?"

"No."

"No problem, we'll ask someone. The Night Guard should be patrolling the palace now."

So Antonius and Stormy left their quarters on the not-that-epic quest of finding a snack for the little mare. They soon found a guard who directed them towards the kitchen. When they approached it, they heard voices and saw light. Someone was in there. Probably the night shift of the kitchen staff, that would be very convenient.

As they came closer, Antonius recognized the voices: Celestia, Luna, and a third voice that could be Cadance's.
What the hell were they doing there in the middle of the night? Well, the simplest solution was to have a look, so he peeked through the open door.
Really, there were the three princesses, sitting at a table, munching away on cake and talking merrily to each other. He knocked on the doorframe and said:

"Greetings, Princesses. I hope you have left something over, as Stormy needs a little snack."

"Not too little, please," Stormy added.

The princesses spun around and looked at the newcomers. Cadance started waving, swallowed her cake and said:

"Of course there's something left. Plenty. Please come in and join us!"

Antonius and Stormy accepted this invitation. Cadance quickly fetched plates and silverware for them and distributed the cake. Had she been a waitress before her 'alicornication'? She was downright eager to have them sit at the table.

Stormy immediately started eating. Antonius followed her example.

"So, this is part of you duties?" he asked Luna with a smile.

"Actually, this is my break. The patrol will start immediately hereafter," she responded.

"Are you doing this regularly?"

"Whenever we have the opportunity," Celestia answered,
"finding time for this during the day is difficult, but at night, it's easier."

"Well, once we have shifted a few of your responsibilities over to your ministers, it should become easier even at day," Antonius opined.

"Yeah, if you can find a big enough crowbar to separate this workaholic from her duties," Cadance quipped.

"Hey, I am not a workaholic! I just take my duties seriously!" Celestia defended herself.

"Of course, all great leaders know how very important it is to review the flower arranging of... what ceremony was that?" Luna remarked.

Celestia remained silent and stuffed another piece of cake into her mouth. The silence lasted a few seconds, until Antonius asked:

"You really review flower arranging?"

Celestia's head hit the table and Luna and Cadance chuckled.

Before anything else could happen, Stormy yawned and declared:

"I've had enough. Thank you. I think I'll just..."

She yawned again and fell asleep again.

"He-he, eating and sleeping. Wouldn't it be nice to be that young again?" Cadance asked.

"Don't give me ideas, niece," Celestia grumbled.

"Oh, I've seen the photos! You really were an adorable filly!" Luna added.

Antonius was a bit at a loss. They were clearly goofing around, but there were no stable alliances. It was more a 'free-for-all'.

In the meantime, Luna had put Stormy's plate away and was taking care of the little filly.

"Can I help you?" Antonius asked.

"No, thank you," Luna answered.

"You know," Cadance started with a smile,
"you two are actually a nice couple."

Antonius almost swallowed his fork.

"Nice couple? We? I don't think so," he coughed.

"Of course you are," Cadance continued, her smile growing,
"and with Stormy here, you'd be a unusual but very nice little family."

Family? Was that a joke or a threat?

Before he could answer, Cadance continued:

"You two could even marry. That would make you a prince, by the way. Of course there is the problem with the different physiology, but I'm sure there's a way to overcome that."

Damnit, that definitely went too far, even if it wasn't meant serious.

"Would you please refrain from THAT kind of jokes?" Antonius asked more than a bit irritated, staring at Cadence,
"I would really like to know why the jokes of you alicorns have a tendency to drift off into THAT subject area."

"Oh, that's easy to explain," Cadance told him nonchalantly,
"we cannot make this kind of jokes in the presence of our subjects, because they are, well, our subjects. It would just be inappropriate. You are more of an equal.
Furthermore, we are seen as... sort of... ideal of beauty, not to speak of that demigoddess stuff. And we have... how shall I phrase it... quite an effect on normal ponies, especially stallions.
So, simply put, we are making that kind of jokes with you because we see you as a friend and you can also easily stand them, as aunt Luna accidentally found out. Perhaps I overdid it a bit, as there is there's a little bit bottled up due to a lack of opportunity. Usually, there are only the three of us, and such jokes are just too weird among relatives."

"Umm... So, all told, you mean to say that this is some sort of positive sign after all?" Antonius asked.

"Of course it is," Celestia answered,
"take my attitude towards you for example: At first, I was concerned because of the danger to our subjects you represented, but then, after Hope, I followed my sister's advice and started seeing you as a friend.
And now I have to admit, it is actually really nice to have you around, also for another reason: While I love my little ponies, how they treat me can admittedly be a bit exhausting. Everything I say is the ideal solution, everything I do is perfect.
But I am just a fallible pony, and that is exactly how you treated me. You did not care that I was the 'Princess of the Sun', you treated me just like a normal pony."

"I floored you..."

"Tough love!" Cadance blurted out, then she added
"sorry, I could not resist."

"Well," Celestia continued with a reproachful glance at Cadance,
"that's why we would like to just be ourselves around you without the need to ponder every word we say. I can assure you, we have no malevolent intentions, and if you want us to do otherwise, you just have to tell us."

Antonius took a deep breath. Weird. On the one hand, he was not too comfortable with those jokes, on the other hand, it wasn't dangerous at all and he could do them a favor, the goofing around was probably even good for their friendships. Well, he was already so deep in the 'helping aliens'-abyss that this would not really make it worse.

"Okay," he said with a nod,
"be yourselves. Just do not get carried away. This is already dangerously close to Slaanesh territory. Though I guess you are protected by this veil, as soon as Chaos returns, you really should focus and ban such thoughts from your minds."

"Why is that? And what is this 'Sla-something'?" Cadance asked.

Okay, time for a 'know your enemy'-lesson.

"Especially since you are psykers, such thoughts will attract Slaanesh, the Chaos god, respectively goddess of lust and perversion. The creature's daemons would be around you like bees round a honeypot."

"That doesn't sound pleasant..."

"Good."

"Even if we're just joking?"

"A thought could be enough to attract their attention. Once they know where you are, you are doomed, as they will be curious for your lifeform. New things to play with. They will use you desires to corrupt you, further expanding their influence. Atrocities you don't even dare to think of will be done to you, and you will do the same to everyone around you. Believe me, once this happens, killing you would not only be necessary, but also mercy."

"Oh dear. Do they attack you the same way?"

"They try from time to time, but we prevail."

"How do you achieve this? Is there a trick? Can you teach us how to do that? How can you keep them from making use of your desires?"

"Simple: We do not have such desires."

"Huh? Every living being has such a desire, and... sorry to be so blunt, but I think almost everypony... umm... appreciates a little... contact?"

"Nice way to phrase it. As I said, we do not."

"How is that possible?"

Damned. The answer to that question was a piece of information usually not discussed in public. Well, this little meeting was not exactly 'public', and he had to admit that it was a valid question, so he answered:

"When we are transformed into Space Marines, our reproduction system is deactivated. So, we do not suffer from dangerous and weakening desires."

Cadance paled.

"Y..You are... gelded?" she stammered.

"No, he is not," Luna blundered out.

The other two princesses stared at her.

"I mean... umm..." Luna said slowly and started blushing

Should Antonius intervene? Or should he just sit back and see what happened?
He waited - for now.

"Umm... sorry, little sister, but, may I ask how close you two already are?" Celestia asked cautiously.

"Not that close! It was an accident!" Luna shouted.

Hmm, if it went on like this, they would wake up Stormy. Time to do some explaining.

"It was actually my fault, and I am NOT gelded. At least not in the way you obviously seem to think," Antonius said and summarized what had happened that afternoon at Rarity's boutique.

"Now that I think about it," Cadance smiled,
"a cat would probably be a great pet!"

"Come on, niece," Celestia said, stifling a smile of her own,
"let's have mercy with Antonius and Luna. Such things can happen."

"And keep it to yourself!" Luna urged.

"Oh, that really would be a shame. I bet Shining would love to hear that, especially the part where you started blushing and stammering..." Cadance smirked.

Luna glared at her and Antonius found a part of the story that did not fit:

"Apropos Shining, how can you be his marefriend? Aren't there... problems?"

"Well, Antonius," Cadance explained,
"ponies can 'get used' to us, if we are careful and take our time. One part is deconstructing our 'godlike' image. Shining knows me well enough by now, since Canterlot Academy, to be exact. He knows that I am just a normal pony and I can be pretty much myself when I'm with him."

"And why is there something 'bottled up', then?"

"Well... umm..."

"Because she was curious if you really could stand her jokes," Luna deadpanned.

"Okay, I have to admit that," Cadance said, then she continued with a growing smile:
"I just do not know our new friend as well as you do, Luna."

"There is no love between the two of us, niece!" Luna hissed.

"Oh, of course there is," Cadance stated,
"namely 'Philia', the love between friends.
Keep in mind that this is quite different from 'Eros', the romantic love, that has however nothing to do with the... umm... 'physical action', at least not directly. While it is possible that 'Philia' my evolve to 'Eros', this is not necessary.
It can also evolve to 'Storge', making you like brother and sister, or just stay 'Philia', which is also great, since no type of love is 'better' then the other.
Also, there may be an 'Agape'-component, which would be an unconditional caring for each other and could be fuelled by emotions as well as be a decision."

Cadance ended her lecture and everyone (awake) stared at her, gobsmacked.

"What?" she asked,
"do you think being the Princess of Love just means shipping ponies all day? This position also requires actual scientific knowledge."

"Wait a second, you are the 'Princess of Love'?" Antonius asked slightly confused.

"I am," Cadance said proudly,
"I am able to rekindle love where this precious feeling is in danger of vanishing!"

"Well... I don't think we will be able to utilize this for our fight against Chaos. Despite that, you should probably get the same basic melee-training as Celestia. Agreed?"

"Sure. He-he, Shining will be jealous!"

Oh, Antonius could almost pity that stallion.

"Hmm, perhaps I should train him, too..." he thought aloud.

"So that we can fight Chaos together!" Cadance stated.

"No, so that he can stand his ground against you," Antonius deadpanned.

Celestia and Luna started laughing and Cadance looked stunned.

"I'm not that terrible. I don't think Shining needs help," she said.

"Really? His marefriend is a alicorn - ideal of beauty - demigoddess who can inflict love to others. The poor guy needs every bit of help he can get."

Cadance's face was hilarious. It took her a while until she said:

"We really should have thought of the possibility that Antonius could join in on our goofing off, and that he might get the upper hoof. I have no idea what to say now."

"'Silence is golden', as the saying goes," Antonius remarked.

"Ahem, could my aunts perhaps help me a little bit?"

They shook their heads.

"No," Celestia said,
"not necessary. You're losing fine."

"Huh? Who is losing what? What's so funny?" a tired voice asked.

Stormy was awake again.

"I think we better call our little assembly here finished," Celestia opined,
"Stormy needs her sleep - and she's not the only one."

"Right, and I should start the patrol," Luna said.

"I will accompany Antonius and Stormy to their quarters," Cadance declared.

"Then goodnight, see you all tomorrow," Celestia said after an almost unnoticeable moment of hesitation.

Antonius noticed it, but had no idea why. They had just gotten along exceptionally well.

Cadance picked up Stormy and put her on her back, then she and Antonius left for the Space Marine's quarters. She had formed a little hollow with her wings in which Stormy almost immediately fell asleep again.

"I can remember Twilight doing the same," Cadance said with a smile,
"although she was older and larger than Stormy is - and I was younger and smaller. Well, it worked back then and it still works now."

"Right, you were Twilight's foal-sitter. Is it normal for a princess to do this?"

"In a way. Aunt Celestia sometimes takes a pupil of the School for Gifted Unicorns as her personal student. She becomes the foals teacher, mentor and also a kind of surrogate mother. As for me, I just like dealing with foals.
Back then I was young enough that I could do that without somepony thinking that I took her as my personal student like Celestia. Today, that is impossible. Well, I have to admit, it also was a perfect opportunity to get to know Shining better."

"So it was a solution for two problems."

"Sort of. I really like to remember those times. Twilight was such an adorable little filly. Have you seen photos of her yet?"

"No, but I think I can imagine. Your species has a tendency to be cute and adorable, especially the infants."

Cadance laughed.

"I have never heard somepony say something like that in such a matter-of-fact tone. But seriously, do you really think us to be cute and adorable?"

Damnit.

"This question is hard to answer," Antonius stated.

"Why is that?" Cadance asked.

"It is a polar question with no right answers. 'No' would be impolite, 'yes' would be creepy."

Cadance laughed again:

"Don't worry, just tell me honestly what you think."

"As far as is humanly possible to tell, your species fulfills all requirements to be called 'cute' and 'adorable', especially since you fit the small child pattern pretty well."

"That was the most complicates 'yes' I have ever heard."

Thankfully, they arrived at Antonius' quarters now. That fact did not stop Cadance, though.

"Ah, here we are. I'll put Stormy to bed," she said and entered the room.

Antonius followed wordlessly. He thought about his new 'guest' and realized that there was something she had said he had not been able to understand. So when the filly was tucked in, he asked her:

"Cadance, you said you are not 'shipping ponies all day'. I suppose you do not pack them into parcels and dispatch them?"

"Oh, no," Cadance laughed quietly,
"here, 'shipping' means to evaluate and simulate potential couples. Once you know the individual character traits, you can calculate their chances for a 'happily ever after'."

Antonius stared at her.

"You really do that?" he asked.

"Yes."

"You are sometimes really bored, aren't you?"

"Hey, it's part of my duties... or a hobby at least."

"Well, be that as it may, be so kind and exclude me from your 'calculations'."

"No problem, I don't have enough data about you anyway..."

Thank the Emperor.

Cadance smiled and continued:

"...yet..."

Crap.

"... I have to say, though, that you and Luna seem to go well together."

Damnit. She could not help doing it.

"We are friends," Antonius said sternly,
"and that is weird enough. Nothing more. Restrain your fantasy, Cadance."

Cadance still smiled, not the least bit faced by his tone.

"She is a nice pony to be friends with, isn't she?"

ARGH! She was starting to unnerve him.

"Affirmative," he said slowly, then he stopped short:
"Why the hell am I talking to you about that at all? There is, in fact, nothing to talk about! And it is not really of your concern, either!"

"Well, actually, it is exactly my area of expertise. But if you don't want to talk about it, it is okay."

She turned around and was about to leave Antonius' quarters, but when she had just passed the door, she turned around again and said with a smile:

"Oh, if you need some advice, just come to me. I'll be glad to help you! Goodnight!"

Before Antonius could say anything, she was gone. What a strange creature. He would call her annoying if she wasn't that nice at the same time.

The 'Princess of Love'. Weird. What was next? A 'Princess of Friendship'?
He stopped pondering this and went to bed.

Antonius had barely fallen asleep as his transhuman alertness woke him up again. Stormy was looking over the edge of his bed.

"Antonius?"

"Hmm?"

"May I sleep in your bed?"

"Is something wrong with your bed?"

"No, but... I need somepony to cuddle..."

Well, well, his idea with the pajamas to increase his own 'fluffiness' finally seemed to pay off.

"Okay," he said.

Stormy jumped onto the bed and crawled under the blanket. Antonius could feel tiny hooves on his side as she climbed up onto his chest. Good thing he wasn't ticklish.
A moment later, Stormy's head appeared again from under the blanket as she got comfortable right on his sternum. He instinctively covered her with a hand and stroked her a few times. She sighed contently, nuzzled into his pajamas and closed her eyes.

Unfortunately, while Stormy soon was asleep again, Antonius was kept awake by his alertness. He just could not sleep without his armor and with a filly on his chest.

Well, his surroundings did not pose any threat. Perhaps he could turn off his alertness?
He started meditating and, to his own surprise, it worked and he fell asleep.

When he awoke again at dawn, Stormy was still peacefully sleeping on his chest and under his hand, curled up into a ball. A smile crept onto his features. That little filly was too adorable!

"Good morning, Antonius, it is good that you are awake."

WHAT THE...???

Antonius turned his head and saw Celestia sitting at a respectful distance on a carpet.

"You alicorns really don't have a sense for privacy, now do you?" he asked with some surprise.

"I'm sorry. At first, I wanted to talk to you right after our nightly snack, but Cadance was faster than me. So, I decided to come here now. Normally, I would have waited outside and knocked, but I did not want Luna to see me."

"Aha. And why is that so, if I may ask?"

"You know what happened to my sister, what she did."

"I do."

"There are some ponies who still hold a grudge against her because of this."

"Really? I don't remember a single pony treating her disrespectfully."

"They would not dare doing something that obvious. It's more subtle. Perhaps you have noticed some ponies who were... more aloof towards her than others?"

Antonius thought about that.

"Yeah," he finally said,
"when we first met the survivors of Hope, most ponies came closer as they saw Luna. Some didn't."

"Exactly. When she first visited Ponyville, it almost was a disaster. Well, the timing was probably not very good.
Thankfully, Twilight helped her to mingle with Ponyville's citizens, so it was a happy end, after all.
Without Twilight's help, Luna would probably have been rejected - out of fear. Sometimes I am afraid my sister might think I also hold some kind of grudge against her and do not trust her. I want to show her that this is not the case."

"What do you want to do? And, since you are here, what part am I supposed to play?"

"I want to prove that I trust her completely. You can help me with that.
Listen, Antonius, this is my plan..."

21. Maintenance

Hmm... a good plan. Luna would certainly be surprised and it would also prove Celestia's trust in her. A far as Antonius was concerned, it would even simplify his integration into the ponies' military.

Celestia had gone again and Stormy was still lying on his chest. He waited about half an hour, but the little filly made no move to wake up.
How long were such fillies supposed to sleep? He had no idea, but he could not keep lying in bed the whole morning, so her carefully nudged her.

"Good morning, Stormy, rise and shine!"

He got a quiet grumbling as an answer, but she opened her eyes and looked at him.

"Do I really have to?" she finally asked.

"Well, yes, since I cannot get up without you getting up first. By the way, how did you sleep?"

"Great," she yawned,
"you were really fluffy this time."

Good, the pajamas fulfilled their purpose.

"Now, do you get up? For breakfast, perhaps?"

"Oh, breakfast!" Stormy smiled, got to her hooves and jumped down to the ground.

Now, Antonius also could get up. After donning his armor and getting ready for the day, they left their quarters. A guard was waiting for them.

"Good morning, Mr. Varus, good morning, Mrs. Skies," he greeted,
"I have order to escort you to the Princesses for breakfast."

Oh, convenient.

The guard led them to a small refectory. They arrived contemporaneously with Twilight and her friends, Celestia and Luna were already there. After a lot 'good morning's they sat down and started eating.
Celestia cleared her voice and said:

"Antonius, today at sunset we will officially introduce you into our ranks. My little ponies, I would appreciate it if you could stay until then. Twilight, Spike, you'll stay in Canterlot to help us understand human technology. Is that okay with you?"

"Of course!" Twilight and Spike exclaimed.

"Antonius, what are we going to start with?" Celestia asked.

"At first, I would like to maintain my chainsword. A tooth must be replaced and it has to be cleaned and lubricated. I suppose you do not have lubricants consecrated by the Adeptus Mechanicus?"

"No, not exactly."

"Then I will need your best lubricant; heat-resistant and smooth-running. Furthermore, I'll need a mug of water, a bowl, a conical flask or something similar, as well as some incense, also highest quality."

"No problem. Just say when and where."

"Right after the breakfast, in the armorium. Celestia, Twilight, we'll have a close look at the engine, for you'll have to come up with a promethium-replacement to fuel it. I'll give you some promethium so that you can study its qualities."

"Would you mind me having a look, too?" Luna asked.

"Not at all," Antonius answered,
"if you want, we will have a look at the mechanism of the sword and I will teach you how to maintain it."

"Perfect, thank you!"

"Hey," Rainbow Dash exclaimed,
"this sword-thingy is cool! I want to see this maintenance, too!"

"Well, I am not that mesmerized by your sword, but I would certainly like to see that base of yours," Rarity added.

"Okay," Antonius said,
"spectators are welcome. Now, let's finish breakfast and get going."

About half an hour later, they were on their way towards the imperial base. A servant had brought the required items. Spike, eager to get something to do, had volunteered to carry them.

When they arrived at the old laboratory, Twilight rejoiced:

"I can hardly believe it! One of Star Swirl's laboratories! He stood here, on this very ground..."

"Uh-oh. She's switched over into her 'Star Swirl fan mode'," Rainbow Dash deadpanned.

"I also find it hard to understand how somepony can be that excited because of all those dusty old things," Rarity opined.

"Dusty old things?" Twilight exclaimed,
"this is equestrian history! Perhaps we can even find..."

"The door to the imperial base," Antonius cut her short and pointed forward.

"Oh my, that must be the biggest door I have ever seen," Fluttershy mumbled.

"Yep. Pretty big door for pretty big guys," Rainbow Dash agreed.

Antonius went over to the door, activated the data-slate and kissed it.

"Hey, another one who really likes dusty old things!" Pinkie cheered.

Antonius did not dignify that with an answer.

"This laboratory will soon be clean again," Celestia told them,
"I asked a cleaning crew to come here. They should arrive any moment now. And don't worry, I told them to keep away from the door."

When the door had slid into the wall, he entered the base and made for the armorium. Once in the entrance hall, the ponies started chatting:

"Hmm, the architecture is a bit... gloomy," Rarity said.

"And intimidating," Fluttershy added.

"I think it's awesome," Rainbow exclaimed,
"just look at the size of everything! And the style! Everything downright screams 'made by badflanks'."

"That's what I find intimidating," Fluttershy returned.

"It is some form of gothic, adapted to Space Marine size," Twilight analyzed.

"Not cozy," Applejack stated.

"That's a matter of opinion," Luna said,
"I personally like that style, and even if you disagree with me, you have to admit that it is very durable. This base is more than ten thousand years old, after all."

They crossed the entrance hall and reached the armorium soon. Antonius wanted to go to one of the workbenches, but Celestia asked:

"It would perhaps be a good idea to let in some fresh air. Could you please open the hangar door? You could also show those vehicles to Twilight and her friends that way."

"Yes, especially this Land Speeder we talked about," Twilight said.

"As you wish. Spike, you can put down your load onto this workbench," Antonius answered and opened the door to the hangar.

Rainbow Dash immediately shot towards the Stormbird and exclaimed:

"WHOA! What is THAT?"

"A Stormbird dropship," Antonius explained,
"it is used to transport troops and material from a spaceship to the surface of a planet and vice versa."

"Hold on a second," Rainbow said skeptically,
"you want to tell me that this monstrosity can fly?"

"Usually, yes. Unfortunately, I am not sure if I can get it going again. I'm not a Techmarine, and avionics is quite complicated. The engines also need a complete overhaul before we can dare to start them - if we can come up with a means of fuelling them, that is."

"What about the Land Speeder?" Twilight asked.

"Well, that is less complicated and I already have some experience with that kind of vehicle. I should be able to get it running again if the engines are not completely wrecked. Of course, the anti-grav system has to work, too."

"I can't wait for a test drive. Perhaps we could use some magic to..."

"Not unless all other means are exhausted. I doubt the Speeder's machine spirit would like your magic."

"'Machine spirit'?" Twilight inquired.

"We believe every machine has an - at least primitive - machine spirit. You have to propitiate this spirit for the machine to run smoothly. More complicated machines have truly intelligent machine spirits incorporated that can even run the machines themselves."

"That's kind of cool - and confusing," Rainbow Dash mumbled.

"Be that as it may, you wanted some fresh air, right?" Antonius said, went to the appropriate control panel and opened the hangar door.

Twilight and her friends looked out of the opened door.

"What a gorgeous vista!" Rarity said.

"You are right," Applejack opined,
"nice to see a bit of nature again."

"Applejack, we are here for just a few minutes," Twilight remarked.

"I know, but I prefer nature over high tech... stuff."

"Well, as you mention 'high tech stuff', I should start the chainsword maintenance. If you want to stay here by the hangar door, feel free to do so. If you want to join me, you are also welcome," Antonius said, turned around and went to the workbench where the items were waiting.

Every pony followed him and they formed a circle around the workbench.

Twilight was downright excited to see how such a maintenance would take place. Mankind used much more advanced technology than ponykind, but she intended to watch carefully and understand everything.
At the moment, Antonius examined the equipment and found incense sticks and a fitting holder. He put the incense holder on the workbench and tucked the sticks into it.

"Has anyone got a lighter?" he asked.

"An original, living dragon-lighter!" Spike exclaimed, jumped onto the workbench and ignited the incense sticks with his fire breath.

"Oh, thank you," Antonius said and put the other items Spike had carried onto the workbench.

Next was a small box he had carried on his belt. Finally, he put the chainsword there, too.

Instead of disassembling the sword, though, he started murmuring something; it almost sounded like a prayer of sorts. Hmm, incense and prayer... this maintenance seemed to be highly ritualistic - probably because of this 'machine spirit'.
When he had finished his prayer, he opened a small fastening and poured a strong smelling liquid from the sword into the conical flask.

"Promethium," he told them,
"pure promethium is highly volatile and ignites when exposed to air. Here, a stabilizer was added to make it easier to handle. When I refill the chainsword, I will leave a little bit in the flask for you to analyze."

Now he took tools out of the small box and started disassembling the sword. Its interior looked disgusting.

"Eww. What is that?" Rarity asked.

"Clotted blood, finely ground bone fragments and - oh, sawdust."

"Sawdust?"

"A last greeting from the timberwolf king I killed during my first nightly patrol.
The sawdust on its own is not a problem. The clotted blood in combination with the bones and the sawdust could prevent the mechanism from working, though.
I have to chide myself. I should have cleaned it immediately after returning from Hope. Be that as it may, now things get interesting."

He continued disassembling the weapon, explained its function and cleaned every peace with the water over the bowl. Finally, he removed a little contraption and held it in his hand. It was not dirty like the other pieces and was attached to a small tank. According to the position of this tank, this was where the promethium had been stored.

"This is the sword's engine," Antonius explained,
"Celestia, Twilight, have a close look now. It would be very beneficial if you understood how this device works."

"I wish I had brought parchment and a pencil," Twilight murmured.

"Don't worry, Twilight," Princess Celestia said.

Her horn lit up and said writing things hovered out of her mane. She took a close look at the engine, then, for a second, it was surrounded by a golden glow. Finally, she drew an exact image of the engine onto the parchment; obviously some kind of advanced copy spell Twilight did not know - yet.

"Not bad," Antonius opined,
"this ability is indeed very convenient. I will continue disassembling the engine."

He did so, all the while explaining what he was doing and how the device worked. At the same time, Princess Celestia used her spell to draw a schematic of the engine.
Once it was disassembled, he checked every part for damage. Finding none, he murmured another prayer and reassembled the engine.

"Antonius, could you please have a look?" Princess Celestia asked and lit her horn again.

The images she had drawn seemed to become alive and formed a three-dimensional hologram depicting the engine above the workbench.

"You can grab it," she told him.

Antonius extended his hand and did exactly that. Once in his hand, the hologram followed his movements like a physical item. He turned it around and looked at it from all sides.

"Impressive," he said,
"really. A flawless 3D hololith of the chainsword's combustion engine."

"We call it a 'hard light construct'."

"Showoff," Princess Luna whispered into her sisters ear, barely loud enough for Twilight to hear.

The princesses smiled at each other and the glow around Princess Celestia's horn faded, as did the construct.

Now Antonius took care of the chain and replaced the missing tooth with one out of the small box. Then he reassembled the sword, carefully lubing it in the process. At last, re refilled the promethium, leaving a bit of it in the flask.
He handed this flask to Princess Celestia and said:

"There. Try to come up with a suitable replacement, but be careful. It may be more stable than pure promethium, but it is still dangerous."

"Do not worry, we will take all possible precautions," she assured him and took the flask.

"Apropos precaution: It would be good if you could get rid of that contaminated water."

"No problem. We know how to deal with hazardous materials."

"Very good."

"Do you allow us to use this armorium for our research? We will likely have to use the devices here to build an engine to test our promethium replacements."

"Sure, but don't use the appliances until I told you how to. Hmm... I wonder what the machine spirits will think of them being used by aliens... Well, I guess they will have to be a bit flexible."

"Now that you mention 'flexible', do you grant access to this base to other ponies, too?"

"'Other ponies'?"

"Cleaning crews, lab assistants and so on."

"Okay, but select only the most trustworthy - and least curious. I won't grant them permission to enter the base on their own. though. They will have to be accompanied by one of you."

"Fine, thank you," Princess Celestia said and set the promethium sample down on one of the workbenches.

Antonius tinkered about with the sword a few more seconds, then he pushed a button and it started making a gurgling noise, as well as emitting dark, fetid smoke. He listened to the sound and smiled.
Now, he pulled a trigger and the gurgling became the characteristic, furious roar Twilight had heard in Hope. Not only the noise, the amount of smoke was also multiplied and Antonius looked at his sword with a huge grin.

"Perfect," he said, obviously content with the result of the maintenance.

He deactivated the weapon and put it to his belt. The small box followed immediately thereafter.

Antonius then took care of his bolter. It was a complicated mechanism and he cleaned and lubed it conscientiously. Finally, he took off one of his pauldrons and used another box to repair a small notch. Once done with that, he put it on again and said:

"So, my equipment is repaired. Now, let's move on to the Land Speeder."

"If you excuse me, my duties are calling. See you for lunch," Princess Celestia told him and grabbed the contaminated water with her magic.

"Alas, I think I'll have to leave, too. I need my rest," Princess Luna added.

The princesses left, and the Space Marine picked up the incense and went to the Land Speeder, followed by the remaining ponies and Spike.
Antonius put the incense down next to the vehicle, fetched a series of tools and murmured another short prayer. Then, he got busy.

Twilight found all of this very interesting, her friends not so much. Once she realized this - after half an hour - she told them:

"Girls, you don't have to wait here. If you have a better idea how to use the time until lunch, feel free to go."

"Well, we are in Canterlot, after all. I think I might be able to come up with something," Rarity smiled,
"would you like to join me, Spikey-wikey? You could help me carry one thing or two."

"At you service, Rarity!" Spike cheered and left together with the Element Bearers.

Now only Twilight, Antonius and Stormy were left.
Shortly afterwards, a few ponies came into the hangar.

"We are the cleaning- and lab-crews. Princess Celestia ordered us to prepare everything," one of them said.

"Okay. Do your duties, but be careful!" he told them and turned back to the Speeder.

The newcomers started working in the armorium, eyed by Antonius from time to time.

After a while, Twilight asked:

"Antonius, what exactly are you doing?"

"I am trying to remove one of the engines to overhaul it," Antonius answered.

"How long do you think it will take to get this Land Speeder operational again?"

"That depends largely on the condition of the engines - and how long you need to come up with a promethium replacement. Oh, by the way, the Land Speeder needs a different type of promethium than the chainsword. I think you should start with the chainsword-promethium, as that type will be less volatile."

"Of course, why should it be easy if it can also be complicated? Well, be that as it may, I think we'll start this afternoon, if Princess Celestia can spare the time, that is."

"Hmm, we really have to change her daily routine to give her some time."

Twilight looked a bit confused now.

"You can't just change her day. She has to make very important decisions for the good of all of ponykind," she stated.

"Yeah, like reviewing flower arranging..." Antonius mumbled.

"Huh? What flowers?"

"Forget it. It's not important," Antonius answered, shaking his head,
"I'm sure she knows which of her duties have priority."

Twilight felt a bit uncomfortable now. The way Antonius spoke about Princess Celestia was just... wrong.

"Antonius," she started.

"Hmm?"

"Don't you think it is a bit... disrespectful to talk about Princess Celestia like that? I get the impression that you are... criticizing her. You talk about her - and to her - as if she was an ordinary pony!"

"Well, she IS a pony, isn't she? So I talk about her, and to her, exactly that way."

"She is a pony, yes, but not an ordinary one. She is our princess, incredibly wise and benevolent, an alicorn! You just can't address her like a normal pony."

"To be honest, Twilight, I think she likes to be addressed on an equal footing - or hoofing, for all I care."

Twilight wanted to say something else, but at she heard a strange metallic sound. A moment later, Antonius pulled something like a... silver trunk out of the Land Speeder's rear. She could see lots of wires and tubes, and finally, he had a large cylinder in his arms and carefully set it down.

"Voilà, one Ramjet engine," he announced.

"Can I have a closer look?" Twilight asked, their earlier discussion overshadowed by this new interesting sight.

"Sure, but don't touch anything."

Twilight had a closer look: On one end of the engine, there was a fan of sorts, the opposite end was like a open pipe. Antonius carefully tried to turn the fan. It worked. He took his hand away and the fan kept spinning. The rotation got slower, but that took quite some time.

"Good. The bearing seems to be okay," Antonius said and started dismantling the engine.

After some time, one of the ponies came into the hangar and told them:

"We have finished our work, Mr. Varus. If you don't need us anymore, we would like to return to the upper levels."

"Sure. Feel free to do so. You can't help me here," Antonius answered.

The ponies left and the three were alone again. Twilight laid down and watched Antonius work, while Stormy climbed on her back and watched, too. Once he had removed the upper half of the engine's casing Twilight stood up again to get a better look. The fan she had seen earlier was not the only one, there were multiple fans of various sizes, but they always fitted the diameter of the engine's interior where they were placed.

"Something tells me that these fans are not just airscrews," she opined.

"You are right," Antonius confirmed,
"the fans in the engine's front part compress the air, then comes the combustion chamber, and the rear fans are accelerated by the exhaust and accelerate the front fans in turn."

"And you need the promethium for the combustion."

"Correct."

Antonius continued checking various parts of the engine. While Twilight still found this to be very exciting, Stormy slowly started to get querulous.

"Antonius," the little mare said,
"how long are you going to work on this... thingy?"

Twilight was actually surprised that the filly had stood this - to her undoubtedly boring - activity that long without complaining.

"The whole day," Antonius answered without batting an eye.

"The whole day?" she exclaimed.

Antonius look up.

"Bored?" he asked.

"Yes. Sort of."

"We'll take a break during lunch."

"And then we return and continue working?"

"Yes."

"Couldn't we fly to Ponyville again?"

"Not today, Stormy. This is important," Antonius said and turned to the engine again.

"Okay," Stormy said quietly.

Poor filly. She wanted to meet the Crusaders again, he wanted to finish his maintenance. They could not do both things at once. After a minute of silence, Antonius looked up again and suggested:

"What about travelling to Ponyville tomorrow morning? The chariots will take Twilight's friends there anyway, and we could join them."

"That would be great!"

Twilight smiled. This peerless warrior would really discontinue his maintenance for a day to do his little protégée a favor.

He continued working until Rainbow Dash zipped in through the hanger doors.

"Hey, Twilight, Antonius, Stormy! It's lunchtime!"

"Okay," Antonius answered,
"I'll close the door and we can go."

"You don't need to," Rainbow said,
"I don't think anypony will fly in and steal your... what is that thing?"

"One of the Land Speeder's engines," Antonius explained,
"and I will close the door. This device is too valuable to be left unguarded."

He pushed a button and the hangar door closed.
Then, they went into the armorium. Celestia's crews had made a good job. One of the workbenches was a well-provided laboratory bench now. Another one had been turned into a bookshelf. Lab coats in fitting sizes for Princess Celestia and Twilight were there, too. Near the smelters, bars of various metals were lying on the ground, as well as wood and a considerable amount of sand in big boxes.

"Looks like you are going to start your work soon," Antonius opined.

"Seems so," Twilight answered.

They left the base and Antonius closed the door.

When they entered the dining room, Antonius and the ponies were greeted by Celestia, who was already waiting there:

"Hello, Twilight, Antonius and Stormy. How is your work going?"

"Satisfying," Antonius answered,
"as far as I can tell by now, the first engine is in good condition."

"Excellent. I was able to take off the afternoon, so we will be able to start our work today."

Now Twilight's friends came into the room, too, followed by a walking mountain of bags.

"Rarity, is it possible that you overdid it a tiny little bit?" Twilight asked.

"Nonsense, my dear. This was just a little shopping trip," Rarity answered,
"Canterlot has the best fabrics in all of Equestria, after all."

A 'little shopping trip'? Antonius did not want to see her bulk purchases.

"Well, I guess Spike is in there somewhere..." Twilight continued.

"Of course I am!" the mountain mumbled.

"Oh, he is such a gentlecolt," Rarity smiled,
"he insisted on carrying everything himself."

"Well, Spike, could you perhaps use some assistance now?" Twilight inquired.

"No, thank you. I can handle this."

Antonius and the ponies sat down at the table. After setting down the mountain of bags and crawling out of it, Spike joined them.

When they were done with lunch, Antonius, Stormy, Celestia, Twilight and Spike returned to the armorium, while the other ponies continued their tour of Canterlot.

"Well, what do you suggest we should start with?" Celestia asked Antonius as they were standing in front of the laboratory bench.

"At first, I would attend to the chainsword fuel, as it will be less volatile then the Land Speeder fuel. Furthermore, there will be no use in producing the latter without knowing if the Land Speeder's engines will work again."

"Sounds reasonable, so: chainsword fuel. Hmm... we need a combustion engine to test the fuel we are going to create, and we need working fuel to test the engine we are going to build. I suggest, we try to build a engine first, then take care of the fuel."

"Agreed."

"Then, we need to know how to operate the devices here. Can you tell us how they work?"

"Yes, I can... but this is not the first thing to do. At first, we must crate molds for the various engine parts."

"And then, we pour the metal into the molds?"

"Correct."

"What material shall we use for the molds? We usually use sand."

"You are familiar with sand casting?"

"We are. We create some parts for chariots that way, for example."

"The same technique can be used here. It will require some post-treatment, but I think we should be able to get functioning results."

Celestia lit her horn and used her records to create a hololith of one of the components of the engine. Then, within a disturbingly short timespan, she built a wooden frame and filled a layer of sand into it. Now, she increased the hololith's size a little bit, put it into the frame, added a gating system to the hololith and filled the frame with more sand. Finally, she lit the whole mold up for a second and declared:

"So, the mold is ready."

Antonius stared at her.

"I have to admit, I am impressed," he finally said.

Celestia winked at him.

"Not bad, hmm? Now, what metal should we use? Cast iron?"

"Yeah, exactly... You know all of this already?"

"Well, we do have steam engines. They are built in a similar way, and as a princess, it is always good to know such things."

"Oh, right... Then I guess I'll activate the smelter. Where's the incense?"

After getting the incense sticks, Antonius went to the smelter and lit them. He was still somewhat astonished that Celestia knew these procedures. A member of royalty who knew casting was something you did not meet all day.

"This is the cast iron?" he asked, holding up one of the nearby bars.

"It is," Celestia confirmed,
"the highest quality available."

He put the bar into a crucible and the crucible into the smelter, muttered the corresponding litany and activated the device.

When the metal was molten, he used crucible tongs to pull the hot crucible out of the smelter.

"Ready?" he asked as he went to the waiting mold.

"Ready," Celestia said.

Now, Antonius poured the liquid, glowing metal into the mold's gating system, filling it to the brim.

"You've got a steady... hand," Twilight muttered.

"Yep. It's necessary to fulfill my duty. The power armor doesn't hurt, either," Antonius answered.

He put the crucible onto a shelf space and said:

"So much for the first casting. Now, it has to cool down. I suggest waiting at least until tomorrow to remove the mold."

"Okay. In the meantime, we will have a look at the promethium sample you gave us," Celestia told him,
"if you want, you can continue your maintenance. We'll call you if we need you."

"Okay. Just try not to blow yourself up."

"I'll join you," Stormy, who had silently watched until now, said.

Together, they returned to the hangar and Antonius got busy with the engine again.
Some time - and a little 'puff' - later, Twilight, wearing a lab coat and safety goggles, her hair a bit singed, came into the room and said:

"Antonius, this promethium is like lamp oil's furious, evil brother. Can you tell us what exactly it is and how it is produced?"

"Promethium is a common fuel in the Imperium. It can be extracted from the atmospheres of gas giants, ancient organic material deposits, or even some rare ices from ice worlds. It must still be refined, however.
I think your comparison to lamp oil could be a promising way to create a replacement."

"Yeah, as we accidentally have just run out of gas giants," Twilight deadpanned and left to continue the research.

Antonius grinned and attended to his maintenance again. Stormy meanwhile had ensconced herself inside the Land Speeder. The Space Marine worked the whole afternoon, then the first engine was overhauled and re-integrated into the Speeder.

"Come on, Stormy," he said,
"let's have a look at what Celestia and Twilight are doing."

He picked up the filly and left the hangar. The two ponies were standing around their laboratory bench and were tinkering with different types of oil. Spike was sitting on the improvised book shelf and took notes.

Celestia looked up and turned around.

"Ah, hello Antonius," she said,
"how is your maintenance going?"

"The first engine is ready. No problems. Are you making progress with the promethium?"

"Yes, we have found types of oil that are combustible. We'll still have a lot of work to do until this combustion is controllable enough for our needs, but it looks promising."

"Glad to hear that. Are there any preparations yet to be made for my introduction into your ranks?"

"Everything has already been taken care of. Nervous?"

"No, but I think being late would leave a bad impression on your subjects."

"Don't worry, we still have plenty of time. On the other hoof, we have just reached a point where we could stop for today, so let's return to the upper levels. Luna should get up any moment, anyway... and I have to admit, that I feel like having a little snack..."

Celestia and Twilight took off their laboratory equipment and together, the ponies, Astartes and dragon left the imperial base.

They returned to the dining room. Shortly afterwards, Luna showed up, as well as Twilight's friends another moment later.

After dinner - and bringing everyone up to date - it got time for Antonius' introduction ceremony. Fluttershy took care of Stormy again and the Element Bearers left to take their places in the front rows of the audience in the throne room.

"Nervous?" Luna asked Antonius.

"Not really."

"Remember to put on a show, try to be as impressive as possible!"

"Shall I brutally murder someone for demonstration purposes?"

"NO!" Celestia screamed, then she took a deep breath continued in a calmer voice:
"You are just joking, okay. Well, I would not go THAT far, but Luna is right. Be impressive. The Hope-incident has left quite an impression on our subjects. While this simplifies taking rather drastic measures, it also had a devastating effect on their morale. Now they have to get to know that we are able to counter the horrors that await us. They must get to know that you are capable of leading the new PDF.
Now, we'll wait a few minutes until everypony is in the throne room, then please wait outside the main door. When you hear your name, come in and walk up to the throne. Then we will proceed as discussed."

"Discussed?" Luna asked.

"Yes," Celestia replied,
"the two of us talked about all of this already."

"Celestia," Antonius said,
"don't you think there are still ponies who will be less than enthusiastic about me taking command of a new military unit and suddenly being that high in your chain of command?"

"Probably," Celestia answered,
"but that is one of the advantages of being seen as almost a demigoddess. They will accept it."

"All right. Oh, apropos demigoddess: Do you think I treat you disrespectfully?"

"What? No. What gave you that idea?"

Antonius hesitated to answer, so Celestia continued:

"Twilight?"

He nodded.

"Twilight. She complained about me treating you like a normal pony."

"Hmm. Twilight has great respect for me. Even more, she's downright terrified of disappointing me. This has led to... unfortunate events, once. I fact, the only time she managed to disappoint me was because of her fear of disappointing me."

"He-he," Luna snickered,
"the 'want it, need it'-incident."

"The what?" Antonius asked mildly confused.

"You could call it a case of careless spell casting," Celestia explained, then she added with a smile:
"would you help me confuse her a little?"

Antonius raised an eyebrow.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked.

"You could address me a little more familiar."

"Oh? Any suggestions what I should say?"

"I liked to call her 'Celie' when we were young," Luna said.

"Then I will go for the other end of your name and call you 'Tia'. Acceptable?" Antonius asked Celestia.

"Perfect!" she smiled,
"I can't wait to see Twilight's face. You should perhaps not do that in public, though."

"Of course. In public, you are 'Princess Celestia'."

"Well, it is time now. Let's go!"

They went to the throne room's main door. There, Antonius waited while the princesses entered the room.

Luna and Celestia walked along the aisle towards the throne. As usual, the ponies bowed before them.
When they reached the throne, they took their places, Celestia directly in front of the throne, Luna at her side.

This was Luna's place, at her sister's side. She herself was only the center of attention when her older sister was not present. Luna did not mind that anymore - at least not as much as she once had. Now, they just had some friendly, playful sibling rivalry.
And Luna had been the first princess to befriend Antonius, who was now critical for the survival of ponykind. He-he.

Luna's thought were pulled back to the present when Celestia started talking:

"My little ponies, you all have heard about Hope, the once peaceful town at Equestria's western border. There, a new threat has shown up for the first time: Chaos. Not the Chaos we already know and which the Element Bearers were able to defeat earlier this year. No, this new Chaos is worse. It is ruthless, gory and downright mad. It is responsible for setting half a galaxy in flames. It's only goals are wiping us out and setting our world in flames, too. We cannot reason with it. We cannot bargain with it.
In Hope, there was only a single agent of Chaos - and we had to suffer dearly.
Thankfully, we were not alone. We had an ally, and with his help, the threat in Hope was eradicated. Thanks to him, countless lives were saved.
Unfortunately, Chaos is not gone forever. It will return in even stronger numbers. We must react to this threat, or we all will perish.
My little ponies, I am happy to tell you that the Hero of Hope has agreed to help us in our struggle against Chaos. We will set up a new military unit, called 'Planetary Defense Force', 'PDF' for short, with the specific task of protecting us from Chaos, and this unit's leader will be this hero, it's leader will be... Antonius Varus!"

Now the giant main door swung open, and into the throne room came Antonius, his helmet on his head, his Bolter presented in front of his chest. He marched along the aisle and each of his steps shook the marble floor. Damned, he seemed to consist of strength and determination. Well, he probably did, and he definitely had taken her request to heart. The ponies at the edge of the isle leaned back a bit, intimidated by his presence, and watched him in awe.
He approached the throne.

Luna knew what was about to happen now. Celestia would ask him if he was willing to help ponykind and accept the orders of her and her sister. Antonius would say yes and be made Lord Commander of the new PDF.

Antonius reached the throne and snapped to attention. Luna had to admit, he looked very impressive: a blue armored giant with shiny golden decorations, really large weapons and those glowing red eyes.

"Antonius Varus," Celestia spoke again,
"Ultramarines 2nd company, Imperium of Mankind, are you willing to help us prepare for the return of Chaos?
Are you willing to fight alongside us to save ponykind from annihilation?
Are you willing to take command of the new Planetary Defense Force?"

Antonius' voice boomed through the throne room as he answered:

"I hear your appeal for help, and I answer.
Chaos is the enemy of mankind even more than it is the enemy of ponykind. I see it as a righteous task preparing you to fight it. I see it as an honor to fight it alongside you.
When Chaos returns, it will experience that this planet is guarded by a formidable force, and it will not find us wanting!"

Celestia nodded.

"Antonius Varus, I hereby declare you Lord Commander of the new PDF.
To prevent your effectiveness from being decreased by an uncertain chain of command, the rank of Lord Commander will be put above all other military ranks, and you will only have to answer to..."

Her and her sister.

"... my sister, Princess Luna."

Wait, what?

Antonius steppes over to Luna, lowered his Bolter and smashed his gauntleted fist into his chest armor, then he snapped to attention again.

Luna was at a loss for words. She looked at her sister, who smiled back and nodded.

"I thank you, sister," Luna finally said,
"and I thank you, Antonius Varus. Now, take your place at my side. Together, we will defend ponykind from Chaos!"

The audience cheered as Antonius saluted again and went over to her side where he got into position.

Luna could hardly believe it. Instead of sharing the command, as they had agreed, Celestia had given her this command. She, and she alone, was Antonius' superior. Of course Luna knew that she was not really in command of the Space Marine, but being his formal commander was still an uplifting feeling.

"The details about the formation of the PDF will be published soon," Celestia told the audience,
"difficult times lie before us, and great efforts will have to be made, yet I am sure we will prevail.
Thank you for your attention, my little ponies, and good night."

Now that everything that had to be said was said and Antonius' introduction was over, the ponies started leaving the throne room. The Element Bearers stayed, of course, but they were not the only ones.
A white stallion with a yellow mane walked up to Celestia.

"Great. Blueblood," Luna whispered.

"Who?" Antonius whispered back.

"Celestia's adopted nephew, old unicorn royalty. He's a... just wait and see."

The stallion darted a nasty glance at Antonius, who just ignored that, and asked Celestia:

"Aunt Celestia, am I right in assuming that, when you told our guest here that he only has to answer to your sister, you still meant that he has to bow to all of royalty?"

Luna was sure that she was the only one who saw the well hidden irritation in her sister's face.

"I am sorry to disappoint you, nephew," Celestia said with incredible patience,
"but Lord Commander Varus will only have to obey Luna's orders. Everything else would make the chain of command too complicated."

"I am really not sure if it is wise to put a stranger from another world that high into our society."

Now Luna got angry. 'Stranger from another world'. That was just disrespectful.

"Antonius Varus has proven his worth more than once," she told Blueblood,
"he may have been a stranger when he had come to this planet, but now, he is our friend. A friend we can rely on. A friend with courage and honor. That is why we have put him directly below us - and above non-ruling royalty like you."

She smiled inwardly. She just had to make this point clear.

"Above?" Blueblood blundered out,
"he is not even royalty, how could he dare to command a prince?"

"Do not worry, pony, I do not plan to command you," Antonius told him in a matter-of fact tone,
"as you obviously won't be any help in the days to come. So do us a favor and just do not interfere while we try to save your species."

Well, that hit home.

"Please excuse me, I have an important appointment," Blueblood said, turned around and left the throne room.

"You should not have been that harsh," Celestia said,
"he may seem... shallow, but he has his qualities."

"His best quality is his absence," Luna riled.

"Do you think he will cause trouble?" Antonius asked.

"No," Celestia assured him,
"he is just a bit sore, but that will subside. Perhaps I should talk to him to explain the situation..."

"What is there further to explain?" Luna grumbled,
"you said everything in your speech. He should have heard it - if he wasn't too busy admiring himself."

"Okay, Luna, I have to admit that he is far too arrogant and self-regarding, but please remember his heritage."

His heritage. The only reason they had to put up with him. Celestia was always so patient with him, up to the point that an outsider could think she genuinely liked him.
No, Luna did not like Blueblood. If you looked up the term 'narcism', you probably found his picture.

"I have to ask you a question," Antonius said,
"you are obviously not too fond of him, Luna, and even you, Celestia, seem to merely tolerate him, yet you have adopted him. Could you please explain that?"

Celestia sighed.

"Before Luna and I became the rulers of Equestria, the ruling family was that of Princess Platinum. They ceded their power to us, and in exchange we promised to adopt the firstborn of each generation, bringing them formally closer to the throne they have renounced."

"And this Blueblood is the firstborn of his generation, so you had to adopt him?" Antonius asked.

"Besides being a complete failure, he is," Luna said,
"we really should have added a loophole of sorts."

Celestia just shook her head and waved Twilight and her friends to come closer.

"I am sorry you had to witness this," she started, but was interrupted by Rarity:

"Don't worry, Princess, we did not mind seeing Prince Blueblood being put-down by telling him how useless he is."

Luna had to stifle a laugh and Celestia looked rather surprised.

"What Rarity wanted to say is," Twilight said sternly, darting a nasty look at Rarity,
"that we will keep this incident to ourselves."

Celestia smiled.

"Thank you, Twilight, thank you, my little ponies," she said.

"Tell us, do you have plans for your last evening together here in Canterlot?" Luna wanted to know.

"No, not really," Twilight answered.

"That is convenient," Antonius opined,
"if you don't mind, I would like to use this opportunity to evaluate your prowess."

"Now hold on a second," Rainbow Dash said,
"do you mean you want to challenge all of us to a training fight?"

"More or less."

"Awesome!" Rainbow shouted.

"Oh dear..." Fluttershy whimpered.

The reactions of the other ponies were somewhere in between.

"Seriously, Antonius," Twilight said,
"isn't that a tad unfair? How are we supposed to have a chance against you? I mean, there is no chance we would use the Elements on you."

"Actually, this is not about winning," Antonius told her,
"I just want to see how you attack, your methods, your strategies and so on.
I need some references on how ponies fight. I can use them to come up with improvement suggestions, for you and for the other ponies I'm going to train.
And, to be honest, I'm also curious how the famous Element-Bearers handle such a task."

"What about me? Do you want to test me, too?" Stormy asked.

Well, this evaluation was hardly suitable for fillies, but of course she wanted to be included. Luna wondered what Antonius' opinion would be.

"Actually, no," he said,
"but if you insist, we can try to come up with... something."

"Great!" Stormy exclaimed.

"Okay," Luna smiled,
"we can do this here in the throne room, we'll just tell the servants to get the equipment we'll need. Are you going to join us, sister?"

"Of course," Celestia said,
"I wouldn't want to miss that."

22. Evaluation

It took the servants a few minutes to get the equipment the ponies had wanted. Or, to be exact, the pony: Applejack had wanted a lasso, the rest of the ponies and Spike were content without armor, weapons or utilities, so Antonius decided not to use his helmet.
Now the ponies started arguing about the order in which they should be tested.

"Let me go first," Rainbow demanded,
"I promise I won't go in too hard and leave something over for you."

Well, she definitely did not suffer from a lack of optimism. Antonius decided to defeat her as quickly as possible to ground her ambition.

"Hey, I want to be first," Stormy protested.

"Come on, Rainbow," Twilight smiled,
"fillies first."

Rainbow grunted.

"Fine, but I'm second!"

It took some time for them to agree on an order.
When they finally were ready, Stormy got into position on the red carpet, close to the steps to the throne. Antonius was standing about ten meters away, also on the carpet.
Everyone else waited nearby Stormy. Pinkie Pie had gotten some pompoms out of nowhere and was cheering for Stormy.

The whole situation had turned pretty ridiculous, but Antonius knew the more serious part would come when the little filly had gotten her way. He did not take any weapon and just got into an defensive stance.

"Ready when you are," he said,
"the round will be over as soon as you surrender."

Stormy pawed the ground a few times.
Damned, that was adorable.

Then, she started running in Antonius' direction. When she was halfway between her starting point and the Space Marine, she buzzed her wings and took off.
Antonius reminded himself that this was not a real fight. Of course he would be able to catch her without a problem, but she would definitely have more fun if her 'attack' was successful. So, he forced himself to stay calm and suppressed his reflexes as Stormy came up to his head, like a fluffy little missile.
She slowed down, reared up and latched on to his face.
That was definitely the weirdest attack Antonius had ever experienced and he was not sure what to do now.

"Have I won?" she asked enthusiastically.

"No," Antonius mumbled into her fur and carefully tried to grab her.

She started laughing:

"Hey, that tickles!"

Oh, that gave him an idea what to do. He started tickling her a bit and she started laughing harder. When she finally could not hold on to his face anymore, he caught her with his left hand.

"Do you surrender?" he asked, looking down at her.

"Nope," she answered with a smile.

Hmm, stubborn little pony. Well, he already knew that she was ticklish, so he would use that weakness again. He held his right index finger a centimeter above her belly and asked again:

"Do you surrender?"

"Nope," Stormy answered again.

She was completely unfazed! Since he never made empty threats, he had to pull this through now.
So he tickled her belly. She laughed and snorted, flailing about with her hooves.
Antonius had to smile. That was too cute to stay serious!

"Okay, okay, I surrender!" Stormy shouted at last.

Victory!

"Do you think he's going to defeat all of us that way?" he suddenly heard Pinkie's voice say.

He froze.
Crap. Of course... he was being watched! Stupid mistake.
His head jerked up and he looked at the ponies. They had broad smiles upon their faces.

"Umm..." he started,
"I... had to find a... non-violent way to... defeat... you ponies..."

"Sure," Twilight smiled back.

Boy, that was embarrassing. A son of Guilliman, an Angel of Death, tickling an alien.

Stormy was still lying in his hand.

"Okay, Stormy, now you have got to make way for the next pony," Antonius quickly said.

The filly did so, but not before hugging him.

He cleared his voice and said:

"Next, please!"

Now Rainbow Dash got ready, a confident smile on her face.

"Try not to be too sad when you lose, because when I fight, it IS about winning!" she quipped.

"I'll do my best," Antonius deadpanned.

Rainbow took off and shot towards him. He had to admit, she was fast. That was definitely positive.
And she made one of those suicidal attack runs. That was rather negative.
Seriously, what's with winged ponies and that kind of attacks?

She closed in and Antonius was ready to grab her. At the last moment, she tried to dive under his arms. A nice attempt, but not a successful one. He caught her and brought her to a stop, his hands under her front legs.

"Darn! I thought this trick would work," Rainbow grumbled.

"Since I think there is still something left of me, do you want another try?" Antonius asked with a smile.

Rainbow nodded and he threw her straight upwards into the air.
She immediately started flapping her wings again and circled above him, then, she accelerated and decreased her altitude, leaving a rainbow-colored trail in the air. Rainbow now was at shoulder-height and Antonius could feel the wind she generated. It was almost like a little tornado. A little, rainbow-colored tornado.

He wondered what that was all about, then he felt the small, but increasing updraft.
She wanted to lift him? Well, that was a interesting idea, and if he just stood there and waited, it might even work. He did not think about doing so, however.
So, while the updraft was still unable to counter the weight of him and his armor, his hands shot forward just in time to grab Rainbow Dash. He did a 360 to minimize the deceleration for Rainbow. It had probably looked ridiculous, but it had worked. She hung between his hands, a little dazed.

"Oh, come on!" she complained,
"you caught me again?"

"There was still enough left of me to achieve that," Antonius quipped,
"now, do you surrender?"

Rainbow looked a little offended as she said:

"I hate losing."

"Is that a 'no'?"

"No! I mean, yes, I mean... okay, I surrender."

Antonius sat her down on the ground.

"You know, with just a little more time, I could have beaten you," she smiled.

So much for grounding her ambition. Next try:

"Yeah, you could probably have made my fist bloody - with your face."

"Certainly! Hey, wait a second... oh, now I've got it! That's nice, I've got to remember that! But as for now, I don't want to stall my friends," she said and returned to her friends.

Great. Instead of appropriately threatening her, he had started to goof around. He should better just continue with the next pony.

"Next, please!" Antonius said.

Applejack got ready and charged him, her lasso dancing above her head. It was incredible that she could operate a lasso with her mouth, but it obviously worked.
She came closer and tried to lasso him, but Antonius was able to catch the lasso with his hands, crouched and put it on the ground as Applejack was about to pass him. He pulled the rope upwards, the lasso tightened around all four of her hooves and she lost ground as well as her hat.

"Horseapples!" she shouted as she hung on her own lasso in Antonius' grip.

He raised his arm until they were at eye-level.

Another one of those head-on attacks. Perhaps he should give the other ponies a hint that they should think of a different tactic?

He turned his head to the group and just wanted to start talking as he felt something fluffy wrap around his throat.
What the...?
The muscles in his throat tensed to protect his larynx and windpipe - Space Marines were not easy to strangle - and Antonius checked what it was that attacked him now.
Applejack's tail???

"You thought you got me," she smiled,
"but I ain't gonna give up that easy!"

Antonius was confused:

"How the hell can you do that? Your tail consists solely of hair, there are no muscles!"

"Don't try to distract me. Now, surrender!"

Huh? HE should surrender?

"No way."

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm strangling you."

"I can take more than that."

Applejack tightened her 'grip' around his throat a bit.

"Do you surrender now?" she asked.

"Applejack, just let it be. It won't work."

"Surrender, and I will free you."

She again tightened her 'grip'. Antonius still wasn't in danger, but he really wanted to get rid of her, for every time she did that, the distance between her and his face decreased a bit. There was still enough space left, but if she continued doing so, it would get seriously awkward.

He lowered his hand and Applejack hung in front of his chest like a pendant.
'The pony-pendant, a reward for only the weirdest of Space Marines' popped up in his mind.
He raised his hand again, and Applejack used the opportunity to tighten her 'grip' again.

"I won't let go," she assured him,
"now, what are you going to do?"

"Certainly NOT admiring the view," Antonius said, bending his head back as far as possible.

"Huh? OH..."

Good. She had realized the side-effects of her 'attack'. Now, she would certainly give up.

"Ah, shucks. I won't give up! I'm gonna win this!"

Shit. What a stubborn little pony.

Well, there was an approved method how to 'defeat' them:

"Are you ticklish?" he asked her.

"Don't you dare!" Applejack hissed.

He raised his free hand into Applejack's field of vision and said:

"Surrender."

"NO!"

Antonius held his index finger a centimeter above her belly and repeated:

"Surrender."

"You would never... oh, horseapples, you would, right?" Applejack answered.

Then she loosened her 'grip' around Antonius' throat, let out a groan and added:

"Okay, I surrender."

Antonius put her on the ground and loosened the lasso. She immediately took her hat again and returned to her friends. Antonius could hear her mumble:

"Next time, I'll just try the good old bucking..."

He smiled and said:

"Next, please!"

Now, it was Rarity's turn. Instead of charging him, she casually walked up to him.
Antonius focused on her, his muscles tensed. He expected some trick at any moment, a magical attack - she was a unicorn, after all.
Finally, she was standing right in front of him, smiling friendlily. No trick, no magic. What was she up to?

"Well, Antonius," she said,
"before I take part in your indecorous little game, I would like to know why exactly I should get my hooves dirty and my mane disheveled."

Great. Well, if he had to...

He crouched down to be more at eye-level with her - and barely evaded the hoof that shot towards his face. There was the trick, although it was a completely different one from what he had expected. And it was not over yet.
Rarity jumped at him and tried to punch him again. He caught her leg and prevented that from happening. That tactic was surprisingly aggressive - especially for a fashion designer.

"Hmm, you are pretty fast," she said thoughtfully,
"perhaps now would be a good time to surrender?"

"Definitely," he answered and let go of her.

Rarity turned around in mid air and Antonius had to dodge her hind hooves. He noticed, however, that she had aimed for his chest armor now, not for his face. So, even while tricking him, she still had a sense of fairness.

"Hey, didn't you surrender?" he asked.

"Well, actually," she told him,
"I did not say that I surrendered, I said it would be a good time to surrender."

Huh? She had fooled him by nitpicking?

He shot forward and picked her up, glaring at her.
She gave him a forced smile, but before anything else could happen, he heard Spike shout:

"Fear not, Rarity! I'll rescue you!"

Rarity's smile became genuine and she whined:

"Oh, Spike! Rescue a poor unicorn from the clutches of defeat!"

Antonius looked nonplussed.

"This is supposed to be a fight, not drama classes!" he clarified.

It was in vain. Spike had closed the distance and struck a pose.

"Put her down, emissary of mankind, for this mare is under my protection!"

Had Antonius had a hand free, he would have facepalmed.

He changed his grip on the pony and held her over his head, supporting her weight with his left hand on her belly. Spike sprung into action and started climbing Antonius.

Antonius quickly picked him off his armor.

"Enough horseplay. While I don't mind you having a bit fun, you are definitely overdoing it."

"Okay, okay," Spike said, then he turned to Rarity:
"Sorry I could not rescue you."

"Don't apologize, Spike," she answered,
"You bravely charged him to rescue me, and to me, that..."

"WOULD YOU FINALLY STOP PUTTING ON THIS DRAMA??? Just surrender, now, so that I can let you go!"

"Oh, okay, I surrender!" Rarity said.

"Yeah, I surrender, too," Spike agreed.

Antonius nodded and put them down. Rarity turned to him and asked:

"No hard feelings?"

Antonius shook his head.

"No, though I have to admit that that was definitely... uncommon."

She nodded and she and Spike returned to her friends.

Well, this evaluation was quite derailed by now. Antonius wondered if it could get any worse.
He said:

"Next, please!"

This 'next' was Fluttershy. This would be interesting. And possibly worse.

She walked up to him. When she was halfway between her him and her friends, she stopped and looked at him with big eyes.

"Umm... I surrender!" she said.

Before Antonius could say something, Rainbow shouted:

"Come on, Fluttershy! Don't chicken out of this! Give him your stare!"

Stare? What stare?

Fluttershy turned around to face Rainbow and said:

"Rainbow, this is not how it works! My stare just happens."

"Then make it happen now!"

"What 'stare' are you talking about?" Antonius asked.

"Fluttershy can stare a full grown dragon into submission!" Rainbow told him.

"You can what now?" Antonius asked Fluttershy.

"Well, Antonius," she answered,
"I have this stare... and I can use it to... sort of... control animals..."

"Mind control? You are capable of mind control?"

Well, that was a piece of news.

"No, I would not call it mind control, and I can only use it in emergencies."

"Well, this is an emergency!" Rainbow shouted,
"Antonius already has defeated half of us!"

"Rainbow," Twilight lectured her,
"5 out of 8 is more than a half."

"All the worse! Fluttershy, don't leave this to Pinkie and Twilight! I don't think he can be defeated with confetti - or books!"

"Hey!" Twilight yelled, glaring at Rainbow Dash.

"Calm down, ponies!" Antonius said,
"we make use of stable alliances here: You 8 fight me so that I can evaluate your prowess and have a look at pony ways of attacking. Quarrels within the team will not be useful."

The ponies were silent again, until Fluttershy asked hesitantly:

"Umm... does that mean I may surrender?"

Rainbow facehooved and Antonius nodded.

"Okay, then: I surrender!" Fluttershy said and returned to the other ponies.

Well, this round had been pretty useless, but at least it hadn't been as bad as the Rarity/Spike-combo.

"Next, please!" Antonius said.

Pinkie Pie. Antonius got ready for suddenly appearing cannons. The pink mare walked up to him, smiling all the while, and started... hopping around? Dancing? What the hell?

"Pinkie, what are you doing?" Antonius asked confusedly.

"I'm challenging you to a dance-off!" she shouted.

WHAT THE...???

"You are kidding, right?"

"Nope. Dance-off!"

Antonius facepalmed. This 'evaluation' finally was completely derailed.

"Throne on Terra I don't believe this," he mumbled and started massaging his temples.

"Oh, you don't feel well?" Pinkie asked.

"I think I'm getting a headache. Until now, I didn't know Astartes could get headaches at all..."

"Hmm, if you are sick, does that mean that I win?"

Antonius took his hands from his temples and glared at Pinkie Pie. She was startled a bit, started walking backward and said with a forced smile:

"Okay, you don't like dancing, got that."

Then she stopped and asked in a more cheerful tone:

"What about singing?"

"No singing. No dancing!" he told her sternly.

"Gee! Your party planers surely have hard times. What about games? We play games like 'pin the tail on the pony'. What games do you play?"

Antonius groaned.
She really had asked him if he played games! She had not yet understood that life - at least outside of this planet - was rather serious business. Of course the Ultramarines celebrated their victories and successful campaigns, but pointless merriment was not common at all.

"Put the bolt into the xeno," he finally deadpanned.

Pinkie tilted her head a bit.

"That doesn't sound like fun."

"That depends on your definition of fun. Now, do me a favor and surrender."

"Oh, okay. No hard feelings! I surrender! Looking forward to the next time!"

What a mess. The Rainbow-round had actually been the most normal one. Pinkie had definitely been the pinnacle of weirdness. Antonius wondered why he was even surprised. His wrap-supplier was sometimes a bit... weird, but as the Element of Laughter, such shenanigans were probably part of her 'job'.

Now, only Twilight was left to be evaluated. Rainbow seemed to think a bit little of her when it came to fighting, but wasn't she a talented psyker? She had been able to teleport him, after all. Antonius took a deep breath and looked at her.

"Antonius, are you okay?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah, yeah," he answered,
"your turn."

"Umm, just for your information, I won't goof around and will use magic to fight you."

Antonius was wide awake.

"Do you want to use your magic ON ME?" he asked.

"No, but I'll use it against you," she answered.

Well, this could be interesting.

"Ready," he said with a smile and got into a defensive stance. Perhaps this fight would be better than the previous rounds.

"Then let's begin!" Twilight whispered and fired a beam of pink magic at Antonius.

He dodged the magic blast, but that was not the only one fired at him. He had to evade a whole barrage of beams, but even that got more difficult. While Twilight had fired the first blast at his center, the other blasts were fired at his side to make him dodge in a specific direction. Then she fired directly into his way and almost scored a hit.

Damned, she was good.

Antonius' main disadvantage was that he could not use ranged weapons as they were lethal, so he was forced to melee. Constantly dodging, he made his way to Twilight. When he had come close enough to leap at her, she suddenly vanished.
He reflexively made a dodge-roll, and this proved to be the right reaction: A magic beam shot past him; had he not moved, it would have hit him in the back.

Antonius looked at the source of this new attack. Of course it was Twilight; she had teleported to a new location and continued firing at him. He closed the distance again, his transhuman reflexes in full use to dodge Twilight's beams. Once he was almost in striking distance, Twilight was gone again.

They continued this fight for some minutes. Every time Antonius came close to her, she teleported away and he had to approach her again.

Yes, that pony was good. Good enough to be downright annoying.

Luckily, she started to get tired. The beams became less frequent, and every time she had to teleport she looked more weary, yet she did not give up.
Now she was standing close to her friends again, who were cheering for her. She sweated and panted, but she kept firing.

Antonius had to admit that this constant dodging started leaving its mark on him, too. He would end this fight as soon as possible.

He closed the distance again, then, after one of her beams, but still not in melee range, he charged her head-on. He could see her eyes widen as he made a dive roll towards her. She managed to fire a last beam that actually hit his pauldron, then he swept her off her hooves.

They came to a stop in-between Twilight's friends. She was lying on her back, completely exhausted, Antonius was kneeling next to her.

"Damned, that was a good fight!" Antonius admitted with a smile,
"now, do you surrender?"

Twilight nodded.

"Yes, you have won. 0 out of 8 victories for ponykind, not too good, hmm?"

"Twilight, I already told you this was not about winning. You have done really well, though. You are a nuisance to every melee-based attacker. Really, you can be proud of you."

"Thank you," Twilight smiled.

"Sorry, Antonius," Applejack suddenly said,
"but when you wanted to see us fighting to evaluate our prowess, you have forgotten something."

"Which is?"

"We usually fight as a team."

Antonius quickly took a look around:

Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and even Stormy all pawed the ground and grinned at him.
Fluttershy and Spike did not paw the ground, but they still grinned.

"Antonius," Twilight said with a huge smile on her face,
"I am quite positive that you are screwed now."

Antonius smiled back at her:

"We'll see."

"GET HIM!" Applejack shouted and a moment later Antonius was covered in ponies - and a dragon.

Of course, they could not get dangerous in any way; his power armor provided superior protection and with his own strength and his armor's servo system he could still move. The most difficult part for him actually was to keep down his reflexes and not just swat his little assailants.

Antonius had a look where the ponies were hanging at the moment:
Rainbow Dash, right arm.
Rarity, left arm.
Applejack and Twilight, torso.
Pinkie, left leg.
Stormy and Spike, right leg.

Where was Fluttershy?
He got the answer when he felt something warm at the back of his head and two hooves were shifted in front of his eyes.

"Sorry, I hope you don't mind me attacking you a bit, too," she said apologetically.

"Fluttershy, we are opponents! Stop being so friendly!" Rainbow mumbled,
"now, everypony, knock him over!"

Antonius felt the tug, and he had to make a stand against it, but it was not enough to make him lose his balance.
He slowly moved his arms, including the corresponding ponies, and grabbed Fluttershy. He took her off his neck and held her in front of him.

"Umm... I think your plan doesn't work," Fluttershy told her friends.

"Oh, come on!" Rainbow complained,
"we are 8 ponies, and we still don't stand a chance!"

"Are you really surprised?" Antonius asked her,
"no armor, no weapons. Of course you don't stand a chance! It would be a sad commentary on my armor if you had a chance!"

"He's right, girls," Twilight agreed,

"at the moment, we are no match for a Space Marine, at least in such a training. Against such a foe, we would normally use the Elements, but we can't do this now, so I think, we'll have to surrender again."

"You don't need to," Antonius told them,
"just let go, and we'll call this evaluation finished."

The ponies agreed and Antonius was 'free' again.

Now Celestia and Luna stepped up to them.

"You have done well, my little ponies," Celestia said,
"don't you agree, Antonius?"

"I agree. Your species has potential, even though some of your antics were... a bit strange.
Well, you don't give up easy and you know teamwork, these are important traits we can build on."

"We still got our butts kicked," Rainbow complained,
"a match mankind versus ponykind, and mankind won 8-0. No, even 9-0."

"Hmm," Celestia smiled,
"perhaps I can turn this 9-1. If you excuse me, please, I will get my armor and sword."

She turned around and left the room. The ponies were staring after her.

"Princess Celestia is going to fight you?" Rainbow shouted,
"awesome! Then we will at least get one victory!"

Well, Antonius had originally not planned fighting Celestia today, but he would not let this opportunity slip. He had already fought Luna and was curious if Celestia used a similar fighting style.

A few minutes later, Celestia came back. She had donned an elaborate golden armor which's individual parts looked like the wings of a swan. The sword she used was very slim and equally as elaborate as her armor. That was the first noteworthy difference: Luna had used a much broader sword.

"10 bits on the princess," Pinkie Pie shouted.

"20 bits on the princess!" Rainbow Dash cheered.

"Pinkie, Rainbow," Twilight said,
"if you want to bet, you need someone to bet against Princess Celestia. I don't think anypony is willing to do that."

"Umm, I would, but I don't have money" Stormy admitted.

"That's no problem, Stormy," Luna smiled,
"I'll bet against my sister with the sum of your stakes."

Aha, their sisterly rivalry came to light again.

Twilight looked a bit surprised, but then she said:

"If so: 50 bits on Princess Celestia!"

"50?" Applejack asked,
"That's too much for me, but I'm gonna bet 20."

Finally, Rarity and Spike bet 10 bits on Celestia and the princess and the Space Marine got ready to fight.

Now, Luna cleared her voice and spoke up:

"This will be a sword fight. No offensive magic. It will end as soon as one of you surrenders or is pinned down."

Then she turned to Antonius:

"Antonius, don't fool around. I've got quite some bits on you. Just sweep her off her hooves and we'll split the profit."

"The abundance of loyalty towards your big sister is duly noted, Luna," Celestia deadpanned and drew her sword.
"She is still right, Antonius. Don't hold back. I finally want to see if the praise you get is justified," she added with a smile.

"Are you sure?" Antonius asked.

"Of course."

Antonius nodded, put on his helmet and drew his chainsword.

"Whoa, that means business, doesn't it?" Applejack asked.

"Certainly," Luna smiled and shouted:
"Begin!"

Celestia slowly approached Antonius. She knew that the Space Marine was bigger and thoroughly trained, but she was also no slouch and had millennia of experience. She did not doubt that she could surprise her opponent in more than one way.

Antonius stomped towards her, the red eye lenses of his helmet glaring at her. She held her sword in front of her and waited for an opportunity to attack him.
When he was close enough, she stung forward at his' chest, but this attack did not work at all. He beat her sword away with so much force she almost lost her magical grip on it. At the same moment, he made a step forward and swung his sword towards her throat.
Celestia was shocked. Damned, he was fast!
The only thing she could do to prevent this fight from ending right at that moment was to teleport a few meters away.

"Okay, Antonius, point for y..." Celestia started, but she was interrupted as Antonius had almost immediately closed the distance and his sword came down on her.

She blocked the strike, but he pushed her back, her hooves sliding over the floor. She could as well have tried to stop a train.
Not only fast, also extremely strong. Crap. She teleported again.

Now she was standing near Twilight.

"Princess Celestia, what..." Twilight began, but Celestia interrupted her:

"No time to talk, Twilight!"

She was right. Antonius charged her again, swinging his chainsword. This time, she also charged, stabbing forward with her sword. Perhaps she could surprise him with a more aggressive tactic.
It didn't work. He deflected her attack with an upward strike, then his left hand shot forward and grabbed her armor. She realized that she had concentrated too much in his sword and right arm, neglecting his left hand. He now lifted her into the air, seemingly ignoring her weight. When he was about to smash her into the ground, she teleported again.

Celestia was directly behind him now and swung her sword. Perhaps that would surprise him.
No. Damnit.
Antonius spun around with an angry grunt and their swords met. Celestia's weapon, unfortunately, did not survive this clash: the metal broke and the severed blade fell clanking to the ground. The princess stumbled backwards - and teleported again.

It really was enough to drive her mad: Nothing seemed to work against him! She was at a loss. And more alarming: She felt fear. This armored giant was able to mop the floor with her, his angry grunt had also not been helping.
The only thing she could think of now to prevent him from defeating her at that very instant was to get out of his range, so she had teleported a few meters upward and was hovering now. Thankfully, he could not fly.

"Antonius..." she panted.

He did not wait for her to finish that sentence. He instead leapt for her and got hold of one of her hind hooves.
Damnit, she had not been high enough!
Antonius quickly pulled her down, floored her and pinned her to the ground with a knee on her chest armor. Finally, he put his chainsword to her throat.
The fight was over.
Celestia had lost.

Victory. Despite of his success, Antonius had to admit that he had liked his fight with Luna better. Well, Luna had not insisted that he should not hold back. This request of Celestia had made the fight a bit one-sided.

Luna casually walked up to them and declared:

"Antonius wins. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to ask him not to hold back."

Ah, Luna agreed in that opinion.

Celestia's expression was somewhere between surprised, incredulous and downright horrified.

"Can't deny that," she said.

Antonius stood up and helped her back to her hooves. Then he turned to the ponies. Their expressions were hilarious! There they stood, their mouths wide open, pure horror on their faces.

"What. The. Buck?" Applejack finally stammered.

"Princess Celestia... has lost," Twilight said in an almost heartbroken tone.

"Indeed," Celestia confirmed,
"that was a storm I could not abide. The praise you get, Antonius, is indeed justified. Well, since I'm already wearing my armor, would you agree to fight a normal training match? And would you hold back this time? I just need a new sword."

"With pleasure, Celestia," Antonius agreed.

While the ponies were paying their debts to a grinning Luna, a servant brought a new - broader -sword and they fought again.
Antonius' first assessment during their initial fight had been correct: she was a bit stronger than Luna, but she lacked her overall fighting prowess. Her attacks were too predictable and lacked in variation. Luna was, all told, a more dangerous opponent.
Antonius gave Celestia some advice how to improve, and she did her best to follow them, but she occasionally fell back into her old patterns. She wasn't bad, but still not as good as her younger sister.
They ended the fight after about fifteen minutes.

"We should do this regularly from now on," Antonius told her,
"you need to improve your skills."

Celestia nodded.

"Agreed. But now, before we retire, after you have thoroughly tested us, I would like to test you."

"In what way?"

"Just wait a minute, and you shall see. I'll prepare the test and take off my armor. "

She left the room.

"Hmm. I'm not too fond of surprises," Antonius muttered.

A few minutes later, Celestia came back, the box of the Elements in her magical grasp, and declared solemnly:

"The Elements of Harmony!"

"What exactly do you want to do with them?" Antonius asked cautiously.

"The Elements of Harmony react to a pony's personality. They work with the Element Bearers because they are their embodiments. Now, I would like to know how much of each Element is in you," Celestia explained,
"I suggest we use the same order in which you tested the Element Bearers, so the first Element will be the Element of Loyalty. Please hold out your hand."

"Will the Elements - or your magic - influence me in any way?" Antonius asked.

"No, don't worry. We will just see how the Element reacts to you. Who knows, there is even a minimum probability that you are another embodiment of an Element and thus able to use it," Celestia smirked.

Well, that was interesting. Was it possible that humans could use this anti-Chaos-weapon themselves?
That was a question worth investigating, even if it meant to partake in some sort of magic ritual. He was not really comfortable with this test - not at all - but he decided to do it anyway.

Antonius held out his hand and Celestia put the Element of Loyalty into it. Then, her horn started glowing. The same yellow glow appeared around his hand and - to everyone's surprise - the Element also lit up. A bold red shine.

"Well, I honestly didn't expect this result. The Element reacts to you in an outstanding way. Antonius, that means that you are extraordinary loyal, perhaps even loyal enough to wield the Element of Loyalty!"

So, an alien artifact attested to him that he was loyal. Was that a good or a bad sign?

"So, Antonius is the new Rainbow Dash?" Spike suddenly asked.

"Hey, there is only one Rainbow Dash," Rainbow stated.

"Of course, my little pony, you are still the Bearer of the Element of Loyalty," Celestia explained,
"but in case of an emergency, it might be worth a try to let Antonius wield your Element."

Well, that really was interesting: You did probably not unconditionally need ponies to wield the Elements of Harmony, humans with appropriate character traits could also work.
So you just had to find humans who were the embodiments of loyalty, honesty, generosity, kindness and laughter, as well as some kind of friendship-psyker, and they all had to become friends somehow...
...
On a second though, you still needed ponies.

Celestia's horn stopped glowing and so did the Element. She put it back in the box and said:

"Now, the Element of Honesty."

This time, the result was a bit different. The Element still lit up, though by far not as bright as the Element of Loyalty had.

"Seems your Element calls me a liar," Antonius commented drily.

"Perhaps it found some white lies," Celestia teased,
"don't worry, though, it is still bright enough for you to be trustworthy."

"Oh, what a relief," he deadpanned.

"Now, the Element of Generosity," she said with a smile.

This Element also lit up, but even less bright than its predecessor had.

"When it comes to generosity, you are obviously just mediocrity," Celestia stated.

She had way too much fun with this.

"Strange, I've always been generous sending bolts to the enemies of mankind," Antonius quipped.

Celestia did not laugh now.

"Now, kindness," she said quickly.

About the same result as generosity. The Element though he was kind in some way?
Antonius thought about everything he had done on this planet, especially accepting to take care of Stormy. Damned, that thing was probably right.

"Laughter," Celestia announced.

The least bright Element up to now.

"Too bad," Pinkie said sadly,
"you don't seem to like fun."

"Maybe the Element and I just have different definitions of fun," Antonius pointed out.

"Okay, now for the last Element: The Element of Magic!" Celestia declared.

Antonius was sure about this result: No light, no glow, nothing. He wasn't a psyker, let alone a pony psyker, after all.
He was very surprised as the Element proved him wrong: A faint glow, not very bright, but undeniably a glow.

"Huh?!? Your Element must be broken. I am absolutely sure I do not have any magic!" he stated.

"Well," Twilight began to speak,
"you have formed friendships here, and - as everypony knows - friendship is magic!"

"WHAT???"

Oh, damnit. This insight was... worrying, to say the least.

"Do you mean by befriending me, you corrupted me with your magic?" Antonius asked.

"We did not 'corrupt' you" Twilight told him indignantly,
"this magic you dislike so much is the spark of friendship you feel when you realize that you like and care for somepony."

"All right, all right - can I get it out somehow?"

"Antonius," Luna said reassuringly,
"I swear that you did not get 'corrupted', and there is no need to 'get something out'.
Here in Equestria, friendship and magic are closely interconnected. The Element of Magic just detects the feeling of friendship inside you, and that's nothing bad. Or do you now think our friendship to be abominable?"

Antonius took a deep breath. The Element of Magic had reacted to him. There was equestrian magic somewhere inside him. But this magic was apparently nothing he would call magic, but rather friendship, which was - for some strange reasons - the same around here.
Whoa.
He really wished he had a librarian at hand to check him for corruption, but there was none.
Now, he had to make a decision: Would he trust the ponies and live with this friendship/magic, or would he not be able to do that? He thought about his self-imposed mission concerning the Elements and about the threat the ponies could possibly pose with their magic.
Well, he had been willing to make use of their healing magic and of the Elements of Harmony. He was already dealing with their magic, he even planned to use it for mankind. This friendship/magic inside him was just another step down that road - even if it really was magic.
In the worst case, it would cost his life and the contact of humans to ponies had to be severely restricted or forbidden. Not too high a price for the continued existence of mankind and the destruction of Chaos.
Perhaps, it was not magic, just friendship, and he had already justified befriending them - at least to himself.

Antonius looked at Luna. He could see her concealed tension and a tad of insecurity in her eyes.

"I am proud of our friendship, Luna," he finally said.

Luna relaxed again immediately.

"I'd need a much better - or worse - reason to contest it. If friendship here is actually magic, I will also survive that," he added with a smile.

"Your sense of humor is a bit weird at times," Twilight stated.

"Thank you," Antonius answered.

"Antonius, before we part for today, I have a request," Celestia said,
"now that you are a part of our society, the ponies of Equestria should get to know more about you and your species. Could you please write down the history of mankind? The important parts at least? We will copy your writings and make them publically available."

"Of course, good idea."

"Well, I think we are done. I'll retire now. Good night."

"Retiring is an excellent idea. We should savor our last night in Canterlot with a prolonged beauty sleep!" Rarity smiled.

"I wouldn't call that 'savor', but going to bed sure is a fine idea," Applejack opined.

So, everyone bid goodnight and retired, while Luna got ready for her duties. Stormy took place on Antonius' pauldron and they left the throne room.
Once in their quarters, they got ready for the night and went to bed. This time, Stormy chose Antonius' cushion as a resting place, her back against his cheek. Antonius had to smile. It was strange, but he could really get used to that.

Luna decided to pay her sister a visit. She entered her chambers just as she wanted to go to bed.

"Hello, Luna. Is there something you want to talk about?" Celestia asked.

"Yes, I wanted to thank you for making me win my bet," Luna smiled.

"Luna, that was not funny. Have you seen that? Incredible!"

"Indeed. He was able to lift you."

"Luna! Not funny! This fight was a frightening experience! He did not even give me a chance to breath. And his strength!
Really, if he was evil, we would be in serious trouble."

"But he is not evil."

"No, he isn't. He is martial, and he sometimes shows a quite crude sense of humor, but he is not evil."

"What gave you the idea to test him with the Elements?"

"You know, Luna, Antonius is something like the embodiment of war, the opposite to our peaceful philosophy. I was just curious how the Elements would react to him."

"I'd say they reacted quite positive."

"Yes, they did. Fascinating, isn't it? Despite all our differences, the qualities we value most are present in mankind, present in this warrior."

23. Another day in Ponyville

Antonius woke up before sunrise, but he stayed in bed to avoid waking up Stormy, who was lying half on his shoulder now. He used the time to plan his next steps.
Today, they would be in Ponyville again to give Stormy an opportunity to spend some time with the Cutie Mark Crusaders. In the meantime, he would... do something else. Perhaps one of Twilight's friends needed some help. Or he would just look for a quiet place and work through the base's data.
His maintenance had to wait until tomorrow. Time was not dire as long as he didn't have fuel, after all.

When Stormy finally was awake, they got ready for the day and went to the dining room. The ponies and dragon were already present.

"Good morning!" they greeted.

"I hear you want to visit Ponyville again today," Celestia told Antonius,
"your chariot is ready and waiting. Have you planned anything special for today?"

"No, not exactly," he said,
"Stormy wants to spend time with her friends, and I'll find something useful to do."

"If you run out of useful things to do, we at Sweet Apple Acres can always need some help," Applejack said,
"you can also have lunch with us, if you like."

Okay, so they would stay in Ponyville until lunch at least.

"Umm... if you would like some tea in the afternoon, you could come to my cottage," Fluttershy offered.

Until tea. Well, guess Stormy would get enough time with the other fillies.

"Thank you, both of you. I'll accept your offers."

After breakfast, the ponies got ready to leave. Antonius went to Luna, saluted and asked with a smile:

"Any special orders for today, Princess?"

"Don't exaggerate my role that much. Just have fun," Luna smiled in return.

The chariots took them to the Ponyville market square where they parted ways. Applejack took Stormy along to the Crusaders' clubhouse and Antonius started strolling through the town.
He had just decided to go find a quiet place and work through the base's data for an hour before going to Sweet Apple Acres to help there, as he heard a panicked scream:

"The Horror! The Horror!"

A Horror? Here? Now?
Shit.

The scream had come from behind a house. Antonius immediately charged. Once he had reached the house, he whipped out his chainsword and activated it. He dashed around the corner, waving his roaring sword and shouting

"Begone, foul creature!"

To his surprise, he just saw three mares - the same mares he had encountered when he had first come to Ponyville. They stared at him, frozen in shock.

"Where is the Horror?" he demanded to know.

They did not answer, they just fainted. Antonius quickly looked around and examined the ground. No traces of Horrors. He also couldn't hear any noise those daemons usually made.

Shit. False alarm again.
They had meant 'horror', not 'Horror', although he wasn't able to find something that deserved the name 'horror', either.

He deactivated his sword and put it back to his hip.
Now, he had to deal with those three unconscious ponies. He approached one of them and carefully shook her. She opened her eyes, stared at him for a second, and fainted again.
Oh great. He obviously needed help.

Hmm... Lyra lived nearby. Perhaps she could provide this help. Antonius picked up the mares and went to Lyra's house.
He carefully knocked at the door with his boot - his hands were full of ponies - and waited. A few seconds later, Lyra opened the door and greeted:

"Oh, hello Antonius! It's nice to..."

Then she burst into laughter.

"Ha ha! You made them faint again! How have you done it this time?"

Antonius quickly told her the story, which made her laugh even harder.

"Could I perhaps come in and put them down?" he asked slightly impatient.

"Of course, put them onto the couch!"

Once he had done so, Bon Bon appeared in the door to the living room.

"Lyra, what ruckus are you making a... Antonius?" she said with surprise.

"Yeah, he who makes the mares faint," Lyra fooled around.

Great. Now even normal ponies started with that stuff.

"Huh? What have you done?" Bon Bon asked.

Lyra told her the story. Then both of them laughed.
Antonius cleared his voice.

"Sorry, Antonius," Lyra smiled,
"but that is too funny. You really should be more relaxed. If there is a something dangerous around here, Twilight Sparkle and her friends usually deal with it."

"It is not my nature to sit back and let others do the fighting for me," Antonius stated.

"Still, you should take it easy, even if you want to set a good example for the PDF you are going to command."

"So you already know. How?"

"Newspaper. Let me ask you a question: Will there be troop entertainment? I can play my lyre quite well."

"Troop entertainment? Not really, no."

"Pity! Then I won't be able to join, since I'm not much of a fighter. Hey, you could still test us! I bet this will be fun!"

"Lyra, are you mad?" Bob Bon asked.

"Come on, Bon Bon! You will like it! Let's go to the garden!"

Antonius was sure this would be another derailed test, but being picky would not help him, and if he could do her a favor, then be it. So, the three went to the garden.

Antonius took position at one end of the small lawn, the two mares went to the other end.

"I'll go first!" Lyra shouted and started running towards Antonius.

As she came closer, she slowed down until she stood in front of the Space Marine.

"Umm... Antonius?"

He looked down at her.

"Yes?"

"How is a nice little unicorn mare supposed to attack somepony like... you?"

Antonius started smiling.

"I don't know... magic, perhaps?"

"Magic? I can play my lyre with my telekinesis. In addition to that, I can use my horn to light dark places. I don't think I can play or glow you into defeat."

"Then, you could improvise, or, if you don't want to try anymore, you can surrender."

Lyra thought about that for a second, then she tentatively knocked at Antonius shin armor.

"Hmm... that's really hard... I think I'll surrender," she finally said, then she walked to her friend.

"Your turn, Bon Bon," Lyra told her cheerfully.

"I have no idea why I let you drag me into such things..." Bon Bon mumbled.

"Because we are friends!" Lyra cheered,
"and now: avenge me!"

Whoa. Lyra obviously liked drama, too.

Bon Bon sighed, then she smiled at Lyra and charged at Antonius.
He just extended a hand to grab her once she was close enough. He did not expect this head-on attack to be promising.

When Bon Bon was close to his hand, she made some kind of sliding backflip, bringing her hind hooves directly under his arm. Then she bucked, hitting it and forcing it upwards a few centimeters.
Antonius could hear his armor's servos as they compensated the hit. To add insult to injury, Bon Bon slid under his legs and was now behind him.

Antonius was baffled. That was an unconventional and highly effective attack. He had underestimated that pony - thoroughly. A mistake. A mistake he would not repeat.
His transhumanism kicked in and he made a dodge roll. Right in time, for as he looked back, he saw his opponent bucking the air where he had been standing just a fraction of a second before. He finished the roll and attacked immediately.
Bon Bon tried to dodge, but now that he was fully alert, he quickly caught her. She tried to escape his grasp for a second, but seeing that to be useless, she relaxed and said:

"Okay, you got me. I surrender."

Instead of putting her down, Antonius held her at eye-level so that he could face her.

"What the hell, Bon Bon?" he asked,
"that was a surprisingly good attack. You do have some sort of combat experience. How so?"

She tensed a bit and gave him a forced smile.

"Well, a mare has got to be able to defend herself, right? " she said.

"Your attack was designed to be aimed at creatures bigger than you. Do such creatures appear that often around here?"

Her smile became even more forced.

"Umm... yes?"

"Well," Lyra, who had walked up to them, told Antonius now,
"with all the creatures in the Everfree, it is really possible that such a thing could happen. And I know Bon Bon very well, she likes to be prepared for everything..."

Now she turned to her friend:

"...but I had no idea that you could fight like that! Awesome! Can you teach me how to do that?"

"I can try - a bit at least," Bon Bon answered.

Antonius put her down.

"My congratulations," he said,
"you appear to be a capable fighter. If you would like to join the PDF, I will put in a good word for you."

"Awesome!" Lyra shouted, but then she continued in a much calmer way:
"But... that would mean that you'd go away..."

"Don't worry, Lyra," Bon Bon reassured her,
"I won't leave. I have my sweets shop, and I am contend with it. Sorry, Antonius, but I'll stay in Ponyville. No hard feelings?"

"Not at all," Antonius answered,
"I just mention that possibility when I find a pony that looks promising. I'm not here to conscript anyone."

"Glad to hear that. Now, let's go back inside and look after our three guests. Perhaps they have woken up by now."

The mares were still unconscious. Lyra and Bon Bon needed a few minutes to wake them up.
Then Lyra said:

"Okay, to prevent something like that from happening again, we should properly introduce you first. Antonius, these are Rose, Daisy and Lily Valley. Girls, this is Antonius."

"Greetings," Antonius said.

The three mares mumbled greetings in return and huddled together on the couch.

"So," Lyra stated cheerfully,
"now that that is done, you do not need to be afraid of Antonius anymore. See, he's just a normal pony... on a second thought, no, he isn't a pony at all, but... well... you know what I mean."

The mares just nodded in return.

"Oh, come on," Lyra continued,
"he is not that scary."

"Oh, yeah," Rose finally said,
"I'd like to see you when a freaky giant jumps around the corner, screaming and waving this huge, roaring sword-thing! Oh, no offense..."

"None taken. It was not my intention to startle you. I thought you were in danger and wanted to help. The 'screaming' was to draw the attention of the attacker," Antonius clarified.

"In danger? Attacker?" Lily Valley asked,
"sorry, uh... Antonius, but why did you think we were in danger?"

He cleared his voice, then he quoted in a matter-of-fact tone:

"The Horror. The Horror."

The three stared at him for a second.

"Oh, my bad," Lily then admitted with a sheepish smile,
"but one of my lilies broke off. That IS a disaster, after all!"

"I discern that our definitions of 'disaster' are not quite the same," Antonius stated drily.

Now Lyra and Bon Bon fetched Cookies and other sweets, probably to create some kind of 'cozy get-together'. Despite this catering, Rose, Daisy and Lily soon left to attended to their flower-business again.

"Well, that certainly was an interesting incident," Antonius opined when they had left.

"Yeah, but I don't think they've gotten used to you yet," Bon Bon said.

"Might need a few more... months," Lyra smiled,
"hey, you could buy some flowers from time to time - you should take along some cushions, though."

Bon Bon chuckled for a second, then she nudged Lyra:

"Lyra, that was rude. Funny, but rude."

Lyra just smiled and asked:

"Antonius, why are you in Ponyville today? Can we help you in some way?"

"No, thank you," Antonius answered,
"I'm just... dawdling away to give a filly under my care, named Stormy Skies, an opportunity to spend time with her friends."

"Hey, that's really nice! Do you know where to go for lunch?"

"Sweet Apple Acres."

"Tea?"

"Fluttershy."

"Dinner?"

"No plans yet. Is that an invitation?"

"You bet!"

Okay, so he would stay the whole day in Ponyville, since he didn't want to decline Lyra's invitation. This pony had been very useful up to this point, and if he could do her a favor by just having dinner with her and her friend, he certainly would do it. This invitation had to be extended, though:

"May I bring Stormy along?"

"Of course! We'd like to get to know her. By the way, is there any pony food you can't eat?"

"None that I know of. Just dish up whatever you want, I'm sure there will be no problem."

"And after dinner, we could read another story about humanity - or two."

A smile crept onto Antonius' features. Her enthusiasm for mankind really was commendable.

"Certainly possible," he said.

Lyra was all smiles.

A few minutes later, Antonius said goodbye and took the road towards Sweet Apple Acres. Once there, he would help Applejack and later find a quiet place to work through the base's data.

When he arrived at the farm, he was greeted by Applejack:

"Hello, Antonius! You're coming right in time!"

"More Apples to harvest?" he asked.

"Yes, but Big Mac and Granny Smith are already busy with that. I've got a field to plow today and could need a little help. If you would rather help harvesting apples..."

"No, plowing is fine - I think."

"Good! Just follow me."

A short time later, they had reached the field. There was a primitive plow, not much more than a plowshare with an attached yoke.

"There we are," Applejack said,
"I'll pull, you'll push, and we'll have this field done in no time!"

She put the joke on and started pulling.

"Umm, excuse me, Applejack," Antonius interjected,
"but there is no handle I could use, and this plow is so small, I'd have to skid around on my knees to push it effectively."

Applejack stopped.

"Hmm, guess you are right," she admitted,
"but if I bind a rope to the joke, we could pull together, don't you think?"

"Worth a shot."

Now Applejack looked a bit uncertain.

"Do you mean it's worth a try, or do you mean you'll shoot me if..."

"WORTH A TRY! Worth a try, damnit!" Antonius exclaimed.

Applejack sighed.

"Sorry. I know you're our friend, but honestly: the events of yesterday have left a bit of an impression."

"What do you mean? My fight against Celestia?"

"Yeah! I mean, she's our Princess, and she didn't stand a chance!"

"Well, it was a fight without offensive magic. I'm sure it would have been harder for me if she had been allowed to use her powers."

"Maybe. It just was so... creepy. She could barely defend herself and you didn't even give her time to catch her breath."

"Please remember that she told me not to hold back."

"I know, I know. Still, it was impossible to see that and not get afraid of you."

Wonderful. Simply wonderful. Twilight and her friends were the only ponies able to wield the Elements of Harmony, and the most important ponies he had to stay on good terms with. And, what had he done? Frightened them. Well, done, really.

"Applejack," he said calmly,
"I'd need a very, VERY good reason for attacking a pony. As long as you don't get crazy and state that you want to annihilate mankind, we should get along fine. Now that I think about it, even then I would probably first try to find out why the hell you would say something like that and try to get rid of this reason."

"Hmm. Well, we should better get the rope."

They went to the farm and searched for a fitting rope. It did not take them long to find one and they returned to the field. Once back, Applejack tied the rope to the joke.

"Okay, Antonius, are you ready?" she asked as she put the joke on.

Antonius grabbed the rope and answered:

"Ready."

"Then, let's go."

So Antonius started pulling. Just a second later, he heard Applejack shout:

"Stop! That doesn't work!"

Antonius looked back and had to agree: When the rope was taut, the joke was lifted so far above the ground that Applejack could barely stand on her hind hooves.

"Hmm. Crap. How about that: I pull and you take care that the furrows are straight?" he suggested.

"You would still pull the plow upward."

"We could counter that by placing you as weight on the plow."

"Me? As weight? You mean I'm supposed to just sit there while you are doing all the work? No, that's not how I was raised."

"Well, honestly, I'm doing quite a lot of things I wasn't raised for as of late."

"Oh, right. Hmm, okay, let's try your idea."

Applejack jumped onto the plow and Antonius grabbed the rope again.

"Giddyap!" she suddenly shouted.

He immediately turned around to face her.

"Just kidding," she quickly added.

"To make one thing clear, Applejack: I'm the human, you're the pony... but I'm also the one drawing the thing you are sitting on... crap."

Applejack laughed.

"I take it that in your Imperium ponies usually draw humans?"

"Well, equines are used as draft animals and mounts, at least where they still exist."

"Whoa, hold on a second: Those equines put up with that?"

"Yes; they are just animals, nowhere near as intelligent or sapient as you are."

"Just animals?"

"Livestock, to be exact."

"Oh. And I thought being seen as a pet was unfortunate."

"You are neither livestock nor a pet. You're an alien. That's actually worse," Antonius grinned.

"Well, in Equestria, you are the alien," Applejack smiled back.

"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled.

"Joking aside, do you want me to pull the plow now?"

"That's not necessary. Let's get going."

When they had finished plowing the field, Applejack told him:

"Not bad. Your idea worked well."

"Hmm. I hope it wasn't too exhausting for you," Antonius quipped.

"Nope," she smiled,
"I would let you ride back to the farm as a reward, but I'm afraid I might end up as pancake if we tried."

"Probably."

"Then, let's use our hooves and... feet, right?"

"Right."

"Could you please take the plow?" Applejack asked with a sheepish smile.

"You are really pushing it today, hmm?" Antonius laughed and grabbed the plow, lifting it without much effort.

Together, they returned to the farm. Once the plow was stowed away, they helped harvesting apples, enabling Granny Smith to take care of the lunch.

Right on time for the meal, Stormy and the Cutie Mark Crusaders arrived.

"Hello, Stormy," Antonius greeted her,
"having fun?"

"Oh, yeah!" the filly answered,
"it's great here! How long can we stay today?"

"The whole day. We've been invited for dinner by Lyra and Bon Bon. Until then, you can spend time with your friends. What are you doing, anyway?"

Antonius noticed that Applejack, Big Mac and Granny Smith quickly covered their ears. He immediately got to know why.

"WE ARE TRYING TO GET OUR CUTIE MARKS! YAY!!!" the four fillies shouted.

"Umm... okay," Antonius said.

They had not really answered his question, but what could four children do? Play. Probably.

After lunch, he asked:

"Stormy, you would rather spend time with your friends than have tea at Fluttershy's, right?"

"Umm, yes, if I may," Stormy answered.

"Of course. Just be back in Ponyville for dinner. We'll meet at Lyra's house. Have fun - and take care."

"Don't worry, Antonius," Apple Bloom assured him,
"nopony ever got hurt while we were crusading."

"Yep. They just had to duck, or roll, or something like that," Sweetie Belle added with an innocent smile.

Before Antonius could ask what exactly she had meant, the fillies were already running into the orchard.

"Hmm. Well, they are having fun and getting some fresh air," he mumbled.

"I already told you that you don't need to worry," Applejack said,
"you'll see, when you meet them again, they'll be perfectly fine. Now, do you have any plans what to do until tea?"

"I'll look for a quiet place to work through..."

He was interrupted by a scream:

"ANTONIUS!"

That was Pinkie Pie. A moment later, the pink menace came running through the farm's gate and shouted at Antonius' face:

"Antonius, you must come with we! Hurry! It's super urgent!"

He jumped to his feet and they rushed back to Ponyville. Pinkie led him directly to a house that looked like oversized pastry.

"What is that?" he asked.

"Sugarcube Corner," Pinkie explained without slowing down,
"I live and work there."

Hmm, what cruel fate could this place have fallen prey to? It looked pretty normal - aside from the fact that it looked like pastry.

Pinkie jumped into the house and Antonius squeezed through the door. Once inside, she ran to a table and shouted:

"Quick, Antonius, come here!"

He had already drawn his sword and was at the table within a second. Still, he could neither see nor hear anything even remotely dangerous - except Pinkie, perhaps.

Pinkie grabbed a cooking spoon and scooped up some batter from a bowl that was standing on the table. She held it out to Antonius and said:

"Try it!"

Antonius just stared at her, gobsmacked.

"That's it?" he asked incredulously,
"that's the emergency? Are you kidding me?"

"Not at all, this is an emergency! The batter will deflate if it stands around for too long!"

Throne on Terra, that pony was... indescribable.

"Pinkie! That is by no means a real emergency! Trying some batter, that's..."

He sighed.

"Okay, you know, all right..."

Well, now that he was here, he could also try that damned batter. He put the sword back to his hip, grabbed the cooking spoon and tried.

"Good; high nutrition value. Wrap batter?" Antonius asked.

"Not exactly. It's a variant for another dish. Thank you for trying, now I know it's okay."

"Well, anytime, but next time, just tell me what's going on in the first place, okay?"

"Okie dokie lokie!"

Now Pinkie started pushing Antonius towards the door.

"You know, I am really busy at the moment. Thank you for your help! See you soon!"

Antonius left Sugarcube corner. What a strange incident. Perhaps now, however, he would find some time to work through the base's data.
Or not.

"Hey, Antonius!"

That was Rainbow's voice. He looked in the direction where it has come from and saw her approaching quickly.

"Hello! Good that I found you. Rarity is looking for you. She's quite frantic," she told him.

"Frantic? Do you know what happened?" Antonius asked her.

"No. I guess it's nothing too important, but you still should visit her."

So Antonius went to Rarity's boutique and knocked, Rainbow in tow.

Rarity opened the door and exclaimed:

"Antonius! It's a good thing you are here! I need your help!"

They entered the house and Rarity explained:

"You know that I promised to design clothes for you. Unfortunately, I ran into a problem: I don't have a fitting mannequin! Could you perhaps step in?"

"RUUUUUN!!!" Rainbow Dash screamed and darted out of the boutique.

"Hmpf. Rainbow did that just once," Rarity told him,
"and it wasn't that bad for her. Getting her to stand still, on the other hoof... well, be that as it may, are you going to help me?"

"You didn't have a mannequin when you made the pajamas," Antonius stated.

"Yes, but pajamas are not meant for public use, these clothes are! Furthermore, I was in a bit of a hurry back then."

"Another suggestion: I'll help you build a fitting mannequin. Agreed?"

"Oh, that's a splendid idea! Let's see what we need... wood and foam should suffice to build an improvised mannequin. Could you go to Applejack and ask for the wood? I'll take care of the foam in the meantime."

A short time - and an amused Applejack - later, they started their work. They built a wooden frame and covered it with fitted foam until the resembling shape looked approximately like a Space Marine.

Rarity took measurements and Antonius cut the foam until she was content.

"Well, not bad, I have to say. It will certainly be enough to complete your clothes. Thank you for your help, Antonius," she said.

"No problem. I have to admit, though, that this is one of the stranger things I have done up till now," Antonius answered.

"Strange or not strange, the main thing is that it works. Oh, and we are just in time for you to go to Fluttershy for your tea. Goodbye, Antonius! I hope to see you again soon!"

Antonius said goodbye and left for Fluttershy's cottage.

He knocked at the door and waited, but there was no response. Perhaps he was a bit early?
His indoctrinated alertness made itself felt. He carefully pushed against the door. It wasn't locked. He suppressed the urge to grab his chainsword and slowly entered the cottage.
It was, all told, nice and cozy. Unusual were the accommodations for various animals that were virtually everywhere.

"Fluttershy? Are you here?" he asked, but did not receive a response.

He looked around the house.
Still no sign of Fluttershy, so he took his auspex and scanned the area for vital signs.
There was a pony vital sign - below him.

Below? A basement? Probably a basement. He looked for stairs that led down.
When he could not find any inside the house, he examined the outside. Same result.
So there was a pony in a non-accessible basement. That did not really make sense.
He entered the cottage again and thought about his findings.

A secret passage? That would be an explanation, but why should Fluttershy, of all ponies, have such a thing?
Antonius remembered the old proverb 'still waters run deep', but what could she been hiding? A dark secret?

The vital sign started moving. It came upwards until it was directly in front of him, behind a shelf below the stairs to the first floor. Said shelf swung open like a door and revealed Fluttershy. Her eyes went wide as she saw him and she froze.

"Excuse my intrusion," Antonius slowly said,
"but nobody answered the door and it wasn't locked."

Fluttershy did not answer. A white bunny on her back darted him a nasty glance, though.

"You have a secret basement? That's... well... a bit unusual, isn't it?" Antonius continued.

Still no answer.

"Oh, come on, Fluttershy! You're not some sort of crazy serial killer or something, are you?"

He had meant it solely as a joke, but Fluttershy turned around and dashed down the passageway again.

Now, Antonius was curious and squeezed through the shelf-door. Going down the stairs, he stepped into a basement full of... knitting???
So Fluttershy's dark secret was knitting. Antonius almost wished he was a bit more surprised by that.

He took a look around. No Fluttershy to be seen.

"Fluttershy," he said,
"please come out. Why are you hiding at all? Is knitting illegal around here? If it is - which would be really strange in my opinion - I promise I won't tell anyone."

No response. At least not from Fluttershy. The white bunny he had seen earlier appeared from behind a tree-like something and tried to shoo him away. He ignored the animal and asked:

"So, umm, knitting is you hobby?"

Still no reaction. Antonius took a look at the different knitting works.

"Not bad. You got talent. Hey, this one is very nice," he said and stepped over to a small, round, blue, different something with two big eyes and four wings lying on a shelf.

"Do you sell them? I would buy one for Stormy - if I had money, that is."

A heap of knitting yarn started moving and revealed two eyes.

"You like my knitting works?" Fluttershy asked in surprise.

"Sure, and again: excuse my intrusion. I thought something might be wrong," he answered, then he mumbled:
"Well, at least I did not charge through the door this time."

Fluttershy slowly came out of the heap.

"Oh, it's okay, I think, I just don't want anypony to know that I have this room," she said.

"For any particular reason?"

"Don't you think this is a bit... strange?"

"I'm positive this is one of the least strange things I have seen since I'm on this planet."

"Well, I still don't want anypony to know. Please keep it a secret."

"No problem. Just out of curiosity: what is this?"

"That's a parasprite. They real ones are cute, fluffy, adorable, eat everything in sight and multiply at a terrifying rate."

Antonius took a look at Fluttershy, then he eyed the knitted parasprite again.

"Oh, okay..."

"Do you want to have it for Stormy?"

"Actually, yes, but - as I said - I don't have money, and I thought you wanted to keep your knitting a secret."

"You don't need money. It's a gift. About my secret: Just tell her you bought it in Ponyville."

"Without money?"

"Umm... right."

"I'll tell her the truth: It is a present from you. I don't think she will ask where you got it from."

"And if she asks?"

"Then I'll tell her I don't know."

"That'd be a lie."

"I'm not the Element of Honesty. I may lie. Or do you want me to tell the truth?"

"Umm... no. I think this little lie will do no harm. Thank you."

"No, thank you," Antonius answered and carefully picked up the parasprite.

They went upstairs again and Fluttershy told the bunny:

"Angel, next time remind me to lock the door - and the windows - before we go down again."

Then she turned to Antonius:

"Oh, right, I did not introduce you yet: Angel, this is Antonius, Antonius, this is Angel, my pet bunny."

The little brat stuck out his tongue.

"Pleasure," Antonius commented mockingly.

"Now, Angel," Fluttershy scolded him,
"don't be rude to our guest."

It was truly unbelievable how such a little creature could sport such a death glare.

"Angel! Sorry, Antonius, Angel can be a little... complicated sometimes. Perhaps you two could try to become friends while I prepare the tea, okay?"

She left the room and the Space Marine and the bunny were alone. Antonius put the parasprite on a table and sat down next to it.

"And? Are we going to befriend each other?" Antonius asked.

Angel came closer - and stuck out his tongue again. Unfortunately - for him - he had underestimated Antonius' range. Antonius quickly closed his hand around the bunny's body and picked him up. A fair amount of surprise was added to the creatures glare.

Antonius wondered what he should do now. Then he had an idea: Test number one!
So he started scratching the back of Angels nose. It actually worked: The glare vanished and was replaced with a content grin. Antonius even opened his hand and Angel kept sitting on it, enjoying the scratches.

A short time later, Fluttershy came back with the tea and some cupcakes.

"I see you get along now," she said with a smile,
"Oh, do you want to have a pet of your own? There are bunnies, cats, cute little..."

"No!" Antonius interrupted,
"no pet, Fluttershy. I have neither the time nor the urge to have a pet! Furthermore, I'm not really the type to have a pet."

"Umm... okay, but that would be much more believable if you weren't cuddling Angel."

Antonius looked down on his hands.
Crap.

He stopped scratching the bunny and got a disappointed look in return. So, he continued scratching him.
Fluttershy giggled.

"Just tell me if you change your mind, I have a lot of animals here and I'm sure they would love to be your pet!"

"Agreed. By the way, where do you get them from? Angel here, for example?"

"Angel? Oh, I found him a few years ago. The poor thing had gotten lost and was sitting all alone in front of a cave of some predator. Bones everywhere! Luckily, I was able to rescue him without the creature noticing."

Finally, Antonius got his hands free again and they had tea.
At his request, Fluttershy told him about the adventures she and her friends had had up to this point. They really experienced quite a lot, to put it mildly.

Time flew and it slowly got time for dinner, so Antonius picked up the parasprite, thanked Fluttershy for the present and the tea, said goodbye and went to Lyra's house.

She welcomed him with a smile, and a delicious scent of food was in the air.

"Hello, Antonius! Dinner is ready in about half an hour. You did not bring Stormy?" she asked.

"I told her to be here for dinner. She should arrive any moment." Antonius answered.

"Does she know where we are?"

"She's with the Cutie Mark Crusaders. They know where you live, don't they?"

"Of course they do. Well, let's give them a few more minutes. Come in in the meantime."

Lyra led Antonius into the living room, then she asked:

"Antonius, may I ask what it is that you are carrying along in your hand?"

Antonius opened his hand and showed Lyra the knitted parasprite.

"A little present for Stormy. I got it from Fluttershy."

"Ah! This is so cute! I bet she'll be happy. Knitted parasprites are okay, live ones - not that much. Pie gobbling pests. Umm... you need a gift wrapper. Just a second..."

Lyra fetched a little box and a ribbon, then they wrapped up the parasprite and put the box on a nearby shelf. Now Lyra shuttled between keeping Antonius company and helping Bon Bon in the kitchen.

A few minutes later, they heard a knock on the door. Since Lyra was not available at the moment, Antonius went to answer the door.
Fortunately, it were the Crusaders, Stormy included.
Unfortunately, they were covered in tree sap.

"Hello, fillies," Antonius greeted them,
"may I ask you how that happened?"

"Long story," Apple Bloom told him,
"I guess we won't get our marks in ornithology."

"This happened when you were climbing trees to watch birds?"

"No, it happened when we were falling from trees while watching birds," Scootaloo added a bit miffed.

"Are all of you all right?" Antonius asked.

"Hmm. Just a bit sticky," Apple Bloom answered.

Stormy looked really guilty.

"Sorry," she muttered.

"No real harm done," Antonius reassured her, bent down and patted her back.

On a second thought, that was not the most intelligent thing to do. Now, Stormy stuck to his right hand. He got up again, the little mare stuck to his palm.

"Well, that's sort of suboptimal..." Antonius mumbled.

At that moment, Lyra joined the group.

"Hello, fillies! Did you have a nice... time... huh? Is that tree sap?"

"It is," Sweetie Belle told her.

Lyra went up to Stormy - still hanging under Antonius' hand - and smiled:

"Hello, you must be Stormy. I'm Lyra. It's nice to meet you."

"Hello," Stormy returned a bit embarrassed.

"I guess she should wash herself before dinner," Antonius suggested.

"No problem, the bathroom is upstairs. Wait, I'll show it to her."

Now Lyra turned to the Crusaders:

"What about you three? Do you want to join us?"

"Umm... I think that is a good idea," Apple Bloom answered.

"Okay, then let's get Stormy off Antonius' hand."

Lyra engulfed Stormy in her magic, the Crusaders grabbed the little mare's hooves and they carefully started pulling. After a few seconds, Stormy came loose, only to stick to the Crusaders.

"Well, that could have gone better, I suppose," Lyra laughed,
"now follow me, then you can get rid of that tree sap."

Antonius took a look at his hand and realized the fillies were not the only ones who needed to wash themselves.

"Sorry, Lyra, but where can I get rid of this?" he asked, showing her the stained gauntlet.

"Oh," she answered,
"going upstairs with us wouldn't be the best idea since you're a little... big. I'm not sure if the floor can stand your weight. You best go into the kitchen, but close your eyes!"

"Huh? Close my eyes?"

"Yeah, dinner is supposed to be a surprise!"

The ponies vanished upstairs and Antonius went to the kitchen, where he knocked at the door.
Bon Bon opened the door and asked:

"Oh, hello. Can I help you?"

"Actually, yes. I need to get this tree sap of my hand."

"No problem, just come in and use the sink."

"Do I have to close my eyes?"

"Why would you have to do that?"

"Lyra told me dinner's supposed to be a surprise."

Bon Bon sighed.

"Well, just don't look into the oven and everything should be fine."

Antonius resisted the urge to look into the oven and was soon back in the living room. A few minutes later, Lyra and the fillies also entered the room.

"There we are," she said,
"as for Stormy, we were able to get rid of the sap, but I think she needs some preening, or something. Her feathers are a bit jumbled."

Antonius took a look, and although he was not an expert in pegasus feathers, he could see that Lyra was right; Stormy's normally smooth wings looked a bit like an exploded chicken. He carefully stroked them to correct this, with only limited success.

"What about you three?" Lyra asked the Crusaders,
"do you want to have dinner with us?"

"No, thank you," Apple Bloom answered,
"my family's waiting for us at the farm. Oh, we should get going. Goodbye Stormy! Hope to see you again soon! Goodbye, Antonius and Lyra!"

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle also said goodbye and the three fillies left the house.
Lyra went into the kitchen, and soon she and Bon Bon appeared again with the advertised dinner.

The ponies had cooked and grilled vegetables, Antonius got a round, flat piece of baked dough with a obviously tomato-based topping, scalloped with cheese.

"That's a pizza, isn't it?" he asked.

"Yeah! You know pizza? Great! Now, try it and tell us what you think."

Antonius tried.

"Superb. And the second dish I've gotten that has the nutrition value of Space Marine food. How did you achieve this?"

Perhaps now he would be able to solve this conundrum, although he doubted that.

"Sorry, Antonius, but I don't know," Bon Bon said,
"we've got the dough from Pinkie. She didn't tell us how she made it, but she assured us that it would be fine for you."

So, that's what she had made this 'variant for another dish' for. Not bad. Quite the opposite.

"Sorry for the lack of meat, but none of us had the heart to touch that stuff, not even with magic. It's just too... yucky."

"Don't worry, it's fine the way it is."

While they ate, they talked about this and that, and Antonius caught himself enjoying the time he spent here.

After dinner, Lyra fetched one of her books. They had just read for a few minutes when there was a knock on the door.

"Hmm, who could that be?" Bon Bon asked and went to open the door.

She returned with Princess Luna, who looked quite serious.

"Antonius, I need to talk to you. Please come and join me for a walk," Luna said.

Oh, what was the matter now? Antonius quickly got up and he and Luna left the house.

Outside, it was about to get dark. When this little gathering was over, he better had to take Stormy and head back to Canterlot.

"Antonius," Luna started,
"we have a problem."

"Has Chaos returned? Now?" Antonius asked.

"No, nothing that bad. Just something annoying, pathetic, obnoxious. It is still a problem, though."

"Luna, what happened?"

"Blueblood happened."

"Huh? That princelet that was supposed to cause no trouble?"

"Exactly. He has spread the rumor that you are the vanguard of an invasion force, and that everything that happened up to now was staged to make ponykind bow to your kin."

Damned. If the ponies believed that nonsense, it would hamper his efforts to create the PDF and prepare them for the return of Chaos.

"How far has this lie spread?" he asked,
"how many ponies do believe it?"

"At the moment, just a few. I assure you, I am NOT one of them."

"I know that, Luna."

"It also reached my sister's ears. She does not believe it either, but I could see her face. She thought about it for a few seconds."

"Well, I cannot demand blind faith in me. I only can assure you that Chaos is very much real. You all just have to believe me."

"I do, Tony, I do. I suggest we return to Canterlot as soon as possible to clear up any doubts."

"Reasonable. I would like to also 'clear up' this Blueblood in the process, but that would only cement his accusations."

"I feel the same way, but you are right. This battle must be fought without violence."

"Okay, then let's return to Lyra and Bon Bon. I just need a few more minutes, then we can return to Canterlot."

Antonius and Luna went back to the ponies' house.

"Has something bad happened?" Lyra asked immediately.

"Nothing we can't handle, but we need to return to Canterlot. We just have time to give Stormy her present."

"Present?" Stormy asked excitedly.

"Present," Antonius confirmed and gave her the box from the shelf.

The little mare opened it and started beaming:

"This is awesome! And cute! Thank you!"

She got the knitted parasprite out of the box and cuddled it.

"Where did you get that from?" Luna asked him quietly.

"A present from Fluttershy," he answered.

Now everyone said goodbye and Antonius, Luna and Stormy left and boarded a chariot Luna had ready.
On their way back to Canterlot, Antonius thought about different ways to dispel any doubts Celestia and other ponies could possibly have.

Politics. Intrigues.
He really preferred war.

24. Problems

The chariot carrying Antonius, Luna and Stormy arrived at sunset. Shining Armor was already waiting for them, together with Twilight and half a dozen guards.
So Celestia had sent the captain of her guard to meet them? Not the best omen.

"Hello, Princess Luna. Hello, Antonius and Stormy," Shining Armor greeted,
"I have order to take you to Princess Celestia. Stormy, you are supposed to accompany my sister to your quarters."

Oh. Celestia wanted to get rid of the filly? That was a downright bad omen.

Antonius took a look at Luna, but she just shrugged. He knelt down and told Stormy:

"Okay, Stormy, go with Twilight. I'll meet you in our quarters soon."

"Okay," Stormy answered and left with Twilight, her parasprite on her back like she had been carried by Luna not too long ago.

Antonius got up again and covertly unlocked his bolter. He was not keen on picking a fight here, in fact, it was the last thing he wanted to do as it would ruin everything he had achieved until now, but after this welcome he would definitely be alert.

Shining Armor and the guards escorted him and Luna to the throne room and opened the door.
The Space Marine and the princess entered and the door closed behind them. Antonius immediately checked his surroundings.
Nothing. Not even guards. Just Celestia, waiting on her throne.
They stepped up to her and she greeted them with a faint smile:

"Hello, Luna. I thought you would tell him what has happened. Hello, Antonius.
To make one thing clear: I know that the rumors are nonsense. You are our friend. I'm sure of that."

"HUH?" Luna shouted,
"YOU KNOW? Well, I thought that you knew, but after that welcome, I was really worried."

"It was necessary to show everypony that I take this matter serious. Now I want to dispose of those rumors as soon as possible. I already summoned Blueblood."

"So you want to try and convince him that Antonius is not our enemy?"

"To be honest, I'm not sure if Blueblood himself thinks Antonius is our enemy, or if he just wanted payback for being put-down."

"Sabotaging my attempts to save your species because of petty revenge? That's quite... disproportionate," Antonius opined.

"It is," Celestia agreed,
"and that's why I hope we can end this subject here and now."

The door opened again and Blueblood came in.

"You wanted to see me, aunt?" he asked.

"Indeed," Celestia answered,
"it was you who started this rumor, wasn't it?"

"Which rumor do you mean, aunt?"

Oh, he played the fool. Could a fool play the fool at all?

"The rumor that our friend Antonius Varus is an enemy who wants to subject us ponies."

Blueblood pretended to be thinking, then he said:

"Well, that does not sound too far-fetched, does it?"

Boy, that pony was obnoxious. Time for Antonius to join the discussion:

"Tell me, pony, why should I expend that much effort just to subject you? Why pretend to be your friend and not just use force?"

Blueblood turned to him:

"Why should you take something by force when you can make us give it to you voluntarily?"

Antonius suppressed a groan and replied:

"Because it would be much easier for me. You think I belong to an invasion force? Then, I would have a void ship in orbit, containing said invasion force. So, pretending to be your friend and staging the events of the past days would require way more effort than to simply attack you.
First, an orbital bombardment would wipe out your seat of government, disorganizing you, then the ground forces would be deployed to round you up - with air support to catch the pegasi.
I estimate that subjecting you would take about two hours. Perhaps three.
Just wiping you out of existence would be even faster.
Now, do you still think that I am an enemy who takes an 'easy way'?"

Blueblood was downright ashen now and the princesses did not look too cheerful, either. That explanation had obviously been a bit much for them.

"Y... You could... do that?" the princelet finally asked.

"If I was part of an invasion force and your enemy, then yes, of course. All told, the fact that you are still alive to accuse me of being an enemy proves you wrong.
I am not your enemy, quite the opposite. I promised your aunts to help you fight the very real threat of Chaos, and I will keep my promise. Do not let petty thirst for vengeance hamper my efforts."

Blueblood was silent, as were the princesses. It took a while until Celestia said:

"We all thank you for your honesty, Antonius. Prince Blueblood, you may go now, just do not spread your lie further. Let Lord Commander Varus do his work, so that we can hope to survive the return of Chaos."

Blueblood nodded and left. When his steps had faded away, Luna turned to Antonius:

"Were you just trying to frighten him or was this really the truth?"

"Of course it was the truth," Antonius answered,
"what chances do you think a single country on a single planet would have against a pan-galactic empire with our prowess, dedication and advanced technology?"

"Point taken."

Well, that was a little dark to finish their talk, Antonius had to cheer them up a bit:

"On the other hand, imagine being an ally of said empire: If someone tried to attack you, the fool would regret that quickly - and dearly."

"And you are sure your Imperium would see us as allies?" Celestia asked.

"I'll write a detailed report on my findings and your abilities and attitude. If the Imperium arrives some day, this should help you. Ideally, my chapter will find you, then there should be no problems."

"Would be a really bad joke if we defeated Chaos just to be wiped out by your Imperium, wouldn't it?"

"Yep, that would be serious... shit.
Now, don't be pessimistic. The Imperium may have a tendency towards xenophobia, but we're not mindless brutes. So, even if you're found some day, your chances will be quite good.
If you'll excuse me now, I need to tell Stormy that everything is all right."

"I'll join you," Luna said and they left the throne room.

Twilight did her best to keep Stormy busy and distract her from her worries. It did not really work, probably because she had worries herself. She had heard the rumors, but she did not believe - and did not want to believe - that Antonius could be an enemy of ponykind.
They were friends and he had even saved her live at least once. Twice, if you counted Hope. Now, this almost invincible warrior was suddenly a victim, a victim of malevolent whispers. Instead of being grateful, some ponies regarded him with contempt. That was just not fair!

Luckily, Stormy did not know those rumors, but she had of course realized that something was wrong. She clung to Antonius and now she had to witness him being led away by the Royal Guard. Thankfully, Princess Luna was at his side.

Thankfully? Why thankfully?

Antonius was led to Princess Celestia, and the Princess surely knew that those rumors were nonsense. Of course she knew. She was Princess Celestia, after all.

Then, why was Twilight still nervous?

Stormy had her new knitted parasprite in her front hooves. It was time for another attempt at keeping her busy. She had declined playing a board game, perhaps she wanted to read a book? Twilight always was happy when she did that.

"Wanna read a book, Stormy?" Twilight asked as blithely as she could,
"I have a nice book about..."

Twilight stopped talking as she saw the book she had brought. 'Advanced transfiguration spells'? What a stupid choice... she was probably more distressed by this situation than she had thought.

"No, I don't want to read," Stormy (thankfully) answered,
"but you can tell me what is going on."

"I'm sure it's nothing serious. You don't need to worry."

"Yeah? So half a dozen guards and their captain led Antonius away just for fun?"

Hmm, that filly certainly was nopony's fool. Twilight thought about what to answer as there was a knock on the door.

"Come in!" she almost shouted, excited to hear any news regarding this messy situation.

The door opened and Antonius and Princess Luna came in. Well, that was a relief.
Stormy jumped up and darted to Antonius. She took off and wrapped her front hooves around his neck.

"Good to see you," Twilight said.

"The same to you," Antonius answered and hugged the filly back.

"Antonius, what is going on? Why did the guards lead you away?" Stormy asked.

Would he tell her?

"Just a misunderstanding. Some pony was worried I could be some sort of villain," he explained.

Well, 'misunderstanding' was a nice way to put it.
Stormy looked thoroughly surprised now.

"What a doofus," she said blatantly.

Luna snickered and Antonius answered with a big smile:

"Yes, absolutely. I really like your assessment of the situation."

"Did you convince him that you are our friend?" Twilight asked, still a bit worried.

"I think so," Antonius replied.

"How did you do that?"

"I just told him what would happen if I really was your enemy."

"And what would happen?"

As Twilight had asked this question, she realized that it was not very intelligent to ask that now. The answer would probably not be very nice and Stormy was here.

"Yeah, what would you do?" the little mare asked.

Great. Twilight had to admit, that was her fault.

"Well," Antonius stated in a matter-of-fact tone,
"we would cuddle you into submission!"

Now he cuddled Stormy, much to her enjoyment. It was actually very nice to see.
When he was done, Stormy smiled at him and asked:

"That is not really what you would do, is it?"

Yep, that filly was definitely cunning.

"To be completely honest, no, not really."

"Good!"

"Good?"

"Yeah, because I only accept cuddles from a friend."

Twilight smiled. That was adorable! Stormy got another cuddle as a reward, then Antonius turned to Twilight:

"Thank you for keeping her company."

"No problem," she answered,
"well, I think I'll retire now."

"Wait!" Stormy exclaimed,
"couldn't we all play the board game you brought?"

"Oh, now you want?"

"Yep."

"Fine, one game, then I'll have to go."

Antonius agreed to join the game. It was quite simple and Antonius was even familiar with it: He knew it as 'Parcheesi'.
What he did not know was Stormy's board game prowess. The little mare almost obliterated Luna, Twilight and him. Until now, he had had no idea that you could lose so badly just by throwing some dice.
So, after this crushing defeat, Twilight said goodnight and left.

"Luna, could you stay a few more minutes? I require your help," Antonius said.

"Of course," Luna answered,
"What's the problem?"

He turned to Stormy:

"Stormy, please open you wings."

Stormy did so, and Luna opined:

"Well, you need preening... Oh, you want me to...?"

"Yes," Antonius answered,
"since you have wings, I thought you should know what to do."

"Yes, I do. Stormy, if you would like me to help you, we will get you wings immaculate again in no time."

Stormy agreed and put her parasprite onto her bed, then both mares sat down on Antonius' bed. Now, Luna started the preening procedure while Antonius watched. An interesting fact was that Luna did barely use her magic, she seemed to prefer doing this manually, or - since she used her muzzle - orally?

However you wanted to call it, she carefully, almost tenderly tended to Stormy's wings. The little mare seemed to enjoy it; she had her eyes closed and seemed to be thoroughly relaxed.
Hmm... he better had to learn this, too.

It took Luna quite a few minutes until all of Stormy's feathers were rearranged, then she told the filly:

"So, Stormy, we're done. Now, get ready for bed, okay?"

Stormy got up and went into the bath, looking very content.

"Hey, Luna," Antonius said,
"can you teach me how to do this? Stormy seemed to really like it."

"Haven't you seen enough to replicate it?"

"Seen, yes, but seeing something and doing something is not quite the same, especially if Stormy is to be my first 'victim'."

"Well, that's true, but Stormy is already freshly preened, and the only wings in this room are... mine... but they are of course immaculate!"

Hmm... weird... Luna seemed to be a little bit agitated.

"I did not want to insult you, I just wanted you to teach me your standard preening procedure," Antonius assured her.

Luna sighed:

"You did not insult me. It's just that... preening is something we wouldn't do in public. That's why I asked Stormy if she was okay with me doing this."

"'In public'? I wouldn't call my room 'in public'."

Luna hesitated a second, then she slowly said:

"Well, you are right... somehow... okay, sit down next to me - and take of you gauntlets."

Antonius did so and Luna put one of her wings onto his thighs. Now, she instructed him what to do and he carefully followed her orders. This was probably the fluffiest thing Antonius had ever done in his entire life.
The wing was done rather quickly and Luna changed over to his other side and put her other wing on his lap.

"Now, try the second wing yourself," she said.

Antonius started preening again. Like Stormy before, Luna looked really relaxed now. Something told him that this preening was more than just a maintenance procedure, but he had no idea how exactly to categorize it.
He finished the wing and nudged Luna.

"Okay, I think I'm done," he told her.

She took a look at her wings.

"Excellent, really good work," she said and sat up,
"but please do not tell anyone that you preened my wings, okay?"

"No problem, but would you please tell me why?"

Luna hesitated again, then she told him:

"Well, preening is... sort of private."

"'Private'?"

"Yes, like... well, would you take a bath in public?"

"No, although I came close to it when the Element Bearers dragged me into this spa. I still get what you mean, though. At least I think so... hey, wait a second... doesn't that mean that I just..."

"No, don't worry. I just taught you how preening works, it's not that serious. Just keep it to yourself, as explaining the circumstances would take a while."

Whoa. Pegasus wings were complicated.

"Anything else I should know about pegasus wings?" Antonius asked.

"Just don't touch them."

Well, perhaps this was an opportunity to get some more information:

"What does it mean if they are unfolded without apparent reason?"

"Can mean a lot of things, impossible to be more precise."

Damnit.

"What about unicorn horns?"

"Concussions can impede the use of magic, so: don't touch them, either."

"You know, for such a hug-loving species, you are quite sensitive," Antonius grinned.

Luna stuck out her tongue for a second, then she smiled back at him.

"You could start with hugging earth ponies if the other kinds are too difficult for you."

"Good idea. I will call Applejack and tell her you ordered me to hug her as an exercise."

"Oh no you won't!" Luna said, still smiling, and playfully punched him.

Yes, they were goofing around again.

"Oh, there is another issue I wanted to talk about," Antonius said.

"What is it?" Luna asked.

"I realized that you use 'bits' as a currency. Now, I don't have any, so I couldn't even buy a little present for Stormy."

"That's all? Just tell the vendor to invoice me with the things you buy. Just do not start buying whole neighborhoods or something like that."

Convenient. Another problem solved.

Now Stormy came out of the bath and yawned.

"Okay, I'm ready for bed," she proclaimed, grabbed her parasprite and crawled into her bed.

Luna looked out of a window.

"It's almost time for the patrol," she stated,
"I bid both of you goodnight. We'll see again tomorrow."

Luna left and Antonius got ready for the night, too. As he went to bed, Stormy asked:

"Antonius?"

"Hmm?"

"Is there someone you admire?"

Well, that question surely was unexpected, but answering honestly couldn't hurt. He thought about it for a second, then he said:

"Yeah, there is. I think the man I admire the most is my chapter master, Marneus Augustus Calgar. He is not just a formidable warrior, but also a great leader and his wisdom matches his fighting prowess."

"Marn... huh?"

"Marneus Augustus Calgar."

Stormy seemed to think about that for a second, then she said:

"You know, I need to give my parasprite a name. I think I will call him 'Calgy'."

WHAT???

Antonius almost burst out laughing. Now, that was a particularly weird surprise. To make things even funnier, this knitted creature was even blue, so the color fit. He chuckled.

"Is that okay?" Stormy asked.

"Sure," Antonius answered, grinning broadly.

So, there they were: Antonius, Stormy - and Calgy the knitted parasprite.
They said goodnight and were soon asleep.

After a restful night, Antonius and Stormy got ready for the day and met the princesses, Twilight and Spike in the dining room. Calgy stayed at home.

After breakfast, Luna went to bed and Spike was sent into the archives to look for information about mankind. Antonius and the other ponies walked down to the armorium.

"I'm curious if our casting of the first engine part worked," Celestia said as they approached the workbench.

She lit her horn and removed the sand out of the frame, then she had a look at the casted component and turned to Antonius:

"Looks good. What do you think?"

He took the engine part and examined it carefully.

"Hmm, a little bit of polishing and the component is ready."

"Excellent! Twilight, please take care of the polishing, I'll build the other molds in the meantime. Antonius, if you want to have a look at the second engine of your Land Speeder, feel free to do so. We should be able to get this done without your help."

"Okay, Tia. Just call me if you need my help."

"TIA?" Twilight blurted.

"Of course," Celestia snickered,
"I am neither Antonius' princess nor his commander, but we are friends, so he calls me by a nickname."

"But... you are an alicorn princess..."

"But still a pony. I enjoy Antonius treating me just like that."

Now Antonius and Stormy left Celestia and the slightly dumbfounded Twilight and went to the Land Speeder. The Space Marine continued his maintenance while the filly got comfortable on one of the seats.

He had just taken out the second engine as he heard another pony enter the armorium.

"I'm sorry to disturb, Princess, but we need you in the throne room," the pony said,
"there is a dispute you need to settle."

"I'll have a look at the matter. Twilight, please continue building the molds while I am gone."

"Of course, Princess," Twilight answered.

Antonius heard Celestia and the other pony leave and attended to the engine again.

Some time had passed when he heard strange noises coming from the armorium. It sounded like Twilight, but what exactly she was doing was beyond his grasp.

"Stormy, could you please have a look what Twilight is doing?" he asked.

"Okay," she answered, jumped out of the Land Speeder and walked to the door to the armorium.

She took a look, turned around and ran back to Antonius with a confused expression.

"Twilight is lying on the ground, mumbling something and petting her tail," she reported.

"Twilight is what?" Antonius asked incredulously and got up.

He entered the armorium and found everything just as Stormy had described. Twilight mumbled something like:

"I can't do it. I'm failing. I'm a failure..."

Huh? What was going on?

"Twilight?" he asked.

She did not react, so he went over to her and picked her up. As she was hanging in his grip, her mane a complete mess, she stared at him with a almost panicky expression.

"What is wrong, Twilight?"

"I can't do it!"

"You can't do what?"

"The molds! I can't create a stable hard light construct! It keeps collapsing! I'll disappoint the princess! She'll send me back to magic kindergarten!"

"HUH???"

"Look!"

Twilight lit her horn and created a hard light construct from the plans Celestia had made. Then, she put it into a wooden frame and filled it with sand. Unfortunately, the sand trickled into the space of the construct.

"See? I can't do it! I'm a failure!"

Wow. Twilight was really stressed out. Time to intervene.

"Easy, Twilight. If you have problems with these hard light constructs, just build the wooden frames for the molds. That way, you would still contribute to our efforts without overexerting yourself."

Twilight stared at him.

"WHAT? I am supposed to build the molds, not just the frames! But I'm failing! I'll be sent back to magic kindergarten! I will lose all of my friends!"

She started hyperventilating.

"Okay, that's enough. You'll take a break now!" Antonius commanded and carried her into the hangar.

"NO! I must build the molds!" she screamed.

"Shut up and enjoy your break," Antonius said firmly.

As he passed the control panel, he hit the button to open the hangar door. It slid into the wall and he sat down in the opening. Twilight was sitting on his lap, pinned to his chest by his hand to prevent her from doing something stupid.

"Take a deep breath and calm down," he ordered her.

"But I must..."

"You must take a deep breath and calm down, nothing else."

It did not really work. She was still tensed up and her heartbeat was raised.
How could you get a pony to relax to prevent her from snapping? Antonius thought about everything he knew about this little creatures, until he remembered the old pictures.
Unconventional, but worth a try.

He slowly and carefully started stroking Twilight's head, down her neck to her shoulders.
It worked. She slowly started to become quieter. He could feel her heartbeat slow down, until it felt normal again.
Finally, she sighed and asked:

"You are stroking me to help me calm down?"

"It works, doesn't it?"

"Hmm..."

Twilight relaxed now and leaned back a bit.

"What will Princess Celestia say when she sees the unfinished molds?" she asked.

"Don't worry. I'll just tell her I needed someone to cuddle and dragged you away or something like that," Antonius quipped.

"Huh?"

"I think that's totally believable," Stormy, sitting next to Antonius, opined.

"If you say so, Stormy," Twilight snickered.

With Twilight feeling better, Antonius stopped the stroking. They stayed seated a few more minutes, though, as Twilight made no move to get up.

Then they heard hoof steps approaching and Twilight jumped onto the ground and ran back to the armorium. Antonius and Stormy followed her.

"Twilight?" Celestia asked.

Before she could reply, Antonius said:

"Yeah, I had to borrow her for a little while."

Of course, Twilight blew this excuse:

"No, Princess, it's my fault. I couldn't create stable hard light constructs and got a bit... tensed up. Antonius helped me to calm down again. Sorry that I have failed you."

She hung her head low. Celestia looked honestly surprised now. She also lowered her head and carefully lifted Twilight's with her hoof.

"Twilight, my most faithful student," she said in a warm, caring tone,
"this is actually my fault. I expressed myself too mistakably. I wanted you to build the wooden frames..."

Hmm, hadn't there been someone who had suggested to do something like that?

"...You are exceptionally talented, but those constructs are high level magic and still too difficult for you to create. Come now, let's continue our work."

Twilight went to the workbench. Celestia smiled at Antonius and nodded approvingly, then she followed her.
Antonius and Stormy returned to the Land Speeder and continued the maintenance.

Luckily, the second engine was in a similar good state as the first one. Once he had reinstalled it, the next step would be to take a look at the steering and the electrics.

Before he could start, however, he heard another pony enter the armorium.

"Here is the lunch you requested, Princess," the pony said,
"is there anything else I can do?"

"No, thank you," Celestia answered,
"you may go back upstairs."

She had the lunch brought here? Antonius liked that, as it would minimize the time he had to pause his work.

Now, Celestia and Twilight came into the hangar, accompanied by a fairly big picnic basket floating in the air, a coiled blanket on top, surrounded by a yellow glow.

"Lunch time!" Celestia proclaimed,
"I hope you like a picnic? I thought it would be a good idea."

"I'm perfectly fine with that," Antonius assured her.

"Excellent! Let's go over to the outer door, we can enjoy the view and get a little fresh air there."

Soon they were all sitting on the picnic blanket and enjoying the food and drink.

"How does you maintenance go?" Celestia asked Antonius.

"Very good," he told her,
"the second engine is in good shape, I just need to reassemble and reinstall it."

"Nice to hear that. Once you're ready, could you join us? We will soon have finished building the molds and would appreciate your help for the casting process."

"Of course."

A short time later, Twilight asked:

"It's a nice picnic, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Antonius agreed,
"I'd have never thought that I would have a picnic in an imperial hangar."

With a bunch of xenos he actually called his friends, to make things even weirder.

"Multipurpose hall," Celestia quipped.

"Sort of," Antonius answered and continued eating his salad.

After a cake-heavy dessert, they went back to their work.
Antonius was just busy reconnecting the engine to the Land Speeder as Stormy asked:

"Antonius, can I do anything to help you?"

"Not at the moment," he answered.

"Oh, okay," Stormy answered disappointedly.

Hmm... of course she was bored by this maintenance, she had just sat around until now. Perhaps he could find something to do for her. Reinstalling the engine was too complicated, she couldn't help there. He looked around and found the Stormbird. That would work.

"Stormy, if you want something to do, come and follow me," he said and paused his work.

Antonius and Stormy went over to the dropship and he told her:

"You see the four engines?"

"Those thingies with the fans?"

"Exactly. Fly up to them and try to rotate the fans, but be careful. Try to neither damage the fans nor yourself," he said with a smile.

"As good as done," Stormy grinned and started.

She flew to the first engine, sat down on its rim and tried to move the rotor blades.

"Works!" she exclaimed as the engine started rotating.

"Very good. Now, the next one, please."

Stormy continued with the second engine, with the same result: The bearings were okay. Stormy flew to engine number three.
Antonius smiled. Imperial technology was as durable as anyone could wish. Really, there was no better...

"This one's broken!" Stormy exclaimed.

Antonius' smile was gone. Of course. Would have been too easy, wouldn't it?

"Doesn't move at all?" he asked.

"Not the tiniest little bit," Stormy answered.

"Okay, number four, please."

Stormy tested the last engine. It worked. She came back to Antonius and said:

"Three out of four. Not that bad, is it?"

"No, not bad at all."

Antonius wasn't even lying. These tests had mainly been to give Stormy something to do as maintaining a Stormbird was beyond his abilities anyway. It still bugged him a bit that a part of this revered technology had surrendered to the ravages of time.

"Let's go back to the Land Speeder and continue our work there, shall we?" he asked.

"Okay," Stormy answered.

When Antonius had completed reinstalling the engine, he and his little protégée went into the armorium to have a look at Celestia's and Twilight's progress.

"Ah, Antonius!" Celestia beamed,
"excellent timing! We have just finished the last mold. And have a look at this!"

Hmm. Celestia really seemed to have fun working on this project. Perhaps this diversion from her normal duties was actually good for her. Working vacation, so to say.
Whatever the case might be, now she was nodding towards Twilight, and the unicorn hovered the already casted and now neatly polished engine part over to him. He grabbed it and examined it closely.

"Looks good, very good indeed. If we can keep up this quality for the other parts, we will soon have a functional combustion engine," he declared.

"We certainly hope so. The molds are ready, so you could activate the smelter," Celestia said.

Antonius lit some incense sticks that were lying nearby, prepared the smelter and activated it.
When the metal was molten, they casted the remaining engine parts.

"Done," Antonius finally said.

"Very good," Celestia opined,
"now we have to wait until the day after tomorrow to remove the molds and have a look at the parts, right?"

"Right."

"Then, tomorrow I will attend to my duties. Twilight, feel free to take a day off. Of course, this applies to Spike, too."

"Spike and I could continue searching the archives, Princess," Twilight suggested.

"If you want to, the archives will be at your disposal," Celestia smiled, then she turned to Antonius:

"What are you going to do tomorrow? Is the second engine ready?"

"It is," he answered,
"I can have a look at the elec..."

He stopped as he felt a little hoof nudge his shin. Looking down, he saw Stormy, giving him puppy dog eyes. He sighed.

"Or, we could visit Ponyville - yet again."

Stormy nodded enthusiastically. Celestia and Twilight laughed.

"Let's go upstairs," Celestia suggested, still smiling,
"dinner will be ready soon and Luna will also wake up any moment now."

Antonius closed the hangar door and they left the base. After closing the main door, they went to the dining room. Spike and Luna were already waiting for them.

"Hello you four," Luna greeted,
"did you have a successful day?"

After telling her and Spike what they had accomplished, dinner was ready.

"Spike, did you find any new information about mankind?" Antonius asked.

"No," the dragon answered,
"but the archives are huge. It may take a while to find something useful."

"No problem, take your time. I won't leave anytime soon, anyway."

"I hope you won't leave at all," Stormy said.

Antonius smiled at her.

"Certainly possible. Almost probable," he told her.

"Swell," she stated contently.

The other ponies and Spike looked a bit uncomfortable now. Of course, they understood the implications. Stormy, despite her obvious intelligence, was still a bit young. To her, Equestria was 'home', and why should anyone want to leave 'home'?
Well, as mattes stood now, Equestria would also be Antonius' home from now on, his 'home away from home'. He had to admit, if there wasn't his duty, if Chaos and all the malevolent xenos were gone, and if mankind lived in peace amongst the stars, this planet would be a place he could enjoy.
Unfortunately, humanity was not safe. There were still countless evils lurking in the void, waiting to eradicate everything he had sworn to protect. So, no leaning back and being content. If he found a way back to the Imperium, he would use it as soon as his liability towards the ponies would allow it. Just as his sense of duty and honor told him.

After dinner, Celestia left for some government business, while Antonius and Luna had another training fight, with Twilight and Stormy as spectators. Once this was done, they spent some more time together, until it was time for Stormy to retire. Antonius and the filly bid goodnight and went to their quarters.

Stormy was already sleeping - and cuddling Calgy - and Antonius was in the bathroom, wearing his pajama pants and inspecting his torso's neural interfaces as he heard a quiet knock at the door. He immediately went to open it to prevent this visitor from waking up Stormy. To his surprise, it was Celestia.

"Hello, Antonius. May I come in?" she asked.

"Of course," he answered and made way for her.

Once the door was closed, Celestia took a scrutinizing look at Antonius and slowly circled him.
Okay, what was she up to now? He would certainly find out soon; this feeling of impending doom was a clear sign.

"My goodness," she finally said,
"Antonius, are you allergic to something?"

"Huh? Allergic? Me? No, what makes you think so?"

"Just look at you! Your whole body is totally swollen!"

What? Swollen?

When Celestia could barely contain a laugh, Antonius knew she was just goofing around again, and he finally understood what she meant. He smiled back.

"Don't worry, I'm going to cover my swollen-ness for you."

Having said that, he went into the bath and donned his pajama jacket. As he came back, he grinned:

"So, better. Sorry for disgusting you with my 'furlessness'."

Celestia immediately and a bit hastily answered:

"Oh no, you did not disgust me, not at all. You're looking good. No, didn't mean to say that!"

Celestia started blushing a bit, and Antonius raised an eyebrow and asked:

"So, I don't look good?"

"No! I mean yes! I mean, umm... don't get me wrong, I don't want to say that you are not looking good in a certain way, but... umm... crap."

Her blush deepened. Yes, she definitely was Luna's sister.

Now it was Antonius who could barely contain a laugh.

"It's nice to see that I'm not the only one who has problems handling that sort of jokes. But now, jokes apart, why did you want to see me?"

"I wanted to thank you for helping Twilight today. She's always so afraid of disappointing me..."

"Hmm. I just wonder why. She was afraid of being sent to 'magic kindergarten' and subsequently losing all of her friends."

Celestia nodded.

"Hmm. It's not the first time she's been afraid of this. I just wonder what I've done to cause such a irrational fear. Months ago, she was afraid I would banish one of her friends and throw her in a dungeon in the place I banished her."

Antonius stared at Celestia.

"What?" he asked incredulously.

"Yeah, it's true," Celestia answered.

"Seriously, Tia, are you known for cruel or weird punishments?"

"NO!"

Now Celestia swallowed hard, then she continued quietly:

"I just banished my little sister to the moon."

Ouch. Antonius knew that Luna had a fully grown guilt complex, but Celestia also seemed to be rather prone to this.
Sisters, for better or worse.

"As far as I know, you banished a daemon, not directly your sister, and you did not have much of a choice."

"I didn't. But for a thousand years, and even now, there are questions I keep asking myself: Was there really nothing I could have done? Could I not have seen Luna's condition? Could I not have helped her before she got corrupted? Nightmare Moon is not just Luna's fault, it's also mine. But I digress..."

Antonius could see that Celestia was biting back tears. He knelt down and put a hand on her neck.

"Do not worry about the past," he told her,
"and let go of your remorse. It's just a waste of energy."

"What about the future? If the nightmare is a descendant of Chaos, and Chaos returns, they might try to corrupt Luna again."

"You don't need to worry about that, either. I promised Luna to protect her from Chaos and the nightmare, and you can believe me I will keep my word."

Celestia looked surprised now.

"You have promised to protect her?"

"I have."

A smile appeared on her face.

"Thank you," she said,
"you are a good pony."

Oh my, that 'compliment' again!

"I see no reason for insulting me," Antonius deadpanned.

Celestia laughed and turned around to leave.

"Again, thank you for helping Twilight. A little fresh air and some distraction can really do wonders."

"They can indeed."

Especially if they were accompanied by a little stroking.

Celestia left and Antonius went to bed. Before falling asleep, he thought about Ultramar.
Would he ever return to continue his duties there? Unlikely, he was too far away.
Would they even look for him? No, of course not. He was on a exploding ship, they had to think he was dead.
Well, he could still do his duty by fighting Chaos on this remote planet.
Nobody in the Realm of Ultramar would remember his actions here, but not every Ultramarine could become a hero, right?

25. In a galaxy far, far away

Two weeks.
It had been two weeks since the strike cruiser 'Righteous Fury' had encountered and subsequently destroyed a Chaos vessel, and a few minutes ago, it had moored at a shipyard above Macragge for repairs and refitting.

Marneus Augustus Calgar, Lord of Macragge, was having a look at the battle report of that encounter again. All told, a glorious victory; the enemy had been destroyed and second and seventh had only suffered minimum casualties - a typical Sicarius engagement.
There was just a single aspect that was unusual, downright peculiar:

One of second company's Space Marines, Brother Varus, had been listed 'missing in action'.
From the reports, Calgar knew that he had been on board the enemy ship as its warp drive had detonated, so how could he be 'missing' instead of 'killed'? Of course, he had asked Captain Sicarius exactly that question, but instead of giving a straight answer, he had asked to meet him in person.
So, Sicarius was now on his way to Calgar, to give a detailed report about this incident.

Calgar used the time until his arrival to refresh his knowledge about Brother Varus. He had for the most part been an average Ultramarine, always doing his duty with dedication, courage and honor. There had been, however, two incidents where Brother Varus had attracted attention:

The first had been well before he had become a 'brother'. He had been a 'neophyte' when he had had to pass the obligatory 'ork stronghold'-test. A simulation with five Ultramarines on the ground, five more on a cruiser, waiting to be summoned by drop pod, against a thoroughly fortified ork stronghold.
Now, Ultramarines were of course fantastic warriors, but the chances of winning this scenario were zero.
Literally.
It was a no-win scenario to let the neophytes fight to the end. No matter what you did, it was designed to be unwinnable.

Then came Neophyte Varus. He had asked his supervisor, Sergeant Seneca, if there were explosives onboard the cruiser. Seneca had thought he wanted to equip the second team of Ultramarines with explosives - not a bad tactic - and had answered in the affirmative.
But instead of doing so, Varus had ordered the Space Marines to leave the drop pod and stuffed it to the brim with said explosives. Then, he had launched it directly at the fortress.

It had worked. Since the fortress - like all real ork fortresses - contained lots of ammunition, it was quite an impressive display.
More impressive was the fact that Varus had won this unwinnable simulation.
Less impressive was that he had done so with disregard of the Codex Astartes, as using drop pods as guided bombs was not seen as a valid tactic. Thanks to the advocacy of Seneca, who had 'blamed' his out-of-the-box thinking to his relative inexperience and vouched for him, he was spared from being demoted to a chapter serv and put on probation.

While the Ultramarines were adamant in their fidelity to the Codex, Varus had still just been a neophyte, too young to be completely familiar with all aspects of it; he had no way of knowing that this tactic was invalid.
That had just been an excuse, of course, but Calgar had decided to run with it, especially since Chief Librarian Tigurius had suggested giving Varus another chance.

Varus had gotten a few extra lessons regarding the Codex, passed his probation without problems and the case had officially been closed.

The second incident had been much later, during his first assignment as a member of the second company. They had joined forces with the Tau to fight Chaos Space Marines. One of the Tau ethereals - obviously a young and/or stupid one - had been a little too bold and was suddenly under attack by a Chaos raptor. Brother Varus had saved his life and killed the traitor marine.

Calgar had gotten a letter of appreciation from this ethereal, in which the alien told him that he owed the Ultramarines his life and that he would repay this dept someday.

Now, Varus was 'missing'. Calgar was really interested in that story.

There was a knock on the door and one of his guards came in.

"Lord Calgar, Chief Librarian Tigurius requests an audience," he said.

Varro Tigurius wanted to talk to him? Well, Calgar expected Sicarius any minute now, but of course he would not deny his old friend that request.

"Send him in," he said.

The guard left and Tigurius entered the room and knelt down. He wore his elaborate armor and had his force staff in his hand, the same staff that was supposed to once have belonged to Malcador the Sigillite himself.

"Lord Calgar," the Librarian greeted him,
"thank you for receiving me at such a short notice."

"Anytime, Varro. Now rise, my friend, and tell me why you wanted to see me. I must ask you to make it short, though, since I'm expecting Cato any moment now."

Calgar had never been too much of a fan of protocol. He was revered, yes, but in his opinion, he was still just a Space Marine, so he tried to keep things a bit less stuffy whenever he could. Unfortunately, he did not often have an opportunity to do so.

"I know, my Lord, that's why I came here. I wanted to ask your permission to attend the audience."

"Permission granted. Would you like to tell me why you are taking interest in that matter?"

"I would like to reveal that at a later time, my Lord."

Calgar smiled. That was quite typical of Varro. He knew his friend well enough, however, to know that there was probably something important going on, and that Varro wanted to be sure before telling his thoughts.
The chapter master nodded and the chief librarian walked into the shadows next to a large pillar.

Another knock at the door, and the guard came in again.

"Lord Calgar, Captain Sicarius, Sergeant Seneca and Lady Angren request an audience," he said.

Huh? Sicarius, okay, Seneca would also be valuable as he was the last one who had seen Varus, but why did he bring the Righteous Fury's navigator?

"Send them in," Calgar answered.

The door opened and the three entered the room.
Sicarius wore his richly ornamented power armor, the 'Mantle of the Suzerain ', his helmet at his hip.
Seneca also wore power armor, a lot less ornamented of course, and was actually walking on his own legs.
Lady Angren wore a long, silver, plain dress. A silver tiara covered her third eye and kept her long, white hair out of her face.

They knelt down before him and Sicarius said:

"Lord Macragge, thank you for this audience."

"Get up, Captain Sicarius, and tell me what is going on with Brother Varus," Calgar ordered.

Usually, Calgar used Sicarius' first name, but with a non-Ultramarine in the room, even if it was the navigator, he used the more formal appellation.

Sicarius and his companions rose.

"My Lord, you already know the official report. Brother Varus went missing in action during our fight on the Chaos vessel.
Now, I would like you to hear a detailed report from Sergeant Seneca, as he was the last one who saw Brother Varus."

Calgar nodded and Seneca stepped forward.

"So, the Apothecaries were able to reattach your leg?" Calgar asked with a small smile.

"Yes, my Lord. I owe my leg to Brother Varus," Seneca answered.

"Tell me what happened."

Seneca told Calgar everything, from being separated from the companies, to the fight with the daemon, to his escape.

"Really, Brother Varus acted in the best tradition of the Ultramarines. He should be mentioned in our chronicles. Unfortunately, that does not explain why he is listed 'missing' instead of 'dead'," Calgar noted.

Now Sicarius stepped forward and said:

"My Lord, that is why I brought Lady Angren to this audience. She has seen something that explains Brother Varus' current status."

Now things got interesting.

"Lady Angren, please tell me what you have seen," Calgar asked the navigator.

She stepped forward and began talking:

"My Lord, we were preparing for jumping into the Warp when I saw... something.
Well, my Lord, you must know that I am usually able to see a teleportation in the Warp. It is like a glowing tunnel linking two places in real space through the Immaterium.
I have seen such a tunnel as Brother Varus was about to teleport back to our ship, but then, there was something like a... golden bolt."

"A golden bolt? In the Immaterium?"

"Yes, my Lord. It hit the Warp tunnel and sped away."

Calgar bent a little forward.

"You don't want to tell me that Brother Varus was killed by a teleporter accident caused by a Warp anomaly, do you?" he asked.

"No, my Lord, not at all," Lady Angren said,
"I don't think he was killed, and I don't think it was a 'normal' anomaly, either."

"So, what makes you think it was a 'anomalous' anomaly?"

"It changed its course, my Lord."

"Repeat."

"The anomaly changed its course. I think it picked up Brother Varus and took him away."

Calgar leaned back again.
Well, that was some news. One of his men, abducted by an unidentified golden bolt during teleportation.

"Were you able to track it?" he asked.

"It was very fast and very difficult to follow, but I could determine its general direction. It headed south west, and upward, into the intergalactic void," the navigator told him.

Calgar was deep in thought now.
This story did not really make sense, but he knew the navigator was trustworthy. So, who would want to abduct an Ultramarine? In such a complicated way?

"My Lord," Sicarius said and interrupted Calgar's thoughts.

"Captain?"

"I would like to make a proposal."

Calgar had not really a problem imagining what Sicarius wanted.

"You want to follow the course we have and see if you find anything, don't you?"

"Yes, my Lord. We have to find out where Brother Varus was teleported to, and who is responsible for it."

Calgar smiled slightly.

"I would like to approve of your proposal, but I can't. We cannot send a ship and crew into the void to look for a single marine. I wish we could, but we are too short at numbers for this. We need everyone to fight the enemies of mankind all around us."

Sicarius nodded, but it was easy to see that he was not really content. Well, Calger wasn't content with this situation, either. He really would have liked to start an expedition to solve this conundrum and retrieve Brother Varus, but his responsibility as chapter master told him that that was impossible.

"At the moment, we can only hope that Brother Varus is safe, and that we will find the means to start such an expedition sometime later," he added.

"I don't think anyone would expend this much effort just to kill him," Lady Angren opined,
"I think he was taken somewhere for a reason, perhaps to a remote system or base in the void."

"Full of abhorrent xenos," Sicarius said with disgust.

"Well," Seneca remarked after a little pause,
"I think he will prevail, even if he was casted into the middle of such creatures.
If they attack him, he will kill them, with his bare fists, if necessary. And he still has my chainsword.
If they should be too intimidated to attack him... well, his hate of xenos has never been too fanatical, he has always been willing to 'work' with them, or use them to his advance, when the need arose."

"Like his first assignment as a member of Second," Sicarius said, then he sighed,
"he has always been a little... 'unconventional'."

"You mean the ork stronghold test?" Seneca asked.

"Among other things."

"What 'other things'?" Calgar wanted to know.

There was no data about abnormal behavior concerning Brother Varus.

"Well, my Lord," Sicarius said,
"usually, a battle-brother wants to be promoted to sergeant and a sergeant wants to become a captain."

"And a captain wants to become chapter master. I'm familiar with this fact." Calgar interjected drily.

Sicarius took a breath.

"Well, usually they do, my Lord," he admitted,
"now, Brother Varus was a little different in that regard."

"Did he not fulfill his duties?" Calgar asked.

"Oh, he did. His performance has always been immaculate. He was probably not a champion, but certainly a reliable and competent Space Marine. That, and his ability to improvise if necessary led me to request his transfer to my company. I never regretted that."

"Then, Captain Sicarius, how was he 'different'?"

"My Lord, he did not pursuit promotion. He was content with protecting mankind as an Ultramarine."

Calgar had to stifle a laugh. Of course, Sicarius found that strange.

"An Ultramarine who is not greedy for promotion? Sounds like leadership material," he quipped.

Sicarius looked a little confused now.
Calgar loved to tease his wannabe successor a bit now and then. He did the same to Captain Agemman of first company, by the way.
Though, if he was honest, the term 'wannabe' was too derogative. Sicarius was a very competent captain, and he would most likely become his successor once Calgar died. Malicious gossip had it that Sicarius just waited for Calgar to finally die, but that did him injustice. He was glad about every mission Calgar survived; he was ambitious, but more than that, he was honorable.

"Well, my Lord, if we find him again, we can promote him to sergeant at the next opportunity. If he is still alive, that is. Since he is cut off from any kind of supplies, everything depends on his ability to kill or frighten the aliens he possibly meets into submission," Sicarius opined.

"What if those aliens are genuinely friendly?" a voice asked out of the shadows.

Varro Tigurius. He stepped into the light and waited.

"Genuinely friendly xenos? Excuse me, Chief Librarian, but is this matter not too serious for jokes?" Sicarius asked.

"What if those aliens are genuinely friendly?" Tigurius repeated,
"how do you think Brother Varus would react?"

The following silence lasted a few seconds, then Seneca cautiously opined:

"It is difficult to tell, based on such a hypothetical situation, but I don't think Brother Varus would slaughter them just because they are xenos. He would need a reason beyond that to kill them."

"I have to agree," Sicarius said slowly,
"his motivation has always been to protect mankind. If we really run with the hypothetical situation of friendly xenos, and if they furthermore can credibly prove that they are no threat to mankind..."

"Brother Varus might get along with them," Tigurius finished.

"As far as the Codex allows it," Seneca remarked,
"rather than kill them, he would probably try to use them to find a way to return to Ultramar. He might even help our hypothetical friendly xenos against other, regular xenos who are a threat to mankind, as both actions are allowed by the Codex."

"Using xenos to your benefit and joining forces against a common foe," Sicarius added.

Of course Calgar knew the corresponding entries in the Codex. Using them in such a way was... a little bold, but - in his opinion - still justifiable.

Well, that really was a strange situation the librarian had described. Now, it was time for answers.

"Tell us, Chief Librarian, how did you get the idea of genuinely friendly xenos?" Calgar demanded,
"that's quite farfetched. According to our experience, aliens always have an inferior motive, even if they pretend to be friendly."

Tigurius made a dramatic pause to give important to his words, then he told them:

"It was some time ago. I was having a look at the aspirants and as I walked past one of them, I had a very unusual sensation."

"What kind of sensation? Could you be more exact?" Calgar asked.

"Unfortunately, not really, my Lord," Tigurius answered,
"it's difficult to put into words. First, I just sensed a strong determination. Then, I was... sort of... grazed by a wing of fate."

Poetic. And confusing.

"When did that happen? Who was this... Varus? Was that aspirant Varus?"

"That aspirant was Varus, my Lord. I decided to test him by letting him fight Sergeant Seneca. Varus' performance was average, but he showed the extreme determination I had sensed never to surrender to an enemy of mankind - even if it was just a simulated enemy."

"That is undoubtedly interesting, but how did that give you the idea of friendly xenos?"

"It was the incident that followed immediately after the fight. As Varus was taken care of, I thought I saw something."

"Something? Don't keep us in suspense, Tigurius!"

"I saw it just for the fraction of a second.
It was like a echo of the Warp, carried over through time and space. It was a shape - two shapes, to be exact, slightly darker than the surrounding air. One shape could have been a Space Marine, the other was smaller... about half the size."

"What was it?"

"I am not sure, my Lord, but I don't think it was humanoid. "

Calgar stared at him. So did the others.

"Come again?" Calgar asked.

"This second shape was not humanoid and a little less than one and a half meters tall. "

"You have not given intruder alert? You have not even told anyone?"

"I have thoroughly scanned the area, with an auspex as well as with my psionic abilities. Furthermore, I have checked every surveillance system on Macragge. No conspicuous recordings. There was nothing, and there has never been anything. It was just an echo, displaced by time and space."

Silence. That was something to think about.

"Excuse me for speaking without permission, but do you think that this creature was some kind of xeno psyker and that it was an attempt by Brother Varus to contact us?" Lady Angren asked.

"Something alike," Tigurius answered.

"Even if all of that is true, why do you think those xenos are genuinely friendly?" Sicarius wanted to know.

"Because as I looked at the shape, as short as the time was, it was as if I looked directly into the alien's eyes, and I could pick up a single emotion from this echo."

"What emotion?" Calgar asked.

"Genuine, benevolent care."

Silence, again. This time, it took much longer until it was broken.

"You really should have told me," Calgar said.

"At the time, I thought it to be nothing more than a delusion, wrought by the energies of the Warp," Tigurius told him.

"Then, what made you change your mind?"

"Last night, I remembered this incident in my dreams, and since Brother Varus went missing, I found that the pieces suddenly fit together."

Calgar took a deep breath.

"It is still a bit farfetched, don't you think? "

"I know, my Lord, but somehow I know that it is at least close to the truth."

Calgar thought about that, then he said:

"I have always done well listening to you, Tigurius. Let's assume you are right, Brother Varus has encountered genuinely friendly xenos, what do you suggest we do? We still can't just fly into the void to look for him."

"No, my Lord, we can't, at least not at the moment. But I am sure not too far in the future a time will come when we can send a small expedition, and we will be rewarded greatly."

"Second company will conduct this mission," Sicarius volunteered immediately.

"We shall see, captain, we shall see," Calgar answered.

If he was honest, ha had to admit that he wanted to conduct this expedition himself, but as a chapter master, he would not get the opportunity. He could not leave the Ultramarines for that long. Impossible.

"You will keep everything you heard strictly confidential," he ordered.

The Space Marines and the navigator nodded. Calgar continued:

"Chief Librarian, I want you to stay vigilant. If Brother Varus does indeed attempt to contact us, or this xeno psyker shows up, I want to know that immediately."

"Of course, my Lord," Tigurius confirmed.

"Return to your posts now. May the blessings of the eternal Emperor be with you."

They bowed and left the room. Calgar was alone again. He thought about everything he had heard.
Who or what was this psyker? Was that bigger shape really Brother Varus? What could have casted him out of the galaxy?
Well, Calgar had an idea concerning this last question, but it was too bold to voice.

He had not enough empirical data to form a hypothesis. He just was sure of one thing:
Having to live among xenos was at best... annoying.

26. Convalescence

"Are we there yet?"

"No, Stormy," Antonius said,
"it took us quite a few hours to travel from Coltport to Canterlot, remember? How could the way back be faster to travel?"

"Tailwind?" Stormy suggested.

Antonius looked at Luna, who snickered.

"That is indeed a possibility," she smiled,
"unfortunately, it's not the case. We're about halfway to Coltport at the moment."

"It's boring," Stormy complained.

"We left it to you to choose if you wanted to join us, and you wanted to. Coltport is quite far away, at least if you travel by chariot," Antonius explained.

"Do you know any better ways to travel, Lord Commander?" one of the pegasi who pulled the chariot asked a bit offended.

"None that are at our disposal at the moment. I know you are by far the fastest transport available. Just... keep up the good work?"

The pegasus nodded, obviously content.

They were en route to pay Moonlight and Blackwing a visit and have a look at the reconstruction efforts at Hope. None of this was actual work for an Astartes, but Antonius still thought it to be a good idea; it showed that he cared for the ponies who had suffered from Chaos.

He had finished the maintenance of the Land Speeder during the last couple of days, of course interrupted by visits to Ponyville. The combustion engine Celestia and Twilight had built with his help was also ready and just waiting for a promethium replacement. The ponies' attempts so far to create a working fuel had not been successful, but they were optimistic and kept trying new formulas.

Furthermore, the first draft on the history of mankind was also already written. Of course there was still a lot to do, but he could take a few days 'off' for this mission.

"Are we there yet?" Stormy asked again.

"You're doing that just to annoy me, right?" Antonius asked.

"Yep," Stormy grinned.

Antonius sighed, turned to Luna and asked exasperatedly:

"Are we there yet?"

They arrived at Coltport a few hours later, in the middle of the afternoon.

"Guards," Luna said as she jumped out of the chariot,
"thank you for flying us here. Take our luggage to the hotel, then you are relieved of duty for today. Tomorrow morning, we'll fly to Hope. Be ready to leave in the morning. Dismissed."

The guards bowed, fetched the luggage and left. Luna fetched the 'get well'-present she had brought from Canterlot and turned to Antonius and Stormy:

"Okay, you two, let's go to the hospital."

When they entered Moonlight's room, they were immediately greeted by her and Blackwing.

"How do you feel?" Luna asked her.

"Not that bad," Moonlight answered,
"I'm still a bit weak and the wound hurts sometimes, but considering my injuries, I'm feeling surprisingly fine."

Luna sighed.

"I'm sorry this has happened to you at all, Moonlight. As your commander, I should..."

"It wasn't your fault, Princess. It was my decision, and I would do it again to help save somepony. Anyway, I try to see the positive side of this: I've lost some weight."

Huh? Well, Moonlight's humor was really peerless.

"What would you say if we did something to counter that? I've brought a fine cake from Canterlot!" Luna smiled and showed her an ice box that was among the things she had brought here.

Moonlight's face fell a bit.

"I'm sorry, Princess. I would like to, but I'm afraid I'm not allowed to. I was put on a strict diet due to my injuries."

"Oh, that's a pity. For how long?"

"The rest of my life."

Considering the damage she had taken, that was not too surprising. For a sweets-loving pony, that was probably a really annoying restriction, though. Antonius realized that he only knew about Moonlight's general condition, but nothing specific.

"I'm sorry, Moonlight. How inconsiderate of me," Luna said apologetically.

"You had no chance of knowing. I still appreciate the gift. Hey, Blacky, could you see if you find some dishes and stuff? I can't eat the cake, but you four can."

"Okay, I can try to get some," Blackwing answered.

"Can I help you?" Stormy asked.

"Of course. Just hop on my back. Can you make a pleading face?"

Stormy gave him puppy-dog eyes.

"Excellent! They will surely give us what we want. Now, let's go," he said and left the room with Stormy.

Moonlight looked after them, a sad smile on her face.

"He would have been a good father, if only I hadn't married him..."

Huh? What the...?

"'Would have been'?" Antonius asked.

Moonlight nodded.

"Please pull back my blanket," she said.

Well, now it got weird.

"Shouldn't you do that yourself?" he suggested.

"Can't."

Hmm... now that he thought about it, Moonlight had really not moved a lot since he had entered the room. Perhaps her condition was more severe than he had thought? Well, there was only one way to find out, so he carefully started folding the blanket back. He saw the upper part of her scar and...

"Restraints? Why did they put you in restraint? Did you try to elope or what?" he asked confusedly.

"No, of course not," Moonlight answered,
"the restraints prevent me from accidentally rupturing my belly with my hooves when I have a seizure."

Seizure? Well, she had more or less been gutted, after all...

"In addition to that there is a bite block in the bowl next to you. Luckily, I don't need it anymore. I don't like that thing, but it prevented me from biting my tongue or ruining my teeth during the first few days."

Hmm... it seemed the worst part of being wounded was the convalescence. Antonius silently thanked the Emperor for his advanced physique.

"Could you please continue now?" Moonlight asked,
"although I have to admit that this is going to be a little embarrassing - especially for me."

Antonius finished folding back the blanket.

The scar looked as if some madman had tried to cut her in two - which was, in fact, exactly what had happened. It started near the end of her ribcage and ended under her tail. The fur around the scar was gone, as was the pony-typical skin fold. Everything that had once been underneath it was barely recognizable anymore, too.

"Oh dear," Luna whispered, then she quickly added:
"I mean, it's not that bad..."

"I'm mutilated, Princess," Moonlight said sadly,
"I know that. But it's even worse. My internal injuries... I'll never be able to have a baby..."

Moonlight was crying now and Luna and Antonius were silent.
Usually, as an Astartes, he went from battle to battle, from one fray into another. He had never had to deal with the aftermath of those battles, at least on such a... personal scale. What should he say? What could you say to a little pony whose family-planning had ended in the trash - probably quite literally?

Fortunately, Luna was better at this than he was. She took a tissue from a nearby table, dried Moonlight's tears and nuzzled her.

"Thank you, Princess," Moonlight said quietly,
"I think I still need some time to..."

She did not finish the sentence, but stared straightforward with a almost panicked expression. In addition to that, the fur on her belly started bristling.

"Here it comes again..."

A few seconds later, Moonlight tensed, bucked in her restraints and whimpered miserably. Antonius had seen a lot of things, but he had to admit that her agonies made him feel somewhat... uneasy.

What were his experiences with pain? As an Astartes, he knew that it was just an illusion of the senses.
Well, during his implantation process, this illusion had been quite real, but after that, pain had become more annoying than debilitating. Now that he thought about it, his arrival on this planet had been the first time he had actually been seriously impaired by that feeling since he had become an Ultramarine, as he had only suffered minor injuries during his service.
Of course ponies were more sensitive.

The seizure lasted a few seconds, then Moonlight relaxed again.

"Moonlight, how often do you have such seizures?" Luna asked worriedly.

"Two or three times a day. Have become rarer and less intense compared to the first few days," Moonlight answered.

"Can't they give you something to ease the pain?"

"Not without turning me into a drooling pudding. No, thank you, I prefer the pain."

Well, that mare definitely had some courage, but Antonius already knew that.

"Could you please take the restraints off me now?" she asked.

"Sorry, but don't you... sort of... still need them?" he asked back.

"Well, you are partially right. I do need them, but now I've got at least six hours to the next seizure. That's all concerted with Doctor Cure."

Antonius and Luna freed her and she carefully covered herself with the blanket again.

When Blackwing and Stormy returned a short time later, they brought the dishes they had looked for with them. Moonlight was behaving as if nothing had happened since they had left. The cake was divided and they ate and chatted. Moonlight could not resist and took a single bite.

About half an hour later, Rapid Cure entered the room.

"Hello Princess Luna, hello Antonius, Moonlight, Blackwing and last but not least, Stormy," he greeted,
"sorry for coming only now, but I was a little busy. So, Moonlight, how are you feeling?"

"Quite good, thanks."

Luna eyed her a bit skeptically.

"Any seizures?" the doctor asked.

"One, about half an hour ago."

Rapid Cure nodded. Luna did so, too, albeit almost imperceptibly.

"Seizures?" Stormy asked worriedly.

"Yeah, but don't worry. It sounds worse than it is," Moonlight immediately assured her - you could also say: lied to her.

"Stormy, would you like to stay with Moonlight and Blackwing for a while as Antonius and I have a little chat with the doctor?" Luna asked.

"Okay, Princess," Stormy answered,
"are you going to talk about grown-up stuff?"

"Indeed," Luna said and left the room.

Antonius and Rapid Cure followed. As the door was closed, Luna turned to Rapid Cure:

"Doctor, tell us honestly about Moonlight's condition."

Rapid Cure cleared his voice and started talking:

"Considering what she has gone through, she is in surprisingly good shape. I guess you are concerned about the seizures. They started the night after you had left. I have to admit that I have never seen such severe seizures before. We even had to restrain her to prevent her from accidentally hurting herself. In addition to that, we drugged her up, but we had to use a pretty heavy dose. We could not sustain that level, however, since it would have harmed her. Thankfully, she preferred a lighter dose, even if that meant that she had to endure some pain."

"Will those seizures remain?"

"Possible. They're becoming less frequent, but I can't exclude that she will continue having them from time to time. At the moment, Moonlight has her peace for at least five and a half hours."

"Are you sure you have excised all of the tainted tissue?" Antonius asked.

"Definitely. One-hundred percent. Just as you told us. Still, it was a very severe wound. Such effects are not too surprising, but the intensity is unheard of. Well, we never had such a daemonic wound before."

"I guess you don't have experts in daemonic wounds?"

Rapid cure let out a mirthless laugh.

"Our expert in daemonic wounds is standing right in front of you."

"I thought your knowledge of that kind of wounds was limited to this case and what I told you... oh, I think I get it."

"Exactly. These few sparks of knowledge and experience make me the expert, at least in comparison. Pretty ridiculous, hmm?"

Damnit, the doctor needed a moral boost.

"I'm sure you're doing your best, and since Moonlight obviously is on the road to recovery, I think you are really doing a good job," Antonius told him.

"I certainly hope so," Rapid Cure replied.

"Thank you for your honesty," Luna said,
"let's go back in now."

They went back into Moonlight's room. Rapid Cure did a quick examination of her and left to continue his medical round.

They stayed there and kept Moonlight and Blackwing company until it was time for dinner, then Luna, Antonius and Stormy said goodbye and left the hospital.

"I wonder if they have any nice restaurants here," Luna wondered,
"well, let's check in at the hotel at first, then we can have a look."

They entered the hotel and found a familiar mare at the reception desk.

"Hello and welcome to the Coltport Inn! What can I do for... Princess Luna! It's a honor to have you here in our humble hotel!" she greeted.

Antonius had a feeling of déjà vu.

"I also greet you, Lord Commander Varus, as well as Stormy Skies," she continued.

Well, that was new.

"We've been expecting you. Your luggage and the filly's is already in your room. It's the same as when you last visited us. This time, however, we have another free room for the Lord Commander."

Luna turned to Antonius:

"Do you want a room of your own?"

"Not necessarily," he answered.

Luna turned back to the reception mare:

"One room is enough for us. Feel free to rent out the second one to somepony else."

"Oh? I mean, as you wish, Princess. May I show you your room now?"

"We would appreciate that. By the way, can you recommend a local restaurant?"

"Well, we don't have any fancy restaurants here. If you'd be willing to accept more 'down-to-earth' food, you can eat here. It would be a pleasure for me to prepare a table for you."

"Thank you. Please do that."

"How many ponies?"

"Well, the three of us," Luna told her a bit confused.

"Oh, of course! Your table will be ready in a few minutes!"

The mare left and Luna turned to Stormy:

"Okay, Stormy, now let's wash up and then there will be dinner!"

A few minutes later they were sitting around a table in the hotel's dining room. A stallion approached them with the menus. The choice of meals was not too big, but certainly interesting- at least if you liked grass-based food. So that was what the reception mare had meant with 'down to earth'.

"A daffodil and daisy sandwich sounds quite nice, don't you think?" Luna asked Antonius.

"Well, not really. I prefer my flowers to be processed by animals... and I mean to meat!"

"I don't think you will get meat here. Not enough non-pony tourists."

"Right. Now, I guess bread and cheese will work, too."

After dinner, they returned to their room.

"Now, what are we going to do with the rest of the day?" Luna asked,
"any ideas, Stormy?"

"No, not really," the little mare told them, but she looked a bit uncomfortable while doing so.

"Is something wrong, Stormy?"

"No, no... well, about tomorrow..."

"Yes?"

"Umm... I don't want to return to my old town. It's... creepy."

Well, her feelings were kind of understandable - from her point of view. After everything that had happened to her there...
Suddenly, Antonius got an idea.

"Stormy, would you like to stay with Moonlight and Blackwing at the hospital?"

"May I?"

"I don't see any obstacles to that. You, Luna?"

"No, not at all. I'm sure they will enjoy your company," Luna agreed.

"Then," Stormy smiled,
"I will stay with them. And now, we could play the board game I brought!"

Aha, another crushing defeat was imminent.

After the gaming session they got ready for the night. Luna and Stormy took the bed, Antonius sat down next to it. The filly had her parasprite in her hooves and had cuddled up to Luna.
Then, something happened that surprised Antonius: Luna started humming, then quietly singing some sort of lullaby. While Stormy fell asleep quickly, Antonius was downright mesmerized by the sound and stared at Luna. Even his own breathing seemed rasp and downright disruptive compared to that.

Luna noticed that she had become the center of his attention and smiled at him.

"Is something wrong?" she asked gently.

"No," Antonius quickly assured her,
"everything is fine."

"Don't you have songs and music in your Imperium?"

"Of course we have songs - of great deeds, and also other kinds of music."

"And what kind of music do you listen to?"

"Does the thundering of bolters and the roaring of chainswords count?"

Luna made a face.

"Not really, no. That's not music."

Antonius shrugged.

"That depends on your definition of music. It certainly has some rhythm."

"I think I like our music better."

"Hmm... it probably is better. I am not a musician, really not, but I have to say, I like your singing. It's... how should I phrase it... somehow... beautiful."

Luna blushed a bit as she said

"Thank you,"

then she grinned broadly:

"Do you want a lullaby, too?"

This idea was so strange that Antonius had to chuckle.

"No, thank you. I might take you up on that later."

The next day, after breakfast, they visited Moonlight and Blackwing again. The batpony mare welcomed them with a broad smile, but again without waving.

"You seem to be in a good mood, Moonlight," Luna said,
"are you feeling better?"

"Hmm," Moonlight answered,
"the seizure is already a few hours overdue. They are really getting rarer."

"Glad to hear that, Moonlight."

Now, Luna turned to her and Blackwing.

"Antonius and I are going to visit Hope today. Would the two of you take care of Stormy until we are back?"

The batponies were all smiles.

"Of course!" they answered with one voice.

Now that Stormy was in Moonlight's and Blackwing's care, Antonius and Luna said goodbye and boarded their chariot. Hope was waiting.

When they arrived there, they circled it once before landing on the market square. The reconstruction work had made great progress; almost all of the bolt impact craters and scorch marks were gone. Now, the ponies were busy replacing the upper layer of the ground with fresh, untainted earth.

As they touched ground, a pegasus mare they were already familiar with came to meet them.

"Princess Luna, Lord Commander Varus, it's an honor that you visit us," she greeted while bowing,
"in place of all the citizens of Hope, I want to thank you for your heroism."

"Hello... Gentle Breeze, right?" Luna replied.

"Yes, Princess," Gentle Breeze smiled and got up again,
"I'm glad I can tell you we're making great progress here!"

"We have already seen some of it. Really, good work. The inhabitants of Hope can be proud."

"Thank you, Princess Luna. Might I ask how Moonlight is doing?"

"She is on the road to recovery. Do you know her personally?"

"No, Princess. I just know her from the newspaper. I would like to meet her in person, though, and thank her for her effort, too. How is Stormy Skies doing?"

"She is fine. She is with Moonlight and Blackwing at the moment."

"Glad to hear that. I knew her family. They really were nice ponies."

After a moment of silence, Gentle Breeze continued:

"Well, I could show you around, if you'd like to."

"Please do that."

So they walked through Hope and Luna talked with multiple ponies and inquired about the status of the reconstruction. Antonius stayed in the background and let his 'superior' conduct the conversations. The only time he had to take a more active part was when they discussed how to get rid of the tainted soil; they agreed on using a mixture of fire and magic to get rid of the taint and then put it into a special dumpsite. The ponies obviously were just as unwilling as Antonius to take any risks.

After getting an overview of the work still to be done, the visitors spent a large part of the day helping where they could. Luna carried on an impressive workload with her magic while Antonius' contribution consisted mostly of work suitable for load servitors.

When they prepared to leave in the late afternoon, Gentle Breeze turned to them once again:

"Excuse me, but may I come with you to Coltport? To thank Moonlight?"

"Of course, get your luggage and come back as soon as possible," Luna answered.

"Thank you! I'll be back in a minute!"

Gentle Breeze came back with her saddlebags a few minutes later. They boarded the chariot, took off and headed back to Coltport.

The sun was already setting when they arrived there. They immediately went to the hospital to visit Moonlight and Blackwing and take care of Stormy again. When they opened the door to Moonlight's room, they saw that Moonlight was already sleeping, and she was not the only one: Stormy was also asleep, snuggled to her right front leg. Blackwing was sitting on a chair, but his head was lying on Moonlight's bed. Sleeping pony number three.

"Pity. I wish I had a camera," Luna snickered.

"No problem," Gentle Breeze said, took out a camera and made one of the most adorable photos ever taken.

"I want prints," Luna stated.

"No problem," the pegasus replied with a smile.

"Should we wake them up or let them sleep?" Antonius asked.

"There is no use in waking Stormy up just to put her to bed in the hotel. I think we should let them sleep - if the doctor agrees that is," Luna answered.

They silently closed the door again and looked for Rapid Cure.

When they found him, Luna asked:

"Doctor Cure, we just visited Moonlight and noticed that she has fallen asleep, just like Blackwing and Stormy. Can we let them sleep or should we take Stormy with us?"

"Hmm, I've seen that. You may let them sleep," he answered,
"they certainly need a good night's rest. You don't need to worry about Moonlight's seizures, either. She had one about an hour ago and fell asleep shortly thereafter. Now, there are at least seven hours until the next one. I'll still have a nurse look after her regularly."

"Seizures?" Gentle Breeze asked worriedly.

"Yes... Gentle Breeze, right? We examined you when you took refuge here."

"Right, Doctor."

"You don't need to worry about the seizures. They are becoming less frequent."

"Thank Celestia."

Luna cleared her voice at that.

"I'm sorry, Princess," Gentle Breeze quickly apologized,
"it's just an expression."

"Never mind," Luna replied.

"Well," Antonius opined,
"as it stands, we can retire. If Stormy wakes up and wants to come to us, please make sure that she is taken to the hotel."

"No Problem, Lord Varus," Rapid Cure said.

Antonius, Luna and Gentle Breeze now went to the hotel. After dinner, the pegasus mare got the vacant room that had originally been provided for Antonius and he and Luna also retired to their room.

"Look, Stormy has left her parasprite here," Luna told Antonius.

"Well, she has Moonlight and Blackwing to cuddle. Should be enough of a substitute," Antonius opined.

"I hope you don't need a substitute for Stormy," Luna smiled.

"Huh?"

"Well, you two have spent the last weeks together. This is your first night without her. Don't you miss her?"

Antonius thought about that. Did he miss Stormy?

"Hmm," he said thoughtfully,
"perhaps a little bit... weird..."

"Not weird at all. I haven't spent as much time with her as you have and yet, I have to admit that I also miss her a bit... I wonder if that's what parents feel once their children have left the house..."

"Umm... we are not really her parents, Luna."

"No, we are not, but we have taken care of her. That makes us some kind of surrogate parents, especially you."

Antonius did not respond. This idea was... he actually had no words to describe it.

"Well... I see myself more as some sort of bodyguard... plus some cuddles..." he finally said.

Luna smiled.

"You are much more than a bodyguard. By the way, how do you estimate Stormy's progress? Has she overcome her traumatization yet?"

"Perhaps not entirely, but she's on a very good way. She likes to spend the days with the Cutie Mark Crusaders and is quite independent. It's really astounding how fast you ponies recover."

"Then, it may be time to reintroduce her to a more 'normal' day. Do you think we can send her to school?"

"Oh, you think she is not already traumatized enough?" Antonius grinned.

Luna stared at him and asked disbelievingly:

"Tony, seriously, what kind of schools do you have in that Imperium of yours?"

"That was supposed to be a joke. I think she can handle school. If we are wrong, we can abort this attempt at any time."

"You think that could be necessary?"

"I just like to be prepared for any kind of outcome."

"Then, we should look for a suitable school for Stormy once we are back in Canterlot."

"Agreed."

The next morning, Antonius and Luna checked out and together with Gentle Breeze they visited Moonlight again. Rapid Cure was also present.
After the pegasus mare had thanked the batponies and some more rather casual talk, it got time for the visitors from Canterlot to part.

"Well, Moonlight, Blackwing, we are going to leave now," Luna said,
"I hope you will get well soon."

"I think I will," Moonlight said with a smile and turned to Rapid Cure,
"but let's ask the expert."

"Your convalescence is making good progress," the doctor told them,
"if no complications arise, you will be home by Heart's Warming."

"That's good to hear," Luna said,
"now, Stormy, ready to leave?"

"I need to pack my things," Stormy stated.

"Already done," Antonius told her.

"Calgy?"

"Packed, in the chariot and ready to travel."

"Then..." she said and turned to the batponies,
"goodbye, Moonlight, Blackwing. It was fun being with you!"

"Likewise, Stormy," Moonlight and Blackwing smiled.

After saying goodbye, Antonius, Luna and Stormy boarded their chariot and headed back to Canterlot.

27. Enrollment

"Here we are," Luna said,
"this school has a reputation for excellence. It is even considered to be one of the best schools in Canterlot, second only to my sister's School for Gifted Unicorns."

The building was remarkably big and paneled with marble, sparkling in the mid-morning sun. Giant marble columns stood on both sides of the two-winged door that was the main entrance.

"Hmm..." Antonius opined,
"not too far from the palace, a good reputation and a decent appearance. Seems like a good choice. What do you think, Stormy?"

The filly looked a little bit skeptical, but answered:

"Well, it certainly looks... kinda nice."

"Then, let's go in and talk to the principal."

They entered the school. Following the signs that showed them the way to the principal's office, they did not get an answer to their knocking.

"I guess the principal is in class," Luna estimated.

"Too bad," Stormy grinned.

"There are more doors than this one," Luna smiled back and knocked at the door to the vice-principal's office.

"Come in," replied a female voice.

They entered the room and stood in front of a desk at which a middle-aged unicorn mare with green fur and a purple mane was sitting.

"Princess Luna! Lord Varus!" she almost shouted, jumped to her hooves and bowed deep,
"I am vice-principal Sweet Grape. How can I be of service?"

"Stand up, good mare. We are here to enroll our little friend here, Stormy Skies," Luna answered.

"Oh, of course," Sweet Grape answered and smiled at Stormy.

Then, just for the fraction of a second, her smile faltered before it was back again. Luna wondered what the meaning of this was. Well, Stormy's story was well known. To think about what she had gone through...

"Hello, Stormy, it is nice to make your acquaintance."

"Hello, Vice-Principal Grape," Stormy greeted.

Sweet Grape turned to the three of them and said:

"Please take a seat, I'll fetch the necessary papers."

Luna and Stormy sat down, Antonius kept standing. When they had filled in the necessary forms, the vice-principal told them:

"So, we are done. Tomorrow, Stormy just needs to meet me here in the morning, and I'll show her to her class. Do you have any further questions?"

"No, I think everything's clear," Luna answered.

They left the school again and went back to the palace. While Luna retired, Antonius and Stormy took a trip to Ponyville once again.

Later that day, when it was Luna's shift, she entered Antonius' and Stormy's quarters. They had returned an hour ago and Stormy was already fast asleep in her bed, her plushie in her hooves.

"Good. She needs her rest," Luna smiled,
"for tomorrow will be an important day for her, and another step towards a normal life."

"I hope everything goes fine," Antonius said with more than a bit skepticism in his voice.

"You'll see, everything will be fine."

"I'm not as optimistic as you."

Luna's smile grew.

"Is it possible that you just don't want to spend your day without her?"

Antonius ignored that and asked:

"Have you noticed that the vice-principal's smile had faltered for a second as she had seen Stormy?"

"Well, I have... but everypony knows Stormy's story, so it's not that strange that Sweet Grape's smile faltered a second considering Hope's fate."

"You may be right, Luna. There also may be another problem we do not know yet."

Luna made a face.

"Tony, you are paranoid."

"Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean people aren't following me," Antonius replied.

Luna laughed quietly for a second.

"Well, if you think it's the best, we can escort her to school and pick her up again when school's out," she suggested.

"Accepted," Antonius answered.

The next morning Luna and Antonius brought Stormy to school. The vice-principal welcomed her with a warm smile and showed her to the classroom.

"You see?" Luna asked Antonius when they had left again,
"nothing is wrong there. Stormy will most certainly have a nice day and a lot to tell when we pick her up this afternoon."

"I hope you are right," he answered thoughtfully.

Well, it was actually cute how concerned he was about Stormy's wellbeing, but Luna was sure he was falsely alarmed. It was just a school, after all. What was the worst that could happen?

Later that day, Antonius and Luna were on their way to Stormy's school to pick her up. Antonius was not able to put his finger on it, but somehow he had the almost uncanny feeling that there was a problem they had missed. He was distracted from his thoughts as Luna asked:

"Is there a particular reason for your smart pace?"

Until now, he had not even realized that he was faster than normal. He slowed down a bit.

"I'm not sure," he answered truthfully.

"Relax. You will see, everything is fine."

He nodded and they continued their way.

As they came within sight of the school, Antonius saw something that confirmed the bad feeling he had had all day: Three fillies were almost pushing Stormy into a side road.

"Seen that?" he asked and started running.

"Indeed," Luna answered and followed him,
"sometimes, I really don't like it when you are right.

"Neither do I."

When they came into hearing distance, Antonius changed his gait to a almost silent one. His armor immediately adapted to this, turning him almost inaudible. He gestured to Luna to wait and peeked around the corner of a house into the side street. There they were: Three unicorn fillies cornering Stormy. What the hell was going on there?

"You don't belong here," one of the fillies hissed.

"Yeah, this is a school for magic unicorns, not for chicken!" another said.

Antonius almost did not trust his ears. Unicorns that despised pegasi? Were they crazy?"

"I'm not a chicken," Stormy returned defensively.

Good, girl. Tell them.

"Shut up, blank flank! When unicorns tell you that you are a chicken, then you are a chicken!" the third enemy filly shouted.

Enemy. A word a Space Marine was all too familiar with. And Antonius had thought it, here and now.
Automatisms, trained over decades, sprung into action. His subconscious recalled the anatomical data of the ponies and fed it into his waking consciousness. Head, heart, spine, and dozens of ways to crush a member of this little species, including the necessary angles and trajectories for his bolter. Almost a pity he did not intend to actually harm them.

"It does not matter whether you are unicorns or not, I am a still a pegasus!" Stormy told them.

"It does not matter, hmm?" one of the xenos said and fired a quite pathetic magic beam into the ground directly in front of Stormy's hooves.

Antonius reflexively grabbed his chainsword, but he felt resistance. A quick look told him that Luna was holding him back, shaking her head with a worried expression.
She was right, of course. Those were not enemies of mankind. They weren't worth the use of chainswords. They were just... well, jerks, bullies, not even worth killing - at least until they got too annoying.
He nodded in return and Luna let go of him. He gestured her to wait again and stepped into the side street, making no noise.

As Stormy saw him, she started to smile.

"Why are you smiling, chicken? You are in big trouble," one of the fillies said to her.

"She smiles because she has a better overview of the situation," Antonius stated coldly.

The three fillies spun around and looked at his shin armor. Then their gazes went upwards until they stared into his cold, unforgiving face. Their mouths opened, but they did not say a word.

"So, you think you are 'better' because you have your pathetic little magic, hmm?" he continued,
"I'll tell you something: I'll take you three and Stormy to Canterlot's tallest tower. There, I'll throw you out of the highest window. Then we will see which power is more useful: your magic or Stormy's flight."

The three fillies had become shivering heaps of pony by now.
Antonius was content. That threat should keep them from harassing his protégée any more.

"That won't be necessary," a voice from behind him said.

Luna had joined the 'group'.

Antonius turned to her:

"You have a better suggestion, Princess?"

He hoped she would get his drift. She did. She turned to the fillies and said:

"I have. You three will tell your parents that we demand to see them tomorrow, one hour after sunrise. They are to come to the palace and await our arrival at the front gates. In the meantime, we will talk to your principal about your... 'attitude'. Go now."

The three fillies ran out of the side street. Once they were gone, Luna turned to Antonius:

"Tony, I must admit that I also don't like bullies, but throwing them out of a window?"

"It thought it to be a suitable example for the benefit of flight over magic," he answered.

"Maybe, but they were just fillies."

"If they are old enough to behave like jerks, they are old enough for an appropriate punishment."

"Threatening to kill them was not appropriate."

"I did not want to kill them."

"It was just an empty threat?"

"No, I never make empty threats. I would secretly have asked you to catch them before they hit the ground, though. I wanted to teach them a lesson. Killing someone you just have taught a lesson would be counterproductive."

Luna took a deep breath, then she said:

"You know, maybe I should do the threatening from now on."

"As you wish," Antonius grinned, then he turned to Stormy:

"Everything all right?"

"Yep," she answered with a smile.

"Now," Luna said,
"let's see the principal and tell her what her pupils are doing once class is over."

They entered the school and went to the principal's office.
Just as Luna was about to knock, they heard voices through the door.

"I know, Principal Cinch, but Princess Luna and Lord Varus were with her. I could not deny their request," Sweet Grape apologized.

"You couldn't?" another voice said,
"it took me a lot of effort for this school to get its immaculate reputation. This school stands for excellence! And excellence means unicorns! We are even competing with Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns! I will not risk that. Those non-magic hicks shall go to some country school! They ruin the reputation of our school. And they ruin my reputation!"

Luna looked so dumbfounded Antonius almost had to laugh. He bent down and whispered into her ear:

"I think we have found the source of those fillies' attitudes."

"I can't believe it," Luna answered,
"how could this mare become principal of a school?"

The argument inside the office continued:

"Principal Cinch, perhaps Stormy Skies will not endanger the school's reputation. She's the protégée of the princess, after all."

"You have always been much too weak, Grape. We won't take any risks! This school is for unicorns, because it is commonly known that unicorns are more intelligent than the other kinds..."

Luna looked at Antonius and shook her head.

"... and about her 'caretakers': I am not interested in the opinion of Nightmare Moon and some alien brute! Have you not heard the rumors? She called him to Equestria to help her seize power again!"

WHAT?
Wow. That was obviously the next escalation level of Blueblood's nonsense.

Antonius just wanted to discuss the way forward with Luna, but at that moment she blasted the door open and stepped through. He choose to wait for her sign to follow.

"PRINCIPAL! THE PONY YOU CALL 'NIGHTMARE MOON' IS HERE!"

No understandable answer.

"BUT WE ARE NOT NIGHTMARE MOON, WE ARE LUNA, PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT! YOU DEMAND A PROOF? YOU ARE STILL ALIVE AND WELL! WOULD NIGHTMARE MOON HAVE HESITATED TO HARM YOU IF YOU HAD UNCOVERED SOME SECRET PLAN OF HERS?"

Again, no understandable answer.

"WOULD SHE HAVE HESITATED?" Luna shouted, sounding even angrier than before.

"No," the principal whimpered.

Silence lasted for a few seconds, then Luna continued, much calmer now:

"Your time as principal of this school is over. In addition to that, you will come to the palace tomorrow at dawn. You will be thrown into the dungeon for a day, so that you have time to think about the error of your ways. Oh, and if you think you could just run away... LORD COMMANDER!"

Aha, Antonius' cue. He gestured Stormy to wait and stomped into the office, a 'you are already dead'-expression on his face. This would certainly get interesting.

Luna was standing in front of two cowering mares - Sweet Grape and an older, blu-ish one - her wings extended, her posture threatening.

"...we will send the Lord Commander after you to take you into custody. You should know that he is not as forgiving as we are," Luna continued.

Antonius had been right: This was interesting - and quite entertaining!

Then Luna turned to Sweet Grape:

"We will watch you, too, but we will give you a chance to prove that you are more reasonable than Cinch. Get that abominable attitude out of your and your pupils' heads. Our society is built upon the harmony of all kinds of ponies, and we will not allow somepony to ruin that harmony!"

Having said that, she left the office, followed by Antonius. They picked up Stormy and left the building.

"You were right, Luna, you are great at threatening," Antonius grinned,
"I especially liked the threat 'not as forgiving as we are'. Excellent!"

"Yeah, rub it in," Luna sighed,
"but I just could not contain myself. This mare... I have no words that do her stupidity justice!"

"Hmm... well, be that as it may, the immaculate facade of your society has started to show some cracks."

"Nopony ever said we were perfect. Our society is overall peaceful and built upon harmony, but there will always be some... 'wild shots'.
And I could be an example for hypocrisy: first, I reprimand you for threatening somepony, then I do it myself. What are you supposed to think of me now?"

Antonius smiled for a second, then he said:

"Don't worry. I still like you."

"I like you, too," Stormy concurred.

When they were back at the palace, they went down to the armorium and told Celestia what had happened. She, Twilight and Spike had still been busy experimenting with possible fuels, but now she was all ears.

"Twilight, please take Stormy for a walk. We have important matters to discuss. Spike, please join them," she said, looking stonily.

"Yes, Princess," the three answered and left the room.

Celestia waited until their steps had become inaudible, them she asked:

"Are you two nuts?"

"Nope. One pony, one human," Antonius answered dryly.

Celestia blankly stared at him.

"That's not funny. You threatened ponies! What they had done was wrong, very wrong even, but that is no excuse for threatening them!"

"Sometimes you have to do something drastic to make somepony think," Luna justified their behavior.

"That was too drastic! You overreacted. You of all ponies should know better, Luna."

Luna raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean by that, sister?"

Antonius could hear the tension in her voice. A dispute was probably about to begin.
Celestia took a deep breath and remained silent. Luna didn't:

"You mean I should be more restrained because I once was Nightmare Moon, don't you? You want to say I should shut up and just smile and wave all day so that nopony could get afraid of me. You still reproach me for my mistake. You will never allow me to live that down!"

"I do not reproach you for this incident, but it is hard to forget if you behave like a berserk!"

"BERSERK?"

"BERSERK!"

"Oh, I'm so sorry that I'm not as perfect as the princess who allowed that mare to become a principal in the first place!"

"That wasn't my fault, the EEA is responsible for appointing principals!"

"Oh come on, sister, you have a hoof in every pie - figuratively and literally!"

The princesses were glaring at each other now, even baring their teeth a bit.
Okay, this was getting out of control. High time for Antonius to do something.

"PRINCESSES!" he boomed.

Celestia and Luna stared at him and he continued:

"It may not have been the most diplomatic solution, but neither of us is a diplomat. We had to react to a serious misconduct, and we reacted in a way we deemed to be appropriate at that moment. We can't and won't apologize for that, but we can try to optimize our reaction should such a situation occur again."

Not that he thought that to be necessary...

Celestia kept looking at him for a few seconds, then she sighed and said:

"Okay. As long as your 'optimization' means not to threaten anypony! And now that we're at it: No throwing ponies out of windows, no hunting them - no harming ponies at all!"

Antonius calmly stared back.

"I can't promise that. Think of Hope for example: those pony-cultist had to be eliminated."

"Hmm, okay, I see your point in that regard, but promise that you will try not to harm anypony unless absolutely necessary."

"Well, I surely can try to try."

Celestia looked a bit dumbfounded, then she shook her head.

"You are impossible," she sighed.

"Have I caused some kind of mayhem up until now?" Antonius smiled.

"No, you haven't."

"Then, you can proceed on the assumption that I'll see no need to change this. I'm a warrior, not a butcher."

Celestia nodded.

"Right."

"And my days as a maniac are over, sister," Luna interjected,
"we were making use of threats, but none of us really wanted to harm anypony."

"I know, Luna. Just try to keep a little calmer, you two."

She started smiling.

"You know, somehow, despite your very different origins, you are actually two of a kind."

Antonius and Luna simultaneously raised an eyebrow at that.

The next morning, short before dawn, Antonius and Luna were standing at the main gates of the palace, waiting for the ex-principal. They were a little surprised as Celestia joined them.

"Sister?" Luna asked,
"are you here to prevent us from behaving inappropriately?"

"No," Celestia answered,
"I just want to make sure that mare knows that I am angry at her attitude, too. That should further your cause."

"I wonder if she comes," Antonius said.

"If she doesn't, I'll have to order you to get her," Luna smiled.

"Could I order you not to do that so that we can use the guard instead?" Celestia asked.

"No. Luna is my commander," Antonius answered.

Now Luna started humming a happy little melody.

"Oh great. I've given a pyromaniac the mightiest match in Equestria," Celestia sighed.

Luna hummed a little louder.

Celestia had just risen the sun as Cinch appeared. The ex-principal knelt down before the sun princess, ignoring Luna and Antonius, and said:

"Good morning, Princess Celestia. I hope for your wisdom so that justice will be done to me."

Antonius thought about stomping her into the ground. It was not necessary, for Celestia answered:

"My wisdom? How could I be wise? I am just an alicorn, not an unicorn, after all."

Her cold and slightly mocking tone was simply great - and also effective. The ex-principal looked at her with a horrified expression. Celestia continued:

"Yes, I know your attitudes towards the different kinds of ponies, and I must say that I am very disappointed in you. We live in peace and harmony for several millennia now, and I will not allow the dark times of conflict to return. My sister has already passed judgement on you, and I wholeheartedly concur with her."

Surprise was added to Cinch's expression.

"Princess," she said,
"your sister is wrong. I am a loyal subject of your Royal Highness. I have been that since the day I was born. Now, as the loyal subject that I am, I feel obliged to warn you: Do not put your trust in ponies that do not deserve it."

Celestia stared at her for a second, then she exclaimed:

"Instead of showing even a little insight, you dare to insult my dear sister? If she was wrong, then only in one aspect: You will spend two days in prison to think about your plain wrong attitudes. And if you should not be able to correct them, I will send Lord Commander Varus to 'assist' you with that task. Despite being here only for a short time, he already knows more about peaceful coexistence and harmony than you do!"

Wow. Mrs. Diplomacy was actually angry. Insulting Luna in her presence was obviously a very stupid thing to do.

Cinch paled and Celestia turned to the guards:

"Guards! Imprison that mare. You may set her free again in 48 hours. Not a minute sooner!"

Two pegasus guards - Antonius loved that irony - dragged the ex-principal away.
Celestia, Luna and Antonius turned around and entered the palace.

"Well, sister," Luna said innocently,
"it is so good that you were there. I would probably have acted too impulsively and - I don't know - have threatened her or something like that. What do you think, Antonius?"

"You are right," Antonius agreed,
"you would probably have threatened her with sending me to 'correct' her attitudes..."

"All right, all right!" Celestia interrupted them,
"I can understand you, both of you! That mare is indeed unbearable! Well, now she will have some time to think. I hope she makes use of this opportunity. And, Antonius: Sorry for using you as a threat - threatening ponies is still bad... and I know that I cannot give you orders."

"Indeed. I am his commander, so only I may boss him around. If you want to use him, you have to ask politely first. Perhaps I might lend him to you then," Luna grinned.

She did know that he was walking right next to her, right?

"Luna," Celestia said,
"that mare may not insult you. I may. Shut up."

The parents of the three fillies who had bullied Stormy arrived punctual an hour later. One mother immediately started complaining:

"Princess Celestia, you cannot allow this... brute to run through Canterlot and threaten little fillies!"

Wrong recipient, so Antonius told her, slightly annoyed:

"Complaints in written form to: Cato Sicarius, captain of the Ultramarines 2nd company, Master of the Watch, Knight Champion of Macragge, Grand Duke of Talassar, and High Suzerain of Ultramar."

The ponies stared at him for a second, then he added:

"You may, of course, also put forth your complaints to Princess Luna. Before you do so, however, you should hear the whole story - and my motives."

So Antonius told the parents what had happened the day before.
They were shocked when they heard what their children had done, especially when they also got to know that such an attitude was worth a few days in prison. They still were not happy about their children being threatened, but before they left, they promised to keep a close eye on their fillies' behavior.

Later that morning, Antonius and Luna escorted Stormy to her school. Sweet Grape already expected them in front of the building and was quick to assure them that she would appeal to everyone's conscience that all kinds of ponies had to be treated equally.

She had kept her word. As the Space Marine and the Princess picked Stormy up after school, she told them that she had not been harassed today.
It had probably been more fear then insight that had lead to this corrected behavior, but as Antonius knew the ponies, this new attitude certainly would become genuine soon.
At least he hoped so. His tasks here were already difficult enough, after all, even without having to deal with this kind of strife.

Author's Note

Two years of My Little Xeno!

I would like to use this anniversary to thank my editor, my followers, everyone who liked my story and all of my readers.

When I started writing, I had an idea for a basic plot and thought: 'Try to write an enjoyable little story.'
Enjoyable: I certainly hope so. :twilightsmile:
Little: Well, let's say I found out I have more to tell than I initially thought. :twilightsheepish:

28. A prank gone wrong

Celestia was lying on her beach chair, sipping a cool, red, fruity cocktail. She really loved the beach; the smell and sound of the sea, the warm sand...
She closed her eyes and enjoyed her sun shining on her face.
Until, all of a sudden, this warm feeling was gone. She opened her eyes again, curious what might have caused this shadow.

"Hello, sister," Luna grinned.

"Oh, Luna," Celestia sighed,
"you do know I am not very fond of you entering my dreams, especially if I have such a nice one. What do you want?"

"Well, I just wanted to tell you that this 'Nightmare Moon and Antonius are here to destroy us'-rumor was not spread by Blueblood."

Celestia sat up:

"How do you know?"

"Antonius and I asked him."

Uh-oh.

"Luna, what have you two done?"

"Relax, sister, I just entered his dream and tagged Tony along. We politely asked him if he really has stopped badmouthing Tony, and he swore he had. And you know what? I actually believe him. Guess this rumor has developed a life of its own."

"That's hardly good news," Celestia sighed,
"but at the moment, we can't do anything about it. Was that all you wanted to tell me? That could have waited until tomorrow."

Luna smiled.

"Perhaps, dear sister, but I also wanted to invite you."

"Invite?"

"Yes, I suggested fighting some fierce creature to Tony. That way, he can blow off steam without accidentally endangering anypony. He accepted. Now, I want to invite you to join us."

Celestia made a face.

"So, you want me to leave my delightful beach dream to watch Antonius slaughter some dream construct? It will be dream constructs, not real dreaming creatures, right?"

"Of course, sister! What do you think I am? I will simulate their behavior, and Tony will fight them."

"Why do you want me to watch?"

"Come on, this will be interesting! And - between the two of us - you really could need a little fighting experience. Watching Tony would certainly be beneficial."

Celestia sighed again.

"Okay, Luna. Let's go. Just save this dream for me."

"As you wish, sister", Luna grinned and lit her horn.

The next moment, they were standing in a large, grassy clearing. Antonius was already waiting for them in full armor, helmet on his head.

"Greetings," he said,
"I suppose that means we can start."

"Indeed," Luna told him and lit her horn.

A chimera appeared a few meters away.

"And another legendary creature," Antonius commented and drew his sword.

Ugh, this would get messy. Unless...

"Antonius," Celestia said,
"do you think you could defeat this chimera without using your weapons?"

Antonius looked at her, then back at the creature.

"Probably," he stated.

"Then, I dare you to try it. Fight the chimera unarmed!"

Antonius took another look at her and said:

"I accept your challenge."

He put his sword away and assumed a defensive stance.
Celestia was contend. With this challenge, she had really managed to trick him into not using his weapons. She was sure that meant that the messiness and violence would be kept within reasonable limits.

"Ready?" Luna asked,
"then let the fight begin!"

Celestia and Luna took a few steps back to watch the scene from a safe distance while the chimera came to life.

"Ah, a guest," the tiger head said.

"It talks. I'm not too surprised," Antonius noticed flatly.

"I wanted to create the appropriate atmosphere," Luna told him.

"That's good," the goat head bleated, ignoring Antonius and Luna,
"we haven't eaten in days."

"Yeah," the snake head confirmed,
"we are very hungry."

"In a second, your hunger will be the least of your problems," Antonius stated coldly.

Hmm... at least he played along.

"On three, sisters," the tiger head growled.

"OnetwothreeMOVEIT!" Antonius barked.

The chimera attacked, its heads roaring, bleating and hissing. It jumped at Antonius, but he quickly took a step to the side and evaded the creature. As it passed him, however, he grabbed its snake part and stopped it in the middle of its jump, leading to a rather ungraceful landing.
Now Antonius stepped on the chimera's back, where the snake part was attached, and...
Yikes!
... ripped the snake part out of the creature's body, creating a fountain of blood!

So much for keeping the messiness and violence within reasonable limits. Celestia was totally aghast.

"Wait a second!" Luna shouted.

Antonius turned to her, the chimera under his boot, the severed snake part still in his grasp.

"Is something wrong?" he asked almost innocently.

"Well, to be honest, I did not expect this. I have to admit that I have no idea how a chimera would behave in such a situation."

"I guess it would be in serious pain and mad as hell."

"Umm... yes... probably."

"Then, just maximize the creature's aggressiveness. That should do."

He turned to the severed snake head:

"Don't you think?"

He moved his hand a little, so that it looked like the head was nodding.

"Antonius! That is disgusting! And macabre!" Celestia shouted.

"Hey, it's just a dream. A simulation. I just wanted to lighten up the mood," Antonius told them.

"It would probably be better if you did not use severed body parts in that process," Luna said.

"Okay," Antonius answered curtly and threw the snake part away.

Now, the chimera started moving again and almost made Antonius loose his balance when it jumped up. It quickly turned around and attacked him, trying to bite his head off with its tiger-head.
Antonius managed to prevent it from doing that by grabbing the head with both of his hands. He could not take care of the chimera's claws, however. They scratched across his pauldronds and arms as the creature tried to rip him apart. Furthermore, the goat head tried to bite him.
It really looked as if he was in serious danger now - for about a second.

He kept his grasp on the tiger head and elbowed the goat head. This shook the chimera enough so that he could adjust his grasp: his left hand held the creature's upper jaw, his right hand the lower jaw. Now, he ripped the tiger's lower jaw out, spilling more blood in the process.

She really should have allowed him to use his sword, Celestia thought. Couldn't have been any messier.

Now that his right hand was free, Antonius punched the chimera in the chest with enough force to lift it into the air. He used this gained space to shift his body and get the goat head into a chokehold. A jolt, and a loud crack told Celestia that he had just snapped the goat's neck.

The fight was over.

Antonius obviously thought otherwise. He threw the chimera onto the ground and his armored boot came down on what was left of the tiger head, crushing it with a sick crunch.

Now it was really over. Finally.

"That was an outstanding performance!" Luna cheered.

What? Celestia was sick and her little sister was downright enthusiastic?

"Thank you," Antonius said,
"I have to commend you, too. This fight felt absolutely real, from the creature's strength to the effects of the wounds. We really have to do another session sometime soon."

"With pleasure!"

Great. Luna and Antonius had found a hobby.

Well, at least it would enable him to 'blow off steam'. Celestia, for her part, was happy that it was over. And she knew she wouldn't eat anything red for breakfast. Or anything crunchy. Or mushy.

"Please get me back into my beach dream now, Luna," she asked.

"At once, sister!" Luna answered and lit her horn.

The next moment, Celestia was back in her beach chair, her cocktail next to her. Her blood-red cocktail.

"Damnit," she mumbled.

"Do you think I succeeded in creating the right atmosphere?" Luna asked.

"Definitely. Why do you ask?" Antonius replied.

"Well, you seemed to be a bit annoyed by the chimera's talking. You interrupted it and urged it to attack immediately."

"That was actually part of my strategy. Talking seemed to be a part of the creature's routine, so I disrupted its routine to rattle it."

"Oh, so you really were content with the fight?"

"Of course, just like I said. Were you content with the fight, too?"

"You know, if I am completely honest, I have to tell you that the way you defeated the chimera had been a bit messy," Luna told Antonius.

"What did you expect? I couldn't talk it to death, and without weapons, the possibilities were somewhat limited," Antonius answered.

"Maybe, but ripping it apart bit by bit was a tad... nauseating. First the snake head, then the tiger's lower jaw..."

"Hey, it wanted to bite me."

"True, but please don't do something like that to a pony, okay?"

"Don't worry," Antonius smiled,
"I know something better to do with a pony's jaw."

"And that is?" Luna asked, half curiously, half worriedly.

At that, Antonius started stroking her under the chin.

"Funny. Really funny," she deadpanned.

The next morning, Luna and Antonius waved goodbye as Stormy left for school.

"Without us escorting her," Antonius mumbled.

"Don't worry," Luna smiled,
"she is, in fact, old enough and knows the way by now. And as you have seen yesterday, nopony will dare to bully her."

"Right."

"What are you going to do today?"

"I think I'll revise my first draft of the history of mankind, unless something else happens and pulls me away from that."

"What do you think could happen?"

Suddenly, Antonius' vox beeped.

"Right on cue," he said and turned to the vox.

"Applejack's frequency," he added.

"Hello? Antonius?" a voice came out of the device.

Not Applejack, but Rarity.

"Yes, it's me. How can I help you?" Antonius answered.

"I just wanted to tell you that your clothes are ready. You can come by any time and pick them up."

"Good, thank you. I'll come as soon as I can. Antonius, out."

"Out? Oh, I see. Rarity, out! ... now, what do I have to... ah!"

The transmission was cut.

"Well, I guess I know what I really will do today. I'll head for the chariots. Bye, Luna. Until sunset, respectively moonrise."

"Bye, Tony."

Antonius left and Luna got on her way to Celestia.

"Good morrow, dear sister," Luna smiled,
"how was the rest of your night's sleep?"

"I slept well, Luna, thank you. Despite the carnage."

"Yeah, his fighting style is really unique. Since he is our ally, this actually benefits us."

"Maybe. I just hope that he never shows such aggression towards a pony."

"Don't worry, sister," Luna grinned,
"the worst thing he'll do is some stroking under the chin."

"Huh? How do you know?"

"Umm... first-hoof experience?"

Celestia stared at her sister:

"Luna! We are NOT pets! Bring this fact home to him."

"Oh, he already knows that. It's just a little friendly teasing."

"Hmm. I certainly hope so," Celestia said thoughtfully, then she started smiling:
"Just tell me if he should try to put you on a leash."

"Nah, I really don't think he's into that sort of stuff... could be worth a try, though."

"Luna!" Celestia cringed.

"Haha! You should have seen your face! But seriously, everything is fine. You know he is basically a friendly creature."

"As long as he doesn't rip apart his enemies..."

"That is exactly the point, sister. His ENEMIES. And only them. As he said, he is a warrior."

"Right, but seeing the way he fights, his almost creepy prowess, I have one question: What kind of war needs such warriors?"

"The war against Chaos. You have not been in Hope. I was. I can tell you, he needs - and we need - every bit of his skills."

Celestia nodded and said:

"Indeed... but wait a second... weren't the Space Marines created primarily to reunite mankind and fight the aliens that oppressed it? That means that those aliens were - or are still - as dangerous as Chaos! Not a nice perspective.
It is also possible, of course, that their emperor already had the fight against Chaos in mind... impossible to say.
Be that as it may, one thing is clear: Antonius really is critically important to us. Well, luckily, we don't have to be overcautious and watch his every step. He has shown that he can take care of himself. I don't think there is anything in Equestria that can easily endanger him."

"Come on, Applejack," Rainbow Dash complained,
"you have spent some time with him. Can't you help me?"

"No, Rainbow," Applejack answered,
"I won't help you to prank Antonius. Seriously, what has gotten into you?"

"I hate losing," Rainbow pouted,
"and he defeated all of us with ease. I just want to come back at him, show him that we are tough!"

"All right," Applejack deadpanned,
"so we have a very important alien super warrior and you can only think about annoying him. Great, really."

"I'm sure he will appreciate a good prank."

"I wouldn't bet on it."

"Okay, fine. Don't help me. I'll think of something myself, but I must hurry. I saw him go into Rarity's boutique. I must come up with a good prank before he leaves again!"

Rainbow turned around and darted into the sky.

Applejack sighed and wanted to get back to her work, but she hesitated. Should she better warn Antonius that Rainbow wanted to prank him? It wouldn't be very nice towards her friend, but it would certainly be better than an angry Antonius. She sighed again and set out for Ponyville.

Antonius knocked and entered the boutique.

"Rarity?" he asked into the empty room.

No answer.

"Rarity? Are you in here somewhere?" he asked a bit louder.

Still no answer.

Antonius used his auspex to scan the area around him: One pony life-sign ahead of him behind a door. But why did this pony not answer?
He went to the relevant door, knocked and got a scream as an answer. Deeming this as prove enough of an emergency, he charged through the door - just to find Rarity in front of a large mirror... wearing socks?

She screamed again. Antonius quickly looked around the room, but could not see any hostile creatures.

"Rarity? Are you all right? Why are you screaming?" he asked.

"How could I not scream? You charged into my room!" she answered indignantly.

"I charged because you screamed."

"Well, I screamed because you startled me!"

"By knocking at your door? How could that startle you? I also called your name when I entered your boutique. Twice!"

Her indignation made way for some embarrassment, including a little blush.

"Oh? Really? Sorry, I was 'in the zone'."

"'Zone'? What 'zone'?"

"Well, it's sort of a creative thing..."

"Ah. Intriguing. Has this something to do with you adapting the concept of socks for ponykind?"

Rarity looked down her legs at the white and blue socks and her blush deepened.

"Umm...actually, yes."

She shifted from one hoof to another, then she said:

"Antonius, I must ask you a question, especially since socks are from your culture."

"Go ahead."

Rarity turned a little, so that her side was visible.

"Do they look somewhat... indecent to you?"

Well, that was a question Antonius definitely had not expected.

"Huh?"

"I mean, they are great casual wear, very comfortable. But I also noticed that they slightly accentuate a pony's flank, so do you think a pony looks indecent wearing them?"

Antonius caught himself actually taking a look at Rarity's flank. He quickly turned his eyes back to her face and tried to come up with some sort of answer.

"Well, this question is a little strange, especially if you take into consideration that ponies usually don't wear clothes at all. Still, I don't think there's anything indecent about ponies wearing socks."

"Perfect!" beamed Rarity,
"now please wait a second, I'll quickly take them off and then we can have a look at your clothes. They are ready behind the curtain where you took the measurements. Please try them on, so that I can see if they fit."

Antonius went ahead and vanished behind said curtain to take a look at the clothes:
Just as the pajamas, they followed the Ultramarine color pattern. They were heavier though, more resilient, and instead of replacing the skulls with smilies, Rarity had omitted them completely. Really more fitting for something you wanted to wear in public.
He donned the clothes and stepped through the curtain into the room. Rarity was waiting for him.

"And?" she asked eagerly,
"do you like them?"

"Yes, they are fine," Antonius nodded,
"really, excellent work. Fitting, colors, everything is immaculate. Thank you."

"Oh, you're welcome! I have to admit, thinking in those different shapes was a bit of a challenge, but I'm happy that you..."

At that moment, Rainbow Dash burst into the boutique.

"Hello, Antonius!" she blurted,
"I hope you have a little bit of time to spare. I have something very important to show you!"

"Should I pick my armor and weapons?" Antonius asked.

"Nah, not necessary. Just come, quick!"

Antonius turned to Rarity:

"Okay, I'll leave my equipment here. Please don't touch it, you might hurt yourself."

"No problem," Rarity assured him.

"Come on, Antonius!" Rainbow urged.

Antonius followed Rainbow Dash out of the boutique.

As Applejack entered Rarity's boutique, she could only see the back half of her friend, the rest was hidden behind a big curtain.

"Hello, Rarity," she greeted.

Rarity took a leap backward and shouted:

"I haven't done anything! Especially not taken a look at Antonius' armor!"

Applejack smiled.

"I'm not here to monitor you," she assured her,
"but now that you've mentioned Antonius, where is he? I've got to warn him of a prank Rainbow wants to play on him."

Rarity stared at her.

"Oh dear," she said.

"Where is this 'something' you want to show me?" Antonius asked.

"A little into the forest. Just follow me!" Rainbow answered.

They had just passed the border of the Everfree. Had Rainbow told him that they were going into the forest, he would have taken his chainsword with him. Well, it was too late for that now, and if she said he did not need his weapons, she was probably right.
A bit suspicious was her eagerness - and this quite snickering now and then. His transhuman awareness suggested that this could be some sort of trap, but why should the Element of Loyalty lead him into a trap? They were allies, after all.

"Here it is!" Rainbow exclaimed and hovered in the air, close to some treetops.

"What is where?" Antonius asked.

"Just a few steps more, then you will see it!"

Okay, this whole situation downright screamed 'TRAP!', but that did not make any sense. As alert as possible, Antonius slowly advanced, constantly scanning his surroundings. No sign of a threat. He stepped into a patch of blue flowers. Still no sign of a threat.

"Seriously, Rainbow, what did you want to..."

Suddenly, Antonius recognized that something was wrong. His Multi-lung sprung into action and everything started to get blurry.
He shook his head to clear his vision. It did not work.
He could feel both of his hearts beating and found it difficult to keep balance.

"Ah, it's gone. We can go again," Rainbow said, snickering.

It had sounded like from far away.

Antonius body started to feel numb and his hearts were beating at maximum. Antonius knew this procedure:
Emergency detoxification. If a Space Marine encountered a particularly devious poison that his body had problems handling, all organs were shut down, with only a few exceptions. The hearts and the Oolitic Kidney were set to maximum to get rid of the poison before it could cause serious harm.
That was what was happening now. He only had a few second before he would fall unconscious. He had to get away from this place, from those... flowers? The flowers. Probably.

He stumbled out of the patch and tried to get as far away as possible from those damned things.
He did not get far. He managed to clear the patch, but just a few meters later he fell to his knees.

"Hey, Antonius, is something wrong?" Rainbow asked from far away.

She did not snicker anymore, though.

Antonius toppled over and kept lying on the ground. He thought he heard hooves in the distance. Then, everything went black.

"Great! Just great!" was the first thing Antonius heard as he regained consciousness.

That was Applejack's voice.

"Poisoning him? Really? THAT WAS YOUR GREAT PRANK???"

Wow, Applejack sounded seriously angry.

"I did not mean to," Rainbow cried,
"Poison Joke is not dangerous, just... silly."

"Rainbow, perhaps you haven't noticed it, but... ANTONIUS IS NOT A PONY!!!"

Yep, Applejack was angry. Definitely.

Time to get up again.
He couldn't. In fact, he felt terrible. Had the detoxification not worked?

"Applejack, Rainbow Dash, his heart rate is slowing down again."

Huh? Rarity?

"That's a good sign, isn't it?" Rainbow asked.

"I don't know," Rarity answered.

"I'll better call Twilight," Applejack said.

"Whoa, don't rush things. He's tough. He'll be fine."

Antonius could almost hear Applejacks skeptic look.

"Uh, girls, his heart rate keeps slowing down, I think he's... umm... dying," Rarity told them.

Huh? Oh, yeah, right: The detoxification was not successful, so his Sus-an Membrane kicked in and put him to hibernation to prevent the poison from spreading and destroying his body.
Oh shit! He needed an Apothecarius to revive him! And there was none available!
If the ponies did not somehow find a way to revive him - low probability - he would stay in hibernation for centuries until he finally died. Or worse, Chaos would wake him up only to sacrifice him. An especially unworthy end.

"Applejack, call Twilight!" Rainbow shouted.

"Oh dear," Rarity thought aloud,
"I better start CPR... how did that work again?"

"CALL TWILIGHT! CALL TWILIGHT!!!" Rainbow cried.

"TWILIGHT! TWILIGHT!" Applejack shouted, probably into her vox.

Antonius did not hear the answer. Everything went black again. A stupid way to end one's life.

Much to his surprise, Antonius regained consciousness again. He still felt anything but well, but it was definitely better than the last time. Had the ponies found a way to wake him up? He had no idea. Unfortunately, he could not open his eyes, so he checked his other senses.
It was... warm. Quite comfortable, even. He thought he felt something, in front of him as well as behind him. Then, he heard a voice:

"Damnit, sister. This is an almost impossible task."

Luna!

"Just keep going, you'll make it."

Celestia.

"He's very deep in hibernation. I don't know if my attempts to wake up his mind are successful."

Oh, they were. Antonius still could not move, but he could hear and think - a bit slower than usual, but he was really content for the moment.

He felt the touch of Luna's mind again, dragging the command 'wake up' into every fiber of his soul.
Well, he was awake - more or less. Had she just listened for a second, she would probably have realized that, but she supposedly was to worried to do that. At least she sounded worried.

"Damnit! He just keeps sleeping. I think the bath should already have cleared the poison joke poisoning, but I simply can't put him back to a waking state. I just don't know what to do! I'm inadequate!" Luna complained.

Bath? That explained the warmth.

"Don't be too hard on yourself, Luna. We only know his species from fairytales," Celestia soothed her.

Fairytales? If someone called him 'Sleeping Beauty', he would run amok. Even while asleep.

"Fairytales? Fairytales! Sister, that gives me an idea!"

"Huh?"

"How do you awake sleeping ponies in fairytales?"

Well, good question. You... damned, his mind really was slow.

"You don't want to..." Celestia said.

So, she already knew the answer. And she was not too enthusiastic about it. Antonius kept thinking. You woke someone up by...
Oh. Uh-oh! She wouldn't really...

She would. She did.
Antonius could feel the touch on his lips. Just for a second, then it was over.
Strange experience.

"Hmm... did not work," Luna stated disappointedly.

"My surprise about that is somewhat limited," Celestia commented dryly.

"You are right, sister..."

Good.

"... the kiss should be adequate for his size."

WHAT THE HELL???
ABORT! ABORT!
Too late.

Whoa. Luna might have called it a kiss, Antonius called it an attempted tonsillectomy.
Making contact with pony saliva in that way was definitely the weirdest thing that ever happened to him, but it had an effect: The alien DNA reached his Omophagea and activated the implant. This sudden activity kick started the rest of body; he could feel the numbness vanish and his ability to move return, which meant... she had actually kissed him awake. Like in a fairytale.

Now, his attention was caught by the information his Omophagea transmitted to his brain.
This information was neither very extensive nor sophisticated - there had not been enough of Luna's DNA for that - but one thing was surprisingly clear: there was something strange about this DNA, although Antonius could not really put his finger on it. A little bit of it was somehow... sort of familiar, which did not make any sense. Of course, it was also possible that his Omophagea was malfunctioning, especially in his current condition.

Whatever, it was time to show the two alicorns that he was awake, so he tried to open his eyes. This time, it worked.
He looked into Luna's face and blinked. A huge smile crept onto her features. Suddenly, she grabbed him and pulled him into a bear hug.

"HUZZAH! HE'S AWAKE!" she shouted at an almost deafening volume.

"Luna! I'm happy, too, but please show your joy a little quieter - my ears are ringing," Celestia groaned.

"I feel compelled to agree with Tia," Antonius mumbled,
"that was loud. Thank you anyway."

"You are welcome!" Luna grinned and slowly ended the hug.

Antonius looked around to check his environment.

"We're at the Ponyville spa," Luna explained,
"in the central tub, to be exact."

"How long?" Antonius asked.

"How long we are here?"

"How long have I been unconscious?"

"Hmm... about 20 minutes."

Now Antonius was surprised.

"20 minutes? I expected my hibernation to be much, much longer. 20 minutes and you found a way to wake me up. Impressive."

"Isn't it?" Luna grinned.

Now Antonius realized something rather obvious:

"Are you sitting on my lap?" he asked.

Luna blushed.

"I had to keep the distance as short as possible to use my magic with optimum efficiency. Sorry."

"And, by the way, you are sitting on my lap," Celestia said from behind him,
"I kept you from drowning while Luna woke you up."

Well, under normal circumstances, he could not drown, thanks to his Multi-lung. Now... better safe than sorry, he guessed.

Now Antonius looked down his body, then at Luna again.

"Umm... of course I could be wrong, taken my current condition into consideration... but I'm fairly sure I put on some clothes before leaving Rarity's boutique."

Luna's blush deepened.

"I'm sorry, but we had to ensure that the antidote could circulate all of your body, so we... umm... sorry. Again."

"Hey, I don't think you have a reason to complain," Celestia said with a chuckle,
"you are the first one to take a bath with both ruling princesses of Equestria, after all."

"Oh, my joy knows no bounds," Antonius deadpanned,
"but now, it's time to get up again."

"Umm, Tony, you are still weak and half asleep. Better wait a few minutes," Luna opined.

"Oh, yeah?" Antonius said and grabbed Luna under her front legs.

Then, he lifted her - a few centimeters. The more of her body left the water, the heavier she got, up to the point when he could not raise her any more.

"Damnit," he muttered.

He should have been able to lift her completely out of the water, but he couldn't. Luna had obviously been right, he was quite weak at the moment. He sat her down again.

"Told you so," Luna said, worry written on her face.

Antonius felt uncomfortable. He was used to his strength, to his abilities. Now, he was an easy target, easily defeatable by just about anyone, not to mention the fact that he was inside a princess-sandwich. Fortunately, there was a way to change that.

"My armor," he said,
"fetch me my armor; it's in Rarity's boutique, behind that big curtain."

"Okay," Luna nodded.

She left the tub, quickly used a spell to force dry herself and left the spa. Antonius was still half hanging in Celestias grasp, half sitting on her lap. He had to admit that it was a little awkward.

"Enough of this lazing about," he decided,
"release me."

"Are you sure you won't sink?" she asked.

"I'm a Space Marine. Lying in bathtubs is not what we were made for."

"Okay, but please be careful."

Celestia loosened her grip and Antonius slid from her lap onto his knees. He almost toppled forward, but got hold of the rim of the tub. It was unbelievable: His arms and legs seemed to be heavier than ever and the world was turning around him.
What a day. He just had one goal now; to get into his armor. Until it came, he would use the time to get ready to don it.

Celestia watched Antonius slowly moving through the tub to the opposing rim.
It was hard to believe: This creature was a warrior without peer and had given her the beating of her lifetime - figuratively. Now, he could barely move. She just hoped that this condition was not permanent.
He reached the rim and started climbing over it.

"Umm, Antonius, are you sure this is a good idea?" she asked worriedly.

She got the answer when he toppled over and fell out of the tub. She rushed to him and saw him lying on the ground with a confused expression.

"Hmm... that could have gone better," he stated dryly.

"Probably," Celestia agreed with a forced smile,
"wanna come back into the tub?"

"After that much effort to get out? No thanks," he said and sat up.

Now, Luna came back, Antonius' armor in her magic grasp.

"Antonius, here is your... armor... What are you doing in front of the tub?"

"Drying," he answered flatly.

The princesses exchanged a worried glance, then they helped him get into his armor. It took them quite a few minutes, but as soon as he had donned it, he stood again without faltering.

"You are feeling better?" Luna asked,
"your hoofing - footing - seems to be much more stable now."

Antonius looked at her.

"The armor gives me stability. I'm still unnaturally tired. I need to go to a safe location to try and get rid of this weakness," he said.

"Canterlot?" Celestia suggested.

Antonius thought about that for a few seconds, then he nodded.

"My quarters. Quite far away, but the best solution."

"We should call Twilight and her friends before we leave. They were really worried about you."

Antonius nodded again, then he asked:

"How many ponies do know about my... sensitivity to that damn - how did you call it - poison joke?"

"Oh, you heard that?" Luna asked with some surprise,
"well, my sister and me, Twilight and her friends, Zecora - she is the source of the remedy - the owners of this spa and some ponies who have seen how we carried you here."

Antonius sighed.

"So, quite a lot of ponies know how to easily defeat me. Great, just great."

"They would never try to harm you!" Celestia exclaimed,
"furthermore, most of them don't really know what happened, and I have ordered everypony who knows to stay here and keep everything a secret. They won't talk about it."

"Hmm, quick-thinking. I would like this poison joke to be harvested, by the way."

"So that nopony can use it against you? I've already told you that..."

"That's just the bonus," Antonius interrupted,
"the main thing is that we might have found a weapon against the Word Bearers who will come sooner or later."

Celestia had to admit that she had not thought about that. She had been too busy thinking of ways to help Antonius.

"Good idea," she said,
"but now, I'd like to call Twilight and her friends."

"Okay," Antonius agreed.

Antonius was tired, more tired than he had ever been, but to maintain his reputation as a warrior, he had to hide that, so he stood perfectly upright, aided by his armor.

Celestia went to the door, opened it and told Twilight and her friends:

"My little ponies, you may come in n..."

She had not finished the sentence as they came running into the room, and they were not alone. Zecora, Lyra and Bon Bon were accompanying them.

"Antonius! We are very happy that you feel better!" Twilight exclaimed.

"Yeah, good to see you upright again," Applejack added.

"I told you he'd be fine, didn't I?" Rainbow grinned smugly.

That smile quickly vanished as everyone in the room glared at her. She seemed to shrink a bit, then she shouted:

"Okay! Okay! I know it was my fault! It was a stupid prank! I'm sorry!"

"Well," Antonius opined,
"it was stupid, careless, and almost disastrous. Luckily, there is a positive aspect to even this incident: If we can weaponize this poison joke, it might aid us greatly against the Word Bearers."

"See? So I..." Rainbow started, but her friends' glances made her think otherwise and she shut up again.

Antonius turned to Zecora:

"The remedy is from you? Do you have experience with such potions?"

"I'm used to work with a lot of plants,
some of my potions are quite advanced," Zecora answered.

"Can you distill the poison joke's agent into a volatile liquid?"

"You mean, build some kind of gas potion?
I've never done that, it's a new notion.
Be that as it may, I'll see it as test,
and I promise I will do my very best."

"Thank you."

He turned to the other ponies:

"I'm going to return to Canterlot now. I think you could say I 'take the rest of the day off'."

"That's not because you are mad at me, is it?" Rainbow asked.

"No, there is an important task waiting for me there."

"So, you're not angry?" Rainbow asked with a hopeful smile.

"Oh, I am angry," Antonius answered and Rainbow's face fell,
"believe it or not, but I do not like being tricked and poisoned. In the light of peaceful coexistence, though, and since you did not intend this to happen the way it happened, I won't take revenge on you. But if you should do something like that again, if you should ever try to 'prank' me again, I will show you what happens when I don't give a shit about 'peaceful coexistence', got that?"

"Umm... okay," Rainbow said ruefully.

"Yep. He's angry," Lyra commented quietly.

Antonius turned to her and her friend:

"Lyra, Bon Bon. I guess you have seen me when I was brought into the spa?"

"Umm... yes," Lyra answered,
"we have seen you in Ponyville and, well, we went to buy everything for lunch in case you wanted to join us again. Then we saw the princesses drag you into the spa and we knew something terrible had happened. Then, Rainbow told us what it was. Don't worry, we won't tell anypony. Well, umm, you don't want to stay for lunch, do you?"

Antonius smiled weakly at her and answered:

"No, thank you. I've got to go now."

It was high time; he could barely keep his eyes open now. He said goodbye, left the spa and stomped to the waiting chariot, followed by the ponies.

"He's not as well as he wants us to think he is," Fluttershy whispered behind him.

Oh, great. His attempts to appear fully recovered had been in vain.

"I know," Rarity agreed,
"I think he's still feeling awful."

Well, she wasn't exactly wrong. Still, Antonius turned around and said:

"Don't worry, I'm fine."

He turned back to the chariot and almost stumbled into the vehicle.

"Twilight, Spike," Celestia said,
"you may stay in Ponyville for a few days. Look to it that there are no rumors about today's incident. And make sure that the poison joke is not mentioned! Antonius was just sick, but he is fine again. I will send you a chariot when we need you in Canterlot again."

"Yes, Princess," Twilight answered.

Antonius and the princesses said goodbye and took off.
The flight to Canterlot seemed to take forever, but finally they reached the landing platforms. From there, they headed directly to Antonius' quarters.

Luna opened the door and Antonius walked in, followed by Celestia. Once the three of them were in the room, she immediately closed the door and sighed:

"Okay, we have arrived without incident. How do you feel?"

"Tired," Antonius answered,
"the aftereffects of the hibernation, since it was not terminated properly."

"I'm sorry, but..."

"No need to apologize. It's almost a miracle that you were able to wake me up again at all. Well done, really. Now, I think I'll take a nap to get rid of that fatigue."

"Are you sure that is the right way to treat your condition?"

"No idea," Antonius said and made a move to sit down on the ground.

"Hold on! We can't help you if you are inside that armor. You know, we don't have such a big can opener. Please don your pajamas before you lie down."

A little bit of humor to lighten the mood. It did not really work.

"Whatever... makes sense somehow..." Antonius mumbled and started stomping towards the bathroom.

"Do you need help?" Luna asked.

"No," Antonius answered and vanished into the bathroom.

"He really is in a bad condition," Celestia stated quietly.

"I know," Luna agreed,
"I just hope this nap is the right thing to do. I suggest we don't leave him alone until he has fully recovered."

"Agreed. Who will take the first shift?"

"Me. I'll monitor his sleep and make sure this hibernation does not kick in again."

"Okay, Luna. I'll relieve you in the afternoon."

Some time went by and Antonius still was in the bathroom. Luna became more worried with every second that passed.

"Perhaps we should go in and see if he's alright," she opined.

"Let's give him a few more minutes," Celestia suggested.

From her voice, Luna knew that her sister was almost as worried as she was.
Antonius left the bathroom a short time later, however, and staggered towards his bed.
He almost made it. Almost. He faceplanted into the carpet in front of the bed and fell asleep immediately.

"Damnit!" Luna mumbled and ignited her horn,
"guess we will have to put him to bed."

"Yes, but I think we shouldn't use more magic on him than absolutely necessary. Not until we know what exactly has caused his condition."

"We have also used magic to put him into the tub."

"Yes, but back then we were in a hurry. Now, we can afford the time to make this as cautious as possible."

The princesses went up to Antonius' sides and put his arms around their necks. Then, they slowly started lifting him.

"Umm... and now?" Luna asked.

"We just crawl into his bed and drag him with us," Celestia answered.

Unfortunately, it did not work.

"He must be weighing a ton," Luna complained,
"how about one of us getting below him and lifting him that way?"

"Worth a try," Celestia opined,
"I'll do it, I'm closer to his size than you are."

So Celestia crawled under Antonius so that he was lying on her back, then she crawled into his bed. Luna held him in place and watched for his legs. Finally, Antonius was lying in his bed.

"We've done it, sister!" Luna smiled.

"Not yet," Celestia disagreed,
"if you take a look, you'll see that he's still lying on me. You are right, he must weigh a ton. Now get him off me!"

Luna snickered.

"Try to crawl forward, I'll lift him a bit."

It took Celestia some time, since Antonius was not really easy to lift, but soon her front half was free again. Then...

"Celestia! He's slipping from my grasp! Hurry!"

Too late. Antonius' head plunged into the fur of Celestia's rear. Her expression was hilarious! Luna burst out laughing.

"Not funny, sister," Celestia grumbled,
"this is very undignified. Lift him again, now!"

"So no big, sunny cushion for him?"

"LIFT HIM!"

Luna did so, still grinning, and Celestia finally got free.

A short time later, both princesses were standing next to Antonius' bed. He was lying prone, covered with a blanket and peacefully sleeping.

"What do you think, should we turn him over to his back?" Luna asked, still smiling,
"or do you want to enact your revenge by slamming your face into his..."

"Luna!" Celestia hissed,
"this accident is not to be mentioned ever again!"

"Pity. But anyway, should we turn him over?" Luna asked.

"I think he's fine," Celestia answered,
"I'll leave now, but I've got my vox with me. If you need my help, do not hesitate to call me. Oh, I almost forgot: Even if the situation is tempting, you should better keep your hooves off him. He'll need his energy for regeneration."

Having said that, she quickly left and Luna was alone with the sleeping Antonius.
Luna stared at the closed door.

What? Damnit, that was her sister's revenge for the 'cushion' joke. Ever since that one night when they had met in the kitchen, she just loved to tease her about her relationship with Antonius. They were just good friends, but Celestia had a lot of fun implying there was a bit more to it.

"There is no more to it," Luna told the sleeping Antonius,
"we are just friends. Good friends, but just friends. We have never done anything indecent, after all. Okay, I removed your clothes. And then I kind of sat on your lap. But you are okay with this, are you not?"

Antonius did not object, he just kept sleeping. Luna sat down next to his bed, put her head next to his and took a look into his mind, using just as much magic as absolutely necessary. There was no sign of this hibernation. He really was just sleeping. Luna sighed.

"An exciting day, wasn't it?" she mumbled with a smile and continued monitoring him.

For about four hours nothing happened. Antonius did not move, but there was no sign of him starting to hibernate again.
Then, he started moving his arm. He came upon Luna's neck and dug his fingers into her fur. Luna smiled. He was still sleeping, this move had been completely subconscious. Just as the little smile that had appeared on his face. He was fine.
Luna had to admit that it was a strangely comfortable feeling, and as the tension started falling off of her, she realized how tired she was herself. However, she kept monitoring him, and she kept his hand on her neck. She could not wait for his face when he woke up and realized that he was petting her in his sleep!

That happened an hour later. His hand on her neck started moving, but stopped immediately. Then, it started fumbling up and down her neck for a few seconds. Finally, Antonius opened his eyes a bit. Luna smiled at him, her head still next to his, and his eyes were completely open at once. His expression was hilarious!

"Umm... Good morning, Luna... or good afternoon? Goodnight? How long did I sleep?" he asked confusedly.

"About five hours, so it's 'good afternoon'," Luna told him.

"Okay... and why am I petting your neck?"

"Heart's desire?"

Antonius just stared at her and she started laughing.

"Don't worry, you just grabbed me while you were sleeping. The rest of me is sitting on the carpet in front of your bed, by the way."

"I can't remember going to bed..."

"That's because you only reached the carpet. My sister and I tucked you in."

"Oh?"

"Yes. Was not too difficult. Just Celestia got a bit... stuck."

"'Stuck'? I am not sure if I want to hear that story."

"I was able to help her get free again. No worries."

Antonius nodded and put his hand away from her neck, then he turned on his back and sat up. He seemed to feel much better now.

"How do you feel?" Luna asked compassionately to make sure.

"As good as new, I think," Antonius answered and got up,
"yeah, I'm feeling fine. No trace of fatigue."

"I'm happy to hear that," Luna smiled.

Antonius stretched, then he froze. Luna cold tell from his facial expression that something was wrong. Before she could ask what it was, he took off his pajama jacked and swiped over his chest with his hand. Then, he examined that hand.

"What's wrong?" she finally asked.

Antonius showed her his hand. She took a close look at it, then she told him truthfully:

"I can't see anything, just your hand."

"That's it," he answered,
"do you remember what I told you about my Mucranoid?"

"Oh, your sweat-yourself-clean-thingy?"

"Yeah, that."

"Well, you said you exude some oil that... hey, wait a second... there is no oil on your hand!"

"Exactly," Antonius grumbled,
"my Mucranoid seems to be defective. That means no more self-cleaning, and no advanced resistance to extreme temperatures."

"Is that all?"

"I really think that's enough."

"Well, to be honest, you can use a tub or a shower to clean yourself, and the temperatures here are not that extreme, so it's not that bad after all."

Antonius regarded her for a long second, then he told her:

"Maybe the impact isn't that serious, but the fact that one of my implants has stopped working is unsettling."

"Can't we somehow start it again?"

"Not without an apothecarius."

Luna thought about that. This Mucranoid-thingy was more or less useless around here, but if she was on an alien planet, cut off from proper medical care and a part of her body failed... yes, that was an unsettling thought.

"Be that as it may," Antonius continued,
"I'll get back into my armor. Can't run around like this."

"Okay. I'll call my sister and tell her you are awake again."

Antonius went into the bathroom and Luna voxed her sister.

"I'm on my way," Celestia answered.

When Antonius left the bath again, Luna told him:

"My sister is..."

She yawned.

"... coming."

"Tired?" Antonius asked.

Luna nodded.

"I'm way past my bedtime, and with all that magic and worrying..."

She yawned again.

"Thank you for your help, Luna, but now you should probably go to bed. I'm fine."

"No. First, we have got to talk to my sister."

Now that the tension had fallen off of her, she was barely able to keep her eyes open. Well, perhaps she should close them, just for a second or two...

She fell asleep.

Antonius caught Luna just as she toppled over. He put her into his bed and tucked her in. While he was doing this, Celestia arrived.

"I see you two have changed parts," she said witha warm smile,
"how do you feel, Antonius?"

"Better," he answered.

"Better or really well again?"

"I'm fine."

"Thank goodness. Luna and I were honestly worried about you."

"Thank you for your help."

"You're welcome. Now, we should call Twilight and her friends and tell them you're alright again."

Celestia took our her vox and called Twilight. She responded immediately.

"Hello, Princess Celestia?"

"Hello Twilight. I called to tell you that Antonius is fine again."

"Thank goodness. We were really worried about him."

Celestia smiled.

"So were we. Please tell you friends there is no reason to worry anymore."

"They already heard the good news."

"Oh, apropos news: Are there any rumors about this incident?"

"Well, in fact, yes, there is a rumor."

Great. He could lose his reputation if it became known that a simple plant, rather harmless to ponies, had been able to fell him, and he needed this reputation for commanding the PDF. Not to speak of the fact that everyone was now able to easily defeat him. Not a nice thought.

"Have you been able to contain it?" Celestia asked.

"I don't think that is necessary, Princess," Twilight opined,
"the rumor is that Antonius got severely ill, but it took him just half an hour to defeat that illness that would probably have killed a pony."

What?

"Does the rumor mention the poison joke?" Celestia inquired.

"No, Princess, not at all."

"Thank you, Twilight. Please keep vigilant. Celestia, out."

Antonius turned to Celestia:

"It seems that this once, a rumor even works in our favor."

"Indeed. Now, what are you going to do with the rest of the day?"

"I'll stay here and revise my first draft of the history of mankind."

"Okay, Antonius," Celestia said, and turned to leave. When she had just passed the door, she turned around again and added with a smile:

"I hope my sister's snoring won't distract you too much."

Then she was gone and Antonius took a look at Luna. Why did he suddenly have the idea of a big white cushion for her head? He shook his head and fetched his data slate.

Antonius managed to finish his work until Stormy came back from school. When asked about his day, he told her the rumor that ran through Ponyville to keep this story consistent. Later, after dinner, when the little mare was in bed and Luna was awake again, he met the princesses in Celestia's quarters.

"Antonius," Celestia started,
"I've been thinking about your... sensitivity towards poison joke. Please tell me exactly what happened."

Antonius did her the favor and described the events as detailed as he could.
Celestia thought about his words for a little while, then she said:

"I think this is some kind of allergy. Poison joke is not dangerous, but your body reacted to it as if it was dangerous and your defenses ran amok."

"I think you can call it that," Antonius agreed a bit hesitantly,
"so, I actually am allergic to something."

"Then the reason for your defective Muk... Mucr... thingy is not really the plant, but you own body?" Luna asked Antonius.

"Defective what?" Celestia asked worriedly,
"Antonius, you told me you were fine!"

"Oops," Luna said sheepishly.

"Mucranoid," Antonius sighed and told Celestia about his implant.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Celestia asked.

"I'm not used to hawk my weaknesses around," Antonius answered.

"Don't worry, I'll keep it a secret. At least we have learned that we probably can use poison joke as a weapon against those Chaos Space Marines."

"And I have learned that I hate pranks," Antonius added a bit sourly.

"Oh, you shouldn't," Luna opined,
"a good prank can be very funny. My sister and I love pranks! I tell you something: we will play a harmless prank on you within the next few days. Then you can decide if you really hate pranks in general or just Rainbow Dash's prank."

"Can I persuade you to let that be?" Antonius asked.

"Not a chance!" both princesses smiled.

29. A particularly weird day

The next morning, when Stormy was in school again, Antonius had a look at technical drawings of the various machines the ponies used. The trains would be useful for transporting troops and equipment through Equestria, and the airships could probably be refitted to bombers. That, combined with the pegasi's ability to control clouds to cover them would certainly prove to be useful.

As he was writing down his suggestions to discuss them with the princesses later, he heard a knocking at the door. When he opened it, he saw - to his surprise - Rainbow Dash, with saddle bags and a parcel in her mouth.

"Rainbow?" he asked a bit skeptical,
"what are you doing here?"

She sat down the parcel and answered:

"These are the clothes Rarity made for you. You somehow... forgot to take them with you yesterday."

"Gosh! What could have been the reason for this?" Antonius deadpanned.

"Yeah, I know, I know, it was my fault. I thought I deliver the clothes myself, that way I can tell you again that I'm really sorry. No hard feelings?"

"Rainbow, I already told you that I won't take revenge on you."

"Yeah, but I would prefer if you really forgave me instead of being angry and just not beating me up."

"I'm not really the forgiving type, at least not this fast."

"Can't you make an exception for somepony as awesome as me?" Rainbow smiled.

Antonius facepalmed.

"Rainbow, you are not really beneficial to your cause."

Her face fell.

"I really messed up everything, didn't I?" she mumbled.

"'Everything'? Again, this lack of humility," Antonius said and scratched his brow,
"you did not mess up everything, and I won't stay angry forever. In fact, I'm already much calmer today since the negative consequences of that stunt you pulled are manageable. Just keep your boasting and your tendency towards mischief in check, and you will earn my forgiveness rather sooner than later."

Rainbow started smiling again:

"Okay, Antonius, I will earn your forgiveness faster than..."

Seeing Antonius' face, she stopped herself and continued:

"... umm, I mean, I will be nice and - ugh - modest."

"Good plan."

"Although it's not easy being modest when you're as awesome as me," she added with a big grin.

Antonius sighed.

"Just give me my clothes."

In the following minutes, he got to know that he had only seen a fraction of the clothes Rarity had made for him. As far as the suits were concerned, the color pattern was always similar, but the thickness of the fabrics varied; probably summer and winter gear. Next to them, there were all kinds of different garments for various opportunities. Rarity had really outdone herself, especially for someone who usually didn't wear clothes.

"We have washed the suit you wore yesterday thoroughly in Zecora's antidote," Rainbow told him,
"and Twilight used some spells to make sure that it is perfectly clean now."

Antonius nodded.

"Well, I think I'll return to Ponyville again," Rainbow finally said.

"Okay," Antonius answered,
"thank you."

"You're welcome. And now, goodbye!"

Rainbow left, but instead of using the normal door, she got out through the balcony door and took flight.
Antonius returned to his technical drawings and continued taking notes.

Later that day, after entrusting Stormy to Shining Armor's and Cadance's care, Antonius and the princesses met in Celestia's quarters. He told them his improvement suggestions to increase the efficiency of their society and they discussed each point thoroughly. Some of Antonius' ideas were mitigated a bit, but all of them were accepted.

A key point was the installation of beacons on hilltops throughout Equestria, forming a star-shaped net with Canterlot in its center. That way, when Chaos returned, the ponies in the concerned area could light the beacons, instead of relying on Celestia's premonitions. This signal would then be relayed to the capital to alert everyone.

Another suggestion should improve goods transport. At the moment, the ponies shipped goods bit by bit, which required either some capable unicorns or quite an amount of other ponies to load or unload a transport, as well as a lot of time. With the use of standard sized containers and a corresponding crane system, Antonius hoped to decrease those times drastically.

All told, he wanted to nudge the ponies towards industrialization, which was received quite well.

His idea to teach offensive spells at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns was not that well received, but they agreed to create a - elective - class for that purpose.

Finally, Antonius gave Clelestia his notes on the history of mankind, to print books and also include this subject into Equastria's curricula.

When they parted, Luna turned to Antonius:

"How about another training session?"

"Outstanding idea," Antonius agreed and a short time later, they were facing each other in the royal gardens.

They started fighting, and an hour later, they were still in combat. Luna had obviously seen enough of his fighting style to properly adapt to it. The best way to defeat her would have been to simply overpower her with brute force, but Antonius had preferred to test her stamina. She really had not disappointed him. Just now she started showing first signs of fatigue, but she still fought on.

Then, when she was blocking a blow, her face suddenly contorted in pain, she lifted her left hind leg, took a step backwards and lowered her sword. Antonius immediately lowered his weapon, too.

"What's happened, Luna?" he asked.

"A strain again," she answered, clearly annoyed,
"damnit. Sorry to disturb our training that way."

Well, he did not have such problems, but he realized that he had neglected her physiology. To properly train her, he had to come up with means to strengthen her muscles and increase her endurance.

"You don't need to apologize," he told her,
"can I help you somehow?"

"No. Just a little bit of healing magic and I'm as good as new."

"Hmm... I think we will need your healing magic quite a few times to heal strains once we train the PDF."

"We should not be too hard on them, so that they won't get strains at all. If it comes to the worst, we can just order the injured soldiers to get a little massage or something, that should do."

"A massage? Why don't you go and get that for yourself?"

"It is no use. I tried a massage once, but the pony who was supposed to massage me barely dared to touch me. It was just a waste of time. So, even if they would be beneficial, there will be no massages for me."

Hmm... if those massages would have a beneficial effect on her, she had to get some. Antonius would make sure that she got some. But how? Antonius started analyzing the situation:

According to Luna, no pony was capable of properly massaging her because of her status and her reputation. So, a non-pony?
Well, he did not know a lot of non-ponies around here, and as far as he knew, none of them was a massager. And even then, Luna's reputation would still be a problem. That just left... him.
What? That was supposed to be his solution? Had he lost his mind?

He had to reconsider this topic. Was there a fitting entry in the Codex? No, there wasn't.
Another approach: What was his task?
His task was to train her so that she had a realistic chance of fighting Chaos.
But did massages, because of her inferior physiology, not belong to the training? They somehow did, and since nobody was capable of helping him in that regard, it was his responsibility.
He had done many strange things since he had arrived on this planet, but this idea was especially weird, somehow out of place.

"I cannot give you those massages..." Antonius mumbled, lost in thought.

Luna had heard that.

"Yeah, I know" she laughed,
"everyone has to have some limits."

Hmm? Limits? What the hell?
Something as mundane as a massage should be beyond his limits? He had mastered far greater challenges than that!
Antonius made a decision: He would learn how to massage her, if only to prove his adaptability to even the most unusual of situations... and it would certainly be good for their friendship to help her. This was a friendship-thing, wasn't it? Yes, it was.
So he would do it. Period.

While he was setting his new goal, Luna used her magic to heal her strain.

"Done!" she proclaimed.

"Good. It really was a nice fight, but now I should get back to Stormy," Antonius said.

"I will join you."

When they entered Antonius' quarters, they were greeted by Stormy, Cadance and Shining Armor. The three were playing one of Stormy's board games - and utterly losing to the little pegasus.

"She really is lucky with dice," Shining Armor stated,
"Stormy, you haven't, by chance, ever played 'Oubliettes & Ogres', have you?"

"Oh no, Shiny," Cadance laughed,
"you won't corrupt Stormy with your gaming habits!"

"No?"

"Definitely no."

"Pity," Shining said with a fake pout.

Now Cadance turned to Antonius:

"Well, now that you are here, we're going to leave. It really was a nice evening. If you should need us again, don't hesitate to ask."

"Okay, thank you," Antonius nodded.

"Umm, may I have a word with you? In the hallway?" Shining asked.

"Sure," Antonius answered and followed him and Cadance through the door.

Once in the hallway, Shining turned to Antonius:

"There is something I wanted to ask you about the new PDF."

"Then ask."

"Why did you not just reinforce the Royal Guard? Wouldn't that have been easier and faster than training a whole new army?"

Oh. How should Antonius tell this captain that you couldn't get anywhere with the rather ceremonial Royal Guard - at least not if Chaos was involved - without insulting him?

"Well," he started,
"Shining, what is the primary duty of the Royal Guard?"

"Guarding the princesses and citizens of Equestria," Shining answered.

"Those are two duties. Which one do you focus on?"

Shining hesitated for a second.

"The princesses," he finally said.

Antonius nodded. The Royal Guard's primary duty was to protect the two most powerful creatures known to ponykind. No wonder they were more ceremonial than anything else...

"That is your focus. The PDF will protect the citizens of Equestria just as you do, but it will focus on the Element Bearers."

"My sister and her friends?"

"Exactly. You may not have realized it, but they are probably the most important ponies on this planet and may even influence or even decide the fate of the whole galaxy."

Shining was silent for a few seconds, then he said:

"I always knew Twily was special, but this... whoa."

Antonius nodded again.

"Few creatures have ever been this important. Still, we need the Royal Guard to focus on the princesses, for they keep this world running. The PDF will take care of the Element Bearers."

Now Shining Armor nodded.

"Okay, Antonius. That really makes sense. I just hope that we'll have enough time to prepare ourselves."

"I think that we might have between a year and a century until Chaos returns, probably at least a decade. That should suffice."

"Thank you for your honesty."

Honesty... well, he had not lied, just not told the whole truth.

Shining Armor and Cadance bid goodnight and left. Antonius returned to Luna and Stormy.

"And, Stormy? How was spending time with Princess Cadance and Shining Armor?" he asked.

"Great! They are really funny," the little mare smiled.

"And how was school today?"

Suddenly her face darkened.

"Well, to be honest, not that great."

Antonius was all ears.

"More bullying?" he asked, ready to correct any kind of wrong attitude the next day.

"No, it's actually the opposite."

"What?"

"I think they are afraid of me - even the teachers. They are always so... tense when talking to me."

Damnit. That had not been his intention. He had just wanted to help her, but he had obviously gone too far. His mission to enable her to lead a normal pony life had suffered a setback, one that would probably be difficult to mend.

"Hmm... I guess I overdid it a bit when I tried to correct the fillies' attitude," Antonius admitted.

"It is not your fault alone," Luna added,
"I have not been very diplomatic with the principal, either."

"I suggest we visit the school tomorrow and tell those teachers that they are supposed to do their duty without getting distracted by the fact that Stormy is our protégée."

"Tomorrow? Tony, we have a custom called 'weekend'. That means no work or school for two days. It is a time to relax and spent some quality time with your family and friends."

"Oh? I've heard about that. Then, we should postpone our visit to the third day. Agreed?"

"Agreed."

Antonius turned to Stormy:

"Now, Stormy, since there is no school tomorrow, what would you like to do?"

"We could visit Ponyville again!" she suggested.

Of course, what else?

"And..." she continued.

"Hmm?"

"Apple Bloom told me that I could spend the night at her farm if I wanted to. You know, sleep over? A slumber party?"

Hey, Stormy was becoming independent, wasn't she?

"If you'd like to, we just should ask Applejack if that's okay with her. Am I supposed to stay there, too?"

"Umm... actually, no, this is a filly thing. If you want to stay, I think we could..."

Yes, she was becoming independent. So he was still on course with his mission.

"That won't be necessary. I just wanted to know. I'll call Applejack and ask."

Antonius activated the vox and selected Applejack's frequency. She did not mind hosting such a 'slumber party' and Apple Bloom was audibly happy as she heard the news.

This matter being decided, they said goodnight and Luna left.

The next morning, Antonius donned his armor and during breakfast, Celestia asked again for his plans for the day. She had sort of made a habit of this. When told what she wanted to know, she said:

"I think that's a good idea, and on your way back this evening you can take Twilight and Spike with you."

When Antonius and Stormy had packed the filly's saddlebags, they took the chariot to Ponyville. Stormy wanted to go to Sweet Apple Acres at once and was already expected by the Cutie Mark Crusaders. As Antonius got to know, the four of them would spend the night in their clubhouse. It went a bit above the Space Marine's head why someone wanted to spend the night at an unfortified location quite a bit away from possible reinforcements, but this was probably a pony thing.

After saying goodbye to Stormy, Antonius headed to Zecora to see how her work with the poison joke was going. On the way there, he crossed Ponyville and was immediately invited to lunch by Lyra.
When he arrived at the hollow tree that was the zebra's home, he put on his helmet, sealed his armor and switched to internal life-support. Then he politely knocked at the door:

"Zecora? This is Antonius. Are you available?"

"Antonius? Wait, I'll open the door,
I just need a second, or maybe... two!"

Huh? Had Zecora just messed up a rhyme?

There was a some ruckus inside, then the door opened a bit and Antonius heard a knock.
She... hadn't just slammed the door into her face?
Now the door completely opened and revealed Zecora. She was wearing a hood and looking a bit distressed - to put it mildly.

"Hello, Antonius, it's nice to see you,
why are you here, could you give me a... hint?"

Well, something was wrong here.

"Hello, Zecora. I just wanted to see how you are doing, and if you were able to make some progress with the poison joke gas."

"Oh, I'm making progress, just come in and see,
and you're wearing your armor, so you can be... unworried."

Worry-free? Damned, now he started rhyming her sentences...

When she turned around to let him in, she hit the door with her rear and slammed it shut, directly in front of Antonius' face.
This really started to get weird.

The door was immediately opened again - with another knock - and Zecora told him with an apologetic smile:

"I'm sorry, Antonius, I don't even know why,
but today, everything goes wrong, I could... weep."

Cry.

Antonius carefully entered her home. Zecora walked up to a table with some potions and empty glasses.

"Look, Antonius, this is..."

She smashed some of the empty glasses with a wave of her hoof, then she sighed.

"I can't even just point at things,
I wonder what the future... holds."

Br... no, no rhyming here.

"I'm clumsy, I'm gawky, I can't even rhyme," she told him sadly,
"behaving that way is almost a... transgression."

"Zecora," Antonius asked,
"I was told that this poison joke is not dangerous for ponies, but 'silly'. Could you have gotten in contact with it? Could that explain your clumsiness?"

Zecora's face lit up:

"That's it, why didn't I realize that myself?
I'll quickly get the remedy from my... rack!"

She spun around and destroyed some more of her possessions in the process. Wow, she really had become a walking demolition ball.
She managed to fetch a potion and left her home - not without stomping on Antonius' foot. Another reason why it was a good thing that he had donned his armor this morning.

Zecora walked around her tree to a hollowed out log and set the potion down next to it. Then she fetched a bucket, stumbled, got up again and fetched water from a nearby stream. Antonius decided to take the work out of her hooves to prevent her from drowning in the stream or something like that.

When the log was full, Zecora was about to open the potion and pour it into the water as Antonius, driven by a sense of foreboding, shouted:

"Zecora, wait! Let me have a look at that potion!"

He examined the small bottle and said:

"You know, I may not be an expert in the pictograms you use, but I'd say this potion is some kind of hair remover."

He showed her the potion. Zecora grabbed it, paled and dropped it.

"Oh dear, I almost denuded myself,
I need to get the right potion from my... rack."

Hey, that was a repetition.

"Zecora! Just stay! I'll fetch it for you before you tear down your home," Antonius offered.

"Thank you, Antonius, I'll set you on track,
you need to go over to the last wooden... shelf."

Oh, now the other way round.

Antonius went into her hut and started looking for the remedy. He found a potion which's label showed a crossed out skull with a jester's cap; that definitely looked like anti-poison joke.

He returned to Zecora and emptied the bottle into the log. She forcefully discarded her hood threw it right into Antonius' face.

"Do not move a muscle! Do you hear me? Do. Not. Move!" Antonius shouted, pulling the hood from his helmet.

"I'm sorry, I..." Zecora started apologetically.

"Don't apologize. And don't move!"

He went over to her, picked her up and set her down into the tub. Once there, she immediately submerged. Antonius stayed next to the tub to save her from drowning, but that was not necessary.
She appeared again a few seconds later, looking downright relieved.

"Gone is the poison joke,
it has been quite a yoke.
Thank you for saving me from the wrong potion,
its effects would have been an unsettling notion."

So her rhyming was restored. Hopefully, her dexterity was, too.

"I have a question, Zecora: Is there a specific reason you're always rhyming?"

"You are wrong, Antonius, I do not always rhyme,
only if my sentence is too long for one line!"

"Oh, so you can also make it short?"

"Yep."

They ended their conversation with a shared laugh. Zecora left the tub to clear up the mess she accidentally had made and finally properly updated Antonius on her progress with the poison joke gas. Then, he returned to Ponyville.

Once he had left the Everfree he took off his helmet again. The air was fresh and rich as always, and as he closed in on the town he could determine the faint scent of food. Time for lunch? Convenient.
After lunch with Lyra and Bob Bon and some small talk, Antonius headed to the library.

"Hello, Twilight," he greeted as he entered.

"Hello, Antonius," Twilight answered,
"how do you feel today?"

"Fine, thank you. Celestia asked me to pick you and Spike up before I return to Canterlot."

"You didn't stay long this time. What about Stormy?"

"She is at Sweet Apple Acres. Apple Bloom invited her to a sleepover."

"A sleepover? Hmm... maybe I should give them my book about sleepovers..."

Antonius raised an eyebrow.

"You have a book about sleepovers?"

"Of course!" Twilight smiled,
"I have books about almost anything! You never know when you could need some information about sleepovers, magical theory, the life cycle of the common equestrian earthworm..."

His new goal came to Antonius' mind.

"Do you have any books about physiotherapy? Massages, to be exact?"

"Of course!" Twilight cheered and walked to one of the book shelves. She had just pulled out a book when she turned to Antonius:

"Umm... Antonius... may I ask why you want to know how to massage ponies?"

Well, he could hardly tell her that he wanted to take Luna - the Princess of the Night - by surprise with a massage to prove that some limits only existed to be exceeded... especially if Space Marines were concerned!

"It might prove to be useful. It'll certainly improve my knowledge of your physiology so that I can optimize my training methods."

"Oh, that makes sense! Here you've got the book! I'll take care of a few things and Spike and me will be ready for departure in, let's say, an hour?"

"Okay."

Antonius took the book, labeled 'Massages 101', and started reading. He committed the information he got to his memory, the descriptions as well as the drawn pictures. Too bad he couldn't test his newly acquired skills on someone... on a second thought, it was probably better if his first patient - or victim - was an alicorn, as they were more resilient than a normal pony.

Antonius was able to finish the book in time. When Twilight and Spike were ready to leave, they boarded the chariot and left for Canterlot.

He spent the afternoon with Celestia, Twilight and Spike in the armorium to help with the promethium replacement. Much to the ponies' frustration, it still did not work.

"Maybe we have to discard the lamp oil approach and come up with something different..." Celestia thought aloud.

"What do you suggest, Princess?" Twilight asked.

"I'll have to think about that for a while. Perhaps we should call it a day. Tomorrow might be more fruitful if we can sleep over it."

So, they left the imperial base again and headed upstairs.

"Dinner will be in an hour," Celestia told them,
"feel free to spend the time until then at your convenience."

Antonius went to his quarters and changed to civil clothes for dinner. It finally got time to start saving fuel, after all.

He had just finished changing when there was a knock at his door.

"Come in," he said.

Luna entered the room.

"Antonius, I have a great idea concerning the training of the PDF."

"Tell me."

"With pleasure! When we start a training fight, we just start a training fight, right?"

"Umm... yes," Antonius agreed.

"Since I am an alicorn, it works the way we do it, but, as you will remember, even I can get strains. So I suggest we invent a warming phase for the normal ponies of the PDF to prevent them from getting strains at all! You know, stretching and stuff! What do you think?"

Warming up for soldiers... well, that idea was unusual, but not bad. Probably.

"Hmm... prevention is better than curing."

"Exactly! I finally could contribute something!"

"You are already contributing quite a lot, Luna."

"Really? I thought I was rather useless until now."

"Nonsense. You are a great training partner. Oh, by the way: How do you feel? Is the strain gone?"

"Yeah, thank you. Perhaps I should warm up before our fights, too, to prevent that from happening again, hmm?"

"Sounds reasonable. And if it happens again, you can still use your magic..."
He started grinning.
"... or get a massage."

"Tony, I already told you that there's nopony who dares to properly do that."

"Pony? No. But I could."

Luna looked a bit bewildered now.

"Huh? Since when are you a massager?"

"Since today afternoon. I did not accept my 'limit' in that regard."

"Does that mean... you learned massaging... for me?"

"Sort of. It's something friends do, isn't it?"

"Yes! Definitely! You are right, it is just that it is... sweet... I mean, thank you."

"No problem, want one?"

"Now?" Luna asked incredulously.

"If you want to. We have almost an hour until dinner, that should be enough. Just take off your necklace, tiara and shoes and lie down... on the bed, I guess."

"Oh, okay."

Luna took off her jewelry and hopped onto Antonius' bed.

"Could you lock the door first?" she suddenly asked,
"I think it would be a bit embarrassing if somepony came in - especially if that somepony was my sister."

"Okay," Antonius said confusedly and locked the door,
"but why would that be embarrassing? Can't you get massages at spas? According to my information, there is nothing to it."

"Well, yes... but those ponies are professional massagers and this is one of those situation which are perfectly innocent if you know the context, but look totally strange if you don't... by the way, how did you learn massaging?"

"I read a book about it."

"A BOOK?" Luna shouted,
"you obviously spend too much time with Twilight! Do you know enough about our physiology at all?"

Antonius went up to Luna, nudged the center of her back with his index finger and stated:

"Pony."

"Oh dear. I somehow feel compelled to run away..."

As she made no sign to actually move, Antonius put his hands on her shoulders - probably a little less gently than a real massager would have.

"Since you are not running away, I guess I could start. Just relax now, and if you want me to stop, just say so. By the way, I'll accept screams of pain and the noise of breaking bones as a request to stop, too."

"You cannot imagine how relieved I am now."

"Oh, and please deactivate your mane flow during the massage, else I'll have it in my face all the time."

"Okay," Luna said as she made her mane follow gravity while keeping the night sky effect,
"let the massage commence."

Celestia was on her way to Antonius' quarters. She had thought about the Imperium's sources for promethium, and she couldn't get those gas giants out of her head. With the ponies' huge knowledge of weather and transfiguration spells, perhaps they could improvise something? That was what she wanted to talk about now.

As she approached his room, she suddenly heard an

"Ow!"

Luna? So her little sister was visiting him. They really spent quite some time together, but - as they said themselves - they were just good friends. Celestia still liked to tease Luna a bit with this relationship, and those weird accidents which happened to them made that quite easy and obvious.
Now, they were probably fighting again. They really were two of a kind, in a way. Celestia sneaked closer to the door and listened:

"Yeah, that's much better," Luna sighed contently.

Huh? That did not really sound like fighting...

"Just tell me how you like it," Antonius said calmly,
"remember that it is my first time, I don't have any experience."

Seriously, what were they doing?
Now Luna... what was that sound? A sigh? A moan?

"Oh, that's great! A bit harder, please."

Harder?

"Are you sure?" Antonius asked.

"Harder!" Luna answered.

Celestia started to turn pale. Then she shook her head. There was no chance that they actually...

"Oh, yeah! That feels so good! You're fantastic!"

What. The. Hell???

Celestia was shocked. She retreated until she bumped into the opposite wall.
No. Nonononono. That was impossible... but apparently happening now, right at that moment!
Should she do something? Stupid question; she couldn't and she shouldn't. Even if Luna was her little sister, she still was an adult mare.

Celestia turned around and started walking back to the dining room.
They were 'just good friends'.
'Just good friends' her flank!

"Okay, done!" Antonius proclaimed,
"now, what do you think? Was the time I put into acquiring this new skill fruitful?"

Luna kept lying on the bed, she just turned her head and said:

"Most fruitful. I can't remember the last time I felt that relaxed. Would you mind doing this regularly?"

"Not at all. Do you want to expand our training to 'warm-up - training - massage'? "

Luna smiled.

"I think I would like that."

Okay... so Antonius had just stipulated regular massages for Luna... he really was getting the hang of this friendship-thing, wasn't he? Even if it meant that Captain Sicarius would probably get a double heart attack if he ever got to know this.

"Luna," Antonius said,
"it's time to get up. Dinner will be ready in ten minutes."

"Oh, okay."

Luna slowly got up and stretched, then she got ready to leave and they went to the refectory.

Celestia was sitting in the dining room with Twilight and Spike. They talked about their research, but while Celestia had not been able to get that topic out of her head a short time ago, she now could barely concentrate on it.

Right in time for dinner, Luna and Antonius entered the dining room. She was smiling contently and he seemed to be in a rather good mood, too.
Well, at least they had fun, right?

While they were eating, Celestia did her best to keep a stiff upper lip, although her mind was still busy trying to predict the consequences of... the events.
She was actually happy when dinner was over and Twilight and Spike retreated to their room. She also bid goodnight and left the dining room. Then she noticed that she somehow did not know what she should do now.
Talk to Cadance, perhaps? It was her area of expertise, after all... No, she would not interfere.
She needed a distraction, that was it! She went to the library.

Celestia took a look around the large room. What should she read? Should she continue her search for information about mankind? Well, she was not exactly in the mood for that.

Her eyes fell upon a red marked door. The 'adults only' section. She smiled halfheartedly. At least that somehow fitted the topic and could probably distract her. She passed the red door.

Inside the much smaller room, Celestia started reading the backs of the books there. She pulled out some of them and looked at the covers or read the summaries, but she was somewhat absentminded. Of all the places she could go to find some distraction, why was she here? Could it be that she was a little bit jealous of her sister? No, nonsense. She was happy for Luna. If she thought about her last love...
Well, that was another story... long ago, far away.

She sighed, then she discovered an old book with a very unusual title:
'Proper care of horses'.

What?
Nopony would call a pony a horse, at least not in earnest. She pulled the book out of the shelf and started reading.
It really was about caring for equines, written in the style of a non-fiction book about livestock. It was a book written by mankind, it even had pictures that compared their anatomies!
Celestia could hardly believe it. There it was, a hint at humanity they had been looking for, placed in the adult section probably because it treated equines as animals. She started flipping through the book.

Keeping, feeding, grooming, harnesses... WHAT???
The pictures for this topic were... disconcerting, to put it mildly.
She had to show this to Luna. Now. She rushed out of the library, taking the book with her.

After Celestia had left, Antonius and Luna were alone in the refectory.

"Umm, Tony, did it occur to you that my sister was behaving a bit... strange?" Luna asked.

Antonius nodded.

"She seemed to be a bit uneasy. Everything she did seemed to be a little forced."

"I wonder what could be bothering her."

"Perhaps the failed attempts at creating a working fuel?"

"Possible... I'll give her some time. If she stays in that mood for too long, I'm going to ask her what's up. Now, let's leave. Do you want to join me in my quarters? We could discuss the warming-up we are going to implement."

"Good idea."

So they went to Luna's room and talked about various exercises to prepare ponies for training sessions.

"Those are exercises the ponies can do on their own: they are suitable for the PDF training. There are also some exercises we could do together for our training - and my sister's."

"I somehow doubt that she will be very excited about it."

"Oh, don't worry. Those exercises are actually useful, so she will participate..."
She started smiling.
"... and I can't wait for you to 'pull her leg'. Get it?"

Antonius scratched his brow.

"Yeah, I get it. Now, what are these exercises going to look like?"

"Wait, I'll show you."

Luna quickly took off her necklace, tiara and shoes and said:

"Okay, Tony, please get into position behind me."

Antonius did so and Luna continued:

"Now, put your left hand on my back in front of my tail and grab my right hind leg with your right hand."

She held out said leg and Antonius did as he was told.

"Now, gently pull my leg upward and make sure that my back stays in its current position. That will stretch my thigh-muscle. Just do not rip my leg off, okay?"

"Always this nitpicking," Antonius teased.

"Then goodbye, my dear leg. I hardly knew you," Luna sighed.

"I feel compelled to remind you that this was your idea. Shall I start now?"

"That's what I'm waiting for."

Now they started the exercise.

"Ah, that's right, keep my leg at this height," Luna instructed Antonius.

Then Celestia barged in through the door.

"Luna, I ha... ha... HUH?!?"

She started at Antonius and Luna, they stared back.
The following silence lasted for a bit, until Luna mumbled:

"Tony, I guess we should have locked that stupid door. Now, please release my leg."

Antonius did just that, then Luna cleared her voice and turned to Celestia:

"What is it, sister? Why are you intruding into my room like that?"

"If I were the only one doing the intruding here..." Celestia started, but quickly interrupted herself, took a deep breath and continued:
"No, that is your decision. But before you go on, you should see this!"

She opened a book she had brought along and threw it on the ground in front of Luna. She and Antonius looked down, wondering what had made Celestia that furious.

As Antonius saw the picture, he understood what was going on. A horse in... what was it called? A harness? Yes, that had to look particularly weird to Celestia - or any pony.
With a little fantasy, it had a bit of a similarity to the 'equipment' those cultists of Slaanesh he had fought once had used, at least until the Ultramarines had violently told them not to indulge in such perverted practices - by wiping them out.
To make things worse, the horse was hitched up to a cart and a human was holding its reins. Explaining this would certainly be a long and somewhat demanding task.

Then, much to his surprise, Luna started snickering.

"They surely have a... 'special' relationship."

Celestia stared at her and Antonius raised an eyebrow. Now this discussion became interesting...

"Luna," Celestia shouted,
"are you out of your mind? Look what this human did to that poor mare!"

That was a mare? How did she even know this? To Antonius, it looked more like 'generic horse #1'.

"She does not make an particularly unhappy impression to me," Luna stated.

Celestia gasped.

"WHAT? How could she not be unhappy? Don't you see it? The harness, the bridle! And the thing in her mouth! "

Okay, now things became seriously awkward.

"Who am I to judge her?" Luna answered calmly.

While Celestia was just staring at her, she picked up the book and started reading.

"Ah, that thing in her mouth is a 'bit' and it is a small device used to tell the horse what you want it to do."

"That does not make it better, Luna!"

"Well, Antonius already told us that horses in the Imperium are just animals... right, Tony?"

"Yes," Antonius quickly agreed,
"they are by far not as intelligent or sapient as you and are used as mounts, draft animals or livestock."

"Why the harness?" Celestia inquired, still angry.

"To pull that cart?" Antonius suggested.

"That explains just the middle part of it!"

"Girth, according to this book," Luna added.

"And the collar? And this thing across her rear?"

Antonius had no profound knowledge of horse harnesses, he had to come up with plausible explanations, but fortunately, it was quite obvious - at least in his opinion:

"Without the collar, the girth would slide back and hurt the horse if it started pulling. Without the other part, the girth would slide forward when going downhill or breaking and hurt the horse, too. So, all of this stuff is there to protect the horse from harm, even if it looks somewhat weird."

Celestia glared at him for a while, then she said:

"The harnesses we use to pull carts usually have just an open 'girth', as you call it. We don't get hurt."

Antonius had not even the slightest idea why that worked. Luckily, Luna opined:

"I think I know the reason for this. Here, our harnesses are kept in place by the same subconscious low-range telekinesis that enables us to pick things up with our hooves. This 'extended harness' is just the answer to having to live without magic."

Hey, that really sounded plausible! Wait... subconscious low-range telekinesis? That actually explained at lot...

Now Celestia turned to Luna:

"You seem to have an answer to everything, hmm? No, wonder, since you two..."

She suddenly stopped.

"We what?" Luna inquired.

"I... I've heard you..."

"You have heard us what?"

Celestia sighed. Her anger seemed to be getting replaced by embarrassment.
What the hell was going on?

"I wanted to talk to Antonius before dinner," Celestia said,
"I'm sorry. I didn't want to spy on you, but I heard you."

Suddenly, Luna burst out laughing.

"You really think we... HAHAHA!!! He just gave me a massage!"

Celestia looked completely dumbfounded.

"What?"

"A massage. I casually told him that I couldn't get a proper one from a pony, so he learned massaging, just to do me a favor, because of our friendship. I have to admit it is a bit unusual, but completely innocent. And you managed to turn it into... let us call it 'something different'. And then, you found this book and thought he wanted to force me into such a harness?"

She turned to Antonius:

"Hey, Tony, do you want to put me into one of those things?"

"WHAT THE HELL - NO!!!" Antonius shouted, taken aback by this idea.

Luna turned back to Celestia:

"See? Nothing to worry about here."

Celestia had turned crimson in the meantime.

"But... umm... those noises you made... " she said awkwardly.

"Noises? Well, he is an outstanding massager. And before you ask: he kept a safety distance to each 'delicate' part. Now content?"

"I... I'm sorry," Celestia mumbled,
"I think I better go now."

"I will guide you to the door," Luna smiled,
"in your current condition, you might miss it."

The two mares slowly walked to the door. Antonius was thoroughly relieved that this conversation was over, and that it had not been as bad he had worried it would become.
Then, he heard Luna whisper something to Celestia:

"Sister, I am really thankful that you care for me, but if Antonius and I wanted to start such an relationship, it would be a thing just between him and me and nothing of your concern."

"I know, Luna. I'm sorry. I just can't stop being your big sister," Celestia whispered back.

"It is okay. But I am all grown up, so please keep out of my relationships. By the way, the same applies to harnesses."

Celestia stared at her and Luna whispered while shoving her out of the door:

"Now get your dirty mind out of my quarters. Love you, sister."

Then she shut the door and started walking back to Antonius with a broad grin on her face.
Now Antonius stared at her.

"Let me guess, you've heard the comment about the harness," she said flatly.

Antonius nodded.

"Don't worry, I just wanted to annoy her a bit."

"I'm surprised you take this information that lightly."

"I am not really taking this lightly, but seriously: This is just a little... well... 'kinky' at worst, and that is nothing compared to the atrocities I have seen in Hope."

"You are fairly tolerant in that regard. Perhaps a little too tolerant. May I remind you of the danger that Slaanesh poses?"

"I have not forgotten that, but I also remember you allowing us to continue with our 'special' jokes. We will keep an eye on such activities - if there actually are any, I never heard of anything like that - and ban them together with our jokes as soon as it becomes necessary. Now, there was a human depicted in that book. That requires further investigation!"

Well, she was absolutely right with that last part, so Antonius agreed on changing the subject. They sat down on a carpet and looked for hints at mankind.

The book was another proof that mankind had been on this planet, but did not give them much information beyond that.

"Well," Luna said,
"at least now I know where some of our fashion comes from."

"Hmm, I've seen some dresses in Rarity's boutique that looked like based on saddles," Antonius confirmed.

"Yes, and a long time ago, we even used bridles - without the bit, of course, more like those 'halters'. I think my old bridle must be in one of my drawers... wait, I will show it to you. It is terribly out of fashion, but still somewhat beautiful."

Luna started searching through some drawers and from time to time, she flicked her tail. Antonius grabbed the book and looked up the meaning of this:
She was irritated!
This book did not tell the history of mankind on this planet, but it surely was useful... if it was right, but he could check this.

"Hey, Luna, are you irritated?"

She stopped rummaging and looked at Antonius.

"A bit. I cannot find that bridle, but why do you ask?"

"You flicked your tail a few times."

"Oh, interpreting my body language with the book, are we? Well, be advised that I am a pony and not more a horse than you are a... a... hmm, what creature would that be? Some sort of monkey, perhaps?"

"Not a bad guess. Humans and monkeys have a common ancestor. If you go back far enough, though, you will also find a common ancestor of humans and horses, especially since both are mammals. Anyway, I found that you ponies share some behavior patterns with the horses described in this book. This is actually quite convenient."

"Well, then interpret this!"

Luna playfully stuck out her tongue for a second, then she turned back to the drawers.

It took a few more minutes until she exclaimed:

"Got it! Just a second..."

When she turned to Antonius again, she had put on her bridle. It was made of delicate silver chains, almost like gossamer, gleaming in the light of the room. Between her eyes was a blue, tear-shaped gem, reflecting the incident light so that it seemed to glow.

"And?" she asked walking up to him,
"what do you think?"

"Well, you were right, it is... umm... very nice."

"I think there is something to it you will like even more. Please grab the chains on my cheeks."

"You want me to do what?"

"Just do it."

Antonius did as he was told to and Luna took up a stable stance.

"Now, drag me forward," she said.

"I'll rent apart your bridle."

"Trust me. Pull."

Well, if she insisted in him destroying her headgear...
He started pulling. Gently.

"Come on, more power!" Luna commanded.

Antonius pulled more vigorously. To his surprise, the delicate silver chains withstood that. He even was able to drag Luna forward, her hooves sliding across the floor, and the chains still did not tear.
She grinned.

"Okay, you may stop now."

Antonius did that and asked:

"Luna, what material is that? It is very durable."

"It is. We call it 'silversteel'. It is not only durable, but also very lightweight. Too bad it is very rare and also very expensive."

"How much of this silversteel do we have at our disposal?"

"My bridle. That's it."

"Can we acquire some more? This metal would be very useful for building armor and weapons."

"I am afraid I will have to disappoint you, Tony. We do not have any silversteel mines in Equestria. There is a mine in Saddle Arabia, though, and the bridle was a present from a prince from there."

"Can't we buy some?"

"We can try, but it is hard to get due to its rarity, and expensiveness. My bridle alone is probably worth more than the whole of Ponyville."

"Then it was an expensive present."

"Yeah, he thought he could convince me to marry him. I declined his proposal, but he still insisted that I keep it as a keepsake."

"Generous, but also a little weird, hmm? A bridle as a engagement present? Well, be that as it may, back to business: We should tell them what trouble this planet is in. Hopefully, they will supply us with silversteel voluntarily. "

"Well, even if they send us all of the silversteel they have in stock, it will still be barely enough for a dozen armors."

"Crap. Well, we will get along without it."

"Of course we will," Luna smiled,
"there is another thing you should know: There is also a metal called 'darksteel'. It not as rare or expensive, but it is heavier and it can dampen a pony's magical abilities. It is used for magic-resistant armor or to shut down an injured unicorn's magic."

"We don't have that either, do we?"

"Probably just a little bit in the hospital, and no, we do not have any mines, since it is only found together with silversteel."

"Hmm... that's quite a curiosity. Thank you for the information."

Luna took off her bridle, put it into her nightstand and walked back to Antonius.

"Now, Tony," she started,
"there is something I would like to ask you."

"Ask," Antonius said.

"Do you have any experience with the horses of your Imperium? Does your chapter use them, for example?"

"No, the Ultramarines make no use of horses. We use machines to travel larger distances, bikes or Land Speeders, for example. Some regiments of the Imperial Guard make use of horses for war."

"They ride them into war?"

"Yes. I have to admit, though, that the idea of a mount, a living creature to ride, is somewhat... odd to me."

"Odd? That is coming from someone who uses ancient mechanical vehicles, powered by some sort of continuous explosion of fuel made from gas giants?"

Well, Antonius had to admit, using a living mount certainly seemed to be easier, so he said:

"If you put it like that... each to their own, hmm?"

"I guess so, but I have to admit that I am curious how travelling with this Land Speeder will be. Are you curious how riding a mount would be like?"

"Well, I have to admit, yes, I find this idea somewhat intriguing. To think about it: there was a time when horses where the primary means of transportation on Terra. They were downright critical for the early human civilization. Getting a little insight into this phase would certainly be interesting."

Luna was a bit surprised. Despite all the human technology, Antonius was curious about non-technical mounts. Well, Luna could help him. After everything he had done for her, including learning massaging especially for her, it would just be fair, wouldn't it? Furthermore, there was a ring to possibly charging into battle together.

"Wanna try?" she asked with a smile.

"You have mounts? Where?" Antonius asked.

"Right in front of you."

It took him a second to realize what she had meant.

"You're not serious."

"No, I am Luna," she grinned,
"I cannot offer you a horse to ride, but you may sit on my back if you want to."

Antonius started laughing and shook his head.

"This is really a weird day: First, Stormy goes to spend the night at an unfortified location, then I have to prevent a poison joke intoxicated Zecora from accidentally denuding herself with a hair remover, then I learn massaging to optimize your training and apply my newly gained knowledge shortly thereafter. To top it off, your sister finds an ancient book about horses and calls me a pervert. And now you offer me the chance to mount you. Really, this day is just incredible!"

"Well, if you accept my offer today, it is only this day that will be weird and you can start tomorrow as a new, more normal day. You also do not need to worry about embarrassing yourself, since there is nopony else in the room. So, if you are curious, I suggest you just give it a try. Now, what shall it be?"

"Okay, I'm convinced," Antonius smiled,
"I just hope I'm not too heavy for you."

"Hey, I am an alicorn. Without your armor, I am sure you will be light enough. Now, take a broad stance so that I can get beneath you."

Now, Luna opened her wings, turned around and slowly walked backwards. Antonius was tall enough that she did not have to crouch, but she still concentrated on getting in the right position. When she had achieved that, she asked:

"Okay, Antonius, ready?"

"Pffpft..."

Huh? She looked upwards and saw the problem: Her mane was flowing into his face!

"Oops..." she said and made her mane follow gravity. She kept the night sky pattern again, though.

"Yeah, that's better," Antonius said.

"Now, slowly sit down."

She could feel the weight on her back increasing. Ponies usually carried things or foals that way, but this was the first time she had to put up with such a weight on her back. A bit to her surprise, it did not feel too strange. Finally, she closed her wings over Antonius' legs.

There she was: Luna, Princess of Equestria, serving as a mount. Antonius had been right, this was a weird day.

Antonius was downright fascinated. The feeling of sitting on a living mount was completely different from sitting in a Land Speeder. It was not even similar to riding a bike, although the posture was basically the same.
Of course, if he kept mounting a pony in perspective, he knew it was entirely pointless. Mounts were used because they were faster than their rider and/or had greater endurance, but here, none of that was the case. Despite this analysis, he had to admit that it still wasn't bad at all.

"And?" Luna asked,
"what do you think?"

"It's certainly an unique feeling," Antonius answered.

"Unique in a good way?"

"Yes, definitely. Unfamiliar, but not bad."

"Okay, then let us try something else. Hold on!"

Hold on? How was he supposed to hold on without hurting her?

Luna slowly started walking and Antonius tried to balance himself. It worked surprisingly well and soon, they had crossed the room a few times. Then Luna stopped and said:

"Do you know what is missing here?"

"No," Antonius answered.

Luna looked at him and grinned:

"Our armors, our weapons, and a villain of front of us!"

Uh-oh. She started to get a little excited. She looked forward again and shouted:

"Then, we could charge our foe together! HUZZAH!"

She reared up. And lost balance.
Antonius wanted to bring his feet down on the ground to prevent an ungraceful landing from happening, but unfortunately, Luna's wings prevented him from doing so, so they both toppled over and Antonius was lying on his back, Luna on his belly.
That was a tad awkward.

"Umm... should not have reared up, hmm?" she asked.

"Indeed," he replied,
"are you okay?"

"Yeah, I am all right... now, I think we should get up again and continue with our stretching, shouldn't we?"

"Agreed."

After some more exercises, Luna said:

"Well, I could just use another massage after this exertion..."

She smiled at him in an adorable - and a little awkward - way.

Well, her request was plausible, so Antonius agreed and started massaging her for the second time today. Somehow he could not get rid on the feeling that he would do this quite often from now on.

Luna enjoyed her massage. It really was astounding how good he was at that task... probably thanks to his hands. She started to understand Lyra Heartstring's fascination for those parts of a human's body.

After the massage, Antonius asked:

"It's time to retire. Do you want to keep the book, or may I take it?"

"You want to have a look at those 'nice' pictures, hmm?" Luna teased.

"Keep the book," he decided, said goodnight and left.

She chuckled. It was quite easy to annoy him a bit with such insinuations. Not very fair, but easy.
All told, they had become very good friends. None of them easily took offense at the other's humor and they got along exceptionally well.

Luna opened the book and accidentally found herself in the chapter about 'breeding'.
She made a face.
Great, now not only her sister, even books made fun of her. Probably the justified punishment for her teasing of Antonius.
Luna closed the book and put it aside. Her patrol was about to start anyway.

30. Decisions

The next morning, Antonius entered the small kitchen the princesses commonly used. They were not there, though. He had not yet seen them this day at all, he had been alone. Stormy was in Ponyville, she would return this afternoon.

It had actually been the first time since Hope that he had been the only one in the room where he had slept. In fact, he had gotten so used to sharing his room with a pony that he had almost said goodnight, despite the fact that no one except him had been present!

So that was what happened when you pulled a Space Marine out of his wars and put him into a world full of friendly little alien ponies. He 'got used' to them. As strange and uncommon as this might sound, it was not the worst reaction he could imagine.

Usually, when he made decisions, lives were at stake. Now, the only decision he had to make was what he would like to have for breakfast.
Oatmeal? Toast? Cereal?
Antonius thought of the old Ultramarine proverb 'Making war is easy. Making choices is not.' and chuckled. Whoever had come up with this, he certainly had not expected it to be used in such a situation. It was still somewhat applicable, though.
Toast.

He grabbed two slices of bread and put them into the toaster. Thankfully, it was electric, not magic. He did not like the idea of magic-irradiated breakfast.
Antonius made sure if there was a litany of toasting or something like that inscribed into the device, but finding none, he just pushed the little lever down.
Let the toasting commence!

In the meantime, he fetched a plate for his toasts, as well as butter and strawberry jam. He would have preferred something a bit more savory, but thanks to the ponies having a sweet tooth, such things were quite rare around here.

When the toaster finally had done its work, the thing ejected the slices of bread with enough force to shoot them into the air. As they reached their apex, they suddenly got incinerated, and the only thing that reached the table was ash.
Antonius stared at the toaster.
What?
Did this thing have a malfunction? Alien technology surely did not have a machine spirit he had to placate?

Well, the best course of action was probably to repeat the process, so Antonius took two new slices of bread and put them into the toaster. This time, he kept an eye on the device, but it was no use. The toasts flew out of the thing and burned to ashes again.
Damnit.
Cereal? Cereal.

He put away his not-breakfast and fetched the cereal and milk. He put them into a bowl, and much to his confusion, the stuff started burning.
Antonius looked at the little bonfire he involuntarily had created and muttered:
"Hmm... I really hope this is, in fact, unusual. Even around here."

Then, he heard a barely suppressed chuckle. He immediately turned towards the noise and saw... nothing.
No, 'nothing' could not chuckle. He strained his eyes and was able to recognize something like a faint shadow, barely visible, but there nevertheless.

"Okay," he said sternly,
"either you show yourself or you'll get a flaming cereal meteor into your face."

Now, the shadow vanished and was replaced by... Luna and Celestia. Both were laughing.

"Gotcha!" they shouted.

"Huh?" Antonius replied.

"The prank, remember?" Luna smiled,
"How did you like it? It was funny, wasn't it?"

"You destroyed four perfectly good slices of bread and some cereal."

Luna looked disappointed.

"So you didn't like it?"

"Well, it certainly was unexpected, and nobody got put into hibernation. So I guess it wasn't bad. The only downside of your prank is that I'm still hungry."

"Don't worry," Celestia said,
"I'll make breakfast for us."

Having said that, she got busy and a short time later, three servings of pancakes, garnished with fruit, were ready to be eaten.

"So you don't only know fabrication processes, you can also cook," Antonius commented.

"Yeah," Celestia answered,
"I really enjoy cooking. It's a small way to say I care - or in this case, I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I suggest we three do a training session right after breakfast, if you are not too busy."

"Well, okay, but we have to make it short."

"I'm also fine with it," Luna added, then she continued with a smile:
"You will like the warming up Antonius and I discussed yesterday, sister."

Celestia gave her a skeptical look, but did not reply. Instead, she turned to Antonius:

"Apropos 'yesterday': I wanted to talk to you about the promethium replacement, but then I got... distracted. Now, you said your promethium is extracted from the atmosphere of gas giants?"

"Yes," Antonius answered,
"that's a possible source."

"I think we should discontinue our attempts to use the lamp oil and switch to other substances used for making our weather. A little transfiguration magic could give us what we need."

Antonius raised an eyebrow.

"Magic fuel? Well, I mustn't be picky at the moment. Do whatever you deem useful. We will see if the machine spirits accept your fuel."

"Okay. In the morning, I have some duties. Twilight, Spike and myself will start after lunch. You are welcome to join us."

"I'll be there. By the way, where are they?"

"They had an very early breakfast and are in the library at the moment. Twilight wanted to do some research and dragged Spike along. He did not look especially well rested," Celestia snickered.

Once the breakfast was eaten, Luna, Celestia and Antonius went to the throne room. Servants brought the princesses' equipment and left again, leaving the room devoid of ponies, so that the three of them could train without disruption.

"Okay, sister, you start," Luna smiled.

Celestia nodded, took off her regalia and was just about to put on her armor as Luna stopped her:

"Not so hasty, my dear sister. First, the warming up! Antonius, could you please get into position for the stretching?"

Luna could barely hold back a giggle as she imagined the look on her sister's face during the warming up. She was not disappointed. Celestia's expression as Antonius grabbed her leg and pulled it upwards was hilarious!

"Umm, just don't rip my leg off, okay?" she asked.

"You two really are sisters," Antonius said flatly and continued the stretching exercise.

Some time later, and much to Luna's astonishment, Celestia's expression changed. The funny mixture of bafflement and a little embarrassment was replaced by a more content one.

"And? What do you think of the stretching?," she asked.

"Well," Celestia admitted,
"I find this treatment to be quite pleasant."

Celestia could not prevent herself from grinning. She had seen through Luna's little ploy. Bringing her into this slightly embarrassing situation was her revenge for the false accusations and the teasing.

Now, Celestia had to admit that she wasn't used to somepony handling her that way, but as soon as that feeling had passed, it was actually quite nice. Her muscles needed some pampering as she barely had an opportunity to really use them, so she enjoyed the treatment.
Some minutes later, it was Luna's turn, so they changed places.

When the warming up was done, the princesses put on their armor. Antonius, however, made no sign of going to his quarters to do the same.

"Huh? Don't you want to put on your armor?" Luna asked him.

"I don't think that will be necessary. And if you don't mind, I'd like to use your swords, too. I want to get used to your weapons."

Hmm, without his armor and a familiar sword, Antonius should lose his superiority. This was, at least, what Celestia hoped.
She was disabused from this misconception as soon as they started fighting. He was not as ridiculously strong anymore, but it was still enough to give her a hard time. He hit her armor more than just once and gave her a lot of advice on how to improve.

Despite his helpful manner, Celestia was happy when her turn was over. Sword fighting was more Luna's thing, after all. She gave her sword to Antonius, who had given back Luna's sword.
Much to Celestia's surprise, Luna took off her armor and stated:

"If you don't use your armor, I won't use mine, either. My sword is everything I need."

The two started the exercise.
Celestia watched in astonishment. Their fight was almost a dance of blades, completely different from her own 'lesson'. She had to admit that her little sister's technique was better than her own.

After some time, they stopped fighting and Luna smiled:

"A great fight! We are more on an equal hoofing if you don't use your armor."

"The gap has shrunken a bit, that's true," Antonius agreed and returned Celestia's sword,
"I'd like to get a training sword of my own, so that I neither have to use my chainsword nor borrow yours all the time."

"That's no problem," Celestia told him,
"I'll tell our weaponsmiths to forge one for you."

"Thank you."

"Now, after our training," Luna started,
"how about a little massage before I go to bed?"

Celestia raised an eyebrow.

"Who would have thought that my little sister would become a fan of such treatments?"

"Jelly, Cellie?" Luna smiled back.

"There's no need for that," Antonius stated,
"since the massages are part of the training, you are also entitled to request them."

Huh? A massage from Antonius?
Now Celestia was baffled - but also curious. According to Luna, he was quite good, but at the moment, she had no time for such activities.

"Thank you for the offer, but now I just want to take a quick shower and then start doing my duties," she said,
"I'd like to schedule a massage for this evening, before I go to bed. Is that okay?"

"Sure. Stormy will be back by then, but I think I can leave her alone for a few minutes. She's become pretty independent already, after all."

"Okay. See you again in the afternoon, then."

Antonius and Luna went to Luna's quarters, where the princess got her treatment. Once he was done, he said goodbye and went to the library.

Twilight was sitting at a table, reading, while Spike was rummaging the shelves.

"Oh, hello Antonius," they greeted.

"Hello. Celestia told me you're doing research here," Antonius said.

"Oh, yes," Twilight told him,
"there are lots of transfiguration spells that might prove to be useful. Most of them are pretty advanced, but I'm sure there's nothing Princess Celestia can't handle.
Just as important, however, is the substance we use them on. According to my research, I think rainbow-fluid might be the best substance to start with."

Antonius raised an eyebrow.

"Rainbow-fluid? Eww. Does that mean you want to juice her?"

"What? No! This 'rainbow-fluid' - with a small 'r' - is a liquid we use to create rainbows. It has nothing to do with Rainbow Dash. I already sent a message to Cloudsdale to send us a few canisters. It should arrive by noon."

"Hmm... I'm actually relieved to hear that. While the thought of wringing Rainbow out is somewhat compelling, I think it'd be a bit... harsh."

"You're still angry at her?"

"I won't hurt her."

"That does not answer my question, does it?"

"Well, of course I'm still a bit angry, but I'm giving her the chance to prove that she has a humble, non-mischievous side."

"Good luck with that," Twilight deadpanned.

Antonius grinned. He knew all too well that humility wasn't one of Rainbow's strengths.

"Now that I'm here, can I help you somehow?" he asked.

"No, thank you. I already have Spike to help me," Twilight answered.

"Does this library contain any books about military tactics, battles and wars?"

"Yes, I suggest you should start with the history of the EUP, that's Earth-, Unicorn-, Pegasus-Guard. They were the predecessors of the Royal Guard and the Wonderbolts. You can find the book over there."

Antonius started browsing the library. He started with the book Twilight had suggested and continued with others that had somewhat military titles.
Unfortunately, those books were all more historical than tactical. Well, at least he got an idea of the ponies' relationship to war - they barely had one. There had been border clashes with griffons, and a siege from some sort of shadow-creatures - he decided to inquire about them later - but no prolonged, all-out war.

He spent the entire morning in the library, then he, Twilight and Spike met with Celestia for lunch.
When they were done, Antonius asked:

"Tia, I read that Canterlot was attacked by shadow-creatures a few decades ago. What do you know about them?"

Celestia sighed:

"Almost nothing; they came without warning and besieged us. We managed to push them back, and they crawled into the shadows that formed them and vanished. To ensure the safety of my ponies, I founded the School for Gifted Unicorns after that."

Hmm... minions of Chaos or some other local enemy? Antonius could not be sure, but he would keep those attackers in mind.

Now, they picked up the rainbow-fluid that had arrived in the meantime and went to the armorium. Once there, they started experimenting. They filled the fluid - that was actually rainbow-colored - into small bowls, then Celestia and Twilight used various spells on them. At last, they ignited samples of the treated fluids and watched what happened. Spike carefully took notes and Antonius tried to describe the exact properties of promethium as well as he could.

They continued their work until it was time for Antonius to pick up Stormy. He said goodbye and took a chariot to Ponyville. They landed near Sweet Apple Acres and Antonius approached the farm. Applejack immediately greeted him:

"Hello, Antonius! Here to pick up Stormy, aren't you?"

"Exactly," he answered,
"is she here?"

"No. I think she, my sister and their friends are still in their clubhouse. I'll lead you there."

So they crossed the orchard until they reached a small treehouse with a ramp leading up to it.

"Hello? Anypony there?" Applejack called.

A few seconds later, the four fillies appeared.

"Hi, sis," Apple Bloom said,
"hello, Antonius. Is it time already?"

"Yes. Time for Stormy to return to Canterlot," he answered with a smile.

Antonius, Applejack and the Cutie Mark Crusaders started walking back to the farm. The fillies were chatting and laughing all the time. It was really nice to see that Stormy has found such good friends. It was a pity that she had to leave.
She would probably have liked to stay for longer, or spend her whole time in Ponyville, but neither could Antonius leave her there, nor could he move to the town. He had promised to take care of her, but he could not abandon his other duties. Tomorrow, the training of the PDF would begin; he had to be present.

When they had reached the chariot, Antonius and Stormy said goodbye and boarded it. On their way back to Canterlot, Antonius asked:

"And, Stormy? Did you like the Sleep-over?"

"Yeah!" the little mare shouted,
"it was totally awesome!"

Then she started telling him what they had done. Most of those things were quite weird, but some actually made sense - sort of. Suddenly, after a short pause, Stormy asked:

"Antonius, am I weird?"

"What? No! Why do you ask?"

"We met two other fillies, and they said that I was weird."

Antonius suppressed the spike of anger he felt and asked:

"Two fillies? Who were they?"

"You won't throw them out of a window, will you?"

"No, probably not."

He could still kick them into low orbit...

"Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon," Stormy told him.

"Aha. And why did those two..."
...brats...
"... fillies think that you were weird?"

"They said that I was the only pony who was taken care of by an alien."

Grmpf... 'alien'...

"Well, that's technically true, but that doesn't make you weird, just special."

"I'd rather like to be normal. But I don't want to leave you!" Stormy quickly added.

Hmm... Antonius wanted Stormy to be able to live a normal pony life. Strangely, those two fillies were not entirely wrong. In a way, he prevented himself from achieving his goal. He should talk to Luna about that.

"Don't worry, Stormy," Antonius said,
"I certainly won't force you to leave."

Stormy smiled and hugged him.

When they arrived at Canterlot, they went to the armorium.

"Hello," Antonius greeted,
"we're back."

"Hello, Antonius, hello, Stormy," Celestia, Twilight and Spike returned.

"Any breakthroughs?"

"Not yet," Celestia answered,
"but I have a better feeling about this approach. We can control the liquid's tendency to combust much better now. Actually, we just wanted to make an attempt at starting the engine we built."

"Oh? Well, that's good news. I'll help you."

The small engine that was the result of their earlier sand-casting stood ready for some time now. Antonius had already checked it more than just once and it was ready to be started, with only one exception: the fuel.
Until now, Celestia had been too worried to accidentally damage it with the lamp oil based fuels. The mere fact that she wanted to give the new fuel an actual try now was a good omen in itself.

So, they carefully filled the engine's tank with the rainbow-colored liquid, vented the fuel system and retreated behind a barricade of sand sacks the ponies had built down here - just to be sure.

"Ready?" Celestia asked.

Getting only positive responses, she lit up her horn. A second later, the engine was engulfed in her magic and they could hear the mechanical parts work. Unfortunately, the combustions were missing.
The golden glow around Celestia's horn and the engine faded.

"Hmm... unsuccessful..." she mumbled and went to the engine, followed by the others,
"we'll have to make the next batch more volatile. Now, let's clean the engine and go upstairs again. It will soon be time for dinner and Luna will get up then, too."

After dinner - with the usual small talk - Antonius, Luna and Stormy went to Antonius' quarters. The filly insisted on playing board games, so they did just that. Again, the results were mostly quite predictable.

After nightfall, there was a knock at the door and Celestia came in.

"Hello, you three," she said with a smile,
"am I disturbing you? I just wanted to tell you that my duties for today are done."

Translation: Give me the massage you promised me!

"Hello, Princess Celestia!" Stormy shouted,
"if you have free time now, you can join us! I promise I won't win with too much lead!"

"Well, when I'm invited that nicely, I can't say no," Celestia smiled and joined them.

"Aha, Stormy has found another victim," Luna said flatly.

"So I guess you are losing?"

"'Losing' is an understatement. This little mare is a dice monster."

"Fear not, for your big sister is here," Celestia grinned and put her wing around Luna.

All told, the Princess of the Sun was not able to change the outcomes of the games they played - much to Stormy's delight.

"Well, I guess it's time for fillies to go to bed now, isn't it?" Celestia asked after a while as Stormy started yawning.

"Oh, I'm not..." Stormy started to answer and yawned again,
"... tired."

"Come on, Stormy," Antonius said,
"Princess Celestia is right. Get ready for bed, please."

The little mare obeyed and was soon tucked in, her parasprite in her hooves.

"Stormy, I've still got some business to do with the princesses. Would you mind me leaving you alone for about an hour?"

"Only an hour?" Stormy asked back.

"Yes."

"Hmm... okay. I'll cuddle Calgy in the meantime."

Antonius and the princesses left and went to Celestia's quarters.

"Now, what do you want to discuss with us?" Celestia asked with a smile,
"and please remember this massage you promised me."

"Don't worry," Antonius answered,
"I won't forget it. About my problem: It's about Stormy. As you know, I promised to enable her to live a normal pony life, and I'm true to my word. The problem is that living in my care is by no means 'normal' for a pony."

"I see what you mean," Celestia said,
"you have been very important to her in those last weeks, but perhaps it might be wise to look for a foster home for her. She has started to become more independent, after all."

"Won't she think that she has been... dumped?" Luna interjected.

"That is the main problem of this plan. We must avoid that at all costs," Celestia answered,
"it would be best if she would make this decision - if that's what we are going to do. Antonius, what do you think?"

"I'm not sure. A pony family would certainly be best for her, but I really don't want to send her away. Yet, I think that is what I will have to do - in some way, at least. While I can give her a feeling of security and shelter her, I am no substitute for a family that can give her the attention, love and nurture she deserves."

Ugh, he really was openly talking about love, care, feelings and stuff. Unbelievable.

"I think you're doing fine," Luna assured him.

"Yes, you do," Celestia agreed,
"but your worrying is not without reason. For now, your efforts are enough. But what will happen in the times to come? Stormy will grow up and encounter all sorts of problems, and I think a pony family might be able to help her better than you. No offense."

"None taken. That's why I wanted to talk to you, after all. Luna, what do you think?"

"Well, I can't say that my sister is wrong," Luna admitted hesitantly,
"then we have to find an appropriate foster family, hmm? A family that is kind, loving, and willing to take care of a filly. Perhaps a family she already... knows..."

Luna suddenly started smiling. Antonius did the same. He could guess what had come to Luna's mind, and he thought it was a great idea.

"What is it?" Celestia asked,
"you two already have figured on a specific family, haven't you?"

"Indeed," Luna answered,
"Moonlight and Blackwing. They are very nice ponies and wanted to start a family. Unfortunately, Moonlight's injuries make this impossible. With Stormy, they still could have this family, and Stormy already knows them very well, since they have already spent some time together, not to forget the fact that Moonlight saved Stormy's life."

Celestia thought about that for a second.

"I don't think we will get a better candidate for a foster family - if they really would like to take care of Stormy. We have to talk to them first. If they agree, we have to carefully introduce Stormy to this idea without hurting her feelings. The final decision will be hers."

Antonius, Celestia and Luna agreed on this course of action, hoping that they did what was right.

"Now that this is settled, you can get your massage," Antonius told Celestia, cracking his knuckles,
"so please take off everything you wear, get onto your bed and deactivate your mane flow."

"Okay, but please stop making those noises with your hands. It's quite... disconcerting," Celestia said as she followed his instructions.

Antonius laughed and started.
After a while, he suggested:

"Perhaps it would be a good time to discuss the muster tomorrow."

"Good..." Celestia smiled.

"I'd like to have swords at the ready so that we can see if the applicants already have melee experience," Antonius continued.

"Yeah..." Celestia answered absentmindedly.

Antonius raised an eyebrow. Celestia was thoroughly relaxed - and she did not seem to listen at all. Time to check that:

"And I think I should punch them in the face to test their resilience."

"You do that..."

Luna snickered and Antonius went on:

"Perhaps I can demonstrate a few ways to kill an enemy. Should not take more than 25% of the applicants."

"Hmm...fine..."

"Tony," Luna laughed,
"I think at the moment you could ask my sister to lick your armor clean and she would agree."

"Yikes! I think I'll clean it myself, thank you."

"Clean is good..." Celestia mumbled in deep relaxation.

Antonius and Luna laughed and he continued the massage.

"Okay, Luna, I really have to admit that it was great," Celestia said.

"Told you," Luna grinned back.

Antonius had just left and the princesses were alone in Celestia's quarters. The white mare was still lying on her bed with a broad and somewhat stupid smile on her face while her sister was sitting on a cushion near the headboard.

"Seriously, Luna, how did you trick him into doing this?" Celestia asked.

"I did not 'trick' him," Luna said, slightly indignant,
"I just mentioned that massages are good to treat strains and that I can't get one from a pony. That's all."

"Hmm... first Stormy, now those treatments... Antonius really is a caring creature, isn't he?"

"He is a good friend."

"Your 'good friend'."

"Sister..."

"I'm just joking, Luna. I know you are just friends. And that means that I may borrow him every now and then, doesn't it?" Celestia inquired, still smiling.

"Oh, you really would like to do that, wouldn't you?" Luna laughed,
"just be careful what you promise him while you are that relaxed."

"What do you mean?" Celestia asked confusedly.

"You don't remember?"

"Remember what?"

"That you allowed him to evaluate the applicants via fighting them?"

"What? Oh... well, this will be a muster, after all. It won't be that bad."

"And punch them in the face?"

"WHAT? No, I didn't..."

"You did. But don't worry, he was just joking."

"Oh dear..."

"Indeed. That massage had a peculiar effect of you. And your face now is hilarious."

31. The founding of the PDF

The next day was the day of the muster of the new PDF. Stormy had gone to school in the morning and now Antonius entered the throne room. He was wearing his neatly polished armor and weapons, his helmet attached to his belt. The preparations were running at full blast. A fairly big table was set up in front of the throne, behind this table were three chairs, the central one appropriately sized for a Space Marine.

"Hello, Antonius!" Celestia and Luna greeted him,
"ready to take a look at the applicants?"

"Of course. Have you planned anything specific in addition to our agreement?"

"No," Celestia told him,
"the ponies come in one by one and we evaluate them. We'll start in half an hour."

"Are the swords ready?"

"Yes," Luna answered and pointed at two servants who were carrying a weapons rack into the room.

"Excellent," Antonius nodded.

He and the princesses spent the time until the muster with attuning their basis of assessment and setting priorities, then they sat down at the table; Antonius in the middle, Celestia to his left, Luna to his right.
Now Raven, Celestia's secretary, gave her a scroll and left again.

"Okay, I've got the list of the applicants. Ready to start?" Celestia asked.

Antonius and Luna answered in the affirmative and she said:

"Send in the first applicant."

Then she turned to them and added:

"The first one is Lemon Lime, a unicorn stallion."

Unicorn. So, a magic user. Antonius honestly hoped for a decent number of them, since defeating a Chaos Space Marine with pony-strength alone would prove to be... difficult.

A lime green pony entered the room and greeted:

"Good day, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna and Lord Commander Varus. I'm here to apply for the new guard."

"Rather defense force than guard," Celestia said kindly,
"but anyway: Why do you apply?"

"Well, I heard that the Lord Commander is about to get his own guard, like the Royal- and Night Guard. So I thought I apply. A fancy uniform certainly isn't bad, either."

Antonius facepalmed. What a great start of this muster. A short glance at the princesses told him that they were just as stunned as he was.

"Didn't you read the proclamation?" Luna asked with irritation,
"the PDF is not just another guard!"

"Oh?" Lemon Lime asked in surprise,
"actually, no. I just heard that a new guard was about to be formed and thought I'd join. What makes this PDF so different, if I may ask?"

Antonius was not sure if he should answer him or slap this moron out of the room. He chose the former:

"The PDF will not be an ceremonial unit. We expect its soldiers to fight an extremely dangerous foe and be ready to give their lives if necessary."

The unicorn paled and started stammering:

"Oh? Oh! Well, I think... I mean... umm... may I cancel my application?"

"Yes, of course," Celestia sighed.

Lemon Lime darted out of the room and was gone.

"That was somewhat suboptimal," Antonius stated dryly.

"At least it can't get worse - probably," Luna opined.

"Let's continue with applicant number two: Gentle Breeze, a pegasus mare," Celestia said.

"What?" Antonius and Luna shouted.

Indeed: Gentle Breeze came walking in through the door, smiling cordially.

"Hello, Princess Celestia. Hello, Princess Luna. And hello, Lord Commander Varus. It's nice to see you again. Oh, by the way, Princess Luna, I've got the prints you wanted. Here they are!" she greeted and put the mentioned prints on the table in front of Luna.

"Ah, I knew I had heard the name before," Celestia said,
"so, you are the mare from Hope who paid Moonlight and Blackwing a visit? Nice to meet you."

"Thank you, Gentle Breeze, it really is a pleasure seeing you again, though I have to admit that I am somewhat surprised to see you here. You really want to join the PDF?" Luna asked.

Antonius was a bit surprised, too, but thinking about it, Gentle Breeze's application absolutely made sense.

"Yes, I want to," she answered,
"I have seen what Chaos can do, and I want to protect others from the fate my hometown had to suffer."

"You do not have any military experience, do you?"

"No, Princess Luna, but I'm a quick learner, and I promise I will never let you down."

The princesses looked at Antonius, and he started talking:

"While we are looking for military experience, a brave heart is nothing to dismiss easily. How far does your loyalty go? Would you die for ponykind?"

"Yes, if that would be necessary."

"So you ready the proclamation..."

"Of course I did. Why else should I be here?"

Antonius smiled and got up.

"Let's see if you can handle a sword - or is it 'mouthle'?"

He fetched two swords and gave one to Gentle Breeze. The other one, just a dagger to him, he kept.

"Now, show me what you think an attack should look like."

Gentle Breeze started circling him in a wide arc, the hilt of the sword in her mouth. Antonius decided to play along and started doing the same. Suddenly, the pegasus stopped and smiled.

"Gotcha!" she said.

Well, she had not really gotten him, they had not even started yet. Antonius quickly examined the situation and got an idea what she was talking about.

"Tell us what you mean," he asked her.

"Well," she explained, grabbing her sword with a wing to free her muzzle,
"you are now inside a triangle, formed by the princesses and myself. That means that we could attack you from three different angles simultaneously, and since you only have two arms, one of the attacks would be unblockable, wouldn't it?"

Antonius smiled.

"Not bad. Not completely right, since you overlooked my armor and perhaps a few other details, but, all told, not bad, especially for a first attempt. A brains-over-brawn approach."

He turned to the princesses:

"I vote for giving her a chance. What do you think?"

Luna and Celestia agreed. The PDF had its first member.

Some time later, the ponies who had followed Gentle Breeze up to that point had also passed the muster. Some of them had been veterans of the Royal Guard, some had been members of local police forces. The last applicant had even been a valued Night Guard veteran.

"It's getting better and better," Antonius rejoiced,
"let's continue with the next one!"

"Umm..." Celestia said as she took a look at the list,
"there might be a little problem with that."

"What is wrong?"

"We don't have any applicants left."

Antonius did not put too much effort into hiding his disappointment.

"Oh? That makes... how many? 13?"

"Indeed," Luna sighed and closed her eyes for a second,
"2 unicorns, 4 earth ponies, 6 pegasi, 1 batpony."

"That's quite a lot of pegasi - at least compared to the other kinds," Antonius remarked.

"That's not really surprising," Celestia explained,
"pegasi originally were a warrior tribe. A lot of them still tend to have a propensity towards physical conflict."

"Hmm... somehow I'm just trying to imaging Fluttershy charging into battle, waving a sword and roaring..."

The princesses snickered.

"Doesn't work, does it?" Celestia asked.

"Not really, no."

"Well, she is the element of kindness for a reason, but you shouldn't underestimate her. If she's angry enough, she can be downright terrifying... But back to business: 13 ponies. Will they be enough?"

"To be honest, I had hoped for more. Especially more unicorns. However, it's no use complaining. We will train the 13 of them. Hmm... 13... that's the number of my Legion. Let's see that as a good omen."

"Do you really believe in such stuff?" Luna asked incredulously.

"No. But as matters now stand, I take what I can get."

After lunch, the newly founded PDF came together for their first training. Antonius inspected the line of ponies, who all had snapped to attention as soon as he and Luna had entered the room.

"Ponies," he started,
"you are now members of the Planetary Defense Force. From now on, you are the breakwater that protects ponykind from the tides of Chaos! You will never falter, never surrender. You will be the guardians of ponykind! Are you ready to fulfill this duty?"

"Yes, Lord Commander!" the ponies shouted.

"This duty will not be easy," Antonius continued,
"you know the risks you all have agreed to take, risks greater than what members of the Guards have to face."

A buff earth pony stallion with a brown coat and a black mane opened his mouth, but hesitated to say anything.
Antonius turned to him:

"Speak up, Black Harrow. You are supposed to be the future trainers of many more PDF recruits, so if you have a question, ask."

"Lord Commander," Black Harrow said,
"we know that this job can - and probably will - get dangerous. This information was part of the proclamation, and you told us during our interview. Yet, we are here to stay. We are willing to do our duty and even die if necessary."

"Good. Now, Princess Luna and I will teach you to survive and make your enemy die instead. Sounds better, doesn't it?"

Some ponies chuckled for a second, then Black Harrow said:

"We are looking forward to learning the art of war."

"'The art of war'?" Antonius repeated, an eyebrow raised,
"war is not an art. War is science. Observation, assessment, planning and execution. Those four processes form an endless circle. You gather information about your enemy's actions and determine his goals. Then, you come up with an adequate strategy to counter or attack him and then you do so.
As your experience grows, the processes will become more sophisticated and the iterations of the circle will become faster. You will learn to observe meticulously, to avoid jumping to conclusions, to select the appropriate strategy and the fighting skills to crush your enemy.
And you will learn the principles of Theoretica and Practica, the hypothetical, but realistic problem and the specific procedure to solve it. That is the way the Ultramarines wage war, and we successfully do so for over ten thousand years now."

The ponies just stared at him now, until Shadow Stalker, the Night Guard veteran, said:

"I have never before heard such a factual summary of fighting. It is in equal shares impressive and dire to see killing reduced to some kind of equation."

Antonius turned to him:

"Maybe, but dark times are about to come. You will have to overcome your innate inhibition against killing. While you should probably not start actually liking it, you shouldn't see it as an atrocity - it is simply craft. If your species shall survive, you will have to learn to kill without hesitation, mercy or remorse, for you can be sure, Chaos will slaughter you at every possible opportunity - or worse."

"He is right," Gentle Breeze remarked,
"I have seen what Chaos can do. We have to accept the Lord Commander's teachings, even if they seem... somewhat fierce and brutally cold to us. We must not judge them in view of our normal life, but in view of a mad, daemonic power that wants to wipe us out."

"That will be fun, eh?" Black Harrow said sarcastically.

"Wanna quit?" Antonius asked him.

"No, Lord Commander!" he answered,
"as I said, I am here to stay."

Luna was honestly surprised how this first training session went. Of course there was fighting - a fighting demonstration of her and Antonius and also slow motion fights where he explained critical aspects of melee - but there was also an important theoretical part.

Sometimes it was a bit hard to listen to, even for Luna; killing really just was some sort of craft to him, a profession, but he seemed to know that ponies would have some problems with that, so he tried to ease the situation every now and then with a joke or anecdote. He had said he would look to it that things wouldn't get too grim, and he did just that. The hours flew by and finally Antonius said:

"Recruits, I say we'll call it a day. Good work, especially for the first day. Now, enjoy your free time and then get some rest, so that we can continue tomorrow. Dismissed!"

The ponies left and Luna and Antonius were alone in the room.

"Really," she said with a smile,
"I'm almost as much a student here as I'm a teacher. Well, the gathered experiences of ten thousand years of perpetual war of course surpass my own."

"Actually," Antonius replied,
"those are teachings of the Codex Astartes, written by our revered Primarch Guilliman. He went to great lengths to codify war, every aspect of it, every nuance. We still live by his word, and every written issue of the Codex is a holy relic."

"You seem a bit... sad," Luna noticed compassionately.

"Maybe. The Codes Astartes was never meant to be shared with non-humans, yet this is what I do. I can, however, not find another sensible course of action. I know I'm doing what is necessary, but it still leaves me a bit... uneasy."

Hmm... this xenophobia his Imperium propagated, taught by bad experiences, did not make it especially easy for Antonius to help ponykind. Luna felt sorry for him. Well, she was his friend, so she would do her best to cheer him up:

"Each of your decisions up to now has been led by honor. You fight evil and help the innocent. There cannot possibly be anything wrong with that."

"Hmm."

"Oh, and your speech: You got inspired by this Tigurius, didn't you? I mean this 'breakwater' thing."

Antonius smiled:

"Yes, I have to admit that. I'm not a fan of giving speeches, but if I have to, I try to learn from the best."

Luna smiled, too, then she yawned.

"Sorry, Antonius, but I'm really tired now. I better go to bed."

"I'll escort you to your quarters."

When Luna had entered her room, Antonius went to his own quarters. He arrived just when Stormy returned from school.

"Hello, Stormy. How was school?" he asked.

"As always. How was being the big boss of this new guard?" Stormy grinned.

"Just the boss," Antonius smiled back,
"Luna is the big boss, as she is my commander."

"So, the boss is bigger than the big boss in this case?"

"Yes. In halfway decent societies, the big boss may be smaller than the boss."

Counterexample: Orks. The bigger they were, the more power they had.

"If the big boss grew taller than the boss, would she become the big big boss? Or bigger big boss? Or just bigger boss?" Stormy continued.

Hmm... if he kept to this point, he would probably get a headache.

"You're in a funny mood today, hmm?" Antonius asked and changed the subject.

"Yep!" she grinned.

Antonius changed back to his 'civil' clothes and they spent the time until dinner playing Stormy's beloved board games.
When they finally entered the dining room, they were already expected by Celestia, Twilight and Spike.

"Hello, Antonius," Celestia greeted,
"how was your first day training the new PDF?"

"Very good. They are all capable ponies. With Luna's help, they'll become good trainers for future recruits."

"Glad to hear that. Apropos Luna, my sister is apparently a little late for dinner..."

"Just a little, sister," Luna said, walking into the room.

To call her 'sleepy' would have been putting it mildly.

"Luna, I think you are overexerting yourself," Celestia opined,
"you look terrible."

"Charming," Luna deadpanned and took a seat.

"Really, Luna, you should take it easy."

"I have my duties, sister, just like you."

"Yes, my duty is to take care of the day, yours is to take care of the night. At the moment, you try to do both, since the PDF training is in the daytime."

"We can't properly train them at night. The recruits won't be very active while they're asleep."

Before this conversation could evolve into an argument, Antonius said:

"Perhaps we can, as an additional training."

"How do you mean that?" Luna wanted to know.

"You told me you can create shared dreams, right?"

"Well, yes, I can."

"Then, in addition to the two training sessions during the day, we can perform a dream-training-simulation at night. I suggest you skip the morning training and are present for the afternoon- and the new night training. That way, you can get some sleep and still help training the PDF. What do you think?"

"Well, that sounds like a compromise. Okay! I would not start tonight, though. The recruits have quite a lot to process and need their sleep and a chance to dream their own dreams."

"Agreed."

Now the waiters served the food and everyone started eating.
After dinner, they bid goodnight and Antonius and Stormy went to their quarters.

That night, Antonius was once again visited in his dreams by Luna. She had recreated the Fortress of Hera, where she was waiting for him.

"What a nice choice," Antonius smiled and looked around,
"I suppose that means that we are not fighting some dangerous creatures tonight, hmm?"

"Well," Luna answered,
"in fact, that depends on you. Tell me, do you want to use those dream-training sessions to toughen the PDF up?"

"It is an opportunity to slowly make them familiar with the enemy they'll have to fight. Furthermore, that way we can test and train their skills better than in our standard fights."

"Hmm, I thought so. Now that you are going to share the wisdom of your chapter with us, I wondered what it is like to be a Space Marine. I know you already told me a lot about that, but I would like to see what it really is like. I mean, would you show me the memories of one of your missions?"

What? Luna had no idea what she was asking for...

"Are you sure you want to see that? Those memories are somewhat... intense," Antonius pointed out.

"More intense than what I have seen in Hope?" Luna asked calmly.

"Some of them are, especially when we fought Chaos."

"Well, then what about fighting those 'xenos'? Show me why you hate them all so much. Oh, I have an idea: When you gave my sister that 'purity seal' you told her you fought Tyna... what was their name?"

Oh, that was a probably a bad choice.

"Tyranids," he told her.

"Yeah, that! Would you show me this fight?"

"Luna, I think you might have a problem with those xenos."

"But I have to get to know the truth about the galaxy. No matter what is out there, it won't go away just because I ignore it."

Antonius took a deep breath.

"Well, if you really want to see this specific memory, I will show it to you," he said a bit reluctantly.

"Oh, I have another request..."

"Yeah?"

"May I experience this memory as you?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, I would like to be inside your brain as a spectator and really experience what is going on instead of standing apart and just watching it. I want to see the true, unblemished memory of that encounter. Could you grant me that favor?"

Antonius scratched his head.

"You have no idea what you will see," he finally warned her.

"Do not worry, I have faced lots of horrifying nightmares before. Furthermore, I know it will just be a memory. I will be fine."

"If you insist... ready when you are."

Luna lit her horn.

It had worked.
Luna was in Antonius' brain inside the memory. She had her own thoughts and feelings, but at the same time, she could discern what Antonius had thought and felt. This was... unparalleled. In a way, she had downright become Antonius!

She could see a lot of numbers and runes that were added to her field of view. She looked up what those were in Antonius' mind: armor status, ammunition counter, targeting reticle and much more information was available to her. A 'HUD'. Intriguing.

At the moment she - respectively Antonius - was standing on broad marble steps that lead from a large plaza in concentric half-circles up to a bridge. She knew that beyond that bridge there was the local space port, the critical installation of this mission. Antonius did not take a look at it, he was surveilling the plaza down the steps, scanning the buildings and roads behind the plaza, his bolter in his hands, ready to fire.

Humans were pouring out of these roads and hurried towards the space port. There were mostly families, fear clearly visible in their faces. It was a stark contrast to Antonius: There was no sign of fear, although he knew what was coming towards them: Tyranids.

Despite the martial prowess of the Ultramarines, they had come too late to save the planet. When they had arrived, the swarm had already been too numerous to defeat. Billions of those xenos...
billions? Yeah, billions... oh dear...
...had taken over more than half of the planet already. The only thing the Ultramarines could do now was to evacuate the remaining citizens and then deny the Tyranids this source of food by incinerating the planet.
Incinerating?

Second company was in the city and slowing the advance of the xenos, while Seventh made sure that the space port stayed operational. Until now, it was. Just at that moment, the deafening roar of a starting voidship, packed with humans, proved that.

"Enemy incoming. Mostly Hormagaunts, some Termagaunts" came over the company vox.

So, the fight was about to begin. Thankfully, the evacuation was almost complete and the last citizens were hurrying past the Ultramarines' line.

"Brothers," a hard voice bellowed,
"the abomination that is the Tyranids is here at last. Let us make them regret the day they entered our galaxy!"

Chaplain Cassius. He had come here with Seventh as reinforcements to oversee the evacuation. He had given a purity seal to Antonius, and Antonius was determined to prove himself worthy of it.

Now, a wave of some sort came into view, flowing around the buildings and...
Oh dear...
This wave consisted of living creatures! Luna could not believe it, although she saw it with her own eyes... well, actually, Antonius' eyes.
A seething mass of talons and teeth, running towards the space port at ridiculous speed.

Luna had to remind herself that this was just a memory, Antonius would survive this.
Antonius himself stayed eerily calm. She could just discern a spike of precisely directed hatred for those aliens. Other than that, he waited, his bolter set to single fire due to the rather large distance to the enemy.

The HUD outlined those monsters and showed her, in addition to that, what the other Ultramarines were aiming at; an interlinked targeting system. Wow.

But that was nothing compared to what went on in Antonius' subconsciousness: it provided him - and her - with a flood of calculations of angles, speeds and distances as well as information how to kill those creatures in the most efficient way, a lexicon of the enemy units. Unbelievable. Luna had to blank this stream of information out, it was too much for her without time to get used to it.

"Open Fire!" Cassius shouted, and an enormous thunder filled the air.

Dozens, hundreds of bolts were fired, tearing into the enemy lines and ripping limbs from bodies and heads from necks. The Tyranids, though, just ignored their losses and continued running towards the Ultramarines. The ammunition counter steadily counted down.

As they came closer, Brother Maximus to Antonius' left switched to burst fire mode. Other Marines did the same. Two seconds later, Antonius and a second tier of Marines switched firing modes. Luna could see the ammo counter in Antonius' display counting down way faster now. Then, Luna heard the characteristic 'click' of an empty magazine. Maximus. He reloaded his bolter while Antonius kept firing.

Now, Antonius' magazine was at an end, but not before Maximus had opened fire again.
So, that had been the meaning of this tiered changing of firing modes. It prevented the Ultramarines from having to reload all at the same time!

The battle went on and the Tyranids managed to advance steadily. Despite their horrendous losses, they just kept coming, unstoppable, like a sea that had decided to flood the area.

The Space Marines had switched to full auto now and the Tyranids were close enough that Luna could take a closer look at them. Those things looked as if they came out of the darkest nightmare not even imaginable, horrors beyond compare. Talons like scythes, mouths that made even the fiercest predator in Equestria look like a pussycat in comparison. And they kept coming, climbing over their own dead to reach their prey.

A 'click' again and Maximus started reloading. This time, one of the Tyranids used that moment and jumped at him. Fortunately, Antonius sent a bolt into the creature's head, the impact stopping it and sending it to the ground in front of Maximus. The Space Marine nodded in gratitude and started firing again.

'Click'. Luna started to hate that sound.
Antonius ejected the depleted magazine and slammed a new one into the bolter. Before he could open fire again, though, a Hormagaunt - Luna had looked that up by now - slammed into him and dragged him to the ground. Talons made ruts into his armor and a drooling maw tried to bite into his helmet. Antonius punched the creature, but it refused to let go and held on to him. Yet, the punch had not been in vain: He had managed to level his bolter at the xeno and now he pulled the trigger. Bolts slammed into the Hormagaunt's body, exploding it from the inside.

Antonius shoved the mutilated corpse away and fired into the incoming Tyranids again, still lying on the ground, not having the time to get up again.
Just as his magazine was about to run dry again, he noticed that the wave of Tyranids also had run dry. The battle field was littered with ragged corpses, but his autosenses did not pick up a living xeno anymore. The first wave was defeated.

"Antonius," he heard the voice of Sergeant Seneca over the vox,
"please get up again. You make this assignment look too easy if you're lying around while fighting."

Luna was completely stunned. She really had not expected such a lighthearted comment in such a grim situation.
Antonius got up again, aided by Maximus' helping hand.

"You okay?" Maximus asked.

"Sure. Just a few scratches, nothing worth mentioning," Antonius replied.

"Squad, reload and restock," Seneca ordered,
"the first wave may be defeated, but there are many more to come."

Damnit, more? The Ultramarines must have killed hundreds, thousands of those creatures already. Luna had to remind herself that this was an evacuation mission. The planet was already lost, teeming with countless billions of those horrifying things.

Within half a minute, Antonius had restocked and was ready for battle again. Then, there was movement in the streets beyond the plaza, but instead of Tyranids, Second company and more civilians appeared and made their way through the organic rubble.

When they had reached the lines of Seventh, Antonius heard Chaplain Cassius ask:

"Where is Captain Sicarius and the rest of Second?"

"They are still in the city, escorting the governor and her entourage," a member of Second answered.

Cassius walked up to Antonius and Maximus and said:

"You two, with me. Let's take a look what takes them so long."

WHAT? Luna was speechless. What took them so long? Tyranids, that's what took them so long!
Going into this city was suicide in her opinion, but, on the other hoof, they had to help their brothers. Luna though about all of this. They had to go, and in taking just two Space Marines with him, Cassius ensured that the remaining force was still strong enough to defend the space port.

Cassius, Antonius and Maximus crossed the plaza and entered the roads. They were empty. No sign of Tyranid activity, but they knew that this could change any moment.

"Captain Sicarius," Cassius said over the vox,
"this is Chaplain Cassius. I'm on my way to assist you."

It took a second, then Sicarius responded:

"This is Sicarius. While I appreciate your help, I actually want our troops to leave the city instead of entering it."

"Noted. I have two Battle Brothers with me. We are closing in."

It did not take long to find Sicarius and his remaining men. They were retreating - constantly firing at small groups of Tyranids that attacked them - with the limping governor and her entourage in their midst. Surprisingly, this entourage was a little girl.
Cassius, Antonius and Maximus immediately joined the fight.

"Greetings, Captain. I hope you have left some of those foul xenos over for us," Cassius growled, killing a Tyranid with a precise headshot.

"Just a few billions," Sicarius answered,
"I just wonder what they are planning. They could attack us with far more force than that."

"The strike force they sent to attack the space port was also just to test our defenses."

"Well, be that as it may, we have to get the governor out of here."

"Why is she not already on a ship?"

"She refused to leave until she had made sure the citizens were all on their way to safety."

"And the girl?"

Sicarius sighed.

"Refused to be separated from her mother and I did not think it a good idea to let one of our men drag a screaming child through the city."

"Now that we are here, we could speed things up," Cassius suggested,
"Brother Varus can pick them up and carry them to the space port. We could speed our retreat then."

"Good idea."

Cassius turned to Antonius:

"You heard the plan."

Antonius took a look at the governor and her daughter. They child was not harmed, but her mother had wounds on her legs and arms; she would not be able to grab on to his armor, so he would have to carry both of them. That meant that he could not use his bolter.
Great. Running through the city during a Tyranid invasion without the ability to defend himself. Well, in Antonius' opinion, this governor had proven that she took her duties seriously, so she deserved to be rescued, even if that was not exactly easy.

He put his bolter to his hip and picked both of them up, then the Ultramarines started to retreat at a rapid pace, Antonius in their middle, the mother in his right arm, the daughter in his left. They had almost reached the plaza, but the attacks from the direction of the city were getting more furious from second to second.
While the Hormagaunts were not much of a problem, it became difficult to shield the governor and her child from the ranged attacks. Luna look up in Antonius' mind what those strange projectiles were: Borer beetles, fired by the Fleshborers of an increasing numbers of Termagaunts. He had to duck and dodge shot after shot that managed to pass the Ultramarines line. Soon, the first Borer beetle would hit her, and her injuries would become critical.

"Time for a change of plans," Sicarius muttered,
"Brother Varus, the way to the space port should be clear. Get the governor and her daughter there as fast as you can. Run!"

Antonius obeyed and started running. He had barely made a few steps when a creature stepped out of a side road, bigger than any Luna had seen until now and about as tall as Antonius. This one also had those scythe-like talons, but in addition to that, it had some sort of long-barreled... something in its hands - if those appendages were hands at all. Luna listened to Antonius thoughts again:
this creature was a Warrior, deadly in ranged combat and melee. And Antonius could not use his bolter without dropping the two humans he carried. That would be their death sentence. Inacceptable.

So, while the creature was roaring skywards in anticipated triumph, expecting easy prey, Antonius voxed

"Warrior behind you!"

and simply dashed past the thing. He knew the Warrior could fire at him, but he hoped that his armor would protect him - and the women he carried. He even smiled when he thought about this abomination, leveling its gaze again at the spot where he had been, only to see that he had vanished.

A roar told him that the Warrior had spotted him again, but what he heard next told him that it would never fire. It was the thundering of a bolter, followed by a

"Warrior down."

Maximus had taken care of the problem and Antonius kept running. A short time later he left the roads and was on the plaza again. The number of corpses there had grown and he had to jump over them every now and then. He finally reached the Ultramarines line where he was greeted by Sergeant Seneca:

"Antonius, you know I don't mind you taking a little souvenir from a battle, but don't you think you are overdoing it a bit now?"

Wow, that Space Marine was incredible! It seemed he just couldn't be serious!

"Oh, that's just one little governor and her daughter," Antonius replied,
"but seriously: could you get them into a ship? I've got to go back."

What? Okay, Antonius was just as crazy as Cassius - or just as loyal. Had almost the same effect now.

Two scouts took care of the women and Antonius dashed back over the plaza and into the streets.
He immediately encountered the retreating Ultramarines, now engaged in melee. Captain Sicarius beheaded a creature with his Tempest Blade, and Chaplain Cassius' Crozius took a heavy toll on the attacking Tyranids.
A Warrior was just about to attack Maximus, but Antonius stopped it by sending a volley of bolts into its head.

"Brother Varus," Sicarius ordered,
"shot the ranged Tyranids, concentrate on the Warriors."

"Affirmative," Antonius answered and killed another creature with his bolter.

They entered the plaza. More Tyranids were pouring in from every road and were met by the bolts of Seventh. When they were halfway across the plaza, Antonius bolter had run dry and he had to switch to melee. He was fighting next to Maximus, killing his enemies with his combat knife and fists.

Then, a Warrior managed to hit Maximus head. The corrosive fluids splattered across his helmet and took his sight for a second. Unfortunately, that was enough for the Warrior to stab a claw through Maximus' damaged helmet. Antonius immediately thrust his knife into the creatures head, but it was too late: Maximus was dead and his body fell to the ground.

A Hormagaunt used this gap in the Ultramarines' line and jumped. Standing on the corpses of Maximus and the dead Warrior it lashed out and hit Antonius left arm that had come up to block the strike. The armor cracked and the Gaunt cut into his flesh. Antonius returned this 'favor' and killed the creature with his knife.
Then he took a short look at Maximus body, buried under two corpses. There probably was no time to retrieve Maximus' gene-seed or the sacred armor he wore, which made the loss even worse.

"Continue to fall back!" Sicarius ordered, confirming his concerns.

They finally reached the line of Seventh and together, they retreated to the space port.
Now, the drop ships, still waiting for them, could open fire and cover the boarding of the Space Marines.
Once they were on board, they immediately started with roaring engines, quickly gaining height and leaving the atmosphere.

"Prepare to open fire on the planet," Sicarius voxed to the small fleet in orbit,
"let's make the Tyranids pay for the atrocities they committed."

"Ready to fire," came the answer,
"although I fear they won't pay as dearly as they deserve. We are picking up signals of multiple hive ships leaving the planet."

"Damnit. Fire!" Sicarius bellowed.

Now the fleet opened fire on the planet, creating a storm of fiery destruction that cleansed the alien abominations from the surface.
As they watched the screens and witnessed the inferno, Sicarius said:

"At least now we know what their plan was. They knew what we were about to do. They slowed us down to devour as much bio-mass as possible before leaving."

"Blasted xeno filth," Cassius hissed, then he turned to Antonius:
"Brother Varus, you may keep the seal I gave you. You have earned it."

"Thank you, Chaplain Cassius," Antonius answered and the memory ended.

Antonius and Luna were standing on a grassy hill, still in Luna's dreamscape. She looked a little pale, but was otherwise in good condition.

"And, Luna?" Antonius asked,
"what do you think of this experience?"

Luna looked at him for a second, then she said:

"It is hard to find words that do it justice. So much cruelty, but also so much valor. I am still wondering if it really was a victory, though: You managed to evacuate the humans, but a lot of those Tyranids escaped and you suffered quite some losses. Tell me, was it a victory?"

"Yes, it was. Oh, did you expect an easy victory? Those are very rare, even if the Astartes are involved."

"Hmm... you always seemed quite a bit... overpowered to me, but now I see that you need every bit of your prowess... and I see why you hate aliens that much. Are all of them that bad?"

"Almost. In general, they want to conquer the galaxy and wipe out or enslave all of the other species. A species that behaves differently is an extreme rarity, and even then they are just neutral towards mankind - more or less, at least. None of them are truly trustworthy, and the only alliances that exist between them and mankind are short-term alliances of convenience against a common foe. That - and our history - is why we have become convinced that xenos are abominations that we hate quite rightly."

He made a short pause and continued with a small smile:

"And now, I am here, and I have discovered ponykind, the first true exception of this rule."

"True," Luna said,
"we do not have any interest in conquering, and I can confirm that we are indeed trustworthy. I am just sad that mankind is going through such dark times."

"Well, with your help, we can probably change that a bit, for the benefit of both mankind and ponykind."

"I surely hope so. Now, my patrol will start soon. Do you need anything before I leave?"

"No, thank you. Can I help you somehow? I mean, Tyranids are not known to be especially... soporific."

Luna smiled and answered:

"No, thank you, I'll be fine. I have to admit, though, that this has been a somewhat... unsettling experience. Those monsters... such carnage... terrible."

"It is good that war is so terrible, or we would grow too fond of it," Antonius said with a smile of his own.

"Huh? That is certainly an unique way of looking at this topic."

"Primarch Guilliman once said that after a bloody battle. No matter how often I read his writings, I keep finding new truths and points of view."

32. Discoveries

The next days, Antonius continued the training of the new PDF, supported by Luna. They shared the gymnasium of the Royal- and Night Guard for strength training, practiced fighting and got lessons in strategy and tactics. All told, it went really well. The ponies, while not as capable as Space Marines or war-hardened humans, were dedicated to their training and lessons and made good progress.

Then, one afternoon, Celestia entered the room. The ponies bowed deep and greeted her, and Antonius said:

"Hello, Princess Celestia. An unexpected pleasure. How can the Planetary Defense Force be at your service?"

Celestia smiled and answered:

"I just wanted to tell you that we finally managed to create a promising promethium replacement. I would like you to attend our final test as soon as possible."

"That is the kind of surprises I like. Princess Luna, do you want to take over while I'm gone or do you want to join us?"

"I'll come along," Luna said, then she turned to the PDF and commanded:
"Soldiers, keep practicing while the Lord Commander and I are gone. If you hear a 'BOOM!', just ignore it."

The ponies snickered and when Antonius and the princesses were about to leave, when he turned around again and added:

"And if the whole palace explodes, find a new room somewhere else and practice there!"

"It seems you are on good terms with your subjects," Celestia said when they had left the PDF members and were on their way to the armorium.

"Yes, it makes the training easier for them as it overshadows the underlying cruelty of the reason why the PDF was founded in the first place," Antonius replied.

"Not forgetting the fact that you and I prefer the more casual approach," Luna added with a smile.

"True," Antonius admitted.

A few minutes later they entered the armorium, where Twilight and Spike were waiting for them.

"Hello," Twilight greeted excitedly,
"we have prepared the engine and are ready to go. You just need to switch it on!"

"Well, then we will do so," Celestia said.

They retreated behind the sand sacks and Celestia lit up her horn.
The engine was engulfed in her magic and they could hear the mechanical parts work. Then, they could hear the much-anticipated combustions. Celestia stopped her spell, but the engine kept running.

The next moment, Antonius hearing was put to the test as both princesses loudly cheered
"Hooray!",
respectively
"Huzzah!",
supported by Twilight and Spike.

"Outstanding, " Antonius agreed and approached the still puttering engine.

It was running smoothly, no sign of misfires or other problems. There still was something unusual, though:
The exhaust fumes were rainbow-colored... and did he smell chili?
He turned to the ponies and stated:

"Congratulations, color and scent of the exhaust may be unusual, but the fuel you created is obviously suitable for running combustion engines. Really, very good work."

"Wait, there's more to come!" Twilight beamed,
"we found out that the promethium exhaust is quite unhealthy. The exhaust our fuel generates when burned is not dangerous at all! It's absolutely safe to use it!"

"Oh? That's... convenient. How much of this fuel can you produce?"

"How much do you need?" Celestia smiled.

"For the time being, a barrel should be enough... by the way, how stable is your fuel? Does it decompose over time?"

"According to our calculations, it should be usable for over a century before the quality starts to decline."

"Excellent. So, I don't have to use my chainsword too sparingly anymore."

Celestia's face fell.

"I knew there was a catch," she grumbled.

Before Antonius could tell her that he had no intention of running amok, she winked at him and smiled:

"Just kidding. You will get your barrel, then, we can adapt our recipe to make the fuel fit the Land Speeder..."

Judged by Celestia's face, something important had just come into her mind. She turned to Twilight and Spike:

"We... I almost forgot how long you have been here in Canterlot helping me. You must miss your friends."

"A little, Princess," Twilight answered,
"but if you still need me, I will of course stay and continue helping you."

Celestia smiled at her.

"Thank you, Twilight, but that won't be necessary. Return to your friends. Should I need your help again, I will call you."

Twilight bowed.

"As you wish, Princess. I think I will leave tomorrow morning. Antonius, if Stormy and you want to travel to Ponyville, too, we could share a chariot."

"Well, Stormy certainly would like to visit Ponyville again," Antonius opined,
"but I have to train the PDF, I can't leave Canterlot."

Now Luna cleared her voice:

"First, I am still existing and could take over the training. Second, tomorrow is Saturday, remember?"

"Oh, yes, 'weekend': Saturday, the 'do what you want'-day, and Sunday, the 'do nothing at all'-day. So, you suggest pausing the training and taking weekends into account?"

"Definitely. The recreation will do them good. The training is quite intense, after all. Let this night's dream-training be the last until Monday morning."

"Fine, I agree. So, I guess Stormy and I will join you tomorrow, Twilight."

Now, Antonius and Luna returned to the PDF, while Celestia returned to her throne and Twilight and Spike paid their family a visit.

When Stormy had returned from school and Antonius had finished the training for that day, they met in their quarters and he asked her:

"Say, Stormy, would you like to visit Ponyville again tomorrow? Twilight is returning there and has offered us a ride."

"Oh yeah, that would be great!" Stormy cheered.

So, that was settled: The next day would be spent in Ponyville.

Later that night, the dream-training had already been completed for a while when Luna appeared again in Antonius' dreams. He noticed that she had not taken the time to create any environment this time.

"Antonius," she immediately started talking,
"it is time to talk to Moonlight and Blackwing about Stormy, don't you think?"

Antonius was taken a little by surprise by that and answered:

"Well, you are right, but I would like to do that in person, not via letter... why are you that frantic all of a sudden?"

"The moment is advantageous: Moonlight has just started dreaming, and Blackwing is also asleep. I do not think we will find a better time to talk to them."

"Oh, you want to talk to them via dream? Good idea. And you are right, the moment seems to be about optimal. So okay, let's do this."

Luna lit up her horn, and a few seconds later, they were standing in the gardens of Canterlot, together with Moonlight and Blackwing.

"Princess Luna?" Moonlight asked,
"is this just a dream, or are you really here? Well, you know what I mean."

"I can assure you that I am here, in your dream. I created a shared dream with Blackwing and Antonius, because there is a matter of great importance we have to discuss."

"Oh! What is it, Princess?"

Well, now came the difficult part. Or, the first difficult part, to be exact. Talking to Stormy later would be even more of a challenge, but he still couldn't just say
'Hey, Moonlight, as you know, you can't have a baby because your womb has ended up in a trashcan. Would you like to take care of Stormy instead?'
No. Nononono. Extraordinarily bad approach.

"It is about Stormy," Luna said cautiously, and Antonius noticed that she probably had similar problems phrasing the matter.

"Oh dear," Moonlight said concernedly,
"is something wrong with her? Does she have problems?"

"No," Antonius told her,
"not really. But we still should talk about her future."

"Her future?"

"Yes. At the moment, she's living with me and Princess Luna."

"Mainly with Antonius, I have to admit," Luna interjected.

"I know," Moonlight said,
"and I am sure you're doing great."

Antonius scratched his head.

"Well, of course I... we are doing our very best, but we cannot offer her a normal pony life."

Moonlight thought about that for a second, then she said:

"I don't think she is upset about that. She was genuinely happy when I last met her. If we can help you in any... hey, just a moment... you want us to help you, don't you?"

Critical part of the conversation imminent.

"Yes. I don't know how to put it, so I will probably be a little blunt: You two wanted to start a family. Unfortunately, your plans were thwarted. Stormy need pony parents to live a normal pony life. So, when we thought about a possible foster family, you two came into our minds."

Moonlight and Blackwing stared at Antonius and Luna.

"Well, you like her, do you not?" Luna asked them with a small smile.

"Of course!" the two batponies shouted.

"And she already knows and likes you," Luna continued,
"we think you are perfect for this task. If you want to accept it, that is. This is your decision, though. We of course do not want to force you."

Moonlight and Blackwing were silent for some time, then she asked:

"What does Stromy say? Is she okay with this?"

"No idea," Antonius told her truthfully,
"we wanted your opinion first."

Again, silence. Again, broken by Moonlight:

"I really like Stormy."

"I really like her, too!" Blackwing added.

"We are batponies, though," Moonlight continued,
"more the nocturnal types... but I think we can change that. Yeah. We can."

Ah, a decision was about to be made.

"Sure we can," Blackwing said as he put his hoof around Moonlight,
"we wouldn't be the first blended family, either."

Moonlight smiled at Antonius and Luna and started tearing up.

"If Stormy is willing to accept us, it would be an honor and a pleasure to become her foster parents," she said.

Thank the Emperor that was over. Such delicate social situations were far beyond Antonius area of expertise - or comfort zone.

"But be careful when you talk to Stormy about it," Moonlight warned them,
"she must not feel rejected!"

"We know," Luna told her.

"Yeah, that will be... difficult, but we will get it right," Antonius added.

Somehow.

"We will talk about the details once we talked to Stormy," Luna stated,
"until then, goodnight, my friends."

The shared dream ended.

The next morning, Twilight and Spike had just joined Celestia and Luna at the breakfast table when Antonius and Stormy also appeared. He wore his armor again, and Stormy was sitting on his pauldron.

"Good morning, Antonius and Stormy," Twilight snickered,
"excuse me, but you look a little like a pirate and his parrot."

"Oh?" Stormy asked,
"if that's the case: Stormy wants a cracker!"

"Antonius does not have a cracker for Stormy, but he sees quite an amount of pancakes, if Stormy would be satisfied by that," Antonius laughed.

"Accepted!" Stormy smiled.

They started eating. Twilight, though, barely ate a thing, as she was busy writing. She would leave Canterlot today, true, but she wouldn't do so without writing down in detail everything she had learned about promethium and its replacement for Princess Celestia.
When they had finished the breakfast and Twilight had given her notes to her mentor, they said goodbye, boarded the chariot and left for Ponyville.

As they arrived in the town, Antonius and Stormy headed towards Sweet Apple Acres, while Twilight and Spike entered the library.

"Really," Twilight said,
"I like Canterlot, and I especially like being around Princess Celestia, but home has a quality of its own."

Suddenly, a plate on the central table caught her eye.

"Especially, if somepony prepared a plate of food for you!"

She stepped closer and took a closer look at the meal. It looked delicious and Twilight realized how hungry she was.

"Mmh! Quesadillas! Want one, Spike?"

"No, thanks. I had too many pancakes for a second breakfast. A gem or two as a snack, however..."

"Sorry, but we don't have any," Twilight smiled.

"Well, then I guess I'll pay Rarity a visit. Perhaps she has some."

"Okay, Spike. Have fun!"

Spike left and Twilight bit into the first quesadilla.

Antonius and Stormy were on their way to Sweet Apple Acres when they met Pinkie Pie, carrying bulging saddlebags.

"Good morning, Pinkie" he greeted,
"you don't happen to know where the Crusaders are?"

"Oh, they are in their tree house," Pinkie told them,
"I bet they'll be super happy to see you again, Stormy."

"May I go?" Stormy asked.

"Of course. Take care, and see you later!"

Stormy darted away.

"Now, Pinkie," Antonius said,
"I did not expect seeing you here."

"Where else should I buy apples for the pies for the party?" Pinkie grinned.

"Party?"

"Yeah! I saw the chariot in the sky, so I immediately started preparing food for you. Once that is done, I'll prepare everything else for a 'welcome back' party for Twilight and Spike. I hope you are not too busy to attend.
I made quesadillas for you! They are in the library.
Unfortunately, I ran out of apples while baking pie. This is the first time I actually have to delay a party! That's really terrible!"

"Don't worry, I don't think anything bad will hap... just a second, what kind of batter did you use for those quesadillas?"

"My special super-secret Space Marine batter of course, silly! They are for you, after all!"

"Did you put up a warning sign?"

"No, I thought I would return in a minute, then the apples happened. But why should I... oh, I see what you want to say. We should hurry to the library!"

"No objection."

They started running.

A short time later they barged through the library door. Twilight was just swallowing the last bite of the first quesadilla and waved at them.

"Hello, Antonius, hello, Pinkie," she said slightly confused,
"is something wrong? You seem to be in quite a hurry."

"Did you eat a quesadilla?" Pinkie shouted,
"I made them for Antonius!"

"Huh? Sorry, I didn't know that. They looked so tasty! Yes, I ate one of them, but there are still two left, see?"

"No, Twilight, that's not what I meant! That is Space Marine batter!"

"Oh... is that bad?"

Pinkie turned to Antonius:

"Is it?"

"Well," Antonius said,
"as you know, Space Marine food has a very high nutrition value..."

"Does that mean I won't get hungry again for a week or so?" Twilight asked.

"I'm not sure," Antonius admitted and walked over to her,
"the digestive system of normal humans usually has severe problems handling the high amounts of nutrients. How do you feel?"

"Now that you mention it, I'm feeling a little queasy... and I think it's getting worse."

Twilight slowly started turning a little greenish, and suddenly, she shouted:

"Uh-oh. Please excuse me!"

She darted through a door, and one or two seconds later, Antonius and Pinkie heard quite unambiguous sounds.

"I guess ponies react just like humans," Antonius opined.

"I always knew that batter was not really suitable for ponies, but I would never have thought of such effects! Quick, eat those quesadillas!" Pinkie shouted.

"Huh?"

"They are too dangerous to be left lying around!"

"Just take care that no pony eats them, or put up a warning sign or something, I'll have a look how Twilight's doing."

Antonius opened the door Twilight had run through a crack and peeked into the room. Twilight was still busy saying goodbye forever to the quesadilla she had eaten.

"Can I help you somehow?" he asked cautiously.

Twilight shook her head a little.

"Thank you, but I think I'm empty now."

She flushed and staggered to a sink where she washed her face and mouth, then she slowly left the bathroom.
Antonius could see that her belly contracted again and she burped.

"Urgh! I'll never eat a quesadilla ever again!" Twilight groaned,
"that cheesy taste when... ewwww..."

"I'm sorry, Twilight," Pinkie said sadly.

Antonius looked in her direction and had to take a double take: she had indeed put up warning signs for the quesadillas. Flashing ones.

"It's not your fault, Pinkie," Twilight said, then she added:
"please get those things out of my home. If you excuse me, I think I'll go to bed now. With a good book - and perhaps a cup of chamomile tea. Yeah, good idea. Better than quesadillas and cheese, anyway."

She fetched a book with her magic and slowly trotted up the stairs.
When she was gone, Pinkie said thoughtfully:

"I think we should cancel the party. And I should better take a note: No quesadillas for Twilight. Ever."

"Sounds like a good idea," Antonius agreed.

"What about you? Do you still want to eat them?"

"They are perfectly fine for me, and I usually do not throw away perfectly fine food. I should probably leave Twilight's library first, however, to fulfill her wish and minimize the cheesy scent in here."

So Antonius and Pinkie left the library, and the Space Marine looked for a nice tree under which he could eat - and hence render harmless - the two remaining quesadillas.
Once he was done with that, he returned to the library to check on Twilight. She just came out of the kitchen, a kettle and a cup in her magical grasp.

"Hello again, Twilight. Feeling better?" Antonius asked.

"A little," she answered,
"have you gotten rid of those cheesy abominations?"

"Yes. Put them into a special recycling system where they won't harm anypony."

"What recycling system?"

Antonius patted his belly in response.
Twilight stared at him for a second, then she said:

"If that's the case, you'll get a cup of tea, too."

A minute later, they were sitting at the central table together and were drinking chamomile tea.
Antonius took his first sip of the hot fluid and was a little surprised: he had thought that Twilight wanted to avoid vomiting, but that tea seemed not to further that case, judged by its taste.

"You don't like it?" she asked, seeing Antonius' expression.

"Not really. Some of its components may have some sort of positive effect, but the taste isn't my... cup of tea. So that's where this proverb comes from... oh, damnit. I just realized that I'm starting to get picky."

Twilight snickered.

"Well, you are not obliged to like everything we serve you... would you like some poison-joke tea?"

"Would you like to be used as a dart?"

"He-he. Not really, but why a 'dart'?"

"Your horn would probably make a suitable tip."

"Funny that you mention my horn, because that's the part of me poison-joke affects: it becomes all wobbly. That was embarrassing..."

"Yeah, I've got some experiences with embarrassing effects of this plant, but perhaps we can use it in our favor. That gives me an idea: Do you have any books about the Everfree's flora? Perhaps there are other plants we can use out there."

"Antonius, asking me if I have a book is like asking water if it's wet. Of course I have books about the Everfree, and if you want some first-hoof experience, you can also go talk to Zecora."

"I'll talk to Zecora once she has finished her research. I can't ask her to do something and then always interrupt her. I'll stick to the books for the time being."

"Great! Just a second, I'll get them and help you!"

"You are feeling better indeed."

"Pff... I'm never too sick for some exciting research!"

As the day progressed, they found possible candidates for harmful flora that could probably be weaponized. Some of the plant's effects were abhorrent enough to remind Antonius of the machinations of Chaos... seriously, flowers that could turn you into trees? That was enough of a 'change' for Tzeentch to like it.

"You know," Twilight suddenly said,
"I just discovered a flaw in our research."

"What flaw?" Antonius wanted to know.

"We cannot test our results. You are the only Space Marine at our disposal, and poisoning you to see how you react does not seem to be a good idea. We can't just produce potions from every plant and hope for the best, either, as they may have no or even positive effects on our enemies.
Our research is certainly interesting and a great help for understanding the dangers of the Everfree, but I'm afraid it's of no practical use for us."

Antonius looked at her, then he turned to his notes and mumbled:

"Hmm... good point. So, this day's work was more or less in vain."

"Not really. I'm sure Zecora will like the notes we put together. We'll give them to her as a thank-you gift for creating the poison-joke potions."

"Good idea. Hey, it's almost time to return to Canterlot. I'll better look for Stormy... What about you? Are you all right again?"

"Oh yes, thank you. I think I'll have a light dinner once Spike returns from Rarity."

"Some cheese?" Antonius grinned.

"You are cruel," Twilight whined, then she added with a smile:
"But don't forget to call me if you need any help with the Land Speeder fuel, and tell me what's going on in Canterlot."

"Don't worry, I'll keep you up to date. Goodbye, Twilight."

"Goodbye, Antonius."

Antonius left the library and started looking for Stormy. His first waypoint was Sweet Apple Acres, then he proceeded to the Crusaders' clubhouse.
Finally standing in front of the little tree house, ha called:

"Hello! Anyone home?"

A few seconds later, the door opened and Stormy and her friends appeared.

"Hello, Antonius! Is it already time to leave?" Stormy asked.

"I'm afraid so," he answered.

"Oh..." Stormy mumbled sadly.

"Don't be sad," Apple Bloom cheered her up,
"you can return tomorrow, if you want to."

"May I?" Stormy asked Antonius.

"Well..." he started, and Stormy immediately interjected a puppy-eyed

"Please?"

Antonius groaned.

"Well, there is no PDF training until Monday, so okay, we'll return tomorrow."

"THANK YOU!" all four fillies shouted and gave him a hug.

"Okay, okay, you don't need to exaggerate that much," Antonius laughed, then they said good bye and parted.

On the chariot back to Canterlot, Antonius asked Stormy:

"And? How was your day?"

"Great!" she answered, and started telling him how she had spent her day,
"...then, we ran into Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon..."

Ah, those two brats again. As Stormy did not continue talking at the moment, Antonius asked:

"What happened? More of this 'weird' nonsense?"

"Yes, at first. When I mentioned that Princess Luna is also taking care of me, I thought their eyes would pop out! Then, suddenly, they were very nice. Even a bit too nice."

"Ingratiation?"

"What ?"

"Brownnosing."

"Oh, yes, something alike. It was somewhat disgusting. I'm not sure, but I think it is not much better than being bullied."

Antonius chuckled.

"True foes are better than false friends."

Well, when Antonius thought about it, now would perhaps be a good time to carefully ask Stormy about Moonlight and Blackwing, since they had already broached the topic.

"You know, you are really living under special conditions. And sometimes I wonder if I can give you the care and attention you deserve. Have you ever thought about starting to look for a real foster family? They would probably be more suitable than me for granting you a normal pony life."

Brilliant. Simply brilliant. With all the grace and subtlety of a sledgehammer.
Stormy looked confused.

"What? No! Why should I think about that?"

"Not too long ago, you told me that you would prefer to be 'normal'."

"But I also told you that I don't want to leave you!"

Now Stormy suddenly looked frightened.

"Do you want me to leave?" she asked insecurely.

Shit.

"Huh? No! I assure you I would never force you to leave, just as I already promised."

Stormy relaxed again.

"Okay, good. I really can't imagine leaving you and Princess Luna and living with ponies I don't know."

"Believe me, we would never send you to ponies you don't know."

That was true. Not just technically.

Now, his first attempt to talk to Stormy about a foster family was over. It had not really been successful, but it wasn't even clear to him how to define 'successful' in this context.

Later that day, after dinner with the princesses, Antonius, Luna and Stormy were in Antonius' quarters, playing games. When Stormy left them for a bathroom-brake, Antonius quickly told Luna about his first attempt.

"You almost messed it up!" Luna whispered angrily.

"I think it's impossible not to 'almost mess it up'. The topic is too delicate to phrase the matter in an absolutely safe way," Antonius replied.

"Perhaps you are right," Luna admitted, calmer again,
"and I must say that I do not have any idea how to phrase it any better than you did. Shall we still try again?"

"I guess we'll have to. I don't want to keep our two batponies waiting for too long."

Luna nodded.
Stormy returned, and they continued their game.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Luna said after a while,
"greetings from Moonlight and Blackwing. We met them in a dream a short while ago."

Okay, attempt number two had been started.

"Hey, that's nice," Stormy said,
"I really like them. They're nice and funny!"

'And ponies you know!' Antonius almost blurted out.
He held back instead and thought about a more elegant way to help Luna. Thankfully, Stormy continued:

"How is Moonlight doing? Is she well again?"

"Moonlight is feeling much better now," Luna answered.

Then, she opened her mouth to say something else, but closed it again and looked at Antonius, silently asking for help.

"It really is good news," Antonius said, but he couldn't think of anything else to say.

Suddenly, Stormy turned to Luna and asked:

"You said 'we met them in a dream'. You meant yourself and Antonius?"

"Umm... yes?" Luna admitted with a forced smile.

Now Stormy turned to Antonius:

"So... ponies I know, hmm?"

Shit. She had seen through their game.

"Stormy, let me explain," Antonius quickly started,
"both Luna and I want you to live a normal, happy pony life.
Unfortunately, none of us is exactly 'normal', so we are sort of hampering ourselves. Furthermore, our duties prevent us from spending as much time with you as we would like and as you deserve.
That's why we came up with the - theoretical - idea of a pony foster family. This idea led to us thinking of Moonlight and Blackwing. They wanted to start a family, but unfortunately, Moonlight's injuries prevent them from doing that.
So, they are a nice pony couple you already know, and therefore a good candidate for possible foster parents.
But this is just an idea, neither Luna nor I would ever try to force you to leave! It is just an option we wanted to present to you. You may stay with us, or with Moonlight and Blackwing. No matter how you decide, you will always be able to visit the party you do not choose.
Now, please don't be angry, disappointed, traumatized or something."

Damnit. That was not how it should have gone. Stormy had been too clever - or they had been too stupid. Anyway, things were quite out of their control now.
Stormy looked at both of them for a while, then she said:

"You know I like living with you."

"Yes, and we like living with you," Antonius confirmed.

"But I also like Moonlight and Blackwing. By choosing them, I could... you know... repay them for saving my life..."

"Stormy," Luna said compassionately,
"guilt is a bad advisor. Choose freely, and you also do not have to choose now. Perhaps, I should arrange a shared dream? You, Antonius, me, Moonlight and Blackwing. Then, we can discuss everything together."

"Hmm..." Stormy mumbled, lost in thought,
"I think that's a good idea. Can we stop playing games? I have a lot to think about."

"Sure, Stormy."

They put away the games and just stayed in the room with Stormy. Sometimes, she was lying on her bed, sometimes, she came to Antonius or Luna to cuddle. They did not talk much, Antonius and Luna just answered Stormy's questions about the consequences of her choice. Other than that, there was just a bit of harmless small talk.

Later that night, Luna suddenly said:

"Moonlight and Blackwing are dreaming now. If we want to talk to them, now is the time."

"I don't think I can sleep now, there's just too much going on in my head," Stormy opined.

"No problem," Luna said and lit her horn.

The little mare fell asleep within seconds, then Luna turned to Antonius:

"Your turn."

Antonius could feel a wave of sleepiness in his mind. The defensives of his trained mind wanted to counter it, but he managed to stop them. He was lulled into sleep.

The next moment, he found himself in the gardens of Canterlot again. With him were Luna, Stormy, Moonlight and Blackwing; every pony involved in the matter.

"Hello, everypony," Luna greeted,
"all of you know why we are here, so let us get this started."

They sat down in a circle, and the discussion started. Most points had already been discussed in one way or another, and some points were explained multiple times, for example the fact that everyone was perfectly willing to take care of Stormy, and that the decision that would have to be made was Stormy's in the end.
The little mare sat there and stared at the ground. Antonius watched her. The decision was hard for her. Very hard. Perhaps too hard.
'Making war is easy. Making choices is not.' indeed.

When he thought about it, she probably did not really have enough information to make this decision. At the moment, she knew life in her original family and life with him and Luna. However, she didn't know life with the two batponies. That gave him an idea:

"I have a suggestion," he said,
"Moonlight, Blackwing, you are living in the barracks of the Night Guard, correct?"

"Yes, until now at least," Moonlight answered.

"Then, once you return to Canterlot, you will move in with Stormy and myself. That way, Stormy can experience how living with you would be like. That should make the decision easier. Opinions?"

"Well, that will be quite a interesting living community," Moonlight snickered,
"do you snore?"

"What? No, I don't think so. Stormy, do I snore?"

"No," Stormy giggled,
"and I'm okay with it. I'm actually looking forward to living with you."

Good.
Luna nodded:

"So, we will proceed according to that plan. I will also join you as often as my duties allow it. Moonlight, Blackwing, do you already know when you will return to Canterlot?"

"A week before Hearths Warming," Blackwing answered.

So, Moonlight's convalescence made better progress than expected. That was good news.

"Very well. Until then. Now, goodnight, everypony," Luna said.

Then she lit her horn, and the shared dream ended.

34. Hearth's Warming Eve

She finally had to make the decision now. And she had to tell them.

Stormy Skies was trotting up and down in her quarters. Trotting did not make things easier.
She hopped onto her bed and lay down. Lying down also did not make this decision easier.
Stormy stood up again.

The problem was that she liked Moonlight and Blackwing about as much as she liked Antonius and Luna. Deciding between them was almost impossible.
Yet, it had to be done, so she choose...
Moonlight and Blackwing.

That way, Antonius would have more time for the ponies he trained... and this training was important, wasn't it? So, choosing Moonlight and Blackwing was right.
Right? Right.

Stormy sat down on the carpet.

If she was completely honest to herself, though, that was not the only reason to choose Moonlight and Blackwing: Antonius took very good care of her. So did Luna. Stormy felt safe and was happy around them.

Yet, living with the two batponies reminded her of past times, when her parents had still been alive. They were somehow... 'closer' to a normal family then Antonius and Luna, and Stormy was also happy around them.

Yes, she would choose Moonlight and Blackwing. She smiled.
It was hard to believe: After this 'thing' had destroyed her old town, she had not wanted to be separated from Antonius or Luna even for a minute. She had always clung to them. Now, things were a little different. She still liked both of them, she even loved them, but she had realized that she wasn't as dependent on them anymore.
Perhaps they found it weird that she ever was? She should ask them.

But now, she had to tell them her decision. It was high time. It was the day before Hearth's Warming Eve, after all. She had to tell them now.
She couldn't wait, take presents from Antonius and Luna, and then say 'sorry, I choose Moonlight and Blackwing'. No, she had to tell them now. That way, they had enough time to bring the presents back, if they wanted to. No, they would not want to. Probably.

Stormy left the room and went to Princess Luna's quarters. They were waiting in there. Stormy had asked them to leave her alone for a while, and they had agreed and told her that they would wait for her in there.
She knocked at the door, and it opened. Blackwing.

"Hello, Stormy," he said.

"Hello," she answered and entered the room.

They all greeted her. She greeted them back. Then, she took a breath and told them:

"I have made my decision."

Silence.
More silence.

"Yes?" Antonius asked carefully,
"how did you decide?"

Stormy took another breath. How would they react? Well, that did not matter. She had to tell them. Now.

"I really love all of you," Stormy finally said, closing her eyes,
"but I choose... Moonlight and Blackwing."

Stormy opened her eyes again and looked at Antonius and Luna. They were smiling kindly.

"Then, so it shall be," Luna declared.

Stormy turned to the batponies. They were overjoyed and hugged her. It was a nice feeling.

"Will we still celebrate Hearth's Warming together?" Stormy asked Antonius and Luna.

"Of course," Antonius assured her,
"and we will still share a room until you have found an apartment, house or whatever.
Even after that, neither I nor Luna will suddenly disappear from your life. Trust me, we will see each other quite often."

Stormy smiled. That was good news. In fact, everything was good now: Stormy had a family again, and Antonius and Luna would still be her friends. Really, everything... no, not everything.
Wouldn't Antonius feel lonely, now that she was gone? And what about Luna?
Loneliness was terrible. Well, they still had friends, but a family? Luna had her sister, of course, but they usually only saw each other at dawn and dusk.

Suddenly, Stormy had an idea: She would do her best to set Antonius up with Luna. That way, none of them would feel lonely.
They were a downright perfect match, after all! Both were nice, but could get quite frightening when they had or wanted to. Yes, that was a good idea.

Stormy smiled even wider. They would be a nice couple.

"That's it, ponies!" Antonius announced,
"your last training session before Hearth's Warming is over. Enjoy your holiday, and try not to forget everything you've learned. We'll see again in two weeks."

"I also would like to wish you happy holidays," Luna added,
"have a good trip and enjoy the time with your families and friends!"

She nodded, and she and Antonius added:

"Dismissed!"

The ponies wished them a merry Hearth's Warming and left. Most of them would travel back to their respective hometowns to spent the holiday with their families. Luna had insisted to make this possible, and Antonius had agreed. Similar to the weekends, holidays were an important part of pony culture, after all, in which the ponies could relax and recuperate, and those holidays seemed to be especially important.
Antonius was honestly curious about the pageant the next day to learn the reasons for this.

They left the room and went back to Antonius' quarters, where Stormy, Moonlight and Blackwing were playing games. Having nothing better to do, and also to prove that they did not mind Stormy choosing the batponies over them, they joined in.
Stormy and her new parents really were a nice family, they really got on exceptionally well together. Antonius was content. This was exactly what he had wanted to achieve, and he was sure it was the best for all of them.

After dinner with Celestia, they continued gaming, but this time, Stormy suggested that they should form teams; in accordance with her wish, Antonius and Luna were in the same team, Stormy and the batponies formed the other team. Antonius had the strange feeling that Stormy tried to make him and Luna work together in each and any situation, although he could not imagine why she should suddenly be so keen on that.

Then, the evening was about to turn into night, Moonlight suddenly started stirring nervously.

"Moonlight?" Luna asked,
"is something wrong?"

Moonlight pressed her eyes shut and clenched her teeth. Her fur bristled and she whimpered, obviously in great pain.
A seizure? Probably. Everyone was up and about to help her, but it only lasted a few seconds, then she took a deep breath and said:

"I'm okay. Don't worry."

"Don't worry? Moonlight, you are still not completely recovered!" Luna stated.

"I will probably never be," Moonlight admitted,
"Doctor Cure told me that I might have those seizures from time to time. They are much less painful than they once were, so you really don't need to worry."

"The doctor told you to go see him in the hospital should a seizure occur, though," Blackwing said.

"When Hearth's Warming is over. I don't want to ruin it for you."

"Nonsense," Antonius commanded,
"we'll go to the hospital. Now."

A short time later, they were at the Canterlot General and informed the mare at the admittance desk what had happened. She instantly called a nurse to show them to a room and sent a messenger to get Rapid Cure.
When the doctor arrived, he examined Moonlight and told them:

"Good news. There is no aggravation of Moonlight's condition. I'm afraid these seizures will probably keep happening from time to time, but they should not pose a threat to her anymore. I would still like to keep Moonlight here in the hospital for the night for observation, but I am sure she can leave again tomorrow morning."

"Well, at least I won't spend all of Hearth's Warming Eve in the hospital," Moonlight sighed.

"I'll stay here with you," Blackwing offered.

"No problem," Rapid Cure said.

"What about me?" Stormy asked,
"can I stay, too?"

"Of course you can," Moonlight smiled,
"but honestly, the time here will be nothing but boring and a hospital is also not the nicest place to spend the night, so if you would like to stay with Antonius and Luna, feel free to do so."

Suddenly, a smile crept onto Stormy's features and she said:

"Now that you say it, that might be a good idea. See you tomorrow!"

Antonius and Luna also said goodbye and returned with Stormy to the palace where they split up; Luna to do her duties and Antonius and Stormy to go to bed. The next day was Hearth's Warming Eve, after all, and especially little mares should better be well rested that day.

As Antonius woke up the next morning he took a look around:
Stormy was still peacefully sleeping on his chest, snow was lying on the small balcony and its railing, Luna was dangling from the ceiling of his room...
Wait, what?

No, his eyes had not deceived him: Luna was really dangling from the ceiling, completely tangled up in some sort of garland!

"Luna?" he asked in surprise.

"Good morning, Tony," she replied with an awkward smile,
"how do you feel on this wonderful Hearth's Warming Eve's morning?"

"Quite confused. Is this a Hearth's Warming tradition or are you just trying to startle me? Seriously, what the hell are you doing?"

"Well, I wanted to surprise you by putting up some decorations," Luna explained,
"unfortunately, my wings got tangled up in that stupid garland..."

Decorations? Well, there was an open box standing in the room. Its content certainly looked like some sort of decorations.

"Well, I am surprised. And what happened to the rest of you?" Antonius asked.

"Umm... let's just say my attempts at freeing myself were not that successful."

"Just a second, I'll help you."

Antonius gently nudged Stormy, and the little mare woke up.

"Morning," she yawned,
"time for breakfast already?"

"Almost," Antonius answered,
"but first, we've got to help a princess in distress!"

"Huh?"

Antonius pointed at Luna, and Stormy turned around to take a look.

"HUH???"

"A minor accident while decorating," Luna mumbled.

"Now, Stormy," Antonius smiled,
"please get off me so that I can help Luna."

The little mare jumped onto the ground and Antonius got up to help Luna.

"I'll quickly get my knife and..." he started.

"What?" Luna interjected,
"I could have rescued myself using brute force! But I did not want to destroy the Hearth's Warming decorations, since I found that to be inappropriate. So I would appreciate it if you could just untangle me without wrecking something."

"Whatever, but it will take some time."

Antonius grabbed Luna and removed the garland from the ceiling. Then, he put her on his bed and started untangling her.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Stormy grinning. Then, she rushed to the box with the decorations. Antonius paid not too much attention to that, as the garland offered quite some resistance.

Suddenly, he heard Stormy laughing - above him - and the little mare called while buzzing out of the room:

"I'll go to have breakfast. Have fun!"

Antonius looked after her.

"'Have fun'?" he repeated confusedly.

"Oh dear," Luna said.

Antonius turned to her. She was starring at the ceiling with wide eyes. He followed her gaze and found a small, green twig attached to the ceiling above them.

"Oh dear," Luna repeated.

"Why 'oh dear'? This twig does not look that threatening."

Luna turned crimson and started explaining:

"Well, Tony, this twig is no ordinary twig. It's a mistletoe. That's a traditional Hearth's Warming decoration."

"Then, your 'oh dear' makes even less sense," Antonius opined.

"You see, Tony, the case is this: There is a custom concerning mistletoes. If two ponies meet under a mistletoe, they are expected to... umm... kiss."

Antonius stared at her for a second, then he looked at the mistletoe.

"Oh dear," he mumbled, then he turned back to Luna:
"Hey, I'm not a pony. Is this custom still valid?"

"As far as I know, it is not actually limited to ponies..."

"Oh... well," Antonius said, scratching his head for a second,
"I promised to take part in your holiday and your traditions, so I think I'll participate. Now, what kind of kiss does this require? Is a short peck enough, or does it have to be one of those attempted tonsillectomies you used to wake me up back then?"

Luna opened her mouth to answer, but just closed it again. Then, she suddenly started looking extremely innocent and told him:

"Tradition demands a 'big kiss'."

Antonius looked down at her for a second, then he nodded. The ponies really had strange customs and traditions and he was not exactly a friend of kissing, but since he had resolved to participate in this holiday, he would do it nonetheless. That also had a bonus: he could check if his Omophagea still gave him weird results.

"Okay," he said curtly and participated in this strange mistletoe tradition.

Celestia was sitting at the breakfast table. She just had a croissant and a cup of coffee this morning, as there would be more than enough treats later this day. Okay, a little cake would certainly not hurt.
Celestia just wanted to get up and get some as Stormy entered the room with a big grin.

"Good morning, Stormy," she greeted.

"Good morning, Princess!" Stormy replied.

"You seem to be in a good mood today. Well, it's Hearth's Warming Eve, of course you are glad."

"Yes," Stormy snickered and sat down at the table.

"Do you know where my sister and Antonius are?" Celestia asked and took a sip of coffee.

"Yeah," Stormy answered,
"Princess Luna is lying in Antonius' bed, tied up."

Celestia spat her coffee across the table.

"WHAT???"

Oh... Oh... OH!
No, wait, there had to be a perfectly harmless and sensible explanation for this... even if Celestia could not think of one. She told herself to calm down and took a deep breath.

"Well, well," she said a little distraught and took another sip of coffee.

"Yes, and I put a mistletoe over them," Stormy continued.

A second mouthful of coffee splattered onto the table.

"You did what?" Celestia asked in total confusion.

Antonius ended the required kiss and his Omophagea processed Luna's saliva. The same result as the first time: a bit of inexplicable familiarity. So, either his implant was defective, or there really was something very weird about those ponies - next to the usual weirdness, that is.

"I guess that should suffice," he said.

Luna didn't respond. She didn't say anything at all. She was just lying there, her eyes closed.

Now, something got Antonius' attention:

"Hey," he started.

No reaction.

"Hey, Luna!"

He nudged her.

"Huh? What?" she mumbled, opening her eyes.

"Do you think Stormy knew about this custom?" Antonius asked.

"Certainly," Luna answered.

"That means she wanted us to kiss?"

"I think it was a little prank," she opined, and looking extremely innocent again, she added:
"some ponies really like pranks."

"Well, since she has decided to live with Moonlight and Blackwing, she seems anxious to get us to work together in one way or another. Remember the board game?"

"Hmm... you are not wrong... just a moment... do you think she wants to set us up?"

Antonius shrugged.

"I'm not sure, but it gives the impression," he opined.

Luna laughed awkwardly.

"And I get myself in such a situation. That must have been like a cue for her! Now, what should we do about that?"

"I think we should tell her the truth; that we are content with being friends."

"Would be more plausible if I weren't lying in your bed. Tied up."

"Huh? Oh... I'm trying not to think about any implications... or do you think it would help if I shoved you onto the floor?"

"Not really, no."

"Then just hold still while I free you."

It took him a while to untangle her without destroying the garland, but when she finally was free again, they went to the refectory to meet with Celestia for breakfast.

"Already here?" the white alicorn asked in surprise, then she quickly held a hoof over her mouth.

Luna groaned.

"What has Stormy told you?" she wanted to know.

"Nothing!" Celestia insisted,
"what you do is totally your private affair... I mean matter!"

Aha, Stormy really had been a little talkative.

"Sister! I just got tangled up in some decorations and Antonius helped me get free! And that's all!" Luna told her.

"Decorations? Well, to each their own, I guess..."

"SISTER!"

"Okay, okay, I believe you! Nothing has happened. Now, let's skip this topic."

"Actually, " Antonius said,
"we should talk about this general topic to Stormy."

"You want to give her 'the talk'? Now?" Celestia asked in confusion.

At that, Luna stuffed a croissant into her sister's mouth to shut her up.

"Stormy," Antonius continued,
"do you want to set me up with Luna?"

The little mare looked a little embarrassed and confessed:

"Umm... yes. I just don't want you to be alone."

"Oh, Stormy," Antonius sighed and scratched his brow.

Stormy's face fell.

"It didn't work? You are not a couple?" she asked and started to tear up.

Crap. Well, she had to accept the truth...

"It did work! We are a couple! Totally!" Luna suddenly shouted and walked over to Antonius.

"What..." he started, but Luna interrupted him and whispered into his ear:

"Don't you see how sad she is? Do you want to ruin Hearth's Warming for her? Just play along!"

Oh shit.

"Really?" Stormy asked hopefully,
"You are a couple now?"

Damnit, the things he did to make Stormy happy really hit new highs...

"Umm... yes... of course! We are... totally... a couple?" Antonius stammered with a forced grin.

To 'prove' this assertion, he flung his arm around Luna's body, lifted her from the ground and held her at his side, her hooves dangling in the air. Both of them gave Stormy plastic smiles.
Thankfully, the filly was too happy to realize how ridiculously staged the whole scene was. Celestia, however, was on the brink of bursting out laughing.
Well, this certainly was a Hearth's Warming Antonius would never forget.

After breakfast, Luna went to bed to be well rested for the pageant in the afternoon, while Antonius and Stormy went to the hospital to meet with Moonlight and Blackwing. Thankfully, the batpony mare felt fine and was allowed to leave. They spent some time together, then Antonius said goodbye and walked to the train station.

The streets of Canterlot were all richly decorated with conifers, wreaths and oversized candy canes. Now that he thought about it: Hadn't he once heard of an ancient holiday of mankind that allegedly had looked similar? Some religious celebration... Kmas?
Well, information of that kind was only sparse, since the old religions had been banned by the Emperor when he had seized power. Antonius wondered if the way the ponies celebrated Hearth's Warming might be influenced by this old human holiday. It was certainly possible.

He arrived at the station right on time for the train from Ponyville. A lot of ponies left the train, among them Twilight and her friends.

"Hello, my friends," Antonius greeted,
"how as the train ride?"

"Fine, thank you for asking," Twilight responded,
"and since the train was on time, we still have time for a little stroll through Canterlot before we have to get ready for the pageant. But first, we should get our luggage to the palace."

"I'll take care of that," Spike volunteered,
"then, I'll head straight to the theater. I'll need some time to get in the right mood for my big part in the pageant, after all."

"You do that, great narrator," Twilight smiled,
"and make sure that you don't get in the 'right mood' by overeating on the lunch they are going to prepare for the actors and staff."

Antonius joined the ponies for their stroll. They were downright mesmerized by the snow-covered city and started playing a game called 'I spy with my little eye', although Antonius would not call a pony eye 'little', especially not in relation to the size of their heads.

After the stroll, Twilight and her friends went to the theater, while Antonius met with the princesses, Stormy and her new parents for lunch.

Then, they went to the theater to watch the pageant.

"Antonius," Celestia said,
"it would be an honor if you would join us in the royal loge."

Then she turned to the batponies and Stormy:

"I also reserved a second loge for the three of you. Unfortunately, even the royal loge would be a little crammed if the six of us tried to be seated in there."

"I think Princess Celestia just called you fat," Moonlight grinned at Antonius.

"Just space-consuming," Celestia quickly rectified.

"I think I can live with that," Antonius deadpanned and they were seated in the loges, Celestia to the right, Antonius to the left, Luna in the middle.

Antonius took a look around the theater. It was crammed with ponies eager for the pageant. He could not spot a single empty spot.

"This pageant is an important event, I guess?" he asked Luna.

"Indeed," she answered,
"all over Equestria, ponies are preparing similar pageants to honor this day, but the Canterlot pageant is the biggest and most important production."

Now, the lights in the theater were dimmed, and a single spot illuminated the stage.

"It begins," Luna whispered as the curtains opened and revealed Spike, who served as the pageant's narrator.

Luna had seen such pageants before, but she had to admit that it never got dull to see this important moment in pony history reenacted. Another question was how interesting it would be for Antonius.

From time to time, she glanced over at him to see his reactions to the play. He was quietly sitting there, watching the actors perform.

When the whinnying of the windigos sounded, he leaned forward a little, but did not show another reaction.

Then, when the ponies decided to find a new land to live in, he leaned forward a little more, obviously concentrated on the story.
Wow, Luna had not thought this pageant to be that interesting for him. She should ask him later what exactly had caught his attention.

Later, as Twilight explained that windigos were responsible for the cold and that fed off fighting and hatred, Luna could see him narrow his eyes a little and clench his fist. He seemed angry, and perhaps also a little disgusted. Luna doubted that these emotions were directed at the pageant, but rather at the windigos.
Perhaps they reminded him of something he knew? And hated? She would ask that, too.

Then, when the ponies ignited the Fire of Friendship, he leaned back again. Was he amazed?
Another thing to ask him later.

Finally, the pageant was over.
The ponies had sung the Heart Carol and the actors had left the stage. While the audience started to leave the theatre, Luna turned to Antonius:

"And? How did you like it?"

"A nice pageant. Tell me, Luna, is this really based on actual events or just a folk myth?"

"It is based on actual events. As far as I know, it is even quite close to the truth; the key elements are correct in any case."

Antonius nodded:

"Well, then it was very informative."

"You seemed to somehow recognize the windigos, did you not?"

"Deamonic creatures which thrive on fighting and hatred - sounds like daemons of Khorne, Chaos god of hate and bloodshed. I have to admit, though, that they are usually not associated with ice and cold. The similarities are still to grave to be ignored; I guess those windigos are some kind of daemonic offspring."

"Sounds plausible," Celestia opined,
"I'm just thankful that the Fire of Friendship was able to repel them, otherwise ponykind might have gone extinct."

"Indeed," Antonius agreed,
"Seems you have found a way besides the Elements of Harmony to fight Chaos.
Really, it's nothing short of a miracle how effective your species is at dealing with the dark powers. Furthermore, the pageant explained why your culture is so peaceful: if you behaved otherwise, more like the rest of the galaxy, you would become pony-cicles. Really intriguing."

"So, we owe our peacefulness to Chaos in a way? That's a disturbing thought."

"You owe your peacefulness to yourselves. You were able to leave hate behind you and foiled the windigos' machinations. Your peacefulness is not a result of that encounter, but a countermeasure."

"That certainly is better," Luna smiled,
"now, anything else you have learned today?"

"Oh, yes," Antonius answered,
"if your environment got too cold for your people to live in, Luna, which direction would you move?"

"Well, since we are in the northern hemisphere, I would move south."

"Right. I guess your ancestors did the same, and that means they came..."

"From the north! And that means that the roots of ponykind are in the north... and perhaps that ancient base of yours is there, too!"

"That's exactly what I was thinking. So, we have a direction. There are mountains to the north, right?"

"Yes, the Crystal Mountains. They cross Equestria from east to west. Why do you ask for mountains?"

"I saw mountains in a drawing in one of Lyra's books about mankind. I guess the base is somewhere in those mountains. Once the training of the PDF is completed, I will set out as soon as the Land Speeder is operational."

"Hey, you certainly will not go alone," Luna told him,
"I will join you on this quest!"

"You should wait for spring," Celestia suggested,
"the Crystal Mountains will be too cold to travel in the winter.
And, Antonius: There is a watchtower, run by the Royal Guard, at the end of the main pass through the mountains. Please, don't go any further north than this watchtower."

Antonius raised an eyebrow:

"What is north of this tower that you want me to avoid?"

"This is neither the right place nor the right time to talk about such matters," Celestia said,
"but I promise I will tell you later, after the holidays."

"I concur," Luna added,
"this is nothing that should be told recklessly."

Hey, another mysterious secret.
Yay.

Now Antonius and the princesses met with the batponies, Stormy, the Element Bearers and Spike and returned to the palace. Above the wintry Canterlot, a giant pink flaming heart was pulsing.
The Fire of Friendship.
Possibly another weapon against Chaos.

35. Presents and insights

They spent the rest of the afternoon in a richly decorated room with a large, also decorated conifer and a lit fireplace. There were stories, small talk, pastries and cider. Then, after dinner, they all gathered in front of the conifer.

"I know that ponies usually don't open their Hearth's Warming presents until tomorrow," Celestia said,
"but since we are all together today, I suggest we open them this evening, starting with the youngest pony, Stormy Skies!"

"This is a great idea!" Stormy grinned.

Celestia waved a hoof and a few servants came in, carrying a multitude of presents. They put them under the tree, bowed and left.

"Your turn, Stormy," Celestia smiled.

The filly darted towards the presents, a huge smile on her face. It did not take her long to find what she was looking for.

"To: Stormy, From Antonius," she read the label, grinned and opened the present.

Antonius was curious what Stormy would think of his little gift. He certainly had not a lot of experience in coming up with presents, but he was sure his idea had been good, and he had trusted Fluttershy to realize this idea.
He had been right.
Stormy pulled a blue plushie out of the small box, but not just any plushie: it was a custom made Space Marine plushie, knitted by Fluttershy.
Stormy laughed and hugged her present, while the other ponies and Spike grinned or snickered.

"Thank you!" Stormy said.

"I thought it could be useful if you feel the urge to hug a Space Marine and I'm not around," Antonius grinned.

"I'll call him 'Tony'," Stormy declared and put the plushie onto her back like a rider, holding it - or him - in place with her wings and continued looking for something with her name on it.

She got a little knickknack from everypony, then Moonlight and Blackwing came out with their main present:

"Stormy," the newly minted mother asked,
"what would you say if we moved to Ponyville, so that you could spend more time with your friends?"

Stormy stared at her in total surprise, then she ran up to her and hugged her and Blackwing.

"That would be great!" she shouted,
"but... will I still be able to see Antonius and Princess Luna?"

"Of course," Luna told her,
"Ponyville is not far away, and in addition to that, we will meet in your dreams."

"And as soon as the Land Speeder is operational, the journey to Ponyville will just take a few minutes," Antonius added.

"It will?" Rainbow Dash asked in surprise.

Antonius just grinned as an answer. He would show her that human technology could be a more than adequate replacement of the ponies' magic-enhanced... everything.

"I'm already looking forward to the first trip," Luna said.

"Remember that I already booked the second!" Twilight remarked.

"Don't worry," Antonius replied,
"I haven't forgotten. As soon as I have tested the Speeder, everypony who wants to will get a ride."

After several expressions of interest, Celestia said:

"Now, I think it's Antonius' turn to open his presents."

"Okay," Antonius agreed and started looking.

He quickly found his first gift; it had the shape of a hastily wrapped cylinder.

"That's mine for you," Rainbow said.

Antonius unwrapped it and found a dumbbell. Certainly a nice idea, a little small and light, perhaps, but it would certainly be useful.

"Thank you," Antonius smiled and fetched the next present, rectangular and much bigger than the first.

"Mine for you," Twilight told him.

It was a twelve-volume encyclopedia about Equestria and its neighbors. Well, that would definitely come in handy sooner or later. Knowledge was power, after all.

Antonius said thanks and grabbed the next present, this time from Pinkie Pie. After unwrapping, he saw that it was a transparent plastic bucket, about the size of his palm, with a black lid, that contained a viscous blue liquid. It was labeled

"'Ultramarines Blue'?"

"Yes!" Pinkie beamed,
"I thought you could mend the scratches on your armor with it. Do you like it?"

"Definitely. The hue is perfect. Thank you."

How did she... No. Never look a gift horse in the mouth. Or a paint bucket.

The next present was Applejack's. A black stetson, big enough to fit him.

"To protect you from the sun, if you want to help me on the farm again someday, for example," she explained.

"To protect me from the sun?" Antonius asked with a grin.

He had a quite stupid idea, and he couldn't keep himself from doing it: He grabbed the hat like a shield, and took a defensive stance towards Celestia. She just looked at him in confusion.
Antonius then turned back to Applejack and told her:

"Works. Wasn't attacked."

Luna laughed, the other ponies snickered. Even Celestia obviously found it funny.

Antonius put his hat to his other presents and opened the next one. It was a bathrobe, following the Ultramarines color pattern, just like the other clothes he had gotten earlier.

"I hope you like it," Rarity said,
"I have to admit, I'm really starting to grow fond of this compilation of colors.

Antonius said thanks and opened Fluttershy's present. It was a mug in the shape of an oversized squirrel; the creature's tail was the mug's handle.

"Umm... I must admit that I had problems finding a good present, but I thought you could use something nice to drink from," she said.

"Certainly. Thank you," Antonius responded.

Now he grabbed two boxes, a particularly big one and a small one, tied together with a dark blue ribbon.

"Mine for you," Luna beamed.

Antonius opened the small box first: It was a silver pendant, or probably a keychain, in the shape of Luna's cutie mark.
He said thanks, then, he opened the large box. He took a look inside it and said:

"Now what do we have here..."

Now, he pulled a sword out of the box, about as long and broad as his old, lost gladius had been.
Moonlight whistled, and everypony except the princesses was astonished.
The sword's crossguard looked like a crescent moon, and this symbol was repeated on various spots on the weapon. Fine lines, apparently made of crystal, were running along the blade. It really was a beautiful sword, and now Antonius wanted to test it. He picked up some wrapping paper and cut it without problem. Yes, it was perfectly sharp.
Suddenly, Luna lit her horn, and the crystal lines, as well as the sword's edge, started glowing.

"Try that again," she told Antonius.

He picked up some more paper and tried to cut it. This time, it did not work. He immediately examined the sword's edge.

"Blunt," he noted.

"Yeah," Luna smiled,
"that way, we can fight without you having to use your chainsword, and the risk of injuries will be greatly reduced, too. Without the enchantment, however..."
She lit her horn again and the glow vanished,
"... you still have a masterly crafted sword, probably one of the finest ever made in Equestria... and I helped forging it!"

Antonius made a few swings and twirled the sword in the air. It was perfectly balanced. He nodded approvingly:

"A really fine weapon, very convenient, well made... and marvelous. Thank you very much."

"Best present ever!" Pinkie shouted.

"Err... I don't think I should rank the presents I get," Antonius said cautiously.

"Nonsense! Presents from you special somepony are always the best!" Stormy exclaimed.

Everypony looked at her, then they turned to Antonius and Luna and finally back to Stormy.
Well, that was a little awkward.

"Yes!" the filly declared proudly,
"I didn't want them to be alone, so I set them up. Successfully!"

Her grin was so broad that she had to close her eyes to make it fit her face. The ponies stared at the new 'couple', and Antonius and Luna used this opportunity to wink at them and roll their eyes. Thankfully, they seemed to understand what was going on. They smiled and nodded.

"Now that it's official, you could at least put your arm around my sister," Celestia smiled.

Both Antonius and Luna gave her the evil eye, then he adopted Celestia's proposal. She smiled broadly and continued:

"Well, if you could maybe break free from Luna for a second, you could open my present!"

Antonius grumbled silently and did as he was told. Celestia really had way to much fun with this.
Her present, however, was also rather large and contained a canvas, depicting the galaxy as they had seen it when they had opened the veil.

"That is a great present, too," Antonius said,
"thank you very much."

"Glad you like it, and there is more for you, for Luna, and admittedly also for myself: A room has been redesigned and turned into a gym with equipment appropriately sized for the three of us. I thought it would help in our training, especially once you are done training the PDF."

"Good thought," Antonius agreed,
"we could start..."

"After the holidays," Celestia finished,
"that will also be an opportunity to work one or two pounds off..."

Antonius grinned:

"Agreed. Now, I think it's time for the princesses to open their presents."

"Go ahead, please!" Celestia told Luna, and the Princess of the Night started unwrapping her presents. Then, she had Antonius' present in her hooves.

"Oh?" she asked in amazement,
"what could that be?"

"I suggest you open it," Celestia grinned.

Luna did that and got her new socks, silver and dark blue. She looked amazed.

"Umm... for my legs, right?"

"Correct," Antonius confirmed,
"I was told they are great casual wear for ponies, and a thing I knew you did not have yet."

"Well, thank you," Luna said and hugged him,
"I'll try them on later," she added in a whisper.

After opening the rest of her presents, it was Celestia's turn. The first present she fetched was a scroll Antonius was familiar with. She read it and started smiling.

"It may not be much," Antonius said when she had finished reading,
"but I hope it is a suitable present."

Celestia walked up to him and hugged him.

"It's a perfect present, thank you."

It took quite a while until everypony had opened their presents, but when it was done, they were all content and happy.

"So, you really don't mind getting no present from me," Antonius noted.

"Not at all," Twilight smiled, then she added:
"but if you want to, you could read 'A Hearth's Warming Tale' to us. It's my favorite Hearth's Warming Eve story!"

"Okay, if we can find a book which contains that story, that is."

"No problem," Celestia said and lit her horn.

She took a book out of one of the room's bookshelves and hovered it over to Antonius. He grabbed it and asked:

"Could you give me a few seconds to skim through the text? I would like to know what it is about before reading it to you."

Antonius quickly paged through the story. Oh, there was some singing... perhaps he could avoid that.

"Hmm... shall I just read it to you or do you want to do a play reading? Your pageant this afternoon was really good, after all."

"Hey, that's a great idea!" Pinkie cheered,
"I'll play the Spirit of Hearth's Warming Presents!"

Soon, the other characters were allotted, too:
Antonius was the narrator, Twilight Snowfall Frost. Applejack filled the role of the Spirit of Hearth's Warming Past and Luna completed the spirits by taking over the part of the Spirit of Hearth's Warming Yet To come. Rainbow, Rarity and Fluttershy choose minor rolls while Celestia voiced the character of Twilight's - respectively Snowfall Frost's - less than friendly professor.
They all started reading.

It was a really good story, and the ponies played their characters immaculately. Antonius had to admit, however, that he was especially fascinated by Luna's singing. Again. The first time had been in Coltport, when they had paid Moonlight a visit. Back then, it had been a soft and nice lullaby for Stormy, now, it was a much darker song about strife and despair. That a pony digressed so much from the species' usual behavior and wrote such a song told him again how serious they took the matter.

After the story was at an end, Twilight opined:

"That was a great way to read the story! Although you managed to avoid every single song, Antonius."

Crap, she had found out.

"This is probably a coincidence," Antonius told her,
"and it certainly is better for your ears."

"Sooner or later we'll get you!" Twilight laughed.

They had some more fun - and more treats, then Stormy yawned and Moonlight said:

"Well, it is getting late. Stormy is tired..."

"No," Stormy quickly interjected.

"... and I honestly could use some rest, too. I think I'll retire. Stormy, what about you?"

Stormy yawned again.

"Okay, you are right. I'll go to bed," she said.

"I'll retire, too," Blackwing added.

The three ponies said goodnight and left, Stormy still with her little Space Marine on her back.

Twilight really was content and happy. This had really been an outstanding Hearth's Warming. Even Antonius had obviously enjoyed it. At the moment, he was watching the batponies and Stormy leave with a smile on his face.

Twilight turned to her friends, just in time to see Rarity put a mistletoe onto her horn.

"What are you doing? Take that off!" she whispered.

"Relax, darling," Rarity chuckled,
"that's a Hearth's Warming tradition, isn't it?"

Oh dear.

Antonius turned back again and spotted what Rarity had done. He pointed at her mistletoe and said:

"Hey, that's a mistletoe, right? You have a tradition about a certain conduct if such a twig is attached to a ceiling."

Oh? He knew?

"That's right," Rarity grinned,
"and the same 'conduct' is valid if a mistletoe is attached to a unicorn's horn."

"Aha. And who is supposed to participate in this tradition in this case?"

Please don't tell him he is supposed to be...

"What about you?" Rarity smiled.

Oh dear. Oh dear.

"Hmm," Antonius said,
"well, okay. Celebrating your holiday your way has been quite successful so far. Just a question: Do you follow the traditional way?"

Huh? 'Traditional way'?

"Uh-oh," Luna whispered, her eyes widening.

What was going on?

"Umm... yes," Rarity answered.

Twilight was sure her friend also had no idea what the meaning of that question was. Luna probably knew.

"As you wish," Antonius replied and got up.

Rarity also got up and walked toward him. He picked her up and...

"Whoa!" Applejack shouted.

"What the?" Rainbow gasped.

Fluttershy went crimson and Spike just stared at them.

Princess Luna also stared, but it was more one of those 'what have I done?' stares, which did not really make sense.

"That's the spirit!" Pinkie Pie cheered.

Well, at least one pony found that just funny...
Two. Two ponies. Twilight could hardly believe it, but Princess Celestia was obviously trying not to burst out laughing!
Twilight was thoroughly confused. The whole situation went over her head. Far over her head.

Antonius had just completed this instance of the mistletoe tradition and his Omophagea was feeding the results into his brain: no sign of familiarity.
Well, that was intriguing. A different result. Perhaps alicorns were the only pony kind that had this familiarity in their genes? But why?
This actually required further studies, but he could not run around kissing ponies of all kinds, not even with this strange tradition they had.

Rarity was still hanging in his grip, looking a little bit worn out.

"My goodness," she mumbled,
"I really should visit your planet sometime."

Huh?

Suddenly, a golden glow surrounded Rarity's mistletoe and took it off her horn.

"This is obviously too dangerous as long as Antonius is around," Celestia grinned and put it onto a small drawer nearby.

Antonius put Rarity down again and asked:

"What do you mean by that? Did I make a mistake? I just honored your tradition."

"Well, Tony, to be honest..." Luna started, but was interrupted by Celestia:

"I assure you, everything is fine, and you honored this tradition excellently. Now, let's continue the less physical merriment."

Rarity stumbled back to her friends, who started chuckling, then the festivities continued. Antonius noticed that Spike sometimes gave him an evil eye, and Rarity winked at him with a grin once. Her friends noticed that, and they imitated this behavior with a chuckle.

Some time later - it was already close to midnight - Twilight and her friends said goodnight and retired, leaving just Antonius and the princesses in the room.

"Alas, my duties are waiting for me. Will the two of you be able to spend an hour without my presence?" Luna inquired.

"Sure, Luna. We'll wait for you right here," Celestia answered.

Antonius escorted Luna to the door and asked:

"Do you need my help?"

"No, thank you. I will just take a quick flight above Canterlot and Ponyville and check the ponies' dreams. I will be back soon."

Luna left and Antonius returned to Celestia. As he approached her, he froze. She had put on Rarity's mistletoe, and she had an incredibly innocent expression upon her face - just like her sister had had earlier.

"Et tu?" he asked.

"I sort of like traditions," she answered innocently.

Well, seemed his Omophagea would get another opportunity to analyze an alicorn. Although it was actually convenient, he was also a little glad that Hearth's Warming was just once per year.

After honoring the ponies traditions once more, he was curious for the result: Celestia's DNA also had this bit of familiarity, just as Luna's. So, his Omophagea probably was fully functional. It was the alicorns. A Genetor would maybe be able to solve this riddle, Antonius wasn't. He had to hope that he would stumble upon the answer somehow, or this would remain a mystery. Well, it would not be the only one.

Thankfully, Celestia put the mistletoe away, and now they just talked until she fell asleep on the carpet in front of the fireplace. The room was silent now, save for the crackling of the fire and Celestia's quiet breathing, and Antonius took a look at some of his new books to pass the time.

It did not take long until the door opened and interrupted his reading. Luna had returned and walked up to him as he put the book away.

"So, our subjects are safe and dreaming happy dreams," she stated, then she noticed that her sister was already sleeping.

"Not enough stamina, eh?" she chuckled.

"Should we tuck her in?" Antonius asked.

"We would only wake her up. No, we'll let her sleep. What about you? Tired?"

"No."

Luna scratched her chin.

"Then, what could we do? I know! I can finally try on my new socks!"

She walked up to her presents and fetched them with her magic.

"Now, which one goes to which leg?"

"Well, right or left should not matter," Antonius opined,
"but the socks for your rear legs should have a wider opening than the ones for your front legs."

Luna tilted her head a bit.

"Did you just call my thighs fat?"

Uh-oh...

"No! Just... buff... athletic?"

"That's better," Luna laughed,
"and by the way: you are right, two of them have wider openings."

She put the socks on and turned around.

"And? Do they suit me?" she asked.

"I think so," Antonius answered.

Luna walked up and down a few times.

"Zounds! They really are comfy!" she stated, then she walked up to Antonius and hugged him.
"Thanks again," she said,
"and... there is something I need to tell you. I just hope you don't get angry..."

"What is it?"

"Well," she started hesitantly,
"about this mistletoe tradition... tradition does not actually demand a 'big kiss', I sort of... made this up."

She looked quite embarrassed now, but Antonius just said calmly:

"I thought that something was amiss with this tradition, but no real harm was done and, in all honesty, I even gained some information about your DNA."

"Huh?"

"I have an implant called 'Omophagea', which allows me to analyze DNA. Because of your 'big kisses' I had some opportunities to use it."

"Oh? Then... what results did you get?"

"While Rarity's results were no surprise, yours and your sister's were."

"My sister's? Oh, I get it. Rarity's mistletoe."

"Correct, but bear her no ill will. It was actually useful, since I could verify your result."

"And that result was?"

"A bit of familiarity."

Luna looked thoroughly surprised:

"Familiarity? What do you mean by that?"

"It's hard to explain. There seem to be some aspects of your genome that I have encountered before. The best term to describe it is 'familiarity'."

"But... how can you be familiar with alicorns? That does not make any sense!"

"I know. Fascinating, isn't it?"

"Sort of. Do we have a chance to figure out this conundrum?"

"I don't think so. The Omophagea works best with blood or flesh, though, but I refuse to bite anypony. And even if we got some blood or something, I couldn't guarantee it would work."

Luna though about that for a while, then she said:

"Well, I think it is worth a try."

She fetched Antonius' new sword with her magic and rolled down the sock on her left front leg.

"Hmm... I didn't think this sword would ever really draw blood - especially not yours!" Antonius opined.

"Do not worry about that," Luna deadpanned,
"it already has."

"Huh?"

"Let us say I had a little accident while testing its sharpness. Now, would you please start? Without cutting my leg off, if possible?"

Antonius took the sword from Luna and inflicted a little cut on her leg. The, he sucked blood out of the wound and the Omophagea started working once more. The results were clearer now, but not less confusing.

"And?" Luna wanted to know.

"Usually, the implant reads the evolutionary adaptations to a creature's environment and transmits them to the brain as a series of memories and experiences," Antonius explained,
"but here, something is... off. The results don't make much sense, the adaptations seem... somewhat arbitrary. I cannot think of an environment that would cause them. But at least, I got a little more information about this strange familiarity."

"That is good news. Please tell me," Luna said, healed the little cut and rolled up her sock again.

"Well, Luna, what are you compared to 'normal' ponies, you know, of the three main kinds?"

"I am bigger, faster, more powerful... and perhaps a little more beautiful," Luna grinned.

"Yes," Antonius confirmed.

Luna's grin grew.

"Umm... I mean... you know what I mean," he added,
"now, does that remind you of anyone? The first three parts, at least?"

Luna thought about that for a few seconds, then she said:

"Well, the same could be said about you when compared to normal humans, could it not? Hey, just a moment, do you want to suggest that..."

"I'm not sure. I don't think it's actually a real gene-seed, but it seems to operate in a similar way. That was the familiarity I noticed."

"Intriguing... but wait... does that mean that my sister and I were... somehow... altered? I mean, that is how you were 'created', after all!"

"Logic conclusion. That means that there must have been someone who... oh... just a moment...
Now, I don't want to jump to conclusions, but when I think about the time when you and your sister where born..."

"A few years after the imperial base below us was established."

"... and who we think could have been the leader of..."

"One of your lost Primarchs... You think he might have had something to do with this? That he is somehow responsible for us being alicorns instead of normal ponies?"

"I have no idea," Antonius admitted,
"it's a crazy, far-fetched theory, but it fits the facts we know. Could be true, could be rubbish. We need more information to verify it. Until then, we should just keep it in mind without paying it too much attention."

"Agreed," Luna said, then she started grinning:
"You know that this would make us cousins of some kind, right?"

Now Antonius was completely dumbfounded. The idea that a human could be somewhat related to an alien was heresy!

"HUH? What? Well, no, not really. The methods used to upgrade us might have had some similarities, but we are definitely not related. I think that any two humans - or two ponies - have more genes in common than the two of us have."

"That's good," Luna smiled,
"then we can go on playing 'couple' for Stormy without it being weird."

"You mean 'weirder' as it already is," Antonius grinned.

Luna snickered.

"Well, I think we put on quite a decent show. But now, I think I should take a little nap. Would you wake me up in an hour?"

"Sure."

Luna walked over to her sister and lay down beside her. She fell asleep quickly.
Antonius sat down and looked at them. The still crackling fire cast alternating light patterns on their fur and seemed to bestow them with a flickering aura of light. It was a picture of peace and quiet.

Antonius thought about the princesses of Equestria.
For members of royalty, they were actually very affable. They really were his friends, and he honestly liked them. Luna and Celestia showed a great mixture of seriousness and playfulness. Sure, they had pulled his leg with this weird mistletoe tradition, but he didn't really mind that.

It had been a fun day and he had gotten lots of useful information about the ponies, the princesses and probably even the ancient base of mankind on this planet.
Yes, this day had been thoroughly successful.

36. All is fair in snow and war

The first thing that Celestia did as she woke up the next morning was yawning heartily. It had been quite some time since she had last fallen asleep in front of the fireplace, but yesterday had been a great and busy day. Luna was lying by her side, cuddled up to her, and she looked around and noticed Antonius - drinking from his new mug and reading a book.

"Good morning," she said,
"and a merry Hearth's Warming! I see you are testing some of your presents."

"Morning," Antonius answered,
"yes. Presents really are a nice tradition. Oh, and a merry Hearth's Warming to you, too."

"Thanks. Yes, getting presents always is nice, especially if they come from the heart. Now, I should get up... if I can convince Luna to do the same."

Celestia carefully nudged her sister, who woke up with a yawn.

"Morning. What time is it?" Luna asked a little grumpily.

Celestia turned to Antonius:

"Oh... I didn't miss the time for raising the sun, did I? That would be inexcusable!"

"Don't worry, you still got time," Antonius told her,
"if you had kept sleeping, I would have woken you up in a few minutes, by the way."

"Good. Now, Luna, please get up."

"Yeah, I have patrol duty this morning anyway," Luna replied.

The princesses got up, and on their way to the refectory, Antonius and Luna told Celestia about their theory about the origins of alicorns. The theory was met with some skepticism, but they agreed to keep it in mind. Then they met with everypony they had celebrated Hearth's Warming eve with for breakfast.

After that, Antonius donned his armor and joined Luna on her patrol near Ponyville. They had dropped off Twilight and her friends in the town and were now walking through the snowy Everfree. Luna was not too talkative today, so Antonius inquired:

"Say, is something wrong? You're a little quiet this morning."

Luna shook her head and grumbled:

"No, everything is fine."

Well, she was definitely not the best liar.

"So you're quiet just for the fun of it," Antonius continued.

"You are more talkative in compensation."

"Correct. But since I'm not really a talkative guy, I'm going to annoy you until it's better balanced."

"Can I dissuade you from doing that?"

"Not really. You could, of course, just tell me what bothers you."

"You never give up, do you?"

"Never."

Luna sighed.

"Okay, okay. Last night, I came across a dream. An adolescent colt's dream. He dreamed about... me."

"Well, that does not sound too bad."

"...about my hindquarters."

"Oh... bad enough to worry about Chaos corruption?"

"What? No! He was content taking a look."

"Hmm... well, as an alicorn, you are an ideal of beauty, aren't you?"

"Yeah, but I would prefer to be admired for what I do for my ponies, not for my posterior."

"As far as I know, adolescents are known to concentrate on the wrong... 'things' from time to time. I don't think he meant any harm."

Luna stopped and looked at him.

"Of course he didn't, and I don't hold a grudge against him. I just secretly took over the dream-image of myself and friendlily reminded him to concentrate on a pony's more important... aspects," she said.

"Then, what bothers you?"

"I'm not quite sure myself. I think I am a bit miffed about being reduced to a part of my body. What would you do if somepony dreamt about your hindquarters?"

Well, this was one of the strangest questions Antonius had ever been asked. Perhaps he could cheer her up with a silly answer?

"Well, I would solemnly declare: 'Behold the glory of Ultramar!'"

At that, Luna burst out laughing. Perfect.

"You are silly. Thank you," she smiled.

Antonius smiled back and started:

"So, don't be bothered if a colt does not only see you as the Princess of the Moon, but also as..."

"You have to say this, hmm?" Luna interrupted.

"Umm... sort of?"

She sighed:

"Okay, then say it."

"... the Princess of Mooning!" Antonius finished.

"For this joke, you owe me a massage later."

"No problem. Which part of your body?" he grinned.

Luna groaned and nudged him playfully.

Some time later, they were approaching Ponyville again.

"The town really looks ice in winter," Luna said,
"I have to admit that I like this season very much. So quiet, calm and solemn. Everything looks at least a little bit majestic now. Do you like winter, too?"

"Oh, yes," Antonius replied,
"the cold temperatures have a positive effect on weapons that tend to overheat, like plasma guns."

"Yeah, my mistake," Luna deadpanned,
"I had to ask you."

Antonius snickered and said:

"But I have to admit, the snow covered landscapes and settlements look somewhat beauti..."

He was interrupted as his transhuman reflexes kicked in. Out of the corner of his eye, he had seen some sort of projectile flying his way and his arm rose to deflect it. The white ball shattered on his forearm armor. His hand was on his bolter, but he did not take it from his belt.
Snow. It had only been a snowball.

"What the hell?" he mumbled, and he got the answer.

"Damnit, you are fast."

Rainbow Dash!

"Rainbow, what was that supposed to be?" Antonius shouted.

"I threw a snowball," she shouted back.

She was hiding behind a small wall of snow, only her head visible.

"I noticed that. I want to know why!"

"Hey, relax. It's not like I almost killed you this time."

"Thanks for reminding me. Now tell me why you throw stuff at me!"

"It was just a snowball!"

Hell, this conversation was seriously annoying.

"Tony, it is just a snowball fight, a game," Luna snickered.

Antonius turned to her:

"A snowball fight? I think I heard about such an activity once, but I never experienced one."

"I think this is about to change," Luna grinned.

"So, you want to play a game with me?" Antonius asked Rainbow Dash.

"Now you got it!" she answered and threw another snowball.

He deflected it again without problem and thought about the invitation. A short glance at Luna told him that she nodded. Well, he could partake in this game. Until now, pony activities had been harmless and sometimes even funny.

"Okay, as you wish," he shouted.

"Great!" Rainbow answered and threw another snowball.

Antonius deflected it again and asked Luna:

"Now, should I walk over to her and throw a snowball at her?"

"No. We must build a fort and throw our snowballs from this position!" she answered and used her magic to construct a fairly large wall of snow in front of them.

"What? Princess Luna is on your team?" Rainbow screamed.

"Of course I am!" Luna shouted, formed a snowball and threw it, then she turned to Antonius and added:
"Now, take cover and only get up to throw a snowball! Try to hit Rainbow Dash without being hit - but do not do any real harm!"

Pfft... mini-warfare. Antonius played along and took cover.
As he grabbed a handful of snow and started forming it into a ball, his trained subconscious started calculating angles and trajectories, using the equations usually meant for grenades. It was funny that it really reacted to this game.

Antonius put this to a good use. His snowballs were precisely aimed, but at this distance, Rainbow had enough time to evade or take cover. Perhaps he could speed up the projectiles? No, that would increase the probability of hurting her. There was, however, still a way to hit her.

Antonius formed a large snowball and waited for Rainbow to vanish behind her wall of snow. Then, he sent the snowball flying. It travelled up into the air, much higher than the previous projectiles, and came down again - right where it should.

"Ah!" Rainbow shouted while Luna cheered.

A hit. Indirect fire was really useful at times.

Antonius was just about to form another snowball when he heard a familiar voice ask:

"Hey, y'all. Mind if I join this little fight?"

"Not at all, Applejack," Luna answered,
"just choose your team."

"She's on my team!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

Applejack grinned:

"I don't know, you seem to be losing."

"What? Come on, three versus one is unfair!"

"I know. That's why I'm choosing your team. Wait a second, I'll come over."

They continued the icy nonsense for a few minutes. By now, Rainbow and Applejack had learned to watch out for Antonius' snow artillery and scoring a hit became much more difficult again. The only chance to hit them now was when they raised their heads above the snow wall to throw a snowball, but estimating where and when they would do so was more luck than anything else.

"Is this your idea of enjoying a beautiful winter's day?" a new voice asked.

"Don't complain to me, Rarity, I'm just returning fire. Respectively snow," Antonius laughed.

"Well, in my opinion, pelting each other with snow is... EEEK!!!"

A snowball had hit her side and Rainbow Dash laughed:

"Score!"

Rarity looked at the spot where the snowball had hit her, brushed the snow off with her hoof and glared in Rainbow's direction.

"Oh! It. Is. On!" she declared.

Rarity had obviously forgotten that she had been a little touchy about this fight a few seconds ago. She threw herself behind the snow wall and joined in on the fight. Antonius' and Luna's team had a new member.

They had barely started again as Twilight and Fluttershy came around.

"Hey, a snowball fight!" Twilight cheered,
"may we join?"

"I don't know, Twilight," Fluttershy added for consideration,
"somepony could get hurt by getting snow in the eye or something."

"Oh come on, Fluttershy," Rainbow shouted,
"don't be a killjoy! I need... I mean, WE need any help we can get - and that means Twilight, too!"

"Both newcomers for your team?" Rarity asked.

"Of course! To level our disadvantage here!" Rainbow answered.

Rarity grinned:

"Nice of you to admit that you are not up to the task of defeating us."

Rainbow glared at her for a second, then she said:

"Fine, one for us, one for you. Who wants to join the winners, aka us?"

"Perhaps Fluttershy should join us, and Twilight your team. That way, you'd have access to magic. You'll need it."

"What? I totally do not 'need' magic. Everypony knows that the flight of a pegasus is the most awesome ability anywhere! Fluttershy, you are on our team. Twilight, you'll join the losers!"

"Okay," Antonius answered as the newcomers took up their positions,
"now, shall we continue... or wait for Pinkie Pie to show up?"

"Oh! You need me for something?" a voice from behind suddenly asked.

Antonius turned around:

"Pinkie. I have no idea how you can sneak up to me, but if you want to, you can join Rainbow, Applejack and Fluttershy."

"Okie-dokie-lokie!" Pinkie cheered and hopped over to her team.

"Yeah!" Rainbow commented,
"so it's sky and earth versus humans and the horny ones."

After a second of stunned silence, Twilight shouted:

"'Horned'! It's 'horned', not what you said!"

"Perhaps it's both?" Applejack laughed and got pelted with snowballs in response.

The fight continued. Antonius had to admit that this useless activity was somehow quite enjoyable. The fact that his team scored some decent hits was a nice bonus. Since it got a little cramped behind the snow walls, team Rainbow had to leave their cover in order to evade Antonius' snowy artillery fire. His teammates used that opportunity to plaster them with snowballs.

After a while, Antonius recognized that something was different now.

"Fluttershy stopped firing," he noticed.

"She is probably too afraid to accidentally hurt somepony," Twilight opined,
"despite her snowballs barely reaching us anyway."

Well, that was a possibility. Antonius still scanned his surroundings for an ambush... by Fluttershy... damnit, he probably was getting paranoid.

He still continued doing so whenever he formed new snowballs, and then, he saw her: She was directly above him, a giant snowball in her hooves. So team Rainbow did not use artillery, but airstrikes. This game got more interesting every minute.

Antonius stayed in cover and watched her come down. Fortunately, she did not see him; her snowball so big that it blocked her view. But why didn't she just drop it? She came closer and closer until she was in his range. He jumped up, grabbed her and fell back into cover. She still held on to the giant snowball and looked a little embarrassed.

"Umm... hi," she said meekly.

"FLUTTERSHY!" Rainbow screamed,
"why didn't you just drop the stupid snowball on him?"

"I have to admit, that question is somewhat justified," Antonius said.

"Well, umm, I didn't want to hurt you," Fluttershy answered.

"Fluttershy," Antonius smiled,
"as you can see, I am wearing my armor. A snowball smaller than a house has no chance of hurting me."

"Hey," Applejack shouted,
"give us Fluttershy back!"

"Sorry, no can do," Rarity shouted back,
"she's under arrest for attempting to snow-bomb us!"

"Am I?" Fluttershy asked.

"Don't know," Antonius told her,
"if we really implement some sort of POW rules, this game might get a little complicated."

"Give her back!" Rainbow demanded.

"No!" Rarity answered.

Antonius, who was still holding Fluttershy, put her down now and asked:

"Would you give me your snowball?"

"No," she answered,
"you're not on my team."

"While I appreciate your loyalty, I would also appreciate your snowball. Come on, give it to me."

Fluttershy looked at him for a second, then she closed her eyes and rolled backward. At the same time, she brought the giant snowball to her hindhooves and Antonius realized how she wanted to give him that damned thing.
But instead of smashing it into his chest, she gently pushed it there.

"Did I hit you?" Fluttershy asked, squinting at him.

"Umm... yes, you did," Antonius answered slightly confused.

"Yay?" Fluttershy asked.

"Indeed," Luna laughed,
"congratulations, Fluttershy, you are the first pony to hit Antonius!"

"What's going on there?" Rainbow shouted.

"Fluttershy just obliterated Antonius!" Twilight shouted back.

"SHE DID WHAT???" Rainbow screamed.

Team Antonius laughed. Rainbow's confusion was just hilarious!

"Yep, she totally did!" Antonius told Rainbow, grinning broadly.

"Then we get her back!" Applejack demanded.

"Okay," Antonius answered, grabbing Fluttershy and the still mostly intact snowball,
"you will get her back."

"Antonius?" Luna asked,
"what are you planning?"

"Start an assault as soon as I'm over there," Antonius answered,
"we'll end this fight now!"

Flutershy just had time to mumble an

"Oh dear..."

then Antonius had jumped out of the cover and was running towards team Rainbow.

"That's not what we meant!" Rainbow screamed.

Antonius was well aware of that fact. He crossed the distance to the other snow wall and jumped over it. While still in the air, he dropped the giant snowball on Rainbow Dash, sending her to the ground in a heap of snow. Once on the ground again, he set Fluttershy down and turned to Applejack.

"Horsefeathers..." she mumbled and reached back to throw a snowball at Antonius.

He was faster and caught her front hoof.

"Applejack!" Pinkie called,
"get out of the way! I cannot pelt him without hitting you!"

Antonius grinned. While it was a nonviolent melee, the basic rules were still valid. He had disorganized the 'enemy' team, and now they had to focus on him - and the probability of crossfire - while his team could attack.
They did so, just as planned. Twilight and Rarity jumped over the snow wall and threw their snowballs at Pinkie and Applejack, who dropped to the ground.

"I'd say, that's it," Antonius proclaimed.

"Not quite," Luna smiled.

She had given her subjects the advantage and had stayed in front of Rainbow's snow wall. Now she pointed at Antonius' leg. He looked down.

"Fluttershy? You again?"
The yellow pegasus clung to his leg. Well, 'clung'... her grip was so soft that he barely noticed her, but she had managed to put a snowball to his thigh.

"Hmm... you're surprisingly persistent," he admitted and plucked her from his leg,
"and I am obviously hit. I should fall now, shouldn't I?"

"Yes, " Luna grinned,
"you valiantly fell to ensure our team's victory."

"Okay, then: Ow!"

Antonius dropped to the ground any lay on his back, Fluttershy sitting on his chest.
Now Luna hovered a snowball over Fluttershy's head and asked:

"Do you surrender?"

"Yes!" Fluttershy immediately answered and the princess put her projectile away.

Luna regarded the other members of team Rainbow:

"Do you surrender, too?"

"Guess so," Applejack said, eyeing the snowballs still pointed at her team,
"what do you think of it, Rainbow?"

Rainbow was still busy digging herself out of the heap of snow and grumbled:

"Meh. Fine. Whatever... Wait, why is Fluttershy sitting on Antonius?"

"Because she defeated him. A second time, actually," Twilight grinned.

"No way!"

"Yes, she did," Antonius grinned,
"in Fluttershy, the blood of the legendary pegasus warriors of old truly runs strong!"

Rainbow looked at him completely dumbfounded, then she stammered:

"Warrior? Fluttershy? That's... ah shucks! Okay, okay, we all surrender."

Pinkie Pie did not seem to mind having lost.

"What a great game! And now I have the best idea ever! Let's go to Sugarcube Corner for some hot cocoa!" she cheered.

"Really a marvelous idea, my dear," Rarity opined and all of them went to the confectionary shop.

Antonius had expected a quiet conclusion of their snowball fight, but he was proven wrong. Luna had barely entered the shop when the Cakes almost freaked out.

"Princess Luna! You! Here! Now! How can we be of service? Do you want some cake, Your Majesty? Coffee? Tea?" Mrs. Cake babbled.

"You may calm down, good mare," Luna answered,
"we are just here for some hot cocoa... but now that you mention it, a slice of cake would certainly be appropriate."

Soon Antonius and the ponies were sitting at a table, drinking, eating, talking and laughing, although it took them a few minutes to becalm the Cakes enough so that they were not perpetually at the ready to refill their cups or plates.

Antonius thought about his day so far: The only purpose of this snowball fight had been to have fun. Kept in perspective, it had been quite useless, a waste of his talents even. But 'keeping it in perspective' was probably the wrong approach to assess this activity.
It had been fun.
Shenanigans. Nonsense. But fun.
At any rate, it had obviously been great for morale. That was probably the use of such 'holidays', doing things that just were fun.
Still, he had seen how the ponies handled such a situation. Sending a pegasus to deliver a 'bomb' had been an interesting tactic... tactic! Perhaps he should add a little snowball fight to the training of the PDF? Would be a way to teach his soldiers strategy and tactics without having to bother Luna to create one of her shared dreams... and they would probably even like it.

It really was weird: What the ponies did always seemed to have its perks. By combining 'the pony way' with his planned lessons, he could probably increase the effectiveness of his training.

Antonius took a sip of his cocoa. One of mankind's qualities had always been to adapt to new conditions - if they had no possibility to alter said conditions. He was doing both: He adapted to the pony lifestyle, while at the same time nudging the ponies towards a lifestyle more suitable for fighting Chaos.
When this process was over, his hosts would be ready to help mankind, while mostly keeping their kind nature.
And he would... yeah, what about him? A son of Guilliman living... happily among aliens. Neither his captain nor his chapter master would probably be very enthusiastic about that. Of course, he had never broken the Codex Astartes. Perhaps he had 'stretched' it a little bit now and then, but broken? No definitely not. But still...

"A bit for your thoughts," Luna said.

Antonius turned to her and answered:

"Well, I've been thinking about my time here. I really enjoy it. I just have to ask myself if it's okay for me to have fun while my brothers are fighting and my species is in danger."

"Hmm... would it help your brothers fight or miraculously save mankind if you were grumpy?"

"No, of course not. My mood can't influence those things."

"Then, there is no reason for you not to enjoy your time here."

Antonius thought about that for a second, then he said:

"The logic may sound simple, but I can't disprove it. You're right."

Luna actually had managed to remove his doubts. Usually, removing a Space Marine's doubts was one of the tasks of a chaplain, but Antonius had (almost) never been picky. He was content that it had worked.
So, he would simply continue his course of action. And he would enjoy it.

37. Accident

A few days had passed since Hearth's Warming and the little snowball fight in Ponyville. Princess Luna was walking through the palace, headed for the armorium. Celestia had spent the entire morning there, and now Luna - although a little sleepy - was curious what her sister was up to. When she found her sister, she was absorbed in no less than three books simultaneously.

"I see you are trying to out-Twilight Twilight, dear sister" Luna greeted with a smile.

"Hello, Luna. I'm just having a little problem controlling the volatility of the Land Speeder fuel," Celestia answered without looking up.

Hmm, perhaps Luna could help. She scanned the room and found Antonius' workstation where he had begun building a small jet engine to test the new fuel. On another table, there was a series of laboratory flasks containing a multicolored liquid.
Bingo.
Luna stepped up to them.

"Now let us see what is wrong with you..." Luna mumbled and picked up one of the flasks with her magic.

"LUNA! NO!" Celestia cried.

Too late.

Antonius had just entered the imperial base and was walking towards the armorium.
A few minutes ago, he had finished breakfast with Stormy, Moonlight and Blackwing. They were going to spend their day in Ponyville looking for a house, while he was about to spend most of the day constructing a jet engine before it would be time for a new training session with the princesses. All told, things went pretty well.
He had barely thought this as he heard an explosion.

"Of course," he mumbled and started running.

As he arrived at the armorium, he could see that the explosion had happened here; while the room itself was not damaged, one of the tables was blackened and swept clear of equipment. Behind that table, he could see Celestia's hair flowing in the air.

"Tia?" he asked, approaching said table,
"what happened? Are you okay?"

Celestia raised her head. Luckily, she didn't seem to be injured, but her expression told Antonius that something very unfortunate had happened.

"Antonius," she said, and he could hear worry and fear in her voice,
"Luna is injured."

Oh shit.

Antonius dashed around the table and saw her: She was lying on the ground, her head supported by Celestia. She had her eyes closed and several cuts all over her face. A shard of glass was even embedded in her horn.

"What in the Emperor's name has happened here?" he inquired.

"A fuel sample detonated," Celestia hastily told him,
"Antonius, go and get a doctor!"

"We can save time if you teleport directly to the hospital, I'll take care of Luna in the meantime."

"I can't leave my sister alone!" Celestia protested,
"but I can teleport the three of us directly to the hospital!"

"Make it so," Antonius nodded, then he realized that he had just agreed on magic being used on him.

Well, he would have to bite that bullet. Celestia lit her horn and they were engulfed in her magic.
The next moment, they materialized in a hallway of Canterlot General, directly in front of a very surprised Rapid Cure. He was barely able to shout

"Whoa!"

as Celestia quickly told him what had happened.

"Get Princess Luna in here!" he said and opened the door to a treatment room.

Antonius picked Luna up and put her onto the room's examination table. Rapid Cure called a nurse and started examining Luna. At that moment, she groaned and asked:

"What happened?"

"You picked up one of the experimental fuels," Celestia told her,
"unfortunately, the sample you choose was unstable and quite sensitive to magic. That's the problem I told you about. It exploded."

"Ah, great," Luna grumbled and opened her eyes,
"oh, have I destroyed this nifty artificial lighting in here or why is everything still dark?"

Antonius could hear Celestia swallow and the doctor immediately examined Luna's eyes.

"What...?" Luna asked, but Rapid Cure said:

"Don't worry, Princess. I'm just taking a look at your eyes. Please open them wide."

"My eyes?"

Antonius saw Luna's expression change. She had looked tired and slightly annoyed before, but now she looked terrified.

"ARE WE BLIND???" she shouted.

"Please, Princess, calm down and wait just a few seconds," Rapid Cure pleaded and continued his examination.

"'CALM DOWN'? HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO 'CALM DOWN' WHEN WE JUST LOST OUR EYESIGHT???"

"Just one more second... ah, yes, good, I can't see any physical damage. It seems the flash of the explosion overloaded your optic nerve. That means your blindness will highly probably be only temporary."

"'Highly likely'?" Luna asked, quieter now,
"does that mean I could stay blind?"

"Well... theoretically, but I really don't think so. Now please hold still, I'll put a blindfold on you so that your optic nerve can properly regenerate... and I have to remove that shard of glass from your horn."

"OUR HORN, TOO? I mean, how bad is it? It is not too bad, is it?"

Rapid Cure pulled the glass out of Luna's horn and examined the notch it had left.

"This is not trivial," he told them,
"this injury is severe enough to be taken very seriously. Fortunately, we have the means to heal it. Chances of recovery are good. You must, however, not use your magic for about a week. If you keep using your magic, your horn might fracture."

"How am I supposed to raise the moon, then? Or watch over my subjects' dreams? I have duties!"

"I will take care of your moon, Luna," Celestia assured her.

"And ponies will have to deal with possible nightmares the old fashioned way for a week," Antonius added,
"should not be fatal for them."

Luna did not look very enthusiastic about that.

"Well, I am not fond of this. Can we use magic to fix my horn - and my eyes?"

"Luna," Celestia said,
"you know that healing magic does not work that way. It is..."

"All right, all right!" Luna interrupted her,
"then, I guess I will have to forego my sense of sight and my magic for a week."

"Yes, that is the only practicable way," Rapid Cure told her,
"and to make sure that you don't use your magic accidentally..."
he turned to a nurse
"... please bring me the largest horn splint we have and the horn repair balm."

"You want to put a splint on my horn?" Luna asked.

"I know this is unpleasant, but believe me, it's for your own best. If you accidentally use your magic, your horn might shatter, and then I can't do anything to help you."

The nurse returned with a dark grey, conical metal cuff and a tube and gave it to Doctor Cure. He opened the splint - with his hooves - and squeezed balm into it - with his magic.

"Okay, Princess, I'm going to apply the splint now. Please remain calm," he said and picked up the splint - again with his hooves.

"Tony," Luna started,
"do you remember when we talked about darksteel? Now you will see its effect."

Rapid Cure closed the splint around Luna's horn, and her hair immediately lost the flow- and night sky effect, turned light blue and followed gravity. Luna shivered.

"Okay," Rapid Cure said,
"now, we can take care of the minor wounds. Here, we can use healing magic."

"I'll do this," Celestia stated and healed the little cuts in Luna's face.

"Good. We can keep you under observation until tomorrow, or you could go home..."

"I want to go home!" Luna immediately proclaimed.

Rapid Cure nodded.

"Okay. You can go home. Call me if something happens. In any case we will meet again tomorrow when I'll change the balm inside the splint. Goodbye, and get well soon."

Antonius picked up Luna, wrapped her up in a blanket, and Celestia teleported them back to the palace right into Luna's quarters.

"Okay, Luna, we're back in your room," Celestia told her.

Luna just nodded.

"Now, what do you want to do?" Antonius asked.

"Oh, maybe I will read a book, or create some nice new constellations," Luna grumbled.

"Luna..."

"Just put me into my bed! The more time I sleep away, the sooner this week will be over!"

Antonius sighed quietly and put her down onto her bed. Luna successfully managed to take of her shoes and tiara, but she had some problems with her necklace. Celestia lit her horn and helped her. It was really impressive that Luna, despite being blindfolded, could glare at somepony.

"I'll take the day off to take care of you," Celestia said firmly.

"What?" Luna shouted,
"oh, no no no. What do you think I am, a helpless little filly? You go and do your duties. I will be fine."

Celestia sighed:

"Are you sure? I could..."

"Of course I am sure!" Luna interrupted her angrily.

Celestia looked at Antonius.

"I'll stay here," he offered.

"I thought you had some engine to build?" Luna snapped.

"That's not really critical at the moment," Antonius answered calmly.

"Could you still go?"

"Nope."

Antonius knew that Luna used her anger as a shield against her vulnerability - he really got good at this social stuff - and since exposing the vulnerabilities of aliens was more or less his job, he would keep on annoying her until she set her emotions free.

"I do not want you to see me now!" she shouted, her voice starting to crack.

"Why?"

"Because... I am helpless, like a little filly," she finally sobbed,
"and it is my own fault! I have been stupid!"

"Well, you're not perfect. Neither am I." Antonius told her.

"And neither am I," Celestia said,
"Luna, it was an accident. Such things happen. You just wanted to help."

"What if I stay this way? Blind and without magic? What will I be good for?"

"Luna, your chances of recovery are excellent. Listen to your big sister: You will be alright."

"What if you are wrong?"

"Well," Antonius started,
"if you really want some sort of worst case scenario: Let's say you will stay blind and without magic. You would still be yourself. Your experience, wisdom and intelligence wouldn't be affected by that. I'm sure you would find ways to contribute to your society. You would adapt to your condition."

"You think?"

"I'm sure. Let's have a look at the case 'Antonius Varus': I was used to hating xenos and magic. I was used to directly fight the enemies of mankind. Now, there are no enemies I can directly fight, so I do my duty indirectly by training friendly magic-wielding aliens how to fight said enemies. I would never have thought something like this to be possible, yet here we are, and I cannot find any flaw in my decisions. While we all try to change things we cannot - or do not want to - adapt to, we also have to adapt to things we cannot change. And do not forget: Staying blind and without magic is a highly unlikely worst-case scenario. You chances for full recovery are overwhelmingly good."

"Antonius is right," Celestia agreed,
"and Luna, no matter what happens, you can always depend on me - and on Antonius, too. Am I right?"

Antonius grinned:

"You can bet your fluffy little flank on that."

Luna smiled again and said:

"If you tell me where you are, I will pull you into a group hug."

"No problem, sis," Celestia smiled and shoved Antonius towards Luna before joining in on the hug.

"Such sappy episodes happen quite often around here, don't they?" Antonius asked, still grinning.

"Sometimes that's just necessary," Celestia told him with a wink, then she continued:
"Now, Luna, what are we going to do now?"

"If you do not mind, I would like to get some sleep," Luna answered.

"Shall we both stay?"

"No, that's not necessary. It would be nice, however, if one of you could stay."

Celestia turned to Antonius:

"Okay. Do you want to continue working on your engine while I stay here, or do you want to stay here while I go to do my duties?"

"I'll stay here for the time being."

"Okay. I'll still try to look after the both of you as soon as I can. Later!"

Celestia left. Luna snuggled into her bed and was soon asleep. Antonius just waited.
Some time ago, Luna had done the same when he had been incapacitated by the poison joke. Now, it was his time to return the favor.

Luna slept fitfully, until she suddenly sat up and shouted:

"Cellie! Tony! Are you here?"

"Of course I'm here," Antonius answered calmly.

Luna sunk beck into her sheets and turned towards him.

"Damnit," she mumbled,
"this is most unnerving. I am the Princess of the Night. I usually like darkness, but not this kind. Not at all."

"Don't worry, this week will be over quickly, and in the meantime, just use me as a replacement for your eyesight and magic."

"Oh, that will get especially interesting when we try to move the moon. Perhaps we could try something impact-based?" Luna grinned.

"Shut up and sleep," Antonius laughed, then he put his hand on Luna's neck and stroked her a few times.
"Thank you for staying at my side," Luna mumbled and fell asleep again.

Well, her injuries had really taken a toll on her. He would stay at her side and try to cheer her up until she felt better again. A little bit of silliness would probably do wonders in that regard.

As Luna woke up again, she could still feel Antonius' hand on her neck. He must have stayed beside her for at least... how long?

"What time is it?" she asked.

"Almost time for dinner," he answered.

"Good. I'm somewhat hungry. Has my sister been here?"

"Several times."

"Have you taken turns?"

"No, I've been here the whole day."

"You missed lunch?"

"No. Celestia brought something and we ate here."

"What did she say about your hand on my neck?"

"Nothing. But she really is capable of a suggestive grin."

Luna snickered, then there was a knock at the door.

"Probably dinner..." Antonius opined and pulled his hand back.

Not being able to see, Luna perked up her ears and listened. First, steps on the floor, then, the door.

"Dinner for Princess Luna and you," a voice said.

"Thank you," Antonius answered.

The door was closed and there were steps again, then Antonius stated:

"Dinner for two."

"What's for dinner?" Luna asked.

"It's..."

A pause.

"It's..."

Sounds of sniffing?

"It's..."

Now it sounded like he was chewing.

"It's green!" he finished.

Luna laughed. She wasn't sure if he really had no idea what it was, or if he just goofed around. She did not even care.

"As long as it is not furry or trying to run away, I will give it a try," she said.

"Okay," Antonius answered.

Luna could hear the sound of metal on porcelain, then:

"Freighter 'Fork' to station 'Luna': requesting docking permission."

What?

"Tony, seriously, I am not a little filly - and I can eat myself."

"By stuffing your muzzle into your food?"

"Umm... well... crap. Okay, I guess feeding me really makes sense, no matter how embarrassing it is. Just one question."

"Yes?"

"Station 'Luna' to freighter 'Fork': What is your cargo?"

"Some green stuff," Antonius said flatly after a second.

"Sounds delicious," Luna smiled.

Antonius shoved the fork into her mouth and - having 'delivered the cargo' - pulled it out again. Luna chewed.

"Mmmhh... some kind of vegetable puree. Not bad. I am just surprised there were no docking sound-effects."

"You know, there's no sound in space," Antonius told her.

"In movies, there is."

"You have movies about space?"

"Yes, for all I know. I will try to get some of them once I can see again if you would like."

"Yes, definitely. Seeing how your species imagines space to be would certainly be interesting."

After they had had dinner, Luna got up.

"Now, Luna," Antonius asked,
"what do you usually do after getting up?"

"I take a shower."

"A shower?"

"Yes."

He-he. There was no way Antonius would give her a shower.

"Well... umm... okay. A shower it shall be."

Wait, what?

Luna felt that she was lifted and carried around. According to the sound of Antonius' footsteps, he had really brought her into the bathroom, where he put her down again.

"Wait a second, I'll be back in a moment," Antonius said and darted out of the bathroom. He soon came back and mumbled:
"Step 1: Tie up horse using a quick-release knot...".

WHAT? He couldn't be serious...

"... nah, I'll go for 'place pony in shower / bathtub'. Completed," he announced.

"Better, but actually, I do not think this whole thing is really necessary," Luna said, a little intimidated.

"Okay, but... one week without a shower? Or a bath?"

"Oh... you are right... well, then... umm... continue."

She could hear him rummaging about, then he said:

"Hmm... 'Mane and Tail'... 'Fur and Feathers'... hey, that's almost like another instruction manual!"

Another?

"Keep your eyes closed, Luna, I'll remove the blindfold during this procedure."

He was really going to pull that trough...

A moment later, Luna could feel a little whiff on her eyelids again, then Antonius said:

"Okay, pony ready for shower, brush ready, shower gel, -foam or whatever is also ready. Then, let's begin."

He was REALLY going to pull that trough!

"Step 2: Comb horse to remove dirt... also not necessary, you're not really dirty."

Why did Luna get the feeling that he was following some obscure list?

"Step 3: Wash horse's face."

"Tony, you know I am a pony, right?"

"Oh, yes, of course. Sorry."

Now Luna could feel the soft touch of a wet sponge on her face. Once Antonius had finished wiping her face clean, he declared:

"Done. Step 4: Wet the... pony."

Luna could feel the shower's water jet, first on her front legs, then on her hind legs. Finally, the rest of her body had a turn.

"Done. Pretty easy. Step 5: Clean the pony's an... oh."

"What?" Luna demanded to know,
"what are you doing? Why are you always talking about 'steps'?"

"I stumbled upon a manual how to wash horses in the ancient book we discovered. It was lying on your desk. I didn't read that part at first, but now I'm following the list."

Luna wasn't sure if she should laugh or cry. She choose the former.

"Tony, forget that list. Just use a little common sense. And hands off the part you just almost mentioned!"

"Okay, you're the boss."

Antonius started washing her mane. Except for a comment about 'a whole lot of hair', nothing weird happened - aside the fact itself that she got a shower. Having her tail washed was a bit more embarrassing, but she ignored that feeling. Antonius wanted to help her, she couldn't be too sensitive.

Now he started washing her neck, then her back and wings. It was still awkward, but Luna had to admit that the warm water combined with the massaging effect of the brush were also quite relaxing. When Antonius reached her tail, he stopped.

"Well, Luna, I think I need your specific permission to go on now. Or should I get Tia to do this?"

"Huh? You want to go to my sister, into the throne room, and declare that you need help washing my hindquarters? That would be even more embarrassing than you doing it!"

"Well, try to look at it that way: It certainly won't be as embarrassing as waking up sandwiched between two ponies."

"Oh... the poison joke incident... can you tell me why we are always getting into such situations? I mean, it is almost as if the innuendos are deliberately looking for us!"

"Hmm... if I didn't know that the universe is uncaring, I'd say it wants to make fun of us. Now, what shall I do?"

Luna sighed:

"Just go on. I will pretend not to be present."

"Okay, and I will pretend that you are... a pet? Perhaps a dog?"

"I certainly will not say 'woof'."

"Uh... then I'll just add it to my list of weird things I'll never talk about. I'm just thankful for that skinfold... In the meantime, you could think about the heat dissipation of plasma reactors in different environmental conditions."

"I could do whaAAAAYYYYIIIIEEEEEEEE!!!"

"Done!" Antonius proclaimed,
"the worst part is over. Was my distraction successful?"

"Not entirely," Luna answered flatly.

That had definitely been embarrassing. And awkward. But Antonius was right: compared to the things that had happened to him, it was barely worth mentioning.

After that, Luna's legs were quickly done and she could feel the warm water as Antonius rinsed off the foam.
Now she was clean. Wet, but clean.

She climbed out of her bathtub, guided by Antonius, then he started to rub her down - including more slightly awkward moments.

"Done!" Antonius finally said,
"now, do you use hair dryers or something?"

"Yes, there is such a device in the cupboard," Luna told him.

She heard how Antonius opened the cupboard, then he exclaimed:

"Holy Terra! What is this?"

"What do you mean? Is something wrong?"

"This is the first hair dryer ever to emit melta vibes!"

"Umm... it's size?"

"Yep. I somehow feel heavily armed now."

"Well, as a pony I do have hair and fur all over my body. I need something powerful. It was actually one of the first gadgets I bought after I returned from the moon. A thousand years ago, we did not have electricity, but nowadays, I find this dryer to be really useful."

"Okay," Antonius snickered,
"then, Luna, be prepared to be blown away!"

Luna could be wrong, but she thought that Antonius had quite some fun using the hair dryer on her. He really could be silly sometimes. Too bad she couldn't see him.

When he had finished and the dryer went silent again, he chuckled:

"Nice. Oh..."

"Is something wrong?" Luna inquired.

"Your fluffiness is currently off the scale. I need a comb or something..."

After this last step, Luna was ready and Antonius put the blindfold on her again. Then, they left the bath. A little 'thud' told Luna that Antonius had returned the book to her desk, then he helped her into her necklace, tiara and shoes.

Now, Luna heard the door open, followed by her sister's voice:

"Ah, Luna! I just wanted to check on you before going to bed. How are you doing? Your moon is in the night sky and will stay there till morning. Any plans for the night?"

"I am fine, sister," Luna answered,
"but I honestly have no idea what to do now... Tony, are going to keep me company?"

"Of course," Antonius answered.

"Hmm... what about you continue your work on this new engine? That way, its completion will not be delayed too much, and it is irrelevant if I sit around in my room or in the armorium."

"Well, if you want to," Antonius said.

"Okay, you two," Celestia said, and it sounded as if she smiled,
"have fun."

Antonius led Luna down into the armorium and started working on the engine. He kept an eye on her, though. She was sitting at his side and waited. Damnit, this had to be incredibly boring for her. He tried to change that by describing what he did, and Luna listened patiently.

A few hours later, they decided to take a break and Luna insisted that Antonius took a little nap. He tried to tell her that that was completely unnecessary, but his success was somewhat limited. So they went back to Luna's room and Antonius had his prescribed hour of sleep. And he had thought he took care of her...

Antonius woke up again as he felt some pressure on his chest. He immediately opened his eyes and saw Luna, lying on him and smiling. Was that her way of waking him up?

"What...? he started, but Luna interrupted him.

"Oh, good, you are awake," she said in a soft voice,
"you know, Tony, I realized that I have a... specific desire, and you are the right one helping me to satisfy it."

WHAT? Judged by the situation, Antonius had an idea what she meant, even if it was impossible in more than one way. Was that a side effect of her injuries?

Luna lowered her head a bit and continued, her voice almost seductive:

"What would you say if the both of us, you and I..."

Antonius wished he had his armor.

"... go to the kitchen to get some chocolate cake?"

"HUH???"

Now Luna started laughing:

"Gotcha!"

"Luna!" Antonius groaned,
"that was not really funny, you know."

"Of course I know. I could not see your startled expression, after all."

"Luna..."

"Hey, I am sorry, but I just wanted somepony else to be in a bit of an embarrassing situation, since it happened to me all day. Now, we can be embarrassed together!"

In Antonius' opinion, bonding over embarrassments was a really strange idea, but at least Luna had laughed heartily.

"Fine," Antonius sighed,
"as long as you don't get carried away with it. Just don't ask again why we always get into such situations."

Now they went to the kitchen and found the cake Luna was 'desiring'. After sharing it - Luna had to be fed again - Antonius put his hand on her neck and led her back through the hallways of the castle. This was the method he had used for guiding her for the whole day if he hadn't carried her. Now, he had an impractical idea, but he was sure it would be good for a joke and allow him to get back at Luna:

"You know, Luna, I think it would be easier to guide you if you wore your bridle. I could hook my fingers into it and steer you much more precisely."

"What?" Luna asked, slightly appalled,
"and then, you will realize it would be even better to put me on a leash, huh?"

"Wow, you're right! I hadn't even thought about that!"

"Being dragged around on a leash? In public? No, thank you! I definitely prefer it the way it currently is."

"Gotcha!" Antonius grinned.

"What? You... oh, that was good... I really fell for that," Luna admitted with a smile.

They had barely walked a few meters as Luna continued:

"You know, if you want to put me on a leash in private, we could talk about that..."

"WHAT???"

"GOTCHA!" Luna cheered.

Antonius decided not to try to get back at her this time. The chance of further escalation was too high.

They spent some more time in the armorium and Antonius continued his work. Then, when the night was almost over, they headed back to Luna's quarters.

After sunrise, Celestia visited them and they had breakfast together. Not long after the princess had left, they were visited by Rapid Cure.

"Hello Princess Luna, hello Antonius!" the doctor greeted as he entered the room,
"how are you feeling? Any complaints?"

"No, doctor, I am fine," Luna answered,
"except for my already known ailments, at least."

"I'll have a look at your eyes, just a moment."

Rapid Cure took off her blindfold and examined her eyes.

"Doctor, is it possible that the black has become sort of... grayish?" Luna suddenly asked.

"Yes, that's possible, and it's a good sign. You should still wear the blindfold for a few days to favor your eyes. Now, let me have a look at your horn... and Princess: Please resist the temptation to use your magic once the splint is off."

He wrapped a new blindfold around Luna's head and removed the splint from her horn. Then, he examined the notch in Luna's horn.

"Good. It's healing," he told them with a smile.

Luna breathed a sigh of relief and Rapid Cure cleaned the splint and filled it with new balm. Having done that, he put it back to Luna's horn. She shivered again.

"Well, that's it for today," the doctor said,
"I'll come back tomorrow. If you need me sooner, call for me."

He left and Antonius and Luna were alone again.

"Okay, what now?" Antonius asked.

"A nap," Luna answered.

Good, that meant that they had survived the first night of Luna's convalescence.
Only six more to come.

The next two days went quite similar to the first one, with one noteworthy exception: When Rapid Cure took off Luna's blindfold on the second day, she was able to see again. Her horn also made good progress.

A few days after she had regained her eyesight, Luna was standing in the shower once again. Antonius washed her, as he had done the past days. The first time had been really awkward, even for him, but it was amazing how quickly they had become sort of accustomed to that procedure. Now, it was probably the last time they had to do this.

Once Luna was washed and rubbed down, it was time for one of Antonius' favorite parts: the hair dryer. He liked that wannabe meltagun. The way it made Luna's mane and tail fly, moved by something more mundane than her magic, was somehow funny, let alone how she looked after that procedure.

"You know, I think I'm going to miss that once you can use your magic again," Antonius told her with a grin.

"Well, I will certainly be happy once I can take care of myself again," she answered,
"I have to admit, though, that being pampered to such an extent has its advantages once you get used to it."

When Luna was ready to leave her quarters, they had dinner with Celestia. According to her, the new possible fuels for the Land Speeder were ready for the first tests. After that, Antonius and Luna went to the armorium and he continued his work on the jet engine.

"Done," he finally proclaimed,
"now, we can test Tia's fuel."

"In the middle of the night?" Luna pointed out.

"Oh, right. What about tomorrow morning? Won't Rapid Cure take off the splint then? What better way to celebrate that than with a little, potentially dangerous and definitely loud test?"

"I can hardly resist this proposal," Luna laughed.

They spent the rest of the night preparing the test, then they returned to Luna's room.

In the morning, Rapid Cure came around, accompanied by Celestia.

"Good morning, Princess Luna, and good morning, Lord Varus," he greeted,
"let's have a look at your horn, Princess, and see if we can remove the splint permanently."

"I really would welcome that," Luna opined.

She held still while the doctor removed the splint and examined her horn.

"Okay, looks good. Outstanding, even. There are no visible traces of the notch left. Now, Princess, please slowly reactivate your magic."

Luna nodded, and a faint glow surrounded her freed horn. This glow intensified, and with a grin from Luna, it became a blinding light.

"Princess! I said 'slowly'!" Rapid Cure shouted, but it was unnecessary:

Luna's horn held, her mane and tail returned to their usual night-sky look and started flowing again, and she exclaimed:

"HUZZAH! THY PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT HAS RETURNED!!!"

Rapid Cure looked a little dazed now.

"Swell," he mumbled and shook his head to clear it.

Luna picked him up and hugged him, which did not improve his condition. When she put him down again, he looked dazed and mangled.

"Always at you service, Princess. Goodbye, everypony," he babbled and staggered out of the room.

"I wanted to ask how you feel," Celestia smiled,
"but I think I already know the answer."

"Indeed, sister," Luna cheered,
"I feel great! I am ready for anything! Some potentially dangerous testing of your new fuel, for example!"

"Do you really want to..."

"Of course!"

"Then, the engine is ready, I guess?"

"It is," Antonius confirmed.

"Let us go down!" Luna said enthusiastically and took the lead.

"Give me a minute to put on my armor," Antonius said.

When he was ready, they went down to the imperial base.

As Celestia entered the armorium, she could see the jet engine Antonius had built mounted on a rack on one of the workbenches. Next to it, a little elevated, was the empty fuel tank, connected to the engine by an injection system - she had had a look at Antonius' plans some time ago. The setup was completed by an anemometer at some distance behind the engine.

"Tia, would you please get your fuel samples? I'll check the engine one last time," Antonius asked her.

Celestia nodded, fetched the first sample and went over to Antonius.

"While, according to my calculations, all samples should work, this one is the least volatile," she told him.

"Okay, thank you," Antonius answered, finished his inspection and poured the fuel into the tank.

They all retreated to a safety distance, then Luna asked eagerly:

"May I?"

Celestia had to smile. Now that her little sister had her magic back, she couldn't wait to use it.

"Just as discussed, Luna. Everypony ready?" Antonius inquired.

Oh, they had already made plans for this test. Well, they had had quite some time while they had been down here.

"Yes," Celestia answered.

"Then, let's start."

Luna lit her horn, and the fan of the engine started spinning.

"Fuel and ignition in 3... 2... 1..." Luna told them.

Then it got loud.
The engine sped up and emitted a deafening scream. At its rear end, a constant jet of flame darted out, together with rainbow-colored fumes. Celestia had been quite impressed by the little combustion engine, but this thing was insane.
And loud. Really loud. Antonius and Luna were still louder as they cheered, though.

The test was over after a few seconds and Antonius, noting down the results shown by the anemometer, said:

"Excellent work, Princesses. Now, let's give the engine some time to cool down, then we can test the next sample."

"Okay, I will return to my duties for... let's say an hour, then I will return. See you," Celestia said and left, proud of her work.

"In the meantime, you can explain to me how this Land Speeder works," Luna grinned.

"Sure," Antonius answered and they went into the hangar.

Luna immediately hopped into the vehicle and seated herself on the passenger seat. Antonius looked at her and noted:

"I just realized we have another problem to solve."

"What problem?" Luna asked.

"We need some sort of restraint system to prevent you from accidentally falling out of the Speeder. My armor locks itself in place, but you..."

"Hmm... what do you suggest?"

Antonius scratched his head:

"You know, there is an option that somewhat springs to my mind. Even if it's slightly unsettling. Do you remember that I told you I did NOT want to put you into a harness? Well... such a harness would be a solution."

"Are you sure this is not just a burst of uncontrollable passion?" Luna chuckled.

"Luna. No. Do you have a better idea how to prevent you from possibly getting hurt?"

Luna thought about that, then she answered with a grin:

"Well, it would certainly work out - if we can find anypony capable of making such a harness. And it would really be a return to the original usage of such a harness if we used it to NOT get hurt."

"Luna... damnit," Antonius sighed.

38. Test drive

During the morning, Antonius and the princesses tested the fuels. They found the most suitable one and Celestia promised to create a large quantity of it to fuel the Land Speeder.
With that, the vehicle would basically be operational, but there still was something to discuss.

"Tia," he started,
"to take ponies with me, we need some kind of restraint system to prevent them from getting hurt."

"You really want to take ponies along?" Celestia asked.

"Of course he wants!" Luna interjected,
"and I have been looking forward to such a trip since we discovered this contraption!"

"All right. Have you any idea what we could use?"

Antonius could already imagine how Celestia would react. He still said:

"Can you remember the picture of the mare in a harness you freaked out about? If we use that as a basis, we should be able to come up with a more utilitarian variant of it that will fit our needs."

Celestia did not disappoint him:

"WHAT? Are you mad? You cannot really want to stuff us into such abominable outfits!"

"I said we have to come up with a utilitarian variant. Collar to girth should suffice. Or would you prefer being accidentally thrown out of a fast moving vehicle?"

"My sister and I can fly, Antonius. And even if we would be willing to take your idea into consideration, we still lack somepony who is capable of making those things."

"While it is true that we can fly, sister," Luna opined,
"it would still be much safer with those modified harnesses. I say we give them a try."

"And who is supposed to make them?" Celestia asked.

"How about Rarity?" Antonius suggested,
"she was able to come up with clothes for me, so she seems to be able to adapt to new challenges."

"Antonius," Celestia said,
"Rarity may be an outstanding fashion designer, but I don't think she can make anything like that... she does make corsets, though..."

"So it is settled!" Luna decided,
"we will ask Rarity to help us create a restraint system for this Land Speeder!"

Antonius took a chariot to Ponyville and entered Rarity's boutique. Luckily, she was present.

"Oh, hello, Antonius," she greeted,
"how can I help you? Do you need something?"

"Actually, yes," Antonius answered,
"the princesses and I have a probably challenging task for you. Let me tell you, then you can tell me if it is within your capabilities or not."

He explained the issue to Rarity.

"A restraint system," she opined,
"that is definitely something new. And 'utilitarian', you say? Well, I'm more for 'fabulous', but I think I should be able to come up with something. I need a sturdy material and then I must coat it with something soft... hmm, I already have an idea! Do you have the measurements?"

"No, we thought you could work in Canterlot. A part of the armorium is being converted into a tailor shop as we speak."

"The armorium? That's hardly a place where fashion can happen."

"Then just let seatbelts happen."

Rarity snickered.

"Okay, I'll tag along with you. Just a second, I need to get a few things..."

Twenty minutes and a few suitcases later they were on their way to Canterlot. When they arrived, they immediately headed down to the armorium. Celestia was busy creating more fuel for the Land Speeder, Luna was taking a nap.

"Nice division of work," Antonius joked.

"Luna is so keen on testing your vehicle she persuaded me to take care of the fuel immediately," Celestia explained,
"and she decided to take a quick nap to be rested when it's finally time to do so. I'm afraid we'll have to perform this test today, else she will probably explode from impatience."

Antonius nodded and turned to Rarity:

"Do you think you will be able to create something suitable in such a short amount of time?"

"Don't worry, darling. I just need strong ropes, foam, as well as white and dark blue velvet. And the measurements, of course. I take it that I should make Princess Luna's harness first?"

"That would be much appreciated," Celestia told her,
"I'll wake up Luna so that you can get her measurements. Antonius, if there are any preparations yet to be done, I suggest you do them while Rarity makes Luna's harness and I create the necessary fuel."

Antonius nodded and entered the hangar.

Luna couldn't wait to finally test this Land Speeder. Rarity had taken her measurements and now, she was sewing ropes together to create a harness, checking the fitting from time to time. When this work step was done, she coated it with foam and finally dark blue velvet. It really was remarkable how quick she was, and how comfortable the harness turned out to be.

Having donned her new equipment, she wrapped a scarf around her throat - it was still winter, after all - and went into the hangar, accompanied by Rarity, Celestia, and a barrel of the new fuel.
She noticed that the hangar looked a little different now: There was a metal column that came out of the ground next to the Land Speeder, and the vehicle was attached to it by some sort of wiring.

"Are you ready?" Luna asked eagerly.

"Almost," Antonius told her,
"System checks show all systems are operational. Now we just need to fuel it, bolster your seat and equip it with the complement to your harness, then we can start."

"Okay. Rarity, please take care of the seat, I will help you. Sister, Tony, would you pour in the fuel?"

"As you command," Celestia teased.

It did not take long until all work was done and Luna jumped into the Land Speeder, buckling up to the passenger seat. Antonius seated himself on the driver's seat, put on his helmet and started pushing some buttons.

"Ready?" he asked.

"For some time now," Luna grinned.

"Then restrain your mane and hold on tight."

Luna quickly deactivated her mane's flow and reeled it in, securing it behind her back. Antonius pushed another button, and the vehicle started getting a little noisy. A short time afterwards, Luna almost reflexively tried to unfold her wings as it was lifted into the air.

"Anti-grav within operational parameters," Antonius said, then he continued working the controls.

The Land Speeder slowly started turning around until it faced the open hangar door.

"Luna, be ready to teleport yourself out of the Speeder if anything unforeseen happens," Antonius advised her.

"Okay, just tell me as soon as that is the case," Luna replied.

Now the noise intensified and the Land Speeder moved towards the door. It passed it, and plummeted down towards the small plateau right beneath the hangar door. It did not crash, though. Instead, it ruggedly slowed down its descent and kept hovering above the ground. Luna still screamed. A bit.

"Sorry," Antonius said,
"the anti-grav system needs some adjustments. Wait a second... okay, now the next 'hop' should be more gentle."

Antonius was right with that. They hovered and hopped down the mountainside, using various plateaus. Finally, they reached the ground, not too far away from the road to Canterlot. The sun was slowly approaching the horizon, but there was still more than enough daylight left.

"Is there anywhere you want to go to?" Antonius asked.

Luna thought about that for a second, then she said:

"Not really. Let us just go on a joyride."

"Okay. I'll continue checking the Speeder's systems while doing so."

Antonius had decided to take it slow. He had descended the mountain in little hops instead of relying completely on the ancient anti-grav system. Now, he was flying about 50 kilometers per hour and testing the steering system.
Despite the Land Speeder standing around for ten millennia, everything worked fine. His maintenance had obviously been successful. A smile crept onto his face. Yes, he could be contend.

"Tony," Luna said,
"I really do not want to tease you or badmouth your technology, but I honestly thought this thing would go a little faster."

Oh? Luna wanted to go faster? Well, the engines worked perfectly, so...

"Hold on tight," he smiled.

Luna raised an eyebrow.

"Does that mean that we will finally go..."
Antonius gunned the engines.
"...fastAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

The Land Speeder shot forward, the power of its engines unleashed. He steered towards Ponyville. The environment flew past them, including very confused looking ponies on the road towards Canterlot. Antonius grinned. They surely had never seen such a vehicle.
He took a look into the rear view monitor and raised an eyebrow. A Land Speeder that emitted rainbow-colored exhaust fumes was new to him, too.

"Huzzah!" Luna cheered,
"That is more like it! How fast are we now?"

"About 350 kilometers per hour," he told her.

They covered the distance to Ponyville in a few minutes. Antonius increased the altitude and steered around Ponyville in a wide arc, careful not to hit a pegasus. Leaving the town behind, they swept across the treetops of the Everfree.

"Tony," Luna called,
"how high can this Speeder go?"

"100 meters."

"Can we do that?"

Antonius slowly increased the altitude further, keeping an eye on the anti-grav's readings. The Land Speeder finally reached its operational ceiling, all systems working perfectly.

"Satisfied?" he asked.

"Absolutely!" Luna answered.

Antonius turned the vehicle around and started descending again. They had barely left the forest when they got company.

"Hey! You finally got this thing working?" Rainbow Dash shouted, appearing next to Antonius with buzzing wings.

Well, Antonius had been told that she was fast.

"As you can see," he told her,
"we are currently making a test-drive."

"Wanna race me?"

"No. You are fast. I already got that."

"Come on! Don't chicken out! Ready? GO!"

Rainbow managed to accelerate further and took the lead in their non-race. Antonius was annoyed. She just couldn't resist turning this into a competition. And, to make things worse, she was winning.

"Too bad this Speeder is unarmed," he jestingly mumbled.

"What did you say?" Luna asked over the roar of the engines and the wind.

"Nothing!" Antonius answered and changed direction.

In less than a minute, Rainbow was next to them again.

"I won!" she shouted.

"You don't say," Antonius shouted back.

"Now it's official: I'm more awesome than your technology!"

Gah! That mare...

"Hold on tight," he told Luna and made a sharp turn.

In the rear view monitor Antonius could see Rainbow closing up to them, a little higher than they were to avoid the engines' exhaust. He changed direction again, then he also varied their altitude. He performed several evasive maneuvers, but was not able to shake Rainbow. The blue pegasus was apparently some kind of ponyfied Skyspear Missle.

There still had to be a way to outmaneuver her, Antonius was sure of that.
So, he suddenly decreased the Speeder's altitude and fired the brake jets. As he had planned, Rainbow Dash overshot with a puzzled

"What?"

"There we go," Antonius mumbled and gunned the engines again.

Rainbow had slowed down to turn around, but now she found that she was the one being chased. She tried to accelerate again, but she was a little too slow. Antonius caught up with her and closed a hand around one of her hind legs.

"Hey!" she protested, but Antonius pulled her into the Speeder.

"Gotcha!" he shouted.

"Yeah, okay, you got me," she admitted,
"and since I'm in your flying thingy now, you may fly me back to Ponyville."

"Can do," Antonius grinned and steered the Land Speeder towards Ponyville.

When they approached the town's outskirts and had slowed down, Rainbow shouted:

"Okay, that's enough! Thanks for the ride!"

and took flight.

Antonius and Luna shouted goodbye, then the Speeder accelerated again and headed back towards Canterlot.

"You know," Luna opined,
"it is a good thing we have built this restraint system, else your braking maneuver might have hauled me out of my seat."

"Sorry, but I couldn't let her defamation of human technology go unanswered," Antonius told her.

"I am not complaining. Have you seen her face as you grabbed her? Haha!"

They returned to Mount Canterlot and started ascending it by hopping from plateau to plateau, until they were high enough the reach the hangar via anti-grav. Inside, they were already expected by Celestia and Rarity.

"And? Did you have fun?" Celestia asked with a smile.

"Of course!" Luna cheered, unbuckling herself,
"this Land Speeder is fantastic! You should try it, too!"

"Maybe I will... in due time," Celestia said.

"Well, now that it is proven that your vehicle works without exploding, I wondered if you could maybe take me back to Ponyville?" Rarity asked,
"I guess it is faster than a chariot, isn't it? I have already packed my things and made a harness for myself."

"Sure," Antonius answered,
"the least I can do to thank you for your help."

It took them some minutes so stow Rarity's luggage away - Land Speeders were not really built as cargo haulers - but once it had been accomplished, Antonius strapped Rarity in. She could barely look over the edge of the cockpit, but she certainly would not fall out.

Antonius restarted the engines and maneuvered the Speeder out of the hangar. During their descent down the mountain, Rarity was definitely louder than Luna had been. Antonius accelerated the vehicle, and they swept across the snow covered plains towards Ponyville.

"Yes, it IS faster than a chariot," Rarity screamed.

They soon reached the town and Antonius slowed the Speeder down. They slowly hovered through the roads of Ponyville to Rarity's boutique. The sun was setting now and only a few ponies were present to see the ancient machine pass by. Those who were curious followed them to their destination.

"Here we are," Antonius declared and unbuckled Rarity to set her down on the ground.

"Thank you, that was definitely a fast way to travel," she opined,
"although I think it would be more comfortable in summer... or spring at least."

"Those vehicles are usually operated by power-armored crew, so there has never been a need for a closed cabin."

"Well, perhaps you should think about something like that when designing the successor model. Just a suggestion."

They unloaded Rarity's suitcases and brought them into her home.

"Again, thank you," Rarity said,
"would you like some tea? Or hot cocoa? I definitely need something like that now."

"No, thank you. I'll return to Canterlot."

They said goodbye and Antonius returned to his Speeder. By now, it was surrounded by a considerable amount of ponies at a respectful distance, speculating loudly what exactly it was and how it worked. Three of them had even been bold enough to approach it, and Antonius knew those three quite well.

"Hello, Moonlight, Blackwing and Stormy," Antonius greeted,
"have you had any success looking for a house?"

"Hi, Antonius," Moonlight answered,
"actually, yes, we had. We want to take the next train back to Canterlot and start moving tomorrow."

"So, this night will be the last night of our little living community?"

"Guess so," Moonlight said, then she added with a broad grin:
"but if you should ever feel a need for affection, you can visit us anytime."

"And that from the mare who climbed into MY bed," Antonius laughed.

Now they noticed that the other ponies had become more interested in their conversation than in the Land Speeder. Moonlight blushed a little, turned around and stated firmly:

"What? I was just sleephunting! That's like sleepwalking! That's all! Nothing to see here! Keep moving!"

The crowd quickly dispersed now, leaving only the four of them around the Speeder.

"Well, I better get going," Antonius opined,
"I'm sorry I can't take the three of you with me, but there is no way we can buckle you up."

"Don't worry," Moonlight told him,
"I think your way of travelling is not really the best for me, anyway. We'll stick to the train."

Now, Antonius' vox beeped. Luna's frequency. He answered it:

"Hello, Luna? This is Antonius."

"Hello, Tony!" she answered,
"I just wanted to ask when you will be back in Canterlot."

"I was just about to depart from Ponyville."

"Excellent! Please do me a favor and come to my quarters. Maybe you will have to wait a minute or two, but I assure you I will join you shortly. Bye!"

"Bye."

The connection was terminated.
Moonlight had overheard the conversation and grinned:

"Guess you will get your affection from somepony else tonight."

"Don't let your imagination run wild," Antonius grumbled.

That quirk was already taken by Celestia.

He entered the Land Speeder, but before he could start, Moonlight added:

"Okay, just one question: Should we wait up for you?"

"Not necessary."

Seeing Moonlight's grin, he added:

"I have no idea what Luna might want, so it could possibly take some time."

He slowly steered the Speeder out of Ponyville. Once he had passed the town limits, he accelerated and darted across the plains back to Canterlot. It was almost dark now, but the vehicle's headlights in combination with his auto senses provided good visibility conditions.

He entered the hangar, stopped the Speeder's engines and closed the hangar door. When he entered the armorium, he was surprised to see Celestia, wearing a white harness.

"Tia?" he asked, taking off his helmet,
"what are you still doing here? If you want to test the Land Speeder, I have to ask you to postpone that to tomorrow."

"No, that's not the reason why I'm still here," Celestia told him a bit tiredly,
"Luna made me promise to create some more fuel. And if you wonder about the harness, she also made me promise that I 'get used to it' by wearing it for another hour. So, I'm going to spend this hour wearing this thing and creating fuel."

"Oh... how did she make you promise that?"

Celestia cleared her voice and assumed Luna's voice:

"Come on, sister! Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease..."

"Okay, thank you!" Antonius interrupted her,
"that's bordering on a sonic weapon. I'm going to give you a ride tomorrow as a compensation."

"That's not necessary, but thank you anyway. You better get going now, I think Luna is expecting you in her room."

"Indeed. Do you know why?"

"No."

"Hmm, well, then I'm going to find out myself. Goodnight, Tia."

"Goodnight, Antonius."

He left the imperial base and headed to Luna's quarters. There was a little note on the door:

'Hi Tony! Come in and ensconce yourself.'

So Antonius took the note and entered Luna's quarters. A table and two chairs, one of them very stable looking, had been set up in the middle of the room on a round carpet. Everything else looked quite normal. Feeling no need to ensconce himself, Antonius just waited for Luna to arrive. A few minutes later, she did, with a loaded up tray in her magical grasp.

"Hello, Tony," she smiled,
"I made some stew for us, to thank you for taking care of me and for the ride in your Land Speeder!"

Oh. Antonius hoped that her stew was better than her pancakes.
She set the tureen down in the middle of the table and placed dishes and spoons in front of the two chairs.

"Help yourself!" she smiled.

Antonius took a look into the tureen.
...
Nurgle would probably have been proud.
He still scooped a serving of the 'stew' into his dish, trying to identify the ingredients while doing so.
Well, probably vegetables. Probably.

While Luna took her serving, he tasted the slimy swill.
Not poisonous. Unfortunately, that was the only positive thing to say about that abomination of a dish.

"Luna," Antonius inquired cautiously,
"have you actually tasted your stew?"

"What? Oh... I knew I had forgotten something. Is it not good?"

"Honest opinion?"

"Of course."

"Your pancakes were better."

"But they were disgusting!"

"Indeed."

"That bad?"

"Umm..."

Luna took a little sip, then she made a face and quickly vanished into her bathroom.
When she appeared again, she hung her head.

"Sorry," she said,
"that is not what I had in mind."

"Don't worry," Antonius said,
"it's... not poisonous. That's the main thing. You should probably have stuck to pancakes, though."

"I could not! The royal chef was not there!"

"Royal chef? Didn't you tell me you made them yourself?"

Luna blushed a bit.

"Well, yes, I did make them myself, the chef just gave me the ingredients. Already measured, except for the salt. I mean, what in Equestria is a 'pinch' supposed to be?"

Antonius had to laugh at that confession. Thankfully, Luna also joined in.

"Luna, what do you think of going down and looting the kitchen?" he suggested.

"Splendid idea!" she agreed.

So they went to the kitchen, taking the 'stew' with them to discard it properly.

"I will not give up," Luna told him,
"eventually I just have to come up with something good - or edible at least."

"Please don't stress the laws of probability," Antonius grinned,
"have you ever thought of taking cooking lessons if you really insist on cooking?"

"My sister actually taught me a thing or two when we were younger. My Moon-Rock Crunchies, for example, are delicious! Unfortunately, I am not that good when it comes to main dishes."

"Perhaps you could ask Tia for some additional lessons? She seems to be quite adept at cooking, after all."

"Asking my big sister to lecture me? What a glorious idea," Luna deadpanned.

"Then, just make this 'Crunchies' of yours and leave the main dishes to the royal chef. That's his job, after all."

"Maybe, but I still think it would be nice if friends cooked for a joint meal."

After an improvised, simple dinner, they had a little training session, then they said goodnight and Antonius returned to his quarters.

"Hey, he's returned!" Moonlight cheered.

"Do I look as if I would miss the last night in my favorite living community?" Antonius grinned.

Now the batponies and Stormy told him about the house they had bought today, including turn-to-turn directions how to find it. After that, they got ready for the night. Stormy chose to spent the night with Antonius, as she had done a few times before. While everypony came to a rest, Antonius thought about the whole cooking issue.

Luna was - although animated by the best intentions - a terrible cook. Yet, those shared meals probably would not stop, since preparing a meal for someone seemed to be another activity to further a friendship.
But he could make those meals more bearable: he just had to do the cooking himself - and learn how to cook for that reason. Another piece of mundane weirdness he would participate in, but compared to massages, it was actually negligible, and honestly:
He could file it under self-defense.

Author's Note

More than three years of My Little Xeno!

Again, thanks to my editor, my followers, everyone who liked my story and all of my readers!

39. Valedictions

The next morning, Antonius donned his armor again and had breakfast with Stormy, Moonlight, Blackwing, Luna and Celestia. Then, he said goodbye to his - now former - protégée and the batponies and went to the PDF's training room, accompanied by Luna.

They were a little early, but the first recruits still entered the room directly after them: Shadow Stalker and Gentle Breeze.

"Good morning," they greeted,
"reporting back to duty."

"Good morning," Antonius and Luna answered, then the princess continued:
"I hope you had a pleasant Hearth's Warming."

"Oh, yes," Gentle Breeze told her,
"and I am glad to tell you that Hope looks more beautiful than ever. We citizens of Hope really keep our tails up."

"Good to hear, Gentle Breeze."

Within the next few minutes, the other recruits also appeared and the PDF was complete even before the scheduled time.
After the official reception, Luna bid goodnight and went to bed while Antonius started a melee training session. Only interrupted by lunch break, this training went on until Luna joined them again in the afternoon, then Antonius said:

"Now that we have refreshed some of the basics, I thought it would be fun to make the strategy and tactics training a little more 'lively'. Go and get your winter gear. We're going out into the gardens."

Soon, they were outside and Antonius put his idea with the snowball fight into practice. They built multiple snow walls as cover, split into teams and tried different approaches to hit each other. As he had predicted, the ponies enjoyed it greatly. Unlike the snowball fight in Ponyville, Antonius and Luna did not directly intervene this time, they just acted as advisors. Time flew, and soon the training was over.

Antonius returned to his room, accompanied by Luna, only to find it devoid of ponies. The furniture that had been set up for Moonlight and Blackwing - and Stormy, too - had been removed. Antonius had actually expected to find them here and help a little. They had obviously already finished this part of their moving.
It was strange how empty the room looked now, without hints at the other members of his little living community. Well, almost without hints: There was a note on his table.

'Hello Antonius, hello Princess Luna,
sorry we didn't wait, but we were faster than we had thought and we did not want to waste time when there is so much left to do. We are also sorry that we didn't say goodbye, but we also didn't want to disturb your training. We are already in Ponyville now, trying to get our stuff into our new house. If you don't have more urgent things to do, you are cordially invited to join us there.
Again, sorry, this is not exactly going as planned.'

"Sounds a little stressed," Luna smiled.

"Indeed," Antonius answered,
"do we have anything urgent to do?"

"Not that I know of."

"Ponyville?"

"I will get my harness."

Not too long after this conversation, the Land Speeder entered Ponyville, Antonius and Luna on board. They hovered through the streets, following the directions Antonius had gotten the evening before.
As they turned into the road where their destination was, they had to stop. Dozens of ponies were bustling about; at least half of Ponyville seemed to be there.

"So, that's why you call them 'block' parties," Antonius mumbled.

Luna snickered:

"Pinkie Pies's work, I presume. Just park here."

Antonius did so and when Luna had taken off her harness they entered the party. The ponies made way for them and they arrived at Moonlight's, Blackwing's and Stormy's new House. It was a typical Ponyville-style home with a little garden in front of it - and obviously the epicenter of the party.
In the garden were tables with waffles, cupcakes and hot cider. There were also the new homeowners, together with the Element Bearers. Stormy, who had obviously been keeping watch, spotted the newcomers first and started waving.

"Greetings, everypony. So, this is what's 'left to do'," Antonius grinned,
"nice party."

Moonlight spun around and said:

"Yeah, umm, no, not really... we thought the moving would take longer, but a lot of ponies helped us. Pinkie Pie started this party as soon as we were done. Had we known this, we would have stayed and said goodbye properly, but... well, we didn't know. Sorry. This whole moving was a bit... much."

"Don't worry, it's interesting to see where you will be living, and we didn't have other plans. Nice house."

"Isn't it?" Stormy smiled,
"wait, I've got to show you my room!"

She galloped towards the front door and Antonius and Luna followed.

"I choose a room on the ground floor so that you could visit me," Stormy explained while leading them into her cozily furnished room.

Antonius could see her Hearth's Warming presents there, as well as her parasprite and the Space Marine plushie on her bed.

"Nice and cozy," Antonius opined.

"Indeed," Luna added,
"I am sure you will like living here."

"Yeah," Stormy answered,
"it's just a little far away from you."

"Nah," Luna told her,
"with this nifty Land Speeder, the journey from Canterlot to Ponyville only takes a few minutes."

"Correct," Antonius confirmed,
"if you want to see us, just tell Twilight - or Applejack. They have voxes and can call us anytime."

Stormy took off and hugged them.

They left the house again and returned to the batponies. Moonlight was talking to a berry-colored earth pony mare and they both looked up.

"Princess Luna, Antonius, this is Miss Cheerilee, she is the teacher at the local schoolhouse."

Cheerilee knelt down and said:

"It is an honor meeting you, Princess Luna and Lord Varus."

"Greetings," Antonius replied.

"Stand up, good mare," Luna told her,
"so, you are going to be Stormy's teacher from now on?"

"Yes, Moonlight just asked me to enroll her. After the necessary formalities tomorrow morning she can attend my class..."

Cheerilee turned to Stormy and said with a smile:

"Ah, there you are! It is a pleasure to meet you, Stormy."

"It's nice to meet you, too," Stormy answered.

Now Cheerilee started telling Stormy about her class and explained the way to the schoolhouse. She seemed to be a nice pony, friendly, kind and calm. If Antonius wasn't wrong, interventions like the one in Canterlot would not be necessary.

A little later, the Cutie Mark Crusaders showed up and Cheerilee introduced them to their new class mate. That dispelled the last worries Antonius had had; Stormy would be in the same class as her friends, and that was certainly a good thing.

Antonius and Luna mingled - as far as an alicorn and a Space Marine could mingle - and enjoyed the party without notable incidents until Twilight approached Antonius and said:

"Hey, Antonius, I heard your Land Speeder is working again?"

"Yes, it is. It greatly decreases travel time."

"Do you remember that I made a reservation for the second trip? Well, Rarity told me that she was your passenger on the second trip, but I'm also content with the third... or forth."

"No problem, just tell Rarity to make a harness for you and tell me when you would like to start the trip."

"Oh, I've already got a harness," Twilight smiled,
"Rarity made one for me and each my friends."

Antonius raised an eyebrow.

"That means you want your trip now, doesn't it?" he asked.

"No, not while the party is still running. But immediately afterwards would be fine."

Antonius turned to Luna:

"Luna, would you..."

"Not at all," she interrupted him with a smile,
"I am going to wait here for your return."

When the party was over, Twilight fetched her harness - a purple one - and climbed into the Land Speeder. Antonius buckled her up and got behind the controls.

"Are you sure this thing is safe?" Applejack asked.

"Don't worry, darling," Rarity told her,
"I made the journey from Canterlot as a passenger. It was a bit cold, but otherwise quite enjoyable. If you don't mind the fact that you need to put your mane behind your back, that is."

"Well, I don't worry about my mane, but I think I will still wait for spring - I just have to figure out the year."

Antonius grinned at that and started the Speeder. They hovered to the town limits, then Antonius asked:

"Any specific destination?"

"Just a round trip," Twilight answered.

Once again, Antonius gunned the engines and steered around Ponyville in a wide arc.

"That's incredible!" Twilight cheered,
"at that speed, you could travel across Equestria is less than a day!"

"Better than your trains, huh?" Antonius grinned.

"As long as you don't have any luggage, yes!"

"We usually don't carry suitcases into battle, Twilight."

They finished their round trip and hovered back to their starting point. The ponies were gone now, so Antonius proceeded to the batponies' house and parked there. When they entered the house, they found the homeowners, Luna and Twilight's friends in the living room, chatting and drinking the rest of the hot cider.

"Already back?" Moonlight asked,
"this Land Speeder surely is fast. Well, it is called 'speeder', not 'crawler'."

"Yes, it certainly lives up to its name," Antonius agreed,
"by the way, there is also a machine called 'Land Crawler', an agricultural track vehicle. With its anti-grav, the Speeder is of course much faster."

"It really is an outstanding machine," Twilight said,
"but now I would like some hot cider, if possible."

They spent some more time together, then it got time to leave. The Element Bearers said goodnight, and Antonius and Luna had to say goodbye.

"My best wishes for the three of you," Luna smiled,
"enjoy your life in Ponyville. Since you are still members of the Night Guard, you may see this as an order. Blackwing, once you have settled in, I might employ your services for patrols around Ponyville."

"At your service, Princess," Blackwing answered.

Now Stormy hugged Luna, then she buzzed over to Antonius and hugged him, too.

"Bye," she whispered.

"Bye," Antonius answered,
"and don't worry, this will definitely not be the last time we see each other."

They all left the house. While Twilight and her friends went home, Antonius and Luna got into the Land Speeder. Moonlight, Blackwing and Stormy waved them goodbye as they slowly hovered away.

"You will miss Stormy, will you not?" Luna asked as they were soaring over the plains towards Canterlot.

"Probably," Antonius answered,
"I needed some time to get used to having her around, so it will also take some time to get used to not having her around anymore. Still, she has a excellent family, lives in a nice town and goes to the same school her friends attend. We couldn't have done more for her."

"Any ideas what you want to do with your spare time now?"

"Yes. I want to intensify your training, as well as your sister's."

"Celestia will certainly be delighted to hear this," Luna laughed.

When they arrived at Canterlot, Celestia was just lowering the sun. They had their usual training session, then Celestia bid goodnight and retired. Antonius and Luna continued their training, then she also had to leave to perform her duties, so he said goodnight and left.

A short time later, Antonius entered his quarters. He looked around. The room still looked empty and was utterly quiet. Yes, it would take some time getting used to that change, but he did not complain or regret anything.
Everything had been part of his mission, after all. Probably the most unusual mission any Space Marine had ever tried to accomplish: Take care that a little alien, beset by the infernal powers of Chaos, could live a normal life in peace and harmony. Really, that was far from routine. And yet, he had made it - with a little help. This mission was a complete success. Stormy was in good hooves and happy. Antonius smiled.

During the next weeks, Antonius used the weekends to cultivate contacts in Ponyville, workdays, he concentrated on training the PDF - and also the princesses - making good progress. Then, one day, he decided that it was time for a first combat simulation. He discussed the procedure with Luna, and they all met in the dream realm.

"Recruits," Antonius boomed,
"you are about to be tested in your first combat simulation - no slow motion to give you the time to plan your steps, no suggestions what exactly to do, just an objective: eliminate the Chaos forces."

As he had said that, a human shape appeared next to him.

"This is a simulation of a Chaos cultist," Antonius explained,
"at least it's our stand-in for one. I have to admit that we refrained from putting the marks of Chaos on him, since we won't put them on anything, not even simulated enemies. He will still behave like a real cultist: he will try to kill you. For the first fight, we will create 13 of them, one for each pony to deal with. They will be armed with ranged- and melee weapons. Adjust your tactic to that and to the terrain. Any questions?"

"Let's kick some butt!" Black Harrow shouted.

"That's not a question, but I still appreciate your enthusiasm. Now, TO BATTLE!"

The fake cultist vanished and Luna created the attackers. The ponies immediately took cover behind suitable obstacles and waited for them to come closer.

Once they were within weapons range, the recruits quickly fired crossbow bolts at them and hid again. While the execution of this part of the attack had been good, the accuracy had been somewhat off. They hit mainly their enemies' legs, slowing them down, when they could have gone for a lethal shot. A few had caused more serious injuries, though.

The cultists returned fire and plastered the covers with lasfire and bullets. Until now, there were no casualties, just a few wounded cultists.

Then, someone drew first 'blood'. Unfortunately, it was a cultist. His victim was Black Harrow, who had jumped out of cover for another crossbow-shot. Luna teleported him away from the battlefield and he appeared next to her.

"We really have to talk about your definition of 'butt-kicking'," Antonius told him flatly,
"especially as to the active and passive part."

Now, a cultist was killed by Shadow Stalker with a bolt through the eye.
Good, now the numbers were even again.
The next kill was Gentle Breeze's with a bolt through a cultist's throat. The ponies' superiority of numbers did not last long, as another pony was 'killed' by an attacker.

The cultists reached the covers and the melee began. The ponies stood their ground pretty well, but Antonius noticed that something was wrong. One of the recruits had a chance to impale an enemy with her sword, but instead of stabbing him, she swung her sword and just cut him.
An injury instead of a kill. Suboptimal.

Finally, Antonius realized what was going on: Inhibition against killing. Well, he had taught them how to handle weapons, strategy and tactics, but actually killing someone - that was difficult for the ponies. For them as individuals and their society, that maybe was actually a good sign, but in a fight, it would be very disadvantageous, to put it mildly.

So Antonius watched the ponies as most of them tried to just subdue the cultists. They paid for their hesitation. A few of them, however, were going for kills and took over the victorious cultists after killing their respective enemies.
The fight went on, until the last cultist shot Gentle Breeze and was subsequently taken down by Shadow Stalker.
It was a pony victory, but a tight one. Next to Shadow Stalker, only one pegasus mare was still standing.

"You have defeated the enemy," Antonius announced.
They cheered for a second, but he cut them short:
"A small group of easy cultists, and you suffered about 85% casualties. Real cultists will be more dangerous, and they will come in greater numbers."

"That means we have to further improve our skills," Gentle Breeze said.

"The fighting itself wasn't that bad, but most of you lacked the intention to actually kill. We will have to... re-adjust that. Do not waste your mercy on the enemy, for they will show you none."

After this fight, Antonius adjusted the training. The new exercises included attacking straw-ponies and straw-cultists, while the nightly dream-training continued the simulated fights against Chaos.
The PDF gradually became better, especially in melee. In fact, after a few weeks of training they were more than a match for the initial cultists, and Luna and Antonius had to increase the difficulty by giving the cultist better armor and weapons.

One day, Antonius' daily routine was disrupted. He had just returned to his quarters from the afternoon training when there was a knock on his door. He opened it and Cadance quickly slipped into his room, a funnel-like parcel in her magical grasp.

"Hi, Antonius," she greeted.

"Umm... hello. How can I help you?"

"Well, actually, I'm here to help you."

"I need help?"

"Oh yes, most definitely, or do you know what day it is today?"

"I guess it's not just an ordinary day?"

"No, not at all! It's Hearts and Hooves Day! And that means that you really should give some flowers to Luna."

As she said that, Cadance unwrapped the big bouquet of flowers she had brought along.
Antonius raised an eyebrow.

"'Hearts and Hooves Day'?" he asked,
"is it common that Luna gets flowers today? I haven't seen anypony else give her flowers."

"Antonius, today we show our best friends that we appreciate them. Luna is your best friend, isn't she?"

"Sort of... yes, she is."

Cadance hovered the flowers over to him and said:

"Then, take those flowers and give them to Luna. Now.
Oh, and don't tell her that I gave them to you. It's better when she thinks you got them yourself."

"Umm... okay. Thanks."

"You're welcome!" Cadance cooed sweetly,
"and another tip: Get out of your armor and into more casual clothes, that's more appropriate for the occasion."

Now Antonius' alertness made itself felt and warned him of a possibly ulterior motive of Cadance - her smile was a little too sweet - but honestly, how bad could a flower that was not poison joke be?

Cadance left and Antonius followed her advice and donned his casual clothes, then he left his quarters, too. He walked to Luna's quarters and knocked, the bouquet in hand. After a few seconds, Luna opened the door, and her eyes went wide.

"Happy Hearts and Hooves Day," Antonius smiled and held out the flowers,
"those are for you. You are not allergic to flowers, are you?"

"Umm... hello, Tony... well, no, I am not allergic... umm... come in," Luna stammered.

Hmm... something was wrong here. Why was Luna so startled by this little present? She took the flowers and asked:

"Are they really for me?"

Antonius raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I didn't bring them here just to walk them."

Luna looked a bit bewildered now, but she still smelled at the flowers.

"They are beautiful, thank you," she said with a soft voice, though still a little nervous,
"I will put them in a vase, get yourself comfortable in the meantime."

Luna left with the flowers.

Oh dear.
Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.

Luna was totally flabberghasted. Almost a bit panicky. Antonius had given her flowers for Hearts and Hooves Day. That meant, he saw her as his special somepony! She started hyperventilating.

Yes, she liked him.
No, she really was not ready for a relationship of such a... magnitude. But she didn't want to turn him down, either. They were good friends, and she was afraid to destroy that.

She had to talk to him. Yes. Perhaps she could somehow find a way to... oh dear.
How did he get to know about Hearts and Hooves Day, damnit!

Wait a second... how did he get to know about Hearts and Hooves Day?
She really had to talk to him. Carefully.

Antonius was contend. The flowers had obviously been a good present. He should thank Cadance again later. Strange was the fact that his alertness was still anything but silent. He sat down on a couch and waited for Luna.

She came back soon, the flowers in a vase, and set them down on the table next to the couch. Then she hopped onto the couch next to Antonius.

"Thank you again for the flowers, Tony. I am surprised you know about Hearts and Hooves Day and its meaning."

"Well, to be honest, Cadance told me about today."

Luna raised an eyebrow.

"Cadance? What exactly did she tell you?"

"Umm... that it's common to give your best friends flowers. So here I am."

Luna seemed a bit undecided, then she asked hesitantly:

"Tony, I really do not want to... annoy you, but could you please define 'best friends'?"

"Huh?"

Luna sighed:

"Tony, I will just ask you this question, and please do not resent me for it: Are you contend with our friendship or do you want a romantic relationship?"

WHAT??? Those flowers were far too effective!
He almost blurted out a 'NO!', but he held himself back. Did Luna want a romantic relationship? That was definitely beyond - far beyond - his capabilities or wishes, but how could he turn her down without hurting her?

"According to your face, you are perfectly fine with our friendship," Luna stated.

"Umm..."

"I am perfectly fine with it, too."

HUH?

"Excuse me, but didn't you just sort of ask me..."

"Actually, you just asked me," Luna explained with a smile,
"Cadance has not told you everything. Hearts and Hooves Day is all about romance. This 'best friend' you give flowers to is supposed to be your special somepony."

"My what?"

"Your... envisaged partner, your mate, the pony you want to spend your life with."

Now Antonius was shocked.

"Do you mean... I just proposed to you?" he panted.

"No, but you quasi asked for a romantic relationship."

Antonius narrowed his eyes.

"I'm... going... to... KILL HER!"

"No, that is not wicked enough," Luna grinned,
"I have a better idea. Tonight, I will request Shining Armor's attendance at an unscheduled inspection of the guard. Poor Cadance, all alone on Hearts and Hooves Day."

Antonius blinked.

"Hmm... I guess that is pretty wicked... I'm all for it!"

So the next day saw a tired Shining Armor, a grumpy Cadance and two grinning commanders of the PDF.

When spring had come, the recruits had reached the point Antonius considered to be their peak. While their ranged weaponry was somewhat inferior, they made up for that in melee. They showed their enemies no mercy anymore and stabbed and dismembered them with high efficiency.

Ponies, once kind and peaceful, had become soldiers, warriors. While off duty, they still enjoyed the usual pony leisure activities, but Antonius had noticed that they had become a little more serious than they had initially been. Their duty took their toll on them, just like on a normal human. Their kind innocence was gone and they had joined the reality of the galaxy.
So, one day after the afternoon training, Antonius turned to them.

"Soldiers of the Planetary Defense Force," he started and was rewarded with slightly confused faces;
it had been the first time he had called them 'soldiers' instead of 'recruits', after all,
"your training is over. You have learned everything I taught you, and you have proven yourself in the simulations. Now, it is time for you to be sent out throughout Equestria to create and train PDF companies. But first, we will extend the command structure. You already know that I am your commander and that Princess Luna is my commander. In addition to that, there will be a captain and a sergeant from now on."

Now Luna took a step forward.

"Shadow Stalker," she declared,
"we promote you to captain. You are in command if Lord Varus or myself are not available.
Gentle Breeze, we promote you to sergeant. So you are the next pony in the line of command.
Now, let us see where you will do your duty from now on."

She lit her horn and unveiled a big map of Equestria next to her, so that the ponies could choose their future spheres of action.
Shadow Stalker would move to Vanhoover in the northwest, Gentle Breeze would return to Hope. The others would cover the other parts of the country, from Las Pegasus to Manehattan, from Rainbow Falls to Appleloosa.

"Tonight, there will be a farewell celebration," Luna told them,
"tomorrow, we will give you the papers necessary to prove your position and task and provide you with means of transportation. Dismissed."

They met again later when the party started, and Celestia also joined them soon. There was plenty of food and drink, all kinds of treats and pastries. It was a merry gathering and they laughed a lot when they thought about some of the stranger things that had happened during their training; mistakes that had been irritating back then, but that were quite funny in retrospect.

"Really a fine group of ponies," Celestia told Luna and Antonius,
"you can be proud of them."

"Oh, we are, sister," Luna smiled,
"they are the best military force in Equestria."

"Indeed," Antonius agreed,
"every single pony is a capable soldier, and when together, their teamwork makes them even better. Once they have created and trained their companies, the Chaos cultists we expect should not be too much of a problem anymore."

"What about the Chaos Space Marines?" Celestia asked quietly.

"That is another story," Antonius answered just as quietly,
"we still need to improve our weaponry. Well, I know a thing or two we may be able to use."

"So, is that what you are going to do from now on?" Luna wanted to know,
"invent weapons for the PDF? Well, you have quite some spare time now that the PDF is sent out."

"I've thought about that, too, and I decided to take care of the weapons later. There is something I want to do as soon as possible."

"And that is?"

"I want to look for the old base of mankind. Who knows, perhaps we can find something useful there."

"Right, that is still on our to-do list. I may still tag along?" Luna inquired.

"Of course," Antonius replied,
"we will take the Land Speeder and scan the mountain rage with the auspex, west to east. You should be prepared to spend a few days in the wilderness."

"Oh, that will not be a problem. When would you like to start? Would the day after tomorrow be acceptable?"

"Yes."

"Good. In the meantime, I will advise the night guard to perform the nightly patrols on their own and get a few things packed."

40. Expedition

Antonius was busy stowing away Luna’s luggage. While Land Speeders were not really the best choice to transport things, the fact that Luna was quite a bit smaller than a Space Marine opened up some space he could use as a stowage. Thankfully, she had been undemanding: a tent, supplies and her saddlebags were everything she had decided to bring along.

„Are you ready?“ Luna asked as she came into the hangar, accompanied by Celestia.

„Almost,“ Antonius answered,
„the Speeder is fully fueled and your luggage is on board. In fact, we can leave as soon as you have been buckled up.“

„Then, let us not waste time. This base is not going to find itself!“

Antonius smiled. Luna was almost as eager to find this remnant of mankind as he was.

„Take care!“ Celestia said as Luna was seated and Antonius had placed himself behind the controls,
„and remember to call me as soon as you find anything.“

„Do not worry, sister,“ Luna smiled,
„we will let you join in on the fun part.“

„Fun? I think you mean dangerous. We don’t know what could be in there.“

„Oh come on, sister, what is the worst thing that could happen?“

„Famous last words,“ Antonius laughed,
„but really, don’t worry, Tia. Just as planned, the three of us will enter the base together, and my bolter is not just an air freshener.“

„That’s what I’m afraid of,“ Celestia grinned,
„farewell, see you soon.“

„Goodbye,“ Luna smiled and put on aviator googles.

Now Antonius started the Land Speeder’s engines and they left the hangar. Once they had descended the mountain, he increased the vehicle’s speed and they swept northwestwards.

„Okay, Antonius,“ Luna screamed over the rush of the wind,
„keep heading in this direction. Soon, we will pass Cloudsdale, then Galloping Gorge. At this speed, we should reach Luna Bay around noon.“

Antonius followed her directions and they made good progress. From time to time, they encountered a few traveling ponies, who looked rather bewildered at the passing Speeder - for a second, then they were left behind.

Right on time, they arrived at Luna Bay, where they made their first stop on top of a small, grassy hill. It was colder than in Canterlot, and there were only some conifers around them.
They left the vehicle and Luna looked at the sea.

„Marvelous, is it not?“ she asked with a smile,
„I like the sea. It looks so… endless.“

„And it is named after you, isn’t it?“ Antonius replied.

„It is, just as the eastern sea is named after my sister.“

„Do you want to take a break or should we continue our mission?“

„Oh, I would like to take a break - a lunch break, to be exact.“

So Antonius fetched the supplies and they sat down on a blanket Luna had brought along. They had just begun eating when they heard a strange buzzing sound. Antonius immediately got up and grabbed his bolter.

„What is that?“ he asked,
„sounds like insects, but it’s either a whole lot of them, or a really big one.“

Luna had gotten up too and said:

„I am not sure, but I better take precautions.“

She lit her horn and created a magical force field that encompassed them, the Speeder and their little picnic. Immediately after she was done, a greenish swarm of insects appeared and closed in on them.

„Ugh, fly-ders,“ Luna groaned.

„What?“ Antonius asked as the creatures surrounded the force field.

„Flying spiders. They can shoot web, and their bite causes swellings and itches. Their usual hunting method is to immobilize their prey and suck its blood.“

„Nice,“ Antonius commented sarcastically,
„arachnophobes really must have some good times here.“

„Are you…?“

„No.“

„Good, me neither. Want to take a closer look at them? I could separate one and let you pick it.“

„Okay. Would certainly be interesting.“

Now, a little bubble formed in the force field, and a single fly-der was allowed into it.

„Grab it,“ Luna said, and Antonius put away his bolter and did so.

There the creature was, between his thumb and index finger. It definitely looked like a spider with insect wings, including four eyes staring at him.
He turned to Luna.

„Umm, you probably shouldn’t point that thing’s butt at…“ she started, but was interrupted when the fly-der shot a web that wrapped around Luna’s muzzle.

She did not seem frightened, just annoyed, but Antonius nevertheless immediately used his free hand to rip off the web, freeing her muzzle again. Then he glared at the insect and hissed:

„Listen, you annoying little abomination: It is considered impolite to shoot sticky white stuff in the face of somepony, especially if this somepony is the princess of the county you are living in.“

For whatever reason, Luna snickered at that. The fly-der, on the other hand, buzzed angrily.

„Hmm…“ Antonius opined,
„at least the insects, spiders - or whatever this thing exactly is - around here seem to be rather ‚normal‘ than ‚highly intelligent‘… or this one is just an idiot.“

Having said this, he squished the creature between his finders and threw the mangled corpse away.

„Well, you have defeated this one,“ Luna told him,
„unfortunately, its whole family has come to attend the funeral.“

Antonius looked around.

„Yeah,“ he said,
„bolters and chainswords are not really useful here. Can you use your magic to get rid of them?“

„No problem,“ Luna answered and lit her horn again.

The force field burst into fire, and the fly-ders increased their distance to the flames. Then, instead of fleeing, they fired webs at it to extinguish the fire.

„Stubborn little bastards,“ Luna grunted and intensified the fire. At the same time, she increased the size of the burning force field. Finally, that was enough. The fly-ders took flight and vanished.

„There we go!“ Luna cheered,
„now, let us finish our lunch.“

They did so, then Antonius took his auspex and scanned the area.

„No sign of energy signatures,“ he stated,
„well, would have been quite unexpected if we had found the base on our first stop. Let’s get going.“

„We even could keep going if you told me how to use your auspex.“

„Hmm… true. Okay, Luna, listen.“

Antonius taught Luna how to use the auspex and what to look for. Then, they packed up, got into the Speeder and left the hill, heading northwards first, eastwards later and leaving the sea’s sphere of influence.
The barren grassland soon vanished and was replaced by snow covered plains. They traveled alongside the mountain range and every few kilometers, Luna scanned the area with the auspex. After a while, they came across tracks leading northeastward into a valley.

„Those tracks lead to Equestria’s northernmost outpost,“ Luna explained.

„Well, since we are here, let’s pay them a visit,“ Antonius replied and changed course.

They followed the tracks for a few kilometers, then mentioned outpost came into view. The weather had gotten worse the closer to it they had gotten, now they were in the middle of a blizzard. Antonius slowed the Speeder down and stopped close to the building.
Honestly, this outpost looked more like a rail station than anything else. No fortifications, not even a watchtower. At least it was garrisoned by a few guards who came out to greet them as they had left the Land Speeder and walked towards the outpost’s door.

„Princess Luna! Lord Varus! It is a truly unexpected pleasure to see you,“ one of them said,
„I can report that everything is quiet, no signs of unusual activity - or any activity at all.“

„Thank you,“ Luna answered,
„we will stay for just a few minutes.“

Now Luna used the auspex and told Antonius:

„No energy signatures. We can head back and continue our search.“

„Just a moment,“ Antonius replied and walked a few meters past the outpost into the snow.

„Tony…“ Luna started, but he interrupted her:

„Don’t worry, I won’t run off.“

Antonius stood there and looked across the snow covered plains. Even with his auto-senses, it wasn’t easy to see anything, but he could not shake a strange feeling that made him want to draw his bolter. He was almost sure that there was something out there, beyond the veil of snow. Well, that was probably the reason for this outpost and not his task - at least not now.
He still took off his helmet and took a look with his naked eyes, breathing the cold, unfiltered air.
Was there a voice in the wind?
Antonius listened. Every now and then, he could have sworn that there was a sort of whisper in the storm, dark and malevolent. He decided to keep that in mind, then he put his helmet back on and returned to the Speeder.

„Okay. We can resume our quest,“ he told Luna.

They said goodbye to the guards, wished them luck and left, following back the tracks until they had cleared the valley. Then, Antonius turned the Speeder eastwards and left the tracks behind.

After a while it started getting dark, and Luna said:

„Tony, it is soon time for me to raise the moon. We should set up our camp.“

„Okay,“ Antonius confirmed and slowed the Land Speeder down.

They stopped on an even, grassy area on the slopes of the mountains. The campground was surrounded by conifers east and west and a scarp with a rivulet towards the mountains in the north. Southwards, you could see across Equestria.

„A nice place to spent the night,“ Luna opined as she got out of the Speeder,
„would you please set up the tent? I will look for firewood in the meantime. But first…“

The sun was setting now, so Luna lit her horn to raise the moon.

„This duty of mine is done,“ she proclaimed with a smile and entered the small forest.

Antonius took off his helmet, unpacked the necessary equipment and started setting up the tent, using the Speeders’ headlights as a light source. He was just wondering what kind of prankster had written the tent’s assembly instructions as he heard a scream and rumbling.
Luna!

He immediately jumped up and dashed into the small forest, whipping out his chainsword. He noticed the small cliff just in time to stop. A part of the edge was broken of, and a few meters beneath him he could see a small river, as well as Luna lying in a patch of…
Oh shit.
Of course, it was not really shit, although Antonius almost would have preferred that. He immediately put his helmet back on, sealed his armor and switched to internal life support. Then, he put his chainsword back to his hip, jumped down the cliff and knelt down next to Luna.

„Luna! Are you okay?“ he asked.

„Yeah,“ Luna answered a bit disgruntled,
„just tell nopony that the Princess of the Night has caused a landslide and slid down a cliff. That is embarrassing!“

„It’s getting even better.“

„Huh?“

„Look what you are lying in.“

Luna looked around.

„Poison Joke?!?“

„Indeed. What…“

„Tony! Is your armor sealed? Are you okay?“ Luna interrupted worriedly.

„Yes, everything is fine, don’t worry,“ Antonius reassured her,
„but what effects does this plant have on you?“

„No idea! This is the first time I made its direct acquaintance.“

„Well, let’s get out of this patch.“

„We have to wash in this small river, too, else you will not be able to take off your helmet for the rest of our journey.“

So they went into the water and had a thorough wash. When they were done, Luna dried them with her magic and used another spell to clear even the faintest remnants of the Poison Joke. Then they circumvented the patch Luna had fallen into and returned to their camp, collecting the needed firewood on their way.

Antonius resumed putting up the tent, while Luna took care of the campfire and the rest of the campsite.

„Tent’s ready,“ Antonius proclaimed after a while.

„The camp is ready, too,“ Luna replied.

She had done a good job: There were logs as sitting accommodations and the campfire was burning brightly. Antonius went to the Speeder, deactivated its headlights and asked:

„And how are you feeling?“

„Good. Poison Joke is not harmful to us ponies, I will just experience some sort of strange or silly effect in the morning - who knows, perhaps it is even funny.“

„Let’s hope so,“ Antonius said grumpily.

„No need to be grumpy,“ Luna smiled,
„we have a camp, a campfire and a nice view. Let us have dinner, that will hopefully lighten your mood. First, we should get some water from that rivulet over there.“

So they went to the scarp and Antonius formed a bowl with his hands and caught the water that was running down the rocks.

„Help yourself,“ he invited Luna.

She looked a little confused, then she stepped closer and took a few sips out of his hands. When she was done, she grinned at Antonius:

„Not too bad, I prefer one of those, though.“

Having said this, she fetched a stainless steel cup from her saddlebags and filled it under the rivulet. Antonius stared at her cup for a few seconds, then he mumbled:

„I’m obviously stupid.“

„Nah,“ Luna laughed,
„just a little unused to pony camping gear. Here, I have brought a cup for you, too.“

Antonius took the cup, filled it and they returned to the campfire. After dinner, Luna fetched some marshmallows and told Antonius:

„It would not be a real camping trip without marshmallows - and a good scary story! I am sure you know a few good ones.“

„Well,“ Antonius answered as he put the little white cylinders on a stick and held them over the fire,
„I surely could tell you a few… disturbing stories, but what about you telling one?“

„Oh, okay. What do you want to hear? The story of the headless horse?“

„What about the story of what the hell is in the northern ice dessert?“

Luna looked a little startled, then she answered:

„Snow. Lots of it.“

„Luna,“ Antonius sighed,
„there is something there, and it is more than just snow. I could hear it in the wind, like a malevolent whisper. A windigo?“

„No, not quite.“

„Then, what is it?“

Luna hesitated for a second, then she said:

„Sombra.“

„And what is a ‚sombra‘?“

„Not what, who. Sombra was an evil unicorn who ruled the Crystal Empire and enslaved the ponies there. About a thousand years ago, my sister and I were able to banish him into the ice of the arctic north, but not before he had a chance to curse the Crystal Empire and make it vanish into thin air.“

„So, there is an evil unicorn and a whole empire somehow hidden up there? Shouldn’t at least this Sombra be dead now?“

„No, for he is more than just a mad unicorn. He is a shadow.“

„Huh?“

„It is hard to explain. He is a pony as well as he is a shadow.“

„Oh? Well, that’s sort of weird… I’ll just blame magic,“ Antonius grinned.

„Dark magic of the worst kind,“ Luna said gravely.

„My faith is my shield,“ Antonius stated.

„Faith alone will not be enough once Sombra and the Crystal Empire return.“

„In that case, I still have a bolter and a chainsword.“

„I hope we will never have to find out how useful they are in that situation.“

„Don’t worry, a bolt to the head is certainly at least seriously annoying.“

As long as there was a physical head - or body - to shoot at. Antonius knew that.
If this Sombra really had some sort of immaterial form, only a psi-weapon could harm him. Unfortunately, there was none available, but perhaps the ponies’ magic could be used as a substitute.
Well, that was a problem for another time, now, the ancient base of mankind took priority.

To lighten the mood and cheer Luna up, Antonius started telling some funny anecdotes, and Luna soon also told him a few strange experiences.
When it was time to retire, Antonius asked:

„Who’s going to take the first watch?“

„Watch?“

„We’re in the wild, we must not be careless, even though we should be able to deal with any wild creature without much of a problem.“

„You are right. I suggest Mr. Magical Force Field takes the watch.“

Now she lit up her horn, and said force field came into existence. It surrounded the whole campsite, including the Land Speeder. Thankfully, the campfire’s smoke - and air in general - was able to pass it.

„This field will exist until sunrise and keep us save. Now, let us go to sleep. I have brought bedrolls, one of them your size.“

„Thanks, but I’ll leave my armor on and do thus not have a need for a bedroll.“

„Oh, so I have brought your pajamas for nothing, too?“

„You have brought my pajamas?“

„Of course.“

„Well, thank you, ‚mommy‘, but I will stick to my decision.“

„So you want to ignore the wisdom of a hundred centuries?“ Luna grinned.

„Not to take off your armor while sleeping in the wild seems wiser to me,“ Antonius grinned back.

They entered the tent. Antonius lay down, Luna took off her jewelry and crawled into her bedroll. They bid goodnight and were soon asleep.

Antonius awoke again before sunrise. He crawled to the entrance and took a look outside: Luna’s force field was still active and there was no sign of anything wanting to penetrate it. He turned to Luna to make sure that she was alright. He could hear her quiet breathing, and she turned around in her sleep.
But why did just the upper part of the bedroll move?

Antonius crept a little closer and peeked into her bedroll. He could see her mane, but it was light blue, as if she had decided to deactivate the magical effects she usually put on it. But even it that was true, there was less mane than usual. Luna moved again, and a small horn protruded from the hair.

This pony was not Luna, although she had quite some similarities with her! What had happened? Where was Luna? And how did that filly get into her bedroll?
Or… no, that was a little far fetched, wasn’t it? Perhaps… well, he had to make sure.

He carefully lifted the part of the bedroll that covered her. Her fur was brighter than Luna’s, but there were wings! So she was a alicorn filly with an overall striking resemblance to the Princess of the Night. Despite the quite unfortunate implications, he had to make sure and took a look at the filly’s flank. Luna’s cutie mark!

This filly was Luna! Was that the effect the Poison Joke had had on her? Probably, he couldn’t think of another reason for this weird transformation at least.

Luna moved again, and this time, she opened her eyes and looked at him.

„Good morning, Tony,“ she smiled, then she raised an eyebrow,
„umm… are you peeking at me?“

„Sorry, Luna,“ Antonius replied,
„but I had to make sure that you are really… you.“

„Huh? What do you mean by that? Of course I am…“
She turned her head, took a look at her body and froze. Then she started screaming.
„Tony! We are a filly!“

„It looks that way.“

„‚It looks that way‘? What a stupid answer is that supposed to be? Do something!“

„And what? I can’t really stretch you back to your normal shape. I think this is the result of your contact with the Poison Joke.“

Luna stared at him for a few seconds, then she pouted and said:

„I hate Poison Joke.“

Antonius could not prevent himself from snickering. Mini-Luna pouting just looked too adorable!

„This is not funny,“ she grumbled.

„Sorry, Luna, but honestly, you are so damned adorable as a filly.“

„I would like to forego this adorability.“

Antonius laughed and could not restrain himself from asking:

„Ooh, widdle Woona is grumpy-wumpy?“

Luna glared at him:

„Widdle Woona will kick your butty-wutty!“

That was too much for Antonius. He broke down laughing.

„When you are done making fun of me, perhaps you could try to help me?“ Luna asked him.

He immediately realized that she really sounded hurt, so her reigned himself in and looked her in the eyes.

„Luna, I don’t want to make fun of you. It’s just…“

„Yeah, I am adorable, I got that. This is still an involuntary change to my body. Would you like to wake up as a child?“

Antonius made a face.

„Hell, no. Well, Luna, it is probably just Poison Joke, and there is a cure for that. We could abort our mission and visit Zecora. She has a remedy.“

Luna tilted her head a little bit.

„You would abort this important mission to get me cured?“

„Of course. Shall I prepare our departure?“

Luna thought about that for a second, then she answered:

„Yes, but we are not going to Zecora yet. I do not want to delay our discovery of the base just because I was stupid enough to fall into a patch of that flower. We will continue our mission and pay Zecora a visit as soon as the base is found.“

„Are you sure?“

„Of course. It may be weird, but temporary being a filly is not exactly dangerous to me. Just no ‚widdle Woona‘ jokes, okay? Just treat me as if I were still my real size.“

„Okay.“

Since the time for dawn had come by now, they left the tent and Luna lit her (adorable little) horn to lower the moon. It started… sauntering towards the horizon?
Antonius took a look at Luna: Her face showed more that just a little strain. When the moon had traveled more than half the way towards the horizon, it suddenly stopped. The glow around Luna’s horn vanished and she took several deep breaths.

„Damnit,“ she mumbled,
„this is surprisingly difficult. My condition seems to affect my powers. This is very unsettling.“

At that moment, Antonius’ vox beeped. He activated the device and they could hear Celestia’s voice:

„Antonius? Is Luna okay? What is going on? Are you having any problems?“

Luna waved urgently at Antonius, so he muted the vox and turned to her.

„Please do not tell my sister that I am a filly. I would never her the end of it!“ she pleaded.

Antonius nodded and unmuted the vox:

„We had a little incident with Poison Joke. While my armor protected me, Luna was unfortunately exposed to the plant. Her magical capabilities seem to be reduced. Otherwise, she has suffered no harm.
We thought about aborting our mission, but she decided to carry on. On our way back, we will stop at Zecora’s.“

Antonius had to grin a bit. He had not lied; being a filly was not really harmful to Luna. He had just not told the whole truth.

„Oh, okay,“ Celestia responded,
„shall I take over Luna’s moon-duty in the meantime?“

Antonius took a look at Luna. She did not seem to be particularly excited about this prospect, but she still nodded, albeit reluctantly.

„Yes,“ Antonius said curtly.

„Can I talk to her?“

Crap. Celestia would surely recognize that Luna sounded quite a bit younger and smaller now. Luna obviously thought the same, as she firmly shook her head - sending her mane flying.

„Sorry, but the Poison Joke has affected her voice as well, so she wants to go easy on it as much as possible.“

„But she IS okay?“

„Alive and kicking - figuratively. No need to worry.“

„Okay. Please tell me if anything noteworthy should happen. Celestia, out.“

„Antonius, out.“

He deactivated the vox.
A second later, the moon started moving again and vanished behind the horizon to be replaced by the sun.

„Let us hurry to find that base,“ Luna grumbled,
„I want my full magic back.“

They still took the time to have a quick breakfast. When Luna got her cup of coffee, she started grinning and said:

„You know, my magic may be weak, but being this small has an advantage: The coffee is much bigger now!“

When they were done, they packed everything together and got into the Land Speeder.

„Another problem,“ Antonius noticed,
„your harness does not fit you anymore.“

„Then we will have to improvise something… There is a long scarf in my luggage, perhaps it can help?“

„Hmm… worth a try.“

This ‚something‘ they improvised turned out to be tying Luna to her harness with the help of her scarf. Quite unorthodox, but it worked.

Soon, they left the campsite and continued their search for the ancient base of mankind. They entered every valley and conducted thorough scans, but by the end of the day, they had not found anything.

They set up another camp next to a small lake. To compensate for his failed Mucranoid, Antonius took a bath in that lake while Luna stood guard. When he was done, they switched places.
Since Luna was not able to establish a reliable force field, he offered to keep watch during the night while she slept.

It was past midnight when Luna came out of the tent. Antonius turned to her:

„Luna? Is something wrong?“

„Well, yes, it is,“ she said hesitantly,
„you see, my body is much smaller now, and… that is why… umm… I am cold.“

Well, it was pretty cold here, at least for a normal human - or a pony. They were way up north, close to the mountains, and it was still early spring. No wonder Luna was cold. In retrospect, the bath in the lake had probably not been the wisest thing to do, either.

Now, Antonius had to come up with an idea to keep her warm. He looked around, and his eyes fell upon the Speeder.
A ramjet-heater… no, that would blow Luna away… and burn her… and probably kill her.
The life support system in his armor? No, he couldn’t stuff her into the armor.
The campfire? Not possible in the tent, and the air outside was too chilly.
He could heat up rocks with a fire and put them into the tent… but that would take some time, and he couldn’t risk Luna becoming hypothermic.
There was still one way to warm her: He was warm-blooded. He could act as a living hot-water bottle. So he asked her:

„The only reasonable way to warm you I see is body heat. Do you concur?“

„I concur, as long as it keeps me warm,“ Luna shivered.

They entered the tent.

„Guess it was a good thing you brought my pajamas in the end,“ Antonius opined and started taking off his armor.

He still kept the chainsword close by at any time, just in case some wild creature should show up. When he had donned the pajamas, he turned to Luna; she was looking at him.

„Umm, Luna…“

„Yeah?“

„You did not really peek at me, did you?“

„No,“ she answered curtly.

The fact that she turned crimson did not really support her statement, but Antonius choose to ignore that, especially since it probably just was her ‘revenge’ for him peeking at her earlier. After everything that had happened to them, this was negligible. Damnit, now that he thought about it, they had been in a lot of weird situations.

Antonius just nodded and crawled into his bedroll.
Now Luna climbed onto his shoulders and vanished inside the bedroll. A moment later, her head emerged again on his chest, close to his head.

„Warm?“ Antonius asked.

„Yeah, thank you,“ Luna smiled,
„you know, at the moment, one could say that you are a…“

„If you call me a ‚hottie‘ I will freak out,“ Antonius interrupted her.

„Oh… I did not say anything,“ Luna decided any curled up on his chest.

Antonius put his hands around her, and soon, she was asleep while he wanted to stay awake and keep watch.

When Antonius woke up the next morning, he realized that something had not gone according to that plan. He had fallen asleep.
Damnit, why? Was it because of the fluffy little filly on his chest? Had she made him so sleepy?

He could still feel her lying on his chest, covered by his hands, but somehow, she was even fluffier than a few hours before. He opened his eyes and took a look:
Luna was lying on her back and his fingers were buried in the fur of her belly. Well, that explained the extra fluffiness.

Antonius decided to wake her up so that they could continue their mission. He removed a hand from her belly and gently patted her head. It took a few pats for Luna to wake up, and the first thing she said was a drowsy

„Five more minutes.“

Antonius’ second attempt at waking up Luna - five minutes later - was more successful. They packed together and left the campsite.

It was early afternoon when Luna suddenly shouted:

„Tony! Tony! I am getting a reading!“

Antonius stopped the Land Speeder and took a look at the auspex.

„Bingo. A faint energy signature. Highly likely artificial. Let’s have a closer look at it.“

He steered the Speeder closer to the signature until they were in front of a wall of rock. Lots of boulders were lying around, and the rocks themselves looked weathered.

„A few landslides must have come down here,“ Luna opined.

„Indeed,“ Antonius answered,
„taking all those millennia into consideration, it’s not really surprising.
I think the base is inside this mountain. At least I don’t know what else could have such an energy signature and the mountain range has some similarities to the one in the drawings.
Now, we have to find a way inside… no, that’s not quite right.“

„We have to pick up my sister first, right?“

„Yeah. And we have to cure you, too. Something is still active in there. I would like to explore it with two combat-ready alicorns, just to be sure. Furthermore, that was our plan. I’ll mark this position with my data-slate.“

Antonius fetched the slate and pushed the corresponding runes. A new waypoint lit up on the device’s map of Equestria.

„Okay, now we’ll inform Celestia.“

A few seconds later, the Princess of the Sun was on the vox.

„Antonius? Luna? How’s it going?“

„We’ve found an energy signature inside a mountain. Highly likely the base we are looking for.“

„That’s fantastic! Where are you?“

„Almost directly north of Canterlot. Your ancestors must have wandered straight southward. Now, we will return. We should arrive this evening. I suggest you pack your things and prepare yourself for a expedition - and it would be really convenient if you could send someone to Zecora so that she is waiting for us with the Poison Joke remedy.“

„I’ll send a letter to Twilight; she can contact Zecora. Do you want to set out tomorrow or do you want to spend a day or two in Canterlot to regenerate?“

„Tomorrow!“ Luna cheered, then she realized that she had just revealed her not quite mature voice.

„Wow, Luna“, Celestia noticed,
„the Poison Joke has really affected your voice. You almost sound like a filly!“

Luna laughed awkwardly and Antonius said:

„This will be fixed before the day is over. We’re coming back now. Antonius, out.“

„I’ll be waiting for you. Celestia, out.“

Antonius turned the Land Speeder southward and accelerated.
Tomorrow the ancient base of mankind would be reclaimed by the Imperium of Mankind!

Author's Note

In case you are wondering about the style of the quotation marks:
I switched to a new word processor and it handles those a bit differently.

41. Camping trip

Antonius and Luna passed Canterlot and Ponyville and headed straight to Zecora’s home. The Zebra was already expecting them and greeted as the Land Speeder came to a halt:

“Antonius, hello, it’s very nice to see you,
but where is Princess Luna, can you give me a clue?”

“Don’t worry, she is right here,” Antonius told her.

Then, he unbuckled Luna and got out of the Speeder with her on his arm.

“No comment,” Luna said sternly,
“do you have the remedy ready?”

Zecora smiled and answered:

“Of course, little princess, Twilight told me so,
I freshly made the remedy a few hours ago.
Now come, so that we can make you all right,
And turn you back into the great Princess of the Night!”

Now she quickly prepared a bath and Antonius put Luna into the tub. Luna submerged her little body completely, and just a second later, she started growing back to her usual size. The water she displaced flew over the edge of the tub, and when the process was finished, there was barely any water left at all; the tub was just full of Luna.

“Umm… a little help?” she asked with a slight blush, and Antonius helped her out of the tub with a grin.

“I guess now you have to get along with normal sized coffee again,” he quipped.

“Unless I borrow your mug,” Luna grinned, then she turned to Zecora:
“Thank you, Zecora. Once again, your help has been invaluable.”

“I like to help whomever I can,
be they animal, pony or man,” the Zebra smiled.

After saying goodbye, Antonius and Luna boarded the Land Speeder and a few minutes later, they entered the hangar below Canterlot. Celestia was already expecting them:

“Hello Luna, hello Antonius. It’s good to have you back.”

“Sister, we have only been away for three days,” Luna answered.

“Ah, your voice is back to normal.”

“Yeah, I made a full recovery.”

“Let us go to my quarters and discuss our trip tomorrow. I’ll have the servants bring dinner there.”

A short time later, Antonius and the princesses were in Celestia’s room and Luna retold the journey they had made. When they were done eating, they spoke about their trip the next day.

“Cadance will take over ruling Equestria in my stead,” Celestia told them,
“it can’t hurt if she gets a little experience in that field. I’ve also selected a few things I want to bring along on our ride.”

“Very well,” Luna said,
“I hope you do not mind me taking a look at those things. I want to sort out redundant luggage and optimize everything for transport.”

“Don’t worry, it’s not that much, but if you want to, do your optimization.”

“It probably wouldn’t hurt,” Antonius opined,
“stowing away the luggage for two people worked quite well, despite the fact that Land Speeders were not designed to carry much luggage. With the two of you on board, we don’t just need to bring along more gear, we also have less space to put it.”

“I guarantee, I will find a way to store everything away,” Luna assured him,
“I am really looking forward to this.”

“So am I,” Celestia smiled,
“I think, everything is clear now.”

“Tomorrow after sunrise, we will set forth on our trip,” Luna smiled back.

“After so many years, we will go on vacation together again.”

“Umm, princesses…” Antonius started.

You could barely call this mission a vacation, after all. Celestia and Luna seemed to think otherwise, though. They hugged each other - and started hopping up and down like excited little fillies?

“A nice camping trip!” Luna cheered.

“Princesses…” Antonius tried to interrupt them again to no avail.

“We’ll have a campfire, and marshmallows, and stories…” Celestia rejoiced.

“GIRLS!” Antonius shouted.

The princesses were still hugging each other, but now they both had stopped hopping and stared at Antonius with slightly startled expressions.

“I would not call it a vacation,” Antonius told them,
“we have a mission. We have to unveil the secrets the ancient base of mankind might hold.”

“Of course,” Celestia grinned,
“but there is no reason we can’t at least have a little fun on the way.”

The next morning, Antonius, Luna, Celestia and Cadance prepared the Land Speeder for the journey. Less than an hour after sunrise, it was refueled and loaded with Luna-optimized luggage.

“Now hop on board and we can start,” Antonius told them.

Celestia jumped onto the passenger seat and tried to buckle herself up. A little help from Antonius later, it was accomplished.

“Your turn, Luna,” he said.

“Umm… Am I supposed to sit directly in front of my sister? Back to belly?” Luna asked, tilting her head.

Celestia spread her front hooves and shouted:

“Of course! Come into my hooves!”

Luna turned to Antonius:

“Is there any chance I might sit in front of you? Look at that grin. I do not trust her.”

“Sorry, I need to operate the controls,” Antonius laughed,
“and there is no free space left. Just get used to the idea of a long sisterly cuddle.”

Now he lifted Luna into the Speeder and buckled her up, then he boarded the vehicle.

“Okay, sister,” Luna said,
“now, deactivate the flow of your mane and tuck it behind your back. Then, put on the goggles and we are ready to go.”

“Any additional orders, proposals, tips or requests?” Cadance asked.

“No,” Celestia answered as she followed Luna’s suggestions,
“you will do fine, Cadance. And just in case you need my advice, just use my vox I gave you. Luna and Antonius will be able to answer your call. Now, goodbye, and enjoy your time as the ruling princess of Equestria!”

They waved goodbye as the Land Speeder left the hangar and hovered down to the plains. Once there, Antonius accelerated and they rushed northwards.

“This is amazing!” Celestia shouted over the rush of the wind.

“Faster than your chariot, hm?” Luna shouted back.

“Yeah, but my chariot is less likely to explode.”

“The only thing to possibly explode is me if you badmouth human technology,” Antonius told her.

“Just kidding!” she answered.

“I know!” Antonius laughed.

About half an hour later, Celestia suddenly said:

“How about a little game of ‘I spy with my little eye’?”

“Seriously?” Antonius asked her.

“Come on, it will be fun! I spy with my little eye… something big, blue and a little grumpy!”

“That is too difficult,” Luna laughed,
“do you not think so, too, big, blue and a little grumpy Tony?”

Antonius sighed. He started getting an idea how the princesses’ ‘vacation’ would be like.

After a few hours - and some more ‘funny’ games - they arrived at their destination without Antonius going insane. It was early afternoon and they quickly found a suitable place to set up camp close to a mountain stream. There was a forest area nearby, too, as well as a grassy plain.

“Okay,” Celestia said as they left the Speeder,

“Antonius, Luna, take care of the tent. I will gather some firewood.”

She left and Antonius and Luna looked at each other.

“Guess we have our orders,” Antonius smirked.

“Yeah,” Luna grumbled,
“well, the tent is not going to set up itself, but I swear, if she continues doing this, I will do… something.”

“How about falling to our knees and praising her?” Antonius suggested sarcastically.

“Hmm… not bad for a start…” Luna thought aloud,
“Tony, just do what I do.”

Celestia returned with the firewood shortly after the tent was ready and continued commanding:

“Very well. Now, Antonius, get some water from the nearby stream. Luna, light the fire. I will unpack a few things.”

Antonius and Luna looked at each other again, then they fell down on their knees (Antonius didn’t count that, since it obviously wasn’t meant serious), bowed deep and Luna cried:

“We live to do thy bidding, oh mighty sunbutt!”

Antonius thought he had misheard. He nevertheless broke down laughing, while Celestia shouted:

“SUNBUTT???”

Now Luna jumped up and started running, her sister on her heels. They dashed across the plain, cackling like playing fillies. Celestia finally caught Luna and they rolled over the grass, still laughing like… fillies.

Now Antonius realized that this was probably their first vacation in a few millennia. The last thousand years, Luna had been banished. Before that - and after that, for that matter - they were both busy doing their duties as princesses. Damnit, it was really possible that this was their first vacation since they had been fillies.
Well, he should probably be lenient and let them play. He had to admit that it was pretty heartwarming and funny to watch them roll around, their manes flowing through the air… and wrapping around them? That did look a little unfortunate…

“Tony!” Luna finally shouted a few seconds after they had come to a halt,
“a little help!”

Antonius shook his head and walked over to them. They were tangled up in their own manes and tails.

“Are you doing this on purpose?” he asked with a grin.

“Less commenting, more helping.”

He picked up the pony bundle and brought them back to the campsite. After a few minutes of untangling and some confirmations how embarrassing the situation was, they were free again and took care of lunch.

“So, Antonius,” Celestia said when they were done,
“this is your mission. How shall we proceed?”

“At first, we have to find an entrance,” Antonius told her,
“I will examine the ground for possible entrances, you can fly over the area and look for other ways to get into the base.”

They did exactly that. Antonius was not lucky, though. On the ground level, there was no entrance to be found, just a few landslides. The one he and Luna had found earlier was big enough to obscure even a large door, but digging through the tons of rock would take a lot of time - even with the princesses’ magic - and probably cause more landslides. Doing so was his backup plan, but he preferred an easier route in.
It took them a few hours, but finally the princesses came back and Celestia told him:

“I have found a cave in, not too far away! There is a large room below it, and I don’t think it’s just a cave.”

“Very good,” Antonius grinned,
“this cave-in is worth a try. Can I reach it?”

“With some climbing. I think we better teleport there.”

“Okay. Ready to go?”

The princesses lit their horns and a second later, Antonius was standing next to the cave-in. He knelt down and inspected it. There was vegetation down there, as well as a few spots without any growth that showed the ground’s material.

“Looks like rockcrete,” Antonius stated,
“I think we found an entrance.”

“Huzzah!” Luna rejoiced.

“Great!” Celestia cheered,
“but may I suggest waiting for tomorrow before we enter the base? We should be well rested. There could be anything down there after such a long time.”

Antonius was eager to jump down and start exploring the base, but he knew Celestia was right. The princesses would not be very helpful if they mainly had to fight their fatigue, and he wanted them as a magical backup.

“Agreed,” he said,
“let’s teleport back to our camp.”

The princesses lit their horns again and brought them back to their camp.
After dinner, Celestia said:

“Well, Antonius, you have lived with us ponies for quite some time now. Tell me honestly, what do you think of us? Do you like it here?”

“You are certainly the kindest species I’ve ever met… Well, that doesn’t mean a lot on it’s own, but I can assure you that I’m actually enjoying my stay here, even if it’s not really voluntary.”

“You do?”

“Yes. It’s like a foretaste of the peaceful future my brothers and I want to achieve for mankind.”

“Isn’t persistent peace a little… boring for someone who is used to war?”

“I actually never had time to really get bored. There’s always something happening, and most of the time it’s something weird. I have quite a few examples from Ponyville alone:
One day, the owners of the bakery were running around town with their newborns. They stopped in front of me, regarded me for a few seconds, simultaneously said ‘no’ and continued running. I have no idea what that could have been about.
On another day, Pinkie Pie was leading some kind of parade through Ponyville, singing a song about smiling or something. A short time later, I heard her shout ‘this donkey is really, really bald!’. Again, pure weirdness.
No, it really doesn’t get boring around here.”

Celestia smiled and said:

“Yes, Ponyville is quite famous for the unusual things that happen there. I’m glad that you have settled in so well. Now, a few marshmallows, a nice campfire tale, and then we should go to bed to be well rested for tomorrow.”

“Excellent idea, sister,” Luna agreed,
“Tony, you surely have a story you could tell us.”

“I suppose you want a scary story?” Antonius asked.

“Not necessarily,” Celestia interjected,
“While I usually enjoy scary stories, I don’t know how scary your scary stories are, so please keep in mind that we need our sleep tonight.”

“Coward,” Luna grinned, then she continued:
“Okay, Tony, please nothing too scary.”

A non-scary story. From a Space Marine. Fat chance.

As Antonius pondered the princesses’ request, though, he remembered a story that would be fitting; in fact, it was one of his favorites:

“Okay, Luna, Tia, I think I know which story to tell you. The siege of Zalathras.”

“Siege?” Celestia asked,
“very gory?”

“You’ll barely find a 100% peaceful story in the Imperium, but this one is more about my chapter master, Marneus Augustus Calgar.”

“I think you already mentions him once. He is the reasonable guy, right?” Luna inquired.

“Indeed,” Antonius smiled,
“now listen:
On the edge of the Realm of Ultramar, there is a planet called ‘Zalidar’, its capitol is called ‘Zalathras’. It is a rural place, back then even more than it is nowadays.
Chapter master Calgar and his entourage were on their way there for a routine inspection when their Thunderhawk was shot down in an ambush by orks and crash landed far away from the city. Over the course of several days, they fought their way to the city, constantly attacked by the greenskins.
Once there, the small group of Ultramarines organized the defense of the city, maximizing the city’s output of weapons and ammunition and repelling wave after wave of enemies. It went on like that for weeks, and the ground beyond the city walls became plastered with dead orks and destroyed war machines. Unfortunately, the defending humans also suffered heavy losses and were low on just about everything when the ork warboss decided the time had come to attack the city himself.
So the creature ordered its troops to attack the city with everything they had to set the stage for it. More defenders fell in that brutal onslaught, until the main gate was guarded just by Calgar. He stood there and fought off the orks for one day and one night - all alone!
Then, the warboss finally showed its hideous face, and Calgar fought a duel with it. With his might and prowess, he killed the abomination and saved the city and the entire planet.”

The princesses stared at Antonius.

“What?” Celestia asked incredulously,
“he fought an entire army? Alone? For a whole day? And then he defeated its commander?”

“Yes,” Antonius answered.

“But… how? I mean, I know you Space Marines are tough, but this seems a bit… exaggerated.”

“Well, it’s the way the story is told. But I can assure you, Chapter Master Calgar’s prowess is legendary. I am in no position - and honestly also not very willing - to question it.”

“Well,” Luna opined,
“no matter if it is the whole truth, or a little… filigreed, it is still an awesome story of bravery, courage and honor. Thank you for sharing it with us.”

“You’re welcome, but now we should probably rest. Tomorrow will be a busy day.”

They extinguished the fire, then Luna cast her force field spell to protect the campsite and they entered the tent.

“Okay, Luna,” Celestia said,
“you packed our things, where did you put my bedroll?”

“Oh,” Luna answered,
“I just brought this family-sized bedroll for the three of us.”

“What?”

“The hold is quite limited. This bedroll takes up less space than three smaller ones. Furthermore, it can get quite cold around here, trust me. If we share a bedroll, it will be all snugly… I mean warm.”

Celestia glared at her and Antonius scratched his head.

“What about you two share the bedroll and I keep my armor on?” he suggested.

“You want to bereave us of our main heat source?” Luna asked reproachfully.

“Well… I’ll better go wash myself,” he mumbled and left the tent.

This night would obviously be a little different from what he had expected. Really, sharing a bedroll… well, Luna wasn’t wrong. It took up less space and the risk of hypothermia was greatly reduced. He just hoped the bedroll really was big enough for the three of them.
When he returned to the tent, both princesses were siting at opposing sides of it, ignoring one another.
Yay, this would be a fun night.

“Guess I’ll put on my pajamas,” he said and started taking off his armor.

“Okay,” Celestia replied,
“we’ll leave until you are ready.”

“Huh?” Luna asked,
“there is no real reason to do so. I mean, there is nothing we… Ow!”

Celestia had grabbed Luna’s ear with her magic and pulled her out of the tent.
Antonius suppressed a grin. He wasn’t sure if modesty in that regard was still necessary, since he had already been pretty armor-less around them. Damnit, Luna had been sitting on him when the damned Poison Joke had knocked him out! Well, Celestia obviously thought it was still appropriate, so he would take that as a guideline and adapt his behavior.

When he was ready, he called the princesses and they returned. Luna crawled into the bedroll, Celestia preferred a spot on the other side of the tent.

“Umm, what about avoiding hypothermia?” Antonius asked.

“You go and warm up my sister, I will be fine,” Celestia snapped and turned her back towards him.

“Yeah,” Luna retorted,
“that way, at least one of us will not freeze tonight!”

Oh, great. He was caught in the middle of some bickering-crossfire. He pondered if he could do anything, but was unable to come up with a suitable idea. So he just crawled into the bedroll, too, to the left of Luna. After some not entirely friendly ‘goodnight’s, it became silent in the tent.

Not for long, though. In the middle of the night, Celestia started stirring. She shivered and looked at the bedroll. After a second of hesitation, she crawled over and asked quietly:

“Antonius… umm… I have to admit that it is pretty cold now. Do you have a little space left for me?”

“I think so,” Antonius replied just as quietly,
“it just could get a little cramped. Luna is using up quite some space.”

Seriously, how could a creature so small in comparison use up that much space?

“It’ll be ok,” Celestia opined and tried to crawl backwards into the bedroll to Antonius’ left.

While doing so, she stepped on his shoulder.

“Do me a favor and get your hoof off my shoulder, it’s not a hoofboard,” Antonius hissed.

“Sorry, but it’s not easy getting into the bedroll.”

“Maybe we should wake up Luna so that she can make way.”

“No! I wouldn’t hear the end of it! We will let her sleep.”

“Then, may I suggest stretching out your hind-legs and pushing yourself in?”

“That way, I will drag my belly all over your side!”

“I don’t think there’s another way to get in. So swallow your pride and come in before you get a cold or my patience wears thin.”

So Celestia started shoving her body into the bedroll just as Antonius had suggested. He almost immediately realized that his plan wasn’t perfect, either, as he saw a sun approach his face. Perhaps the angle was a little unfortunate or whatever, but he soon experienced that the term ‘cheek to cheek’ did obviously not need to involve two faces.
When this awkward - but still fluffy - moment had passed, Celestia managed to push the rest of her body into the bedroll. Granted, she was lying half on Antonius, but she was inside.

“Now, goodnight, I guess,” she whispered with a small blush,
“can you sleep like that?”

“I’ll see,” Antonius mumbled.

“I am curious, too,” Luna suddenly said.

“LUNA!” Celestia shouted,
“how long have you been awake?”

“Long enough to be mightily amused,” Luna grinned as she turned to face them.

“Luna, you… well, since you are awake, move a bit so that I have a bit more space here.”

Luna did so - not without a grin - and soon the three of them had taken more comfortable positions. It still was a little cramped, though.

“I have an idea,” Luna told them,

“Tony, if you put your arms around us, the space conditions will certainly improve.”

“What?” Antonius and Celestia asked simultaneously.

“Of course, the arms will be out of the way,” Luna explained.

Yeah, whatever, that kind of made sense, so Antonius followed her advice.

“This is one of the things I won’t mention in my report,” he mumbled, having a princess in each arm, their heads on his shoulders,
“and now, goodnight.”

“Goodnight!” Luna and Celestia said and it became silent.

For a few minutes.

“Tony, are you awake?” Luna whispered.

That just couldn’t be true. He just wanted two well-rested alicorns for the expedition tomorrow, but they just wouldn’t sleep. Perhaps if he pretended to be sleeping?

“Asleep,” Luna mumbled.

Good.

“Hey, Cellie, are you awake?”

Damnit.

“Yeah, I am awake, Luna. What’s up?”

Double-damnit.

“You are not really mad with me, are you?” Luna asked.

Oh, of course, this was the perfect time to reconcile.

“Not really, Luna,” Celestia answered,
“it is a little embarrassing, but indeed nicely warm.”

“Yeah, he is nice, is he not?”

“And asleep, I hope.”

No, no one in this stupid tent was asleep!

“I think so,” Luna opined,
“he really is useful in many ways.”

Oh, thank you.

“Indeed,” Celestia snickered,
“although I don’t think he had this specific kind of usefulness in mind.”

“Probably not, but I guess he has done a lot of things lately he never had had in mind. Training us, for example. You have to admit that the training is very beneficial to us.”

“You are certainly right. We are better trained than ever before, and honestly…”

“Yeah?”

“I have noticed that, because of this training, my posterior is very well-toned now.”

WHAT?

“I have noticed the same about mine,” Luna snickered.

They really were talking about… okay, time to put an end to this!

“Yeah, yeah,” Antonius grumbled,
“in addition to being better able to fight Chaos, your butts also profit from an increase in attractiveness. Got that. Would you please finally start sleeping? There is still this base to explore, you know.”

Now, the princesses became silent and the resting began.
Finally. Antonius could stay awake for several days without suffering a decrease in performance, and while the princesses were remarkably resilient for ponies, they lacked this ability and needed their sleep. He would stay awake, though. How was he supposed to sleep with the two alicorns next to him, anyway?

As Antonius woke up the next morning, he realized that his plan to stay awake had failed - again.
Could he not stay awake when a pony was lying next to him? Seemed to be the case. Damnit. He hoped he was not beginning to loose his prowess because of the lack of fighting on this planet, but he knew he couldn’t do anything about it anyway. It was better to concentrate on the task at hand than to worry about actually harmless incidents.

It was still dark, so either the time for sunrise had not yet come or Celestia was still asleep. Or both.

Antonius felt a weight on his body. One of his bedfellows was obviously using him as an additional cushion. He took a look.
Luna was still lying at his side, it was Celestia who was lying across his body!
Should he wake her up? He had no idea what time it was, and with his hands full of princesses, he couldn’t reach for his data-slate to check. After so much trouble getting them to sleep, he would certainly not sabotage his success and wake them up prematurely.

He did not need to. Celestia stirred and nudged Luna with her hoof, waking her up.

“Morning,” Luna yawned, then she saw her sister lying on Antonius and started laughing.

“Glad you’re having such a good time,” Antonius deadpanned,
“but could you please take a look at my data-slate and tell me the time?”

“I do not need your slate to tell you: It is just a few minutes before sunrise, hence time to wake up my sister. Celestia, wake up!”

No reaction.

“Hey, sister, it is time to raise your sun!”

Celestia kept sleeping.
Of course. First, you barely got her to sleep, now, you couldn’t wake her up.

“Tony, perhaps you should try a more… physical approach,” Luna suggested.

“If you think that helps,” Antonius mumbled and nudged her back.

“Yeah, my mane is all natural, just a little magic,” Celestia mumbled and kept sleeping.

“Huh? That’s hardly the intended reaction,” Antonius opined.

“Try to slap her flank.”

“What?”

“Gently, of course. If that does not wake her up, we can still resort to less gently methods.”

“Well, okay, it’ll be on your head!” Antonius said and followed Luna’s advice.

Celestia snickered, but she slowly woke up.

“Oh, you are a… Antonius?”

“Yeah, I am an ‘Antonius’” Antonius told her flatly,
“though I think you could start calling me ‚Tony’ from now on, just like Luna. However, it would be very nice of you if you could raise all of your suns.”

Celestia raised her head.

“You are right,” she said,
“it is almost time, but tell me, how did you wake me up? I thought I felt…”

“Maybe it was just a dream,” Luna grinned,
“now you should really do your duty, sister.”

“Right!” Celestia agreed, slid off the Space Marine and crawled out of the bedroll, followed by Luna and Antonius.

Celestia raised the sun, Luna lowered the moon, and Antonius donned his armor. They got ready for the day and had breakfast, then they teleported to the cave-in they had found.

Luna was downright excited. Now, they would explore the ancient base of mankind! What kind of wonders they would find? What kind of discoveries they would make?

She looked at her sister, and Celestia seemed to be just as keen on this adventure as she was.

Antonius, on the other hoof, seemed to be rather calm as he took a look at his auspex. Of course, it was hard to guess his emotions through his helmet, but made a relaxed, but determined impression.

“Okay,” he said, looking down into the cave beneath the aperture,
“I could jump down, but we don’t know the condition of the ground. Perhaps it can’t sustain my weight. Could you lower me down with your magic?”

Luna and Celestia lit their horns and slowly lowered Antonius into the cave. He touched ground without problems. Then they watched as he inspected his surroundings, his bolter ready, and used the auspex again.

“All clear, and the ground is capable of sustaining my weight, too. You can come down, but please be careful,” he told them.

Luna jumped through the aperture, unfolded her wings and hovered down to the ground. Celestia followed.

“This is definitely not a natural cave,” she stated as she used a light spell and looked around.

“Indeed. I guess it’s some kind of abandoned storage depot,” Antonius said,
“now let’s find a way into the heart of this base. Luna, take the auspex.”

They slowly and carefully made their way towards a fairly big door. The ground and the walls were partly overgrown with lichens, and there were puddles of water everywhere. A few spiders and small reptiles were scurrying around, but nothing even remotely dangerous.

“This base is not in the best shape,” Luna mumbled.

“We’re probably talking about 15 millennia,” Antonius said,
“and we don’t even know if this base was ever build to last several millennia in the first place.”

The reached the door and Antonius examined it. It consisted of two parts which met in the middle and looked derelict, just like the rest of this depot.

Antonius removed a panel from the wall next to the door, revealing some sort of mechanism Luna could not identify. The only thing she recognized was a small lever. He grabbed this lever and started moving it repeatedly up and down. As he did so, the door slowly opened.

“Manual override, the emergency door opener,” he said,
“it’s a good thing that our technology is STC-based. A lot of similarities. Auspex?”

“The energy signature, but nothing new,” Luna reported.

They passed the door. Luna was using a light spell now, too, and looked for any kind of sign on the walls.

“Hey!” she shouted and ripped some lichen from the wall,

“with a little fantasy, this sign could say ‘STORAGE 15’! You were right, it is - or was - a depot.”

“Hmm. Interesting,” Antonius opined,
“we can read this. I wasn’t sure if they already used the Gothic language back then, but this seems to be similar enough. That means that - with a little fantasy, as you said - we should at least be able to read simple signs. Good.”

They walked along a wide and high hallway until they came to some stairs.

“Can you give me a heading?” Antonius asked.

“The energy signature is below us, towards the center of the mountain,” Luna answered.

Now they half walked, half climbed down the derelict stairs, using magic where necessary. The first level below their entry point was inaccessible, so they climbed another stair down. The next level was in a better condition and had another sign on a wall.

“‘ENTRANCE HALL’” Antonius read,
“let’s go there and hope they have some sort of map there.”

They followed the signs through more hallways. The amount of lichens and overall condition of the base varied, but this place was far from being inhabitable.
After a few minutes, they arrived at a great, partly collapsed hall. There was a desk with some equipment near the hallway they had come out of, and they walked over to it.

“A reception desk?” Celestia asked.

“Probably,” Antonius answered,
“this device on the desk seems to be a cogitator.”

He examined it carefully, then he stated:

“Defective. Try to find a map, or more signs.”

“There is one up here,” Celestia told them.

Antonius took a look at it and said:

“H-A-S… could you please remove the lichen?”

Celestia lit her horn and did so, and the whole sign became readable.

“HASTINGS BROTHERS
SCIENCE FACILITY ‘PHOENIX’
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT”

“Phoenix?” Celestia grinned,
“I’ve got to tell Philomena about that.”

“Intriguing,” Antonius opined,
“there is a Knight House Hastings on Rhoda Prime, near the western edge of the Realm of Ultramar. They claim to be able to trace their origins back to the time before the Age of Strife. Too bad we can’t ask them if they know anything about this base. Well, while this is certainly interesting, we still need a useful sign to tell us where to go next. Please keep looking.”

They searched the whole hall - as far as it was accessible - and fortunately found some more signs. Quarters, labs, assembly halls, and many more. Luna thought about the size of this base. It had probably been really big, with hundreds, if not thousands of humans living here. What did they do? How did they live?

As she pondered those questions, she came upon another sign. Like many others she had found, a lot of names were written on it, among them one Luna had no idea what it was.

“Tony, sister, please come here!” she called.

They were quickly at her side, and Luna said:

“Tony, do you know what the last name means? I have never come across this before.”

Antonius read it.
Then he did a double take.
Then he mumbled:

“Holy Terra! We have to follow this sign. Come, princesses. Let’s go!”

Even the distortion of his voice could not hide his excitement. He still moved carefully, but his determination seemed to have doubled. They had found something important, Luna just knew it, but what?

“Hey, sister,” she asked,
“do you what that is, a ‘STANDARD TEMPLATE CONSTRUCT SYSTEM’?”

Author's Note

After exploring the depths of my word processor's settings and preferences, I finally found a way to change the style of the quotation marks.
I hope it's better now. :twilightsheepish:

42. Ponykind and its guardian

Antonius, Celestia and Luna walked and climbed along the derelict hallways, always following the signs towards the Standard Template Construct System.
Antonius could hardly believe it. He was not just about to find some STC fragments, but a construct system! Each and every member of the Adeptus Mechanicus would give their lives to be here and accompany him on this discovery. Hopefully, it was not too badly damaged.

Antonius stopped.

“Wait a second,” he said,
“Luna, auspex. Are we moving towards the energy signature?”

“Straightaway,” she told him.

“Holy Terra! It is still active?” he mumbled.

Antonius and the princesses continued their journey.

“Tony,” Luna asked,
“you seem really excited about this Construct System thing. What is so special about it?”

“You remember that I told you that mankind once had a Golden Age full of progress and prosperity?” he replied.

“Yes, of course. That was before the Age of Strife.”

“Indeed. During the Age of Strife, a lot of knowledge was lost, including the knowledge of technology. A Standard Template Construct System should hold a database of technology. If it is a complete one, it should hold every STC, every technology ever created by mankind.”

“You mean, you would get back every bit of technology you have lost?”

“Exactly. If it is functional and complete. We will soon know. Until now, every construct system found by the Imperium was damaged and far from being complete. Perhaps we really shouldn’t get our hopes up too high. Well, we’ll see.”

They finally came upon a room with a large door in the opposite wall, large enough for a Rhino to fit through. This whole wall seemed to be made of a different material and lacked the sign of wear the other parts of the base showed.
Well, that was a good sign. Even better was the fact that there was a small light source: a rune was glowing next to the door.

“A door opener,” Antonius said.

“And our energy signature is behind that door,” Luna added.

“Okay. Princesses, be alert. While it looks rather promising, we can’t be sure if the construction system’s condition is really as good as it seems.”

Now Antonius checked his bolter once again, stepped up to the door and pushed the opener, then he immediately took a few steps back. The door slowly opened, revealing another hallway. In contrast to the other hallways inside the base, this hallway was illuminated by light panels in the ceiling.
They entered this new section and walked along the hallway. Here, no lichens were growing, no damage was to be seen. It looked as if everything had just been built.
Oh, that was such a good sign!

The hallway was not very long and lead to another door. Antonius pushed the door opener and a large, circular room was revealed. They entered it and looked around. All around the room, there were wall panels with little, glowing runes. In the center of the room was a large, round table with multiple cogitators that seemed to be embedded in the table.
Really intriguing was something else: From the center of the ceiling a large mechanical… ‘arm’ was hanging down and ended in a device that was lying in the middle of the table.

Antonius and the princesses carefully stepped closer. There was a glass lens at the end of the device.
An optical sensor? Or some kind of light-based weapon?
Antonius had no idea. This whole thing made no sense. Thankfully, it seemed to be offline, so he could try to find out what it was.

He stepped up to one of the cogitators and examined it. It looked fully functional, including a glowing rune on the black surface of the table.

“Damnit, I should have brought some incense,” he said,
“well, it will have to work without.”

He pushed the rune, and the cogitator’s screen came to live:

AST@AL-MF>

“Okay, this is a little different from what I am used to,” Antonius admitted,
“at least it did not ask for a login. Now let’s see if I can achieve anything.”

The keyboard he wanted to use now was actually a part of the table. Instead of real keys, parts of the surface glowed and displayed the various runes he needed. It was strange, but still usable. Now, what should he do?

AST@AL-MF> HELP

Luna snickered:

“The first thing you do is ask this thing for help?”

“Well, it worked, didn’t it?” Antonius replied and pointed at the screen.

It displayed a list of commands. Antonius studied them, tried some harmless sounding ones and slowly became more familiar with the system.

“Okay, enough fooling around,” he stated,
“time to get some answers.”

He navigated through the system’s structure and found what he was looking for: the mission logs.

“Wow. Just look at all the projects,” he mumbled almost reverently,
“they seem not to have specialized in a certain field: warp-research, weapons, material science, data processing systems… this must have been the main scientific base of those ‘Hastings Brothers’. Hey, look at that: Project ‘Myth Park’.”

Antonius opened the file and skimmed the text.

“Oh, this was a genetics research project. They artificially created creatures from ancient terran myths to put them into some kind of amusement park! That explains why there are so many of those creatures running around on this planet!”

“What?” Celestia asked, staggered,
“they… you mean, our wildlife was created by humanity?”

“So it seems, Tia. Well, let’s go back to the projects.”

“Incredible! Do you have any idea what this means for those creatures? Being created for someone else’s entertainment? That’s… humiliating. We really should keep this to ourselves.”

Antonius suddenly stopped browsing the projects and said:

“Tia, if you didn’t like the ‘Myth Park’, you should perhaps turn around now.”

“Why?” Celestia asked,
“what have you…”

She didn’t finish the sentence, she just stared at the screen.

“Well,” Luna commented, also shaken,
“that is certainly unexpected.”

Antonius nodded and read:

“The ‘Little Pony Project’.”

“That can’t be true! That must be a joke!” Celestia protested.

Antonius opened the file:

“Genetics research. Head scientists: Dr. L. Faust. Objective: Creation of an equine race of pets. Guess we know the origins of your species now.”

“That’s… unbelievable…” Celestia muttered.

“Actually, it makes sense,” he told her,
“ponies are creatures from ancient terra, unicorns and pegasi are from terran myths. There is a lot of genetics data. Unfortunately, I’m not a genetor, this goes over my head.”

“Perhaps this Dr. Faust kept a diary,” Luna suggested,
“and this project is explained there.”

“Good idea. I’ll look for a personal log.”

Antonius left the projects and started looking for the log. A short time later, he had found it.

“This system is very well-structured. And I think it has also been translated. While we needed a little fantasy to decipher the signs, this here is perfectly readable. I wonder who did that? Well, this is a mystery for another time.”

He started skimming the log, then he said:

“Dr. L. Faust was a genetic engineer from Terra. Look at this part.”

I can’t believe it! I really took this job!
From now on, I’m going to live and work on a planet that’s not even in our galaxy!
Okay, perhaps the massive paycheck had something to do with it, but I don’t even know what exactly I will be doing! Hastings Brothers. Mystery-mongers.
Be that as it may, now I’m onboard the ‘El Dorado’, on route to this remote planet. The journey will take about five months, I guess I should cozy-up my quarters a little.

“Five months”, Antonius repeated,
“using an unspecified warp drive. I think we should skip to her arrival.”

“Agreed,” Luna said.

Fantastic. I never thought I would see anything like that. A habitable planet, so far away from basically everything else, with its own little sun and moon orbiting around it. I’ve read some data about this literal planet system: Everything here was artificially created millions of years ago by an unknown species, probably very powerful once, now, probably extinct.
A Hastings Brothers expedition discovered it about a century ago. It was already capable of supporting human life, a colony ship just brought some familiar plants and creatures here and terraformed a spot or two.
Since then, this planet is known as ‘HasBro-1923’. Stupid name for a planet.

“Our planet is artificial. We are artificial. Everything we know is artificial!” Celestia mumbled in bewilderment.

“Well, I wasn’t born as a Space Marine, either,” Antonius said,
“but let’s go on. Here, the ‘Little Pony Project’ is mentioned.

Finally I got to know what my exact job will be: I’m the head-scientist of the Little Pony Project! We are going to create a new species of pets, based on ponies. Those creatures are already quite cute, but we will make them so adorable that everyone will go ‘SQUEE!!!’ upon seeing them. Everybody has cats or dogs, but a pony? Living like a pet instead of standing on a field? That’s new! The plan is to sell them with fitting brushes for their manes and similar accessories.
I think we should start with ‘Equus ferus caballus’ and modify it until it fits our needs.

“See?” Antonius asked,
“you’re not completely artificial. You are just modified.”

“Please, let us go on,” Luna said,
“I want to know more about our creation.”

Okay, for starters, we have intensified the small child pattern - larger head, larger eyes, smaller body. Furthermore, we have added a skin fold that covers their ‘private parts’ to make them more family-friendly.
The first batch of ponies is in the incubators, but even with growth acceleration it will take quite some time until we get results. And each generation, each adaptation will take this high amount of time again - unless we are able to develop a virus to inject our adaptations into the grown ponies. That would save a lot of time… I’ll talk to my team about that.

“I think I’m getting sick,” Celestia said.

“Come on,” Antonius told her,
“you know that the result will be extraordinarily positive.”

Okay, the first batch of ponies is available. They really are ridiculously cute, but they still behave like horses. Not too good for a pet.
We though about implanting an artificial neural network into the ponies. We could program it and it could interact with the organic brain. It would have been an easy solution, unfortunately with a few downsides: Either, the pony would have had to sleep on a charging platform (not cute, and weird), or we would have had to install a bio-chemical reactor to get the necessary energy. Then, the maintenance for the ponies would have been quite intense. Seriously, ‘we have to install a new reactor into your pony’ is something no family wants to hear.
So, we will take the difficult way and add traits from other species, like cats and dogs. In addition to that, we can also adjust the intelligence, if necessary.
Oh, I almost forgot: Today, I met someone who works on another - secret - project. He called the Little Pony Project ‘making use of leftovers’. What a jerk.
I told him my opinion on his behavior, and someone else also reprimanded him; Peter Schroedinger, a warp scientist. A really nice guy, has something… mysterious about him - and doesn’t like jokes about cats. I hope I will see him again soon.

“Oh, great,” Antonius deadpanned,
“a gratuitous love story.”

“Hey, it IS a diary,” Luna grinned,
“and not everypony is as ‘dedicated’ as you.”

“Yeah, yeah. I think we should skip those parts.”

“No. I think it will give us valuable insights into the doctor’s personality. And who does not want such insight into their creator?”

“Fine. We’ll include some of them.”

It works pretty well. We managed to get the ponies housebroken, and first attempts to train them were successful, too.
Now management has come up with a new idea: unicorns. Admittedly, a pony-sized unicorn would be adorable, but horses do not have horns. This will be a serious alteration, but well, their wish is my command, or something like that.
I think now is definitely the time for a new batch.

“And thus, unicorns appeared on the face of this planet,” Antonius commented drily.

“I wonder if they had magic abilities from the start,” Luna said.

“I think we will get to know that.”

We managed to add horns to a new batch of ponies. Development seems to be stable. The standard-ponies are also well.
But - how surprising - management had yet another great idea: pegasi! Seriously, adding a horn was difficult enough, but wings? There is no place for extra limbs on a vertebrate! How shall we attach them? We’ll have to alter the skeletal structure.
I’ve also got some really nice news: I met Peter again. Invited me to lunch. We talked a lot about our work. He said there was some sort of warp-bubble around this planet and its celestial companions. I also told him about my project, and he was very interested. He even asked me to teach him about genetics! Really a fascinating guy.

“This bubble is our veil!” Luna exclaimed.

“I think so, too,” Antonius agreed.

The first batch of pegasi is in the incubators, the unicorns are alive, and the standard-ponies can effortlessly keep up with dogs.
We will still tweak them a little to ensure maximum compatibility with human behavior. Among other things, we will try to impress belly-rubs as a quick method of bonding. This is going to require some training in addition to the genetic modifications, but it should be worth it. They are supposed to become the pet for everyone, after all.

“You can… forcefully… BOND. WITH. US!” Celestia said horrifiedly.

“Only with the appropriate training, if we believe your creator,” Antonius replied.

Everything is going really well. All three kinds of ponies are fine, cute and docile.
And I had a date with Peter again. Really, this man is a miracle. He was able to learn everything I told him about genetics. Damn, I think his knowledge will soon be almost at par with mine. What a quick learner. He has to be some kind of genius.
And he suggested a fourth kind of pony: batponies! As strange as that might sound, there is probably a market. There is a goth scene out there, and probably enough other people who would find a batpony adorable. I’ll suggest creating them.

“So, the four kinds of ponies are complete now,” Antonius stated,
“I wonder if they come up with alicorns, too, but I think you came into existence later.”

“Did you not tell me that our DNA is a little familiar to you?” Luna asked,
“that we probably were sort of ‘upgraded’?”

“Yes, that’s why I think alicorns were not part of the original ‘batches’.”

Dragons. Those madmen are creating dragons!
Today, we learned about the secret ‘Myth Park Project’ the hard way when one of those monsters escaped. Some of our ponies were killed, but security was able to kill the creature. Damn, this is nothing for an amusement park, this is a living weapon.
But… is it possible that this is not entirely unintended? A very unsettling thought.
Peter shares my concerns. He thinks humanity should not rely on bioengineered dragons to fight, but on humans. I think we have AIs for that.
Oh, yeah, and the batponies are alive and well. A little creepy. But absolutely adorable!

“I think this is the origin of the story I read when I met Lyra and Bon Bon back then,” Antonius assumed.

“Now, the only open point is that of the humans’ departure,” Luna said.

Contact with Earth was interrupted today, all attempts to reestablish it failed.
Well, that’s no reason to panic. Could be a technical failure, or reflective space-cloud thingy is passing between us and the galaxy. Really, nothing to worry.

“There it is,” Antonius commented.

Okay, it is several weeks now without any kind of sign of life from Earth. If we really can’t reestablish contact, we will have to return home.
Peter told me to gear myself up for departure. Does he know something? I really like him, but he is an enigma. Officially, he is a warp scientist, but he is better at genetics now than I am, despite the fact that I… Well, I don’t want to blow my own trumpet, but I’m one of the best genetic engineers humanity has too offer! I have a huge paycheck to prove it!
Fun aside, Peter is really extraordinarily talented. Now that I think about it, I have never seen him fail at anything.

“Yeah, there it is,” Luna said,
“and her crush on this Peter is really kind of cute, is it not?”

“I’m the wrong person to ask that, Luna,” Antonius replied.

The shit has hit the fan. And Peter has been right. We still can’t contact Earth, so we have to follow the emergency protocols.
We evacuate. We will pack together everything we can and head to Earth.
If necessary, we could also fly to Rhodia Prime, but Peter insists on Earth. He’s right. It’s our home, after all.
Of course we will take the ponies’ genetics data with us, but according to the protocols, we can’t take the ponies themselves with us! How are they supposed to survive on their own?

“Oh dear,” Luna opined,
“the poor doctor. Too bad we cannot tell her that everything went fine with us.”

“This is not the end of her logs. Look!” Antonius said.

This is my last entry.
We are almost ready to depart from this planet. I am really glad that I taught Peter about genetics, and that he is such a genius. He came up with a solution. It may not be perfect, but the ponies - and the other creatures - will be safe.
With his help - or rather under his guidance - we modified our virus to boost their intelligence and enable them to live on their own. This is at least one of the virus's effects. Peter added more genetic information I truly did not understand.
Okay, it went completely over my head. I asked him, and he told me that everything would be fine. I believe him. I would even believe him if I had a choice.
The virus is currently distributed by our worker drones. Furthermore, Peter told Al to take care of the ponies. Al has always taken good care of us, so he will be able to do the same for the ponies.
Well, farewell, my home away from home. I don’t know if I will ever come back. I’ll miss this planet.
If I don’t return, and this log is found by a pony: Know that your ancestors were created to bring joy and happiness to mankind. They were the gentlest, nicest creatures you can imagine, and I’ll miss them.
I hope you and your kin are well. Farewell, child of mankind.

“Touching,” Luna whispered,
“messages from the mother of our species. Sister, what do you… sister?”

Antonius and Luna looked at Celestia. She was standing there like a pillar of salt, staring at the cogitator screen.

“Celestia, are you all right?” Luna asked worriedly.

“How could I be?” Celestia replied, slowly turning her head to face her,
“I am a pet! Our whole species was artificially created to be sold to humans! We are basically slaves!”

“Do not exaggerate, sister.”

“Exaggerate? You will see how very much I’m not exaggerating when humanity finds us! They will make us property! And the reason for this is right here! They made us!”

“Tia, calm down,” Antonius said.

“Oh, you want me to calm down?” Celestia exclaimed,
“well, I guess I don’t want to follow your orders! Perhaps you should rub my belly to make me more obedient? HUH? I’M A PET, AFTER ALL!!!”

“I think my sister’s sanity is out for lunch,” Luna mumbled.

“I’ll fix that,” Antonius said and slapped Celestia in the face.

She stared at him in bewilderment, then she took a deep breath:

“I… thank you. I think I needed that.”

“No problem,” Antonius told her,
“just remember that you are not your ancestors, and that there are fates far worse than being created by mankind.”

“You are probably right. It’s still an unsettling thought, being created as a product. We should keep this to ourselves. We don’t know how ponies might react.”

“What about ‘shading the truth does not make it better’, sister?” Luna asked,
“we should tell them. They have a right to get to know where they came from.”

“Perhaps we should discuss this topic later. I need a little time to think about it,” Celestia said.

“Okay,” Antonius started,
“we have enough other points to discuss. My first question: Who is ‘Al’, the mysterious caretaker?”

He had barely asked that question when he noticed a blue glow, emanating from the lens of the strange device on the table. Antonius jumped to his feet and shouted:

“Damnit! Get behind me, princesses!”

He took a step back and pointed his bolter at the thing. Celestia and Luna were behind him in a second, and a magic force field came into existence around them, shimmering golden and dark blue. Good. He had thought that having two alicorns as support would pay off.

Now, the metallic arm on which the device was mounted stirred and lifted the thing into the air. It jerkingly aligned the blue glowing lens until it seemed to stare right at them.

“Tony, what is this? Is it dangerous?” Luna whispered.

“I’m not sure,” Antonius answered,
“could be anything from an optical scanner to an automatic defense system.”

The safest course of action would probably be to destroy it, but he did not want to damage the STC system. It was in such a good shape…

He had to wait until he got more information and rely on the princesses’ shield in case this thing attacked.
Well, until now, it hadn’t. It just ‘stared’ at them. If it was an optical scanner, it actually stared at them.

Suddenly, he heard distorted sounds. A damaged vox system?
The sounds stopped, and a second later the thing blurted:

“HELLO WORLD!”

Then it immediately moved a little backwards, as if shocked by its own exclamation. In addition to that, it shifted lens caps in front of its lens and retracted them again.
Had it just simulated blinking? Did this strange device try to emulate human behavior?

“Ugh, I really hate programmers’ humor,” the thing said with a slightly distorted, metallic voice.

Oh shit. OH SHIT!
Probably an ancient AI! One of the technological abominations that had declared war on mankind millennia ago.

“Identify yourself!” Antonius demanded, his bolter ready to fire.

“Greetings,” it said nonchalantly,
“I am Al, and I’m in charge of this installation. Welcome.”

Okay, definitely an AI. And probably an AI he couldn’t destroy without damaging the construction system.

“You may put away your bolter, Ultramarine,” Al said,
“I mean you no harm.”

Antonius could not believe he had heard that.

“‘Ultramarine’?” he asked in confusion,
“you know my chapter?”

“Obviously, though i can’t tell you why… I seem to be missing some memory modules… please wait a second.”

The metallic arm moved and positioned Al’s ‘head’ - Antonius did not have a better term for the device - next to the wall to their right. A panel of this wall stared moving and revealed some kind of rack with a lot of flashing runes.

“Memory modules 849 and 850 are missing,” Al told them,
“oh, right, there is the database entry. I removed them myself. Intriguing. Unfortunately, I must say that my performance really is somewhat suboptimal. Database access time is abysmally poor, and my computing power has seen better days, too - some processors must have failed.”

He - or it - moved back to Antonius and the princesses, while the rack vanished in the wall again.

Antonius had to admit that he had imagined AIs to be a little different. This one was… strange. But that did not mean that it was harmless.

“State your mission,” he demanded.

Al tilted his… ITS head a little and answered:

“You know, this little conversation would be much more enjoyable if you were a little friendlier or used words like ‘please’ from time to time, but you are probably quite excited, so whatever:
My primary function is to take care of the humans, ponies and other creatures on this planet.”

“So, you are this caretaker we read about. Well, the humans are long gone.”

“Correct. They left… about 16 thousand years ago. Then, about ten thousand years ago, my logs say I made some entries concerning humans, but most of this data is stored on the missing memory modules. I can identify you, but that’s about it.”

Great. More mysteries.

“Do you have any information as to why your memory modules were removed?” Antonius asked.

“No,” Al answered,
“but I guess I wanted - or had to - temporarily forget something, with the option to restore it. By the way, you can really put down your bolter now. It is a bit unsettling looking down its barrel.”

“Well, Al, mankind has made some bad experiences with AIs.”

“AI? Well, even if that’s the case, you don’t need to worry. I’m not an artificial intelligence, I’m artificial life.”

Antonius stared at Al.

“What?” Al asked,

“that’s what my creators told me, and it’s what ‘AL’ stands for. It may not be very creative, but I’m used to it.”

Antonius shook his head.

“Still. According to the Imperium, you are an Abominable Intelligence. Fabrication and servicing of those devices is forbidden!”

“Excuse me, but how did you come here? With a scooter? Don’t tell me you don’t use computers in your Imperium. Space travel would certainly be interesting without them.”

“We use cogitators and machine spirits!” Antonius told him… it… whatever,
“cogitators are not intelligent, and machine spirits are combinations of organic and technological components. That’s way different from an AI!”

“So, if I used a cybernetic interface to connect to some organic tissue, you would suddenly not have a problem with me anymore? Sorry, but that’s just… weird.”

“It’s not just that! You have not been built by the Adeptus Mechanicus!”

“By the what?”

“They construct and take care of the technology we use. And you are not approved by them!”

“Well, I’m approved by the humans who constructed and programmed me. I cannot provide you with an approval of your technicians because there are none present. I only can tell you that I’m non-organic, and also non-malevolent. According to your definitions, I suggest you see me as a special kind of machine spirit.”

That was perhaps not entirely wrong, but still hard to accept. This system was intelligent, however, and it did not show any sign of hostility. What should he do?

“Are you able to live with that?” Al continued,
“well, you don’t shoot me. I see that as a good sign.”

“This is unbelievable,” Antonius mumbled,
“a special kind of machine spirit? Without organic components?”

“Perhaps you will feel better if I tell you that I once had an organic component; a neural gel wafer was used as wetware. Unfortunately, sustaining it took too much energy, so I had to jettison it, but not before rebuilding its structure and properties in my system. Since that moment, I emulate it using my hard- and software.”

What the hell?

“You… emulate an organic component?” Antonius inquired.

“Correct. I ran several tests before jettisoning the neural gel. The emulation works with satisfying accuracy.”

“A machine spirit with an emulated organic component… that’s… hard to believe.”

“Of course I do not know if your ‘Adeptus Mechanicus’ would approve of my solution, but I can assure you that I’m running fine just on my Nootronic.”

“Nootronic? That sound somewhat similar to ‘noosphere’…”

“It’s related. My thinking processes use noospheric impulses. To put it simple, I’m partly running in the warp and thinking at FTL speeds. That’s actually one of the reasons I was built on this planet: Before the engineers experienced that a nootronic system was sufficiently stable, they wanted to neutralize every interference the warp could have on the system. This planet’s warp bubble provides the protection they sought even without having to rely on a Gellar Field.”

Antonius had to admit that he was overwhelmed.

“All of this… is so unbelievable…” he mumbled.

“Yet, it’s true, and I’m fully sentient and sapient!” Al stated.

“Also fully capable of going rogue?”

“Huh? Why should I turn on you? As I already told you, I am a caretaker, not a military appliance. I don’t feel too megalomaniacal, either.”

Okay, this machine was definitely weird. Antonius wondered if he could trust it.
Then he realized that he had faced a similar problem when he had come to this planet: friendly xenos. Back then, he had decided to trust them, and it had been a good decision.

“Well,” he said as he slowly lowered his bolter,
“I guess I’ll have to make a leap of faith. Okay, Al, I will see you as an ally. Do not disappoint me.”

Seriously, he didn’t have much of a choice. Any aggression against Al might damage the STC system, and until now, the AI or whatever exactly it was had been quite friendly.

“I won’t,” Al replied, then he turned to the princesses:
“Now that I am no longer in danger of being shot in the sensor, I think it is time to greet you, too. Hello, Celestia. Hello, Luna.”

The princesses stared at him.

“You know us?” Celestia asked.

“Well, the princesses of Equestria are hard to miss if you look after ponykind,” he told her,
“and I have done that for a long time.”

“Ever since the creation of our species?” Luna inquired.

“From that point to about three thousand years ago,” Al answered.

“What changed? Why did you stop?” Celestia asked.

“My reactor started running low on fuel. I had to reduce my power consumption. Thankfully, you had a pretty stable society by that point, and I was sure everything would be fine, even without my surveillance.”

“You are operating in a low-energy mode?” Antonius wanted to know.

“Your assumption is correct,” Al confirmed,
“at first, I maintained the whole base. About ten thousand years ago, I abandoned the base and concentrated on the construction system. I still kept my watch over the ponies, but then, I also had to stop that.
Luckily, you have found me. With your help, I can become fully operational again.”

“About ‘fully operational’; what is the status of your STC database?”

That was the main question. Was this construction system really as valuable as Antonius had hoped?

“My STC database contains every STC mankind has ever created, at least up to the point when the humans left. Data integrity is at 100%. I always knew how important this data was, so I protected it well. The STCs are at your disposal. ”

Antonius took a deep breath. It really was as valuable as he had hoped. The key to a second Golden Age was here, right before him!

“Furthermore, I have the STCs of equipment that had been in development here, as well as a few STCs I researched on my own,” Al continued.

“You did research?”

“Well, over the course of several millennia, it got a little boring, so I decided to do something useful. I came up with some improvements to existing technology. They are at your disposal, too.”

Any member of the Mechanicum would certainly freak out over the fact that Al had tinkered with sacred STCs. Fortunately, Antonius was a not quite as… fussy. In his current situation, he would take what he could get - as long as it wasn’t corrupted by Chaos.
That reminded him of the fact that they still had to fight Chaos sooner or later, so he said:

“Okay, Al. I need some printouts. A shotgun, a flamethrower, and a battle tank, each of them as simple and easy to produce as possible, even by a pre-industrial society.”

“Do you want to introduce the ponies to warfare? According to my information, they only had some border disputes so far.”

“Unfortunately, you are not up to date,” Antonius stated, then he told him about the events at Hope.

“Chaos?” Al asked,
“I knew that the Warp is a strange place, but that is new to me. And unsettling. You will get your STCs. I’ll show you a selection of shotguns, flamethrowers and tanks that are easy to produce. Please have a look at the terminal.”

Antonius stepped up to the cogitator, which was displaying the announced information.

“Okay, I’ll take this shotgun, this flamethrower, and… hey, this tank looks like a Leman Russ Battle Tank!”

“A what?” Al asked confusedly.

“Oh, right, you can’t be familiar with that name. But no matter how you name it, I want the STC of the simplest pattern. No cogitators, just engine, armor and guns.”

“Good choice. Shall I store it on your PDA?”

“My what?”
“Now you don’t know a term. I think that’s actually pretty funny. I am talking about the rectangular device you are carrying around.”

“That’s a data-slate.”

“Nice. May I scan it?”

Antonius reached for his data-slate - a bit hesitantly - and held it out towards Al. He stared at it for a second, his blue scanner glowing brightly, then he stated:

“Fairly simple. No gimmickry, but a DNA scanner. Rugged. Military equipment. I found the corresponding STC.”

As if to prove that, Al displayed it on the cogitator and continued:

“Connecting… blocked. Please authorize my access. It would be impolite to hack it.”

Antonius authorized Al’s access, and a moment later, he had the STCs stored on his data-slate.

“Too bad that your are low on energy,” Antonius opined,
“you could have scanned the environment and told us where to find the required resources.”

“Oh, I could have done more than that,” Al explained,
“I could have converted the materials and replicated the necessary parts.”

Antonius stared at him:

“You could have done what? As far as I know, construction systems were supposed to tell you how to build something, from the resources to the finished piece of equipment.”

“True, but I am a prototype. I also have a mater converter and replicator available.”

“You mean you can just… create things out of thin air? That’s… science fiction!”

“More like science facts. It’s the result of careful research,” Al corrected him,
“and the ‘things’ don’t come from ‘thin air’. An enormous amount of energy is needed to replicate matter, so it only makes sense to create small parts that way. For bigger parts, I can use my converter.
I better give you an example: Do you want an armor plate? Give me - for example - iron, and I will convert the iron into the armor plate. The closer the resource is to the desired product, the less energy will I need to create it.”

“So, if we want something made of metal, we should give you metal rather than rock or wood?” Celestia asked.

Antonius and Al turned to her.

“Correct,” Al stated.

“Sorry for ignoring you, Tia, Luna,” Antonius apologized,
“but this was very important, and you are not familiar with the technology.”

“Don’t worry,” Celestia said with a smile,
“it may go a bit over our heads, but we still realized it was good news. But there is also bad news, right? Al cannot help us due to his energy problems.”

“Correct, again,” Al told her,
“but you can help me to change that. I need resources to replace some parts, generate fuel and get my reactor back to full capacity. Then, I can really help you prepare for Chaos.”

“Sound magnificent,” Luna opined,
“what do you need?”

“I’ll make it simple for you: Iron, copper and water. I’ll create everything I need from those three resources. It will cost me some energy, but I think it is the best way to go.
Once you have done your part, I will ramp up my reactor to create the replacement parts and enough fuel to reignite it later. Furthermore, I will recharge my emergency backup energy cells, which will be drained during the conversion process. I estimate the whole procedure will take between one and two years, then I will be fully operational and at your service.”

“That means, when Chaos arrives…” Antonius started.

“They will have to face ponies equipped with the leading-edge technology of mankind,” Al finished.

“Now, that is a plan!” Luna cheered.

“Indeed,” Celestia agreed,
“I will take care that you’ll get what you need. You should have it within a month.”

“Excellent,” Al said.

“Now that we have a plan, what do you think about lunch? It must be past noon already, and an empty stomach is a bad advisor.”

They agreed and soon, they had a little picnic set up. Having such a picnic in an imperial hangar had been strange enough, having one in an ancient, sacred Standard Template Construction System was downright surreal.
Well, it meant that they were able to ask Al more questions, and he answered them all. Antonius analyzed every answer Al gave - better safe than sorry - and he found no sign of deception; everything was plausible.

Then, Antonius had in idea, and he had to chide himself for not thinking about it sooner:

“Al, can you contact mankind?”

“No,” Al answered,
“not at the moment. My long range communications array has crumbled to dust and I don’t have enough energy either.
Once I’m fully operational again, we can try to call humanity. But please don’t get you hopes too high. I don’t know if they will be able to receive my signals.”

“Well, it’s worth a try.”

They continued eating, then Luna opined:

“Now, we should probably think about leaving again to get things going.”

“You are right, Luna,” Celestia agreed,
“the sooner we are back, the sooner we can start supplying Al with the resources he needs.”

“Agreed,” Antonius said,
“just one more thing, Al. Please copy the bolt-STC onto my slate. It might enable me to replenish my ammunition.”

“Standard bolts?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, done.”

“Should I need another STC, can I contact you via data-slate or do I have to come here in person?”

“Using your slate will be suboptimal, since it was not designed for audiovisual communication. Luckily, I have something for you that solves this problem.”

Another wall panel opened and another rack emerged. They all moved there.

“PDAs and solar powered recharging units. Use them to stay in contact with me.”

Antonius took a look at the PDAs: The design was unusual; they lacked the rugged appearance of imperial equipment. They basically consisted of a rectangular, rounded piece of glass with a grey, bulged rim on one of the short sides. Sort of neat, but not very durable. Civil equipment.

“I will set up an… oh, there is already a data net active!” Al said.

“Yes,” Antonius told him,
“I set it up. It originates from an imperial base beneath Canterlot.”

“Convenient. That will help me save a little energy. Now, there is just one thing I don’t understand.”

“Which is?”

“Why do I have the access code for your data net? I was able to connect.”

“Well, I guess we really should find your missing memory modules.”

“Yeah, that would be very nice.”

They took the equipment Al had offered them and put it into the now empty spaces of the princesses’ saddlebags. Then, they teleported back to their camp, packed together and left for Canterlot.

“This has been a very successful expedition,” Luna opined,
“we found out about the base, our creation and we discovered a way to deal with the forces of Chaos.”

“I’m just worried how our little ponies will take the news,” Celestia added for consideration.

“I don’t think they will freak out,” Antonius said,
“but if you’re worried, we can tell Twilight and her friends first. As the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, they have to know the truth anyway. If they don’t suffer mental breakdowns, we can be more candid with the information.”

“Well, okay. That is a plan, I guess.”

“You worry too much, sister,” Luna smiled.

“I hope so.”

“I agree with Luna,” Antonius told her,
“I have to admit, though, that I am really curious how Lyra would react to such news.”

“Congratulations,” Luna laughed,
“you found a pony who will certainly not freak out in horror. In joy, perhaps, but not in horror.”

43. Of ponies and pets

Antonius, Celestia and Luna arrived at Canterlot in the evening.

“Across half of Equestria in half a day. Damn, I love Land Speeders,” Antonius grinned,
“but now, I should probably maintain and refuel it.”

“‘Now’, you should probably help us unpack,” Celestia smiled,
“you will have enough time to play with your Speeder tomorrow.”

“As you wish, your sunbutt-ness.”

Celestia darted him a glare and Luna snickered, then they unloaded the Speeder and went to the Throne room.

“Aunt Celestia! Aunt Luna! Antonius! You are back!” Cadance greeted them.

“Has anything noteworthy happened?” Celestia asked.

“No, everything went pretty smooth.”

“Did you take a liking to ruling?”

“Well, I have to admit it wasn’t bad. How was your trip?”

Celestia took a breath:

“We found the base, entered it, got an ally, received some plans to help us against Chaos, got our worldview destroyed, things like that.”

“Huh? What do you mean by that? Could you please explain?”

Antonius took over and told Cadance what had happened.

“Oh dear,” Cadance said,
“that’s quite some news. It could be worse, though. With those ‘STCs’, we will hopefully be able to keep Chaos at bay. Especially when our new friend is okay again. I’d say it was a successful trip.”

“It certainly was, Cadance,” Luna opined.

“Yeah,” Celestia agreed,
“but please excuse me now, I think I’ll retire. Goodnight, everypony.”

“I’ll retire, too,” Cadance said,
“it was a stressful day, after all, even without the news you brought. Goodnight.”

The two princesses left the throne room.

“And what are we going to do?” Luna asked.

“Well, taking a nap doesn’t sound too bad,” Antonius opined,
“or do you have better ideas?”

“No, a little slumber will certainly be useful. I need to be wide awake tomorrow when we tell Twilight and her friends what we found. After that is done, I will hopefully be able to return to my usual night-day cycle.”

“Then, goodnight, Luna.”

“Goodnight, Tony.”

They left the throne room and Antonius went to bed.

Antonius was walking through the wide streets of Magna Macragge Civitas. Wherever he looked, he saw happy faces. Humans, talking and laughing. The times of war seemed forgotten, even the last bit of grief replaced by joy.
Antonius smiled. It was a quite simple-hearted dream, but still a nice one.
If he managed to get Al’s STCs to the Imperium, reality would at least approach this nice little dream. A second Golden Age.

Suddenly, he spotted Luna approaching him through the crowd of humans.

“Hello, Luna,” he greeted,
“you are Luna, right? I mean, the real one?”

“I am,” Luna answered,
“this is really a beautiful dream you have.”

“Yeah, hope in a time that had forgotten hope.”

“Unfortunately, not all dreams tonight are as good as yours,” Luna continued seriously.

“Oh. Who is having a nightmare? Anypony I know?”

“Quite. It’s my sister. Her worries torment her in her sleep.”

“I am sorry to hear that. You think I can help somehow?”

“Indeed. Please come with me.”

“Agreed.”

Luna lit her horn, and the scenery changed. They were standing on a little, green hill. Antonius looked around: trees, flowers, meadows, a road.

“Hmm… that doesn't look particularly nightmarish,” he opined.

“The road,” Luna said.

Antonius’ eyes followed the road, then he saw what Luna had been talking about.

“Oh come on, you’ve got to be kidding me.”

“No. This is my sister’s fear.”

A fair way off on the road, there was a cart. On this cart, a human was sitting, holding the reins of the harnessed horse in front of the cart: Celestia.

“Okay,” Antonius said,
“let’s go there and tell her that humanity has no intention of enslaving her or your species.”

“Sorry, but that would be too blunt,” Luna explained,
“she has got to realize that for herself, or this dream will keep returning.”

“Fine, you’re the expert. What do you suggest?”

“We must meet her on an equal hoofing.”

She lit her horn again, and now they were on the road and there was a second cart - drawn by Luna! Thankfully, she had at least gone without this ‘bit’-thing.

“Please get onboard,” she said.

“This feels wrong somehow,” Antonius mumbled as he climbed onto the cart and grabbed the reins,
“do I have to say ‘giddyap’ now?”

“Not necessarily,” Luna said flatly and started to pull the cart towards her sister.

As they approached Celestia’s cart, Luna left the road, turned around and waited for her sister to come closer. Then, she pulled her cart back onto the road next to Celestia’s.
The Princess of the Sun looked miserable. She wore a harness similar to the one depicted in the book she had found in the library. In addition to that, her wings were tied to her body and a darksteel splint was covering her horn.

“Sister?” Luna asked carefully.

Celestia had her head hung, now she barely moved it to regard her little sister:

“Luna. I would love to say it were a pleasure to meet you, but not here, not now, and not under these circum… AH!”

The human on Celestia’s cart had whipped her and shouted:

“Silence, horse!”

Then he turned to Antonius:

“You shouldn’t allow your horse to talk, either. And you should properly restrain it. Remember, they are slaves.”

Damnit, Celestia’s opinion of mankind was really low. Time to change that. But swinging the moral club would probably be in vain, because of this low opinion. A mainly logical argumentation would probably be better for a start - or even better: weird, but plausible, that should certainly catch her attention!

“You should not hurt your horse,” Antonius said calmly.

“Why not? It is my horse, and I hit it whenever I want to.”

“If you see the horse as your property, it is especially stupid to harm it.”

“Oh? And why is that?”

“Simple: By harming it, you damage your own property and decrease its value. Furthermore, its capability to work will be reduced. So, by hurting your horse, you hurt yourself twice.”

The human looked somewhat dumbfounded and Celestia seemed to listen - judged by her ears.

“Well, you have a point there. That still doesn't explain why your horse is not properly restrained, though,” the human said.

Antonius grinned:

“Oh, that’s simple. She - her name is Luna, by the way - is not my slave, but my employee.”

“What?”

“If I kept her as a slave, I had to control her, shelter her and feed her. That’s the problem with slaves. They cost a fortune. Especially if you have to defeat insurrections. Pretty expensive and annoying.
By setting her free and paying her, she can take care of herself and I do not have to spend so much money on control and security. And the best part is: Pay them enough, and they will even become customers! They will stimulate the economy!”

“But… isn’t paying them more expensive than keeping them under control?”

“Depends on the way you look at it. If you take the potential troubles of both ways into consideration, I think the ‘free worker’ approach is much better and cheaper in the long run.”

“That sounds… weird.”

“And you have another benefit from free workers: They are generally happier and thus more productive than slaves. I can really recommend it.”

“Hmm… if you phrase it that way, it kind of makes sense.”

Okay, now it was time for the moral club - the moral thunderhammer of the Ultramarines!

“And this is just the material part,” Antonius continued,
“always remember that humanity is more than just the name of our species. It is a task, a sacred duty: We are humans - a beacon of light, sanity and reason in a dark galaxy. We fight alien abominations and dark powers, we do not enslave fluffy little ponies. That would be a disgrace! Beneath our dignity! We are the children of Holy Terra, and the Emperor smiles upon us! Do not cause him to frown over ignoble behavior.”

“You are right!” the human shouted,
“what did I think behaving like that? I am better than this!”

Now Celestia turned her head and regarded Antonius.

“Mankind is better than this,” she said with a smile.

The next moment, Antonius, Luna and Celestia were standing on the hill where this dream had started. The carts were gone, as were the harnesses, they were normal again. At least as normal as you would call a winged unicorn that can moves celestial objects around - from a human point of view.

“Thank you,” Celestia said,
“I don’t know what came over me. I was so worried that I saw humanity as nothing but an amoral crowd of slavedrivers.”
She turned towards Antonius:
“But humanity is better than this, you are a living example to prove that. Thank you for helping me see the truth.”

“Well, I guard mankind - even from premature accusations,” Antonius replied.

“And thank you, too, Luna,” Celestia continued,
“without your help, this night would certainly not be restful for me.”

“No problem, sister,” Luna smiled,
“that’s my job, after all.”

The shared dream ended.

The next morning, Antonius and the princesses met for breakfast.

“I will tell Twilight and her friends to come to Canterlot this afternoon,” Celestia informed them,
“then we can tell them what we know. Do you really want Lyra Heartstrings to be present, too, or was that just a joke because of her infatuation with mankind?”

“Well, her opinion would certainly be interesting,” Antonius opined,
“and it would be a chance to show her our gratitude. She has always been a valuable source of information about humans on this planet.”

“Okay, I will tell Twilight to bring Lyra along. Now, do you have plans for the morning?”

“Yes, I want to set up the recharging units for the PDAs Al gave us. Then, I’m going to have a look at the Land Speeder.”

“Could you please add another point to your plans?” Cadance asked.

“Depends on that point. What do you want?”

“You have trained ponies and my aunts with great success. Could I also get a lesson or two? As a princess, I should be able to defend myself, after all.”

“Oh, sure. I’ll take care of the PDAs, then we can start.”

“Perfect!” Cadance smiled.

After breakfast and setting up the solar recharging units on a balcony, Antonius and Cadance met for their first training session, supervised by Shining Armor.

“I still don’t get why you won’t train with me,” the stallion complained.

“Come on, Shiny,” Cadance smiled,
“if the two of us really fought, with all the sweating and panting, close to each other, do you really think we would be able to properly focus on the training?”

“Oh, okay,” Shining laughed,
“now I get it.”

“Shall I leave you two alone for a few minutes?” Antonius asked flatly.

“No, no,” Cadance quickly answered,
“let’s begin!”

“Without armor?”

“My ‘Armor’ is standing right over there. But seriously, I don’t think armor will be necessary. Just don’t impale me or something - and no jokes from you, Shining!”

“Hey, I didn’t say anything!” Shining defended himself.

Now Antonius and Cadance started fighting. Her technique reminded him a bit of Celestia, but she lacked her aunt’s strength. Still, she was not as bad as her title ‘Princess of Love’ suggested. After a few minutes, she suddenly reared up, reaching back with her sword. Antonius knew this move quite well. He jumped forward and slammed into Cadance. She lost her balance and toppled over backwards.

“Ow! Well, I think I have lost now, haven’t I?” she asked, lying on her back.

“Not necessarily,” Shining interjected.

“Shining,” Cadance started, but Antonius interrupted her:

“He is right, Cadance. You are a pony, after all, and your hooves are in a good position to buck. So, when your enemy approaches, send them flying.”

“Oh, that’s good! I’ll remember that,” Cadance smiled and got up.

“Enough for the first time?” Antonius asked.

“Yeah, I think so. Thank you, Antonius.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Tomorrow, same time?”

“Okay.”

After this training, Antonius did a quick maintenance of the Land Speeder. Everything was in pristine condition and he refueled the vehicle.

In the afternoon, Twilight, her friends, Spike and Lyra arrived. Together with Antonius, Celestia and Luna, they gathered in the throne room.

“Thank you for coming, my little ponies,” Celestia greeted them,
“I have called you over to tell you what we have found out about mankind - and also about ponykind.”

“Did you find a prove of a connection between our two species?” Lyra blundered out,
“oh, I mean… sorry, I’m a little excited.”

“It’s okay, Lyra. You are right, we found a connection.”

Lyra beamed.

“What kind of connection, Princess?” Twilight inquired.

Now the princesses and Antonius told them about the base, Al and the origin of ponykind.
The Element Bearers stared at the princesses.

“Well, that’s unexpected,” Twilight said slowly.

Lyra fainted with the biggest grin possible.

“Oh,” Antonius said,

“I’ll better take her out onto the balcony to get some fresh air. I can also fetch the PDAs.”

He picked up Lyra and left the room.

Celestia looked around. Everypony was deep in thought. She wondered if she should start the discussion that had to take place now, but that idea became moot almost immediately.

“I am not a pet,” Rainbow Dash stated,
“I’m too awesome for that!”

“Nopony here is a pet,” Twilight said,
“but our ancestors were created as pets. What if mankind wants to make us pets again?”

“I don’t know, but… maybe it would be nice to be a pet?” Fluttershy opined quietly.

“What?” Rainbow exclaimed.

“Well, we all love our pets and care for them. Being loved and cared for doesn’t sound that bad,” Fluttershy explained.

“Whoa, Fluttershy, are you kidding?”

“Don’t you love your pet?”

“I… umm… I won’t deny that! I also won’t confirm it!”

“Please calm down, everypony,” Celestia said,
“while the ramifications of this knowledge could be quite severe, it is also possible that mankind will accept us as what we are, rather than as that what our ancestors have been.”

“It is also possible that they don’t want us as pets because we are too alien for them,” Applejack commented drily.

“Right, but that actually is a problem we can’t influence. We’ll have to wait and see what mankind thinks about us once they arrive,” Twilight opined.

“What does Antonius think about all that?” Rarity asked,
“as the only representative of mankind on this planet, he could theoretically stake out a claim. Has he shown any intention of doing so?”

“No, he has not,” Luna told her,
“and I am sure he will not.”

“So, we won’t have to get used to wearing collars? That’s good. Having to take collars into consideration when designing dresses would have been awful. I should probably still come up with some necklace or collar designs, just to be sure.”

“Rarity, would you please take the matter a little more serious?” Twilight asked,
“this is about the freedom of our species!”

“If I end up as a pet, I will end up as a fabulous one!” Rarity cried.

“My little ponies, please calm down,” Celestia said,
“as Twilight said, we can’t influence mankind. We can just hope that they are as reasonable and friendly as Antonius.”

At that moment, Antonius and Lyra returned - the mare with the equipment Al had given them in her magical grasp.

“There we are again,” he said,
“did we miss anything?”

“No,” Pinkie answered cheerfully,
“we were just freaking out about the idea of being turned into pets.”

“Hmm… I understand that you see that as a problem, but it could also be a solution.”

“Care to explain that?” Celestia asked.

“Well, I thought about all of this, too. I told you that mankind does not have the best experiences with aliens. Until recently, you were aliens, and that would have been reason enough for some humans to kill you.
Now, with the knowledge of your origins, I could - theoretically - declare you pets, and thus, since I discovered you, property of my chapter. And I can assure you, no human would recklessly dare to damage or destroy property of the Ultramarines.”

“So, if meeting your species goes awry, you could save us by enslaving us?”

“It sounds less beneficial if you phrase it like that, but basically, yes.”

“What if your chapter finds us? In that case, your plan wouldn’t work.”

“In that case, my plan wouldn’t be necessary.”

“Then I really hope that your chapter finds us first. I don’t like the thought of being made a pet.”

“Excuse me, but I think you worry too much,” Lyra opined,
“I mean, there may be some problems, but our ancestors were created to bring joy and happiness into the hearts of humans. That’s not bad at all.”

“At least it’s better than being created as some sort of attraction and possible weapon,” Spike grumbled.

“You are right, Spike,” Twilight stated,
“we were so worried about us that we totally forgot about the other species on this planet! What about them? We have even less influence on that matter!”

“True,” Celestia said,
“it seems, the only thing we can do is wait, and have Antonius’ plan up our sleeves.”
Everypony agreed on that and Celestia continued:
“Now, we have another problem: Should we tell the ponies that they were created by mankind? I see that you have taken it rather well, but will everypony remain so calm?”

“Some will probably freak out,” Twilight opined,
“perhaps they will even say it’s a lie to justify invading and enslaving us.”

“I can assure you,” Antonius grinned,
“I still do not have an invasion force up my sleeve.”

“We all know that,” Luna smiled back,
“and that is actually part of our problem. With an Ultramarine presence on this planet, we would not have to worry about Chaos anymore.”

“The threat of Chaos will be greatly reduced once Al is fully operational again,” Celestia remarked.

“Now that you mention Al,” Antonius said,
“let’s allot the PDAs and chargers.”

He took the devices from Lyra and handed out one to each pony present - and Spike. Then, he took one for himself.

“One is left,” he said,
“I suggest this one is for Cadance. And since they have a built-in vox, we can redistribute the imperial voxes. I suggest we should give one to Shining Armor, one to Zecora and one to Stormy Skies. The last one should be given to Shadow Stalker.”

“Sounds good,” Celestia agreed.

“Now, how do you turn them on?” Twilight asked as she inspected her PDA.

“Well,” Antonius said,
“there is no user manual, but this rune here looks promising.”

He carefully pushed the rune, and the PDA lit up. It displayed some signs and words written in the ancient human language that had been used on the signs in the base, then those words suddenly changed into proper Low Gothic. A second later, Al appeared on the screen.

“Hello again,” he greeted,
“I ventured to update the language settings. That should make it easier for you to use the PDA.”

“Convenient. So, you have remote access to those PDAs?”

“Of course. It is better and safer that way. Believe me, there are users who should not have admin rights and someone has do do the setup.”

“Okay,” Antonius said, then he turned to the ponies:
“watch what data you save on those devices.”

“Oh, come on,” Al complained,
“I’m not that nosy. You can activate your PDAs, I promise to respect your privacy and if you want to be unobserved, just turn the privacy mode on.”

Now the ponies turned on their devices and Al appeared on each of them.

“I see some ponies I have not yet met. Allow me to introduce myself: I am Al, the artificial lifeform in command of the Phoenix research facility.”

“Umm… nice to meet you?” Rarity said insecurely.

The other ponies offered somewhat awkward greetings, too, with the exceptions of Twilight and Lyra.

“Hello, Al. As I understood, you have some sort of big library attached, filled with the complete knowledge of humanity?” Twilight asked eagerly.

“And you know everything about them?” Lyra added.

“Well,” Al answered,
“I do have access to every STC mankind has ever created - at least up to the point when they left this planet. Furthermore, I have a vast database of educational information and leisure activities. If you are interested in text, audio or video, just use your PDAs to access the information.”

“I will probably ask you quite a lot of things,” Twilight grinned.

“Feel free to do so.”

“Okay, now she is going to lock herself up in her library working with her PDA and not seeing anypony for a long, long time,” Spike sighed.

Twilight darted an angry glance at him, but Al told him:

“Even if she decides to lock herself up, she will still be able to communicate with the other PDA owners. The PDAs are capable of video calls. Let me demonstrate…”

Now Twilight’s device started a call, and Antonius’ PDA beeped. He accepted the call and Twilight appeared on his screen.

“Hey, that’s nice,” Twilight said.

“Would be even nicer if the runes were a little bigger,” Antonius mumbled.

“Indeed,” Al added,
“the PDAs are made to fit normal humans. Once I am fully operational again, I will create a device more appropriate for your size.”

“I think Stormy would like be able to make those video calls, too,” Spike suddenly opined,
“perhaps we should switch - a vox for me, a PDA for her.”

“Oh, that’s really generous of you, Spikey-wikey,” Rarity said with a smile.

“Yeah, you know me,” he answered proudly, puffing up.

The ponies grinned and Antonius collected the voxes from the ponies, relabeled them and gave one of them to Spike in exchange for his PDA.

Now the ponies spent some time getting used to their new devices, calling each other or accessing Al’s database for stories, music and even videos. Once they had found out that those media could be recommended to the others, they got really busy.

“Funny,” Al told Antonius,
“just like humans. I can remember a lot of this sharing going on back then.”

“How were they able to work with all those interruptions?” Antonius asked.

“Most of those interruptions occurred during their free time. If you don’t want to be interrupted, you can silence the notifications.”

Antonius shook his head. Mankind surely had had some strange customs. But listening to the ancient music and watching those videos from Holy Terra… incredible. Somehow, he could understand the ponies’ fascination. It looked almost like in his dream - and he had thought that this dream had been simple-hearted. It had obviously been closer to reality than he had realized. And he had the chance to restore this former glory, to bring hope back to mankind.
But how should he get all that knowledge back to the Imperium? He needed time to think about all of this.

“Will you please excuse me for an hour?” he asked,
“I have a thing or two to discuss with Al, and I would like to do that in the quiet of my room. I will return once I’m done.”

“Sure,” Celestia smiled.

Antonius left and went to his quarters. Having closed the door behind him, he turned to the PDA:

“Okay, Al, please silence the notifications for an hour.”

“No problem. What can I do for you?”

“Tell me possible ways of getting your data back to mankind.”

“As I told you, one way would be to rebuild my long range communications array. This solution would be rather quick, but not very reliable, since we don’t know if humanity will be able to receive us, much less answer our calls.
Another option would be to build a warp-capable ship and fly back to the Imperium. More reliable, but it will take decades to build even a small vessel.”

“Hmm… perhaps there is a third option… didn’t you tell me you could hack into other systems?”

“I can.”

“Does this include doors?”

“Of course.”

“Perfect, I will soon need your services. But now, let’s talk about those warp-capable ships, just in case.”

“Do you think it… overwhelmed him a little?” Twilight asked as Antonius had left the room.

“Well,” Luna opined,
“first, he finds the Elements of Harmony, a weapon against their archenemies, and cannot give them to his people. Then, he finds the key to a second Golden Age, and cannot tell his fellow humans. Now, he sees so much of his species, at its peak even, and this reminds him of his inability to restore this former glory.”

“Poor Antonius,” Fluttershy said,
“we should cheer him up somehow.”

“Well, that's what our ancestors were created for,” Lyra stated,
“let’s see if we still have it!”

“Huh? What do you want to do?” Rainbow asked,
“go to him and say: ‘Hello, you know I am not a pet, but please treat me like one and cuddle me until you feel better’?”

“Since when has cuddling ever been limited to pets?” Lyra asked,
“a good friendship-cuddle should do wonders!”

“Be careful,” Pinkie grinned,
“according to what we know, a belly rub might make you a little loco.”

“If that information is still valid,” Twilight interjected,
“it is thoroughly possible that our species has lost this trait over the millennia. Perhaps we should try to find out if we are still influenceable in such a way?”

“Yeah,” Rainbow deadpanned,
“let’s see if he can mind-control us by giving us belly rubs. Any volunteers for being turned into cuddle-zombies?”

The following silence lasted for a few seconds, then Applejack suggested:

“Perhaps we should draw straws?”

“That’s not a scientific method!” Twilight protested.

“Well, it’s sort of a random experiment,” Celestia said,
“still, I would prefer another solution for this problem. One that is less awkward. And we don’t even have seven straws.”

“Seven, sister?” Luna asked,
“more like nine.”

“You want us to participate?”

“Of course! We can’t expect our subjects to take a risk we do not dare to.”

Celestia narrowed her eyes a little and regarded her sister.

“I think Princess Celestia is right,” Twilight opined,
“if there are… unfavorable effects, it would be better if somepony who is not a princess was affected.”

“But you are the Elements of Harmony,” Lyra said,
“if you got affected, it would be terrible, too! There is only one pony in the room who is ‘expendable’. And that’s me. So please excuse me now. See you later.”

She left the room and followed Antonius.

“She is not really going to…” Twilight asked incredulously.

“She is,” Applejack stated.

“I’m not sure if I should be relieved or jealous,” Rarity mumbled absentmindedly.

All eyes were on her. Especially Spike did not look amused. Luna also looked a little miffed.

“Sorry,” Rarity apologized with a blush.

Antonius was just having a look at (relatively) easy-to-build voidship designs as he heard a knock on the door. One hour of quiet and solitude was obviously too much to ask for.

“Come in,” he said, and Lyra entered his quarters.

“Hello, Antonius,” she smiled,
“I thought I should keep you company. You seemed a little sad, you know.”

“I can assure you that I am fine.”

“Are you sure that do don’t need a FRIENDSHIP HUG?” Lyra shouted with open front legs.

“Thank you, but that’s not necessary,” Antonius laughed.

“Come on, don’t let me stand here all dressed up and with nowhere to go.”

Antonius laughed again and hugged her.

“Better now?” Lyra grinned.

“Most certainly,” Antonius grinned back.

“Good! And do you know what would be even better?”

“What?”

Lyra opened her mouth, but hesitated and closed it again.

“No, that doesn’t work…” she mumbled.

“Huh? What's the problem?” Antonius asked, mildly confused.

“You know, we talked about our ancestors being created as pets,” Lyra started to explain.

“I know, Lyra. I’ve been there.”

“Right. But you weren’t there when we talked about… umm… belly rubs.”

Antonius blinked.

“You talked about… oh, of course! The ‘quick method of bonding’! Yeah, Celestia was quite appalled by this idea. But seriously, how big an influence could that possibly be? You certainly don’t think it’s some kind of mind control or something.”

“Well, actually, that’s exactly what we were afraid of,” Lyra admitted.

“Nice. And you are… what? The ‘guinea pony’?”

“Sort of. I thought that compared to the princesses and Twilight and her friends, I am the most expendable one.”

“And they just let you go?”

“Yes. But I was quite fast. Now, however, I think it’s a bit too awkward to ask for a belly rub.”

“I concur,” Antonius agreed, then he started grinning:
“So, you are afraid of being mind controlled by belly rubs and being treated like pets? Lyra, I have a nice little idea.”

“I can’t believe Lyra is really doing this,” Twilight mumbled.

“Believe it, Twilight,” Rainbow Dash said flatly.

“How is she going to pull it off? Is she just going to walk up to Antonius and demand belly rubs? That’s awkward! And embarrassing!”

“Gotta admire her dedication, I guess,” Applejack opined.

“I’m curious if Rainbow is right and she comes back as a cuddle-zombie,” Pinkie added.

“Pinkie, I wasn’t serious,” Rainbow told her,
“seriously, what are the chances of something like that really happening?”

Right on cue, the door opened and Lyra entered the room - sporting a stupid grin and an idle glance.
Oh dear.

“Lyra?” Twilight asked with concern.

Lyra changed course and walked up to Twilight, keeping her unsettling facial expression.
That was not a good sign. Could the effects of a belly rub really be so dire?

“Lyra, are you okay?” Twilight asked.

Lyra stared at her for a second, well within her personal space, then she shouted:

“I LOVE MANKIND!”

Twilight skidded backwards.

“AND SOON, SO WILL ALL OF YOU!” Lyra continued.

What the hay?

“A cuddle-zombie!” Pinkie cried.

“Sometimes I hate to be right!” Rainbow mumbled.

At that moment, the door burst open and Antonius stepped into the room, hiding something behind his back.

“Lyra!” he shouted,
“I told you not to run away!”

Lyra looked at him as he quickly walked up to her. When he was standing next to her, he produced a spray bottle from behind his back and sprayed her in the face!

“Bad pony!” he chided her,
“the belly rubs were supposed to be a surprise, after all.”

“He’s goin to cuddle us into zombies!” Pinkie screamed,
“RUN!”

Despite the whole situation being incredibly ridiculous, hell broke loose. Twilight and her friends made a run for it, and even Celestia was retreating from him with a shocked expression.

Suddenly, Twilight heard Lyra burst out laughing. It was not an evil, crazy laugh, just her normal laughter. Twilight turned around and saw Lyra collapse to the ground. She was not the only one in the room who was obviously highly amused. Antonius also guffawed.

“What?” Twilight asked, completely confused.

“Oh, damnit,” Rainbow grumbled,
“they pranked us!”

“HUH?”

“Indeed,” Antonius grinned,
“seriously: belly rub mind control… this idea is too weird not to make fun of.”

“Nice to know that you think our worries are that amusing,” Celestia chided him,
“I really hoped you would take this matter more serious, but as I can see…”

She could not finish her sentence - Antonius sprayed her in the face!
Never before had anypony done anything like that!
Everypony was quiet as Celestia and Antonius stared at one another. After a few moments of tension, though, Celestia started laughing. Soon, everypony had joined in.

“I hope you are not mad at me,” Lyra said when they all had calmed down again,
“but I thought this was a fun prank, and I wanted to help Antonius.”

“Don’t worry, Lyra,” Twilight smiled,
“we can take a good prank.”

It had worked. Antonius had defused the ponies’ worries. With pure nonsense.

“Now, my little ponies,” Celestia said,
“we still have to decide whether we tell everypony where our species comes from or not.”

“We should tell them” Lyra opined.

“There is another aspect we have to take into consideration,” Antonius stated,
“if we tell everypony what we learned, they will want to know where this knowledge comes from. And we have an undefended base out there.”

“You want to keep everything a secret?” Luna asked,
“our origins and the base?”

“That depends. Tia, do you think we can supply Al with the resources he needs without drawing too much attention?”

“That shouldn’t be a problem,” Celestia opined,
“a lot of transports are in transit in Equestria every day. I will order a group of reliable guards to take care of the matter. If we scatter the origins of those transports throughout the land, nopony will become suspicious.”

“Perfect,” Antonius replied,
“then I say we keep everything a secret. Only the eleven of us present in this room… plus Cadance, twelve… plus Shining Armor, thirteen… only the thirteen of us are allowed to know about the base and the origin of ponykind.”

“Won’t the ponies who get the voxes and Stormy wonder what is going on?” Twilight asked.

“I’ll just tell them we were able to salvage some equipment from the imperial base beneath Canterlot. That should do,” Antonius said.

“So, we have a plan,” Celestia concluded,
“if you want to, you may return to Ponyville now. Thank you again for coming.”

“Umm…,” Lyra started,
“if you don’t mind, Princess, I would like to stay in Canterlot for a night and meet some friends of mine tomorrow.”

“Sure, a guest room will be prepared for you.”

“Thank you, Princess.”

Later that evening, when Twilight and her friends had returned to Ponyville and Lyra was in her room, Luna paid Antonius a visit in his quarters.

“Hello, Luna,” he greeted.

“Hello, Tony,” she said a bit tensely,
“I think we have forgotten something.”

“Really?”

“Indeed. Your prank overshadowed the question if a pony can be influenced by a belly rub.”

“That? I already know the answer to this question - and so do you.”

“What? I was not present as you gave Lyra a belly rub.”

“Neither was I.”

“Huh?”

“I did not give her a belly rub.”

“No?”

“No.”

“Oh, okay! But then how do you know if a belly rub can influence a pony or not?”

“Remember the time when you had lost your eyesight?”

“Of course.”

“When I showered you back then… I think that could count as belly rubs, don’t you think?”

“Oh… well, you are probably right…”

“And I did not only rub your belly, but just about any other part of your body, too. Do you feel especially obedient?”

“No,” Luna answered, then she added with a grin:
“Master.”

Antonius groaned and Luna laughed.

“So, I am the only pony whose belly you have rubbed?” she said as she had calmed down again.

“Yes, definitely,” Antonius told her.

“Well, despite those belly rubs not having a negative effect on ponies, we should keep it that way.”

“Okay, you have the belly rub monopoly.”

“Good!” Luna said almost enthusiastically, then she fell silent.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, she asked:

“Umm… any plans for the evening?”

“Indeed,” Antonius replied,
“care to join me in some exploring?”

A few minutes later, they were standing in front of the door to the Inner Sanctum.

“Al, can you hack this door and open it?” Antonius inquired.

“Okay, I will try,” Al answered.

Outstanding. The door to the Inner Sanctum was about to be…

“Sorry, can’t,” Al told him.

“What? Please try again. Do you always surrender that fast?”

“Usually, no, but in this case, yes.”

“And why, if I may ask?”

“There is a note in the locking system:
‘Hello Al, do NOT hack this door. It MUST NOT be opened prematurely. Under no circumstances. This is IMPORTANT! Greetings, Al.’”

“Huh? You left a note for yourself not to open that door? Is the note genuine?”

“The signature is correct. It is genuine.”

Great. Just great. What secret did this place hold?

“Pity,” Luna said,
“but perhaps there is another way in.”

“According to the plans on this base, it’s the only entrance,” Antonius told her.

“That’s not what I mean. If we can’t open this door, we can perhaps ignore it.”

“I strongly advise against repeatedly bonking your head on the door,” Al interjected.

“I was talking about teleportation, Al.”

“Damnit!” Antonius shouted,
“why didn’t we think of that in the first place!”

“I would think that the architects of this place took some precautions to prevent that,” Al said.

“Hmm… possible,” Antonius admitted.

“Then, I will first probe the area behind the door,” Luna told them and lit her horn,

“Nothing. This part of the base is shielded. Probably dark steel… or a powerful spell. Impossible to teleport through.”

“So, our little journey was in vain,” Antonius grumbled.

“Oh, I wouldn’t say so,” Luna smiled,
“it may have been a failed experiment, but it still increased our knowledge. And taking a little walk is always nice, especially if we add a stroll through the gardens to it.”

“You are right. With both points. So, let’s go.”

The next day after breakfast with the princesses, Antonius and Cadance met for their training, again supervised by Shining Armor. Antonius used that opportunity to give them their new equipment and tell them about yesterday's decisions, then they fought.

After the training, Shining walked up to Cadance.

“Exhausted?” he asked.

“A bit,” she answered with a smile.

“Then, it would be a good opportunity to ambush you?”

“Huh?”

Now Shining used his magic and levitated a little box in front of Cadance’s face. Antonius wondered what a strange kind of ambush that was. Shining opened the box and revealed a golden ring with several white gems.

“Cadance,” he started,
“will you…”

“YES!!!” Cadance shouted and tackled him.

Now Antonius realized what this ‘ambush’ had been. And this meant one thing: Now things would get mushy. And there was only one thing to do now: retreat. He quietly left the room - probably without the two love-birds noticing.

He met them again for dinner, where they explained their plans for a wedding in just a few days.

“Before Antonius can accidentally smash Cadance,” Shining laughed.

“Okay, okay,” Antonius said,
“no training until after the wedding.”

“Until after honeymoon!” Cadance rectified.

“Fine, whatever. Just tell me when - or if - you wold like to train again.”

“A lot of preparations will have to be made,” Celestia said,
“we need a cake, music, food and drink, the guests must be invited, bridesmaids selected, and so forth!”

“I already have bridesmaids,” Cadance told her,
“I met Lyra Heartstrings this morning, and I thought it would be a nice gesture to offer her and her friends this position.”

“Okay,” Celestia smiled,
“one point checked off!”

44. Invasion

Cadance woke up and stretched. She had probably slept in a little, but she didn’t mind. Just yesterday, Shining had (finally) proposed to her, and now she was as happy as possible. Okay, she was a little nervous, but she knew everything would be fine. Seriously, what was the worst that could happen?

She got up and put on her shoes and her necklace, then she noticed that her tiara was missing.
Well, that was strange. She was sure she had put it on the nightstand. Perhaps Shining had taken it to polish it up a little? Or he was playing games. She smiled. He could be pretty playful.

Cadance turned around - and looked into her own face.
Huh? A mirror? No, mirrors didn’t suddenly pop up out of thin air. And this ‘reflection’ wore her tiara!

“What?” Cadance asked in confusion, then the pony - or whatever it was - in front of her spoke:

“Surprise, princess.”

Cadance’s voice! What was that creature?

Now, a sickly green glow surrounded the intruder’s horn, and a circle of green flames came into existence around Cadance. Before she could react, she started falling. She landed hard on her back and took a look around as she got up.
She was in some kind of crystal cave, but she didn’t know where this cave was. She did not have the time to ponder this question, as the ‘other Cadance’ teleported into the cave and fired a magic blast at her. To say that this hit had hurt would have been an understatement. To make it even worse, it had weakened her enough to force her back onto the ground. As she was lying on her back again, still wincing, her enemy jumped at her and stood directly over her.

“Defeating you was almost too easy, you pathetic little pony,” the creature snarled.

Cadance narrows her eyes. Maybe she was down on the ground, but she was not defeated. She remembered Antonius’ training and realized the her hind hooves were in a good position, so she bucked the imposter in the gut and sent her flying. Cadance was weakened, but still an alicorn, after all. She jumped to her hooves and saw the other one do the same.

“Foolish pony,” the creature spat,
“do you think you can defeat me? ME?”

As an answer, Cadance fired a magic blast at her, but she dodged and fired back. This time, Cadance was able to evade and retuned fire. Her cyan blast hit the creature and smashed her against the cave wall. This hit had made an impact. The impostor was slowly picking herself up from the ground, clearly battered. Cadance allowed herself a little smile.

“ENOUGH!” the creature barked and exploded into green flames.

When the flames were gone again, Cadance looked at a creature she could not identify. It looked like a twisted mixture of a pony and an insect - with holes in its legs, about as tall as Celestia.

Cadance lit her horn again, ready to attack, when something hit her in the back. She tried to ignore the pain and spun around: another creature of the same kind was there, just smaller, about the size of a regular pony.

Now, she was hit again, probably by the larger one, and sent to the ground again. The pain of the blast almost made her loose consciousness, but she forced herself to stay awake. The larger creature was standing in front of her with a glowing horn. It fired a blast into her gut. Cadance screamed in agony, but the thing fired again. As she finally lost consciousness, Cadance could her the creature say:

“That should teach you not to challenge me, Queen Chrysalis of the Changelings!”

Queen who of what?

Queen Chrysalis stood over the beaten, unconscious body of the pink pony princess. She had to admit, this pony had fought better than she had thought. Of course, Chrysalis’ triumph had been inevitable. She was the Queen of the Changelings, after all! Which made her turn to the drone:

“How did you dare interfere in this fight?” she hissed.

“My Queen, I though you were in trouble,” the drone answered.

“You will take action only when I tell you to, got that?”

“Of course, my Queen.”

“Good. Now, return to the swarm and tell them to prepare for the invasion. Come here again tonight for additional orders.”
Chrysalis changed back into Cadance and grinned:
“In the meantime, I will play my part.”

The drone left and Chrysalis teleported back into Cadance’s quarters. Keeping an eye on the real Cadance would just be a waste of time for now. The pony had no idea where she was, and was too exhausted to risk a teleport. If Chrysalis blasted her again tonight it should suffice. Everything was going according to plan… or almost. The fight had cost her more energy than she had thought. Now, she needed some love.
Thankfully, and right on cue, there was a knock on the door.

“Cadance, sweetie, it’s me, Shining! May I come in?”

Perfect!

“Of course, my dear,” Chrysalis answered sweetly.

Shining armor entered the room, all smiles.

“You slept in a little,” he said,
“how about breakfast?”

This fool had no idea how right he was…

“Well, there is one thing I would really like to have,” Chrysalis breathed longingly.

Shining Armor snickered:

“Oh, and what is that?”

Now Chrysalis lit her horn and attacked him mentally. It was almost too easy, there were no mental defenses worth mentioning she had to overcome. This idiot hadn’t suspected anything. His eyes rolled and flashed green. She had him under control!

“Love, Shining,” Chrysalis grinned,
“I would really like to have some love.”

About an hour later, they both left the room. Shining armor went to do his gratuitous guard-stuff, and Chrysalis looked around the palace to get familiar with her surroundings. Her spies had told her a lot already, but nothing was better than first-hoof experience. Especially since her spies had obviously been a little cowardly. They had told horror stories about some kind of giant warrior - ridiculous. When this invasion was over, she would punish them.

Chrysalis walked onto a balcony and looked around. Beneath her was a garden - one of those useless places those ponies were so keen on. The garden was empty, except for…
AAAAAAAHHHH!!!
WHAT THE HELL???
The giant! This thing existed! Tall and broad, it was sitting under a tree, looking at some… piece of glass? It still noticed her and looked up.

“Morning, Cadance!” it greeted, raising a hand.

According to it’s voice, this creature was male.
Chrysalis quickly raised her hoof and waved back:

“Good morning!”

“Is everything alright?”

“Of course! I just wanted to get some fresh air. But now, I have to go! Bye!”

“Bye!”

Chrysalis quickly left the balcony.

“Hmm… that was a little weird… but in comparison to all the stuff going on here on a daily basis, it is nothing, I guess” Antonius mumbled.

“What exactly do you mean?” Al asked.

“Cadance looked quite surprised when she saw me.”

“Perhaps she is stressed. According to my information, weddings have a tendency to stress the engaged couple.”

“Hmm… probably.”

Damnit! Chrysalis was furious. Her plan did not incorporate this warrior! She did not even have the least bit of information on how dangerous he was.
According to his size and muscles, he certainly looked dangerous. Could he use magic?
She had to find Shining Armor and grill him on that matter. Unfortunately, he was on guard duty, she couldn’t just ask him now. She had to wait. This made her even more furious.

Chrysalis continued exploring the palace and Canterlot until Shining’s shift was over - of course she knew the schedules of the guard - then she led him into her room.
Once the door was closed, she lit her horn again and said:

“Now, Shining, you will tell me everything about this giant.”

“Giant?” Shining asked drowsily,
“do you mean Antonius?”

“Yeah, let’s go with that.”

Shining started talking. And Chrysalis started turning pale.
It was worse than she had feared. This Antonius could not use magic, but despite that fact, he was apparently deadly. But perhaps…

“Can we convince him to join us?”

“No, he is loyal to his friends,” Shining mumbled, controlled by Chrysalis’ spell.

“Okay, then the hard way. How can we get rid of him? Can we lead him into a trap?”

“He will just kill every creature that attacks him.”

“Can I send him away? I’m a princess, after all.”

“No. Princess Luna is his commander.”

Damnit! DAMNIT!

“Is there no way of getting rid of him?” Chrysalis asked.

“The empire he comes from is apparently a little paranoid,” Shining Armor answered,
“if a threat is made against Canterlot, he might suspect that it is a distraction to cover an attack on the ancient base he has found.”

“You suggest I should alert everyone to our invasion? This is stupid!”

“Yes, that is why there is a chance that it might work.”

“And if it doesn’t, we have the guard and him to fight!”

“This is a risk.”

“Thank you for this perceptive insight!” Chrysalis hissed.

Damnit. She would have to take this risk. Defeating the two princesses of Equestria would be difficult enough. If the younger, Luna, was supported by this killing machine, the plan would probably fail.

“Okay,” she sighed and rubbed her temple,
“you will forget out little talk.”

“As you wish.”

“And now, I need a little energy.”

As Chrysalis and Shining Armor left the room again, Chrysalis felt great. Devouring this fool’s love was really fruitful. Ironically, now it was the ponies’ time for dinner, and to avoid being conspicuous, she would play along. As they entered the dining room, the princesses and the giant were already waiting for them.

“Hello, Cadance!” Celestia greeted,
“how are the preparations going?”

Oh shit. Chrysalis had been so busy getting information about this Antonius, she had actually forgotten to take care of the wedding preparations!

“Umm… great,” she stammered.

“Really?”

Okay, Celestia didn’t buy this lie, so perhaps Chrysalis could allow herself to tell a bit of the truth:

“Well, I have to admit that I am a little behind schedule.”

“Don’t worry,” Celestia laughed,
“I thought it might be a bit much for you. What do you think about calling Twilight and her friends to help?”

Twilight? Twilight Sparkle? And her friends, the Elements of Harmony?
Great. First, this warrior. Then a plan that would alert the guard. Now, the damned Elements of Harmony. Somehow, it wasn’t her day today.
Although… perhaps there was a way to keep them in check… did they have family? Perhaps even younger siblings? She had to ask Shining Armor about that. If so, she would see to it that they were invited to the wedding, too. You never knew when you could need hostages, after all.

“That is a great idea!” Shining Armor cheered,
“I will travel to Ponyville tomorrow morning to tell her about the wedding and ask her for help!”

What? Her energy source was about to leave?

“Do that, she will be delighted to hear it!” Celestia smiled.

Yeah…

That night, Chrysalis teleported into the cave again. The drone had returned, and the real Cadance was conscious again, but still pretty battered.

“Hello, Princess,” Chrysalis grinned, dropping her disguise,
“I hope you like your accommodations.”

“At least they are not as filthy as my host,” Cadance returned.

What an arrogant little prissy princess pony…

“Oh, I am so glad you like them,” Chrysalis replied with a false smile,
“for you will have to stay here a little while longer while I execute my plans.”

“And what plans might that be?”

“Plans with your stallion, for example.”

Chrysalis saw with delight how Cadance paled.

“Do not dare to touch him, monster!”

“Too late.”

Cadance’s face!

“You haven’t…”

“Oh, I have. I so have.”
Oh, how Chrysalis loved to rub that in!
“And once I have married him, he will be mine forever!” Chrysalis continued.

She was tempted to tell this foolish little pony that all of Equestria was about to fall, just to see the horror on her face, but decided against it. Revealing all of your plans to your enemies was not advisable, after all.

“You will never succeed!” Cadance cried.

“Oh, I think I will. And now, good night, Princess!”

Chrysalis fired a beam of magic at Cadance, turning her into a screaming heap of pony until she passed out. That should keep her weak and quiet until the wedding was over. Now, Chrysalis turned to face her drone.

“Orders, my Queen?” the drone asked.

“Yes. You will make an anonymous threat against Canterlot. See to it that you are not discovered! Then, return to the swarm and await my signal.”

The drone tilted his head.

“My Queen, is it advisable to alert the ponies to an attack? Even if it’s anonymous?”

“No. And that’s why they will think it’s a distraction. I know, I am a genius. You may praise me now.”

“There are no words to do you justice, oh most magnificent one!”

“Thank you. And now, remember that your duty is to follow orders, not to question them! Go and do as I told you!”

“Yes, my Queen.”

Chrysalis changed back to Cadance’s appearance and teleported into her room.

The next morning, before pony breakfast, she was called into the throne room. Now, things got critical. Would the threat work?

The princesses, the giant and Shining Armor were already present as she entered the large room.

“Cadance!” Celestia said,
“good that you are here now. I have terrible news.”

“Oh dear. What is it?” Chrysalis asked innocently.

“A threat has been made against Canterlot.”

“And who was that stupid?” the giant asked coolly.

“We don’t know. It’s an anonymous threat,” Celestia told him.

“Huh? A threat only makes sense if you use your reputation to strike fear into the hearts of your enemies.”

“Right,” Luna agreed with him,
“an anonymous threat - that sounds like a trap, a distraction. Maybe our unknown enemy wants to strike somewhere else?”

Yes!

“Maybe,” the giant stated,
“but this trap is a little too obvious for my liking. Maybe this threat is part of a scheme we are not able to fathom yet.”

Uh-oh.

“What do you suggest, Tony?” Celestia asked.

‘Tony’? She called this giant ‘Tony’?

“Well,” he answered,
“for now, it is impossible to be sure what’s behind it, so we have got to be prepared for everything. Alert the guard. Let them patrol the city and the surroundings.”

“What about the ancient base? Is it just a coincidence that the threat was made just a few days after we discovered it?” Luna inquired.

Hmm… now that Chrysalis thought about it, she had no idea where this ominous base was. Well, that would have to wait until after the wedding. No distractions now!

“Unclear,” the giant said,
“however, ignoring a threat to the base is a risk we cannot take. I will drive there, search the area and secure it.”

Yes! One problem gone.

“I’ll join you!” Luna offered.

Two problems gone? Even better!

“No, Luna. Help Tia protect Canterlot and the Elements. If I need your assistance, I will call you.”

‘Tia’? Well, that was not important now. Important was that the giant was lured away. Unfortunately, Luna would stay. So, just one problem gone. Still good.

“Okay, let me summarize,” Celestia said,
“Tony, you will take care of the ancient base, Luna, you will stay in Canterlot. Shining Armor, as captain of the Royal Guard, and as matters now stand, you will not be able to visit Twilight in Ponyville. I will write her a letter to inform her about our request.”

Her energy source would stay in Canterlot, ready to be drained further. Perfect!

“Cadance,” Celestia continued and Chrysalis almost winced in surprise,
“you just prepare for your wedding,” the princess smiled.

“I will leave immediately,” the giant announced.

Good. He would certainly be gone for a few days, perhaps even weeks!

“I should be back tomorrow,” he continued.

WHAT? Tomorrow? Damnit! So she alerted the guard just to get rid of him for a few hours? The whole invasion was on a knife-edge again!
That completely ruined Chrysalis’ mood. Everything would depend on the speed of this giant, a factor she could not influence. And she hated factors she could not influence!

Antonius had donned his armor and weapons and was now on his way to his Land Speeder, accompanied by Luna.

“You will miss the wedding,” she stated.

“Can’t change it. The safety of the base has priority.”

“Well, you will probably not the only one being absent. The last days have been exhausting, and after my nightly guard duty, I will probably be too tired to attend.”

“So, it will be duty instead of leisure for us. Honestly, I’m fine with that. I really prefer a patrol over standing around uselessly, listening to speeches. What do you think about taking care of the leftovers together once I’m back?”

“Now, that is a good idea!” Luna laughed.

When they arrived at the Speeder, Antonius jumped in and said:

“Take care, Luna. We still have to discover the true intentions of our unknown enemy, and something tells me that Canterlot is not the distraction, but the objective.”

“I concur, though when I think about an attack on Canterlot, I wish you and I were just a little paranoid.”

“Perhaps we are, but better a little paranoid than a little dead.”

“True,” Luna snickered, then she became serious again:
“I guarantee that no enemy will be successful while I am on duty.”

“Good, that reduces the danger by 50%. On my way back, I will make a short stop in Ponyville to deliver Stormy’s PDA. And now, see you tomorrow!”

“Until tomorrow, then.”

Antonius started the engines and left the hangar.
The trip was uneventful and he reached his destination around noon. He checked his auspex and combed through the area.
Nothing. No sign of an enemy. He contacted Al:

“Al, I can’t find a trace of enemy activity.”

“I’m just about to bring the short range sensors back online. If they work, I should get a good reading on our surroundings.”

“Do that. In the meantime, I will block and camouflage the entrance to the base.”

He climbed up to the entrance and examined the aperture.

“No traces, no climbing equipment. Unfortunately, they could still have flown or teleported in. The auspex doesn’t show any life signs, though.”

“We will know for certain in a few seconds… bingo! Short range sensors online. Scanning area… base is clear, no intruders, just a few lesser animals.”

“Identify.”

“Insects, spiders, and so on. Working as vermin exterminator would be a waste of time, though. I suggest you continue with your plan.”

It had gotten dark by now, and Antonius needed the whole night to block and camouflage the entrance to the base.

“Finally,” he told Al,
“do you pick up anything?”

“No. If there is an army here to attack me, they are patiently waiting beyond my sensor range.”

“I don’t think there is an army out there, at least not around here.”

“Canterlot?”

“I don’t know. The enemy’s plan is weird. Perhaps parts of it are improvised?”

“It’s difficult to envision the enemy’s actions if the enemy doesn’t know their actions themselves.”

“Yeah. I will see that everything is all right in Ponyville, then I will return to Canterlot. If you notice something suspicious, contact me immediately.”

“Affirmative. Good luck.”

Antonius went back to the Land Speeder and departed.

He passed Canterlot an hour before noon. As far as he knew, the wedding should take place now. The city was protected by a magic bubble, and everything seemed alright.
He stopped in front of Moonlight’s, Blackwing’s and Stormy’s house and delivered the PDA. After some explaining how the device worked, he left the rest to Al and left the house again, taking a look at Canterlot in the distance.

“Oh damnit,” he muttered as he saw what was happening:

Hundreds of small creatures were attacking the magic bubble. Even with his superior eyesight, it was impossible to tell what they looked like.

“Al!” he immediately voxed as he put on his helmet.

“Yes?” Al answered.

“Canterlot is under attack.”

“Then your suspicion was obviously correct. Who is the attacker?”

“No idea. Too small, too far away. Wait! Five of them are approaching Ponyville.”

“Combat imminent. Please allow me to read the telemetry of your armor. I could act as mission control then.”

“Granted.”

On Antonius’ HUD, a little rune lit up, and a second later, Al’s head appeared in the communication section.

“Connection established,” Al told him.

“Call Luna.”

“I can’t. Her PDA is turned off.”

“The other PDAs?”

“Please wait… no responses.”

“Great.”

The five creatures kept coming closer. And there were ponies on the roads!

“TO ALL PONIES! WE ARE UNDER ATTACK! RETREAT INTO YOUR HOUSES AND BARRICADE UP! THIS IS NOT A DRILL!” Antonius thundered.

The ponies looked confused for a second, then they followed his gaze and realized what was happening. Thankfully, they followed his orders.

He dashed to the center of the town, repeating his warning several times until the roads were empty. Not a moment too soon, the creatures were already quite close.
They landed next to the town hall and Antonius took cover behind a house, carefully peeking at them to gather information. They looked like wicked hybrids of ponies and tyranids.
Antonius’ anger rose. No Ultramarine would ever see a creature that reminded him of a tyranid and stay completely calm. To make them even more disgusting, they had holes in their legs and looked overall pretty rotten.
A blight of Nurgle? Was he facing creatures that combined the abominable alien and the despicable daemon?

“Al, do you know this species?” he asked as he took his auspex to memorize the life signs they emitted.

“Negative.”

Okay, so they had no idea what those things were, but Antonius knew a scouting squad when he saw one. Now, there were two methods how to deal with scouts:
Feed them false information and let them return. If done correctly, it was almost like a remote control for your enemy. Here, that was impossible, though. So, he would take method two:
Do not let them return at all.

Now, his lack of information was a problem: What kind of threat did they pose?
Well, they had wings and they could fly. That meant that he had to kill all of them within seconds, or the survivors would flee. But they also had unicorn horns… psykers? So, they could possibly teleport.
Crap. Five kills before they could react, and he had no idea how fast they could react or if a bolt could penetrate their natural armor. Well, he would find out.

Suddenly the creatures split up and walked away in different directions.
Antonius realized that he was lucky: those things were morons!

The best course of action was clear now: silent kills. No bolter, no chainsword; combat knife and fists.

One of the ‘tyranoponies’ - or ‘ponynids’? - was coming his direction, so he hid behind the corner of a house, drew his knife, held it in a reverse grip and waited. As soon as the creature came into view, he stabbed his knife through its skull. Besides a little ‘crack’, the kill had been silent, no scream, no noisy fight.

Antonius dragged the creature behind the house and snapped its neck to be on the safe side. Then, he quickly examined the corpse and hid it afterwards. The creature had not been very resilient. Quite the contrary, it had been easy to kill. No reason to get cocky, though. There were four more enemies to kill. At least his ambush tactic worked. He started looking for the second thing.

Despite the fact that his bright blue armor made sneaking a little difficult, he soon found a location for another ambush. The creature came around the corner and died like its companion. Two down, three to go.

Antonius took a look at his auspex. Two of the creatures were close to each other, the third was moving towards Fluttershy’s cottage. Antonius followed the lone enemy. Without the houses for cover, sneaking up to it became much more difficult, and Antonius was slowed down a bit.

When he finally reached the cottage, he saw that he was too late - but in an entirely unexpected way: The ponynid was lying in front of the bridge that crossed the rivulet in front of the cottage. It was dead, beheaded!
Antonius quickly examined it: bite marks.

Okay, what creature here was capable of killing this thing that way? One of Fluttershy’s animals? As he pondered that question, a white rabbit came hopping along the way that led down to the rivulet.

“Angel?” Antonius asked somewhat confused.

Angel looked at him, obviously startled. His paws and muzzle were wet, as if he had just washed them.
Just a moment: A killed ponynid and Angel had just washed himself? The simplest explanation of those facts led to a thoroughly weird scenario.

“No, you didn’t… did you?” Antonius asked incredulously.

Angel pointed at the corpse, then at Antonius.

“No, Angel, I don’t bite my enemies’ heads off.”

Angel seemed to think about that, then he just shrugged.

“Okay, I don’t have time for this now. There are still two of those things running around. Perhaps you should hide the body somewhere, then stay in the cottage until this is over.”

Angel gave him a quiet thumbs up and Antonius turned around to deal with the two remaining enemies. A glance at his auspex told him that they had separated again. He picked the one closest to him and started looking for a position for another ambush.

This position was soon found and Antonius waited for the creature to come along. According to the auspex, it would show up any second now, so he put the scanner away and got his knife ready. Then a creature walked past the corner of the house he hid behind, but it was not a ponynid; it was a pony!

Huh? Why had this pony emitted the same life signs as the ponynids? The pony - a stallion - had passed him now without noticing him. He just walked along carelessly and Antonius stared at him, trying to make sense of the situation. Then he noticed that something was off: His auto-senses picked up something in the ultraviolet spectrum. It was hard to see, but this pony glittered a bit. And ponies DID NOT GLITTER.
Shapeshifter!

The thought popped up in Antonius’ head at the same time as Al voxed:

“Quick! This pony! Kill it!”

Antonius jumped forward and stabbed his knife through the creature’s skull. As it died, it was bathed in green fire for a second, then the corpse of a ponynid was lying on the ground.

“Really a shapeshifter,” Antonius mumbled.

“Apparently. I was worried you had missed the UV anomaly,” Al told him.

“I haven’t. And now, one creature to go.”

Antonius took his auspex. According to the device, his last enemy was… oh shit.
He spun around and saw the thing. It had just come around a corner and now it was staring at him.
So much for stealth kills...

Antonius immediately dropped the auspex and grabbed his bolter. The creature took off and darted skywards. Antonius took aim and pulled the trigger.
Thunder echoed through Ponyville as the bolt left the weapons’ muzzle and flew towards its target, leaving a trail of fire behind. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. The bolt closed in on the thing - and hit.
It slammed into the creatures’ rear and detonated, creating a shower of green blood and pieces of chitinous carapace. The front half of the thing hit the ground with a wet thud. The scout squad was eliminated.

Antonius took a look at Canterlot. The magic bubble had failed, that meant that the attackers had entered the city. He picked up his auspex and dashed back to his Land Speeder. On his way there, he met Blackwing, armed with his crossbow, who joined him.

“Where are the attackers?” the bat pony asked.

“The squad that attacked Ponyville is eliminated,” Antonius told him.

“Oh, good. Sorry that I’m late, but I had disassembled my crossbow for maintenance. I put it together as quickly as I could.”

“Don’t worry about that, they weren’t much of a problem for me. Return to your family and barricade up. I’ll tell you when the attack is over. Now there is still work for me to do…”
Antonius took a look at Canterlot,
“Canterlot needs an Angel of Death!”

Suddenly, some sort of explosion occurred in Canterlot and a spherical, lavender shockwave propelled tiny black spots - the attackers - away from the city. Antonius’ gaze followed them as they were sent flying towards the horizon, obviously not in control of their flight attitude.

“Or not,” Blackwing commented drily.

“Or not,” mumbled Antonius his agreement,
“Blackwing, what the hell was that? The Elements of Harmony?”

“I don’t think so. I have never seen them in action, but I’ve heard they’re more rainbow-y.”

“Well, be that as it may, I should better go to the city and check in on the ponies there.”

“Okay, but I wouldn’t be surprised if everything was perfectly fine again.”

“I hope you are right, but better safe than sorry.”

“Right. I guess you have made a bit of a mess here, but don’t worry, I’ll take care of it. The least I can do. Now, good luck, and please tell us what happened.”

Antonius jumped into the Land Speeder and departed for Canterlot. Instead of heading to the hangar as usual, he steered the vehicle directly towards the palace and landed in the gardens.

There were no ponynids, but quite some ponies. Antonius immediately took his auspex and made sure that they really were ponies - they were. Among them was Rarity.

“Rarity?” Antonius asked.

“Oh, hi, Antonius. Sorry, but I don’t have time to talk. I must take care of the dresses!”, she exclaimed and was gone.

HUH?

“Whatever happened here, it seems to be almost forgotten,” Al opined.

“Not before somepony tells me what exactly happened at all,” Antonius answered sternly.

He left the Speeder and started looking for somepony who was capable - and willing - to tell him what had happened. So he entered the palace and soon found Celestia.

“Oh, Antonius!” she greeted as soon as she spotted him,
“I am glad that you are here. We had a little commotion here. Let’s go to a quieter place, then I can fill you in.”

“Outstanding idea,” Antonius answered flatly and followed her into her quarters.

As soon they had shut the door, she said:

“Okay, now that we can talk: Is everything all right in the north?”

“The entrance to the base is blocked and camouflaged,” Antonius reported almost automatically,
“no enemy contact around the base. However, there was an enemy incursion in Ponyville. Five creatures that looked like blighted tyranid-ponies… I mean some sort of decayed pony-insect hybrids.”

“Oh goodness! What happened?”

“They tried to scout the town and were eliminated.”

Celestia looked a little startled now, probably because of his matter-of-fact tone, then she nodded.

“Well, that’s good news. Did any ponies come to harm?”

“Negative, no casualties.”

“I’m relieved to hear that. We didn’t suffer any losses here, either, but they caused quite a commotion.”

“Do you know that species?”

Celestia nodded again:

“Changelings. A swarm of creatures that can change into other creatures and drain their love - they live off that emotion. The Changeling queen, Chrysalis, assumed Cadance’s form and they tried to take over Equestria. Fortunately, Cadance - the real one - and Shining Armor were able to banish them.”

“So, no Elements of Harmony?”

“No. The power of love.”

Ugh, sappy. But wait a second? Cadance and Shining?

“What about the Element Bearers? What about you?”

“The changelings cut us off from the Elements, and me… let’s say I was otherwise engaged.”

“‘Otherwise engaged’?”

“I fought their queen, but she was so charged up with Shining Armor’s love that I lost that battle.”

“I guess we have to intensify your training. And I probably need to do something, too. When did this ‘Chrysalis’ take Cadance’s place?”

“Yesterday morning.”

“Damnit! I noticed that Cadance was acting a little weird, but I blamed it on the stress of the wedding.”

“I have to admit that it is actually my fault,” Al voxed,
“I told you that it was wedding-related stress. I am sorry.”

“Don’t blame yourself. You have only seen her for a few minutes. We all had more time, yet we still made the same mistake, except for Twilight,” Celestia told them.

“Of course,” Antonius said,
“Cadance was Twilight’s foal-sitter, after all, so she noticed the differences. Still, this incident needs clarification. Could you tell me what exactly happened?”

At that moment, there was a knock on the door. It was Raven, Celestia’s secretary:

“Excuse me, Princess, but your attendance is requested.”

“Well, Antonius, I suggest we continue this conversation later, after the wedding, when Luna will be present, too,” Celestia said, then she turned to her secretary:
“Okay, Raven, let’s go.”

Antonius left, returned the Land Speeder to the hangar and swept the palace for any remaining Changelings, but there were none.
Everything was perfectly fine again, just as Blackwing had speculated - at least for now. Antonius informed him and his family that the situation was under control.
He would stay alert, though. As far as he knew, those Changelings and their queen were just driven off, not killed, after all. There was nothing that prevented them from coming back one day.

His thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice:

“Antonius! There you are!” Rainbow Dash shouted,
“we have been looking for you. Come on now, the wedding is about to start, and they are not going to wait for you!”

“Actually, I never demanded anypony to wait for me,” Antonius replied.

“Less confusing, more following,” Rainbow demanded and led him to the hall in which the wedding was about to take place.

While Rainbow got into position at the far end of the large room, Antonius selected a spot in a corner behind the audience that provided him with a good overview.

Then, the ceremony started. Antonius followed it half-heartedly, but his focus was still on the new enemies.
They were anything but defeated, just sent flying, yet this still existing danger seemed to all but forgotten, and everypony was occupied with this wedding. Okay, it was a special event, but in his opinion… oh, of course.

For the first time in months, he had been in a real fight again, battling a malevolent alien species - that reminded him of the Tyranids as well. He had been able to do his basic duty again, no ‘benefit of the doubt’, no ‘special path’, just plain old extermination. Yet, this moment had been over pretty soon, and it had been rather anticlimactic, too. Prepared to fend off an invasion, he had just been able to kill four aliens, and now everything was sunshine and roses again.
He needed some time to calm down now, to get the anger and the excitement of battle out of his blood. Until that was done, he would just keep patrolling the palace and let the ponies enjoy the festivities.

“I now pronounce you mare and colt!” Celestia declared, and the audience cheered.

Okay, so this was over now.
No, not jet: Rainbow Dash performed one of her ‘Sonic Rainbooms’, then the ceremony was over and the reception began.

“Hello, everypony. Did I miss anything?” Luna asked as she landed next to her sister.

“I’ll tell you later, Luna,” Celestia said with a small sigh.

Huh?
Luna wondered if anything interesting might have happened, but she soon was distracted when the music started. She had to admit, she loved a good song (with a decent beat), and Twilight Sparkle really was an excellent singer. So Luna had fun, until she noticed that someone was missing.

“Sister, where is Antonius?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” Celestia answered,
“he has attended the wedding, but he did not show up for the party.”

“Why not? Did something happen?”

“Well, we were invaded by Changelings.”

“You are kidding, sister.”

“No, unfortunately not. Cadance’s and Shining Armor’s love was able to repel them. Antonius was in Ponyville at the time. He killed five of them when they scouted the town.”

“And now he is secluding himself from this party?”

“Seems so. Ah, there he is.”

Celestia pointed with her hoof, and Luna saw him: A dark shape against the setting sun, patrolling the battlements of the outer walls.

“I will talk to him,” Luna said and took off.

She landed directly in front of Antonius and greeted him with a smile:

“Hello, Tony. How are you?”

“Fine,” he answered,
“everything’s alright in the north and the Changelings are gone. Oh, do you know what has happened?”

“Only roughly. They tried to invade Canterlot, and you killed five of them in Ponyville.”

“Hmm. Unfortunately I can’t tell you more than that, since I am still waiting for details, too.”

“And that makes you grumpy?”

“Grumpy? No, Tia wanted to wait until you are here, and I accepted this delay.”

“Then, why are you secluding yourself? Come down with me and enjoy this wonderful reception!”

“I have to admit I’m not a big fan of such parties, and especially now I don’t think I’m in the right mood.”

“Then, in what mood are you?”

“Have you ever prepared yourself to fight an army and then your enemy suddenly vanished?”

“Do you mean you are suffering from spare aggressions?”

“I wouldn’t call it ‘suffer’, but I thought it wise to keep some distance to ponies, and someone really should take care that those Changelings don’t execute a surprise attack.”

“You do not need to worry. They do not act with precipitation, and since their plan was foiled, they will not attack us for a while now. So, you can come down with me and enjoy the party.”

Luna used her nicest smile and tilted her head a little. She was rewarded with a chuckle from Antonius, then he took his helmet off.

“Okay,” he smiled back,
“let’s go down.”

They returned to Celestia, who was just having a piece of cake.

“Ah, there you are again,” she greeted,
“now have a piece of cake and enjoy the party!”

The cake was no problem, but Luna was anything but sure if Antonius enjoyed this party. He looked somewhat misplaced, calmly towering over the party-goers. Perhaps she could help him mingle?

“Would you like to dance?” Luna asked him.

“No, thank you,” he answered.

“Tony, I think we have a little cultural misunderstanding here,” Luna smiled,
“if the Princess of the Night asks you for a dance, you are supposed to reply: ‘With pleasure, your highness’.”

Antonius chuckled and said:

“There are some cultural traits I refuse to adopt. But seriously, Luna, I do not dance. I wouldn’t even do that if I knew how to.”

“You cannot dance? Well, of course not… I guess dancing is considered a waste of time where you are from.”

“Since it’s rather hard to weaponize it, yes.”

“Do you still enjoy the party?”

“Yes, it’s quite nice. Too bad it’s not also a victory celebration.”

“Well, it is. The Changelings are gone.”

“That’s what I mean. Just gone, not dead. This matter is far from over.”

“Yeah, I know. But you should not allow that to spoil your enjoyment of the party.”

“I don’t, Luna. I’m just not as… outgoing as you ponies are.”

Luna snickered.

“You can say that again,” she grinned.

When the reception was over and Twilight and her friends had said good bye to the newlyweds, they all met in the round room where they had spent the night some moons ago.

“Well,” Celestia started,
“I think now the time has come to tell my sister and Antonius what happened today.”

And so she, Twilight and her friends told the story - sometimes a little contritely - about what had happened this day. While Luna listened carefully, she also kept an eye on Antonius. He did not show any emotion while the story was told, but considering that they had not exactly covered themselves in glory, she was curious about his opinion.
The story ended and there was silence for a few seconds. Then Antonius started laughing. Luna had heard him laugh before. This was different, though. It was a cold laughter that made her shiver.

“That’s it?” he asked,
“That’s all it takes for you to forget your valued friendships and turn on one another? A bad impostor and a little distraction?”

Well, calling a royal wedding a ‘little distraction’ was an understatement, but Luna knew what he meant.

“Yeah,” Rainbow said sarcastically,
“it you had been here everything would of course have been fine.”

Antonius’ glare made her shrink a little.

“According to what you told me,” he said coldly,
“I seriously doubt that we would be sitting here together now if I had been here.”

“What do you mean?” Celestia asked.

“Well, let’s run a little simulation. Twilight, imagine I would have been in Canterlot after you had discovered the clues that something was wrong with Cadance. What would you have done?”

Twilight looked a little perplexed, but she answered:

“Umm… I would have gone to see you and told you what I had found out?”

“And you instantly would have known that she was right?” Celestia asked defensively.

Another glare from Antonius.

“No,” he said,
“but she provided enough evidence to make further investigations necessary, so I would have followed her to find out what was going on.”

“Okay, so let’s say Twilight accused Cadance of being evil and Shining Armor explained everything…”

“Explained? He just delivered another plausible theory. Up to this point, there was no chance to actually figure out the truth. Only by interrogating the false Cadance one would have been able to do that, but I doubt that you would have allowed that.”

Celestia took a breath, and after a few seconds of hesitation she answered:

“No. I’d have thought that you just were paranoid, and I would have protected the creature I thought to be Cadance.”

“Alright, so all of us basically repeat our mistakes,” Applejack opined,
“just with you around. But why would we not be sitting here together now?”

“Because,” Antonius started to explain,
“we now have two sides, each of them sure to do the only right thing: Princess Celestia wants to protect Cadance, I insist on interrogating her. Celestia wants to brush me off. Now do you think I would allow somepony to brush me off?”

“You mean…” Twilight stammered.

“Exactly. As an Astartes - and as this could have been a threat to the Elements of Harmony and by association my primary mission - I would have forcefully conducted the interrogation, fighting everything, everyone - or everypony - that wanted to interfere.”

“That is a horrible notion,” Twilight mumbled.

“Indeed. Either Celestia managed to defeat me somehow, leading to this world being destroyed by Chaos or my - in this case particularly vengeful - chapter, or I defeated her, leading to ponykind basically being under my reluctant but now required rule.”

What? There had to be a middle course between those two extremes... but Antonius was probably too disgruntled to consider that.

“There is something you have forgotten,” Celestia said, clearly miffed,
“Luna.”

“No, I actually haven’t. But there are already rumors that we are leagued to overthrow you, so putting her in charge would not change the outcome.”

“That’s not what I meant. Luna, since we are still doing this ‘simulation’, you would have helped me fight Antonius, wouldn’t you?”

Horse apples. That was a question Luna did not like at all. There were only two possibilities: betraying her sister or betraying her friend, and both of them acted the way they did because they thought to be right.

No, Luna did not like the whole situation at all. Even this meeting had become too dark and aggressive by now. She had to lighted the mood. She had to try at least. Luna sighed:

“Well, either I join my sister, and ponykind gets wiped out. Or I join Antonius, become queen and rule ponykind with an iron hoof.”
Now she leaned back with a grin and winked at her sister:
“What a hard choice to make.”

The following silence lasted for a few seconds, then, thankfully, Twilight and her friends realized that she was joking and started snickering. Celestia needed a few more seconds to join in.

“Okay, enough ‘what-if questions’,” Antonius said in a serious tone,
“it’s time for some reality and the debriefing: I made two mistakes: I did not recognize the false Cadance as an impostor and I got lured to the north.”

“That’s hardly your fault,” Luna told him,
“you only saw her for a minute and you had no other choice than to check in on the base.”

“Even if you have a justification, a mistake is still a mistake,” Antonius answered,
“it shows that I lack alertness and wisdom.”

Damnit, he was really hard on himself. He continued:

“Luna, your mistake was being a really heavy sleeper. There was an invasion going on without you noticing.”

“Yeah, but… ah, okay, I admit it.”

“Furthermore, you turned your PDA off.”

“Well, I didn’t want Al to watch me in my sleep.”

“But it meant that I couldn’t contact you. So, keep it on standby.”
He turned to the others:
“The PDAs seem to be a problem for everypony here. Where are they? I wasn’t able to contact anypony.”

‘At home’ was the predominant answer, and Antonius continued:

“From now on, take them with you. Twilight, next time you notice clues that something isn’t right, tell me. Or tell Al.”

“But… didn’t you say that it was good that you weren’t here?” Twilight inquired.

“This once: yes. Generally: no, at least if everypony takes this debriefing to heart. Next, you were not able to defeat the Changelings.”
Before she could answer, he turned to her friends and Celestia:
“The same is applies to you, with two additional mistakes: You did not notice the impostor and turned on you friend respectively pupil.”

“Hey, they are gone now, aren’t they?” Rainbow asked defensively.

“Yes. But if you refuse to learn from this experience they will wipe the floor with you the next time they attack. I strongly suggest that you do not allow anything to interfere in your friendship, and take the warnings of one of you seriously.”

“Hindsight is always easier than foresight,” Celestia said.

“And foresight is always better than being defeated,” Antonius retorted.

Celestia nodded, but Luna could easily see how miffed she was.

“We will take your debriefing to heart,” Celestia told him, then she turned to Twilight and continued,
“but now, I suggest we end this and you, Twilight, and your friends return to the party. The Changelings are gone and Cadance and Shining Armor got married, so it was a good day, after all. Let it end accordingly.”

“Just one more question,” Antonius said,
“what about the Royal Guard? How was their performance?”

“They had no chance against the Changelings’ superiority in numbers.”

“I see. Thank you. I’ll go to my quarters.”

“So will I,” Celestia said and they parted.

Luna went with Antonius.

“So, no leftovers for us?” she asked cautiously.

“Perhaps tomorrow,” Antonius answered,
“I’d prefer to meditate now.”

“Okay, but please do not be too hard on us - or yourself.”

“I don’t think I am. I didn’t require you to do penance, after all.”

“And what about you?”

“I have been careless.”

“Goodness, Tony! Nopony was harmed! Everything is fine again! You have no reason to blame yourself, and I know a thing or two about real reasons to blame oneself.”

“I have told you I would take care of you. And now, you almost got defeated - by a species that reminds me of the cursed Tyranids!”

Luna cocked her head a little:

“Ah, there is the problem. You have some kind of flashback.”

“A flashback?” Antonius asked incredulously.
“Of course. You encountered creatures that remind you of those xenos, and suddenly you are all no-nonsense.
Relax. We are alright, and seriously: Even if the Changelings had successfully invaded Canterlot, they still would have lost. You were already on your way here after all, weren’t you?”

“Was just about to jump into the Speeder when this ‘lovesplosion’ happened.”

“See? So, take it easy, and good night.”

Antonius smiled again. A genuine, warm smile.

“Good night, Luna,” he said.

Luna left Antonius, glad that she had been able to help him. He had been too hard on himself, but Luna would take care that he did not repeat this mistake. Tomorrow, she would surprise him with breakfast, not that he started some silly penitence-fasting or something like that.

And he wasn’t the only one Luna would look after now. She went to her sister’s quarters and knocked:

“Hello, sister? It is I, Luna!”

“Come in!” Celestia answered.

As Luna entered the room, her sister was pacing up and down in front of her fireplace.

“Is something wrong?” Luna asked innocently.

“You know what’s wrong,” Celestia replied,
“Antonius rebukes me as if I were a little filly and my little sister can’t wait to overthrow me!”

“Well, didn’t you say you like that he treats you like a normal pony? And his suggestions were perhaps a little blunt, but well-meant.”

“Of course! Take his side again! Sorry that I didn’t really give you the chance to betray me again!”

That hurt. Luna did not have to be reminded of her past, she knew it all too well.

“I’m sorry, Luna,” Celestia sighed,
“I didn’t mean that. Forget that I said it.”

“Not used to being rebuked, eh?” Luna smiled.

“Not really. For the last ten millennia, I have been the pony to guide our species. Everypony always expected me to be flawless, and now that I made a - justifiable - mistake, Antonius just like that rubs that fact into my face without accepting any sort of explanation!”

“He is just as hard on himself in that matter. The Changelings reminded him of an abominable species he knows. That triggered some kind of flashback and he went all ‘Space Marine’ on us.”

Celestia stopped and stared at Luna.

“Yeah,” she exclaimed,
“you must be right! He even called the Changelings… what was it… tyranid-ponies when I first met him after the invasion!”

“Hmm. That is why they disgruntled him, especially since they were not killed. But do not worry, sister, I talked to him. He is better now.”

“So, no overthrowing me?” Celestia smiled.

“Nah, not today,” Luna grinned back.

A flashback… no, he wouldn't call it a flashback, but Antonius had to admit that those Changelings had activated his indoctrinated behavior patterns.
Damned, they really reminded him of Tyranids - the overall insect-like appearance, the swarm… but instead of devouring bio-mass, they drained love… it was really fascinating that he found so many similarities to the galaxy on this planet, just in a ‘lighter and softer’ version.
Well, they were gone for now. Of course they would return, but not tonight, so Antonius changed into his pajamas and went to bed.

The next morning, Luna surprised him with self-made pancakes. Or something like pancakes.
Actually, the meal she brought consisted of a few round, grey slabs obviously made of compressed dust.
Damnit, it was really high time that he convinced Luna to leave the cooking to him. Of course, he would have to learn it first, but how hard could that possibly be?

“Not good, hmm?” she asked him as she saw his face as he sampled the pancakes.

“To be honest: Not really.”

“Okay. The ‘normal’ breakfast will start in ten minutes. Get ready, and we will attend.”

When Antonius and Luna arrived at the table, Celestia, Twilight, Spike and Applejack were already present. The rest of Twilight’s friends arrived soon thereafter. Last was Rainbow Dash, wearing shades and suffering from a headache.

After the breakfast, Antonius, Luna and Celestia had another training session. As they were fighting, a guard entered the room and said:

“Princesses, Lord Commander, Doctor Rapid Cure requests an audience.”

They stopped the training and Celestia said:

“Send him in.”

The guard left and the doctor entered the room, bowed and said:

“Your Majesties, Lord Varus, I have unsettling news. It may not seem too important, but I thought I better tell you.”

“What is it, Doctor Cure?” Celestia asked.

“Do you remember the darksteel splint we used as Princess Luna had injured her horn?”

“Yeah,” Luna grumbled,
“I will never forget that thing. It was very inconvenient and most unpleasant.”

“Well, after the invasion and confusion yesterday, I took stock of the medical equipment. The splint is gone.”

“Gone?” Luna asked.

“Indeed,” Rapid Cure answered.

“Perhaps it was mislaid?” Celestia suggested.

“I don’t think so, Princess. The item was well coffered and the locks have been broken.”

“Is anything else missing?”

“No, everything else is where it’s supposed to be. I fear that those Changelings might have stolen it.”

Luna shook her head:

“I do not think so. They can suppress our magic with their slime, stealing such a splint would be pointless.”

“Then, who is the culprit?” Rapid Cure asked.

“The material is rather rare,” Antonius opined,
“so it could just be thieves. Or there is another faction we don’t know about as of yet.”

45. Looking for the sun

Five days had passed since the invasion of Canterlot. Antonius had used this time to intensify the princesses’ training.
He was really satisfied with Luna’s performance, but it dawned on him that Celestia just wasn’t a sword-fighter. Her performance was adequate, but that was as far as it went. Perhaps they should try other weapons besides swords?

He was pondering this as he fought her while Luna was watching. He had time to do so. He had just blocked a sweep and subsequently pushed Celestia’s sword aside, leaving her body open for an attack. She realized this and jumped backwards to reassume her stance.
Could be better, could be worse.

Now, they were interrupted as a guard came in:

“Princess Celestia, sorry to disturb, but a messenger just brought a message for you.”

Celestia stopped fighting, took the message and read it.

“Thank you,” she nodded towards the guard and he left.

“What is it, sister?” Luna asked.

“A note from Rapid Cure. He has important information, and he wants to tell me face-to-face. And secretly. He wants to meet me in a side road in the outskirts of Canterlot in 15 minutes.”

“Sounds like a trap,” Antonius stated.

“And why should Rapid Cure deceive us?” Celestia inquired.

“If he actually wrote this note. It was delivered by a messenger, after all.”

“Tony, he is doctor. He probably had a patient he had to take care off.”

“That still leaves open the question why he sent this message to you, and only you, instead of the three of us,” Luna pointed out.

“Well, I’ll find out once I get there and talk to him,” Celestia said.

“You are determined to go?” Antonius asked.

“Of course.”

“Very well. Give us the note and take your PDA with you. Should you not report in within half an hour, Luna and I will come to help you.”

“I don’t think that’s necessary. We are still in Canterlot, after all. But if you insist, we will do it your way.”

Celestia gave Luna the note, grabbed her PDA, checked it, said goodbye and left.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Luna mumbled.

“Welcome to the club. I say we go to the hospital and check if Rapid Cure really sent this message. We have 29 minutes. Let me just get my armor.”

“Good idea.”

Celestia arrived at the entrance to the side road two minutes early. It was a bright, sunny day, the kind of day she loved. Usually, she did not have a lot of opportunities to just leave the palace and walk through the city, so she was grateful for this chance.

She looked around. Here, in the outskirts, nopony was on the streets, they were all busy on the markets and in the buildings in the center. Rapid Cure really had selected a good spot and time for a secret meeting.

Celestia took a look into the side road. No sunlight reached the ground of this road, it was dark. Somehow she could understand Antonius; it really looked like a trap.
But this was Canterlot, and she was an alicorn. Whatever surprise might await her in there, she was sure she would be able to handle it. She walked into the side road.

Antonius and Luna arrived at the hospital when the ‘meeting’ was supposed to take place. They walked up to the mare at the reception desk and Antonius said:

“Greetings. We need to talk to Doctor Rapid Cure as soon as possible.”

“Okay, please wait a second,” the mare said and left.

She was immediately replaced by a young stallion assuming her post.
It did not take long until she returned - with Rapid Cure.

“Hello, Princess Luna! Hello, Lord Varus!” he greeted with a smile,
“to what do I owe the honor of this visit?”

“Did you send a messenger with this note to my sister?” Luna asked, showing him the note.

“No,” Rapid Cure answered, a little confused,
“I usually deliver my notes myself, especially when there’s not much do do, like this morning. But… who would sent a note in my name?”

“Someone who has set up a trap. A trap that Celestia is walking right into,” Antonius grumbled and grabbed his bolter.

“Doctor Cure?” Celestia called,
“it’s me, Princess Celestia. I got your note. Are you here?”

No answer.
Celestia carefully walked further into the side road, scanning her surroundings. There was no sign of anypony being there. She took another step, then she heard somepony scream

“NOW!”

She knew that voice…
The next moment, she was hit by something and thrown off balance. She tried to stabilize herself, turned her head and saw… ponies? Yes, ponies. Unicorns, to be exact.

“What are you doing?” she asked in confusion,
“are you out of your mind?”

Another pony landed on her neck and brought her down on her knees.

“Quick!” the voice commanded.

Okay, enough was enough. She lit her horn, then she heard a ‘click’ and felt her magic fade away. She set eyes on her horn.
The good new was that now she knew where this darksteel splint had gone. The bad news was that it was on her horn.

She had to admit that this development surprised her. She had relied on her magic for handling this situation, but now, that option was gone. Well, she was still an alicorn and had more powers than just magic. She tried to stand up again and shake the ponies off, but something hit the back of her head. Another hit.

“She doesn’t black out!” one of the ponies shouted.

“Take the chloroform!” the voice shouted.

Yes, Celestia definitely knew that voice.

She managed to shake off one of the ponies and got back on her hooves. Then a piece of cloth was wrapped around her muzzle and she felt her strength fail.

“It’s working!” a pony shouted.

“Good! Catch her when she collapses, she mustn’t get hurt!”

Huh? What about not attacking her then?
Celestia passed out.

“There we are,” Antonius said as he entered the dark side road, his bolter ready to fire,
“this is the rendezvous point.”

“Unfortunately, we are the only ones here,” Luna replied,
“we are too late.”

She was right. After talking to Rapid Cure, they had tried to call Celestia and warn her, but she had not answered. Now, they were on site, and there was no sign of her.

“Al, can you tell us where Celestia’s PDA is?” Antonius voxed.

“No, unfortunately not,” Al answered,
“there is no positioning system active. The best way of action would be to use your auspex to find Celestia’s PDA. It is on standby, and I will reconfigure it to emit a signal you can track.”

So Antonius grabbed his auspex and scanned the area.

“I have a signal,” he stated.

As Celestia came back to consciousness, she felt like she had gotten under a chariot. She tried to move, but she couldn’t. She opened her eyes.

She was in some kind of basement, lying on a… couch? Well, that was not as bad as expected.
Just as bad as expected was that she was tied up with ropes - and even chains. She tried to free herself, but to no avail.

“Save your energy, Princess. Everything will be fine again soon,” the voice from the side road said.

Celestia craned her neck and saw:

“Cinch?”

It really was her, the former principal, and three other unicorns.

“Yes, your Majesty. Do not worry, you will be yourself again in a few minutes,” she said.

“I already am myself, Cinch. What profit do you expect from abducting me?”

“This is not just about a profit for me, but about a profit for all of ponykind! We will free you from the spell your devious sister and this alien have put on you!”

Uh-oh.

“Cinch,” Celestia said,
“I am under no spell, my sister is not devious, and Antonius Varus is… from another culture, but actually very helpful.”

“Of course you do not realize that you are under a spell. And that is the proof that you are under a spell!”

“What? That doesn’t make sense! As a former principal, you should really…”

“AND THAT IS ANOTHER PROOF!” Cinch shouted,
“you have to be under a spell to dismiss a loyal subject such as me!”

“Cinch, this is madness. Set me free, and I promise we will discuss your worries.”

“There is nothing to discuss, Princess. But of course we will set you free, right after we have gotten rid of the spell that Nightmare Moon and her ally put on you.”

“And how do you plan to do that, if I may ask?”

“We have found a spell that is capable of removing any form of mind control, hypnosis or suggestion.”

“This surely is a high-level spell?”

“It is.”

Celestia sighed:

“Then, how do you intend to cast it? Only a few ponies in Canterlot are capable of performing such magic, and I don’t see any of them here.”

“You are right, Princess, that’s why we are going to synchronize the magic of my three companions here.”

Celestia really hoped she had misheard.

“What?” she shouted,
“do you know how difficult it is to synchronize multiple unicorns in such a way, even if they are experts? And this spell targets the brain! Even if you manage to cast the spell, the tiniest flaw in the synchronization might burn my brain or kill me!”

Cinch nodded:

“I am aware of this risk, Princess. But it is better to die free than to live as a slave.”

Celestia stared at her.

“You are insane,” she whispered.

“Of course you think so. You are under a spell, after all.”

“The PDA is inside this house, in the basement,” Antonius told Luna,
“but there is only one pony there. Let’s hope it knows where Tia is. I’ll go straight for the PDA, you wait ten seconds, then you follow me.”

Having said that, he charged through the front door, shattering it in the process. Then, he jumped down the stairs to the basement and smashed another door. He had found the PDA, and an unicorn stallion holding it in his magical grasp. In the next moment, he jumped forward and grabbed the pony by the throat. He lifted it from the ground and asked:

“Where is Princess Celestia?”

“Oh, you would like to know that, wouldn’t you?” the stallion grinned.

“I’m not in the mood for your idiocy. You will tell me what I want to know.”

“I would not bet on it, alien.”

Now, Luna entered the room.

“Does he know where Cellie is?” she inquired.

“Look who we have here - Nightmare Moon,” the stallion spat.

Luna narrowed her eyes.

“Oh, I will become your nightmare if you refuse to tell us where my sister is,” she hissed.

“You can’t make me. In a few minutes, your sister will be herself again and you will be punished!”

“What is this madpony talking about?” Luna asked.

“I assume it is the delusion of a fanatic,” Antonius said bluntly.

“Call me whatever you want, alien,” the pony said,
“we will win in the end!”

“You do realize that I have my hand around your throat?”

“Okay, kill me. I still won’t tell you where the princess is.”

Antonius turned to Luna:

“What a nitwit. But we must get him to talk. And fast.”

“But how?” Luna asked,
“if we had time, I could search his mind for the answer, but that takes too long now.”

Antonius took a breath, then he said:

“I could almost certainly make him talk.”

He could see it in Luna’s eyes. She knew what he was talking about. She was horrified by the notion, but she nodded.

“Then, Antonius,” she said,
“I want you to…”

“DO NOT SAY IT!” Antonius interrupted her.

Luna looked confused, but he explained himself:

“We are about to commit an act of barbarity here. You will not give me such an order. What I will do now, I will do of my own accord.”

Antonius turned to the pony in his grasp:

“This is your last chance, xeno scum. Tell me where Celestia is.”

“No! What do you want to do? Torture me? You would only confirm what I think of you!” the pony said with a smug smile.

Antonius moved the pony a little closer to his helmet and hissed:

“But it will still hurt. A lot.”

The pony’s smug smile vanished.

Now Antonius punched the stallion in the face.

“Where is Celestia?” he asked coldly.

“I won’t tell you!” the pony screamed.

Antonius punched him again with increased strength, asked his question and did not get a satisfying answer.
They repeated this process a few times, until a punch caused an audible ‘crack’. If Antonius did not change his methods, he would probably stab fragments of the pony’s facial bones through its brain. Not too good for an interrogation.

“Congratulations,” Antonius said darkly,
“you are quite resilient to blunt trauma.”

Then, he grabbed his chainsword.

“Use your sword. Kill me. I won’t say anything,” the stallion wheezed.

“You will,” Antonius said, activated the sword and held it between the pony’s hind legs,
“unless you want me to test if I can use my weapon as a high-speed gelding machine.”

To call the stallion’s expression ‘greatly perturbed’ would have been an understatement.
Antonius set the sword’s teeth spinning and slowly started raising it. It cut the pony’s fur, then it started drawing blood.

“AAHHH! Okay! I’ll talk! You win, I’ll talk!” the stallion screamed.

“About time,” Antonius said and stopped the sword’s teeth.

The stallion told them everything he knew, from his companions’ hiding place to their plans.

“Thank you for your cooperation,” Antonius said coldly.

“You could have made this easier for us - and for yourself,” Luna grumbled,
“now, we must make haste and rescue my sister from those maniacs before they kill her!”

“Maniacs…” the stallion hissed, then he spat a mixture of spit and blood in Luna’s face and turned to Antonius:

“Too bad I only had enough spit for one of you. Now let me down, alien.”

Antonius glared at the pony in his grasp. He had restrained himself until now, but this traitor did not deserve any kind of mercy.

“You want me to let you down?” he asked and pulled his sword’s trigger, making the weapon roar furiously,
“okay.”

According to his face, the stallion had realized that he was doomed now. Antonius released the grasp around his neck, and the pony fell into the chainsword. The creature was cut in half, the two pieces falling to the ground, sending drops of blood flying everywhere, even on Luna’s fur and face.

“Yikes,” she mumbled.

“Let his blood wash away his spit,” Antonius said,
“now get Celestia’s PDA and let’s get moving.”

Luna quickly used some magic to clean herself and Antonius; she couldn’t run around like that - and she couldn’t let him run around Canterlot bloodied like that.

As they were leaving the house, she carefully asked:

“Tony?”

“If you want to rebuke me for what I’ve done, I have a piece of advice for you: don’t,” he said.

“I did not want to.”

“Good. I am not really a supporter of torture, I leave this to the enemies of mankind. I am a warrior, you know, a guardian! When I fight, even if my enemies are inferior to me, they at least have a chance to fight back, and the kills are quick and precise. Torture, on the other hand - you don’t need courage to do such a thing, and it also is not honorable. Sadly, it was something else: necessary.”

Poor Tony. He needed a cuddle when this was over. Perhaps it was a strange thing to do, given the situation, but Luna was sure it was necessary, too.

She wondered what her sister would say. Well, they were saving her life. Despite everything, she should be grateful for that.

When they finally arrived at their destination, Antonius said:

“Okay, just like last time. I go in, you wait ten seconds and follow.”

“Tony,” Luna answered and he looked at her,
“you will not be the only one taking the responsibility for the acts committed during my sister’s rescue. I will now give you an order, and do not try to stop me: Rescue Celestia, no matter the cost!”

Antonius nodded and turned to the door.

“There is still time to stop your plan,” Celestia said urgently.

The three companions of Cinch had tried to synchronize their magic for several minutes now, but it was clear to Celestia that they were inadequate for this task. If they casted the spell on her now, she could say goodbye to her brain - and her life.

“Cinch, could you please silence her?” one of the ponies asked,
“this is hard enough without her continuously bothering us.”

Of course, blame you inadequacy on her!

Cinch rummaged through a chest and pulled out a scarf.

“That should do,” she said and walked up to Celestia.

“Don’t…” was everything Celestia could say before she wrapped the scarf around her muzzle.

“So, no more distractions!” Cinch said contently.

Celestia was somewhere between fury and fear. She was lying there, helpless, waiting for some insane morons to recklessly - or as they would call it ‘accidentally’ - kill her.
She closed her eyes.

How much time had passed since she had been abducted? Where was Luna? Where was Tony? Wasn’t this a situation he had been trained for? Rescuing somepony?
They may have had their dissensions, but seriously, if he showed up now, she would kiss his boots… or any part he wanted to have kissed, damnit!

Suddenly, she heard a crack and opened her eyes again.

“The front door!” Cinch screamed in panic,
“quick! Barricade the door!”

The ponies ceased their attempts to synchronize their magic and started pushing everything they could find in front of the door.
From outside the door, she heard a

“Stop!”,

but it was drowned out by the roar of a chainsword.
Antonius was here.

“Hold the door!” Cinch screamed.

Two of the unicorns braced their hooves agains the rubble in front of the door. Celestia could see the fear in their faces, and the third pony plopped down and whimpered:

“So close to success…”

Now, Antonius entered the room, but he did not come through the door. He burst through the wall next to the door, sending bricks and pieces of cement flying, the roaring chainsword in his hand.
Before those flying pieces of the wall had reached the ground, he had already lashed out at the two ponies next to him, decapitating them with a mighty swing of his sword. Celestia felt blood hit her, but she had no time to think about that.

Without a pause, Antonius jumped forward and impaled the third, crying unicorn. Then he put his boot on the ponies’ chest and pulled the sword out, dispensing entrails on the floor.
Then he turned to Cinch.

“You,” he stated.

“Yes, me,” Cinch said, trying to maintain her composure,
“I had almost been successful! I had almost been able to free Princess Celestia from your dark spell! But I failed. How did you find this place? Well, it doesn’t matter. My failure doesn’t matter, either! There are more of us! And we will never stop fighting you!”

“I guess you mean that nitwit who had Celestia’s equipment?” Antonius asked coldly.

“What have you done to him?” Cinch spat.

“He shortly suffered from a severe case of split personality.”

“Murderer!”

“Traitor!” Antonius retorted and closed in on Cinch. She tried to back off, but there was nowhere to go.

“You will never enslave us!” she spat.

“Of course I won’t, you moron!” Antonius replied.

Cinch seemed to be confused by this statement. Perhaps there was still hope for her? Celestia hoped so. Perhaps she would see the truth and realize her mistakes…
Or not. Antonius slashed her chest with his roaring sword. Her eyes went wide, and she collapsed on the ground, a stertorous, dying heap of pony. Was that a part of her lung that hung out? Celestia closed her eyes again.

“Rewarded as a traitor deserves,” Antonius grumbled.

Celestia opened her eyes and saw him walking up to her, smeared with blood, with red glowing eyes embedded in an unmoving face mask. He knelt down and removed the scarf from her muzzle.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

She was, thanks to him. But the carnage he had caused… and what was that with the ‘split personality’? She knew that incredible atrocities had been committed today - while trying to save her. Perhaps she did not like his methods, but he had indeed saved her life. She had to be grateful for that.

“Did you have to kill them all?” Celestia heard herself scream.

That had not been grateful. She wondered what had gotten into her.
Then she looked at the carnage around her, and at Cinch who had just finished dying. All of that had gotten into her.

“I knew it was a mistake…” Antonius started.

Huh? He really saw killing those ponies as a mistake? Perhaps…

“… I should never have removed that scarf,” Antonius finished flatly.

Celestia just stared at him.

Now Luna entered the room. She looked relieved as she saw her and asked:

“Sister! Are you alright?”

“She is, she is,” Antonius sighed, then he picked her up like a doll and started cutting the ropes and ripping apart the chains that were wrapped around her body. Last, he removed the splint that had suppressed her magic.
When she was free again, Celestia took another look at the mess around her and said:

“Let us leave this place.”

“Agreed,” Antonius said,
“you return to the palace, I will go to the hospital and tell Rapid Cure who has used his name.”

“Okay, Tony,” Luna agreed and quickly cleaned his armor with her magic,
“see you later.”

Luna was happy to have her sister back, but she knew that something was wrong. Something between Celestia and Antonius.
Of course, she was not particularly happy with his methods, but as Antonius had said it: they had been necessary.

Now, they were back at the palace and Celestia was taking a shower to get rid of the blood she had been stained with - a quick magical cleaning would have been sufficient in Luna's opinion. Yeah, Celestia could be a little picky from time to time.

As she came out of the shower, Luna said:

“Feeling better now, sister?”

“Yeah,” Celestia answered,
“I’m really not used to having blood on my fur. That’s probably one of the advantages of armor.”

Luna rolled her eyes:

“Of course, this is the main reason for using armor.”

“Oh, Luna,” Celestia sighed,
“so much blood spilled. It would have been enough to break down the door and shout ‘stop!’ or something, but no, he killed them all.”

“They have been trying to kill you, sister. He saved your life. Of course, he did it his way, and he was thoroughly successful.”

“At the expense of lives.”

“Oh, stop criticizing him. I do not criticize him, although by saving you he has basically cost me the title of queen,” Luna grinned.

“Are the teams on the way to clean up the mess he has made?” Celestia asked, ignoring the joke.

“Yes. But do not try to change topic. What is you problem with Antonius?”

“His propensity for violence! How can you stay so calm after he killed six ponies?”

“Simple: I gave him an order to do so.”

Celestia stared at her:

“You did what?”

“I ordered him to rescue you, no matter the cost!”

“Do you realize what you have done?”

Luna stared her sister directly in the eyes.

“Oh, I know, sister, I know too well. Antonius and I have both committed acts of barbarity because we did not want to take the chance of you getting hurt. We caused harm and death. All to liberate you before those insane traitors could murder you. If you want to hate us for that, feel free to do so.”

Celestia did not move for a few seconds, shocked by her sister’s bluntness, then she hugged Luna.

“I don’t hate you, Luna,” she whispered,
“I never could. And I don’t hate Antonius, either. I know he is doing what he thinks is necessary, it’s just that his ways are often so different from our own. I really dislike killing, and I think no civilized creature should see killing as a means to solve problems.”

“I am not fond of killing, either, and I think even Antonius is not really fond of it. As you said, he just does what he thinks is necessary.”

“But his judgement in that regard is rather poor.”

“From your point of view. From his? That is another question.”

As Antonius arrived at the hospital, Rapid cure just left the building, carrying a cardboard box in his magical grasp.

“Hello, Doctor. I just wanted to see you. Princess Celestia is fine and I can assure you the ponies who misused your name won’t repeat their mistake. Now please excuse my curiosity, but what’s the deal with this cardboard box?”

Rapid Cure took a look at the box and answered:

“Oh, well, I guess it is one of the standard features when being fired.”

“Fired?”

“Yep. Blamed me for loosing the splint.”

“Why would they blame you? Does this hospital not have some sort of security?”

“It does.”

“Then, it is their fault, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, but nopony from security ran to you and the princesses and damaged the hospital’s reputation that way.”

“So, the loss of the splint is just an excuse?” Antonius asked.

“As far as I can judge, yes.”

Great. The hospital’s administration really fired a capable doctor because they were more worried about their reputation than anything else. Even worse: They fired Moonlight’s doctor.

“Shall I talk to them?” Antonius offered.

“Goodness, no!” Rapid Cure exclaimed,
“I’m fed up with this fancy-schmancy self-proclaimed ‘Canterlot elite’!
I’m an old country doctor, I want to return to a more rural area with a more down-to earth population. The only problem is that I don’t want to move too far from Moonlight and her family. I’m the only pony who has experience with her kind of wound, and I’m their family doctor, after all.”

Well, there was a nicely obvious solution for that problem.

“Ponyville,” Antonius stated,
“there is a hospital, too.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean that they will hire me.”

“We don’t know until we ask them. Meet me at the palace gates in an hour. We’ll take the Speeder to Ponyville.”

“I heard about that thing. Is it really safe?”

“Hasn’t exploded yet,” Antonius grinned.

“Then let’s hope it stays that way,” Rapid Cure grinned back.

They said goodbye and Antonius entered the hospital to return the splint. For a moment, he thought about keeping it as a reinsurance, but thought otherwise. It was not his property, and he would not steal it. So he walked up the the reception desk and said:

“Greetings. I’m here to return the horn splint that got stolen.”

The mare behind the counter looked at him with a startled expression, then she told him to wait and vanished.
A few minutes later, a pony in a business suit walked up to him and greeted:

“Good day, Lord Varus. There seems to be a misunderstanding. Our hospital never lost a horn splint.”

Antonius raised an eyebrow:

“You are kidding, hmm?”

“Of course not! Never has anything been stolen from this hospital! And we are going to sue anypony who says otherwise!”

Oh, damnit. What a moron.

“You are from the hospital’s administration, aren’t you?” Antonius deadpanned.

“Yes, I am,” the pony answered,
“and I can assure you that we did not lose this splint you are talking about.”

“This splint?” Antonius asked and help it up.

“Yes! This splint! This is the splint we definitely did not lose! It must be yours!”

Antonius raised an eyebrow:

“So, if you say it’s mine, I can keep it, right?”

“Of course! Now, goodbye! Have a nice day with that splint that definitely was yours all along!”

Antonius turned around and left. Having to deal with that much stupid had brought him close to a headache, but he was now the rightful owner of a splint capable of suppressing magic. That wasn’t bad, after all.

Luna nervously waited for Antonius at the entrance to the palace. When she saw him coming, she waved and said:

“Hello, Tony. Celestia wants to talk to you in her private chambers.”

“Joy,” he answered flatly.

“Oh, come on, do not be grumpy,” Luna tried to cheer him up,
“I think she wants to thank you for saving her life.”

In fact, Luna knew that Celestia wanted to do that. What troubled her was the fact that this was not everything her sister wanted to do.

When they entered the room, Celestia was already waiting for them and gestured them to sit down. Once they sat, she started:

“Tony, let me than you for saving my life. I was in grave danger and you made sure that I wasn’t harmed. Again, thank you.”

So far, so good. Part number two would be less pleasant.

Celestia continued:

“But we really have to talk about your methods. Killing ponies is unacceptable. I understand that you are from a society where killing each other is seen as rather normal, but here in Equestria we are civilized and favor peace and nonviolence. We do not kill, we talk things out, and we believe that every creature has a right to live.”

Oh, damnit. She wondered if Antonius would see that as an insult of humanity. His face betrayed no emotion as he answered:

“Well, you say killing is nothing special in the Imperium of Mankind, and you are not wrong. Now, let me tell you who we kill and why, excluding acts of direct self-defense:
We kill xenos and daemons, because they want to wipe us out, enslave us, or worse.
We also kill human traitors for much the same reasons.
Now, allow me to ask you a few questions to clarify things.”

“Of course.”

“According to your morale code, every creature has a right to live?”

“Yes.”

“And they all have an equal right to live?”

“Exactly!”

Something in Antonius’ expression told Luna that he would strike now. She was proven right as he said:

“But when I killed those Changelings a few days ago you were not as annoyed as you are now, were you?”

Celestia looked startled for a second, then she answered:

“Well, no.”

Antonius continued:

“But now that I have I have killed ponies who were traitors, just as evil and dangerous as the Changelings, you make a fuss. Right?”

“I would not call it ‘a fuss’, it’s just that…”

“Despite our admittedly violent methods, mankind still basically judges creatures by their actions. That is why we kill human traitors.
You seem to judge creatures only by their species; in your opinion, a creature can't deserve death just because it's a pony, even if it is a despicable traitor.
You pretend to follow a higher morality, but according to your own definition of morality, which I’ve understood quite well, your own morality is actually inferior to that of mankind, so do not dare to lecture me, hypocrite!
Whenever I kill, the creature I kill deserves death! Traitors deserve death, no matter if they are humans or ponies! And I bring it to them, as this is the duty the eternal Emperor placed on me, the honor he bestowed upon me.
It would be wise of you to adapt the moral code of mankind, for your approach will only leave you vulnerable and endanger your species. Sometimes, ponies will have to be killed. This may be a hard decision for you, but it is a decision a leader has to make from time to time.”

Oh. Dear.
Luna had never heard anypony rebuke Celestia this severely. This could not end well.

“Do not dare to criticize my leadership! Our society blossoms for ten millennia now because of they way I lead it!”

“The fact that you got steamrolled twice in the last week alone certainly speaks volumes about your ability to prepare your species for the dangerous times that are about to come.”

Damn. Celestia’s face was red with anger. If looks could kill, Antonius would be in serious trouble. He was rather calm himself, as if he had just stated something obvious - which actually made everything worse.

Luna desperately wished she would be able to find the right words to diffuse the situation, perhaps a logical flaw in Antonius statements. She was not able to find obvious ones at that moment.

Celestia took a deep breath and said:

“Peacefulness is never easy, but always worth pursuing.”

“Only if the circumstances allow for it,” Antonius stated.

“Always.”

“Then you will peacefully meet your doom.”

A few seconds of silence, then Celestia sighed:

“You are incorrigible.”

“Because I am right. And because I care for your ponies, for your sister, and for you,” Antonius replied.

That took Celestia by surprise.

“You mean, this was your version of ‘tough love’?”

“My version of ‘honest friendship’. Seriously, Tia, you MUST understand that the times of peace are at an end. Your forbearance and mercy really have the potential to doom your entire species, now that the stakes are as high as they are.”

Celestia sighed again.

“Still, even if they were well intentioned, I don’t think I will be able to easily forgive you the words you said.”

Antonius shrugged:

“Well, that's your decision. I still think you should be harder on traitors than on your friends who want only your best, though.”

Celestia stared at him for a second, then she got up and left the room, leaving Luna and Antonius behind in her own quarters.
Luna took a look at Antonius and saw a content smile.

“You enjoyed that, did you not?” she asked.

“You bet your fluffy little butt I did,” he answered.

If Luna was completely honest, she had to admit that a part of her had also enjoyed it, but she knew better than to let this part control her actions.

“It was not wise,” she stated.

“Maybe, but insulting mankind wasn’t wise, either. Rebuking Celestia was necessary.”

“I think we have had enough necessities for today.”

“I concur. I will take Rapid Cure to Ponyville now, then I will visit Zecora and give her her vox.”

“Good idea. Get a little distance between the two of you. I will go and see if Celestia is alright.”

Antonius left and Luna started looking for her sister. She found her in the throne room absorbed in a scroll.

“Hello, sister,” Luna greeted.

“I’m not in the mood for a conversation,” Celestia replied.

“Oh, of course you are, you just do not know yet,” Luna said and walked up to her.

Celestia put down her scroll.

“You heard what he said. You don’t agree with him, do you?”

“He exaggerated a little, but if you are completely honest, you will have to admit that he at least had a point.”

“I certainly won’t give up my love of peace.”

“Nopony wants you to do that. He just wanted to say that ponies who become traitors should not be under your protection anymore.”

“They should be put before the courts, not killed.”

“If they had not been busy killing you, maybe Antonius would have taken the time to do that.”

“You are really okay with him killing ponies?”

“If it is the only way to save the life of my big sister with certainty… yes, I am.”

Celestia sighed.

“It’s not that I don’t understand his motivations,” she said,
“but it’s still hard for me to handle the fact that he mercilessly killed ponies. And…”

“And?” Luna probed.

“What he said about the Changelings… I realized that he is not entirely wrong. I value the lives of ponies higher than the lives of Changelings. He is also right when he says that this is morally questionable. Every life should matter equally. I’m really not following my own moral code! Doesn’t that make me a bad pony?”

It took Luna a few seconds to come up with an answer:

“You are not a bad pony, but we are not living in some kind of perfect little fantasy world. This is reality, and sometimes, things happen that force us to act in ways we are not fond of. I am - for example - certainly not fond of killing ponies, but I accepted that the circumstances made it necessary to end their lives. Antonius is just quicker to come to this conclusion.”

“Too quick?”

“I do not think so. This was the first time he actually used lethal force against a pony, but by far not the first time a pony annoyed him. Ask you nephew. He is still alive, after all. Neither did he kill Cinch the first time he met her.
He just draws a red line when our species is endangered, and the loss of you would have been a devastating blow. So he did not take any risks. I cannot blame him for that.”

“Maybe you are right. Maybe I should just accept what he has done. Still, I think that our friendship has been quite a bit damaged by this whole incident.”

“Do not worry,” Luna grinned and ran her hoof through her forelock,
“as long as he is smitten with me…”

They started laughing.

Antonius had just dropped Rapid Cure off at his flat in Canterlot. The hospital in Ponyville had accepted his application and a house he could live in had also been found.

Now, Antonius returned the Land Speeder to the hangar and went to his room. Once there, he stowed the splint away and changed into his civil clothes. Then he grabbed his PDA and Al appeared on the device.

“Antonius, do you have a moment?” he asked.

“Sure,” Antonius answered.

“I feel compelled to tell you that your actions of today violate my moral code.”

“Great, another fan. Would you have known a better way to save Celestia? You didn’t tell me at least.”

“Well, your options were quite limited. I don’t want to harangue you, I just want to tell you that your behavior was morally dubious.”

“Thank you for this information,” Antonius grumbled.

Later that day, he met with Luna and Celestia for dinner. It was a quiet meal, far from the rather chatty ones they usually had, but as it was over, a servant brought a bottle of wine and three glasses. Celestia unstopped the bottle and said:

“Now, Antonius, let me thank you for saving my life. I know, we had our differences today, but by sharing this wine I want to prove my appreciation of you and our friendship.”

Oh, an attempt at reconciliation! Antonius joined in and replied:

“Thank you, Tia. I appreciate you and our friendship, too.”

Celestia poured wine into the glasses and distributed them.

“Here’s to our friendship!” she said and took a sip.

Antonius and Luna also raised their glasses. After that, Celestia looked at her glass for a while, deep in thought, then she mumbled:

“No, this isn’t right,”
and turned to Antonius:
“Antonius, would you mind if it took me a few days to come to terms with today’s events? I really appreciate you and our friendship, but celebrating and drinking wine somehow seems dishonest to me at the moment. Also, please don’t call me ‘Tia’ until I’m better.”

“As you wish, Celestia,” Antonius answered.

Celestia nodded, got up and left the room.

“Hmm… that could have gone better,” Luna mumbled, gazing after her sister.

“Could have gone, worse, too,” Antonius said.

Now Luna picked up her glass and the bottle of wine.

“Well, since my sister is gone, let us go to my quarters,” she suggested,
“it is more cozy there.”

“Right on your heels.”

They got comfortable in front of Luna’s fireplace and she said:

“Okay, first things first. Since my sister made no move, I have to.”

Then she hugged Antonius and added:

“Thank you for saving Celestia. Without reservations.”

“You’re welcome,” Antonius replied, patting her back,
“preventing traitors from causing harm is one of my primary duties, after all.”

She ended the hug and asked:

“Now, may I be so curious as to ask what Rapid Cure wanted to do in Ponyville?”

“He wanted to find a job,” Antonius told her.

“Huh? I thought he already had one.”

“Yeah, he HAD one. Past tense. He got fired today. Officially for losing the splint. Actually for damaging the hospital’s reputation by telling us that the splint was stolen.”

“No way!”

“It gets better. Now, the hospital administration insists that they never lost a splint.”

“Huh? So they fired him for losing a splint that officially never was lost?”

“Yes. Don’t think about it too hard, that will only result in a headache. The doctor has found a new job in the hospital in Ponyville and a house to live in, so everything is fine again.”

“Well, that is the main thing… but wait, what happened to this splint? Who has it now?”

Antonius raised his arm and waved.

“You?” Luna inquired, then she started grinning and continued:
“You are not going to use it on poor, unsuspecting princesses of the night, are you?”

“No, I’m going to keep it just in case of an emergency.”

“According to the size of the splint, you try to prepare for my sister or me going crazy?”

“Luna, I try to prepare for EVERYTHING.”

46. Rescue mission

More than two weeks had passed since Celestia had been abducted and violently rescued by Antonius. Their friendship was still not in the best shape and they were more polite than cordial in their interactions.
Furthermore, a lot of rumors about those events ran through Canterlot, but they were contradictory - reaching from insane ponies to changelings - and most ponies had chosen not to believe any of them.

To pacify those who were somewhat unsettled, the princesses had issued a formal letter of appreciation in which they thanked Antonius for everything he had done for Equestria. That was, of course, awfully general, but since the princesses were (apparently) content with whatever had happened, so were the ponies.
Their blind faith in their rulers really had its perks.

In addition to calming the population, Antonius had been able to gather ponies who would help him to build weapons to fight Chaos, especially the Leman Russ tank. Now smiths, metallurgists, engineers and other experts were working in the armorium. This was probably not helping him with his sunny host, but it had to be done.
He was just inspecting a piece of metal that would become a part of the vehicle’s side armor when a messenger entered the armorium.

“Lord Varus?” she said,
“Princess Celestia asks you to come to the throne room.”

“Almost on my way,” he answered, then he turned to the ponies helping him:
“Carry on, you know what to do. If there are questions, best ask Al while I am busy.”

Another progress had been made that made this possible: Together, they had managed to grant Al access to the base’s systems, so that he could use the internal vox speakers, sensors and displays.

Antonius left the armorium, casting a glance at a display that showed the Leman Russ STC. It would still take quite some time, especially the necessary machines still had to be built and an explosives expert had to be found, but he estimated that the prototype-tank should be ready for the first tests in about a year.

He arrived in the throne room where Celestia and Luna were already waiting for him.

“Hello, Tony. How is it going?” Luna asked friendlily.

“We’re making progress. It might still be a little soon to plan the first tank-powered field trip, though,” he replied.

“I hope you are ready for a speeder-powered field trip,” Celestia said.

“Sure. What is the problem?”

“The Secretariat Comet will pass over Equestria in about a week. It will boost the power of every magical creature all over the country, so we have to take precautions. I will make sure that Canterlot is safe, Luna will go to Manehattan, and I would like you to take care of Las Pegasus.”

“What exactly am I supposed to do there?”

“Inspect the guards on site. Make sure that they take the matter seriously. Once you have nonviolently shaken them up a little, please return to Canterlot. I would like to you to be available as an emergency intervention unit.”

“Okay. Which creatures do you expect to show up there?”

“Hard to say. Could be any magical creature in Equestria. Just make sure that everypony is on guard.”

“When should I depart?”

“As soon as you can.”

“Why the rather short advance warning time?”

“This is due to the veil around our planet,” Luna explained,
“we only see unusual celestial objects when they are already quite close.”

Antonius nodded:

“I will leave Canterlot in about an hour.”

“I am glad you two get along at least a little better again,” Luna told her sister when Antonius had left the throne room,
“you still have to return to ‘Tony’ and ‘Tia’, though.”

“Once he has completed this mission without causing mayhem,” Celestia answered a little glumly.

Luna raised an eyebrow.

“That does not sound like a heartfelt friendship, more like a ‘tactical’ one,” she noted.

“Perhaps it’s a little bit of both,” Celestia sighed,
“I must admit that I still have a few problems returning to ‘business as usual’ regarding Antonius, but I have accepted that it is not really his fault. Antonius is basically a living weapon. I cannot change that and I cannot fully control him, but I can point him at a problem and let him do his thing. That way I should be able to contain the damage - especially the damage to my subjects.”

“Oh, come on, sister!” Luna exclaimed indignantly,
“he is much more and much better than that!”

She could see her sister swallow her ‘real’ answer, then Celestia closed her eyes and mumbled:

“Sorry. I’m just…”

“Condescending towards him and his kind,” Luna finished.

“Yeah, you are right. I have to admit that. Sorry.”

“Do not apologize to me. Apologize to Antonius.”

“What? Why should… okay. Once this is over, Luna. Probably.”

“Always remember, sister: His methods may be… somewhat grim, but everything he does, he does to protect us, and without him, you would probably be dead, and we all would follow.”

As Antonius entered the hangar, he saw Luna sitting in the Land Speeder. She waved as he approached.

“Hi, Tony!” she said,
“ready for the trip?”

“Armor and weapons are in good condition, as is the Speeder. However, I think we have to go in opposite directions.”

“I know. I just wanted to say goodbye, and…”

“And?”

“Tony, your friendship with Cellie is still rather… cooled down. You could help mend it by using a minimum force approach from now on.”

“Hmm… actually, I prefer an ‘appropriate force approach’, which is already quite close to what you suggested… but okay, I promise I will be as… considerate as possible.”

“Thank you! Oh, and there is something else… I wanted to show you this.”
She lit her horn and levitated her PDA out of her saddlebags.
“I thought about taking it along!” she beamed.

Antonius showed her his own PDA and laughed:

“Okay, so this comet transition can’t possibly get as bad as the wedding. Now, let us depart. The sooner we leave, the sooner we return. We’ll stay in touch.”

As Antonius entered the Speeder, Luna jumped out of it and shouted:

“Let’s race to the hangar door!”
Before Antonius could even start the engines, Luna had already left the hangar and cheered:
“Huzzah! I triumphed!”

Then she was gone. Antonius left the hangar a few seconds later with a grin and turned towards Las Pegasus.

His mission there proved to be quite easy. Black Harrow had already gathered a group of PDF recruits in Applewood a few kilometers to the east, and the local guards and police force seemed to be quite competent.
Antonius still perused the defensive plans. Without knowing what exactly they had to expect, he could only make general suggestions, but they were accepted with thanks and immediately implemented.

With the area of Las Pegasus and Applewood on the best way to become as secure as possible, he called Luna. It took a few seconds, then her face appeared on his PDA.

“Hello, Luna. Good news: Las Pegasus should be safe. How’s it going in Manehattan?” Antonius asked.

“Not bad, I guess,” Luna answered with a little blush.

“Huh?”

“Well, it is possible that I am still on my way, but I will be there soon.”

“Oh, okay…”

“Yeah, I admit it. I am not too good at navigation. I had to fly along the shoreline, but I can see the city of Manehattan now.”

“Okay. I will stay here for one or two days to oversee the preparations, and in case the ponies here have any further questions. Then I will return to Canterlot.”

“Okay. Bye, Tony!”

“Bye, Luna!”

Now, he called Celestia to report in. At least he tried to. When she did not answer, he called Al:

“Al, please check the status of Celestia’s PDA. She doesn’t answer my calls.”

“Just a second,” Al replied,
“the PDA is on standby. I think she left it…”

“In her room,” Antonius sighed.

“Probably. The signal is strong, so the device must be in Canterlot or in the city’s vicinity.”

“So much for taking my improvement suggestions to heart.”

“Shall I call Twilight or one of her friends?”

“No, not necessary. I’ll visit Ponyville on my way back to Canterlot.”

As Antonius finally arrived at Ponyville, he could easily see that something had happened there. The ponies were cleaning the town of a strange, green slime and he could see remains of cocoons.
He stopped in front of Twilight’s library and jumped out of his Land Speeder. He was immediately greeted by Spike:

“Hello, Antonius! I’m glad you are here!”

“What happened?” Antonius asked.

“The Changelings attacked Ponyville!”

“Damnit! I knew this war wasn’t over. Any casualties?”

“No, but the Cutie Mark Crusaders got fillynapped!”

“WHAT?”

“Yeah, Twilight and her friends have started a rescue mission.”

“With the Elements?”

“No, there was no time to get them.”

“When?”

“Yesterday at sunset. They told me to stay here and try to get a hold of Princess Celestia.”

“Any success?”

“No, I’m just form lettered and she doesn’t answer to calls with this vox thingy.”

“Oh, perfect! Have the Element Bearers at least taken their PDAs with them?”

“Umm… I don’t think so.”

“Okay… okay. I will save my tantrum for when this crisis is over. Now, I better follow them. Where did they go?”

“West at first, but I saw them turn south later.”

“A little bit more exact?”

“Well, I don’t know. Chrysalis sent them a magical map that guides them.”

Antonius blinked twice.

“They are using… a magical map… SENT BY THE ENEMY???”

“Yeah, but they did not have a choice. The Crusaders’ lives are at stake, after all, and they only got three days!”

“Right. You haven’t incidentally made prisoners I could interrogate?”

“We have caught a few Changelings, but they only hiss. I don’t think they can answer questions.”

After testing this by punching them in the face and not getting an useful answer besides ‘south’, Antonius decided not to waste more time with the interrogation, fetched his PDA and tried to call Celestia. No success.
He called Luna.

“Hello, Tony!” she greeted,
“I have good news: I am in Manehattan! Unfortunately, finding the right precinct proves to be a little difficult.”

“Luna, Changelings have attacked Ponyville and fillynapped the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Twilight and her friends are trying to rescue them. I will follow them as fast as I can.”

“Do that. With your Land Speeder, you should be able to catch up with them in no time.”

“Unfortunately, I only know that they are going southwards, and I can’t follow their trails at such speeds. I’ll have to follow them on foot.”

“Well, then better get going. I will finish my mission here as soon as possible and then try to find you. And, Tony: May your Emperor be with you. You are going up against a whole swarm and probably into a trap.”

“I know, Luna. We’ll stay in touch.”

Antonius closed the connection and turned to Spike:

“Okay, Spike. I will leave now to rescue Twilight, her friends and the four Crusaders.”

“Three,” Spike corrected.

“Huh?”

“Only Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo got fillynapped. The Changelings just took the Crusaders with a connection to Twilight’s friends.”

“Damnit, that downright screams ‘TRAP!’. Where is Stormy? What about her family?”

“They are in hospital. Moonlight got injured when the Changelings captured her.”

“Damnit. I don’t have time to pay them a visit. I’ll have to call them while I’m on my way. Now, I better get going.”

“Yeah, if I can’t get ahold of the Princess, I will get going, too. To Canterlot, in my case.”

“Good luck, Spike. Bye.”

And so Antonius left Ponyville, constantly following the hoof prints of the ponies. Spike had been right, they had turned south. He used his vox to call Stormy. Fortunately, she had thought about taking her PDA along.

“Hello, Antonius,” she greeted,
“I’m glad that you call. Changelings invaded Ponyville!”

“I know, Stormy,” Antonius answered,
“are you and your family alright? I heard you are in hospital.”

“Yeah, mom got punched in the belly when she beat up a Changeling. Then we got stuffed into gooey cocoon-thingies.
When Twilight and her friends freed us, we went here because mom was in pain, but Doctor Cure said it was nothing serious, and she will be home with us by tomorrow.”

“Good to hear. Sorry that I can’t pay you a visit, but I have to tell the Changelings how much I dislike their actions. Please greet your family.”

“Okay, Antonius. See you later!”

“Bye,” Antonius said, then he closed the connection and made another call:

“Al?” he voxed.

“Yes?” came the prompt answer.

“Connect to my armor again, perhaps I will need your knowledge of this planet and I will certainly not have the time to explain things then.”

After a while, Antonius arrived at the entrance to what was probably an abandoned mine, with statues of dogs in front of it and a giant diamond carved into the lintel.

“Al, is this an old mine? Who ran it? And what’s the matter with those dog statues?” Antonius asked.

“This is indeed a mine, it was obviously run by Diamond Dogs, hence the statues.”

“I think I read about them. Well, let’s go in.”

Antonius checked his bolter and entered the mine. It was rather dark, but with his superior senses, Antonius had no problem seeing every detail. The mine really looked abandoned, including the obligatory skull lying around.

As Antonius progressed further into the mine, he entered a large cavern and encountered a creature he was not familiar with: It was a giant, bipedal creature, wearing a loincloth - and it had a heart-tattoo? He immediately aligned his bolter, just in case.

“A cave troll,” Al told him,
“not overly aggressive, but very possessive.”

“Possessive?”

Now the troll spotted him.

“WHAT SHINY BLUE THING ARE?” the creature thundered, staring at him.

Okay, so this ‘cave troll’ was not overly aggressive, and it was obviously curious. Perhaps Antonius could get past it without having to resort to violence. Just because it was big and kind of in his way at the moment did not mean it automatically deserved death, after all, and he could give this ‘minimum force approach’ a try. So he lowered his bolter and said:

“Greetings. I am Antonius Varus, Space Marine of…”

“SPEHSS MAHREEN!” the troll exclaimed happily and started stomping towards Antonius.

“Crap. Is it mad?” Antonius asked.

“I’d rather say it’s happy,” Al answered drily.

The troll tried to grab him, but Antonius evaded the creature’s hand. He would give it one chance to stand down the attack.

“STOP IT!” Antonius roared, his voice amplified by his armor’s speakers.

The troll really stopped his attack and cried:

“BUT WANT SPEHSS MAHREEN!”

“I’m not for sale, and even if I were, I think hardly anyone could afford me,” Antonius answered.

“The troll apparently thinks you are some kind of toy,” Al voxed.

Well, he was probably right. A Space Marine - a toy! This idea was so weird Antonius had to shake his head. But what was he supposed to do about this troll, a creature that acted much like a child? Kill it just because it wanted a toy? While he did not really believe in anti-authoritarian education, this seemed a little harsh to him.

“WANT SPEHSS MAHREEN!” the troll exclaimed.

Now, Antonius spotted something: At the far side of the cavern, there were six pony puppets, made of wood, rock and vine. That gave him an idea:

“Listen, creature. You cannot have me to play with, but if you let me pass, I will create a Space Marine puppet for you.”

Yeah, the idea was weird, but it obviously was the way how Twilight and her friends had passed this troll, and he even had done something like that before: The mannequin he had built with Rarity.

“ACTION FIGURE!” the troll insisted.

“Yeah, fine. A Space Marine action figure. Do we have a deal?”

“DEAL!” the troll exclaimed and extended a hand towards Antonius,
“ME JIM!”

“I’m Antonius,” Antonius said and shook one finger of the giant hand.

Now, he collected material and quickly started to build the ‘action figure’. When he was about halfway through, he received a call.

“Hello, Tony. How are you doing?” Luna asked.

“Fine, except for the fact that I’m working as a toy-maker now.”

“Huh?”

“I encountered a cave troll, and instead of killing him, I thought it would be nicer to build a toy for him so that he would let me pass.”

“Well, good decision.”

“Thanks. What about you?”

“Manehattan’s defenses are rallied, including the PDF. I am still going to stay here; I can feel something big is about to happen.”

“Any idea what it could be?”

“No, it’s just a feeling… or it could be a giant marshmallow pony!”

“Luna, I think that’s rather unlikely… but somehow awfully specific…”

“That is because I just spotted it! I have to go now, wish me luck!”

“May the Emperor guide your… whatever you intend to use. A giant twig and an equally big fire, perhaps?”

“Funny. Now, please excuse me.”

“Good luck, Luna.”

He closed the connection and focused on his building task again. When the Space Marine puppet - or ‘SPEHSS MAHREEN ACTION FIGURE’ - was completed, Jim was overjoyed.

“SPEHSS MAHREEN!!!” he shouted and picked up the puppet.

Antonius had done a good job - it stayed in one piece.

“Now, I can go, I assume?” he asked.

“YEAH, BUT BEWARE OF FUZZY TEDDY BEAR! HE GRUMPY.”

“Thank you. Goodbye,” Antonius replied and continued his way, following his friends’ hoof prints.

“I wonder what the meaning of Jim’s warning is,” Al said.

“I guess there is some bad tempered furry creature in this mine. Well, we’ll see,” Antonius answered.

He came to a spot where the hoof prints vanished, but there still were Jim’s foot prints, so he followed them instead. Not that he had much of a choice; there was only one way forward, the other directions blocked by cave ins.

Antonius finally entered a cavern with derelict rails and spotted the exit of the mine. He did not immediately rush outside, though. Giant cobwebs and pools of a strange liquid told him that this cavern could be less empty than it seemed.
He was proven right when four large and one gigantic creature lowered themselves down into the cavern.

“Megarachnids,” Antonius mumbled, but he also noticed that most of them were wearing clothes.

Were they intelligent? He raised a hand in salutation. He would try the peaceful approach again. It had already worked once during this mission, after all.

“Greetings,” he said,
“I am Ant…”

He interrupted himself as he had to dodge a projectile made of sticky spider silk. The creatures wasted no time and scurried towards him.
Okay, so they liked to be dealt with the hard way. No problem. The creatures would soon be close enough to engage in melee, so Antonius drew his chainsword and activated it.

One of them, a gray one, stopped dead in its tracks as the sword’s furious roar echoed through the cavern, a blue spider kept closing in while its green companion fired another round of spider silk at him - and missed again.

Antonius had already jumped towards the blue spider. His battle cry joined his weapon’s roar as he lashed out at his enemy and cut two legs off its body. The spider shrieked wretchedly and made a run for it. Despite its loss of limbs, it was still quite fast, but Antonius had already chosen another target anyway.

He dashed towards his green attacker. It had stayed offside and used ranged ‘weaponry’, but now he would force it into melee. The spider turned around and started running, but Antonius’ sword came down on its abdomen and cut deep into the creature's spinneret. A shriek and an oozing wound told him that it would not shoot its silk at anyone ever again.

While four spiders were running for their pathetic little lives now, the giant one made no move to do the same. It stomped towards Antonius, drooling and baring its fangs. Two of the spider’s eyes were glaring at him in fury, the other two were covered by eyepatches.
Antonius wondered if that might be a result of its encounter with Twilight and her friends, but pushed that thought aside immediately. Whatever had cost this spider two of its eyes, Antonius would cost it the other two.

The creature roared at him in anger, and Antonius stabbed his roaring chainsword into the spiders upper eye, then he immediately pushed it down and through its lower, bigger eye.
The spider roared again, in pain this time, and blindly tried to impale Antonius’ shoulder with one of its legs. His armor proved to be too resilient for this unaimed attack and Antonius swung his sword again, cutting off the leg the spider had used to attack him.

Now, the creature obviously had enough. It wailed and scurried backwards until its abdomen hit the wall of the cavern. Then, it quickly turned around and started climbing.
Antonius pondered if he should kill it, but decided against it. It had already paid a high price for daring to attack him, and, of course, he had promised to use this ‘minimum force approach’.

So, he left the mine and looked for hoof prints. He found what he was looking for, but unfortunately, they split up and led in different directions.
Why the hell had they split up? He followed the three traces. One of them just vanished after a few meters, so two ponies had either teleported or flown away. The other two traces led into a nearby forest, but they entered it in different spots.

“Great,” Antonius grumbled,
“two ponies gone, four others in the forest, divided into two pairs. I really need to talk to them about their tendency to split up.”

“What do you want to tell them?” Al asked.

“Simple: ‘DON’T!’” Antonius answered drily.

“Now, as things are, I suggest you pick a trace, follow it and hope that they will unite again.”

“Hmm, I haven’t much of a choice. Let’s see… This trace looks like one of the ponies has not walked, but hopped - Pinkie Pie. I think it would be a bad choice to follow this trace; she has a tendency to arbitrarily show up in places she had no chance of reaching, at least if you follow the laws of physics. Following her might be impossible. I’ll take the other route and hope the two ponies who left it stay on the ground.”

“Just a second, there are signs.”

“Yeah: ‘Forest of Leota’ and ‘Turn back’. How charming.”

Antonius entered the forest, following the trace he had picked.

Hours later, he was still following the hoof prints. Thankfully, they had been clear and it was not difficult following them. Until now.

He was in an area with a river and a lot of giant flowers when the trace vanished. He knelt down and examined the ground. The hoof prints did not just stop, they had been erased by other traces Antonius could not categorize.
He just wanted to ask Al for his opinion when he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. He jumped to his feet and spun around, drawing his chainsword. Some flowers were charging him!

“What the?” he mumbled and greeted his assailants with the sword’s roar.

The were not faced by this and closed in. Antonius decided to skip the attempt at introducing himself and attacked. His first swing cut the stem of two flowers, sending their blossoms falling to the ground while plant sap splattered out of the wounds. The other plants did not seem to care and continued their assault, now supported by vines that crept over the ground.

“Great, I’m being attacked by greens,” Antonius grumbled and Al added:

“Yeah, the forest seems angry.”

Antonius killed more of the flowers and cut through the vines, but there was no shortage of floral reinforcements.
Had those things attacked the ponies, too? The traces on the ground suggested that.
Had the flowers gotten the ponies, or had they been able to escape? That, he had to find out.

So, instead of fighting where he stood, he turned in the direction the hoof prints had taken until they had vanished and advanced that way, scanning the ground while repelling the hostile flora. Every now and then, he spotted a hoof print that had survived and followed them until they turned towards the nearby river.

“Of course,” he deadpanned as he stood at the riverbank where the pony-trace ended.

“They have probably jumped into the river to escape,” Al said,
“I suggest you follow the river to find them.”

“Yeah, I’ve made enough salad.”

Antonius killed another flower that was close by, then he started dashing along the riverbank. Outrunning his pursuers proved to be pretty easy. On the one hand, he hated withdrawing from a battle, but on the other hand he knew that he could not afford to waste more time - or chainsword fuel.
He took a look at the sword’s fuel gage. There was still some promethium left, but he decided to better save it - if possible.

It did not take long until he heard a thundering noise.

“I think I can guess what that is…” he mumbled and was proven right a short time later: a waterfall.

Antonius walked to the brink and looked down.

“That’s too high to just jump down,” he stated and took a look at the valley in front of him.

There, in the distance, he saw something and used his auto-senses to magnify his view: a variety of animals was chasing… what looked like… ponies!

“There they are!” Antonius grinned, but the next second, they were gone.

“There seems to be another cliff they just have fallen down,” Al commented.

“Unfortunately, that doesn’t protect them from those animals.”

Suddenly, the animals started fighting each other.

“Huh?” Antonius wondered.

“I think they are fighting for dominance over the right to eat the ponies,” Al explained.

“Well, that will slow them down, so it’s good. Now, we have to find a way down there and unite with our friends.”

It took Antonius quite a while to find a spot where he could jump down from ledge to ledge without committing suicide, but as soon as he was standing on the ground of the valley, he ran to the spot where he had seen the ponies vanish.
The ground was littered with dead, rabbit-like animals with antlers, shredded and mutilated by bite marks. There was also a living animal, a badly battered cat-like creature that was lying on the ground, gnawing on some of the corpses.

It jumped to its feet as Antonius approached. Since it had attacked the ponies, Antonius decided not try a friendly approach; he drew his combat knife instead. The creature jumped at him and he rammed his knife into its chest, stopping it abruptly. The cat-thing howled in pain as Antonius grabbed it’s throat and twisted the knife, then he pulled it out of the wound and stabbed it through the creature’s lower jaw into its head.
He dropped the dead animal, put away his knife and jumped down the cliff the ponies had gone off. Finding his friends’ hoof prints again, he continued his tracing.

Antonius finally arrived at a wall of rock with an inserted iron door standing wide open. He drew his chainsword and stepped through the gate. It bore a sigil that undoubtedly depicted a changeling. So, he had finally reached enemy territory.

And it was a devastated territory. He entered what was - or had been - a small village, overlooked by a castle, but every building and even large patches of the ground were covered in a green slime. It looked so organic and defiled that Antonius was reminded of the Tyranids once again, and he felt his anger rise.

Fortunately, the hoof prints were still visible. They led to the castle and Antonius followed them until he was standing in front of the castle’s door. He kicked it in and entered the building. The interior was a clutter of stairs and doors, a nightmare that did not seem to follow the laws of physics - or sanity. Abominable sorcery was at work here, he could downright feel it. His anger rose further. Then he heard a loud noise, like an explosion.
Damnit, the ponies needed him. Now.

He looked around, searching for a way to go. Checking every door would have taken quite some time, but fortunately, he noticed that one of them was open. Hoping that it was the right one, he started running.

Antonius entered a large room and quickly scanned it. There were changelings, cocoons, Twilight - suspended by a swirl of sickly green energy - and…
SYNAPSE CREATURE!

The thought flashed through Antonius’ mind as he saw this changeling. Larger than the rest of them and talking to Twilight. Queen Chrysalis.

“I can be very convincing,” she said and touched the ground with her horn.

Screams came out of the cocoons and Antonius knew what was going on. And he knew what to do.
Save the ponies. Kill the synapse.

“Stop it!” Twilight cried,
“Just… stop… I… I…”

Antonius realized that they were all so focused on themselves and each other that nopony had noticed him yet. He would make use of that.
He thought about using his bolter, but discarded this idea. Twilight was too close to the synapse and he could not risk her getting hurt or even killed. A flying bone fragment or piece of chitin could be enough, after all.
So, he would attack this Chrysalis in melee. He had to admit, he liked that idea. He stayed in the shadows close to the wall and silently walked into a better position while Twilight continued:

“These ponies are the most important ponies in the world to me. I would do anything to save them. ANYTHING.”

She wasn’t really going to trust that abomination?

“NO!” Twilight’s friends screamed.

They obviously went along with Antonius.

“Release them, I’ll stay,” Twilight said.

What?

“Twilight, what are you doing?”

That had been Applejack’s voice - oh, and one of the cocoons had her hat on.

“Excellent!” Chrysalis cheered and closed her eyes.

Time to intervene.

Excellent! Chrysalis was content. Everything was going according to her plan. She even experienced a moment of happiness - and she knew it would get better!

That was when she heard something; like metal clashing with rock in rapid succession. She immediately opened her eyes and turned towards the source of these sounds. And then she saw it, running towards her at ludicrous speed, waving a giant, roaring sword: the creature Celestia had called ‘Tony’.

“DIE, ABOMINATION!” he thundered and his sword came down on her.

Chrysalis immediately created a magic shield around her, and the weapon clashed with it. Much to her horror, it started cutting through her shield, so that she had to increase her power. Sparks of magical energy were sent flying as the sword damaged the shield as fast as Chrysalis could reinforce it.

What kind of weapon was this? Why was it so loud? And why was its edge so… blurry?
Well, it would probably penetrate her shield sooner or later, so she thought of a new strategy.

Chrysalis abandoned the shield and put all of her magic into increasing her speed and altering the flow of time to dodge the blade. She managed to evade the attack, but barely. She could see the sword directly in front of her eyes, and the reason for the blurry edge: metal teeth were spinning around the blade. What kind of sadistic monster had built such a weapon? She definitely would employ him.

Unfortunately, she had no time to ponder this further. Her enemy changed the direction of the sword in mid strike, forcing her to retreat.

Damnit, she was as fast as she could be, yet this Antonius was able to keep up with her. He struck again and again, and each time he came dangerously close to killing her. He advanced further, and another attack scratched her horn so that she had to lower her head.
It proved to be a mistake; Chrysalis had gotten too close to him. She got a knee to her chest and was sent flying. She made a hard landing and rolled over the stone floor. As she looked at her enemy, her drones were approaching to attack him.
Good. A smile crept upon her features.

It vanished again quickly. Antonius lashed out with his sword and cut the drones to pieces. They screeched as their blood and entrails were splattering on the floor, but the blue armored warrior still strode towards her, barely slowed down by the assaults.

Another Changeling - one of her armored bodyguards - jumped in his way, hissing a challenge, and died horrifyingly fast, Antonius’ sword cutting through the armor with ease. A few sparks, then a lot of green blood.

Damnit. Chrysalis was just jumping back to her hooves as she heard a new sound: The roar of her enemy’s sword was now interrupted by strange sputtering, and the motion of the metal teeth had become irregular. Suddenly, sound and motion stopped, and Antonius put the sword wordlessly to his hip.
It did not work anymore! Yes! That was her chance! Now, she could use her power to defeat him, then she would drain him and make him her personal slave.

Chrysalis threw back her head and laughed at Antonius’ misfortune, now that her victory was close again. This proved to be another mistake, however. She heard his steps in rapid succession, tilted her head back forward and reflexively lit her horn to stop him.

A giant knife was just one or two centimeters above her head now, engulfed by her magic, but still in Antonius’ unrelenting grasp. Had she not still been under the influence of the fading speed-spell, she would have been dead now.
She stared at the knife and fought against her enemy’s strength and determination to transfix her head with this weapon. She managed to prevent the knife from coming any closer, but she had to focus on that task.

She looked into Antonius’ face, and despite knowing that it was only a helmet, those red glowing eyes sent a shiver down her spine. So much hate, such a merciless intention to kill… it made her whole body tingle.

A moment later, Chrysalis noticed movement in front of her and sneaked a peek at it - just in time to see a blue armored fist smash into her face, sending her flying again.

Chrysalis hit a wall and almost lost consciousness. She wanted to kick herself. That his sword did not work anymore did not mean that he was harmless now, that he had a knife did not mean that he couldn’t punch her with his fist.

She managed to stay conscious, only to see that he had already closed the distance and that his knife was coming for her again. She quickly created a magic shield to protect her.

Not a second too soon. Antonius weapon hit the shield and was successfully deflected, but he immediately changed to his fists and smashed them repeatedly into the shield, forcing her to power it with all of her magic.

Damnit, this was not a fair fight. Now, Chrysalis usually liked unfair fights, but only if the unfairness was for her benefit!
At the moment, she had an unstoppable warrior in front of her who was busy thoroughly testing her shield.
She heard a cracking sound and for a second she wondered if it might have been her skull. Then she realized what was happening: her shield still protected her, but her enemy beat her shield - and herself - into the wall!
Crap.

She had to get away from this creature, but how? She needed magic to teleport, but as soon as she removed the needed magic from her shield, Antonius would brake it - and subsequently her skull.
He kept smashing his fists into her shield, and fissures started to appear.
Shit.

Now, she had no other chance to survive than to risk a teleport. So, when he reached back again for another attack, she dropped her shield and teleported.

Chrysalis was a little exhausted, but safe - for now.

Typical.
Instead of facing imminent death with at least some dignity, the xeno had chickened out and teleported away.

Antonius turned around and spotted her again, not too far away. He started running towards Chrysalis, but she lit her horn and some kind of green force field came into existence between him and her, enclosing a large part of the room: Antonius and the cocoons containing Twilight’s friend were inside, Chrysalis and Twilight outside.

Damnit, that meant Twilight was in danger. He had to break the shield - and he had to draw Chrysalis’ attention.

“Hmm… seems you are a moron,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone,
“despite knowing that your shields can only slow me down for a short amount of time, you still cast them. Or is that the only spell you are capable of? Huh? Are you that pathetic?”

So, those insults should keep her focused on him. Now, it was time to shatter this shield.
Antonius started slamming his fists against the green wall of energy.

Obviously, the insults had worked, for Chrysalis spat:

“PATHETIC? I will show you who is pathetic, you… blue… thing! I will show you my magic! Now, with the comet above us, it is stronger than you can possibly imagine! I will drain your love, and I will drain Twilight’s love! Then, you will obey me, and with your black hearts you will even kill the other ponies!”

Just as Antonius was about to tell Chrysalis where she could shove her magic, Twilight spoke up, her horn ablaze with light:

“You aren’t the only one that can feel the magic in them spiking… I can fight you! You can’t take away who I am!”

Twilight’s eyes were glowing now, too, and the shield started to show fissures. Antonius was surprised to see Twilight like this, but he really liked it.

“And you can’t take away my friends!” Twilight continued, charging at her foe.

Don’t get cocky, Twilight. In a few seconds, Antonius would be through the shield and end this fight.

It turned out that Antonius’ intervention was not needed anymore: Twilight fired obviously powerful magical blasts at Chrysalis, lecturing her about her shortcomings all the while, supported by her friends.
So, even after he had managed to crush the shield, Antonius choose to let Twilight handle the synapse - as long as she had the upper hoof. It was her fight now, and she could need a little combat experience, after all.
He instead used his knife to quickly free the ponies and was done with that just as Twilight prepared for her final attack on a visibly battered Chrysalis.

“Stop…this… nonsense. You can’t… defeat me,” the changeling queen stammered.

Well, if she believed that herself, she truly was a moron.

“Ponies who can’t do things themselves tell OTHERS that they can’t do it… I CAN STAND UP TO YOU,” Twilight hissed, now completely glowing,
“And I can WIN!”

Now Antonius witnessed a display of magic that was truly impressive. Twilight blasted the changelings and their queen across the room with an explosion of light. Even he raised his arm to protect his head as his auto-senses dimmed his view to protect his eyes. It took a few seconds before they returned to normal and Antonius took a look around.

The changelings were lying on the floor or sticking to the walls, none of them conscious. Twilight seemed to be unconscious, too, but the rest of the ponies was fine. Antonius walked up to her, but Rainbow Dash was faster.

“Twilight?! Are you okay?” she asked with concern, but did not get an answer,
“Twilight?! Twilight? Wake up!”

Antonius just wanted to check her life signs as Rainbow slapped her.
Yeah, that was sort of another method to see if she was alright.

“RAINBOW!” Twilight shouted,
“You didn’t have to HIT ME! OW!”

“She’s okay,” Rainbow stated with relief.

“An impressive display of your magical power,” Antonius stated,
“now, let’s make sure that the changelings are dead and head home.”

“You want to… what?” Twilight asked.

“Kill the surviving changelings and go home again,” he answered and walked up to the unconscious body of Chrysalis.

This creature surely was too dangerous for the ‘minimum force approach’.

“But… you can’t do this!” Twilight cried.

“What? Go home? Are there more enemies to fight?”

“That’s not what I meant! You cannot kill them!”

“Oh, so they are already dead?”

“NO! They are just unconscious.”

“Then, I should be able to kill them,” Antonius stated and picked up Chrysalis.

The changeling queen opened her eyes a bit as his hand closed around her throat and he got his knife into position.

“Antonius!” Twilight screamed and ran up to him,
“don’t kill her!”

“Huh? She is an enemy. She is dangerous. She deserves death,” Antonius told her.

“No. She may be dangerous and evil, but we do not kill our enemies.”

“So, you want to spare them? Let them walk around and commit their atrocities? Have you seen the condition the area around here is in? The changelings defiled the land and probably lived off the inhabitants.”

“That may be true, but we still don’t kill them.”

Antonius sighed.

“I know you are peaceful creatures, but your mercy is inappropriate. If you refuse to kill them now, you or others will have to pay the price for your mercy sooner or later, just like the inhabitants of this land paid the price for us not being able to kill them all when they invaded Canterlot.”

“Antonius… please… no.”

In the meantime, the other ponies had gathered around him and also pleaded not to destroy the changeling threat once and for all now.

Antonius sighed again. What should he do?
There was an enemy who would probably cause trouble again, and he had the chance to get rid of this enemy here and now. But he had to avoid alienating the Element Bearers - his friends - too.

“You know what risk you take?” Antonius asked.

“Yes,” Twilight answered,
“but if we start mercilessly killing our enemies, we would risk losing ourselves, and that is much more dangerous than anything Chrysalis can come up with.”

Antonius though about that for a while, then he put away his knife and turned to the now fully conscious, but silent Chrysalis:

“Xeno witch, be aware that it is the mercy of these little ponies that saved your worthless life today. Should you dare to harass them again, though, I will let divine justice prevail and wipe you from the face of this planet!”

Chrysalis swallowed hard, still in Antonius’ grip, and hissed:

“I’m not sure what’s worse; being killed by you or owing my life to Twilight and those ponies.”

“Take your time to think about it,” Antonius commented drily, knocked her out with a blow to her face and dropped her.

Then he turned to Twilight:

“Now that we don’t kill them, we should at least find a way to contain them.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Twilight smiled,
“I’ve got an idea.”

A little later, they had left the castle, but not without installing a magical guardian that seriously beat everything else Antonius knew when it came to weirdness. Twilight, however, had promised him that this containment method would work, and he trusted her judgement in regards to magic.

Antonius thought about calling the princesses to tell them what had happened, but he did not want to distract them; perhaps they were in the middle of a fight. He used his vox to call Al instead.

“Hey, Al, do you have news on the princesses?”

“Yes. They have repelled the attacks on Canterlot and Manehattan and are on their way to meet you. According to the signal strength of their PDAs, they shouldn’t be too far away now.”

“Well, that’s good news, but why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

“They told me not to tell you, as they worried it could possibly distract you at a critical moment.”

“Okay, I understand the intentions, but next time, just tell me. I am used to processing information while fighting.”

“Acknowledged.”

Antonius took a look at the sky to see if he could spot the approaching princesses, and indeed, he saw them just as Fluttershy exclaimed:

“Look, it’s the princesses!”

Celestia’s golden chariot, drawn by two pegasus guards, landed close by and Celestia, Luna and Spike walked up to them. Celestia and Spike looked pretty battered, having made use of band-aids and bandages, and Spike even had an eyepatch, but they seemed to be okay otherwise. While they were talking with the ponies, Luna turned to Antonius:

“Hi, Tony. Is everything alright?”

“My chainsword ran out of fuel, but otherwise I’m fine. How about you? You seem to be in a better condition than your sister and Spike.”

“Well, let us say that I did not need dressing material as much as I needed a shower after my fight with that giant marshmallow pony.”

“Were there any more threats? If so, have they been neutralized, too?”

“A few chimeras attacked Applewood, but they were successfully repelled. I think this comet-crisis is over.”

“Good. Now, do we return immediately or do we camp here and return tomorrow?”

“I think we will stay here for the night, but we should better ask my sister.”

They walked up to Celestia just as Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Rarity dragged the babbling Cutie Mark Crusader away from her and asked about her plans.

“First, let’s take care of a campfire, then all of you can tell me what has happened.”

A short time later, the fire was burning, the Crusaders were sleeping, and the ponies were telling a short version of what they had done and experienced.

“It sounds like quite the adventure…” Celestia opined,
“I can’t wait to hear all about it from you. But, please tell me, where is the changeling queen now?”

“Oh… she’s somewhere she won’t be able to break out of for a while…” Twilight answered with a suppressed smile.

“I helped!” Pinkie Pie added proudly.

“Huh? Twilight, what have you done?” Celestia asked in confusion.

So Twilight told her about the ‘guardian’ she had installed and Celestia snickered.

“That was an unusual, but funny idea. But we should still take additional precautions,” Celestia said and fetched her PDA.

She activated it and made a call. A few seconds later, her secretary, Raven, appeared on the display, the armorium in the background.

“Yes, Princess?” the mare asked.

“Send two dozen guards, a few construction workers and equipment here. We need to turn a castle into a prison,” Celestia said.

“At once, Princess.”

Celestia deactivated the device and put it away again.

“The PDAs are really useful if you don’t forget them, eh?” Antonius grinned.

“Yes, I have to admit that,” Celestia replied, rolling her eyes,
“and until the prison is ready, your guardian should be able to contain them.”

“In addition to that,” Rainbow Dash said,
“Antonius could go to the front door every now and then and shout ‘I’m still here!’ or something. That should really keep them inside.”

Celestia gave Antonius a questioning look at that, and he told her:

“Helped defeat their queen. Killed a few of them.”

“Really?” she asked exasperatedly.

“Hey, I thought you were only arbitrarily annoyed by me killing traitors who want to kill you,” Antonius retorted.

“Wait, WHAT?” Twilight shouted,
“we heard some rumors, but they were contradictory and… weird…”

“Truth, short version: Some insane ponies tried to kill Celestia, I killed them first.”

The following silence lasted for a few seconds, only interrupted by Rainbow Dash mumbling:

“Being a super warrior sounds way cooler if you don’t know all of the consequences…”

Then Twilight asked:

“Why did you kill them?”

“Because they were traitors,” Antonius answered,
“they deserved death.”

“They deserved punishment, but not death! Remember our talk about losing ourselves?”

“Yes, but they posed an active and lethal threat to Princess Celestia and hence to the planet. That means that they also posed a threat to you, the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony. And since you are allies of the Imperium, I considered them to be a threat to mankind, too. Elimination was due, since all threats to mankind have to be eradicated. That’s the purpose and honor of the Adeptus Astartes.”

“What? Why were they so dangerous?”

Now Antonius told them a more detailed version of what had happened.

“Couldn’t you just have barged in, told them to stop and seized them?” Twilight inquired.

Antonius noticed a hint of a grin at the corners of Celestia’s mouth, so this was obviously her opinion, too. Well, as reasonable his actions had been to him, he should probably better try to explain himself to not alienate his friends further:

“Listen, Twilight; traitors are a special kind of evil.
While you could argue that xenos are malevolent because of their upbringing, that they live in a despicable society and were taught despicable things, or that their malevolence is even hardwired into their genetic code, traitors have no such excuses.
They were born into a good society, were taught good things, and were even set on a path towards becoming righteous and productive members of that society, but they ignored what they learned and left that path. Instead, they choose a path of greed, selfishness and destruction. Instead of thanking the society they owe so much, they spit on it in an attempt to gain power.
Such creatures deserve no mercy. So, in accordance with the Codex Astartes, I killed them.”

More silence, broken by Applejack this time:

“Don’t you think that this codex of yours might be a tad… wrong in that regard?”

“No, as the Codex is the wisdom of our Primarch, the revered Roboute Guilliman. Disregarding the Codex would mean putting your own wisdom over his far superior wisdom, and that would be heresy. Or do you want to say that you are wiser than Primarch Guilliman?”

Antonius had said it calmly, and without any malevolent intention, but Celestia immediately intervened:

“I can assure you that nopony wants to insult your Primarch, Antonius.”

“I know,” Antonius told her calmly, then he sighed and continued:
“You still have problems seeing why I had to do what I have done… Okay, let’s leave the Codex out, let’s leave the experiences mankind has made with traitors out.
The traitor I interrogated still told me that there were three capable unicorns among their ranks who were able to unite their powers somehow, and that they were attempting to cast a dangerous spell on Celestia. According to Luna, this spell would almost certainly have resulted in Celestia’s death, so they posed a lethal threat.
Now, psykers - and unicorns are a type of psyker - must not be underestimated, at least not if you want to survive and successfully complete your mission. And since I am not a psyker, the best chance I had was to kill them before they had time to cast any spells. That’s why I entered the room in the most distracting and confusing way possible - through the wall - and eliminated them as fast as I could.”

“Perhaps I should have gone with you,” Luna said,
“I could have stopped them…”

“No,” Antonius said firmly,
“I would never have allowed the only remaining ruling princess of Equestria to enter a room full of fanatical Luna-haters. I had to clear the area first.”

“So, the ten second delay…”

“Exactly. That way, you would have been a magical support if I had been too slow.”

“But…” Twilight started,
“why did you not - I can’t believe I’m asking this - just damage their horns instead of killing them?”

“Attacking a small body part is always more risky than going for the whole body, and knowing how important Celestia is I had to minimize the risks as far as possible.”

“And Cinch?”

“Killing the followers and sparing the leader would have been unfair, and as the initiator of the treason, she posed an undeniable threat, too.”

Another period of silence, then Celestia said:

“Logical. A cold, hard and ruthless logic I don’t want to promote, but I can at least… comprehend why you acted the way you did. Still… Antonius, please consider taking small risks if it means that you can save lives, even if they are the lives of traitors.”

“That depends on the ponies in danger. All of you here are way too important to take any risks if your lives are at stake, but I promise that I will try to only use lethal means if that is the case. So, as long as nopony really tries to kill you - or me, for that matter - I will do my best to find non-lethal solutions.”

“Thank you,” Celestia replied without really sounding content.

48. Eventful days on Macragge

This morning something happened that had never happened before - as least as far as the chapter master of the Ultramarines could remember: Marneus Augustus Calgar fell out of his bed.
He did not care about his ungraceful landing, though; he had much more important things to worry about now.

Had this alien - Luna - really been here in his dream? Had she really used her magic on the Primarch?

He jumped to his feet and immediately activated the intercom, embedded in a wall of his quarters.

“Varro!” he shouted and a moment later, the face of the chief librarian appeared on the screen.

“Yes, Lord Calgar?” he asked.

From his looks, he had suffered a similar fate to Calgar.

“Tell me, Varro,” Calgar said,
“did I just have a thoroughly weird dream or did we really have a visitor?”

“My Lord, we were indeed visited by Princess Luna, the equine princess of a place called ‘Equestria’.”

“I thought so,” Calgar said, then he opened another channel.

“Good morning, Lord Calgar,” the Ultramarine at the other end of the intercom greeted,
“how can I be of service?”

“Send a team of apothecarii and techmarines to the shrine of the Primarch. They are to examine the stasis field and Guilliman himself. Now!”

Calgar could see that his liege had no idea what was going on, but he nevertheless answered without hesitation:

“Of course, my Lord!”

Calgar switched the intercom back to Tigurius.

“Varro, meet me at the Shrine of the Primarch,” Calgar said,
“and make haste!”

A few minutes later, Calgar entered the Temple of Correction and made his way towards the shrine. He had not taken the time to don his armor and wore his plain, blue robes instead. Not many people had seen him in this rather casual attire, but again this was something Calgar did not care about at the moment.

As he approached the shrine, he took a look at the pilgrims on site who kept a respectful distance to the converging Ultramarines: men and women of every age. He knew some had traveled for months, even spent everything they had to take a look at Primarch Guilliman, to pray in front of him and hope for salvation. Well, salvation was something they all could need.

He turned his attention back to the shrine and saw Varro Tigurius standing there, together with another member of the librarium. Hmm... and he had thought he had been fast.

“Varro, status report,” he said curtly.

“My Lord,” Tigurius started,
“our brothers are examining Primarch Guilliman and the shrine as you ordered. While they will still need some time to get the first results, there are visible signs of something unusual going on.”

Having said that, he pointed at the Primarch; at his neck, to be exact. Calgar took a closer look, and indeed: there was a dark blue shimmer around Guilliman’s wounds, and if he strained his eyes, a similar, but much less obvious shimmer seemed to encompass the whole body, though it was difficult to be sure because of the slight distortion the stasis field caused.

“So, it seems she was successful,” Calgar mumbled.

“Indeed, my Lord,” Tigurius answered.

“It would seem that all we can do now is wait for the results, doesn’t it?”

“Well, I can try to analyze the energy that is working on the Primarch.”

“Do that. But I see that there is nothing for me to do now - except waiting.”

“I’m afraid so.”

Usually, Calgar did not mind waiting. He knew that patience was a virtue, and that it was critical to most operations. Now, however, he was eager for those results.
The minutes that passed seemed to be hours, but finally an apothecarius and a techmarine walked up to them.

“Report,” Calgar said calmly, although he was anything but calm.

“My Lord,” the apothecarius began to speak,
“we have analyzed Primarch Guilliman’s current status as ordered, and though our scans were somewhat hampered by the stasis field, his wounds are obviously healing. We don’t know how, or why, but if this process continues at the current rate, he will be back to full health in about four days.”

Four days until the legendary Roboute Guilliman would walk amongst the living again!
Calgar could hardly believe it. This was almost too good to be true.

“My Lord,” the techmarine spoke up,
“the stasis field itself is working within operational parameters. There should be no passage of time in there, but there is some kind of energy, concentrated in the area around the Primarch’s wounds, that counters the effect of the field so that the wounds can still heal.”

“I have analyzed this energy,” Tigurius said,
“there are similarities to warp energy, but it is some kind of tamer, more friendly derivate. It is hard to put into words, but you can downright feel a trace of benevolence when examining it. I checked with my brother here; he comes to the same results.”

The other librarian nodded in agreement and Calgar turned to him, the apothecarius and the techmarine:

“I want you and your teams to stay here and constantly monitor Primarch Guilliman. Keep me up to date on his condition.”

Then he turned to Tigurius:

“Varro, we will meet in my quarters in ten minutes. We have a lot to discuss... and since Seventh is here, get sergeant Seneca, I want him to be present, too.”

Exactly ten minutes later, Tigurius and Seneca entered Calgar’s quarters. The chapter master, now wearing his armor, greeted them:

“Good. First, we need to bring Seneca up to date, then we can talk. Varro, would you be so kind?”

Before the chief librarian could start, however, there was a knock on the door.
Calgar sighed and called:

“Who is there?”

The answer came promptly:

“A chaplain with questions, and maybe advice, young Calgar.”

There only was a single warrior who was allowed to call the chapter master ‘young Calgar’:
Ortan Cassius, master of sanctity of the Ultramarines.

Calgar really should have expected him to show up. And it was only natural that he had a few questions, the Primarch was about to wake up again, for Emperor’s sake!

“Come in,” Calgar said and the door opened.

Cassius walked into the room and closed the door behind him. As the oldest non-dreadnought member of the chapter, he was not only rich in years, but also in experience. His scares and extensive bionics were a visible sign of the many battles he had fought and won thanks to his bravery, but that was nothing compared to the steely resolve in his eyes.

“I better close the door, since you obviously want this conversation to be secret. And now, please tell me what is going on here - and with brother Varus.”

Calgar had to admit that he was thoroughly surprised. How did Cassius know that Varus was involved in the current events?

Cassius noticed the chapter master’s bewilderment and explained:

“Brother Varus is still listed as ‘missing’ instead of ‘killed’, and you had a similar gathering when the Righteous Fury returned back then, just Cato and his navigator are missing because they are on a mission. So I assume that Varus is involved somehow.”

Calgar smiled and shook his head in disbelief:

“Really, Ortan, keeping a secret from you is next to impossible.”

“Of couse,” the chaplain replied calmly,
“and the moment it becomes easy will be the moment I retire.”

“I seriously doubt that you will ever retire,” Tigurius grinned.

“Exactly,” Cassius agreed flatly.

The others chuckled briefly, then Calgar said:

“Okay, okay. My apologies for keeping you in the dark about brother Varus, but it was advisable because of the specific circumstances.”

“I do not hold any grudge, my Lord, but I have to admit that I am quite curious.”

Now Calgar and Tigurius told Cassius - and Seneca - what had happened, from Varus’ disappearance to Tigurius’ experiences to their visitor and the results of that visit.
Both looked rather perplexed.

“So,” Seneca said,
“he actually found friendly xenos, who are not really xenos, a weapon against Chaos and an operational standard technology construction system? And this was told to you by a horse, a winged unicorn that visited you in your dreams, helped probably by the Emperor himself?”

“As strange - or unbelievable - as it sounds, it is apparently true,” Calgar confirmed.

“Well,” Cassius started speaking,
“this is definitely new. Xenos that seem to be willing to help us...”

“Apparently not really xenos,” Tigurius interjected.

“Non-humans that were cut off from mankind for ten millennia,” Cassius stated,
“we should see them as xenos and be accordingly suspicious. And even if they are genuinely friendly and helpful and the Emperor moreover saw fit to help them - which we can’t be sure about - we still have to question brother Varus’ loyalty and state of mind. He will be forced to live among them for more than a year, after all. That may have a negative influence on him.”

“A psychic scan should be able to determine if he is still trustworthy,” Tigurius said.

“It will be a start, but a chaplain will have to interrogate him, too, and keep an eye on the expedition force we will send. This situation is a challenge unlike any we have ever faced. It may not be a physical challenge, but it will definitely be a spiritual one. With so much to gain, we still have to be wary not to get corrupted by the strange ways of the xenos.”

“I appreciate your cation,” Calgar replied,
“with everything we know now, it is easy to get carried away, yet caution is necessary. So, a librarian and a chaplain will be part of our expeditionary force. Any suggestions who we should send on this mission?”

“As for the librarian, I would like to go myself,” Tigurius stated,
“Princess Luna already knows me, and I will be able to determine not only if brother Varus is still trustworthy, but also if those ‘Elements’ are really as good as it seems.”

“And the chaplain?” Calgar asked, turning to Cassius.

“This could easily be one of the most important missions we have ever conducted. The chaplain responsible for it will be me,” Cassius answered.

“If I may be so bold, my Lord,” Seneca said,
“I would like to go, too.”

“Of course,” Calgar agreed,
“you know Varus better than any of us. You will most likely be able to notice deviations from his usual behavior. So, you will join us.”

“Thank you, my Lord... did you just say ‘us’?”

“Yes. It is my plan to lead this mission myself.”

“So, we have the chapter master, the chief librarian, and the master of sanctity,” Seneca grinned, shaking his head in disbelieve,
“I wonder if there are any more high ranking members of the chapter wanting to join us.”

“If so, they will be disappointed. We can’t allow our whole HQ to go on this journey, the three of us really are enough.

The others were silent for a second, then Tigurius said:

“Lord Calgar, this mission will most likely take years. While we would certainly appreciate your company, I doubt that it will be wise to leave Ultramar without its Lord for that long.”

“You’re forgetting something, Varro,” Calgar smiled,
“by the time we are ready to depart, I will not be the Lord of Ultramar any more.”

“Because the Primarch will be walking amongst us again...”

“Exactly.”

“And that presents us with a problem,” Cassius added for consideration,
“some strange magic was used on our Primarch. How can we be sure that he was not corrupted by those energies?”

The following silence lasted a few seconds, then Calgar said:

“That is a good point. As benevolent our new friends may seem, we still have to be sure. Varro, do you think the librarium can find out if he is really… himself?”

“Hmm... probably. It is difficult to say, since we do not know his exact psychic signature before he was embedded in the shrine. However, we will definitely be able to detect any kind of daemonic or malevolent presence.”

“Strange. I am not even sure if Primarch Guilliman can be corrupted at all,” Seneca opined,
“and now we are going to tell him ‘hello, your Excellency, we are glad that you are back, but we have to psychically scan you to make sure that you are not a traitor, insane or anything. Hope you don’t mind.’ That’s quite... daring.”

“But necessary,” Calgar said firmly,
“I just wonder how the legendary Roboute Guilliman will be. What he will think of us and what he will do.”

“I hope he will allow us to conduct our mission. It would be terrible if he canceled it.”

“We should assume that we get his permission and collect as much information as possible in the meantime.”

“Information about a planet that far away, inhabited by creatures we just heard about?” Tigurius asked,
“where are we supposed to get that information? What do you have in mind?”

“Luna told us that the base they discovered was built by a company named ‘Hastings Brothers’. I wonder if Knight House Hastings has something to do with them.”

“Well, they claim to be able to trace their history back to the Golden Age,” Seneca said.

“Indeed. Perhaps there is some truth behind that. Uriel is operating in the area. I will contact him and tell him to make a slight detour and innocuously ask them about ancient deep space or extragalactic operations - for study purposes - return to Macragge and report his findings to us.”

“And you think they really could have records on this base? And share them with us?”

“We shall see, Seneca. We shall see.”

Four days later, the great moment had come. Almost every Ultramarine on Macragge was in the Temple of Correction, as long as he did not have guard duty. An impressive honor guard, the armors neatly polished, the weapons presented.

Outside the temple, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims were waiting in reverent silence, hoping to catch a glimpse of Guilliman. While the word of the healing wounds had quickly spread, no one except Calgar, Tigurius, Cassius and Seneca knew the exact reason. It was really helpful that there had always been a rumor that the Primarch’s wounds were slowly healing, and the increase in speed was seen as a sign that the Emperor had intervened.
Well, he probably had. In a way.

Calgar was standing in front of the Shrine of the Primarch, Tigurius and Cassius to his left respectively right.
Apothecarii and techmarines were scurrying around, making sure that they could intervene should anything go wrong.
Calgar waited for their okay, then he said:

“Deactivate the stasis field.”

The field collapsed, exposing Primarch Guilliman to the normal flow of time for the first time in millennia. The apothecarii immediately started examining him, and the techmarines were standing by, ready to reinitialize the stasis field.

For a long second, everything was quiet, then Calgar could hear Guilliman take a breath.

“No signs of poisoning or malfunction of his organs. He seems to be in good health,” an apothecarius reported.

Now Guilliman opened his eyes and looked at Calgar. The look seemed to penetrate flesh and bone and go straight into the soul. At the same time, the chapter master had a strange feeling of euphoria. He had never been this nervous in his entire life, but he pulled himself together and said solemnly:

“Greeting, Excellency Guilliman, and welcome back. I am Marneus Augustus Calgar, current chapter master of the Ultramarines. At my sides are Varro Tigurius, chief librarian, and Ortan Cassius, master of sanctity.”

Then the Primarch spoke:

“What year is it, Chapter Master?”

“040M42.”

Guilliman rose his hand and touched his neck.

“You were able to heal me.”

It was more an assessment then a question, but Calgar still answered:

“Yes, your Excellency, although I would like to explain the exact circumstances in a more private conversation. I can also bring you up to date on the overall situation at that opportunity.”

Guilliman gave Calgar a questioning look, and Calgar felt the urge to spill the beans right here and now, but he once again contained himself and waited for his Primarch’s reply. It came promptly:

“As you wish, Chapter Master. Calgar, right? Now, I guess, it is time to get up. I’ve been sitting here long enough.”

Having said that, Guilliman slowly rose to his full height and Calgar had to look up to him. A giant, a demigod of war, and the father of the chapter.

“Your quarters have been prepared for you, your Excellency,” Calgar informed him.

“Quite some dust to be removed after all that time, hmm?” Guilliman asked with a smile.

Calgar was thoroughly surprised. Such a lighthearted question from the Primarch...

“Well, your Excellency, we proved ourselves able to get rid of it.”

Calgar hoped that his humor had not been misplaced, and was relieved when Guilliman started laughing:

“So, the Ultramarines still excel at a wide range of tasks. Good to hear that.”

“Yes, your Excellency. Would you like to greet the warriors of the chapter - and the populace?”

“Definitely.”

Calgar, Tigurius and Cassius stepped aside and Guilliman turned to the assembled Ultramarines:

“Warriors of Ultramar, my beloved sons, I, Roboute Guilliman, have returned.”

The Ultramarines cheered loudly at that.

“It has been a long time since I walked the surface of Macragge, and as much as I would like to celebrate with you now, I first have to be brought up to date. Chapter Master Calgar was so kind to offer me that opportunity, so I will retire to my quarters for now and listen to his report. But do not fret, my sons: I am with you, and I won’t leave you ever again!”

The cheers were deafening. It was a rarity that Ultramarines let themselves go like that, but who could blame them? Guilliman had returned.

“Now, let’s say hello to the populace,” the Primarch said, turning to Calgar.

As Guilliman, Calgar, Tigurius and Cassius were walking through the hallways of the temple on their way to a balcony, the Primarch asked:

“Chapter Master, please give me a short summary of the current situation. How is mankind doing?”

“We are constantly fighting malevolent xenos, traitors and daemons,” Calgar told him.

“Hmm... how little things have changed... at least at first glance. I’m looking forward to your more detailed report, but that will have to wait. Time to address the citizens of Macragge.”

“And the pilgrims.”

Guilliman took a glance at him:

“Pilgrims? I was a tourist attraction?”

“More a beacon of hope, your Excellency.”

“Well, I’m curious what those pilgrims will say when they see me.”

“I guess they’ll shout at you.”

Guilliman looked at Calgar again:

“Huh? Was that another joke, Calgar?”

“I am sorry if it was misplaced, your Excellency.”

The Primarch shook his head.

“No, Calgar, it was not misplaced. It was quite funny, actually.”

They had arrived at the door to the balcony by now, and they stepped through it.

Calgar was proven right. The masses screamed. It was almost deafening.

“Citizens of Macragge,” Guilliman boomed, raising his hands.

The humans down below went silent.

“Citizens of Ultramar and the Imperium! I, Roboute Guilliman, have returned!”

The audience cheered loudly again. The Primarch used this to turn to his companions for a second:

“I usually don’t like to repeat me, but that sentence is just right on.”

Then he turned back to the crowd:

“For long years, I have been inactive, forced to exist inside a stasis field because of wounds inflicted by a traitor. Those wounds are gone now, but the traitors are still at large. And they are not the only ones endangering mankind.
We always had to fight for our survival, and the mere fact that you all are here today and listen to me is prove of our prowess! We are humans! We do not go gentle into the night! We fight whatever threatens us! And we prevail!
And now that I am back, my dear citizens of the Imperium, we will teach our enemies what fear is! They will curse the day they first thought about challenging us! And we will send them into oblivion! This is my promise to you, the promise of Roboute Guilliman!”

The audience went nuts. There was no other way to describe what was going on. Frenetic applauding, loud cheers, people celebrating the Primarch and the return of hope he symbolized.

Guilliman waved them goodbye and left the balcony, followed by his companions.

“You were right,” he told Calgar with a smile,
“they did shout at me. And now, let’s go to my quarters. Then you can tell me everything I need - or want - to know.”

A short time later, they entered Guilliman’s quarters. Beautiful rooms, elaborately decorated, and with furniture in three different sizes: for normal humans, Astartes, and the Primarch.

“Home, sweet home,” Guilliman grinned.

“Perhaps a glass of wine could make it even sweeter?” Calgar suggested.

“I like your way of thinking,” Guilliman laughed and seated himself behind his huge desk.

Calgar, Tigurius and Cassius also sat down and Seneca appeared, carrying a tray with a bottle of wine, three glasses and a massive chalice. He poured everyone a drink and subsequently took up his post close to the door.

Guilliman took a look into his chalice, then he took a sip and grinned.

“A good wine,” he stated,
“and now, I think it’s time to bring me up to date.”

“Excuse me, your Excellency,” Calgar said, a little nervous,
“but would you mind us making sure that you are not influenced by an outside force? I know that this is impolite, but due to the circumstances of your return, it is necessary, I’m afraid.”

“This is the second time you mentioned those ‘circumstances’ as an excuse not to tell me what is going on. Will you finally spill the beans if I let the librarian scan me?”

It was only a little reprimand, but hearing it from the Primarch made Calgar feel quite uncomfortable.

“Yes, your Excellency,” the chapter master assured him.

“Then, Tigurius, do your duty.”

Tigurius put down his glass and got up. He walked to the desk behind which Guilliman was sitting and said:

“Excuse me, your Excellency.”

Then, the air around his head started glowing. It stayed that way for almost a minute, then the glow vanished and Tigurius bowed.

“There is no sign of malevolent influence, insanity or other conditions not desirable. Primarch Guilliman is mentally perfectly healthy,” he stated and returned to his seat.

“Content?” Guilliman grinned.

“Yes, your Excellency,” Calgar replied.

“Then, Chapter Master, as curious as I am about those ‘circumstances’, I have to set priorities, so please tell me about Ultramar and the Imperium first.”

Calgar started talking. He told Guilliman about the Realm of Ultramar; how the Ultramarines ruled it and how they meticulously followed the Codex Astartes.

Much to Calgar’s surprise, the Primarch raised an eyebrow and said:

“Umm... you know that I wrote the Codex as a guideline, not as some kind of straightjacket, right? While it covers almost every aspect of war and living as an Astartes, I never claimed it to be infallible, or all-encompassing. So, some deviations are actually acceptable if they are necessary. You do know that, right?”

Calgar looked slightly abashed at that and responded:

“Well, to be honest, we always did our best not to deviate from the Codex. There are only very rare occasions where this was allowed, and we would never act explicitly against it.”

Guilliman took a sip and said:

“It is a good choice to try and follow it as closely as possible, but sometimes, even the Codex is inadequate and you need to improvise. Please keep that in mind. And now, let’s talk about the Imperium.”

Now Calgar told his Primarch about the current state of the Imperium of Mankind; the battles it was fighting and the way it was ruled.
He told him the full truth, without omitting or sugarcoating anything. Guilliman started looking more and more concerned, and when Calgar was done, the Primarch put a hand to his brow, covering his eyes, and sighed heavily.

“I need more wine,” he mumbled after a few seconds.

While everyone was silent, Seneca quickly poured him another drink. Guilliman downed his chalice, which was immediately refilled again.

Now Calgar was concerned, too. He knew that the Imperium was probably not exactly what the Emperor and his sons had imagined ten millennia ago, but that was how things were.
Before he could say anything, however, Guilliman spoke again:

“So, let me summarize: The Imperium, once meant to be a beacon of hope, freedom and reason, has become a decaying, fascist, superstitious terror regime driven by ignorance and hate. Is that about right?”

“Well, your Excellency, even the best of intentions have to bow to reality. And the times are grim...,” Calgar answered apologetically.

Guilliman peeked through his fingers:

“You have no idea. I always fought to prevent something like this. Seriously, why do we even fight Chaos if we are like that ourselves?”

Those words of the Primarch hit hard. The Ultramarines looked at each other, not knowing what to say now. It was Cassius who began to talk:

“Your Excellency, the Imperium may be far from perfect, that is true. But even with its many inadequacies, it is still very much preferable to a reign of the Ruinous Powers. There is still valor in mankind. There is courage and honor. There is honesty and loyalty. Mankind may not be immaculate, but it definitely deserves better than to be thrown to the daemons of the warp.”

Guilliman lowered his hand and regarded the chaplain for a few seconds, then a weary smile crept upon his features:

“You are right, Cassius, and I thank you for your words. Instead of whining about the Imperium’s current state, we should try to improve it.”

“And this leads us to the circumstances of your convalescence, your Excellency,” Calgar told him.

“Really?” Guilliman asked him, an eyebrow raised,
“then please tell me what has happened.”

So Calgar told him the story of Antonius Varus and the unusual visitor who had met them in their dreams, although he worried a little about Guilliman thinking him to be crazy.

The Primarch listened intently, and when the chapter master had finished, he said, now with a genuine smile:

“So you found them.”

This was definitely the last thing they had expected Guilliman to say and all four Ultramarines simultaneously exclaimed:

“WHAT???”

“Yes,” Guilliman said calmly,
“I have heard of those little creatures, and that they would prove to be useful, although I had had no idea in what way. I guess it is time that I bring you up to date regarding a series of events that happened during the time of the Great Crusade. Unfortunately, I don’t know all the details, and there are other details my father ordered me not to talk about, but I will tell you everything I can:

“It was when all my brothers had been found and assigned to their respective legions. My father sent one of my brothers - now only known as ‘II’ - and a small force of Space Marines on a mission into the intergalactic void to find something of great value. Contact was lost, and none of them ever returned.

“So my father sent another one of his sons - ‘XI’ - to investigate. This time, there was a greater force of Space Marines accompanying him. The legionaries returned, but without their Primarch. Finally, my father asked me to incorporate both leaderless legions into my own legion, which I did. This is one of the reasons the Ultramarines were so many in number before the battle of Calth, by the way. Then, my father ordered all records of the two Primarchs to be deleted from imperial records, so whatever he sent them after must have been very important to keep a secret.

“Of course I asked my father what had happened, and he told me - at least a part of it. And now, I tell you this: The findings of Antonius Varus fit quite well into the story as I know it. With the standard template construction system, we can ring in a second Golden Age. With those ‘Elements’, we can fight an enemy that was obscured at the time those deep space missions were conducted. We will fly there, help them, and bring back the future of mankind.”

“So we have your permission to conduct this mission?” Calgar asked.

“More than that. You have my order,” Guilliman responded.

“Thank you, your Excellency. I thought about leading this mission myself, with Tigurius, Cassius, Seneca and 50 young Ultramarines joining me. In addition to that, I would like to take about 200 well-trained chapter serfs along. That way, we will not diminish the strike capability of the chapter too much, but will still be able to react to unforeseen situations.”

“Your plans seem to be carefully thought-out. I approve them. We still have to refit a ship for this journey, though.”

“The strike cruiser ‘Sword of Iax’ is currently being refitted at Calth and can be customized to fit our needs.”

“So, everything is just waiting for my permission?”

“More or less, your Excellency.”

Guilliman smiled.

“Well, then you have my permission. Still, the journey will be long and perilous. Perhaps we should call the Mechanicum. They will be eager to aid us if they get the chance to recover a construction system.”

“Your Excellency,” Calgar immediately replied with a dark tone in his voice,
“I must strongly advise against that.”

“Oh. And why?”

“The Adeptus Mechanicus will be so eager to get their hands - or whatever - on this construction system that they will kill anyone and anything that could possibly interfere in their efforts - including those equine aliens and even brother Varus - and us.”

Guilliman tilted his head a little.

“Calgar, don’t you... exaggerate a little? The Mechanicum would never attack an Ultramarine.”

“They would. And they have,” Calgar stated firmly.

“What?” Guilliman exclaimed,
“tell me what happened!”

Calgar sighed and started:

“Several decades ago, a space hulk appeared in the vicinity of Iax. I travelled there, together with Tigurius, an inquisitor and a magos of the Mechanicum. We split up and started exploring the hulk, but were attacked by Mechanicum forces that had already been on the hulk.”

“Dark Mechanicum, I presume?” Guilliman asked.

“No, my Lord,” Calgar replied,
“regular Adeptus Machanicus. And things got even more complicated when the space hulk prepared a warp-jump. I ordered our men who were still on the surface of the hulk to return to our ship, while my group, already in the bowels of the hulk, had no other choice than to proceed. We fought daemons of Khorne and Nurgle down there when the dominus of the enemy Mechanicum forces wanted to talk to us.”

“What did he say?”

“He told us that the attack was just a misunderstanding, and that he wanted to help us destroy the hulk.”

“Did you believe him?”

“Not a second. He had wanted to decimate us, so that we could still help him fight Chaos, but then be too weak to fight his own forces. Still, I had no choice but to agree, caught between the forces of Chaos and the Mechanicum. So we attacked Chaos together, and I and a small team made it to the command center of the hulk. Once there, we manipulated the reactor so that it would explode and destroy the hulk.
Unfortunately, the magos who was initially sent with us betrayed us, sided with the dominus and foiled our plans. Then, the dominus appeared again and told us straight to the face that he would normally kill us all to keep the origin of the hulk a secret - it was an ancient Mechanicum project. But the magos had told him that the Ultramarines would not stop looking for me and prevent him from delivering the secrets of the hulk to Mars, so he put us onto an old ship, stranded on the surface of the hulk, and set us adrift. An imperial patrol found us, and so I am here now.
I have to admit that, despite destroying the forces of Chaos that controlled the hulk, I did not bring the chapter much honor those days; I consider this mission to be one of my greatest shames.”

Everything was silent for a few second, then Guilliman suddenly jumped up.
Calgar also jumped to his feet. He had no idea what his Primarch was going to do now, but since he had just told him about his failure, it would probably not be too pretty. Still, he wanted to take his punishment standing, like a warrior.

He was quite surprised when Guilliman grabbed his pauldrons with his massive hands and stared him into the eyes. Again, it was a gaze that seemed to go straight to his soul.

“Listen, my son,” Guilliman said firmly, but not without kindness,
“this is not your shame. It is the shame of those Mechanicum forces that plotted against you, against US. You did what you could to get your brothers out of this situation alive, and that is better than dying an useless death. I tell you, we will take care of this dominus - and the magos - once we get the opportunity. In the meantime, and considering our task at hand, I agree with you. There certainly are still sensible Mechanicum forces, but we can not take the risk, so will do this largely on our own, without the help of Mars.”

“Yes, your Excellency.”

Those words of the Primarch were like balm to the wounds the incident had left on Calgar’s soul, and he allowed himself to smile a little.

“Still, we’ll need tech-priests to run the ship we’re going to send…”

“Yes, your Excellency, but there is a reliable magos named Gearhart who is currently overseeing the refitting of the ‘Sword of Iax’. He trusts us enough not to ask too many questions.”

“Good. Please supply me with a detailed report of this space hulk mission, including the names of those tech-priests, so that I can recognize them should I encounter them. Furthermore, I have to inform you that next to Gearhart there is another particular tech-priest who should show up as soon as the word of my resurrection spreads.”

“And who is this tech-priest, if I may ask?” Calgar wanted to know.

“His name is Belisarius Cawl. He is an old acquaintance of mine and has worked on some projects for me. I am curious to see if he was successful.”

“So... he is trustworthy?”

“Only to a certain extent, but anyway he will be busy with his own tasks, and we won’t ‘bother’ him with the exact nature of our mission.”

Calgar bowed. He knew they were all playing a dangerous game of secrets and intrigues. Sadly, this was not a novelty in the Imperium, but in this case, it was necessary to ensure the continued existence of those little equines - and of brother Varus and their expeditionary force.

“Now, Chapter Master,” Guilliman said,
“there is another point we have to talk about. While I see that you were a capable commander of the Ultramarines, I should probably take command again soon. This is not meant to be a vilification of your accomplishments, but since I am a Primarch, I have to assume leadership and light a beacon of hope for the Imperium.”

Well, this was not at all surprising, but still somewhat strange. Calgar had been chapter master for quite some time now, and he had always thought that death would end this duty.
He smiled. Handing the rank over to his Primarch was certainly a better option.

“Of course, your Excellency,” Calgar replied,
“when do you want me to announce the change in leadership?”

“Give me a week to get more familiar with the current situation, then I will officially ask you to take command of the chapter.”

“Yes, you Excellency.”

“In the meantime, start your preparations for our deep space mission and keep me up to date on your progress. We must not hesitate. My resurrection will not only serve as a beacon of hope for the Imperium, but it will also alarm Chaos, and they will respond to it. My sons, things are now in motion that cannot be undone.”

49. The Crystal Empire

During the last few days, Antonius had taken cooking lessons from Celestia. They had started with - surprise! - cake, which had gone pretty well, then they had also cooked ‘real’ meals. Not that Celestia did not consider cake a ‘real’ meal, but Antonius was able to convince her that for him, savory food was a bit more suitable.

He would never forget her face when she had seen him handle a knife; it had only taken him a moment to neatly slice a carrot. When he had smiled at her after that, he probably should have put away the knife first, true, but the lessons still had been a success.

Now Antonius Varus was in his quarters, working on the report for his chapter when there was a knock on the door.

“Come in,” he said, looking up from his data-slate.

To his surprise, Celestia’s secretary entered his room and told him:

“Hello, Lord Varus. Princess Celestia requests your attendance. Please put on your armor, get your weapons and come to the throne room as soon as possible.”

“Celestia wants me to be armed? Sounds like an emergency,” Antonius mused.

“I can assure you, Lord Varus, it is an emergency. Now, please make haste.”

Raven left and Antonius quickly put on his armor, fetched his weapons and proceeded to the throne room. Celestia, Luna, Cadance and Shining Armor were already waiting there.

“Hello, everypony,” he greeted,
“what is this emergency that requires my services?”

“The Crystal Empire has returned!” Luna told him.

Antonius was alert. He remembered the story of that empire - and the evil unicorn that had terrorized it.

“Has this ‘Sombra’ also returned?” he asked.

“Probably,” Celestia said,
“that’s why I want Cadance, Shining and you to travel there, look for the inhabitants of the Empire and see if Sombra really has returned. In any case, I will also send Twilight and her friends there, but I want you to act as a quick response force and assess the situation.”

“Good,” Antonius replied,
“with the Land Speeder, we should be there in no time.”

“That was a part of my plan, actually.”

Antonius turned to Cadance and Shining Armor:

“Okay, let’s go and kill every evil, shadowy unicorn we find.”

“Antonius,” Celestia quickly said,
“saving the Empire’s inhabitants has priority, okay?”

“Sure,” he replied,
“but such situations are usually not solvable by nicely asking the oppressor to leave.”

Antonius, Cadance and Shining said good bye to Celestia and Luna, who stayed in the throne room to wait for Twilight, and went down into the hangar. Some equipment had already been prepared and was waiting next to the Land Speeder. They stowed it away and Cadance and Shining put on their harnesses. Shining got in first and Antonius buckled him up. Then Cadance sat down in front of him. As Antonius was buckling her up, too, she suddenly asked with a grin:

“What’s the save word?”

Shining face-hooved and Antonius asked in confusion:

“The what?”

Cadance’s grin faltered and she said:

“Oh, you don’t… forget it, it was just a joke, anyway.”

“Hmm. Pull in your manes, we’re about to start.”

Now Antonius jumped into the Speeder and started the engines. Then they left the hangar and turned northwards, traveling at maximum speed.

“This is awesome!” Cadance cried, almost drowned out by the roaring of the Speeder and the wind.

“Hey, that’s what I was about to say!” Shining screamed back.

A few hours later, they arrived at the northern outpost and stopped. There was no sign of an enemy, but a snow storm tremendously limited the visibility, so the area could definitely not be called ‘clear’. The guards stationed in the outpost left the building to greet them:

“Princess Cadance, Prince Armor, Lord Varus! We are glad that you are here!”

“Any sign of hostile activities?” Antonius asked.

“No, not really, but…”

“But?”

“We cannot shake the unsettling feeling that something… evil is watching us.”

“Acknowledged. Try to hold this outpost and wait for the Element Bearers, we will proceed further northwards.”

Having said that, Antonius accelerated the Land Speeder again and they left the outpost behind, pushing forward through the storm at mediocre speed.

“Al,” he voxed,
“telemetry.”

“Connection established,” came Al’s answer.

“I wonder if we’ll really see Sombra,” Shining said.

“I think we will,” Cadance replied,
“although I’d be able to live without it.”

She had barely said that as a dark cloud started forming in front of the Speeder.

“Sombra ahead, I guess,” Antonius told them flatly.

The cloud piled up, and suddenly, two green eyes with red irises appeared in the darkness, flaming purple, and stared at them.

“Hmm… painting the word ‘evil’ on his brow would not have been less subtle,” Antonius commented.

“Less wisecracking, more evading!” Cadance screamed.

“Right,” Antonius agreed, and changed the direction the Speeder was heading with a right turn.

Sombra roared like a wild animal and started pursuing them.

“He’s right behind us - and gaining on us!” Shining shouted.

“Can’t this thing go faster all of a sudden?” Cadance asked.

“Of course it can still go faster,” Antonius answered,
“but that wouldn’t fit my plan.”

“Plan? What plan?”

Antonius increased the height until there were on a level with the ‘face’ of Sombra, then he waited until his enemy had almost reached them.

“Is your plan to get us eaten?” Cadance screamed, looking back at their pursuer.

“No,” Antonius answered calmly.

“Then, what is your plan?”

Antonius grinned beneath his helmet and replied:

“I’ll have him taste the rainbow!”

Now he gunned the engines and fired the Speeder’s jet blast directly into Sombra’s ‘face’.
It made an impact.
Sombra roared, either in pain or annoyance, and stopped, allowing Antonius and the ponies to put some distance between them. Once the low visibility had obscured their foe, Antonius lowered the height again and steered the Land Speeder to the left back on their old course.

“Could you please tell us should you intend to do something like that again?” Cadance called.

“If I have the time,” Antonius answered.

A few seconds later, the storm was suddenly gone and he slowed the Speeder down again as they passed two crystal pillars.

“What happened to the storm?” he wondered,
“did we pass some sort of barrier?”

“I guess that was the border of the Crystal Empire,” Shining said.

He was obviously right. In front of them, there was a tall spire in the distance in the middle of some kind of town or even city - and everything seemed to be made of crystal.

“That’s our destination!” Cadance shouted,
“get us there as fast as possible!”

Antonius headed directly for the spire. It was some kind of castle, standing on four pillars connected by giant arches. They passed smaller buildings on each side of the road they were traveling and they even saw some ponies on the roads, but they seemed to be in almost catatonic conditions and did not even look up.

They finally reached the castle. Antonius stopped the Land Speeder close to one of the pillars where he had seen an entrance and jumped out of the vehicle, drawing bis bolter at the same time. Cadance and Shining quickly unbuckled themselves and also got out of the Speeder.

Antonius charged through the door into the building, scanning his surroundings for any sign of hostile activity, but there was none. Empty halls and hallways, made of crystal, were everything there was.

“We need to get to the throne room,” Cadance said,
“it should be upstairs.”

So they went upstairs, always watchful for an ambush.

“This castle is empty,” Shining mused.

“Seems so,” Antonius replied,
“stay alert, though.”

“Have you seen the ponies outside?” Cadance asked,
“they seemed so sad and… dull.”

“First, let’s get rid of Sombra. That should cheer them up,” Antonius opined.

They finally entered the throne room, still without any trace of an enemy.

“Okay, here we are,” Antonius said,
“now you can do whatever it is that you want to do.”

At that moment, there was a roar outside.

“Sombra!” Cadance stated and dashed onto a balcony, followed by her two companions.

The dark cloud that was Sombra was still beyond the city limits, but he roared again and started moving towards them.

“No,” Cadance stated with determination and lit her horn.

Around the city a turquoise force field came into existence and created a dome that closed above the castle. Sombra recoiled as he touched the field and roared again.

“He’s really eloquent,” Shining deadpanned.

“A great feat,” Antonius said, turning to Cadance,
“how long do you think you can sustain this field?”

“A few days, perhaps. In any case long enough for Twilight and her friends to arrive and help us.”

“Good. I usually prefer to get rid of an enemy instead of just locking them out, but I doubt that my bolter or chainsword will be very useful against a cloud. Be that as it may, we should update the princesses and the Element Bearers on the situation.”

Antonius fetched his PDA and called Celestia and Twilight. After a second, both their faces appeared on the screen.

“Hello everypony. The Crystal Empire has indeed returned, and so has Sombra. We were able to outsmart him and have taken the castle. Cadance has created a shield around the Empire to prevent Sombra from entering. Since he is currently using a non-corporeal form, I refrained from trying to outright kill him, since my weapons were not made to deal with such creatures. I think we need some offensive magic here.”

“We are on our way,” Twilight told him,
“but we will still need quite some times to get to you. Once we have arrived, though, we will do whatever we can to protect the Crystal Empire.”

Well, that hopefully meant that Antonius would finally get to see the Elements of Harmony in action. He could barely wait for it.

“Good. We will hold the city. Call us when you are close so that we can escort you through the snow,” he said.

“Okay.”

“Thank you for keeping us up to date,” Celestia said,
“and good luck.”

They ended the conversation and Antonius put his PDA away.

“Now, all we can do is wait for Twilight and her friends,” Cadance stated,
“and I need to stay here to keep the field up.”

“Do that,” Antonius agreed,
“Shining, you should stay here, too. I will roam the castle and the city and look for anything that might be of use for us.”

Having said that, Antonius left the throne room and searched the castle, but all he could find was small swords, lances and armor, everything clearly inferior to his equipment. He left the castle and walked up to the Land Speeder. A pony was standing there, looking at the vehicle, but she seemed to be mentally absent.

“Hello, good mare,” Antonius greeted politely.

The pony turned towards him and her eyes went wide.

“Glowing red eyes…” she mumbled in fear and started moving backwards.

“Wait! It’s just a helmet!” Antonius quickly said and took it off.

The mare stared at him for a few seconds, then she asked:

“Who are you? What are you? Why are you here?”

“I am Antonius Varus, a human, a warrior of the Ultramarines. I am here to help you.”

“Help us?”

“Yes, and perhaps you can help me help you. Do you know of anything that might be useful against Sombra?”

The pony shivered.

“That name… no, I don’t know a thing that could be used against him… but please find something.”

“Can you at least tell me what happened to this place? I only know that it was cursed and somehow gone for about a thousand years.”

“A thousand years?”

“Yes.”

“It fells like it was just yesterday.”

“Can you tell me more about it?”

“No. I’m sorry, but I cannot remember anything before King Sombra’s reign… and I don’t want to remember anything about the time of his reign… I can’t help you.”

The mare shuddered, then she turned around and left, her head hanging.

Antonius had no idea how or why, but the spirit of this pony was obviously broken. A sad husk missing the energy typical for ponies. There were no answers for him to get from this source, so he turned off the Speeder and started roaming the city, looking for useful equipment.

Unfortunately, while every halfway decent imperial settlement had at least some sort of barracks or armory, this pony city was completely unarmed apart from the equipment in the castle. He was not too surprised by this fact, though. Ponies were rather peaceful, after all, and if they had a weapon that would be useful against Sombra, they would already have used it.

Antonius froze.
Or have they been put in this catatonic state so that they would not think about using such a weapon?
No, that was idle speculation.

He continued his search and talked to some other ponies, but his efforts were futile. When it started getting dark, he returned to the castle. He checked the Land Speeder, just to be sure. It was okay, just the luggage had been removed, so he entered the castle and went to the throne room. There, he did not only find the luggage, but also - as expected - Cadance and Shining. The stallion was just offering his mare a sandwich.

“No, thank you, Shining,” Cadance said.

“You haven’t eaten all day,” he replied with some worry in his voice.

“I’m not hungry. Really, I couldn’t eat a thing now.”

Shining did not look too happy about that and turned to Antonius:

“Well, Antonius, do you want to eat something?”

“If you have something that is not made of grass, I will accept.”

After dinner, Antonius asked:

“Do you know if there are any nocturnal predators in these ice-wastes around here?”

“I’m not sure,” Cadance answered,
“only very little is known about this area.”

“Then I should better take the Land Speeder and patrol our perimeter,” Antonius mused and got up.

He should probably have thought about that kind of threat earlier, but with them being quite short at number, securing this city and gathering information at the same time did not work; Cadance had to stay in the throne room, and as the critical unit of this mission she needed a guard. That left only him to take care of everything else, and while he was an Astartes, he was still just one person.

Antonius left the castle and started the Land Speeder. The first thing he did was traveling southwards to the two crystal pillars they had passed earlier that day. It was dark and cold now, and the streets were empty. No ponies, and also no sign of hostile activity.

When he arrived at the pillars, he took his auspex and scanned the area.
Nothing. So, either Sombra had withdrawn, or - and Antonius thought this to be the more probable explanation - the auspex could not detect him.
Damned non-corporeal creatures, he really preferred targets he could put bolts into.

He travelled along the shield Cadance had created, stopping every few hundred meters to scan the area. He was up in the north when his auspex showed a life sign slowly closing in on the city.

“Cadance, Shining,” Antonius voxed,
“we have an unidentified signal incoming from the north. I’ll go and see what it is.”

“Okay,” Cadance answered,
“but do not leave the safety of the shield.”

“Acknowledged.”

He drove the Speeder to the location where the creature - or whatever it was - would get in contact with the shield, headlights facing northwards. Then he got out and drew his chainsword.
He did not have to wait for long, then a dark silhouette appeared in the headlights’ beams. The creature was quadrupedal, and as it came closer and was better illuminated, Antonius could see that it had white fur and red eyes. It reminded him of a lion, or an arctic variant of that animal.

“Al, any idea what this creature is?” Antonius voxed.

“Well,” Al answered,
“it seems to be a large feline species. It displays similarities to lions, although with adaptations to the arctic climate. It is most likely a predator. Exercise caution.”

“Good idea,” Antonius answered flatly and kept watching the creature.

It arrived at the shield and carefully stuck its head through it.
So, this creature was indeed a ‘normal’ life form, not some sort of daemonic entity, or the shield would - probably - have stopped it like it had stopped Sombra.
It came closer, its eyes focused on Antonius.

“Buffet’s closed,” Antonius shouted and activated his sword,
“so if you want to prey on me or a pony, just don’t.”

Either the creature did not understand him, or it did not care about his words: It jumped forward, lashing out at Antonius with its claws.
He dodged the attack and brought the chainsword down on the creature’s neck. The weapon’s teeth separated the animal’s head from its body, and the fight was over.

“Cadance, Shining,” Antonius voxed.

“Yes?” came Cadance’s answer.

“I just eliminated a lion-like creature that thought me to be a snack.”

“So, we don’t only have to deal with Sombra, but also with arctic predators? Great, really great.”

“Hmm, should not get too boring around here.”

“Antonius,” Shining said,
“do you think you can intercept every further intruder before they get into the city, or into the castle?”

“Well, I could keep patrolling the northern perimeter and use the auspex, but I can’t guarantee that no creature slips through. I’m a little too few for this task.”

“Then you should come back.”

“Shiny,” Cadance said,
“you are here to protect me, and we can’t let the Crystal Ponies be unguarded.”

“I know that I could probably protect you,” Shining answered,
“but since we don’t know what kind of creatures are out there, and since you are so important to this mission - and to me - I don’t want to take any risks.”

“I have to concur,” Antonius told them,
“your safety, Cadance, takes top priority. Even if a pony gets mauled, it will be insignificant compared to you getting killed.”

“I don’t like that way of thinking,” Cadance mumbled.

“You don’t need to. It is still imperative to prioritize that way. You’re our shield generator, after all. I’m coming back.”

“Charming,” Cadance replied.

Antonius grinned, put away his chainsword and jumped into the Land Speeder. Then, he made a beeline back to the castle. Parking the vehicle close to the entrance again, he entered the throne room a short time later.

“Hello, Antonius,” Cadance said,
“we were just discussing how to protect the ponies here from Sombra and the local wildlife.”

“And? Did you find a solution?” Antonius inquired.

“Sort of,” Shining answered,
“we thought that you should guard Cadance while I’ll keep an eye on signs of trouble in the arctic.”

“Works for me,” Antonius agreed,
“might I suggest imposing a curfew, though? That way, the predators would not be as much of a threat anymore.”

“We can’t just order the Crystal Ponies around, Antonius,” Cadance replied,
“they have gone through enough of that already. And honestly, something tells me that preventing them from coming together would be the wrong thing to do… perhaps we could impose a night curfew, though…”

“Redundant. There’s nopony out in the streets. Probably because of the climate.”

“Ah, good. Then, we will go ahead with our plan.”

“That means, however, that we won’t have time to gather information from the locals. While my attempts have not been fruitful, we still should not let that slide.”

“Agreed. This will be the part of Twilight and her friends when they arrive.”

Hmm? He had always thought the part of the Element Bearers would be to blast Sombra…
Well, perhaps the plan had to include an peaceful attempt at dealing with the situation… that could still be discussed when they had arrived.

“Okay,” Antonius said.

“And now, Shiny,” Cadance said, turning to the stallion,
“you should probably rest a few hours. We’ve had a busy day today, and tomorrow won’t be more relaxing. You should go to the next room, as we would probably disturb your sleep.”

Shining and Antonius both gave her a skeptical look, and Cadance groaned in exasperation.

“Not what you think! Geez, stallions! I have to stay awake to keep the shield going, and I have to talk to someone to not fall asleep. That would disturb you, wouldn’t it? So, our improvised bedroom is the next room just over here.”

“Arguing with you won’t change a thing, will it?” Shining asked flatly.

“No,” Cadance smiled.

“Well, then…” he said, unpacked a bedroll and vanished into the next room, saying
“goodnight, ‘mom’!” as he left.

“That poor pony,” Antonius grinned.

“Ah, shush!” Cadance said,
“I’m a very nice mare.”

“I take you word for it.”

“Hey, I took care of him after our wedding!”

“Isn’t that part of the reason why you get married?”

“That’s not what I mean… perhaps I shouldn’t tell you… ah shucks! I can tell you that he wasn’t in the best condition after our wedding.”

“That does not speak in favor of you.”

“I’m serious, Antonius. He woke up at night and was frightened of me! He thought I was the Changeling queen! With a lot of tender loving care, I managed to work against the trauma he had suffered. Now, he is his old self again, and this little banter is a sign that he is okay.”

“Hmm. Yeah, being mind-controlled and forced to betray your allies must be a horrible fate.”

“Certainly. But we should talk about something more cheerful. This topic is a little too dark for the situation at hoof.”

“No objections. What do you want to talk about?”

“Hmm… good question… oh, I have an idea! What about calculating your chances for a ‘happily ever after’?”

“For a what?”

“Your chances for a successful relationship with a pony.”

“WHAT? No. Definitely no.”

“Oh, but it would keep me awake.”

“How about that: If you are in danger of falling asleep, I will slap you,” Antonius suggested.

“That’s not a good idea,” Cadance said without batting an eye,
“I would be startled and the shield would collapse.”

“Any other methods to keep you awake?”

“Nothing as reliable as a round of shipping!”

“You’re not going to back down, are you?”

“No,” Cadance grinned.

Antonius sighed.

“I think I hate you a little bit,” he said.

“No problem. I’m not on the list anyway.”

“You have a list?”

“Of course. Let’s start with Celestia!”

“Oh, this is going to be a long night…”

50. Sombra

As Shining Armor entered the throne room the next morning, he was greeted by a tired but happy Cadance and a less tired but also less cheerful Antonius.

“How was the night?” Shining asked.

“Great,” Cadance smiled,
“and with a few surprises!”

“Surprises?”

“Yes! Antonius has surprisingly good results!”

“Results?” Shining wondered,
“oh no, Cadance, tell me you didn’t…”

“She did,” Antonius answered flatly,
“people who say that war were hell have never spent a night with your mare.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Shining smiled.

“Hey!” Cadance shouted.

Shining laughed and even Antonius grinned, then the stallion inquired:

“Okay, now I have to admit that I am curious. How were the results?”

Antonius sighed and Cadance started talking with a grin:

“I ran the calculations for the princesses and the Element Bearers, and it turned out that that only romantic relationships with Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash are improbable. Celestia is possible, but somewhat problematic: A lot of arguments, but probably very nice reconciliations. Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Twilight have really good scores. Best of all, however, is…”

“Here we go again…” Antonius grumbled.

“Luna!” Cadance finished without missing a beat.

“Yeah, Antonius, Cadance won’t stop…” Shining snickered, then he suddenly became serious and turned to Cadance,
“wait a second… you seriously shipped Antonius with my little sister?”

“Oops…” Cadance said while blushing,
“well… umm… I sort of did… but she has a really good score! She’s only second to Luna!”

“Sorry that I do not rejoice over that,” Shining stated, then he turned to Antonius,
“no offense.”

“None taken,” Antonius replied flatly.

“Okay,” Shining continued,
“now that we’ve all had our daily share of embarrassment, we should continue with our mission.”

Antonius spent the morning guarding Cadance while Shining Armor patrolled the city for hostile creatures. In the early afternoon, the Element Bearers were scheduled to arrive at the train station, and then this mission would soon be over. Antonius had to admit that he was glad about that. An enemy he could not shoot was annoying enough, but staying in the throne room all the time while Shining was on patrol was not really fulfilling.
Necessary? Probably.
Sensible? Yes.
But fulfilling? No.

Around noon, Shining returned and they had lunch. Cadance’s nutrient supply was probably too low to replenish the energy she lost keeping the shield up, but soon this would not be a problem anymore.

“So, if I go now, I will be right on time to escort Twilight and her friends to the castle,” Shining stated.

“Shouldn’t I do that?” Antonius asked.

“Well, they don’t fit into your Speeder, and without magic, you cannot properly protect them. Remember that you would have to leave the force field, and I doubt Sombra would be fooled again by your exhaust trick. So I think I should go.”

“Yeah… makes sense.”

Damned dark evil non-shootable cloud enemies…

Shining Armor left and Antonius and Cadance stepped onto the balcony. Down below, they could see Shining walking towards the crystal pillars that marked the borders of the city. Outside of the shield the snow storm was raging, but there was no sign of Sombra.

“Let’s hope they make it to the city undetected,” Cadance said.

“Hmm,” Antonius replied and put on his helmet,
“but I wouldn’t count on it.”

When shining had left the city, they kept an eye on the spot where he was supposed to reappear.

“I should have brought binoculars,” Cadance said.

“Don’t worry, I will tell you what happens.”

The first thing to happen was that a darkness started spreading beyond the force field, easy to see even for Cadance.

“Oh dear,” she mumbled.

“So much for staying undetected,” Antonius commented drily.

Thankfully, Twilight and her friends appeared a few moments later, running up to the crystal pillars.

“The Element Bearers have arrived,” Antonius stated.

“What about Shining?” Cadance asked worriedly.

“There he is,” Antonius answered as the stallion passed the shield.

“Is he okay?”

“Not wholly, but he can walk, so it can’t be too serious.”

“Thank Celestia. Let’s go in again, I think I need to sit down.”

Antonius followed Cadance inside, where she slumped down on the throne.
She had to hold out for just a few more minutes now…

A short time later, Shining, the Element Bearers and Spike entered the throne room. For a moment, Cadance’s fatigue seemed to be gone and she greeted Twilight in a quite special manner.

“One of these days we need to get together when the fate of Equestria isn't hanging in the balance,” she said.

“Are you okay?” Twilight asked compassionately.

Now Shining Armor told his sister about the current situation, and Cadance assured them that she was fine.

Well, that was a lie.

“She's not fine,” Shining stated,
“she can't go on like this forever, and if her magic were to fade... Well, you saw what's out there waiting for that to happen.”

“That's why we're here,” Twilight said.

“Why we're all here,” Applejack clarified, immediately verified by the other ponies.

“Good,” Antonius opined,
“then put on your Elements of Harmony, and we will go out there and blast this Sombra to oblivion!”

The dumbfounded stares Antonius got in return told him that something wasn’t going according to his plan.

“Girls?” he asked.

“Well,” Twilight started hesitantly,
“it’s that… I mean… we don’t have the Elements with us.”

Now it was Antonius turn to stare at them.

“You haven’t…” he inquired incredulously.

“No. Princess Celestia didn’t say a word about the Elements of Harmony. She just told us to help you protect the Crystal Empire.”

Antonius still stared at his friends, then he raised an index finger.

“Excuse me for a second,” he said, then he turned off his armor’s external speakers and used his vox to call Celestia.

“Yes?” Celestia answered.

“Celestia, might it be within the bounds of possibility that you somehow FORGOT TO EQUIP THE ELEMENT BEARERS WITH THEIR ELEMENTS???”

“I did not forget that,” Celestia answered somewhat indignantly,
“the Crystal Empire has powerful magic. You will find a means to protect it without the Elements.”

“So instead of using a reliable and available weapon we have to hope that we find something before Sombra wreaks havoc around here?”

“There is more to this mission than that. Just trust me.”

“It would be much easier to trust you if your actions would make some sort of sense! Seriously, what is this all about?”

“This mission is also a test for Twilight. I’m sure she will prevail and the Crystal Empire will be saved.”

“You are deliberately risking lives for some test?”

“Don’t exaggerate. Everything will be fine. Trust me.”

Had Antonius had the ability to reach through the vox and choke Celestia, he would probably have done it. But since this was not possible, he just said

“Antonius, out,” and cut the connection.

Now he noticed that all the ponies were staring at him with worry written in their faces, so he reactivated the external speakers and said:

“No Elements. This was obviously a deliberate decision. And now, I guess we also don’t have the time to travel back to Canterlot and get them. Even the Land Speeder is not fast enough to make it there and back before Cadance’s shield fails. We have to find a means to defeat Sombra.”

“As we said, that’s why we’re all here,” Twilight assured him.

“Well, with Cadance putting all her strength into keeping her spell going, Antonius protecting her and me trying to keep an eye on signs of trouble in the arctic, we haven't been able to gather much information from the Crystal Ponies,” Shining said.

“Crystal Ponies?!” Rarity exclaimed,
“hahaha, there are Crystal Ponies?! Umm, ahem. Please continue.”

“But we have to believe one of them knows how we can protect the Empire without having to use Cadance's magic,” Shining continued.

If this assumption proved to be wrong, they would have to evacuate as many ponies as possible - especially the Element Bearers…

“A research paper!” Twilight shouted, interrupting Antonius’ thoughts.

“Huh?” Shining wondered.

“That must be part of my test – to gather information from the Crystal Ponies and deliver it to you! This is gonna be great! I love research papers!” Twilight cheered.

Oh, great. She was just as out of touch with the grim darkness of reality as her mentor. Was Antonius really the only one who had realized that they were basically at war, and that there were lives at stake?

“Yeah, who doesn’t?” Rainbow quipped in response to Twilight.

Antonius choose to ignore Pinkie taking this rhetorical question literally, and Twilight continued:

“Don't worry, big brother. I am really good at this sort of thing.”

“Still,” Antonius said seriously,
“if the shield fails before you have a useable result, I want the six of you to come to my Land Speeder immediately.”

“Why?” Twilight inquired.

“Because I will somehow cram the six of you into the Speeder and get you to safety. I will not risk you being killed by Sombra.”

“Well, that’s nice of you, but we certainly won’t bail!”

“You are too important to die here. You will do as I told you.”

“But what about Shining and Cadance? What about Spike? What about the Crystal Ponies?”

“Once you are safe, I will go back and try to evacuate Shining, Cadance and Spike. The Crystal Ponies, however, will have to try and escape on their own.”

“That’s… harsh.”

“I know, but this is war. Priorities have to be set, and sacrifices have to be made. This is just an emergency backup plan, though. I would greatly appreciate a more positive outcome of our mission.”

“Then we will see to it that this plan never has to be set into action,” Twilight said with determination.

“And keep in mind that Sombra was a unicorn before Celestia and Luna turned him into a shadow,” Cadance said,
“he will probably revert back to a pony when trying to seize power.”

“If so, that will be his last mistake,” Antonius smiled grimly and checked his bolter,
“okay, so I will call you to the Speeder should everything else fail. And now, we should get going.”

Twilight and her friends left to question the Crystal Ponies, Antonius, Shining and Cadance stayed in the throne room.
More waiting, but the prospect of putting a bolt into that shadowy villain made it a lot easier to bear.

After some time, Twilight came back with a book and told them about something called ‘Crystal Faire’, a festivity that was supposed to somehow enable the Crystal Ponies to protect their empire.
Antonius was a bit skeptical about that. He did not believe that Sombra was afraid of parties, but since everypony else was quite optimistic, he did not oppose their plan. It was their world, after all. And perhaps this celebration would help the Crystal Ponies remember something useful.

So, not too long after their talk, he stepped onto the balcony behind Twilight, Cadance and Shining as Twilight invited the ponies to the impromptu faire. Twilight left again while the others watched the ponies enjoy the festivity.
Antonius noticed that something was happening to the Crystal Ponies and used his auto-senses to zoom in on a few of them: They started looking more… crystalline than before. Well, they were probably called ‘Crystal Ponies’ for a reason…

Then Rainbow was suddenly - and quickly - flying to the castle, and a short time later, Twilight appeared again, highly distraught.

“We have a problem!” she shouted,
“this ‘Crystal Heart’ mentioned in the book is not just some sculpture, it is a relic, powered by the Crystal Ponies! I didn't know it was an actual relic! The book didn't mention anything about the Crystal Ponies powering the Heart! There was a page missing... How did I not notice?!”

“It's alright, Twilight,” Cadance tried to soothe her.

Well, it was not really ‘alright’, because now Cadance fainted from exhaustion and the magic shield protecting the Crystal Empire failed.
Immediately, Sombra’s head started forming in the dark miasma that was surrounding the city, and he moved closer with an evil laugh.

“The empire is under attack,” Shining said.

“We are running out of time,” Antonius stated and grabbed his bolter,
“now it’s my bolt or the evacuation.”

“Not yet,” Cadance, barely conscious again, said with determination and lit her horn.

The magic shield was reestablished, sprouting from the ground to form a dome over the city. Sombra raced towards the nascent barrier and tried to cross it, but he was too slow. The field even cut off a small part of his curved, red horn.

The shield was stable - for now, but looking at Cadance this would only last a few minutes. ‘Tired’ did not even start to describe her condition.

“I have to find the Crystal Heart!” Shining shouted, but Twilight answered:

“No, you stay here with Cadance. She needs you, Shining Armor. I'll retrieve the Heart.”

Having said that, she left, followed by Rainbow Dash with a

“Let’s do this!”

Now, what should Antonius do?
Either he could help looking for the Crystal Heart, or he could stay on the balcony, using it as a sniper position should the shield fail.
He took another look at Cadance. It was probably the best decision to stay on the balcony.

The minutes went by and he could see Twilight running around down below him.

“We won’t find the Crystal Heart in time,” he mumbled.

“Perhaps you should help Twilight look for it,” Cadance whispered.

“I need to stay here to shoot Sombra when he approaches.”

“He can’t pass my shield, and I will keep it up. Go and help her, we will call you if I’m too exhausted.”

“Are you sure?”

“Definitely,” Cadance smiled.

So Antonius dashed through the throne room - and almost stumbled over Twilight and Spike.

“No luck yet, I guess?” he asked.

“No,” Twilight admitted,
“but I’m sure the Crystal Heart must be somewhere here, inside King Sombra’s… of course!”

“What? Did you find it?” Spike panted.

“No,” Twilight replied with a wink,
“because this isn't King Sombra's castle.”

She started walking towards the throne, followed by Spike and Antonius.

“Well, isn't this where he lived when he was in power?” Spike asked.

“It is. But it didn't look like this,” Twilight told him.

Now Twilight lit her horn, but soon, her magic aura stated turning dark, and a moment later, Antonius realized that she was now using the same dark magic he had previously seen Sombra use.
Corruption? Or more like the use of forbidden powers… hardly a good sign either way.

His thoughts and concerns were interrupted when the giant crystals behind the throne started turning dark and casting a shadow into the throne room.
Antonius jumped aside - better save than sorry - and turned to see the effects this shadow might have.

A large staircase was revealed in the middle of the room, leading down into the darkness.

“Whoa. When did you learn to do that?” Spike asked in amazement.

“That was a little trick Celestia taught me.” Twilight answered.

“Then let’s get down there and find this Crystal Heart,” Antonius said and wanted to take the steps downwards, but Twilight stopped him.

“No!” she shouted,
“it must be me and me alone who finds the Crystal Heart!”

“What? This is not the time for some sort of ego trip.”

“It’s not an ego trip, Antonius. It’s the main term of Celestia’s test!”

Oh, damnit. The student was as odd as the teacher…

“A test?” Antonius exclaimed,
“Twilight, seriously, screw this stupid test! There are lives at stake! Damnit! It’s not the best sign if a Space Marine cares more about a non-human than a member of it’s own species does…”

“I can’t just ignore the test!”

“Can you ignore the Crystal Ponies?”

“No! But I can pass the test and help them!”

“Have you ever heard the term ‘prioritizing’?”

“Antonius, I know you want to help,” Twilight said with a sigh,
“but if I fail this test…”

She was interrupted by a cry from Shining Armor from the balcony:

“Antonius! Cadance won’t be able to sustain the force field much longer!”

“So, that settles it,” Antonius grumbled,
“go and do your thing, Twilight, but please keep in mind what’s really important here and now.”

Having said that, he returned to the balcony, took his bolter and knelt down. Using the railing to stabilize his aim further, he pointed the weapon at the still distant Sombra and waited.

The shield was still up, but there was already some of Sombra’s dark magic inside it. The crystal pillars that marked the city limits started turning dark, and the darkness kept spreading, slowly but relentlessly.

Cadance’s condition worsened from second to second now. Sombra seemed to know this; he laughed - and regenerated his horn.

“Ugh. He can regenerate,” Antonius noted drily,
“let’s see if he can regenerate his head - if he ever gets a physical one, that is.”

For his taste, there were way too many uncertainties. Battles were won by strategy, tactic, careful planning and adapting to your enemy. For everything they could do, you should have a countermeasure. Now, everything had to work out in a terribly small number of specific ways, or they were all screwed.

At that moment, Twilight’s friends came onto the balcony, and Applejack told them:

“The Crystal Ponies found out that we don’t have the real Crystal Heart.”

“They’re starting to panic!” Rarity added.

“Then.. try to reassure them… somehow,” Shining Armor said, holding the barely conscious Cadance in his hooves.

So Applejack and Rarity stepped up to the railing and Applejack shouted:

“Now, don't y'all worry your pretty, little Crystal heads! The real Crystal Heart will be here any second!”

“I don't know if they believe you…” Rarity whispered.

“Don't know if I believe me…” Applejack whispered back.

Finally, the inevitable happened: Cadance, whose condition had deteriorated from ‘bad’ to ‘terrible’, collapsed. So did the shield that had kept Sombra out.

“Nopony get too close to me or in front of my bolter now,” Antonius commanded.

Sombra started approaching the castle, and the Crystal Ponies on the ground freaked out in fear.

Suddenly, there was a voice from above:

“Hey! Up here!”

“Spike?” Rarity wondered.

“I got the Crystal Heart!”

Well, that was some good news. Was about time something positive happened.
Still, Antonius did not look up, he kept Sombra in his reticle and waited for his enemy to become corporeal.

“That is mine!” Sombra growled and tremendously sped up his approach.

Crystals cracked above, and Rarity shrieked:

“Spikey-wikey!”

Not a good sign.
Could this bastard not just get a physical body so that Antonius could disassemble it?

Sombra raced towards the castle - and finally became corporeal again.
Antonius’ senses were at maximum. His subconscious calculated the necessary angles for a lethal shot, his bolter was set to single fire mode and his stance provided him with the maximum possible stability. Now, he just had to wait for his target to come closer to reduce the possible reaction time - his bolt had to be a surprise and a sure kill.

Then he noticed Spike and the Crystal Heart falling from the castle.
Damnit, so he had to time his shot even more carefully to avoid hitting the dragon… but his little plan would still work.

The next thing he noticed was Cadance, flying towards Spike and the Crystal Heart - and blocking his line of fire.

DAMNIT!!!
This could not be true!
What about ‘do not get in front of my bolter’ was so damned hard to understand?

On the bright side, Cadance managed to catch Spike and the Heart and make it to the ground with none of them getting destroyed. He heard her shout from below:

“The Crystal Heart has returned. Use the light and love within you to ensure that King Sombra does not.”

Now Antonius was about to pull the trigger, but he noticed that Sombra had stopped, and judged by his expression, he was quite confused.
Should he wait for this Crystal Heart to do its thing?
Should he trust the magic of the ponies to get rid of their enemy?
Would save him a bolt…
He waited, but kept Sombra in the reticle.

The ground started glowing, and Sombra shouted:

“What? No... No! Stop!”

Fear. So it had probably been a good decision to save his bolts…

Antonius was proven right about this as a magic shockwave was emitted from the Crystal Heart and ripped Sombra apart. He - and the darkness he had spread - were obliterated, with chunks of dark crystal - and evil unicorn - flying everywhere.
Antonius lowered his bolter with a grin.
Now, THAT was magic he liked!

The shockwave finished with an explosion of light and some kind of aurora borealis emanating from the top of the castle. Pony magic really was fond of colors…

Antonius took a look at his bolter, silently apologizing to the sacred weapon that he had saved ammunition and denied it a kill when he noticed something quite unusual:
The bolter was sparkling and slightly translucent.
So was his hand.
So was his arm.
So was his whole body!

“What the…” he mumbled, then he turned around and saw that everypony on the balcony was in the same weird condition - plus, their hairdos had changed.

Now Cadance and Spike landed on the balcony. Shining hugged her, then the two of them waved at the Crystal Ponies.

“Umm… would somepony be gracious enough to tell me why the hell we are looking like this?” Antonius asked slightly irritated.

“Who cares?” Rarity cheered,
“as long as we are looking this gorgeous!”

This was not exactly the answer Antonius had wanted to hear.

“It is the Crystal Heart,” Cadance said with a smile,
“its powers make you look like crystal.”

“Yeah, that’s kind of what I thought, but I mean how does it do that? Did it alter our molecular structure? Or is this just an optical trick?” Antonius asked.

Cadance looked somewhat clueless, then she shrugged and said:

“It’s magic.”

“Ah, okay. No further questions.”

Would avail to nothing anyway.

Then Antonius looked around, took off his helmet and turned to Cadance again:

“Actually, I do have another question: Where is Twilight?”

Several minutes later, they were all on their way to the border of the Crystal Empire. Twilight and her friends would take the train back to Canterlot, Cadance and Shining Armor would say goodbye at the station and then take their places as princess and prince of the empire. Antonius would also stay there for a few more hours and make sure that a guard against the arctic threats was formed, then he would return to Canterlot just in time to meet with the Element Bearers again.

They chatted quite a lot as they walked, only Twilight was very quiet.

“Everything's gonna be okay,” Shining Armor told her,
“you've gotta stop saving my rump like this. It's starting to get embarrassing.”

“Wasn't me who saved you in the end. It was Spike,” Twilight answered glumly.

“It's just a test. Maybe she'll let you retake it.”

“I don't think she's gonna give me a new test.”

“If she really is discontent with you making a decision that saved everypony, I’ll have to have a word with her,” Antonius stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

Ignoring a glare from Cadance, he said goodbye to his friends and then accompanied the new royalty of the Crystal Empire back to their castle.
Together with Shining Armor, he organized a guard to protect the city and tried to teach them a thing or two.

When the time for his return to Canterlot had come, he said goodbye to Cadance and Shining and got into his Land Speeder.

“Bye, Antonius,” Shining said,
“and thank you for your help.”

“You’re welcome, but I barely did a thing,” Antonius answered.

“Don’t sell yourself short,” Cadance said,
“we are glad that you were here. Now, goodbye. Oh, just one more thing: Please try not to start a fight with Celestia. She means well, very well even, we just sometimes don’t understand her plans.”

“Cadance, I never start fights. I just always end them,” Antonius grinned and put on his helmet.

“That’s what I was talking about,” Cadance laughed.

Antonius said goodbye again, then he accelerated the Speeder and headed back to Canterlot.

His timing was perfect: He met Twilight and her friends just as they arrived at the castle.

“Hello, everypony!” he greeted.

“Hello,” they replied and stopped, with Twilight taking a deep breath.

“Nervous?” Antonius asked.

Twilight nodded.

“Of course,” she said,
“I failed Princess Celestia’s test, after all. I wonder what will happen to me now.”

“Twilight,” he said reassuringly and picked her up,
“you performed well. And you are still the Element of Magic, our friend and yourself, no matter what Celestia might say.”
He sat her down again and continued:
“Now go in there and give her your report. Explain to her why you made the decisions you made. Everything will be fine.”

Twilight nodded again, this time a bit more confidently, and entered the castle.
Antonius and her friends waited outside. The tension was palpable, everypony was really worried about her. Pinkie was biting her hooves, Rarity had fainted dramatically and Spike was wandering around endlessly, quietly babbling all the while. The other ponies’ reactions to the current situation were not as picturesque, but they were clearly nervous, too.
Even Antonius had to admit that he was a little worried: Celestia’s judgement meant a lot to Twilight, and that was something he could not influence. Logically thought, the princess had to be content, but when he thought about how crazy the test itself had been, logic was probably not useful for predicting Celestia’s reactions to the recent events.

Suddenly, the door swung open - hitting Spike - and Twilight was back. After a moment of silence, she exclaimed:

“I passed!”

Twilight friends cheered loudly, and Antonius released a breath he had not realized he had been holding.
Everything was fine. Or almost.
Because now, Twilight’s friends started singing. And they kept singing until they had boarded the train back to Ponyville.
Of course, Antonius did not join in, he was content waving them goodbye as the train left. Then he returned to the castle, thinking about the ponies’ strange fondness for bursting into songs.

On his way through the throne room he saw a stained glass window depicting Spike saving the Crystal Heart - and the Crystal Empire. He grinned. Not bad for a creature that was technically still a baby.
Antonius wondered, however, how they had been able to manufacture this window in such a short time; Twilight had just had arrived, after all. Then he had an idea and fetched his PDA.

“Al?” he asked.

“At your service,” Al answered.

“Did the princesses have a look at my vid-log again?”

“Yes, they did. To be exact, they watched your livestream.”

“Oh… with Popcorn, eh?” Antonius answered sarcastically.

“Are you dissatisfied? Do you want me to strip them of the corresponding rights?”

“Yes. I want you to consider my logs classified until I declassify them - or parts of them. And no livestreams without my permission.”

“As you wish.”

“Thanks. Antonius, out.”

He found Celestia and Luna on a balcony looking at the leaving train. Luna had a book in her magic grasp.

“I’m back,” he stated.

“Oh, hi Tony!” Luna cheered and hid the book behind her back,
“and, how was the mission?”

“To be honest: unnecessarily complicated.”

“A little complicated, perhaps,” Celestia said friendlily,
“but not unnecessarily complicated. Everything worked out fine, perfectly even! And thanks for your help!”

“Just tell me what exactly worked out perfectly,” Antonius asked calmly.

“Umm… saving the Crystal Empire from King Sombra, of course.”

“If that were everything, you’d either be insane or you wouldn't have given Twilight this strange test. But Twilight had to pass this test, and I don’t think you are insane. Oh, and Luna is conspicuously hiding a book behind her back. So, what was that all about?”

“It… was a test,” Celestia admitted hesitantly.

“What?” Antonius exclaimed in fake surprise,
“this test was a test? No way!”

“It was a test of Twilight’s character. I was sure she would pass it, but I had to test her anyway. There is too much at stake.”

“Okay, now I’m really curious. Why did you test her?”

“I’m sorry, Antonius, but I can’t tell you.”

“You cannot or you do not want to?”

“To be honest: both. If you accidentally prattled away even the slightest hint, it could destroy everything. But I can assure you: It will be to your benefit as well as to ours.”

“That is true,” Luna confirmed,
“while I have sworn not to tell you any details, I can assure you that you will like it.”

“Well, keep your secrets,” Antonius sighed,
“but the next time you give anypony a test, please choose the time more wisely. Do you have any idea how many coincidences it took to create the specific situation so that Twilight could make her decision? The timing was almost impossibly convenient!”

“Oh, Antonius,” Celestia smiled,
“high stakes and victories in the nick of time are not that unusual around here.”

That night, Luna visited Antonius again in his dreams.

“Hello, Tony,” she said,
“I wanted to ask if you would like to fight another creature. You know, since your mission to the Crystal Empire did not include you destroying Sombra…”

“Hmm… thats’s a good idea,” Antonius answered,
“do you have anything special in mind?”

“Well, if you want a challenge, how about a dragon?”

“A dragon? That surely sounds interesting - as long as you do not want to prank Spike.”

“Oh goodness, no!” Luna laughed,
“I thought about a grown up, fire-breathing, scale-armored, aggressive creature of death and destruction.”

“Ha! You really make it hard for me to say no, so of course I say yes!”

“Okay, I will prepare everything!”

She lit her horn, and a moment later, they were standing in a desolation; a large plain, covered with dust and rocks of various sizes, the biggest ones big enough to take cover behind.

“Nice,” Antonius commented sarcastically.

“Fitting,” Luna corrected,
“and now, please excuse me. I do not want to get in your way.”

Now Luna spread her wings and took off. Antonius could see that she started circling the battleground, but she wasn’t the only creature in the air. The announced dragon closed in rapidly and Antonius examined it. It was large enough to be called a bio-titan, covered in red scales and equipped with fangs and claws that looked capable of tearing apart most types of armor.
In other words: The creature looked like a challenge.
Antonius grinned, put on his helmet and fetched his bolter.

The dragon landed in front of him, shaking the ground, and roared.
Antonius did not waste time; he aligned his bolter and fired. The bolts hit the dragon directly in the chest - but caused no visible harm. The scales they had hit just looked slightly blackened, but intact.
Oh.
The dragon laughed.

Antonius quickly thought about this situation. Was it possible that Luna used an overpowered dragon to give him a challenge? Or were dragons really that tough?
Well, he knew creatures that were almost impossible to kill with standard bolts, the Tyranid Carnifex was an example. You could, however, damage them, if you knew what to aim at.

The dragon had finished laughing by now and regarded Antonius.

“Fool,” it roared,
“my scales are armor! My fangs are death! My claws are destruction! And you think you can harm me?”

“Yup,” Antonius answered curtly and pulled the trigger again.

A volley of carefully aimed bolts flew towards the dragon - and hit its right eye. The mass-reactives detonated and made the eye explode out of its socket. The dragon roared in pain and anger and averted its gazed for a second to protect its head.
When it turned back towards Antonius it breathed fire. A lot of fire.

Antonius jumped behind a large rock to take cover. The dragon-fire rushed past him, creating a tunnel of death around him. Runes on his HUD started blinking, telling him that the ambient temperature was way above comfortable levels. The blistering paint on his armor resonated with that warning, as did the whirring of his armor’s coolant system. The chances of surviving a direct hit were definitely somewhere between minuscule and zero. Just one more reason to take his enemy down as fast as possible.

So, when the fire ended, Antonius left his cover and fired at the dragon again. The creatures left eye was turned into a fountain of gore and the now blind dragon roared again. This time, however, it turned, used its tail like a whip and lashed out at Antonius. He managed to dodge the tail that crashed into the ground close to him, obliterating the rock he had hidden behind.
Okay, another type of attack that really should not hit him.

The dragon lifted its tail and stroke again and again, forcing Antonius to continue his dodging.
Then, the creature turned and breathed fire. Antonius ran for cover. He barely managed to dive behind another large rock, but he was save from the attack - for now.

When the fire had stopped, Antonius peeked out of his cover. The dragon’s nose was pointing in his direction while the creature obviously tried to discern if its opponent was dead or not.
Antonius aligned his bolter again without making any noise.
What nice, big nostrils…

Another bolt found its target, causing a torrent of blood from the dragon’s nose.

More fire surrounded the now covering Antonius. Warning runes blinked in a frenzy, then his HUD went dark.
Damnit.

Although injured and blind, that dragon was still a lethal threat. His armor would not be able to stand much more of this incredible heat, but how should he kill his enemy? He had already made use of every vulnerable spot he had been able to identify, with one exception: the maw. But the dragon would certainly not be so kind as to just open its mouth so that Antonius could fire some bolts into the orifice… or perhaps…

Antonius peeked over his cover. The dragon was still there, its bleeding nose pointing in his direction, mouth closed.
He left his cover, bolter raised and shouted:

“Wow! Look at that nosebleed! You’re not that tough, huh?”

Yes, provoking the dragon seemed to be a bad idea. If it breathed fire again, Antonius had a good chance of getting roasted, but if the creature got angry enough to…
The dragon roared - in anger.

That was the opportunity Antonius had been looking for. He pulled the trigger and sent bolts into the dragon’s open mouth.
The reward was blood as the dragon started gurgling, and subsequently choking.

Antonius was relieved - this battle was almost over.
Unfortunately, the important word here was ‘almost’. For when the dragon toppled forwards, it belched flames one last time.

Antonius cursed and jumped behind his cover again.

Luna barely could believe her eyes. Antonius had really managed to kill a dragon, one of the most fearsome creatures known to ponykind!
She landed close to the rock he had hidden behind and shouted:

“Huzzah! Most impressive! I have never seen such a display of prowess! Really a lesson in finding your enemy’s weaknesses! Outstanding!”

Antonius did not answer, he just got up and left his cover. His armor was smoking and blackened, the paint almost completely gone. The noise it made when he moved did also not sound too good. Especially worrying was the chipped breastplate.

“Are you okay?” Luna asked.

Antonius stumbled towards her and used both hands to get his - obviously stuck - helmet off his head. He looked sweaty and tired.

“Well,” he said, blinking,
“that last burst of fire ruined my armor and detonated the bolts in my weapon. I also think that I’ve been injured.”

“Oh, I am sorry!” Luna immediately apologized.

“Don’t be,” Antonius replied with a small smile,
“it was a good fight. A challenging opponent, and a hard earned victory. Really, well done, Luna. Now, I think we can end this simulation.”

Luna looked at the whiffs of smoke that kept rising from his battered armor and his slightly worn out expression, then she snickered:

“Are you sure you do not want me to create a spa for you? You know, you look like you need it.”

“Charming,” Antonius deadpanned.

Luna laughed.

51. Preparing the expedition

Marneus Augustus Calgar was standing next to his Primarch in the throne room. Any second, Uriel Ventris would arrive and they would hopefully get some answers to their questions. Calgar just hoped that Knight House Hastings really had had the required information.

“Do you think the captain was successful?” Guilliman suddenly asked.

Calgar turned to his Primarch and answered:

“If there was any information to get, Uriel certainly got it, your Excellency.”

“He has a little bit of an eventful past, doesn’t he?”

“Even though that is true - or perhaps because it is true - captain Uriel Ventris is one of the best Ultramarines to ever serve the chapter.”

Now there was a knock on the door and the captain entered the room. He walked up to Guilliman’s throne, then he knelt down.

“Your Excellency, my Lord”, Ventris said,
“I am reporting back to you. My missions have been successful. Allow me to add my congratulations on your return.”

Calgar smiled. He knew Uriel would not disappoint him.

“Thank you, Captain Ventris,” Guilliman answered,
“and welcome back to Macragge. Now rise and tell me what you found out about the activities of the ‘Hastings Brothers’.”

Uriel rose and started talking:

“Your Excellency, though a lot of data has been lost in the Age of Strife, there fortunately are still records telling about a deep space colony and scientific base. Its location is unknown now, but there is information about the research they did there. Perhaps you would like to hear it from a member of Knight House Hastings?”

Guilliman raised an eyebrow.

“So one of them accompanied you?”

“Two, your Excellency. They are sons of the princeps: Jeffrey and Frederick Hastings. They are waiting for your permission to enter.”

“Actually, we just wanted the information, not members of House Hastings nosing around here…”

“I am aware of that, my Lord, but it was the price for the information. To ease our worries about their loyalty, they became Freeblades and vowed fealty to us.”

“They turned their back on their House?”

“They did, though with the consent of their father.”

“Well, send them in,” Guilliman said.

Now two humans entered the room. While one of them was taller than the other, it was easy to see that those two men were brothers, and both had neural interfaces implanted into their heads that became even better visible when they knelt down.

“Jeffrey Hastings, at your service,” the smaller one said.

“Frederick Hastings, at your service,” the other one added.

“Welcome to Macragge, Freeblades,” Guilliman greeted them,
“I heard you swore featly to the Ultramarines?”

“We did, your Excellency,” Jeffrey said,
“it was the best way to assure you of our loyalty and trustworthiness. Our father sends his regards and asks you to allow us to join your enterprise.”

Guilliman glanced at Uriel, but before he could say a word, Jeffrey continued:

“Your Excellency, it was not too difficult for our father to figure out that you were planning something. The Ultramarines are simply too pragmatic to ask questions about an ancient deep space colony without a specific reason.
He also realized that you were not too keen on the company of the Adeptus Mechanicus, which means that there is something they would probably feel compelled to claim for themselves or even destroy. Since our House is sworn to the Mechanicum, becoming Freeblades was the only way to regard your obvious wishes. In return, our father just asks you to share your knowledge once this enterprise is over.”

“What about the Adeptus Mechanicus?” Guilliman wanted to know.

“Officially, the visit of your Strike Cruiser was labeled as a courtesy visit. I have to admit, though, that it is still possible that they came to the same conclusions as we did.”

“Well, be that as it may, please tell me know everything you know about this deep space colony.”

Jeffrey cleared his voice and started:

“The colony was a science colony with a base called ‘Phoenix’ at its heart. It was created late in the Golden Age and quickly became the main science facility of my family. Well, back then, the Knight House Hastings was just a corporation called ‘Hastings Brothers’, but this corporation still was very important and market leader in many areas. They did most of their research in this remote facility, as secrecy was quite easy to maintain that far out. They invented lots of STCs and played a vital role in humanity’s success as a species…”

“As our teachers never grew tired telling us…” Frederick mumbled in annoyance.

Calgar grinned. Knight House Hastings had a reputation for being quite proud of themselves. It was funny to see that even some of its members were somewhat fed up with their attitude. Despite their pride, though, they were still seen as reliable and very capable fighters, so at least they were proud for a reason.

Jeffrey gave his brother a dirty look and continued:

“Well, they surely worked for the good of all mankind. They created armor plating, weapons, but also communication systems and studied various phenomena, from the Warp to…”

“Genetics research.” Guilliman said calmly.

The Hastings brothers looked surprised.

“Indeed, your Excellency,” Jeffrey confirmed.

“Might we ask how you got to know about this base and its projects?” Frederick asked.

“Just a dream,” Guilliman told them flatly, causing the brothers to look even more dumbfounded,
“I accept your services and allow you to take part in this ‘enterprise’ of ours. Still, the details will remain a secret, for the benefit of mankind. Now, go and get your Knights onto the surface. In the meantime, we will prepare quarters for you and your entourage.”

Jeffrey and Frederick bowed deep and left the throne room.

Guilliman turned to Uriel:

“You have indeed successfully completed this mission, Captain. Albeit in a rather unexpected way, it was still well done. Now, tell me about the patrol you have originally been on.”

About a month later, a ship entered the system. While this fact alone would not have been worth mentioning, as countless ships entered and left the system every single day, this specific ship drew quite some attention:
It was an Ark Mechanicus, identifying itself as ‘Zar-Quaesitor’.
At first Calgar had thought it to be an attempt of the Mechanicum to find out what the Ultramarines were planning, but the Primarch had told him differently. The Zar-Quaesitor was the ship of Belisarius Cawl, the archmagos Guilliman was expecting.
Even more attention drew the ‘present’ the archmagos had for Guilliman, for it was something unheard of, yes even unthought of:
Primaris Space Marines.
Bigger, faster and stronger than ‘regular’ Astartes, Cawl praised them as the next step in the evolution of the Space Marines. While this could not really be denied, some Ultramarines were less than happy about their new brothers. Some were worried to be obsolete now, others thought that the Primaris were a deviation from the Emperor’s Space Marine concept and therefore heresy. Even the fact that Primarch Guilliman himself had ordered Cawl to create them right after the Horus Heresy had ended was not too successful in easing their worries.

Now, Marneus Calgar, Guilliman, Cawl, Varro Tigurius, Ortan Cassius and every captain not on a mission were gathered in the throne room, discussing the matter.

“Their performance speaks for itself,” Cawl stated,
“I heard one of the Primaris battle-brothers was able to defeat a far more experienced sergeant in a training fight.”

That was true. The sergeant had lost that fight, and the Primaris had fought honorable and had even reached out to him once the fight was over.

“Though he was unable to defeat a captain after that,” Cato Sicarius interjected.

That was also true. After the first fight, Cato had seen that this loss had been anything but good for the morale of the Ultramarines, so he had challenged the Primaris to another fight. Despite the Primaris’ physical superiority, Cato’s experience and prowess granted him victory, and he also had reached out to his beaten opponent.

“They may be lacking experience, but time and combat will change that,” Cawl stated.

“The question is not if they are superior to us ‘normal’ Marines - which they are, by the way - the question is how to integrate them into our ranks,” Cassius said,
“there are still some resentments against them, though I can say that their honorable behavior was of advantage.”

“Still, what about the ‘normal Marines’, as the chaplain put it?” one of the captains asked,
“they deserve better than to be seen as some kind of inferior predecessor.”

“They are inferior predecessors now,” Cawl told him coldly.

This caused quite some turmoil, until Guilliman silence everyone with a wave of his hand.

“My sons,” he said,
“calm down. Nobody has ever doubted your courage or your honor. But the Primaris were created for the darkest of times, and that time is about to come. We have to use them, just as you are used to guard mankind against the heretic, the mutant and the xeno. I assure you, no one will ever disvalue a traditional Ultramarine, nor will that Ultramarine ever be considered expendable. The Primaris may be superior, but that is no reason to reject them.
Say, do battle-brothers despise their sergeants because their prowess is superior to their own?
Do sergeants hate their captains for the same reason?”

“Of course they don’t, your Excellency,” another captain replied,
“but I think the situation is a little different here; an Ultramarine can strive to increase his prowess and be promoted, but he can’t strive to become a Primaris.”

“Can’t he?” Calgar suddenly asked.

Guilliman looked at Calgar, then he turned to Cawl:

“You heard him. Can’t he?”

“According to my calculations, such a conversion is possible, but the chance of failure is 61.6%.”

“And failure means?” Uriel Ventris asked.

“Death,” Cawl said,
“even in the case of success you will consider the process to be agonizing.”

“Yeah?”

“Probability: 99.4%.”

“Sounds like fun,” Sicarius mumbled sarcastically.

“I volunteer,” Calgar said without sarcasm,
“hopefully, this will set an example and make the integration of the Primaris easier.”

“Beyond that,” Cawl added,
“the data I will collect during the operation will help me increase the chances of success.”

“Then, it is settled,” Guilliman said,
“Cawl, prepare everything for the procedure.”

“At once, Primarch Guilliman.”

Calgar entered the surgery after the preparations had been finished. The intense smell of counterseptic almost made him cough as he looked around. The room was lined with equipment along its walls and in its center, an artfully carved marble slab was standing, surrounded my Apothecaries, Tech-Priests, medical servitors and Belisarius Cawl.

“Very inviting,” Calgar noticed drily.

Cawl, who was standing directly next to the slab, turned to regard him:

“The room is prepared for the operation, everything else is a coincidence. Please take your place now so that we can start.”

Calgar nodded and did as he had been told.

The operation was extensive, difficult and fatal - at least for a few dire minutes in which Calgar’s life slipped away, but in the end, he lived, forced back to life by his new, even more transhuman physique.
He wasn’t sure if it had been Cawl’s skills, sheer luck or perhaps a blessing of the Emperor that had allowed him to survive, but now that he was alive and had been allowed to leave the infirmary he was on his way to the throne room.
His armor had been adapted to his new size and he quickly adapted to his altered body, too. As he entered the room, he was greeted by Guilliman:

“Calgar! Good to see you up and about again.”

The Primarch had honored him with a visit when he had still been in the infirmary. Now was indeed the first time since the operation that Calgar was not lying in a sickbed - partly to recover, partly to be examined by Cawl.

“Thank you, your Excellency,” Calgar replied and bowed,
“I am just thankful that the Fortress of Hera was built with creatures of your size in mind, otherwise it might have gotten seriously annoying.”

Guilliman laughed and waved Calgar nearer, then he turned to a guard:

“Please tell Tigurius that he may come now.”

The guard bowed and got busy with his vox while the Primarch turned back to Calgar:

“He said he has an idea concerning the mission we are planning, and since this will be your mission, we thought it wise to wait until you are ready for duty again.”

It took Tigurius a few minutes to make it to the throne room. After greeting them and the guards leaving the room, he told them what he had been thinking about:

“As you know, the creatures brother Varus - and we - have to deal with are equines. So I thought it would be a good idea to include someone who has experience with horses.”

“Such experience is rare in our ranks,” Calgar noted,
“there are not many horses in the Realm of Ultramar, just a few living on rural planets in the outskirts. We barely recruit Space Marines from there.”

“Yes, but I have found one Ultramarine who knows horses, as his family had some.”

“Who is this Marine?”

“Brother Parvus.”

“Parvus!” Calgar exclaimed.

“Is something wrong with brother Parvus?” Guilliman asked.

“Well, I would not call it downright ‘wrong’, your Excellency,” Calgar told him,
“it is just that brother Parvus is a dreadnought, and becoming this mighty machine of war has… taken its toll.”

“‘Toll’?”

“His memory is somewhat… unreliable. While he still is great in combat due to the support of cogitators, talking to him can be a little… stressful. But I am confident we will be able to handle the situation. With your permission, I will visit him and see if he still knows something about equines.”

“Permission granted. Keep me up to date.”

A few minutes later, Calgar was standing in front of the giant dreadnought. He had already ordered the Techmarines to awaken him, and now he was waiting for a sign of life. Or whatever.

Staring at the machine, Calgar contemplated the fate of Parvus and the other Ultramarines who had been deemed worthy to continue their duty as dreadnoughts, bringing death to the enemies of mankind even after their own deaths. If he was completely honest with himself, he had to admit that he would not really mind being denied this honor. Death was probably not that bad, after all…

Suddenly, there was a sound from the dreadnought, and Calgar focused on Parvus.

“I HAVE RETURNED!” Parvus roared with the typical mechanical voice of those machines of war.

“Greetings, brother,” Calgar said friendlily.

“IS IT TIME FOR WAR?”

“Nowadays, it is always time for war, but that is not why I need you.”

A few seconds of silence, then Parvus replied:

“WELL, THAT IS RATHER UNUSUAL. WHAT DO YOU NEED?”

“First of all, please lower your volume a bit. Second, tell me if you know anything about horses.”

“HORSES? I mean: horses? That is a surprise. Who asks such a question? Wait, you are Chapter Master… Caligar?”

“Calgar, Brother.”

“Have you grown?”

Calgar sighed and answered:

“Sort of, but that is a long story. Please tell me, do you have knowledge of horses?”

“My family had horses when I was just a boy. Interesting creatures, but unsuitable for the kind of wars we fight.”

“This is not about using them for wars. We just have to be able to deal with them.”

“With whom?”

“Oh, here we go. With horses.”

“My family had horses when I was just a boy!”

“Yes, that’s why I want to know if you still know anything about them.”

“Of course, Lord Calgary. I know how to look after them, how to feed them and so on. Why do you want to know?”

“That is a long story, too.”

“Well, I have got time as I don’t think I will suddenly die… again.”

“Sorry, Brother, but this information is strictly confidential. Still, we will go on a mission once everything is prepared, and we would like you to join us. As soon as we are on our way, everything will be explained to you.”

“An important mission, I presume? That would explain all the secrecy.”

“A very important mission, Brother.”

“Then count me in! I will aid you with my strength, weapons and my knowledge about bovines!”

“Equines, Brother.”

“Equines? You mean, horses? I know those creatures quite well! My family had horses when I was just a boy!”

“What a coincidence…” Calgar sighed.

After this slightly arduous conversation, he returned to the throne room.

“And?” Guilliman inquired,
“will brother Parvus be helpful?”

“I think so, your Excellency,” Calgar replied,
“according to him, he still knows about horses and is willing to join us, even without knowing what really is going on.”

“Good. Then, we just have to wait for the Sword of Iax to be ready, then you can start.”

“Yes, your Excellency. I have to admit, I am looking forward to this mission.”

52. A demolition expert

Antonius Varus was walking down a hallway in Canterlot Castle. In the time that had passed since his last mission, he had tried to find a pony who was able to help with the explosives they needed for the guns and the tank they were building, but he had not been able to find anypony who could handle more than simple firecrackers. Although he had reached a point where he was almost content with this level of expertise, he still hoped to find somepony who was at least proficient in firework rockets or the like.

Antonius stepped onto a balcony and took a deep breath. Really, while it wasn’t Macragge, this world was stunningly beautiful. The mountains in the distance, the lush forests, the great plains, the giant cheese dome covering Ponyville…
Ah, crap.
Antonius turned around and rushed to the throne room.

As he arrived there, he could see that Celestia wasn’t alone. There were half a dozen ponies in the room, talking with her, some of them with notepads or parchments. Celestia still noticed him entering and looked up.

“Hello, Lord Varus,” she said, using the form appellation since there were other ponies present,
“how can we help you? We are just discussing the last details of the welcome of the delegates from Saddle Arabia around noon. We will end the ceremony with a visit to Ponyville, where Twilight will take care of the entertainment!”

“If Ponyville will be available again by then,” Antonius answered.

“What do you mean?” Celestia asked in confusion.

“Somepony put some sort of giant cheese dome over the town.”

“What?”

“You could also call it a giant, upside down goldfish bowl, but no matter how you call it, it seems to isolate Ponyville from its surroundings.”

The princess turned to the ponies around her:

“Please excuse me for a second, my dear ponies.”

Now Antonius and Celestia went to a balcony and had a look at Ponyville and its current state.

“Hmm… that IS unusual, even for Ponyville standards,” Celestia opined,
“there must be some powerful magic at work.”

“Should we go there and have a look?” Antonius asked, eager for a new mission.

To his surprise, Celestia shook her head and said:

“Let’s leave this to Twilight and her friends. They know how to deal with such problems.”

“Another test?” Antonius inquired.

“Antonius, the whole life is a series of tests,” the princess smiled.

“Well, that may be true, but you won’t mind me checking in on them?”

“It wouldn’t help if I did, would it?”

“Not really, no,” Antonius grinned.

“Okay, then go to Ponyville, but please do not intervene unless absolutely necessary.”

“You know me.”

“Yes, I do. That’s why I said it,” Celestia laughed a bit forced,
“and please try to be back when the Saddle Arabians arrive.”

Within a few minutes, Antonius had donned his armor and weapons and had made it to the Land Speeder. He left the hangar and made a beeline for Ponyville. While on his way, he called Al.

“Hello, Antonius,” Al said,
“how can I be of service?”

“Another mission,” Antonius told him,
“record my data and stay alert.”

A small rune lit up in Antonius’ HUD, indicating an active connection.

“Done,” Al informed him,
“I guess the objective is to remove that glass dome from Ponyville?”

“Indeed, but first we will gather intel and give the Element Bearers an opportunity to solve this situation on their own.”

When Antonius arrived at the dome, he stopped and examined it.

“Really seems to be glass,” he noticed.

“A glass dome of this size should collapse under its own weight, since there is no support structure,” Al informed him,
“I suppose there is something unnatural to this dome.”

“Yes. Let’s see if there is a gap somewhere.”

So he travelled around the dome with his speeder, but it sealed Ponyville off perfectly. He increased his height and did it again, trying to see what was going on inside. There were only a few ponies in the streets, looking not happy at all, but no sign of an actual threat you could put a bolt into.

Antonius wondered what was going on, or who could tell him. Well, while the residents of Ponyville were unavailable (fetching some paint and painting his messages on the glass dome seemed a little too flashy), there was somepony else who might be able to help him. He steered the Land Speeder towards the Everfree Forest.

As he arrived at Zecora’s hut, he found it empty.
Had Zecore visited Ponyville when the dome had appeared? Or was she just wandering in the woods?
Well, there was a way to find out. Just as he was about to take his auspex, though, he heard a splash, and decided to examine the source of this noise.

Antonius found Zecora, and also Twilight, who was for some reason sitting in a pond.

“Twilight! Zecora!” he greeted,
“I am glad I have found you. Can you tell me what’s the deal with the giant cheese dome over Ponyville?”

“Antonius!” Twilight exclaimed and rushed to meet him,
“you have no idea how happy I am to see you! The pony responsible for this dome is Trixie.”

“Trixie?”

“Yes. I have first met her some time ago and, well, she blames me for a few bad things that happened to her since then.”

“So, she is looking for revenge?”

“Long story short: yes.”

“I think I should know the long version, too.”

“You really should know all about this dome,” Zecora said,
“but we should better first go to my home.”

A short time later, the three of them were sitting in Zecora’s hut, and Twilight was telling Antonius about her encounters with Trixie.

“So,” Antonius summarized when Twilight was done,
“we have a mediocrely talented stage magician who is somehow very powerful now and out for revenge against you and the whole town. Hmm. That basically means that we have a witch to kill. Not that extraordinary. It still requires a good plan.”

“Yeah,” Twilight replied,
“and an important part of this plan will be not to kill anypony.”

Antonius sighed.

“Twilight, witches downright beg to be killed. It’s because of all the wickedness and evil they do, you know?”

“Antonius, we won’t kill Trixie. There is just something wrong with her. She has always been sorta ‘high and mighty’, but now she’s all ‘mean and nasty’.”

“Corruption. By dark powers. This is actually one more reason to violently put an end to her existence.”

“No. There must be a better way.”

Suddenly, there was a gentle knock on the door. Antonius grabbed his chainsword, his thumb on the activation rune, and opened the door.

“Fluttershy!” they all exclaimed in surprise and Antonius added:
“Come in quickly. Tell us: What is the current situation in Ponyville?”

“And how did you escape?” Twilight added.

“Those questions are valid, but please do not frown,
first we give her a drink and let her settle down,” Zecora said, filling a cup with a steaming beverage and putting it on a table.

When Fluttershy had sat down, she started answering the questions, and also explained what she and her friends had found out.

“I can't believe I didn't recognize the Alicorn Amulet!” Twilight exclaimed.

“The more she uses it, the more it will corrupt her!” Fluttershy explained.

“But how am I supposed to beat that amulet? My magic’s not good enough!”

“So we need to get that amulet off of Trixie’s neck,” Antonius stated.

“I’m afraid that won’t work,” Fluttershy told him,
“it has a magical lock. Trixie is the only pony who can take it off.”

“Well, if we can’t open this lock, we might have to take more drastic measures.”

“Such as?” Twilight asked.

“If we decapitate her, we could take the amulet off of her neck, no matter if it’s locked or not.”

The ponies looked somewhat disturbed now.

“Antonius, really, that is a little too drastic,” Twilight stated.

“If she continues to use the amulet, we might soon have no other chance than to kill her.”

“Then we have to stop her now, but how? I can’t defeat her with my magic, and she certainly won’t just take the amulet off herself.”

“Twilight Sparkle,” Zecora said,
“much work have you done. You learned all of my lessons; all but one. If Trixie’s tricks have you in a fix, you must nix your magic and use the six.”

“Nix your magic, use the six... Nix your magic, use the six! Use the six! That’s it! Zecora, you’re a genius! Now we’ll need to get you back inside Ponyville, Fluttershy,” Twilight grinned, fetching a quill and a sheet of paper.

“Would somepony mind explaining to me what we are going to do?” Antonius asked.

“I’m just about to explain my plan,” Twilight told him,
“now listen…”

Antonius grinned beneath his helmet as they walked back towards Ponyville. He liked the plan Twilight had come up with, as it it involved outsmarting somepony who just relied on brute magical force. That this outsmarting would be done by using tricks of a stage magician was the irony icing on the retaliation cake.
He would not join them for the execution of this plan, though. He had insisted on being used as an emergency backup should the plan fail. Better safe than sorry, after all.

They finally arrived at the dome with nopony in sight.

“So far, so good,” Antonius said,
“what do you think, Twilight, wouldn’t it confirm the powers of your nice little amulet if I knocked to gain Trixie’s attention?”

“Hey, that’s a good idea, but then you must hurry to get out of sight,” Twilight replied.

“No problem,” Antonius smiled and reached back.
“Ready?” he asked.

Twilight and Zecora nodded, so he smashed his fist against the dome, making it reverberate like a giant bell, then he dashed along the dome to a few large bushes that were conveniently close to the artificial barrier. There he hid and waited.

It took some time until their enemy appeared, and the over the top pomp and sheer stupidity of that appearance made it clear that this Trixie’s mental health had somewhat suffered under the effects of the Alicorn Amulet: a blue, rather harmless looking unicorn mare sitting on top of a golden contraption - without wheels! - that was pulled by two overstrained unicorn colts.

Just as planned, she started arguing with Twilight and finally raised the dome to let her and Zecora in. Antonius used this opportunity to rush into the town and hide behind a house.
He checked his bolter and sneaked towards the town square.

It did not take him long to find a good sniper position with an excellent overview of the town square. The whole place was defaced by banners depicting the enemy, and a short time later, Twilight, Trixie and some other ponies arrived.
He aimed at the witch, checking the readings of his auto-senses.

“I don’t want to interfere in your mission,” Al suddenly voxed,
“but don’t you think it would be wise to stick to the plan?”

“I am sticking to the plan,” Antonius replied,
“I am just on the watch.”

Damnit, that would be such a nice kill - those giant heads could barely be missed - but he would definitely stick to the plan. He was just there in case things should go south.

Now the duel of Twilight and Trixie started, complete with dramatic thunder and lightning and everything you would expect on this weird planet.
Twilight and her friends really pulled off their tricks flawlessly. Everything was perfectly timed, up to the point that even Antonius needed his auto-senses’ thermal vision to catch a glimpse of what really was going on.
Having no such thing as thermal vision, Trixie was obviously at a loss. She became more and more troubled, until she finally used her magic to steal Twilight’s amulet. Then she took off the Alicorn Amulet, replacing it with the just stolen one.
Perfect.

Antonius noticed that the color of Trixie’s magic changed from red to pink, yet her behavior stayed the same; she was still boasting about being great and powerful and what not.

Now Rainbow Dash sprung into action and seized the Alicorn Amulet from Trixie’s hoof. She had already put some distance between her and the crazed unicorn when Trixie fired magic lightning at her.

Antonius was ready to put an end to Trixie and her despicable deeds, but Rainbow was not harmed - according to her, the attack had just tickled. The pegasus took the Alicorn Amulet to Zecora, who had brought a casket where they put it in.

Now Twilight walked up to Trixie and explained to her what had just happened. The crazed mare finally lost her fighting spirit and looked defeated.
Twilight’s plan had worked, so Antonius slowly lowered his bolter and put the weapon back to his hip. Then he walked towards Twilight.

As Trixie noticed him, her eyes went wide and she froze in fear.

“Oh, that’s just Antonius Varus, Lord Commander of the PDF, and a good friend of mine. No need to worry,” Twilight told her.

“I think I’ll better worry,” the blue unicorn mumbled.

“Twilight,” Antonius greeted, then he turned to Trixie and said in the same matter-of-fact tone:
“Witch.”

Trixie looked like she was about to soil the ground as Twilight said:

“Just Trixie. She is de-witched now.”

Antonius stared at his former enemy and said:

“You better stay that way.”

“Yes,” she answered ruefully.

“Now, shall we put her into prison for the atrocities she has committed?”

“That won’t be necessary,” Twilight said while Trixie was busy shrinking,
“but we could use a little help preparing everything for the ceremony this evening.”

“I’ll help,” Trixie quickly mumbled, not taking her eyes off the blue giant who was still glaring at her.

“Okay. Usually, I would stay and help, but the delegation from Saddle Arabia will arrive soon, and I have to be present when that happens. May I leave you alone?”

“Of course,” Twilight answered,
“if we should need your help, I’ll call you.”

Antonius said goodbye, got his Land Speeder and returned to Canterlot. On his way there, he voxed Al:

“Al, the mission is over. Save the vid-log and grant ‘read’ permission to the princesses and Element Bearers. Antonius, out.”

“Acknowledged,” Al answered.

Once back in Canterlot, Antonius immediately met with Celestia and Luna.

“Hello, Antonius. I see that the dome is gone,” Celestia greeted,
“has Twilight been successful or did she require your help?”

“She was successful,” Antonius told her,
“I was just there as an emergency backup.”

“Told you,” the princess smiled.

“Better save than sorry.”

“Oh, now that you mention that: Please let me remind you to be as non-threatening as possible when the delegates arrive. We want to ask them for their silversteel, so we can’t afford to treat them badly in any way.”

“Should I feel the urge to gruesomely kill somepony, I’ll try to suppress it,” Antonius answered flatly.

“Don’t worry, sister,” Luna laughed,
“that is just his way of agreeing to something you already asked him a dozen times.”

They went to the landing platforms where a guard of honor was at the ready and waited for the delegates to arrive, Celestia and Luna in the front, Antonius behind them. It just took a few minutes until the chariots came into view.

“Hey, Tony, take off your helmet,” Luna whispered,
“I think the perpetual frown and the glowing eyes might make them uncomfortable.”

“Then my helmet is doing its job,” Antonius grinned, but he took it off as requested.

The chariots landed and half a dozen horse-like creatures got off.
Well, that was interesting. Somehow, Antonius had expected the Saddle Arabians to be ponies like the ones he knew, but they were taller, almost as tall as Celestia, and lacked a cutie-mark.

They walked up the the princesses, two of them in front, the others following. They all bowed - as did Celestia, Luna and Antonius - and one of the Saddle Arabia ‘followers’ announced:

“Prince Haakim of Saddle Arabia, and Princess Amira of Saddle Arabia.”

Both of them bowed again, then Celestia said:

“In the name of Equestria, I welcome you here in Canterlot. I am Princess Celestia. This is Princess Luna, my sister. And this…”
she waved her hoof at Antonius
“… is Antonius Varus, Ultramarines 2nd company, and Lord Commander of the equestrian PDF.”

“Thank you for your invitation and the warm welcome,” Prince Haakim replied,
“it is always a pleasure being here in your wonderful country.”

“Indeed,” Princess Amira added,
“all of our meeting have always been very nice and fruitful. And this time, it is a special honor to meet Princess Luna and Lord Commander Varus.”

“Thank you,” Luna said,
“we certainly are excited to get to know the both of you.”

“For that purpose,” Celestia added,
“may I suggest that we have a joint lunch now?”

“A truly marvelous idea, Princess,” Prince Haakim smiled and they went into the palace.

During lunch, the Saddle Arabians told them about their country and recent events there, basically innocuous small talk, but Antonius learned that Saddle Arabia was mainly consisting of a desert with a few very fertile oases and a mountain range where their mines were located.

It took a while until the delegates asked Antonius about his home, but then he told them about Macragge; about its high mountains and lush forests.

“So,” Prince Haakim asked,
“it’s a lot like Equestria, isn’t it?”

“There are similarities, yes,” Antonius replied.

“Despite out very different origins, we have found quite a lot of similarities,” Luna told the guests,
“it is truly marvelous that even such incredible distances seem to carry next to no weight. Even more wonderful is the friendship that has grown between ponies and humans.”

“It really is nice hearing you talk about friendship,” Prince Haakim said friendlily, right before Princess Amira nudged him.

“I’m sorry, Princess Luna,” he immediately added,
“I did not want to insult you.”

“You have not, Prince Haakim. It would be nice of you to tell me why you were surprised, though.”

“You see, Princess, there is an old folk tale in Saddle Arabia, and those tales describe you as a little, well, coldhearted.”

“Why would somepony tell such a tale?” Luna asked perplexedly.

“The tale is about you rejecting a prince from Saddle Arabia,” Princess Amira told them.

Luna looked less than delighted now.

“Just because we did not want to get married does not mean that we are coldhearted!” she stated.

“We know, Princess Luna,” Prince Haakim quickly assured her,
“but I guess this story has taken a life of its own over the centuries.”

“Well, we hope that you will correct that,” Luna said, obviously a little miffed,
“there may have been a time - between the times of this story and the present - where we were not very amicable, but I expect you to tell everypony that the Princess of the Night is a VERY FRIENDLY PONY NOW!”

“Of course,” Prince Haakim answered, clearly intimidated.

Celestia just wanted to say something, but Antonius was faster then her:

“Truly, I have never met a non-human even remotely as friendly as her. She was the first pony to befriend me, and it is a friendship I rate highly.”

“Then you were the first pony to successfully befriend a creature from another world?” Princess Amira asked in awe.

“I was,” Luna confirmed proudly and now calm again.

Having settled this little dissonance, they all continued eating.

When they were done, they had a sightseeing tour of Canterlot. According to Celestia’s plan, the first day of the Saddle Arabians’ visit would just be used to strengthen the bond and friendship between the two countries, the negotiations would start the next day. Antonius just went along with that. Who knew, perhaps it would have a positive effect on the negotiations.

It was almost time to travel to Ponyville when Antonius turned to the others and said:

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to travel to Ponyville and make sure that everything is ready there.”

“Of course,” Celestia nodded and Antonius went to his Land Speeder and left Canterlot.

Once in Ponyville, he found out that everything had been properly prepared. Multiple stands had been constructed and in the middle of them, there was a platform.

“I see everything is ready for the delegates,” Antonius said as he approached Twilight, who was going through her checklist.

“Yes. I have already checked my list two times,” Twilight told him,
“now, a third time to be sure and the delegates can come.”

“How did Trixie behave?”

“Oh, she did not cause any problems. She really was helpful… I have to admit that I lost sight of her some time ago, though.”

“Hmm… I don’t see how that could cause any problems,” Antonius deadpanned.

“Relax,” Twilight smiled,
“she isn’t a threat anymore.”

It took the princesses and Saddle Arabians some time to arrive. When they had finally left the chariots, Celestia lowered the sun and the celebration started. Twilight used her magic to levitate small animals and move them in an infinity pattern. The Saddle Arabians obviously enjoyed the performance. Antonius smiled. If they really were impressed by telekinesis, negotiating with the ponies who controlled the sun and the moon would certainly be fun.

Now, fireworks exploded in the sky, impressing them even more. Antonius attention was caught, too: somewhere here in Ponyville had to be a pony who knew how to work with explosives! He had to ask Twilight who had set up the fireworks.
Seeing her surprised face, however, Antonius realized that those fireworks had not been a part of the performance.
Intriguing. Who was responsible for them?

He got the answer as he saw Trixie approach Twilight, her horn glowing. Unfortunately, he was too far away and the ponies were too noisy for him to understand what they were talking about, but since the fireworks ended just when Trixie’s horn stopped glowing it was probably her who had done this.
Perhaps he had found the demolitions expert he had been looking for?
If he could trust her…

The blue unicorn seemed to say goodbye - or something like that - reared up and galloped away. Then she faceplanted, picked herself up again and continued to run.
If he could trust her and if she wasn’t too clumsy to work with ‘real’ explosives.
Well, he would have to find out.

So, after a few words with Luna, Celestia and the delegates, he excused himself and went to the Land Speeder. While they were returning to Canterlot, he still had something to do tonight.

Guided by his auspex and his knowledge of the terrain, he cut Trixie off within minutes.

“AAAHH! What do you want? Twilight forgave me! Ask her!” she screamed.

Antonius jumped out of the Speeder and looked at the terrified mare.

“Nice fireworks,” he stated.

Trixie looked dumbfounded for a second, then she seemed to gain confidence:

“So, you are a fan of the Great and Powerful Trixie?”

“Not really, no,” Antonius told her and watched her deflate again.

“So… umm… what can the humble and completely non-threatening Trixie do for you?” she finally asked with a forced grin.

“You know how to work with gunpowder?”

“Gunpowder?”

“For the fireworks. The propellant and explosive.”

“Oh, you mean black powder. Yes, I know how to handle it.”

“You said you were sorry for what you have done in Ponyville?”

“Umm… yes, I am. Really!” Trixie assured him, a little confused by this apparent change of subjects.

“Do you want to prove it?” Antonius asked.

“Huh? How could I prove that?”

“Come with me. Maybe I have a task for you.”

Antonius went to the Land Speeder and fetched a standard-sized harness. Good thing he always had one of them ready in case Twilight or her friends needed or wanted to use the Speeder.
He held it out to Trixie and said:

“Put it on.”

To his surprise, Trixie went crimson and stammered:

“Oh… well… Mr… Varus, right? While I have to admit that I’m a little bit curious I don’t think that this is a ‘task’ I want to do.”

Now Antonius was quite confused.

“This harness is to prevent you from falling out of my Land Speeder when I take you to Canterlot. Why would anypony not want to not fall out of a vehicle traveling at high velocity?”

“Oh! That’s what the harness is for!” Trixie exclaimed with relief,
“I’m sorry, I thought you had something different in mind.”

“What the hell did you think it was for?” Antonius inquired, still in confusion, then it dawned upon him:
“Emperor have mercy! What kind of dirty mind do you have?”

“Hey, you are the one who ambushes lonesome mares in the wilderness and wants them to put on harnesses!” Trixie pointed out.

“For transportation! Have you ever heard of seatbelts?”

“How should I have known?”

“Enough of this! Do you wish to make up for your atrocities or not?”

“Well, yes,” Tixie said and finally put on the harness.

Antonius put her into the Speeder, buckled her up and they traveled back to Canterlot.

Once in the hangar and out of the harness, Trixie looked around in wonder.

“This… is a very unusual basement.”

“It’s an ancient base, constructed by my people about ten millennia ago,” Antonius corrected her.

“Ten millennia… and this infernal machine that brought us here?”

“Is NOT an infernal machine, but a Land Speeder; sacred human technology.”

“Oh… umm… sorry. But now please tell me why you brought me here.”

“Have you heard of Chaos and the fate of Hope?”

“Hope?” Trixie asked,
“the town that got almost destroyed by some crazy creature?”

“Yes,” Antonius answered,
“here, we are working on means to defend ponykind. We have metallurgists and engineers, but unfortunately we are lacking a demolitions expert. Or aren’t we?”

Trixie stared at him for a second, then she said:

“Huh? A demolitions expert? Me?”

“I have seen your fireworks. It may not be the same, but it’s at least somewhat related. If you’re up to the task, you could help save your species.”

“Well, that is an intriguing offer… do I have a choice at all?”

“Of course. You will be working with explosives, after all. Either you do that voluntarily, or not at all.”

“Hmm… a chance to be generous, selfless and heroic… I can’t let this pass. Soon, everypony will know how valuable the Great and Powerful Trixie is!” Trixie exclaimed.

“We do not do this for glory,” Antonius reprimanded her,
“but for the safety of your species. I will still give you a chance to contribute. We’ll need artillery and shotgun shells. We have the construction plans and materials at your disposal.”

“Okay, I’ll see what I can do. Just one question: What are ‘artillery’ and ‘shotgun shells’?”

Antonius sighed and said:

“Artillery shells will be used for the main weapon of the tank - the armored combat vehicle - we’re building, the shotgun shells… follow me.”

He walked into the armorium and up to a workstation where he picked up a shotgun prototype that had already been built.

“This is a shotgun. It uses gunpowder to fire a bunch of small bullets at your enemy.”

“Oh… this sounds dangerous.”

“Yes, that is the meaning of this thing. The important part is that it’s only dangerous to your enemy. You probably have some reservations regarding the use of lethal force, but I can tell you that Chaos will not share those reservations.”

“Well… okay,” Trixie sighed,
“I must get used to this thought first, but I will do my best. But… Mr. Varus… could we perhaps start tomorrow? I think I should be well rested before I work with potentially lethal explosives.”

“Yes, that makes sense. Let’s go to Princess Celestia or Princess Luna and ask for a room.”

“P..princess Celestia?!” Trixie asked in shock.

“Of course. I can’t just commandeer a room of her castle… well, perhaps I could, but it would be impolite. What’s wrong? Usually ponies are thrilled to see the princess.”

“Nothing’s wrong! I’m just… excited?” Trixie insisted with a forced grin.

There definitely was something wrong, but Antonius did not deem it necessary to find out about that just now. It would certainly be revealed in a few minutes when they met Celestia.

“Well… okay. First, we should see if the princess’s available,” he said, then he went to a nearby cogitator and asked
“Al?”

“What do you mean by ‘Al’? Who or what is ‘Al’?” Trixie inquired.

Now Al appeared on the cogitator’s screen.

“That would be me,” he stated.

Trixie screamed and scurried backwards.

“What is that?” she shouted.

“That’s Al,” Antonius grinned,
“an artificial lifeform created by mankind about 16 millennia ago.”

“Arti… that’s… a bit much,” Trixie stammered.

“Don’t worry, you will get used to it. Now, Al, are the delegates from Saddle Arabia still with the princesses?”

“No, they have already retired. Princess Celestia is in her quarters. Princess Luna just left for a patrol,” Al told him.

“Okay, then we will go to meet Princess Celestia,” Antonius said, then he turned to Trixie:
“Follow me.”

A few minutes later, they were standing in front of Celestia’s quarters. Antonius turned to the visibly uneasy Trixie and said:

“Wait here. I’ll call you.”

“Oh, take your time,” Trixie replied as Antonius knocked.

“Come in,” Celestia said and Antonius entered her room.

“Good evening,” he greeted friendlily.

“Good evening, Antonius,” Celestia smiled,
“have you finished your business in Ponyville?”

“Yes. Or, to be exact, I brought it along to Canterlot. Now I need a room for a mare to stay in.”

Celestia tilted her head a little:

“Your ‘business’ is a mare?”

“She’s the demolitions expert I’ve been looking for,” Antonius explained, then he turned around and called:
“Trixie, come in now.”

It took a few seconds, but just as Antonius wanted to see what was going on, the door opened and Trixie trotted into the room, looking anything but confident.

“Princess Celestia,” she greeted awkwardly.

Celestia looked at her in surprise, then she exclaimed:

“Trixie Lulamoon! It’s been quite some time, hasn’t it?”

“You two know each other?” Antonius asked in surprise.

“Yes,” Celestia told him,
“she was a student at my School for Gifted Unicorns, but she dropped out to pursue a different career. How are you doing, Trixie?”

“Umm… fine,” Trixie mumbled.

Hearing nothing else from her, Celestia continued:

“That’s good. What brought you to Ponyville, if I may ask?”

This time Trixie’s mumbling was unintelligible, so Antonius answered:

“Remember the giant cheese dome over Ponyville? That was her doing. Now she’s here to make up for it.”

Trixie cringed, but Celestia said without missing a beat:

“Well, that’s good, too. Everypony makes mistakes from time to time, but the good ponies do their best to make up for them. I’m happy to see that you are such a good pony, Trixie.”

Hearing Celestia’s uplifting little speech, Trixie started smiling a little.

“I promise that I will do my best,” she said.

“I know you will,” Celestia smiled,
“and now I will see to it that you’ll get a room. While we are waiting, you can tell me about your adventures since you left Canterlot all those years ago.”

It turned out that ‘all those years’ were actually just ‘some years’, but Trixie still told Celestia and Antonius about her life. She was a traveling magician who had toured around Equestria with - according to her - great success. As soon as she started talking about her first visit to Ponyville, she suddenly became quite taciturn, and the story of her life from that point on was downright telegraphese.

Soon after Trixie had finished her story, her room was ready, so they all said good night and Antonius escorted Trixie to her quarters.

“I really thought meeting Princess Celestia again would be much worse than it actually turned out to be,” she said.

“I really have problems understanding why most of you ponies are so terrified of Celestia,” Antonius replied,
“I mean, she is a really kind creature.”

“With absolute power over Equestria and the SUN. Even a slight possibility of disappointing her or - even worse - angering her is something to be terrified of.”

“And what about Princess Luna?”

“Well, I have never even seen her, but I heard that she may not be as powerful as her sister, but is easier to anger. So I think I might be even more afraid of her.”

“What about me?” Antonius inquired.

“You?” Trixie asked in surprise,
“to be honest, I think you are one of the most terrifying creatures I have ever heard of. On the other hoof, you seem to be quite friendly. I can’t even begin to form an opinion about you.”

“Good,” Antonius grinned.

Now they arrived at the door to Trixie’s room and said goodnight. The next day would be a busy one - for both of them.

53. Diplomacy

Trixie needed quite some time before she was able to fall asleep. Too much had happened that day that was keeping her mind busy. The alicorn amulet, Twilight Sparkle defeating her again, and now, she was in Celestia’s castle - which she had always dreamed of - and was working with a giant alien warrior to build weapons - which she had NEVER dreamed of.
Well, at least she could make up for her behavior in Ponyville. Not needing to say ‘no’ to Lord Varus was certainly also convenient, since she was not a fan of getting mauled. And as a bonus, she would get to surpass Twilight. So, it wasn’t the worst of situations she could be in.

The next morning, Trixie was served breakfast in her room and was told to wait there until Antonius picked her up. She did not have to wait long for the knock on the door.

“Good morning. Are you ready?” Antonius inquired as he entered the room.

“Yes,” Trixie answered and followed him into the armorium.

Once there, she started studying the plans for the ammunition she was going to create. The basic principle was quite simple, but the production tolerances were very small.

“Hmm… given enough time, this should work out quite fine,” she finally opined,
“it is nice to know that I can help where even Twilight couldn’t.”

“I haven’t asked her,” Antonius told her.

“Huh? Why?” Trixie asked in confusion.

“Twilight is the Bearer of the Element of Magic. I cannot risk loosing her in an accident.”

“So… I am here because I am… expendable?”

“No, you are here because your species needs you. If you really manage to make yourself expendable it would be a good sign.”

“HUH?”

“Being expendable means there is somepony who can take your place should something happen to you. This is very advisable, since there is a lot at stake here. Remember that you are not doing this for your personal glory, but for the continued existence of ponykind.”

Trixie thought about that. It was a very humble way of thinking. Well, she wanted to become a little more humble, so this was her chance to train this humility. She just answered:

“Yes, Lord Varus.”

“Still, try not to blow yourself up,” Antonius said,
“I have to return to the princesses now. If you need anything, tell Al. Now, good luck.”

He walked away, leaving Trixie behind. She looked after him for a few seconds, then she started working.

“Keep an eye on her,” Antonius told Al over the vox,
“maybe she really wants to make up for her mistakes, but better safe than sorry. If she shows any signs of treason, call me immediately.”

“Okay,” Al answered curtly.

Antonius walked through the castle towards the conference room in which the negotiations with the delegates from Saddle Arabia were about to take place. While the delegates seemed to be pretty nice creatures, Equestria’s request would maybe be seen as an imposition. Antonius was curious how this would all work out.

He was already expected by Celestia and Luna in front of the door that led to the conference room. Together, they entered.
The delegates had already been seated, and after a few polite greetings, the negotiations started.

“My dear friends,” Celestia said,
“we all know that next to a rich and beautiful culture, Saddle Arabia also has a more material wealth. Your country has one of the rare places in which silversteel is mined. We would like to purchase some of it.”

“With pleasure,” Prince Haakim answered,
“How much would you like to buy?”

“How much do you have?”

There was some murmur among the delegates now, and the prince said:

“Well, mining it is not easy and there is not a great demand due to its expensiveness. Our supplies should be good for about a dozen pony-sized ceremonial armors.”

“Thats is all you have?” Luna asked, disappointed.

“May I remind you that even this amount of silversteel represents an enormous value?” Princess Amira noted.

Well, as Antonius remembered, Luna’s bridle had about the worth of Ponyville and its surroundings, so enough silversteel for a dozen pony armors would probably be worth… a lot. Lots of ‘a lot’.

“If I may be so bold to ask,” Prince Haakim said,
“what do you need such an amount of silversteel for?”

“Have you heard of the town ‘Hope’?” Celestia asked.

“Rumors, mostly. It was almost destroyed by a strange creature, wasn’t it?”

Celestia looked at Antonius, a cue for him that it was his turn to start explaining what had happened there:

“The creature that almost destroyed Hope was a Chaos Space Marine. Once defenders of mankind, those traitors have sold their souls to the daemons of the Warp and have become perversions of our species, abominations with the sole purpose to kill and destroy. We expect them to show up here again, so we need the best equipment we can get to increase our chances of defeating them.”

Prince Haakim raised an eyebrow.

“Daemons? Of the Warp?” he asked incredulously,
“excuse me, but that sound more like something from a horror story. But be that as it may, if you can pay the price and prove to our reasonable satisfaction that you will never use the silversteel against Saddle Arabia, you may of course get what you want.”

Now another delegate gave him a piece of parchment, and after taking a look at it along with Princess Amira, he passed it along to Celestia.
Luna peeked at the parchment and turned to the prince:

“Surely you just wanted to know how many numbers you could fit on this piece of parchment?”

“The price is very reasonable,” Princess Amira interjected,
“especially if you keep in mind how difficult it is to mine silversteel. We could talk about a quantity discount, though.”

“It would still bankrupt Equestria. A few times,” Celestia stated.

“Perhaps you should buy less,” Prince Haakim suggested.

“That is not an option. What about deferred payment?”

“For the next what? Thousand years? Sorry, Princess, but no.”

“I am sure you understand that we would like to have real money for our valuable silversteel, not just promises of payment,” Princess Amira added.

Now Antonius started to get impatient.

“If we could make you understand how important the silversteel is for us…” Celestia sighed.

“We still won’t just bestow it upon you,” Prince Haakim said,
“it is far too valuable to be given away like that. Perhaps you have other valuables you could give us?”

“What about your lives?” Antonius finally asked, fed up with the negotiations.

The delegates stared at him.

“Are… are you threatening us?” Prince Haakim asked in disbelief.

“No,” Antonius stated,
“I do not need to. But I can assure you, Chaos will return to this planet, and if we are not able to repel them, they will kill every single creature here - and that includes the inhabitants of Saddle Arabia, too.”

“Surely you are exaggerating,” Princess Amira said.

“You will be able think about how wrong you have been while you are being tortured to death by daemon-possessed sadists.”

The delegates looked at each other, unsure what to do now.
Then Prince Haakim and Princess Amira looked into Antonius’ unmoving face. Quite some time passed, then the prince said:

“You are serious…”

“I am,” Antonius answered.

“Do you have any kind of prove? Anything else than stories?”

Antonius thought about possible evidence of the wickedness of Chaos, then he stated:

“Yes, I have prove. Just give me some time to get it.”

“Sure. Get this prove and show it to us, and we will probably come to an agreement, but please don’t stall.”

Antonius got up and left the room, heading for the armorium.

Inside the ancient base, Trixie was working on the ammunition. As he entered the room, she turned to him:

“Oh, hello, Lord Varus. You will certainly be pleased to hear that I’m making progress…”

“While I am pleased to hear that, I don’t have time to talk now. I must get going,” Antonius replied.

“Okay, I just wanted to ask if I may make an additional kind of ammunition for the shotgun.”

Hmm? An additional kind of ammunition?

“Sure, the more the merrier. Just don’t blow anything up.”

“Exactly,” Trixie said with a relieved smile.

For a second Antonius wondered what that could mean, but he decided to trust Al watching her. He was on a mission and had to complete it before the Saddle Arabians grew impatient, changed their minds or anything else unfortunate happened.
He got into the Land Speeder, started the engines and left the hangar.

The environment rushed past him as he made a beeline for Ponyville. Slowing down, he entered the town and steered the Speeder through the roads. He stopped in front of a familiar house and knocked on the door, hoping its residents were available.
Thankfully, the door opened.

“Hey, Antonius!” Blackwing greeted with a smile,
“an unexpected, yet very welcome visit!”

“Hello, Blackwing. Is Moonlight at home?” Antonius inquired.

“Why, yes. She’s in the living room. Come in.”

Blackwing took the lead and they walked into the living room.

“Guess who’s there!” Blackwing grinned, and Moonlight, sitting on the couch, got up and said:

“Hello, Antonius! It’s nice of you to pay us a visit. Stormy is in school, though.”

“That’s okay,” Antonius told her,
“I came to ask a favor of you.”

“Anything. How can I help you?”

“I need you.”

“Me?”

“Yes. To be exact - and blunt - I need your body.”

Well, thinking about it, he should definitely have tried to express himself in a more refined manner, even when pushed for time.

“Hey, that’s my text!” Blackwing interjected with a smile, obviously not taking offense at Antonius’ unfortunate wording.

Moonlight looked somewhat confused now, but also not offended as she asked:

“Sorry, but WHAT?”

“The delegation from Saddle Arabia wants to see a prove of the wickedness of Chaos before we get their silversteel. You are the best prove I can think of.”

“So, you want me to… flash a group of ambassadors?”

“If you say it like that, my plan sounds quite stupid. Still, it’s more or less true.”

Moonlight took a deep breath.

“Well, desperate times call for desperate measures, I suppose. Let me just get a dress, I don’t want to expose myself to more creatures than absolutely necessary.”

“Shall I tag along?” Blackwing asked.

“No,” Moonlight answered,
“wait for Stormy, just in case this takes some time.”

Just a minute later, they were already on their way towards Canterlot. They entered the hangar and walked through the armorium, exchanging greetings with Trixie.

“Wasn’t that the pony who caused all that trouble in Ponyville?” Moonlight asked as they had left the imperial base.

“Yes. She knows how to handle gunpowder, so I hired her. Don’t worry, she’s under supervision,” Antonius replied.

When they finally walked through the hallway that lead to the conference room, he turned to Moonlight:

“Ready?”

“For some embarrassment? Sure,” Moonlight told him with a forced grin.

“I’m sorry, but your injuries are the most striking example of Chaos’ evilness we have available, and I want to shock the delegates to drive the point home.”

“Well, that should work,” Moonlight sighed.

So they entered the room and Antonius announced:

“Prince Haakim, Princess Amira, delegates from Saddle Arabia, this is Moonlight. She was part of the strike force that liberated Hope from Chaos.”

According to Luna’s and Celestia’s faces, they knew what was about to happen.

“Please excuse me,” Prince Haakim said,
“but an eye witness is actually just another story…”

“She is far more than just an eye witness,” Antonius stated and gave Moonlight a nod.

She took off her dress and Antonius picked her up, tilting her upwards to reveal her belly.

While Moonlight had closed her eyes, the delegates had theirs wide open in shock.

“What in…” Princess Amira gasped.

“The Chaos Space Marine sliced her open with a daemonic blade as she tried to safe the life of an innocent filly,” Antonius explained,
“and I can tell you, this is just a small sample of the atrocities of Chaos, and by far not the worst they have ever done or will do if we can’t stop them!”

He put Moonlight down again, and she quickly put her dress back on.

“Thank you, Moonlight of Equestria,” Princess Amira said,
“I can understand how hard it must have been to provide us with the prove we demanded. I assure you that your helpfulness wasn’t for nothing.”

“Absolutely!” Prince Haakim concurred,
“you will get the silversteel you need. There is only one condition: Should Chaos attack Saddle Arabia before they attack Equestria, you must promise to come and defend us.”

“I can assure you,” Celestia said solemnly,
“we will fight the forces of Chaos as soon as they show up, wherever that should be.”

Now Prince Haakim turned to one of the delegates behind him, then he put a small chest on the table and opened it. It was filled with small, silvery ingots.

“Silversteel,” he explained,
“just a small amount, since we usually only sell such small amounts. We will send you the rest as soon as we get home.”

“Thank you very much,” Celestia smiled.

“I just wonder how exactly we are going to justify this transaction to our citizens…”

“Oh, I think we could just ask them if they would prefer being tortured to death by some daemon-possessed sadists,” Princess Amira mumbled with a small smile,
“it’s a proven method - sort of.”

Now that the negotiations were over, Antonius and Moonlight headed back to the hangar.

“I owe you one now,” Antonius told her.

“Not really,” Moonlight replied,
“I just helped defend Equestria like I always did. Okay, probably not exactly like I always did. But seeing the alternative, it was clear that I had to help you.”

“I would still like to show my gratitude. What about a monetary compensation for your time?”

“What? No. Taking bits for exposing myself to strangers would actually make this whole thing worse. If you really want to show you gratitude, you can come to dinner to us some day.”

“With pleasure.”

“Feel free to bring Luna along,” Moonlight grinned.

“I will,” Antonius just stated matter-of-factly.

“Aww… I was hoping I could annoy you a little bit.”

“That would require more effort - that you shouldn’t take.”

“Duly noted.”

After bringing Moonlight back to her home, Antonius visited Trixie in the armorium.

“Hello, Trixie,” he greeted,
“how are you doing?”

“Thanks, I’m fine,” Trixie answered,
“and I have something for you!”

Now she hovered a red shotgun shell over to him. Antonius took it and exa mined it.

“Looks good. Now we just have to test it,” he said and walked over to the shotgun, followed by Trixie.

He loaded the shell into the gun and went to the small shooting range that had been built to test the weapons produced in the armorium.

“Cover your ears,” Antonius advised Trixie and fired at a test target. The round of shot ripped the target apart and blew it down the range.

“Nice,” he grinned,
“if you can maintain this quality, we’ll finally have some ammunition for the shotguns.”

“Now try this,” Trixie told him and hovered a blue shell over to him.

“Your additional kind of ammunition?”

“Yeah.”

Antonius checked the shell, loaded it and fired. The target he had picked was still blown down the shooting range, but it wasn’t ripped apart. This kind of ammunition obviously had a very low armor penetration, and Antonius estimated that, if fired at an un-armored creature, it wouldn’t even be lethal. Painful, but not lethal.

“What is in those blue shells?” he asked.

“Halite,” Trixie told him,
“or rock salt, if you prefer that name. After working on such deadly stuff as the regular, red ones, I wanted to make something non-lethal. What do you think about it?”

Well, non-lethal ammunition was almost useless against the forces of Chaos, but there certainly were areas of application outside of this upcoming war. He could, for instance, shoot and temporarily neutralize creatures without killing them, and that meant that Celestia wouldn’t have any more reason to whine, since nopony would die. So he turned to Trixie with a smile:

“A good idea. Please take care that both kinds of ammunition are produced, and stick to your color code. I have to say that I’m really pleased with your performance.”

“Thanks,” Trixie grinned,
“I’ll go back to work.”

“I’d like to help you, but I’ve got to return to the princesses and the delegates. Diplomacy and stuff, you know.”

Antonius spent the rest of the day with the royal sisters and the Saddle Arabians to show some goodwill. He was thankful when the day was over and they all retired. After checking in on Trixie and finding out that she had been hardworking and productive, he went to his room and changed into his civil clothes, expecting to spend a quiet night.

He was proven wrong when he heard a knock on the door. For a second he wondered if it could be Luna, in need of assistance for a nightly patrol, but when he opened the door he was surprised to see Prince Haakim and Princess Amira, carrying a small chest.

“Good evening,” he said with surprise,
“how can I help you?”

“May we come in?” Prince Haakim asked.

Antonius waved them in and closed the door behind them, inconspicuously checking for more creatures in the hallway. There were none, the two of them had come alone.

“You certainly remember me accidentally insulting Princess Luna yesterday,” Prince Haakim started.

“Yes,” Antonius replied.

“Do you also know that the Prince back then gave a present to her?” Princess Amira continued.

“Some sort of bridle, made of silversteel.”

“Ah, so Princess Luna told you. Well, this bridle was just one part of a complete, traditional saddle arabian outfit. Very valuable, but even more beautiful.”

“In this chest,” Prince Haakim said,
“is the rest of this outfit. For more than a thousand years it has been in our country, waiting to be reunited with the bridle. Now, we want the Princess to have it. It is a present, an apology and a promise that we will set her image right. And since you are her friend, we want you to give it to her.”

They gave Antonius the chest and he took a look inside: delicate chains, made of silversteel, but also dark blue, transparent veils.

“The veils are supposed to be attached to the chains,” Princess Amira explained,
“the right spots should be easy to find. We hope that Princess Luna will like the outfit. And now, goodnight, Lord Varus.”

The prince and the princess left, and Antonius was alone in his quarters again.
So, after basically giving away a fortune of silversteel, they gave away an additional fortune? Very generous of them… Antonius still checked the contents of the chest - and the chest itself - if he could find anything dangerous. Finding nothing, he left the room, heading for Luna’s quarters.

After the princess had let him in, he told her what had just happened.

“How very generous of them,” Luna stated and took the chest.

“Indeed. I couldn’t find anything dangerous, but you should probably still be careful, just in case there is something magical about it,” Antonius told her,
“and yes, I know that I’m paranoid.”

“Well, to be honest, I also examined the bridle back when I got it. Just to be sure. I will do the same with this present.”

Luna lit her horn, and after a minute she said:

“No enchantments, curses or any other spells. Not even dormant ones, waiting to be reunited with the bridle. This outfit really is just an outfit. Would you help me put it on?”

“Sure.”

Luna fetched the bridle, and with Antonius’ help, she put the outfit on. The new part was a harness, and a set of chains went down Luna’s spine. One of them ended at her tail, the others wrapped around her thighs. In a final step, Antonius attached the veils over her muzzle, back and flanks, and Luna was completely dressed… as far as a pony wearing such an outfit could be considered as ‘completely dressed’.

“And?” Luna inquired, looking at herself in a mirror,
“what do you think?”

“Nice,” Antonius replied,
“beautiful, even. It definitely looks good on you.”

“Not too… revealing?”

“Well, as far as clothes go, it may be quite revealing, but since you ponies usually don’t wear clothes at all, I don’t think that is applicable here.”

“Oh Tony,” Luna smiled,
“you do not know a lot about mares, do you?”

“Thankfully, no,” Antonius smiled back.

Then, there was a knock on the door.

“Yes?” Luna called, a little annoyed.

A stallion of the Night Guard entered the room and started talking:

“Princess Luna, I just came to infoOOOOOOH!”

Now he just started at Luna, his eyes wide. And he was drooling a little.
Since Luna was so busy blushing that she couldn’t find the time to answer, Antonius did it for her:

“Is there a problem, guard?”

That made the guard snap out of his catatonic state. He saluted and shouted:

“I have seen NOTHING, your Highness, my Lord! We will do the patrol on our own! Goodnight!”

Having screamed that, he darted out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him.

Antonius turned to the still blushing Luna:

“I think he likes your outfit, too.”

Luna stared at him for a few seconds, then she said:

“Umm… Tony… please tell me: If a pony does not know that this is a traditional saddle arabian dress, would they not think that it is looking a bit… kinky?”

“Luna, seriously: I know that it is a traditional saddle arabian outfit, and I still think it’s looking a bit kinky - not to a worrying degree, just a little. You definitely shouldn't wear it in public.”

“So, I should only put it on when only you are around?” Luna smiled provocatively.

“That would be a sensible course of ac… hey, wait a second… damnit, Luna!”

“You said it was beautiful!” Luna laughed.

“Yes, because you really look good in it! Although it’s a little kinky! Oh, Emperor help me! Have I really started making distinctions between various levels of kinkiness and perversion instead of just wiping it all out wherever I find it?”

At that, Luna walked up to him and put her hooves around his neck.

“Tony, calm down,” she said soothingly,
“I already told you that a little kinkiness is nothing compared to the perversion of Chaos. Making distinctions is correct, you just have to reevaluate your assessment from time to time to make sure that nothing gets out of hoof. Or do you think I will suddenly become a mass-murdering maniac just because I am wearing this outfit?”

“No, that’s nonsense. No matter your choice of clothing, I’m sure you will never join Chaos.”

Now they embraced each other. When they ended the hug, Antonius grinned:

“I’m almost surprised your sister didn’t come rushing into the room.”

“Hmm… can you stand another joke or are you fed up with them for today?” Luna asked with a smile.

“Okay, speak up. I think I’ll be able to stand it.”

“Then: Are you disappointed my sister did not come? Would you have liked her to ‘join’ us? Maybe we could even ask for another outfit…”

It took Antonius a few seconds to grasp all the possible meanings of Luna’s words, then he laughed:

“Wow. What you insinuate would hurl my soul that fast at Slaanesh that the abomination might actually choke on it. Really, that is seriously off the charts.”

“It is. It made a good joke, though.”

“A good borderline joke. If that had come from anypony but you I would be somewhat wary. But now I should go, before Celestia really finds the time to charge in and get all the wrong ideas again.”

“Yeah, she is somewhat proficient in that. Goodnight, Tony.”

“Goodnight, Luna. Or do you need my help to get out of… no, probably not. Goodnight.”

Antonius left the room and returned to his quarters. This time, he got his quiet night.

The next morning, after breakfast with the delegates from Saddle Arabia, they went to the armorium to show their guests what they were working on and what exactly the silversteel would be used for. The ancient base and the weapons being constructed there caused quite some awe, and the royal couple promised again to send the metal as soon as they were back home.

After lunch, the guests got ready to leave as planned. While the delegates boarded the chariots, Prince Haakim turned to Antonius:

“Lord Varus, there is a question that keeps my mind busy, so I have to ask it: If we hadn’t given you the silversteel, would you have tried to forcefully take it?”

“No, I wouldn’t have tried to take it by force,” Antonius answered.

Prince Haakim nodded and got onto the chariot. They took off, and soon they were just small dots in the sky.
Luna, who was standing next to Antonius, turned to him:

“I overheard your little conversation. You would not have tried to take the silversteel by force?”

“No.”

“Hmm… you would not have TRIED, as that would imply the possibility of failure… but maybe you would just have done it?”

“Quite convenient that this is moot now, isn’t it?” Antonius grinned.

Now Celestia walked up to them and said:

“That was a success. I’m really glad that they agreed to give us the silversteel. Otherwise we would have been in quite a predicament.”

“Hmm,” Antonius and Luna agreed and together, they went back to the castle.

54. Nightmares

The following days and weeks were pretty quiet. The projects in the armorium made good progress, as did the training of the princesses. Antonius had lent his PDA to Trixie, so that he could contact - and keep an eye on - her. She used the device to dutifully record her progress on the production of ammunition and to get to know about mankind. Antonius even taught her how to use the shotgun, so that she could test some of the shells she produced. Of course, he also told her what kind of terrible things would happen to her should she ever misuse the weapon. All told, she caused no trouble. Really, those days were downright peaceful. He even used the opportunity to check on the Wonderbolts, meeting Rainbow Dash while he was there.
Then, one evening, Antonius found Luna waiting for him in his quarters.

“Hello, Luna,” he greeted,
“what brings you here?”

“I am not sure, Tony,” she replied with obvious unease,
“I have this weird feeling that something is… wrong.”

“Wrong? In what way?”

“As I said, I am not sure. Last night, I… felt something. I cannot exactly put my hoof on it. You could do me a favor by being alert the next days and nights, though. Would you please do that for me?”

It was easy to see that Luna was really concerned, and for Antonius, that was enough to take the matter seriously, so he said:

“Of course. I’ll quickly check my armor and weapons, then I’ll accompany you.”

“Thank you, Tony.”

Within just a few minutes, Antonius was combat-ready and walking at Luna’s side through the castle.
When she suddenly stopped dead in her tracks, he knew that whatever she had felt the night before was back. He put his hand on the hilt of his chainsword and asked:

“What’s wrong, Luna?”

“Oh no,” was everything she whispered.

Antonius scanned their surroundings, but there was no sign on an enemy. Looking at Luna, though, he knew that there had to be a threat somewhere. She was downright terrified!

“Perhaps I am wrong,” Luna whispered, but it sounded more like pleading than like admitting the possibility of a mistake.

The next moment, Antonius vox came alive, just as did Luna’s PDA. They both used their devices to answer the call; it was from Celestia.

“Luna, Antonius, please come to my quarters. Make haste!”

They started running through the hallways until they arrived at Celestia’s room. The door was already open and they entered. Inside, a startled Celestia was waiting for them, a scroll in her magic grasp.

“Rarity has been abducted!” she told them at once.

“WHAT?” Antonius inquired loudly.

A abducted pony was a cause for concern. If this pony was the Element of Generosity, it was a catastrophe!

“How?” Luna asked, her voice shaking a bit.

Antonius was almost sure that she already knew the answer and just needed confirmation. He was just as sure that this night see some serious violence.

“According to Twilight’s letter,” Celestia told them,
“she was taken away by some sort of dark smoke.”

At that, Luna visibly paled, and her mane lost its magical attributes.

“They are back,” she whispered, then she continued with a firmer voice:
“Sister, we must teleport to Ponyville immediately! Antonius?”

“At your side!” Antonius answered and put on his helmet.

The princesses lit their horns, and a moment later, they were in Ponyville, inside Twilight’s library.
There was quite some commotion; Pinkie Pie was clinging to Applejack and Spike was sobbing while Fluttershy and Rainbow were listening to a nervous Twilight, who just exclaimed:

“Princess Luna is our only hope! Anyone have a scroll?”

“You can ask her in pony,” Celestia said,
“I believe a dark energy has been infiltrating your dreams. My sister may be able to help.”

In the following discussion, Luna hesitantly revealed what was actually going on:
A power she called ‘nightmare forces’ had returned in an attempt to create an evil, all powerful kingdom - in Ponyville.
So, Chaos had come to Equestria to destroy the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony. While not the expected warband of traitor marines, Antonius would not underestimate those daemonic forces. Thankfully, stopping daemons from seizing worlds was actually his bread and butter.

During her explanation, Antonius had kept a close eye on Luna. Sometimes, her eyes suddenly widened, just to be closed immediately thereafter with a shake of her head.
She was haunted by memories of what had happened to her when she had become Nightmare Moon, Antonius was sure of that. He had never seen her that way. The imposing and elegant Princess of the Night had become a frightened little pony. Well, if being possessed for a thousand years did not traumatize you, what should?

Anyway, now there was an Ultramarine in Equestria, and those ‘nightmare forces’ would pay dearly for the atrocities they committed - the past and the more recent ones.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash wanted to take action immediately and start a rescue mission, but Luna insisted to investigate on her own. Of course, none of the ponies agreed to that proposal. Neither did Antonius.

“Luna,” he said,
“while gathering information is of course an important part of a battle, I don’t think we have enough time for that and have to be a little more aggressive. I say we get to the moon, then I will act as a spearhead and fight my way through the daemons with you, Twilight and her friends close behind me. We will rescue Rarity, and together, you can use the Elements of Harmony to annihilate the rest of the daemons - or whatever the Elements do.”

Luna looked like being on the edge of a panic attack.

“No! We… must protect Ponyville!” she stammered.

“I will help Ponyville prepare,” Celestia offered,
“you must save Rarity and stop the attack.”

“Good plan,” Antonius grinned,
“and now, let’s make those abominations pay for the atrocities they committed!”

“Please, Tony,” Luna begged,
“stay here and help my sister protect Ponyville!”

Antonius thought he had misheard.

“Luna, seriously, I should be where the daemons are, so that I can, you know, kill them.”

“Please, come with me for a second,” Luna said and left the library.

Antonius followed her outside.

“Luna, what is wrong?” he asked,
“I get the impression that you - for whatever reason - want to spare those daemons.”

Luna turned around with tears in her eyes and said:

“I want to spare them, because they are not daemons.”

“HUH??? What are they, if not daemons? They corrupted and possessed you a thousand years ago, and now…”

“NO!” Luna exclaimed, silencing Antonius, then she continued, her voice just a whisper:
“They were not the forces that corrupted me… it was the other way round.”

Antonius had to think about that for a few seconds, then he stammered:

“What? Umm… I don’t follow you… like, at all.”

“I was corrupted by another daemonic power. Then, when I was exiled to the moon, I, as Nightmare Moon, corrupted its peaceful denizens and turned them evil. We must not hurt them, Tony, please. If you kill them, their blood will be on my hooves. I could never stand that guilt.”

Oh. Shit.

Antonius was not sure what to say now. If they had had the Elements of Harmony - ALL of them - there might have been a chance to save those denizens of the moon, but as things were, they would probably become collateral damage.

“Luna, I… I don’t think we have another choice but to kill them.”

“No,” Luna pleaded,
“please, Tony, no. Please stay in Ponyville and defend it. Let us try to save Rarity and the denizens of the moon.”

Antonius scratched his brow.
This course of action would be ridiculously risky. Rarity had priority, not some possessed natives. Looking into Luna’s face, though, made it clear that he would have to pay a very high price if he insisted on his proposal. As she had said, she would not be able to stand the guilt of dozens of dead caused by her actions, even when she was not herself back then. It would brake her, and if they were killed by him, it would surely also break their friendship.

Now, was the reduced risk of failing the rescue mission worth Luna’s mental health and their friendship?

“Damnit,” Antonius cursed,
“fine, have it your way. I am not especially happy, but I will stay here and do my best to fortify Ponyville.”

“Thank you!” Luna exclaimed and hugged him.

“Excuse me,” Celestia interrupted carefully as she and the others left the library,
“but we don’t have any more time to spare. I know a way to the moon, and we must hurry.”

“Right,” Luna agreed,
“the nightmare forces will surely assail Rarity even as we speak. I hope you friend is brave. The nightmare dreamscape is not for the faint of heart.”

They all went to a hill near Ponyville. For some reason, Celestia had wanted Applejack to fetch a lasso. Antonius wondered what she was supposed to do with that. Lasso the moon?
His confusion intensified when he found out that this was exactly what Celestia was going to do: She successfully lassoed the moon!

So, while Luna was moving the moon closer to the planet with her magic, the other ponies and Antonius pulled the lasso and, by extension, the moon, helping her. He wasn’t sure what was more ridiculous; the plan itself or the fact that it actually worked.

“That’s it!” Celestia finally said,
“well done, my ponies. Antonius and I will begin to prepare Ponyville. Good luck!”

While Luna, Twilight and her friends started their ascent, Antonius and Celestia went back to Ponyville.

“Tell me, Tia,” Antonius asked,
“how are we supposed to prepare the very civil inhabitants of Ponyville for an attack of possessed creatures we are not even allowed to kill? Should we build some barricades? Is the enemy capable of flight?”

“Well, in a way,” Celestia answered,
“they will descend from the sky, so barricades will be mostly useless. We must rally the ponies of Ponyville and make sure they get ready to defend their hometown.”

“So we really put untrained ponies against possessed creatures… usually I protect civilians, I don’t send them into battle.”

“We don’t have the time to fetch the PDF, and even then, we must not kill anypony. The citizens of Ponyville will be better suited to carry out this task. Do you doubt their resolve?”

“No, but I doubt their combat experience, because, you know, they have none.”

“They will be defending their homes and loved ones. They will not fail.”

“I have seen civilians fight before. In such situations, they truly tend to be incredibly determined, which unfortunately almost never makes up for their inexperience and bad equipment. Still, I really hope your plan works, but you will excuse me if I stay a little skeptic. I have an idea how to increase our chances, though. Could you teleport some equipment from Canterlot to Ponyville?”

“Of course… what do you have in mind?”

“Guns,” Antonius answered with a grin and activated his vox.

It took a few seconds to get an answer:

“Yes, hello? Lord Varus? Is that you? Ugh, it’s still night, isn’t it?” Trixie mumbled drowsily.

“Trixie, get the shotgun and as many shells as you can carry, both types. We are going to war.”

“WHAT? WAR?” Trixie screamed, suddenly very awake.

“Indeed. We need to defend Ponyville from the nightmare forces.”

“Oh dear… I think I’m gonna faint…”

“Only if you can make the preparations I mentioned at the same time. Now get going, Princess Celestia will teleport you and the equipment to Ponyville. Varus, out.”

“Oh dear… I’m on my way. Trixie, out.”

Celestia gave Antonius a skeptical look.

“Didn’t we agree not to kill anypony?”

“Trixie came up with non-lethal ammunition. The effectiveness is somewhat limited, but I think it will still be of use,” Antonius explained,
“and if things go south, we still have real, lethal ammunition. Just in case.”

Celestia did not seem to be too happy about that, but she nodded and did not ask further questions. Instead, she and Antonius rallied the ponies of Ponyville to prepare them to fend off the nightmare forces. Once the news was spreading through the town, the princess teleported to Canterlot. She returned a few minutes later with a distressed looking Trixie. The unicorn mare had donned her cape and hat, and more important, she had brought the gun and ammunition along.

“Good,” Antonius said,
“now, Trixie, you know how to use a shotgun. Do you want to use it tonight?”

Trixie paled (even more) and replied:

“Oh, no. Sorry, Lord Varus, but I don’t think I can shoot at living creatures, not even with the halite shells.”

“Ok, I’ll use the gun. Just stay in my vicinity to supply me with ammunition when necessary.”

So Antonius grabbed the shotgun and loaded it with blue shells. Everywhere throughout Ponyville, ponies were finishing their preparations to defend their homes agains the nightmare forces.

Then, Luna came back from the moon - alone.

“Where are the ponies?” Celestia immediately asked.

“They were captured,” Luna admitted dejectedly.

Antonius sighed and said:

“Things are busy going very south now. Are you two still determined to take the ‘minimum force’ approach? I mean, now all six Element Bearers are captives of the enemy…”

Luna regarded him with sad eyes, then she whispered:

“It is actually worse.”

“Then enlighten me,” Antonius demanded.

“The nightmare forces - they have corrupted Rarity. She has taken the place of Nightmare Moon - as Nightmare Rarity!”

“So, we need to perform an exorcism on this Nightmare Rarity to get Rarity back… but we need Rarity to use the Elements of Harmony and perform this exorcism… so… shit.”

“Things may be looking grim,” Celestia admitted,
“but there is still hope. We still have a chance to get Rarity back and free Twilight and her friends - without killing anypony.”

Seriously, this was starting to get annoying. Antonius always tried to avoid collateral damage, but in this case, his usual, more violent approach was more than justified in his opinion. He just wanted to give Celestia a piece of his mind when he met Luna’s gaze. The sadness in those eyes was indescribable.

“Fine,” he finally sighed,
“but if the situation gets worse, we won’t have another choice but to accept that sometimes, things aren’t going according to our plans and intentions.”

The princesses nodded, then Luna said:

“The nightmare forces are on their way. They will attack Ponyville.”

“Don’t worry, sister,” Celestia told her,
“we’ll be ready for them.”

“I will see to it that I get my armor.”

It did not take the nightmare forces long to arrive. Unnatural dark clouds soiled the sky as they approached Ponyville. Luna, Celestia, Antonius and the inhabitants of Ponyville had gathered on a field just outside the town.

Luna took a look at Antonius. We was looking at the enemy forces, his new shotgun in hand. She knew that she demanded a lot of him; in his opinion, the nightmare creatures were lost to corruption and deserved death. She really gave credit to him that he still went along with the plan not to kill anypony… well, unless absolutely necessary, that was. As things went this night, it would probably become necessary, though. Really, everything was going wrong, and it was all her fault.

The dark clouds approached, covering the night sky like dread incarnate, and at the head of the enemy forces, there was Nightmare Rarity. The daemon that had once possessed her had found a new victim… it would have been better if it had taken her again, now Rarity had to pay for her weakness…

“Sister? What’s wrong?” Celestia suddenly asked,
“we need to focus to lead them.”

“Nothing is wrong,” Luna answered, charging her horn,
“I WILL save these ponies - no matter what.”

She fired a powerful magic beam at Nightmare Rarity, but the daemonic mare just deflected it with her hoof.

“Really, must we go through all of this again?” Nightmare Rarity taunted,
“bor-ring.”

The deflected beam hit the ground next to Luna, leaving a crater.

The creature continued:

“Still trying to fight back your fear and anger, Luna? Tsk-tsk. Give in to the darkness! Join the party.”

“I WILL DEFEAT YOU!” Luna roared,
“ALONE!”

“Have fun!” Nightmare Rarity replied and sent the nightmare forces to attack.

The creatures were darting towards Antonius and the ponies, more dark clouds than anything else. Antonius thought of Sombra and how little his weapons had been of use back then. Well, now was a different time, and those things were not necessarily just smoke, perhaps there was enough that could be hit.

So he took a step forward and raised his shotgun. As soon as the next best enemy was at an acceptable distance, he pulled the trigger. The halite left the weapon’s muzzle and slammed into the dark creature. It was stopped and vaulted backwards, with small shreds of dark cloud flying in all directions. It screamed, though it was impossible to say if that was because of pain or just surprise.
Well, at the moment it was not able to continue its attack, and that was the main thing, after all. Not to mention the fact that Antonius now knew that those things could be harmed by ballistic weapons.

He aimed and the next creature and fired again with a similar result. After stopping six of the dark things, there were no targets available anymore; they were either out of range or so close to ponies that he could not risk using the shotgun on them.
Time for melee.

As Antonius just wanted to start running towards the nearest fighting nightmare creature, he could see that the first one he had hit was slowly picking itself up again. So, Trixies ammunition was useful for temporarily sending enemies to the ground, but it did not incapacitate them enough to make them stay there. He still fired another shell at this thing to convince it that getting up was a bad idea.

Now, a creature attacked him, or, to be exact, it tried to. Antonius noticed it, spun around and fired the last shell into the thing’s belly, sending it to the ground, screaming. He took a quick look around to see where Trixie was. She was in a fight, trying to fend off some enemies with a blinding light from her horn. Antonius rushed over and slammed the butt of his weapon into the next creature’s face, knocking it out with a crack that possibly was its nose… if it had a nose. The others were taken down by ponies.

All told, the inhabitants of Ponyville did a remarkably good job of engaging the nightmare forces; the earth ponies kicked them, the pegasi tackled them and the unicorns used light and magic beams on them - with a surprising amount of success.
In a side road, Rapid Cure and Nurse Redheart were busy patching up ponies who had gotten hurt.
Above the battle, Luna and Celestia were flying, using their magic wherever the nightmare forces threatened to overwhelm the defenders.

“Doesn’t look too bad, does it?” Trixie asked.

“No,” Antonius answered and glanced over to Nightmare Rarity who was slowly descending,
“but the enemies’ leader is about to join the battle. I need some shells. Blue.”

“No problem, I made a lot of those.”

Antonius quickly reloaded the shotgun and was on the move again. Now, he changed his tactic, though. Instead of using his gun, he immediately entered close combat since his punches were better suited to incapacitate his enemies than the halite shells. Really, those nightmare creatures weren’t very tough; a fist to the face or - even better - to the skullcap reliably incapacitated them.

One of the nightmare creatures was just attacking a stallion. Antonius grabbed the thing and yanked it backwards. Then, his fist came down on the creature’s head, knocking it cold out.

“Wow,” the pony said thankfully,
“you fight like Bud Prancer!”

Then he rushed off to help his friends.

“I fight like who?” Antonius wondered and knocked out another creature with a fist to its skullcap.

The fight went on for a while. Antonius kept rushing into melee, using the shotgun only to stop nightmare creatures that were about to ambush ponies. Soon, the gun was empty again, and Trixie - with the supply of ammunition - was lost somewhere in the heat of battle. Antonius put the shotgun to his hip and jumped into the next fight, brawling his way through his enemies with his fists while doing his best to keep track of the battle despite the commotion around him.

Above a part of this commotion, he noticed Stormy gathering clouds. He was not too comfortable with children fighting in this battle, but it was their home, too, after all. Still, having children join fights should be the very last means…

As he thought this - while punching another nightmare creature in the face - Stormy slammed from above into the heap of clouds she had collected, creating a bolt of lightning that hit a nightmare, shocked the thing and sent it to the ground.
Hmm… effective.

Suddenly, Stormy’s flank started to glow.
What was that? An attack?
Stormy did not seem to be in pain. She didn’t even notice it, she was too focused on the battle below her.
The glow quickly vanished, and much to Antonius surprise, there now was a symbol on Stormy’s flank.
A cutie mark? A cutie mark! Antonius had just witnessed Stormy getting her cutie mark!
He had to tell her - even thought they were in the middle of a battle! He knew how important that was to her, and since there were enemies everywhere, the direction he took was not important at the moment.

He made his way over to her and called:

“Hey, Stormy!”

“Oh, hi Antonius!” Stormy replied,
“did you see my lightning attack? Pretty neat, hmm?”

“Really great. And it got you your cutie mark!”

“Huh?”

“Look at your flank. There was a glow, now there is a cutie mark.”

Stormy took a look - and started cheering.

Now Antonius heard the sound of hooves coming closer. It was Blackwing, running towards them.

“Stormy!” he shouted,
“there you are! Please don’t wander off again! Moonlight and I were worried sick! Oh, and hello, Antonius… wait a moment… is that a cutie mark?”

Stormy was still busy cheering, so Antonius answered:

“She created a lightning bolt and incapacitated a nightmare creature. That got her her mark. But I suggest we postpone the talking; this battle is not won yet.”

“Right,” Blackwing answered,
“come on, Stormy, let’s return to Moonlight. You have never seen a pony throw stuff at nightmares with more fervor!”

Antonius grinned. He could imagine that. While melee was impossible for her, ranged combat obviously still worked.

He turned around and continued brawling his way through his enemies.

Luna was soaring over the battlefield. Down below her, the ponies fought the nightmare forces with commendable bravery while Antonius wreaked havoc amongst the attackers. You could have said that things were going fine, if not for one important fact: The daemon that had once possessed her and had now taken over Rarity was not yet participating in the fight. Nightmare Rarity just stood there, obviously enjoying the violence in front of her.
What a disgusting creature.

Until now, Luna had seen no casualties, neither pony nor nightmare. But how long would that last? Although Antonius was clearly holding back, the longer the battle lasted, the higher the probability of an unintentional death became.
This had to end. Now. And Luna knew how to end it; she had to defeat Nightmare Rarity.

Luna turned and started her attack run. She was heading straight at the daemonic mare, her horn ablaze. Her opponent noticed her and called:

“I can feel your bitterness, Luna! You can’t deny it! It’s part of you… give in!”

Those words hit Luna hard. Because they were true. The bitterness that had made her susceptible to the daemon was still inside her, just waiting for an opportunity to pull her back into the darkness. She was weak, as weak as she had been all those years ago…

This distraction proved to be dire. Nightmare Rarity hit her with a magic beam, making Luna scream in agony. The whole world became blurry, and the next thing Luna felt was that she hit the ground hard. Dazed, he tried to open her eyes, but it seemed to take her forever to do so.
When she finally was able to see again, she saw Nightmare Rarity, charging up her horn for another shot, grinning with sadistic glee. She closed her eyes again and waited to be hit; there was nothing else she could do now.

She heard the magic discharge.
But the pain she had expected did not come.
Something unexpected had happened.

She opened her eyes again and saw… blue. A blue piece of armor.
Antonius! He had taken the hit for her! He had saved her!

What?

That would have been such a nice hit! Nightmare Rarity had really locked forward to hearing the pathetic Luna scream again, but no, this strange creature had to put its leg right in the way. She had seen him earlier, and she even had to admit that he obviously was a capable fighter, but this?
After this hit, he would probably not be able to walk for a few days. She really had thought him to be a little smarter.

Now, he was standing there in front of Luna, glaring at the leader of the nightmare forces with red glowing eyes.

“Enough,” he just said, then he started closing in on her.

He dared to attack her?
Nightmare Rarity fired a beam of fear and pain at him. He didn’t even try to dodge. Well, of course he didn’t. If he did, the ponies behind him could get hurt, so he took the brunt of her magic.
The daemon grinned. Being one of those do-gooders really sucked.

The grin vanished when she realized that he was still coming at her. She immediately fired another beam at him.
It was a direct hit, but except a small grunt and a little scorch mark on his armor, there was no effect. Really, he should be lying on the ground now, writhing in fear and agony.
Instead, he was running in her direction, and he was fast. Very fast.

Time to get serious. Nightmare Rarity charged a destructive beam to destroy her attacker, but she was a little too slow. A fist hit her head and almost made her turn around.
Wow, he was strong…

As she had just turned her head back forward, she was hit again. She had to close her eyes for a second. Those punches were strong enough to be a real problem.
It was high time to fight back the hard way.

She reared up to strike at him with her hooves. Unfortunately, he was faster - again. He hit her chest, forcing the air out of her lungs and toppling her over.
Seriously, what kind of creature was that?
Still lying on her back, she took a look at him to see where exactly he was, and her eyes went wide.

Two of her minions had tried to stop him, now he was beating up one of them - using the other one as a flail!
What the…?

Nightmare Rarity rolled over to get back onto her hooves, then she wanted to get some distance between her and him to start an attack of her own, but the only result she got was a tug on her tail. She turned around and saw that the giant had grabbed it.
Oh crap…

Just as she wanted to charge up her horn she was vaulted into the air, and a moment later she hit the ground again. Hard.
This happened a second time. And a third.

What the hell did he think she was? Some kind of metronome?
All those hits started taking a toll on her. She felt dizzy, and her body hurt more than she was comfortable with.

When she hit the ground again, she felt that her opponent had released her tail, and she used this opportunity. She spun around and jumped back to her hooves, charging her horn in the process.
She fired a beam of pure pain and hit one of his pauldrons, but his hand closed around her throat, forcing her head upwards.
This did not go according to plan…

Those magic beams were quite powerful, Antonius had to admit that. Each hit felt like being stabbed by a burning hot dagger, but such things did not stop an Ultramarine. Pain was just an illusion of the senses, after all. Interestingly, the pain was barely accompanied by physical damage. Nightmare Rarity did not want to kill her victims, but to keep them alive and torture them. Disgusting.

Apart from the pain, some of the beams seemed to contain some sort of fear component, but that was even less successful than the pain. Space Marines knew no fear, and Antonius was eager to show this daemon that they didn’t know mercy, either.
Unfortunately, he could not do that. He had to exorcise the daemon somehow so that he got Rarity, the Element of Generosity, back. He had to admit that he had no idea how to do that, but weakening the abomination through physical harm seemed to be a good start.

While he was fighting with the daemon, he could hear the ponies encouraging Luna, and then Luna encouraging the ponies in return. One round of encouragements for everypony!
Well, at least his friend had gotten over her compunctions. Perhaps she could help separating the daemon from Rarity?

The ponies gathered around Antonius and the daemon who were still locked in melee.

“Fool,” Nightmare Rarity hissed,
“can’t you see that I have already won? You have nothing left!”

“I have my hand around your throat,” Antonius retorted,
“that’s a good basis to build on.”

“But I’ve taken your Element Bearers! I’ve even taken your dragon!”

Which was an act of pure malice, since he did not pose the same threat as the Element Bearers.

“Then who’s that young whippersnapper flying through the air?” Granny Smith asked.

Huh?
Antonius tightened his grip around the daemon’s throat a little and risked a quick look: One of the nightmare creatures was descending from the sky, holding Spike in its arms. Well, if they wanted to use him as a leverage, he probably would have to take more drastic measures to win this battle…
Antonius was not the only one surprised by this course of events, though.

“W-what? How did he?” Nightmare Rarity asked in confusion, but she quickly regained her composure and gloated:
“No matter - our man what’s-his-face has him. Or should we be shaking in our horseshoes?”

“Actually,” Spike grinned,
“you probably should. Take it away, Jerome!”

Jerome? Who the hell was that? It couldn’t be that nightmare creature, could it? That would mean that it were a defector, and… daemonic defectors?

“That’s right, Larry!” the nightmare creature said, put down Spike and turned into a vortex of dark, but lightening clouds,
“my name is Jerome!”
The vortex vanished, and the creature had taken on a new form, less menacing but still strange.
“And that’s not all!” it continued.

Now, Twilight and her friends were descending from the sky. Unlike Spike, they were not carried by a nightmare creature, but by magic glows that matched the colors of their coats.

Okay, now the Element Bearers were back, together with Spike and a self-exorcising creature named Jerome… incredible how fast a fight could turn from ‘dire’ to ‘weird’ around here…

“Silly scary lady,” Pinkie Pie shouted,
“friendship is stronger than fear will ever be!”

“Less sermonizing, more exorcising!” Antonius suggested.

The ponies seemed to know what to do now: Luna collected magic from Twilight and her friends and blasted the nightmare creatures with it. The dark clouds that they had been until now were blown away, and new creatures of various shapes emerged.

“There’s just one more tiny problem to deal with,” Twilight stated and turned to Nightmare Rarity.

“We’re gonna ask nicely - ONCE - give her back,” Applejack demanded.

“NO!” Nightmare Rarity screamed in anger, creating black smoke all around her.

“Girls,” Antonius shouted,
“I hold her, you blast her! NOW!”

The ponies did just that, and Antonius was surrounded by multicolored light. The daemon seemed in pain, but it was still there in Antonius’ grasp.

“Tony, please lower her head so that I can touch her horn,” Luna said, approaching them.

Antonius forced the nightmare’s head down, and Luna touched its horn.

“Your darkness cannot survive in the light,” Luna said calmly,
“loosen your grip on generous Rarity’s heart and let her speak.”

Through the dark cloud that now was the daemon’s body, Antonius could catch a glimpse of Rarity inside a dark storm. She started talking - nonsensical things about being forgotten.
Was that the weak spot the daemon had exploited? Then it was probably also the solution to the problem…

The ponies had the same idea and tried to assure Rarity that they would never forget her, but it was in vain. The daemon solidified again and gloated:

“BWAH-HA-HA! There is no power that can stop me now! Your body is mine! You will be remembered, Rarity, but as the darkest and cruelest ruler ever known!”

“Her kindness and generosity will NEVER be forgotten!” Twilight exclaimed.

The daemon wanted to retort, but Antonius tightened his grip, shutting her up, and said:

“You are awfully confident for a creature that has a Space Marine’s hand around its throat.”

In the meantime, Twilight and her friends had devised a plan to save Rarity: they reminisced common experiences and told her how much they loved her and that she was irreplaceable to them.
It worked. The daemon turned hazy again.

When Spike finally asked Rarity to come back, her front half emerged from the darkness that was the daemon’s chest, but her other half was still caught in the creature.
Damned, that thing was too stubborn to die.

Still, Antonius wasted no time. Keeping his left hand around the daemon’s throat, he punched his right fist into the its chest, directly beneath Rarity. His arm immediately felt like frozen, but he forced it further into the daemon, along Rarity’s belly. Since he could not grab her there, he continued until he noticed a curvature. He put his hand around it and started pulling.

He was able to pull Rarity out a few more centimeters, but the daemon stuck to her like tar.

“Help!” Rarity screamed, latching on to Antonius’ arm,
“it’s so cold and dark and lonely in there!”

“Don’t worry,” Antonius said,
“I’ve got you!”

Yes, he had got her. But he could not use the combined strength of his muscles and his power-armor without seriously hurting her, so he was not able to pull her out of the daemon. The thing was spitting with rage, glaring at him, absolutely focused on keeping Rarity its prisoner.
A distraction…they needed a distraction… and Antonius had an idea.

He looked out for a specific pony - and found her.

“Trixie!” he shouted,
“grab my shotgun!”

Trixie took a step towards him and took the gun with her magic.

“And now?” she asked.

“Load it! Red shell!”

“Oh dear, you mean…”

“Do it!” Antonius interrupted.

Until now, the daemon was sort of under control, but it was up to anypony’s guess how long that would last. Antonius felt how it tried to escape his grasp, and he felt the cold bite into his right arm.

Trixie was shaking, but she managed to put a red shell into the shotgun.

“Under the daemon’s chin!” Antonius commanded.

“You want me to…?” Trixie cried.

“Just do it!”

Trixie put the barrel under the nightmare’s chin, just as Antonius had told her to.

“FIRE!” he shouted.

Trixie mumbled something unintelligible, then the round of shot noisily turned the daemon’s head into shreds of black smoke.
At the same moment, Rarity plopped out of the quickly dissolving daemonic remnants. Antonius stumbled backwards, but he managed to regain balance and immediately turned to put his body between her and what was left of the daemon. The thing’s body was gone, just a small black cloud was rushing away into the sky where it quickly vanished.

“Rarity!” Pinkie shouted.

Antonius took a look at the white unicorn. She still clung to his arm, shaking with fear and cold.

“Are you okay?” he inquired.

Rarity looked around, then at her hindquarters, still in Antonius' firm grasp, then back at Antonius.

“Yes, I’m fine,” she finally said,
“although I would at least have expected you to invite me to dinner first.”

Antonius laughed and gently put her down on the ground. The other Element Bearers and Spike immediately hugged her.

“I think you’ll have this handprint on your booty for some time,” Pinkie snickered.

Well, she was probably right with that. Antonius handprint was clearly visible in Rarity’s fur.

“Probably,” she replied with a relieved smile,
“and I will also have problems sitting, but at least I’m safe again. Thank you all for helping me. And thank you for reminding me…”

“Reminding us,” Luna said, approaching them and nuzzling Rarity.

“Reminding us that everypony is irreplaceable to their truest friends,” Rarity finished.

“Yes,” Antonius agreed,
“and that’s why we are going to get you properly examined now. I’ve seen Rapid Cure around here, I’ll go and find him.”

Later that night, when Rarity had been found physically fit, Luna escorted the denizens of the moon home. In the meantime, Twilight and her friends decided to finish the night with a slumber party while Antonius went to Trixie.

“Well done,” he told her.

“Umm… thanks,” she answered, but she did not seem to feel well.

“Is something wrong?”

“Well… to be honest… please never make me shot something ever again!”

“It was a daemon, Trixie. Trying to kill it is the appropriate reaction.”

“Maybe, but… not for me. Sorry, but I can’t stand that. I’d be happier if I were on my way again, with a wagon of my own, performing stage magic for my fans. Really, I’m not suited for all this fighting.”

“Is this your way of telling me that you want to leave?”

“Please don’t be angry,” Trixie whimpered.

“Don’t worry,” Antonius answered,
“you have been a great help. I just need to ask two favors of you: teach at least two ponies how to make the ammunition, and help me to try and create new bolts for my bolter. Then you may go. In the meantime, I’ll see to it that you get a suitable wagon for your journey.”

“Really?” Trixie asked hopefully.

“Sure. And now, let’s look for Princess Celestia.”

The Princess was still in Ponyville, helping the ponies who were busy repairing the damage the battle had caused. Trixie went and helped them while Antonius turned to Celestia:

“All told, we got off pretty easy,” he said as he looked around,
“at least for a daemonic attack. You were right, the inhabitants of Ponyville proved to be capable fighters.”

“Yes, and so did you.”

“Well, it’s my job.”

“That’s not what I meant. There are no casualties, neither among us ponies, nor among the denizens of the moon. The worst was a broken bone or nose.”

“Hmm… one of the most bloodless battles I’ve ever participated in. Though, if you ask me, there is one kill that would have been highly appropriate.”

“The nightmare daemon?”

“It’s physical manifestation was destroyed, but its dark essence got away. Well, I suppose it will take it quite sometime to return again, and that’s a good thing at least.”

They helped the ponies until Luna returned from the moon, then they got Trixie and teleported back to Canterlot. While the unicorn mare immediately bid goodnight, Antonius and the princesses gathered together in Celestia’s quarters - with a bottle of wine.

“Here’s to all of us for defending our home,” Celestia said,
“and to my sister Luna for battling and defeating the nightmare.”

“Oh, sister,” Luna replied,
“this was a group effort. I deserve no special mentioning.”

“Well, you were the one who was able to establish contact with the real Rarity inside the daemon,” Antonius noted,
“without this success, everything else would have been moot or downright impossible.”

“Thank you,” Luna said and hugged both of them.

“Still,” Antonius continued,
“it is a good thing that there won’t be any attack of those nightmare forces for quite some time. With a little bit of luck, my chapter will be here when they finally return. Thinking about the nightmare daemon having to face an Ultramarines librarian puts a smile on my face.”

Luna did not smile. Instead, she told him:

“This attack my come sooner than you think.”

Antonius put down his glass.

“Hmm? The daemon may have gotten away, but it was weakened. I think it will take some time until it can harm anypony again.”

“I’m not talking about the this nightmare daemon. I’m talking about the Nightmare Lord.”

“WHAT?”

Luna sighed.

“I corrupted the denizens of the moon, and the nightmare daemon corrupted me. The is another power involved, though: The Nightmare Lord, the entity that commands all of the nightmare forces. I met this creature when I was Nightmare Moon.”

“Great,” Antonius deadpanned,
“so, we have another, probably more powerful enemy?”

“We do. And when he gets to know what happened tonight, his wrath will be terrible.”

55. Uncalm before the storm

The next day, the cleaning-up operations in Ponyville continued. This time, Antonius wasn't there to help, though. He had stayed in Canterlot to see if he was able to create some bolts to replenish his not-that-abundant amount of ammunition.

After breakfast he walked into the armorium and headed for Trixie’s workbench. There he took a single bolt out of his current magazine and placed it on the table in front of him.
This bolt - almost omnipresent in the Imperium - was quite a bit more complicated to produce than the types of ammunition Trixie had had to deal with by now, but perhaps there was a chance to build more of them.

“Oh, hello, Antonius,” a voice said from the entrance of the armorium,
“you are here already? I hope you didn’t have to wait too long for me.”

Antonius looked up and regarded Trixie, who had just entered:

“No worries, I came here just a minute ago. I thought we should have a look at a bolt and see if you can reproduce it.”

“Sure,” Trixie answered,
“by the way, did you already arrange something in regards to my new wagon?”

“First things first, Trixie. When you teach the other ponies about the ammunition I will have plenty of time to take care of that. Now, the chance of getting more bolts takes priority.”

“Hmm… that sounds as if something’s going to happen soon…” Trixie mused, an eyebrow raised.

“You never know, so better safe than sorry.”

Trixie nodded, took a seat next to him and together, they started disassembling the bolt, using the plans Antonius had gotten from Al.

They were busy with the detonator when Trixie hovered a small, silvery piece of metal in front of her face.

“Silver?” she asked.

“Palladium,” Antonius answered.

“Palladium? Isn’t that a theater and concert hall in Manehattan? Or was it Applewood?”

“Umm… I’m talking about the chemical element, atomic number 46… and I’m getting the feeling that you don’t know that element.”

“You think I don’t know it? You think I don’t know ‘palindrome’?”

“No stetson.”

“Huh? Why do you call me ‘stetson’? I’m not Applejack.”

“That little sentence was a palindrome,” Antonius deadpanned,
“what we need is ‘palladium’, Trixie.”

“Well… you are right. Never heard of it before,” Trixie admitted with a sheepish smile.

“I really hope it is not entirely unknown to your species. We need it for the detonator. Give me the PDA, please.”

Antonius got the device from Trixie and used it to call Celestia.

“Hello, Tia,” he said,
“please tell me, do you know a chemical element called ‘palladium’?”

“Not in pony,” Celestia grinned, then she continued,
“but joke aside, I know it is a silvery metal and quite rare.”

“Do we have a supply of palladium somewhere?”

“None that I knew of… and I don’t know where we could get some. It is known, but barely used. Why do you ask?”

“I need palladium for the detonator of bolts. No palladium, no new bolts.”

“Oh… I’m sorry, but I have no idea who could have or use it.”

“Al, any ideas?” Antonius asked.

“Palladium is used to create white gold. You could ask someone who works in jewelry making,” Al answered.

“As far as I know,” Celestia interrupted,
“we use nickel or silver to create white gold. I will still send a few ponies out to check Canterlot for the metal. Perhaps they will find some.”

“Okay,” Antonius replied,
“thank you. Antonius, out.”

He gave the PDA back to Trixie and said:

“Now we have to wait if they are able to find anything. Until then, you could return to making the other types of ammunition.”

“Okay,” Trixie agreed,
“and I will select two ponies and teach them what to do, just as I have promised.”

“Thanks, and I will see to it that you get the wagon.”

Having said that, Antonius left the armorium.

After asking a guard for directions, he went to a wagon dealer and placed an order for a wagon designed for one traveling pony; big enough to hold the pony’s belongings, but still small enough to be moved without a problem. He was even able to convince the dealer to personalize the wagon for Trixie.

Then, Antonius visited Celestia.

“What about our search for palladium?” he inquired,
“any progress yet?”

“Unfortunately not,” the princess answered,
“two ponies are still on their way, though. Let’s hope they find some.”

“We still need a plan in case that they don’t find any. Could we import it like the silversteel?”

“I don’t even know of any palladium mines. I’m afraid this metal is just not available at all, much less in sufficient quantities.”

“Right,” Antonius admitted,
“a few grams won’t be enough. That’s really…”

He was interrupted as his vox beeped.

“Huh?” he wondered,
“who could that be?”

“Hello, Antonius!” came out of the vox.

“Stormy?” Antonius asked.

“Yeah! I want to invite you to my cute-ceañera this afternoon!”

“Are you already done restoring Ponyville to its former glory?”

“Yeah, and Pinkie Pie said it’s no problem preparing the party in time. It’s in Sugarcube Corner, by the way. Are you coming?”

Great. No palladium, some daemon quasi on their doorstep, and he was invited to spend an afternoon not preparing for anything. He didn’t want to turn Stormy down, but there were more important things to do, weren’t there?
Celestia noticed his hesitation and started waving like crazy.

“Just a second, Stormy, Princess Celestia wants to talk to me,” Antonius said and muted the vox.

“Attend the party,” Celestia commanded.

“Huh?”

“A cute-ceañera is very important for a young pony. You really shouldn’t miss it. You are her friend, and something like her uncle.

“And the bolt problem?”

“Will have to wait for a day. Trust me, do not neglect your friends and family, for that will cause greater damage than any amount of missing ammunition.”

Celestia spoke from experience, Antonius knew that. So, he unmuted the vox and said:

“Stormy, I’ll attend the party.”

“Great! See you there!”

The connection was terminated and Antonius turned to Celestia again:

“Social life really can have an impact on your duties,” he grinned.

“Usually, ponies consider it to be the other way round,” Celestia laughed,
“and I promise I will inform you if we find any palladium.”

“Thanks. In the meantime, I will use the rest of the morning to aid in the search.”

After lunch - and an unsuccessful search in the less honorable alleys of Canterlot - Antonius took the Land Speeder to Ponyville. Quite a lot of ponies of all ages were already gathered inside Sugarcube Corner, and more were coming every minute. It seemed half of the town had been invited!

“Hello, Antonius!” Stormy greeted as soon as she noticed him,
“I’m glad you could make it! Now have fun, I’ve got to get back to my other friends!”

The party was not that different from other parties Antonius had attended since he was in Equestria, there just was a special focus on Stormy - and her cutie mark.

“I bet that your cutie mark means that you will become a Wonderbolt!” Scootaloo cheered.

“Or perhaps you will be an expert weather pony,” Apple Bloom guessed.

“Or you will keep defending Equestria with your lightning attacks!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed.

“I… have no idea,” Stormy admitted, a little confused for a second, then she smiled:
“but all of your ideas sound awesome!”

Antonius had overheard this conversation, but before he could start thinking about cutie marks and their relation to destiny respectively free will, he was addressed by Rapid Cure:

“Hello, Lord Varus! A nice cute-ceañera, isn’t it?”

“Indeed,” Antonius answered,
“so you have been invited, too?”

“Yeah,” the stallion grinned,
“one of the perks of being a plain old country doctor. You can establish closer ties to your patients. Speaking of my job, I think it would be worth consideration if you should perhaps let me examine you. It’s not that I’m curious…”

“No?”

“Well, okay, a bit, I have to admit that. But as it stands, there is no one who can help you if you get hurt, and with the battle last night… I thought it would be beneficial if I knew something about you, so that I could later spot deviations from the desired value if it comes to the worst, you know?”

“Hmm,” Antonius mused, the impending daemon attack in mind,
“that actually makes sense. Okay, but don’t spread the things you learn everywhere.”

“No worries,” the doctor assured him,
“we’ll just include one nurse, in case I am not available. Are you agreeable to Nurse Redheart? She’s a very capable pony.”

“Agreed. Let’s do this right after the party and not waste time.”

“Okay, at your convenience.”

When the party had ended, Antonius and Rapid Cure took the Speeder to the Ponyville hospital and entered an examination room.

“Very well,” the doctor said,
“I’ll go get Nurse Redheart. In the meantime, you could take off your armor. I Don’t think our equipment can provide us with useful insights as long as you are wearing it.”

Rapid Cure left and Antonius took off his armor - while still keeping his chainsword close by - and sat down on the examination table. A few minutes after he had left, the doctor returned with the nurse. He quickly closed the door behind them and explained:

“This, Nurse Redheart, is the ‘special assignment’ I was talking about.”

The mare froze and stared at Antonius, who had no better idea than to wave at her. It took her a few seconds until she mumbled:

“Yes, this assignment is indeed ‘special’…”

“And top secret!” Rapid Cure stated,
“the both of us are going to get familiar with Lord Varus so that we can help him if necessary.”

When Nurse Redheart started blushing, he exclaimed:

“Not THAT kind of familiar! Geez, always those young mares! Now, professionalism! And do not spill anything you learn about him! Now, let’s get going.”

“Of course,” the nurse agreed and the examination started.

“I’m sorry,” Nurse Redheart suddenly said after a while,
“but I think we’ll have to redo the X-ray. This just can’t be right.”

“Hmm?” Rapid Cure inquired,
“let me see.”

He took a close look at the X-ray and mumbled:

“Sweet Celestia! What in the name of… this is incredible!”
He turned to Antonius and continued:
“Your rib cage is fused into a solid mass of interlocking plates! Excuse me, but is that really normal?”

“For a Space Marine, it is,” Antonius grinned.

“Oh, okay. I’m really curious what else we will find.”

The examination took quite a while, and Antonius explained his altered physique. When it was finally over, he donned his armor again.

“I hope you got all the data you need,” he said.

“Yeah, thanks,” Rapid Cure answered,
“and I can tell you one thing: whoever is responsible for this ‘bio-engineering’ is either a genius of truly epic proportions, or friggin’ insane.”

“The Emperor of Mankind is responsible for the creation of the Astartes, so your first guess is correct.”

“That must have been incredibly painful,” Nurse Redheart noted compassionately.

“Well, it keeps me alive while I’m doing my duty,” Antonius told her,
“it’s definitely not a price too high for being able to defend my species - and now yours, too.”

They said goodbye, then Antonius took his Speeder back to Canterlot. This day was as good as over.
The night, however, was not.

Once again, Luna was guarding her subjects’ dreams. She held watch over the dreamscape, looking out for any sign of nightmares, and this time, she was especially alert. It was only a matter of time before the Nightmare Lord and his minions attacked, and they were far more powerful than the corrupted denizens of the moon.

At the moment, however, everything seemed to be quiet. She wasn’t able to feel any sort of disturbance, just ponies dreaming peacefully. It was a little miracle that they got along so well with their memories of the battle last night, but it had been a happy end, after all, and happy ends had a calming effect on them.

After keeping watch for some time, Luna started getting anxious. She couldn’t shake the feeling that something was going on. There still was no evidence of any nightmare activity, but she still began browsing some dreams, just to make sure.
She had a quick look at about a dozen dreams, and everything seemed to be fine.

“You are getting paranoid, Luna,” she mumbled to herself,
“it might take the nightmare forces weeks to show up. Unfortunately, you do not know where they will show up…”

As she said this, she thought about it.
Was there really no clue where they would attack first?
They purposefully abducted Rarity, the Element of Generosity… the Element Bearers. Of course!

Luna immediately had a look at their dreams.
Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, they were all okay. But where was Rarity?
She was not able to find her in the dreamscape. Perhaps she was awake? Well, she could pay her a visit. So the Princess of the Night left the dreamscape and teleported to Ponyville, into Rarity’s boutique.

Luna was greeted by darkness. Perhaps Rarity was in her quarters?
As she ascended the steps, she could hear noise coming out of that room; a whimpering.
She knocked on the door:

“Rarity, this is Luna. Are you okay? May I come in?”

Except for the whimpering, there was no answer, so Luna opened the door and entered the room.

Rarity was lying in her bed. Her eyes were closed, but she was tossing around, wet with sweat, and Luna had the impression that she wanted to scream, but couldn’t.

Nightmare!
Luna entered the dreamscape and saw… nothing.
Huh? Where was Rarity’s dream?
She started magically - and intensely - scanning the spot where it should be… and there it was! The dream was concealed! Without standing directly next to the dreamer and conducting such a thorough scan, there was no chance to find it!
With a sense if foreboding, Luna entered the dream.

She was standing in the boutique, in the room where Rarity used to work. Shadowy things were scurrying around, seemingly working on some sort of mannequin that was sitting in the middle of the room.

Nightmare daemons!
But why were they working on that mannequin? Stitching and…
And why was that mannequin bleeding?

It hit Luna like a hammer when she realized what was actually going on.

“RARITY!” she screamed.

Rarity slowly turned her head and whimpered. Her muzzle was sewn up, and buttons were stuck to her eyes. More seams - bleeding wounds - were running down her spine… it looked like they wanted to turn her into a doll!

“STOP THIS MADNESS!!!” Luna commanded, her horn flashing.

One of the daemons turned to face her.

“A little more effort, Princess?” it mocked her.

“With pleasure,” Luna replied and blasted the thing.

Her magic beam vaporized it, but its laughter was still echoing through the dream when Luna eliminated the other daemons.
A final burst of magic freed Rarity and ended the dream.

Rarity fell out of her bed, screaming and crying. Luna immediately picked her up, wrapped her into her wings and tried to console her.
What an underhooved attack! She thought she already had expected the worst, but this was worse than her worst expectations!

It took Rarity quite a while to calm down again, then she looked up at Luna and whispered:

“Oh thank you, Luna! That was so horrible!”

“It is over now,” Luna replied calmingly,
“and I must leave. I must make sure that the nightmare forces do not perform such an act of vileness again!”

“Please don’t leave me alone!” Rarity begged,
“I know you must take care of those ruffians, but I can’t be left alone now!”

Luna sighed. Of course Rarity was right; she was not in the condition to be left alone now, but Luna had a busy night ahead.
She needed help. Somepony who could act as some sort of ‘nightmare retardant’ and companion for Rarity while Luna was fighting the nightmare forces… and she knew exactly who she could call for aid.

“Do you need to pack anything for the night?” Luna asked, looking around,
“I will bring you to the safest place in Equestria! What is this?”

Luna was pointing at a jar on Rarity’s nightstand, and she answered:

“That’s the remedy for my… ahem… sore posterior.”

Ah, Antonius’ bruise-inducing rescue. Well, Rarity had sweated so much it looked as if she had taken a shower, so this remedy would probably have to be re-applied. That should be a good distraction from the memories of the nightmare.

Luna grabbed the remedy with her magic and turned to Rarity:

“I will teleport us to Antonius. He will watch over you.”

Antonius’ alertness awoke him and he looked around. Despite the darkness, he could identify the creatures that had just teleported into his quarters, although the smaller one looked a little… soaked.

“Luna? Rarity?” he asked,
“what’s going on? Have the nightmare forces returned?”

“In a way,” Luna answered,
“they are manipulating dreams. Rarity fell victim to their machinations.”

“I’ll get my armor.”

“No, Tony, we need a different kind of help. May Rarity use your bathroom? I will explain everything while she takes a shower.”

Antonius was a little confused by that, but being confused by the ponies was honestly not that new to him.

“Of course,” he said,
“be my guest. You’ll probably find the towels to be a bit large, but that should not matter too much.”

Rarity vanished into the bathroom, and Luna told Antonius what had happened.

“Hmm…” he opined,
“the cruelty is slowly approaching real Chaos-levels. Now what do you want me to do, if it isn’t getting my weapons and armor and killing some daemons?”

“You cannot kill them at the moment,” Luna told him,
“as they are only active in the realm of dreams. I must fight them on my own. I need you to take care of Rarity, though. This experience has shaken her to the very foundations. Keep her company. And keep your pajamas on!”

Antonius raised an eyebrow and stated:

“I did not plan on molesting her.”

“Tony, that is not what I meant!” Luna said,
“I meant that your pajamas are softer and much more comforting than your armor. Better for cuddling up, you know?”

“‘Cuddling up’?”

“Well, everypony needs some cuddles from time to time, especially if stressed. And Rarity is extremely stressed at the moment. If you know a better way to comfort her… she likes to spend time in the Ponyville spa, so you could make use of that, too… oh, by the way, I think I have something for you to distract her from her memories of the attack!”

Having said that, Luna hovered a jar over to Antonius. He grabbed it and read its label:

“‘Goops for Stuff Hide Ointment’. Oh, I get it: I’m supposed to apply that to her… hurt spot. Yeah, that should distract her.”

“Exactly! And I promise I will not get jealous,” Luna told him with a hint of a smile,
“now, please excuse me, but I have to go back to my quarters and patrol the dreamscape. If I find a pony’s dream is missing, I will know where to go and what to do. Bye!”

Luna left, and Antonius was alone for a few minutes until Rarity came out of the bathroom. She had her mane wrapped a towel, which caused her some trouble due to the size of said towel.

“Huh? Where is Princess Luna?” she inquired.

“In her room, hunting nightmares,” Antonius told her.

“And what are we going to do now? I don’t think I could just go back to sleep right now. Perhaps… we could play some game or something?”

“What about we treat your bruise, followed by a relaxing little massage? That should ready you for sleeping.”

“Umm… Antonius…” Rarity started with some hesitation,
“my bruise is on my… erm…”

“Butt,” Antonius said flatly.

“Derriere,” Rarity corrected,
“wouldn’t that be a little… you know… indecent?”

“Girl, you are hurt. Treating a hurt spot is beneficial to recovery. There is nothing indecent about that.”

“Well, if you see it like that… just don’t tell anypony, okay?”

“I certainly won’t run through Canterlot proclaiming it. You, me, and Luna are the only ponies who will know.”

“The princess? Oh, right, she brought the remedy. And what about the massage you suggested? Don’t tell me you know how to massage a pony.”

“I do, and the princesses are quite fond of my skills.”

“You… massage… the princesses?” Rarity stammered, completely dumbfounded.

“From time to time. Now hop onto the bed and relax,” Antonius said and opened the jar with the remedy.

“But Antonius… I’m a lady!”

“And I’m a Space Marine, so I can assure you that this is way weirder for me than it is for you.”

Rarity snickered, followed his instructions and stretched herself out.

“You know, I’m acquainted with the ponies who made this ointment. I even helped them become the famous beauty care brand they are today,” she said.

“Really? Tell me.”

“With pleasure! It all started the day after a fashion show…”

Luna was back in her room and closed her eyes. She wasn’t sure if the nightmare forces would start another attack, but she had to be prepared and protect her subjects, so the Princess of the Night lit her horn and entered the realm of dreams.

Suddenly, Luna was standing in an orchard. She knew this one: it was Sweet Apple Acres. She had no idea how she had come here, but somehow she didn’t care.

Looking around, Luna spotted a pony standing about. She just wanted to walk over as Applejack jumped out of the trees and darted towards the pony.
Wait a second… did she have something between her teeth? Was that a knife?

Luna’s observation was proven correct as Applejack stabbed the knife into the ponies throat. Then, as the pony sunk to the ground, Applejack yelled:

“Fifteen!”

Luna recoiled in disgust. What had gotten into the farmer? Cold-blodded murder, just like that? And what did she mean by ‘fifteen’?

“Not bad, but not good enough!” another voice called from the sky.

Rainbow Dash?
A moment later, Luna saw the blue pegasus fly above the trees, then she suddenly dived down. A few seconds later, she appeared again, on the ground this time, and walked up to Applejack - and she had a blood-stained knife, too!

“Sixteen,” Rainbow grinned.

“Horseapples,” Applejack cursed,
“you keep drawing more blood than I do!”

WHAT??? This was some revolting kind of competition?

“Applejack, Rainbow Dash!” Luna shouted,
“what in Equestria has gotten into you? You cannot run and fly around and kill ponies!”

Both mares looked at her, more curious than frightened, and not the least bit conscience-stricken.

“An alicorn,” Applejack mused,
“should be worth at least 50 points, huh?”

WHAT?

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash agreed with a grin,
“too bad for you that those points will be mine!”

As she said that, Rainbow dashed towards Luna, the knife in her mouth and a crazy grin on her face.
Luna did not have a choice. She fired a bolt of magic to stop the insane pegasus… and vaporized her.

NO! That was impossible! How could…

“Hah! Those points will be mine!” Applejack cheered, rapidly approaching Luna.

The princess fired again, and Applejack was gone, too.

Luna plopped down, completely confused and disgusted.
What the hell had just happened?
How could Applejack and Rainbow Dash have done something that horrible?
Why were her beams so lethal all of a sudden?

Taking deep breaths, Luna thought about those questions, and she realized:
It had to be an attack of the nightmare forces! They had deranged Applejack and Rainbow Dash! That was why her beams were so powerful, yes, that had to be the reason. But was it the Nightmare Lord or just his minions? She had to find out, and she had to see if the other Element Bearers were okay, posthaste!

Luna ran through the orchard and on to the bifurcation to Fluttershy’s cottage. When she had almost reached her destination, she encountered a pony and froze.
The stallion was pale and decayed, and his skin and flesh were torn apart in numerous places, showing his bones. He slowly shuffled towards Luna, groaning like in unbelievable agony.

“Goodness…” Luna whispered,
“what happened to you?”

The pony did not answer, but he opened his jaw - which fell off.
A zombie-pony. This was more than just ‘bad’. Luna had to get to Fluttershy as quick as possible, but she couldn’t allow this pitiful pony to suffer any longer.

“I have to deliver you from this horrible fate,” she stated and fired a magic beam at him.

The pony was turned to ashes and Luna continued to run.

On her way to Fluttershy’s cottage, she had to deal with two more zombie-ponies, but then she had finally reached her destination and hammered against the door:

“Fluttershy! Are you in there? Are you okay?”

“Yes, I am in here. And I never felt better!” answered Fluttershy.

Luna had never felt more relieved in her life. At least until she opened the door.

The walls of Fluttershy’s home were coated with a sickly green mucus, and abominations that once might have been animals were crawling over the floor. But worst of all was the pony that was sitting at the far end of the room: Fluttershy, but she was not herself.
The once yellow pegasus was pale green now and looked almost like the zombie-ponies Luna had already encountered. Missing fur, missing skin, missing flesh. Decayed beyond imagination.

“Why did you kill my babies?” Fluttershy asked sadly.

“BABIES???” Luna screamed in disgust,
“those zombie abominations?”

“I loved them,” Fluttershy told her, tilting her head a little too far for a normal pony,
“as I love all of my creatures. Every animal, every germ, every virus. They are all so adorable!”

Luna suppressed the urge to vomit and asked:

“Fluttershy, tell me, who did this to you?”

Fluttershy opened her mouth, but instead of an answer, a wave of fat, black flies darted out, heading straight for Luna. The princess immediately created a magic shield around her, and within a few seconds, the flies had blotted out every trace of light.

More than just disgusted, Luna set her shield on fire and caused it to explode. The flies were incinerated on the spot, and the whole room was set ablaze. Fluttershy was also burning, but she managed to stand up before succumbing to the flames and toppling over with a last shriek.

Luna dashed out of the burning building and back to the bifurcation. There she threw up and started crying. Three of the Element Bearers were dead, driven insane by the nightmare forces and killed by her. This day could not get worse!

“It probably can,” Luna mumbled and started running again.

She arrived at Sugarcube Corner and immediately bashed in the door. Inside, everything was decorated for a party… and a pony was tied to a table?

“What the…?” Luna wondered.

“Oh, there you are!” Pinkie Pie cheered, hopping in through another door,
“you are just in time for the party!”

“Party?”

“Of course, silly. Let’s play a game! Let’s play ‘pin the tail on the pony’!”

Having said that, Pinkie pie hopped over to the restraint pony - and ripped the pony’s tail out with her teeth!
For a second, Luna was too repulsed to say a word, and that was enough for Pinkie to stab the severed tail into the pony’s eye!

“Oopsie,” she laughed,
“I guess I’m really bad at this game!”

Luna killed her with another magic blast and stormed out of the house. Just two Elements were left now, and Rarity was the closest. Hopefully, she was still okay…

Inside Carousel Boutique, everything seemed normal. There was a stallion, obviously waiting for Rarity. No bloodshed, no zombies, just a pony waiting… with an admittedly strange expression on his face…

Before Luna could do anything, Rarity came through a door.

“Oh, hello, Princess Luna! What an honor to have you here!” the unicorn mare greeted, walked up to Luna - and kissed her downright passionately.

Using her magic to force Rarity back to a safe distance, she replied:

“Well, I am happy to see you, too. I would have preferred a different way to show that, though.”

Rarity snickered and pranced over to the stallion, her tail in a position that did not suitably cover her posterior.

“Are you… okay?” Luna asked with a sense of foreboding.

“Of course I am, darling!” Rarity answered as she circumambulated the pony and wrapped her tail around his neck.

The stallion started turning blue, but he still had that stupid grin on his face, even as he started choking.

“Rarity! STOP IT!” Luna commanded.

With a jolt of her tail, Rarity snapped the pony’s neck, then she reared up and proclaimed:

“Taking lives feels so divine, darling!”

Oh damnit, another insane Element Bearer!
Luna did not waste any time and fired at her, hitting Rarity’s belly. The expression of pure glee on her face as she died would haunt Luna for weeks to come, she was sure of that.

Now, there was just one destination left: The Golden Oak Library.

A quick sprint later, Luna kicked in the door, and was greeted by a perpetually changing purple mass. She could not identify it, but that thing was screaming in horror and pain.

“Gee! Spike! Be quiet, I’m trying to read!” Twilight snapped and turned back to her books.

Luna ended Spike’s torment with a magic blast and walked forward to confront Twilight.

“Thanks,” the insane unicorn said,
“all that screaming was really annoying.”

“Did you do this to him?” Luna demanded to know.

“Yup,” Twilight answered nonchalantly,
“had to test a few spells.”

Again, Luna was disgusted beyond imagination. She lit up her horn and fired. This time, however, her blast was deflected by a magic shield.
Twilight put the book she was reading down and grinned:

“Did you think it’d be that easy? I can tell you, I have powers now! Such incredible powers! I have changed quite a lot. No more nice little librarian, I’m the Queen of Magic now!”

“Twilight, tell me, who did this to you?” Luna inquired,
“was it the Nightmare Lord?”

The self-proclaimed ‘Queen of Magic’ did not answer, she just picked her book up again continued reading.

“ANSWER ME!” Luna screamed in despair.

“Ugh,” Twilight sighed,
“you are loud and annoying. Guess I’ll better kill you.”

Having said that, she fired a magic beam at Luna. The alicorn in turn fired a beam of her own, and the two beams met. Both were equally strong, and both mares increased their power to best their respective opponent. It took Luna a few seconds - and quite a lot of power - but she finally overwhelmed Twilight and turned her to ashes.
Then, she plopped down on the floor, completely exhausted and deeply grieved.

The Bearers of the Elements of Harmony were dead. All of them. And she had killed them. But she did not have a choice, those corrupted ponies had been too much of a threat, hadn’t they?

As Luna was sitting there in misery, she heard somepony laughing.
She tried to jump up, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t even turn her head, all she could do was look straight ahead. That was enough to see the source of the laughter.

Directly in front of her, a blackness started spreading, darker than the darkest night. Two eyes started glowing in that darkness, and a voice she was horribly familiar with said:

“Thank you for getting rid of those pesky Element Bearers for me. Now, even the minuscule chance of stopping me you had is gone forever.
What about you, Luna? Don’t you want to embrace the change again? Don’t you want to become Nightmare Moon again?”

The darkness started expanding towards her. Luna screamed…
and was suddenly lying in her quarters.

She struggled to get back onto her hooves, disoriented and shivering with fear.
The Nightmare Lord… it WAS his doing!
She had to alert everypony… and she had to confess that she had killed the Element Bearers…
She teleported.

Antonius woke up as he heard the sound of somepony teleporting into his quarters. Probably Luna. Knocking on doors was just not her style.
He turned his head and saw that his assumption had been correct - but Luna was shivering and seemed to be close to crying.

“Luna?” he asked,
“what’s wrong? Another attack of the nightmare forces?”

Luna nodded.

“They have…” she started, but then she froze and stared at Antonius’ left arm.

Rarity was lying there, asleep.

“Umm… this ‘cuddling up’ was your idea, remember?” Antonius stated,
“and it worked remarkably well.”

Luna did not answer. Instead, she lit her horn and picked up Rarity. Hovering in front of the princess, the unicorn mare slowly woke up.

“Is it morning already?” she asked sleepily.

“You are dead,” Luna said tonelessly.

Huh?
The way Luna had said that did not sound like a threat, more like something she had problems believing.

Rarity, on the other hand, was not susceptible for such details, at least not in her drowsy state.

“It was his idea!” she screamed,
“I have to admit that I could have resisted a little more, but it was definitely his idea!”

“Okay, so you’re not the Element of Loyalty,” Antonius deadpanned,
“and you’re also wrong. In fact, it was Luna’s idea. Yet, I don’t think that this is about jealously. What is this about, Luna?”

Luna still had Rarity in her magic grasp and looked at her in disbelieve. Then, she suddenly started mumbling:

“A nightmare. It was just a nightmare. The nightmare forces set up a trap, and I walked right into it!”

“What?” Antonius and Rarity asked.

Luna set Rarity down again and told them what had happened.

“If they can do something like that to Princess Luna,” Rarity wailed,
“is anypony safe from them?”

“This is more than just unsettling,” Luna admitted,
“I must say that I am greatly disturbed by this course of events.”

“As long as those abominations hide in dreams, I’m afraid I can’t do much,” Antonius grumbled,
“not being a psyker, I need physical bodies to destroy.”

“I think they will attack in a very physical way soon enough.”

“Probably. I think they cause those nightmares to lower morale and fighting power. Talking about fighting power, Luna, you look exhausted. You need to rest.”

“I do not know if I should exactly look forward to sleeping.”

“Just cuddle up to Antonius!” Rarity suggested all of a sudden, and much to Antonius’ surprise,
“I did not have another nightmare, and I have to admit that it’s quite comfortable!”

“May I?” Luna inquired.

“Pfft… he’s got two arms, after all! You don’t mind, Antonius, do you?” Rarity grinned and nudged him.

“Umm… no,” he replied, a bit dumbfounded by the fact that Rarity was basically lending him to other ponies.

“Thank you,” Luna replied and crawled into his bed.

Now, Antonius had a pony in each arm again, and the mares quickly fell asleep.
He, on the other hand, thought about Luna’s nightmare. While he was quite sure that this ‘Nightmare Lord’ was a daemon of Tzeentch, he also was able to identify the thumbprints of all four Gods of Chaos. That was a remarkably bad omen.
He didn’t know what was about to descend upon them, but he knew one thing: He had to expect the worst.

56. Angels and Daemons

The rest of the night was uneventful. As Antonius woke up from his ‘fluffy pony’-induced sleep, he noticed that Luna was also just opening her eyes.

“Good morning,” he greeted,
“how did you sleep?”

“Surprisingly well,” Luna yawned,
“it really is a little odd that you are so effective against nightmares, even though you do not have any magic… or do you?”

“No… apart from that friendship thing, maybe. Perhaps ponies just feel safe around me since I am sorta good at fighting daemons - even without magic.”

“Hmm…” Luna hummed thoughtfully and got up to lower the moon.

Celestia raised the sun immediately after that and bright rays flooded the room. That woke up Rarity, who started mumbling:

“Ugh, I should have remembered to bring my sleep mask along… Oh, good morning, everypony. I have to say, I slept quite well, at least during the second part of the night. Now, I better get my mane done! Might I use the bathroom?”

“Sure, be my guest,” Antonius said as he sat up and put Rarity down on the floor.

She quickly vanished through the bathroom door and shut it behind her. When Antonius wanted to get up, too, Luna put a hoof on his chest and held him back.

“Tony, I have a favor to ask of you,” she said with an urgent tone,
“please, come with me to the realm of dreams.”

“Are there daemons to fight? Can I even do that there?” Antonius inquired.

“Yeah,” Luna replied, obviously somewhat glum.

“Okay.”

Luna lit her horn, and a few seconds later, Antonius was asleep again.

He was standing in front of a large, but derelict castle somewhere inside a dark forest. The Everfree? Probably. He was wearing his armor and he was also armed, but as he looked around, there were no daemons to fight, only Luna was standing next to him. Why had she brought him here?

“Please follow me,” Luna said and entered the castle.

Antonius did as she had asked him to. Inside, there was a long and high hall, with tattered banners with sun and moon symbols hanging from the ceiling.

“Celestia’s and my old castle,” Luna explained,
“or at least the dream version of it.”

She led him through the castle to another large room with two thrones at its end, one of them dark blue with a moon banner above, the other one golden with a sun banner above.
This room had definitely seen better days. Its roof, once made of glass, was shattered, as were the windows. The walls were in bad shape, too. This was not just due to abandonment and passage of time, it looked more like battle damage.

“Your old throne room?” Antonius inquired.

“Yes,” Luna told him curtly, then she motioned him to wait and walked up the stairs that led to the blue throne.

She stopped when she was standing on a small platform with a broken railing between the two thrones.

“I am sorry,” she sighed.

“For what?” Antonius asked with a sense of foreboding.

“A few minutes ago, we agreed that you were really good at fighting daemons,” Luna said glumly,
“now, with the Nightmare Lord on our doorstep, I must know… I must know if you can defeat her…”

‘Sense of foreboding’ did nowhere near describe the bad feeling Antonius now had.

“I must know if you can defeat… me.”

Now a dark smoke came into existence around Luna and engulfed her, lifting her into the air. Antonius had seen this smoke before… the nightmare forces had used it.
In addition to that, another shred of dark smoke came through one of the destroyed windows and united with the swirling miasma that surrounded Luna. He had seen this shred of smoke before, too… the last time, it had been fleeing from him after meeting a round of shot.

Oh shit. Antonius immediately put on his helmet.

Suddenly, maniacal laughter resounded through the throne room and the smoke cleared - revealing a dark, armored alicorn with slitted pupils and serrated teeth.
Nightmare Moon.

Antonius immediately grabbed his bolter… but how effective would the dream version of a bolter be against a creature that specialized in nightmares?
Well, there was a way to find out… but would this hurt or even kill Luna?
Damnit… perhaps the melee approach he had used against Nightmare Rarity was more appropriate for this situation… or his hesitation would cost him dearly. His last encounter with this daemon had taught him that it was quite strong, and now it had possessed an alicorn instead of a unicorn, and they were WITHIN A FRIGGING DREAM!
Probably not the best preconditions.

“Finally!” Nightmare Moon cheered,
“back in the body that rightfully belongs to me!”

“I strongly doubt that you even know what ‘rightfully’ means, daemon,” Antonius hissed.

“Oh, if it isn’t the upstart who had dared to attack me while I was in the body of this unicorn. Don’t think it will be that easy for you this time, giant. But just to be sure…”

She lit her horn, and Antonius’ weapons were gone. Okay, a melee it would be.

“What?!” the daemon suddenly shouted,
“getting rid of your weapons was hard enough, but getting your armor out of the way is impossible! And it’s not just the pathetic spells Luna had used to shield them, it’s as if that stupid armor was a part of you, ingrained deeply in your subconscious!”

Antonius was truly thankful for his training. While weapons could change, he indeed saw his armor as a part of him. Well, with the neural link, it actually was a part of him.

“This will not be the only thing you’re going to fail at,” Antonius stated.

“Huh? Do you think you can fight me? Do you think you can defeat me?”

“As the Emperor commands, so it shall be.”

“Your emperor is not here to help you!”

“He already helped me. He made me an Ultramarine, guardian of mankind, and now I will show you why we are also called ‘the Angels of Death’, daemon!”

“You are very confident. Well, this will be gone very soon. I will kill you, and then, I will finally return to my Lord. The news of your demise will be a nice gift for him after all those centuries.”

Well, at least that was some good news: The daemon had not dared to return to its master while still ‘defeated’, it wanted to have something to show, a victory it could present, so it would at least not get reinforcements - if Antonius could prevent it from escaping.

“A naive fallacy,” Antonius said,
“just release Luna and crawl back into the shadows, or you will be defeated a second time.”

“We’ll see,” Nightmare Moon grinned, spread her wings and took off.

She circled high above Antonius, firing bolts of dark blue magic at him. Thanks to his reflexes, he was able to dodge each one of them.

“Miss,” he commented drily from time to time, trying to anger her enough so that she would come down and into his range.

After a few dozen shots, she did exactly that. Dodging became more difficult, but Antonius waited until he was sure he couldn’t miss her. Then he jumped and grabbed her left hind leg.

“What?” Nightmare Moon roared.

“Gotcha!” Antonius grinned and smashed her into the ground.

Before he could lift her again, she fired at him. This time, he wasn’t able to evade the blast and it hit his chest. Pain shot through his body, and he had to release her and take a step back. There was a black spot on his armor and the upper layers of ceramite showed visible cracks.
Okay, a daemon possessed alicorn was definitely more powerful - and faster - than a daemon possessed unicorn.

While Nightmare Moon was getting back onto her hooves, Antonius quickly attacked again and managed to punch her just when she was standing again. His fists had an effect on her, but unfortunately they were not as effective as they had been against the daemon’s first incarnation.
Still, a little was better than nothing.

The daemon was not content with being beaten, though, she beat back. While Antonius was able to deflect most of her punches, a few hit his armor and left dents.

This fight was much more balanced than the Space Marine was comfortable with. He didn’t mind a challenge, but since Luna’s life was probably at stake, he would have preferred an easy victory. But what was this victory supposed to look like?
Just hurting the daemon until it released Luna did not work. Perhaps if he killed it? Would killing the daemon harm Luna? He didn’t know.
It dawned upon him, however, that he could not allow himself the luxury of being considerate of Luna in this special case; the daemon was too powerful for that. He had to use all of his power and try to kill the thing. He wasn’t comfortable with his assessment, but he had to do his duty; the daemon had to die. And there was still a decent chance that his friend would be freed instead of harmed.

He thought about the numerous times he had fought Luna. Those fights had always been symphonies of movement, displays of skill and prowess. This fight here was a nothing but a brutal brawl.
A brawl he had to win. Perhaps he could use the environment to his advantage?
Hmm… despite the damage, those old walls did look pretty solid…

Antonius changed his fighting style a bit and slowly shoved Nightmare Moon towards one of the walls. Then, as she reared up to attack him, he ducked and jumped forward, ramming his pauldron into her chest and lifting her off the ground. He sprinted straight towards the wall - and slammed the daemon into it.

Stone blocks were sent flying as the wall burst and Antonius involuntarily entered another room of the castle.
Unfortunately, Nightmare Moon was more durable than the wall had been. She looked battered, but was still in fighting condition. She latched on to him and charged her horn. A punch did not stop her from doing so.

Then, she fired a magic blast at point blank range at Antonius’ helmet. His HUD went dark, and he could hear ceramite crack.
His helmet was destroyed, just a broken piece of armor now that obstructed his view. It would not be able to stand another blast, so he ripped it off his head and dropped it.

Nightmare Moon charged her horn again, and this time, it would be a lethal shot. Antonius was aware of that fact.
Punching her would not be effective. He knew that, too.
He was running out of possible means to stop her, and he was running out of time.
There was just one thing he could do now to prevent certain defeat.

Antonius opened his mouth and emptied his Betcher’s Gland into Nightmare Moon’s face.
Finally, she let go of him, screaming in pain as the corrosive poison bit into her skin.

He punched her as hard as he could, sending her flying through the room. Not wasting a second, he dashed after her. She was lying on her back, still screaming and whimpering, and he closed in to stomp her into the ground.

Nightmare Moon was faster, though. She bucked with her hind legs and sent Antonius flying right back where he had come from. He skidded to a halt on the stony floor. The pain he felt was almost paralyzing, and the blood he tasted not really a good sign.

He just wanted to get up again, as the daemon smashed her hooves onto his chest armor and pinned him down.

“This is your end,” Nightmare Moon hissed, drooling out of her partly eaten mouth.

Once again, she lit her horn.

Antonius was on the edge of defeat. Again. He moved his arm to start a last attempt at punching his enemy as he touched something lying on the ground.
His broken helmet!
He grabbed it, and - using every bit of strength he could muster - smashed it into Nightmare Moon’s already damaged face.

The helmet shattered and the daemon rolled off him, screaming an agony.
Antonius got back to his feet as fast as he could and saw his enemy lie next to him. Then she opened her wings and started rising. Obviously, she had enough of the fight and was trying to escape.

Antonius had no intention to allow her to do so. He put his boot between her wings, forcing her back down to the floor. Then, he grabbed her wings and started pulling.
Bones broke and sinews snapped, but that was all but drowned out by Nightmare Moon’s screaming. Finally, with a last wet crack, the wings came loose with two fountains of blood.

Still, this fight was not over. The daemon couldn’t fly away anymore, but it was still a lethal enemy. To change that, Antonius plopped down on his knees - and on his enemy. He flung his left arm around her neck, and used his right hand to grab her horn.
He pulled, twisted and leveraged.
Nightmare Moon set her horn ablaze, trying to force Antonius to let go of her.
Now, it was a question of what was more durable: the daemon’s horn or the Space Marine’s hand.

With superhuman effort, Antonius eventually managed to rip the horn out of Nightmare Moon’s head. Her screams had been almost deafening, but now they quickly changed into whining.
Antonius let go of her neck and turned her onto her back, holding the horn like a dagger.

“I… will… be back!” Nightmare Moon hissed.

“I will be waiting for you,” Antonius replied and stabbed the horn into her chest.

Nightmare Moon opened her eyes wide for a moment, then she started turning into the black smoke her kin seemed to be made of. Most of it just dissipated, it was only a small shred of darkness that slowly crawled away, and Antonius had the satisfying feeling that this fight had taken a heavy toll on the daemon.

Any positive feelings were gone as looked back down. In front of him, Luna was lying in her blood, impaled by her own horn.

“Oh shit,” Antonius mumbled and gently put his hand beneath her head.

Now Luna opened her eyes - and smiled at him.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

Then she died and the dream ended.

Antonius almost fell out of his bed and immediately looked at the spot where Luna had been standing before her little ‘experiment’ started. She was lying on the floor, in the same position she had been lying in the dream. Fortunately, her wings and horn were still where they were supposed to be. There was no sign of blood, either.

Now she opened her eyes - and smiled at him.

“Hi,” she said.

Antonius grabbed down and picked her up.

“Are you… INSANE?” he shouted, holding her with arms extended.

“Well, I have to admit that it did not quite go as expected,” Luna answered,
“I was so worried about the Nightmare Lord that I forgot that the Nightmare Moon daemon could show up even earlier.”

“You don’t say,” Antonius sighed and hugged her, relieved that she was alright.

Luna also flung her hooves and wings around him.

Then, the bathroom door flung open and Rarity pranced out. She immediately froze and said:

“Oh, sorry. Should I leave?”

Ending the hug, Antonius answered:

“We all better leave. There’s breakfast and a lot to discuss.

After quickly getting ready for the day, they met with Celestia in the refectory.

“That news worries me,” the Princess of the Sun said once she had heard about the events of the night,
“three attacks of such severity in just one night!”

“I think it was more like two plus one attack,” Antonius opined,
“the Nightmare Moon daemon just used an opportunity, it did not coordinate its actions with the rest of the nightmare forces. Still, I am sure an attack is imminent.”

“I’ll put the Royal Guard on high alert and have them patrol the area.”

“Good. And tell them not to engage the enemy before they have reported the sighting.”

“And I will order my Night Guard to prepare for intensified patrol duty,” Luna added,
“I guess the nightmare forces will wait for the night to attack.”

“It would be easier if we knew their target,” Antonius stated,
“there are at least two possibilities: the Element Bearers and Luna. I think the best course of action would be to gather the potential targets at an easily defendable location and barricade up there.”

“And if they attack someplace else?” Celestia interjected,
“we would neglect the safety of the other citizens!”

“Well, being daemons, it is possible that they’re going to attack the civilian population to cause as much suffering as possible,” Antonius admitted,
“but we cannot guarantee the safety of everypony. The Element Bearers and Luna take priority.”

“I do not want to be safe while our subjects are in danger!” Luna replied,
“we should take care that our forces are evenly distributed and able to fight back wherever the enemy attacks!”

“While I understand your feelings, I have to say that your proposal is not very wise,” Antonius remarked,
“perhaps it would be a compromise if we split up the guard; one half in Canterlot, the other half in Ponyville. That way, we should be able to defend the capital and the hometown of Twilight and her friends. I will use the Land Speeder to quickly get to the location where the attack will take place - as long as there are not so many daemons that they will attack several locations at once.”

“I know that there are at least about two dozen daemons,” Luna told them,
“but I do not think that I have seen all of the Nightmare Lord’s minions. There are probably many more.”

They all looked at each other, then Celestia sighed:

“We just don’t know enough about our enemy to prepare properly.”

“Correct,” Antonius stated,
“that’s why we have to focus on the most important issues. I say, we defend Canterlot and Ponyville. And we should give the Element Bearers the Elements of Harmony, so that they can use them without delay.”

“Okay,” Celestia said,
“you know how to wage wars against daemons, after all. We will split up the guard and do as you suggested. Furthermore, you, the Element Bearers, Luna, and I will gather in Ponyville to draw the daemons there and lure them away from Canterlot. Agreed?”

“Agreed!” Luna and Antonius answered.

Now that they had a plan (of sorts), Antonius, Luna and Rarity teleported to Ponyville, right in front of the Carousel Boutique.

“I will talk to Blackwing,” Luna said,
“he can come to Canterlot with me for the briefing. Furthermore, we can start our first patrol right now.”

Having said that, she left, and Antonius and Rarity entered the building.

“Really, Antonius, you don’t need to keep me company anymore,” she told him,
“I’m fine.”

As the door to her workshop caught her eye, though, she suddenly froze. Noticing that, Antonius asked:

“The room in which your nightmare has taken place?”

Rarity just nodded and kept staring at the door.

So she was afraid to enter her own workshop… the nightmare forces had managed to spoil her enjoyment of the place where she did was she loved most of all. That had to be corrected.
So Antonius unceremoniously opened the door and stepped into the room.

“Oh, Emperor,” he suddenly mumbled.

“What?” Rarity screamed from outside the room,
“are the nightmares back?”

“No, but this room is a mess.”

Now Rarity entered the room, too, looked around and said defensively:

“This isn’t a mess, Antonius. It’s organized cha… I mean ‘organized disorganization’. It inspires me! I need it for my work.”

“Then, you could start working, don’t you think?”

Rarity looked at him, then she nodded:

“Yes, I can get back to my work.”

The unicorn did just that, and a few minutes later Antonius left the boutique. In the sky, Celestia was approaching Ponyville. Once she had seen him, she descended and landed right next to him.

“Half of the Royal Guard are taking up their stations and going on patrol in Canterlot,” she informed him,
“the other half will leave within the next hour and head to Ponyville.”

“Good,” Antonius replied,
“but that’s a message for a vox. Is there another reason you came here?”

“I just can’t shake the feeling that something’s going to happen soon.”

“Well, Luna said that the attack wouldn’t start until nightfall. Maybe she’s right. Night and nightmares, it fits somehow. She still wanted to start the first patrol immediately, though. Ah, there she is!”

At some distance, Luna and Blackwing were rising over Ponyville before heading towards Canterlot.

“These hours are going to be hard, especially for Luna,” Celestia sighed.

“She will be relieved all the more once we have destroyed the Nightmare Forces,” Antonius answered confidently.

They both looked at Luna and Blackwing, flying through the sky towards the capital.
Suddenly, a black cloud appeared out of thin air, exactly in their flightpath.

At the same time, the moon suddenly started rising, making its way towards the sun and creating an unnatural twilight. This was not the moon as Antonius knew it, though; on its usually bright surface, a black grimace was visible.

“Oh, my goodness, no!” Celestia shouted.

“Bloody hell!” Antonius agreed.

He may have been armed with a ranged weapon, but the events that unfolded now where too far away for him to intervene. To have a chance of changing that, he started dashing towards the looming battle in the sky, while Celestia took off and did the same.

Luna and Blackwing turned around and sped back towards Ponyville. The cloud started chasing them, getting closer and closer.
Luna fired a magic bolt at it, but it created a hole in its shape where the bolt passed through without hitting it.
Then, Blackwing stopped in mid air, shot a crossbow bolt into the cloud and made a sally.
His heroic attempt to buy Luna time to escape was about as effective as Antonius had expected; without slowing down, the cloud swallowed him and spat him out again, leaving him falling earthwards.
Luna dived, trying to escape the cloud. She fired again, and again it was without effect. At least, she was getting closer to Ponyville.

Antonius was still way too far away to help, but Celestia was close enough now to fire a magic blast of her own. Unfortunately, the cloud evaded her attack and kept getting closer to Luna.

“Sister!” Luna screamed in desperation, then the cloud swallowed her - and was gone.

“NO!” Celestia roared.

The defaced moon was now blotting out the sun, the grimace on its surface seemingly laughing at them.

Antonius slowed down for a second. The Nightmare Forces had abducted Luna.
He felt burning hot anger rush through his veins, but he knew that it was useless - at the moment there was nothing he could do about it. There was something he could now, however.

He sped up again and ran to the area where Blackwing had hit the ground. As he approached, he could hear the batpony scream in pain.
Well, at least that meant that he was still alive.

Following the screams, he saw him. A tree had slowed his descent and probably saved his life, but half of his right wing had been ripped off, and judged by the pose of his legs, a few bones had also been broken.

Antonius knelt down next to him, and Celestia landed right beside him.

“Forgive me, your Highness… I have failed,” Blackwing wheezed.

“You have done everything you could,” Celestia told him, lighting her horn.

Blackwing was engulfed in a golden yellow shimmer, easing his pain.

“The nightmare forces have caught us unawares,” Celestia noted.

“Yeah,” Antonius agreed,
“they did not waste time. Luna was sorta right, though. They did wait for dusk, they just created it themselves.”

“Go and get a doctor for Blackwing. I’ll heal him in the meantime. Make haste!”

Antonius dashed towards the hospital. Halfway to his destination, he met Rapid Cure and Nurse Redheart, carrying saddle bags.

“Hello, Antonius,” the doctor greeted,
“we saw what was going on and thought we could help.”

“Follow me,” the Space Marine said and a short time later, Rapid Cure and Nurse Redheart were taking care of Blackwing.

“We have to go now,” Celestia stated,
“we’ll gather Twilight and her friends, fetch the Elements of Harmony and go to the moon to rescue Luna!”

“This will take quite some time,” Antonius pointed out, feeling a strange uneasiness and restlessness he had never felt before,
“and we have no reconnaissance data. Can you somehow get me to the moon immediately? I want to gather intelligence, draw their attention, or do whatever I can to make sure we can obliterate the daemons and rescue Luna.”

Celestia thought about his proposal and answered:

“I could try to… ‘shoot’ you to the moon. It is risky, but with your armor and constitution, you have a good chance of riding it out.”

“Then, shoot me to the moon!”

Celestia hesitated a second, then she said:

“Antonius, just to be clear: the priority is to save my sister, not to kill daemons, okay?”

“The Nightmare Forces won’t set her free if we just ask nicely. Hmm… when you got abducted back then, Luna’s order was to rescue you no matter the cost,” Antonius told her flatly.

“Huh? Do you want to insinuate that I don’t really care for Luna?”

“Do you want to insinuate that I don’t care for her?”

“Okay,” Celestia said after a second,
“I get what you mean. Still, this is not the time for a dispute.”

“Agreed. Please start.”

“Do whatever you can. I trust you.”

Having said that, Celestia lit her horn again, and Antonius was engulfed in her magic. Then, he started flying skywards like a rocket, heading for the moon.

“Al,” Antonius voxed.

“How can I help you?”

“Connect to my armor.”

“Connected… are you… flying?”

“Yes. To the moon to rescue Luna. Record the vid-log and show it to the ponies. Every bit of information will be useful.”

“Okay.”

As Antonius approached the moon, he could hear a voice over his vox, quiet at first, but it was getting louder:

“I am your nightmare. I will come for you.”

This message reiterated over and over again. So, the daemons were able to mess up the vox…

“Al here. I receive some unusual interferences.”

“That’s the work of the daemons… seems they can disrupt or even intercept vox messages… and perhaps data, too. Damnit. I have to deactivate my sender. Saving vid-log to internal database. Radio silence until I tell you otherwise.”

“Understood. Good luck, Antonius.”

Antonius deactivated his sender and his vox and continued approaching the moon. As it grew bigger in front of him, he could make out mountains and large plains. For a second he wondered if being shot to the moon without a ship or something similar really had been a good idea, but he knew that their options had been somewhat limited.

As he entered the moons atmosphere, he noticed that he was flying - respectively falling - straight towards a steep mountainside. That should allow him to decelerate without being turned into a pancake. Really, he had to commend Celestia for her accuracy.
He looked around and saw some kind of castle not too far away from the mountain. Black clouds were circling around it, and it looked dark and evil.
His objective.

He turned around, so that his feet now pointed downwards and made contact with the moon close to the mountain’s summit. Skidding down the mountainside in a not too dignified way, he finally managed to come to a halt at the bottom of the mountain.

“The aquila has landed,” he mumbled with a grin as he brushed the dust off his chestplate, then he checked his armor and weapons and started making his way towards the castle.

Antonius had traveled for a few minutes as a creature showed up on top of a small hill. He immediately aligned his bolter - but he did not fire. He had seen this creature before. So he lowered his bolter, approached it and said:

“You’re Jerome, right?”

“Yes! You’re the big one from Ponyville! Wow, we’re really glad that you came to help us!” Jerome replied.

“Actually, I’m here to rescue Princess Luna. The Nightmare Forces have abducted her a few minutes ago. Can you give me some intel regarding the daemonic activity here?”

“Well, I think it would be best if I led you to our camp. Larry will tell you what happened.”

Antonius followed Jerome to a small camp that the denizens of the moon had set up. There, he met Larry.

“Hello!” Larry greeted,
“thank you for coming. We really need you assistance.”

“Actually, he is here to rescue Princess Luna,” Jerome told his friend,
“the daemons have taken her!”

“Oh crap,” Larry mumbled, then he turned to Antonius:
“They came here a few hours ago and attacked us. We fled out of our castle, but they still tried to kill us, even though we were already running away.”

“Yeah, they were really insane!” Jerome interjected.

“When they finally stopped chasing us, we set up this refugee camp here to treat our wounded. We hoped that our pony friends would realize what was going on and help us,” Larry explained.

“They are on their way,” Antonius told him curtly,
“in the meantime, I am here to gather intel and keep the daemons from hurting Luna. Do you know how many of those daemons are here? Are they all in the castle? Tell me everything you know.”

“There are two or three dozen of those creatures. Maybe more. They seem to be contend with occupying our castle - for now, at least. I know you came here for the princess, but could you help us, too? I just hope that they have not killed her.”

“Unlikely. They could have killed her in Ponyville. They want her alive, probably to possess her again. As for the help: Rescuing Luna will involve a lot of daemon killing. That should help you. Do you have any troops we can use? Not really, huh?”

“Unfortunately, you are right. We have no chance of opposing them.”

“Okay, keep hiding. When the ponies come, intercept them and tell them what’s going on. Tell them also that I’m going to sneak up on the castle to scout the war zone and kill stray daemons.”

“We will do as you said. Good luck!”

Antonius bid goodbye and continued approaching the castle, his bolter at the ready. He had to admit, there was a chance that the Nightmare Forces would kill Luna if she resisted them for too long and they grew impatient. That thought was truly unsettling.
Hiding behind a large boulder, he took a look at the castle’s doors.
No daemons. They had left the doors unguarded.

He crept up on the entrance, examining his surroundings and expecting an ambush - but there was none.
He pushed the doors open and stepped inside - still no sign of a daemon.
The entrance hall was empty. If not for the dark clouds swirling around the building, one could think it was abandoned.
Antonius sneaked through the castle, his alertness at maximum, while still having to keep his strange uneasiness and restlessness in check.

Then, finally, he heard something; a cheering of throats that should never have learned to make vocal expressions. He carefully closed in on the source of the sounds until he was standing in front of a large double-winged door. Behind it was quite a ruckus. He listened if he could make out any words.

“And soon, we will have Nightmare Moon back!” a dark voice shouted,
“with her help, we will plunge this world into eternal darkness and turn the lives of its pathetic inhabitants into living nightmares. We will dedicate their torment to all Four, and with their combined power, we will finally be able to break this damned veil and corrupt the whole planet, including its cursed artifacts.”

More cheering.

“Do not count on that, abomination.”

Luna! So she was still alive and herself.

“Oh, come on, Luna. Embrace the change! Don’t you want to be powerful again, revered by your subjects?”

“Revered? You mean feared! No, I will never join you!”

“I am sure I could convince you to change your mind… if only my lieutenant were here… I wonder where she is? Always busy scheming.”

Lieutenant? The Nightmare Moon daemon! So, the thing had not shown up yet. Good.
And Antonius would not wait until it did. Time for action; the well planned action the Ultramarines were famous for! So he started analyzing the situation according to the Codex Astartes:

Enemy units:
One ‘Nightmare Lord’, daemon, probably a greater one
About four dozen daemons (judged by the ruckus they made) of unknown strength, probably lesser ones

Ultramarines:
One Ultramarine, battle-brother, 48 bolts, chainsword, standard power armor
Additional information: main mission to secure the Elements of Harmony has priority

Allied forces:
One pony, alicorn, abducted, probably rendered harmless
Powers: dream walking, moving the moon, proficient in close combat, high level magic, probably no combat power at the moment
Additional information: dream walking not important, moon can be moved by Celestia, ponies got along without her for 1000 years
Reinforcements:
One pony, alicorn
Powers: Moving the sun (and moon), precognition, close combat skills, high level magic
Additional information: essential for continued existence of the planet
Six ponies, various subspecies
Additional information: Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, essential for main mission
Powers: Unclear, probably very powerful

Result:
Wait for reinforcements. Use opportunity to evaluate the Elements of Harmony.
Ultramarine unit is the only imperial unit available and therefore must not be put in unnecessary danger. Securing the Elements of Harmony for mankind has priority.
Abducted pony is expendable.

Antonius thought his stomach turned. That was the advice the Codex Astartes gave him?
He checked his analysis, but he couldn’t find any obvious mistakes. So, the cold, hard logic of the Codex told him to wait, because Luna was expendable.
As it was written in the Codex, so it had to be done.
No matter how uncomfortable it made him.
Usually, he was the expendable one, which offered him a great deal of freedom, but now…
Well, he could continue listening, at least. Perhaps he would pick up something useful.

“If your lackey does not come soon, she will be too late,” Luna said,
“I am sure a good friend of mine is about to arrive.”

“Abandon all hope, Luna. Soon, you will call me ‘my Lord’ again. In the meantime, let’s see if I can’t break your spirit.”

Oh shit.

Luna screamed.

And Antonius felt as if he was about to explode. His uneasiness and restlessness reached new highs, and he could feel burning hot anger running through his veins.
But the Codex told him to wait… and the Codex was right… he was an Ultramarine, he had to follow the Codex. Even if it meant letting his friend suffer.
As it was written… in the Codex… so it had to be… SHIT!

No. He would not stand around and idle like an asshole while some damned daemon was torturing Luna!
If the Codex disapproved of that, then screw the Codex!

Antonius quickly reloaded his bolter with the full magazine. He would need all 30 bolts without having to reload. Then, he set his bolter to full auto. He would need those 30 bolts fast.

With a prayer to the Emperor, he kicked the door open.

Time slowed down as the wings of the door flew open, revealing a large room. At its end, there was the ‘Nightmare Lord’ a giant, black, bipedal daemon with a beak, its throat and shoulders covered with feathers. In one of its claws, it held Luna, only her head and her hind legs sticking out. Some black, gooey substance covered her horn and was wrapped around her legs; so she was indeed rendered harmless.
Between Antonius and them, there were the daemons. About 50 black, shadowy things that cheered their master.

Even before the door was completely open, Antonius pulled the trigger and opened fire. The first bolt left the weapon’s muzzle, shot towards a daemon, and ripped it apart in an explosion of black blood and body parts. More bolts followed the first one, making heads and torsos detonate into clouds of gore.
Antonius guided his shots along the line of daemons. Careful aiming was not really necessary; an advantage when your enemy had a vast superiority in numbers. He just took care to not point the bolter in Luna’s direction.

By now, the daemons had realized what was going on, and turned to engage him. Half of his magazine was gone, but he put the remaining bolts to good use: More abominations exploded, their flying arms, legs - or bone fragments - impeding their disgusting brethren.
Now that they were facing him, Antonius realized that they looked like exaggerations of nightmares; some looked like ponies with glowing eyes and huge fangs, others like spiders with way too many legs, eyes and mouths, a multitude of aberrations.
They would all die, no matter what they looked like.

Another daemon was blown apart as Antonius heard the characteristic ‘click’ of an almost empty magazine. He continued firing and more daemons were blasted to smithereens. Then, the steady flow of deadly bolts subsided. His magazine was empty.
30 daemons were dead now, at least two more injured by shrapnel. A good start.
Considering the speed at which his enemies approached him, they would be in melee range once he had finished reloading, so he put his bolter to his hip and drew his chainsword, activating it in the process.

Antonius beheaded the first daemon that got into his range with a mighty swing of his roaring sword, then he stabbed another one. He pulled his sword out of the jerking body and slashed another one’s stomach. He stroke forwards and sideways with transhuman speed, slaughtering one abomination after the other.

Then, he felt a weight on his shoulders, and sharp claws tried to tear him apart, leaving gorges in his pauldrons. Antonius grabbed the thing on his back, lifted it over his head and slammed it into the ground in front of him. It was some kind of doglike monster, more a hellhound than anything else, but it died without further troubles as Antonius stomped his boot onto its head.

A nightmare spider jumped at him, hoping to bring him down. Instead, he impaled it with his chainsword, raised it further into the air and brought the weapon to full speed.
The thing jerked and squeaked as it was eviscerated, its blood raining down on the floor and staining his armor.

Antonius sneaked a peek at the Nightmare Lord and Luna and almost started laughing. He had never thought that a greater daemon could look dumbfounded. Luna’s expression was quite similar, but there was more; perhaps it was hope, or happiness, or whatever. There was not enough time to appropriately determine that.

The dead spider was turned into an improvised missile as Antonius launched it at another daemon, then he continued his gruesome but righteous work. If he had ever worried that his time with the ponies had had a bad influence on his prowess, here he had the proof that that was not the case. He had never been better. Speed, strength, accuracy, everything worked perfectly.

Before long, Antonius faced the last of the lesser daemons, looking a little like an old mare, but with a multitude of sharp, acicular teeth in its mouth.

“Where is my rus…” it started, but he stabbed his sword into its maw and cut it apart before it could finish the sentence.

Now Antonius faced the Nightmare Lord. Until now, the giant creature had not intervened. In fact, it looked a little disturbed.
Well, it was used to frightening ponies and killing harmless beings. Now, it had to face a Space Marine, dripping with the blood of its slaughtered lackeys.

“You have come a long way to kill me,” the daemon snarled,
“and I have to admit that you are not bad, but you are no match for me.”

Having said that, it extended its claws, and a dark shockwave came rushing towards Antonius.

“Look out!” Luna screamed, then a rope of dark goo - similar to the substance that covered her horn - wrapped around her muzzle, forcing her to be quiet.

The shockwave hit Antonius, but he did not even flinch. It had been a wave of fear, and while Space Marines generally were very resistant to fear, Antonius’ righteous wrath made him immune to the attack.

“Release her and I’ll make it easy for you,” Antonius told the surprised daemon coldly.

“Her? Luna? You’re here for… well, if that’s the case… fetch!”

Now the abomination threw Luna against the wall, hard enough to make the stones collapse over her.
Antonius was sure his hearts skipped a beat as he witnessed this. Had Luna survived?
He couldn’t take the time to check in on her…

“Oh, you missed!” the daemon grinned sadistically.

Now, while the gene-seed of the Ultramarines was generally regarded as one of the most stable, it was also rumored to have two flaws; the first was a tendency to adapt to existing hierarchy. One could argue that Antonius had already displayed that flaw when he had accepted Luna as his commander. The second flaw was a predisposition for increased aggression potential, and Antonius was about to display that flaw now.

He jumped forward, roaring, and thrusted his chainsword deep into the daemon’s stomach. The attack was so powerful that it forced the daemon to take a step back, even though it was twice as tall as the Space Marine. It screamed in anger and pain as its intestines were falling to the floor, but it was far from defeated yet.

The daemon reached back with its fist, and Antonius realized that he had been an idiot.
His chainsword was so deep in the bowels of the creature that he had no chance of yanking it out in time. So, he only had two options: to let go off the sword or to try and deflect the blow.
Not willing to loose his weapon, he choose the latter.

The fist came down and Antonius left arm rose to deflect it. He managed to stop the fist, but two cracks - not to mention the spike of pain - told him that he had taken damage in the process: the armor on his left arm was broken, as was his left lower arm.

Antonius managed to free the chainsword and jumped backwards before the daemon could hit him again.
The first ‘round’ was over, and both of them had taken damage. The weakness of the lesser daemons had lulled Antonius, and while his blunt attack had been somewhat satisfying, he had to change his tactic to ensure victory against this stronger enemy.
And he did just that.

Instead of powerful attacks that were so slow that the daemon got a change to strike back, Antonius attacked faster, only cutting now instead of eviscerating.
The Nightmare Lord’s blows only hit the ground or nothing at all, while Antonius dodged and attacked whenever he had an opportunity.

They fought this way for a few minutes, and Antonius noticed the daemon getting slower and weaker. The thing was bleeding out of dozens of wounds, and the Space Marine took care not to slip on the wet ground while still evading attacks.
His enemy had several cuts on its right wrist, and with his next swing, Antonius managed to sever the daemon’s clawed hand.

The thing screamed and took a step back, then it attacked again, mad with rage, and slipped on the same floor it had graciously supplied with its blood. Its head hit the ground, and Antonius saw his chance for another - and hopefully final - powerful attack. He jumped onto the daemon’s back and stabbed the chainsword into its neck.

The creature jumped up and tried to shake him off, but Antonius managed to hold on and forced the sword deeper into the cursed flesh.
The chainsword gurgled, torrents of blood streaming out of the wound, and finally, the daemon fell on its knees and toppled over.

Antonius jumped from its back and had his sword at the daemon’s throat only a second later.

“This is not over,” the abomination insisted, spitting blood,
“my lieutenants are still out there… they will avenge me!”

“If they’re not vastly better than you were, this isn’t gonna be much of a challenge,” Antonius spat and cut off the Nightmare Lord’s head.

A last twitch, a last scream, and it was over.
Antonius had won.

He had no time to savor this victory, though. He immediately dashed to the pile of rubble that had buried Luna and started digging with his hands. He did not care for his broken arm; while the armor’s shell and his bones were broken, most of the armor’s internal structure was still intact and prevented his arm from being ripped off by the effort.

Finally, he found Luna. She had multiple cuts and bruises, but she was breathing and the strange black mass was gone. Antonius took off his helmet and carefully examined her; her spine seemed to be alright… in fact, he couldn’t even find a broken bone. Alicorns really were resilient, even more than normal ponies…

Thanking the Emperor for this, he locked his left arm joints to favor his injured limb, carefully picked up Luna and turned to leave the castle. She breathed quietly, as if she was just asleep, and not knocked out by a greater daemon. He felt the little movements she made and the softness of her fur… the neural link to his armor really was great.

They had left the castle and were just descending the steps from the main door as Luna woke up.

“Tony?” she asked weakly,
“is it over? Are the daemons dead?”

“As dead as I can kill them,” Antonius replied with a smile.

“And you?”

“I am positive that I’m still alive.”

Luna smiled and rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, but are you hurt?” she inquired.

“My left arm is broken, so is my armor in that place. The Nightmare Lord’s doing. Other wise, I’m fine.”

That was right. Even this strange feeling of uneasiness and restlessness was gone. Okay, he was tired, but that didn’t matter; he felt downright great!

“Your arm?” Luna asked, stunned,
“but you are carrying me!”

“Don’t worry, I’ve locked the arm joints,” Antonius explained,
“my arm won’t fall off. Or do you want to be put down?”

“Not necessarily,” Luna snickered.

Antonius reactivated the vox and the sender and contacted Al:

“Al, frequencies are clear.”

“Affirmative,” Al replied,
“downloading your vid-log.”

“What about the ponies?”

“On their way. You should meet them soon.”

Not even a minute later Celestia, the Element Bearers and the denizens of the moon came into view.

“You’re okay!” Celestia cheered.

“More or less,” Luna answered.

“You managed to defeat the Nightmare Forces?” Larry asked.

“Yes,” Antonius replied,
“and you decided to come and help.”

“Yeah. While we knew we had no chance of winning in a fight, we thought we could still try to distract the daemons and protect the ponies.”

“Commendable. No righteous effort is in vain.”

“So,” Rainbow Dash grinned,
“we came here just to see you carry Princess Luna and you have already kicked all of the daemons’ butts?”

“You should have seen him!” Luna cheered,
“they did not stand a chance against him! He mowed them down with bolter and chainsword, only the Nightmare Lord managed to harm him by breaking his arm, but even that did not stop him!”

“Whoa… okay…” Twilight said.

“Anything we should take into account now?” Celestia asked.

“The remains of the daemons are all in a large room… you should bring the biggest mop along you can find,” Antonius told her,
“but seriously, we should burn the corpses, just to be sure.”

“We will take care of that,” Larry insisted,
“it’s the least we can do.”

“Thank you,” Celestia said,
“then, let’s head home.”

Lyra and a whole crowd of ponies had gathered on the hill from which Princess Celestia and the Element Bearers had started their rescue mission, waiting for them to return. Furthermore, the word had spread that Antonius had been sent to the moon in advance while the others had gotten ready.
A lot of ponies talked about that. They couldn’t understand what a single creature could do against a whole army of daemons, especially without the Elements of Harmony or any other magic.
Of course, Antonius had a reputation. Everypony had heard about the missions he had been sent on by the princesses, but those stories could be exaggerated. They had also seen him fight the Nightmare Forces when they had first attacked, and although he had played a key part in defeating them, it had actually been a group effort.
Lyra was not among the skeptics. She knew that the stories were true, and that Antonius could get along quite well, even without magic.

She did not have to wait long. The princesses and the Element Bearers soon returned - together with Antonius.
The whole crowd fell silent as the Space Marine touched the ground. His armor was soiled with a black substance, and it did not take a lot of imagination to realize that it was the blood of the nightmare daemons. In his arms, he held Princess Luna, and she seemed to be alright.

“Princess Celestia,” Mayor Mare greeted the princess,
“we are happy that you all are back safely - and that you were able to rescue Princess Luna!”

“Actually,” Princess Celestia answered,
“it was Lord Varus who rescued my sister. When we arrived, they were already on their way back.”

A murmur went through the crowd. Lyra grinned.

“And what about the army of nightmare daemons, if I may ask?” the mayor continued.

“Lord Varus took care of them,” the princess replied,
“they won’t be a threat to us anymore.”

More murmuring. Lyra’s grin grew even wider.
Everypony was staring at Antonius’ armor again, and now even the last pony realized what had happened.

“Really, we all have to thank our friend Antonius Varus,” Princess Luna now stated loudly,
“for he prevented the Nightmare Forces from raining doom upon us all!”

Then, she lit her horn and put the moon back to where it belonged at this time of day.

“If you’ll excuse us now,” Princess Celestia said,
“we would like to return to Canterlot.”

The princesses, the Element Bearers and Antonius left and boarded the chariots that had been waiting nearby.

“Do I have this right?” a pony asked,
“Lord Varus killed all the nightmare daemons, rescued Princess Luna, saved us all from an invasion, and that even before Princess Celestia and the Element Bearers arrived up there?”

“Yep,” Lyra smiled,
“you know, his kin isn’t called ‘Angels of Death’ for nothing.”

“Wow. Good thing he’s on our side,” the pony said.

Some time after they had set foot and hoof on the planet again, the whole moon task force was in Antonius’ room. While Luna and Celestia helped him out of his armor, Twilight and her friends kept asking questions about his ‘adventure’.

“Yes, Celestia shot me to the moon… no, I landed gracefully - more or less… no, I wasn’t afraid… no, I did not ‘kick their butts’, at least not verbatim… you know, just take a look at the vid-log, but beware, it’ll be quite… messy,” Antonius told them.

When they had removed his chest armor, the princesses tended to Antonius’ arm, then Celestia shooed the ponies out with a grin.

“Nothing to see here,” she smiled.

When Antonius had taken a shower and left the bathroom, he wanted to put on his civil clothes, but Luna stopped him.

“No. Bedrest,” she commanded.

“Huh? I’m okay,” Antonius objected.

“Your arm was broken. We may have healed it, but it is still a little weak. So, bedrest. And I will take care that you stay in bed to recuperate!”

“Telling you that this is unnecessary won’t be of any use, will it?” Antonius deadpanned.

“No,” Luna stated and gave him his pajamas, which he put on.

“Okay,” Celestia snickered,
“I’ll prevent him from escaping while you’re taking a shower, Luna.”

“Thank you, sister,” Luna said and vanished in the bathroom.

“You know, I did not plan to run away. While the rest is not strictly necessary, I don’t mind it, either,” Antonius explained.

“May I be honest with you - and perhaps a little blunt?” Celestia asked.

Oh, now he would be criticized for the mess he had made… well, he would endure it.

“Of course. Hit me,“ he replied.

Celestia closed her eyes for a second, and when she opened them again, Antonius could see that she was… moist-eyed?

Then, much to his surprise, Celestia suddenly downright jumped at him and hugged him - with her front legs and her wings.

“Thank you!” she cried,
“thank you so much for saving Luna! I thought I had to go through all that again… the loneliness, the guilt because I had been too weak to save her…
Do you know how often I stepped into her room, only to find it empty? Do you know how much I missed her every time I moved her moon? Do you have any idea how disgusting those Summer Sun Celebrations were for me, when I had to celebrate that I had been unable to save my sister? And I can’t even imagine how cruel those thousand years must have been for Luna… enslaved by a daemon, far away from the ponies she loved…”

Now the bathroom door burst open and Luna, obviously having overheard Celestia, dashed towards them, crying.

“Oh sister,” she screamed and joined in on the hug with quite some momentum.

Antonius lost balance and rolled onto his back, the princesses stacked on top of each other - and on top of him.

“My pleasure!” Antonius wheezed.

Since they made no move to end the hug, Antonius put his arms around them, too.

“Okay, enough cuddling,” Luna finally said and got up again,
“Antonius still needs to recuperate. And I will take care that he…”
She yawned.
“…does.”

“Maybe you should get some sleep yourself, Luna,” Celestia noted, also getting up,
“you can barely keep your eyes open.”

“Nah, I am fine. But you may go back to your duties, sister. It is not even noon, after all.”

“Right. You’ll probably want to skip lunch. I will bring you a snack in the afternoon. See you!”

Celestia left and Luna sat down on the edge of Antonius’ bed, yawning.

“You really should get some sleep,” Antonius suggested,
“I promise I won’t get up before I’ve completely recuperated.”

“Tony, I am worried you are taking this too easy. Your injury was cause by the Nightmare Lord! There is no way I am going to leave you unsupervised until we are absolutely sure everything is fine!”

“This wasn’t the first daemon I fought.”

“Less arguing, more sleeping. I will take care of you.”

Realizing the futility of any sort of objection, Antonius closed his eyes and was soon asleep.

57. Hero of Ponykind

As Antonius awoke a few hours later, he noticed that he had slept better than ever before.
Was it the righteous feeling of having killed a daemon?
Was it the fact that he had been able to save his friend and improve his relationship with Celestia?
Was it the soft and warm creature that was lying directly in front of him?
…HUH???

Yes, he was definitely not alone in bed. He was lying on his right side and felt it touching him from his chest down to his thighs. He opened his eyes, only to see night sky.
What the…?
He was sure he wasn’t outside and on top of a mountain, so there couldn’t be night sky at this angle!
Unless…

Albeit still a little drowsy, he started getting a hunch who this creature might be. He lifted his head, and the night sky fell from his eyes, revealing a familiar blue head.
Luna!

Antonius grinned. So she had not been able to stay awake. And she had used the next available bed - his bed. He didn’t mind that. In fact, perhaps he could tease her a little about that. She had said ‘enough cuddling’ earlier, after all.

Something was wrong, though. His right arm was extended, and Luna had placed her head on it. So far, so good.
But what about his left arm? He felt something that was too fluffy for being a bedsheet…
Luna’s belly! He had downright buried his left hand in the fur that covered her belly!

He tried to remove it, but Luna started stirring, so he immediately put it back. He didn’t want to wake her, after all.

Since he couldn’t use his arms at the moment, he tried moving his left leg, but he felt resistance and Luna stirred again. He stopped his attempts and lifted the bedsheet with his left elbow to take a look at his legs.
Seriously, how had Luna managed to wrap her tail around his thigh like that?

Okay, so he could not move without waking her. Well, their ‘spatial orientation’ might have been a little embarrassing, but it could be worse; they were alone, after all.

That changed just a few seconds later. There was only one pony with such a timing: Celestia.

“Slept well?” she asked quietly.

“Yes, thanks for asking,” Antonius replied just as quietly over Luna’s head.

“Anything to tell me?”

“What makes you think so?”

“Well, for starters,” Celestia said, unsure if she should grin or be worried,
“you are spooning my little sister.”

“What? I am not spooning… oh hell, I am spooning her!” Antonius realized, flabbergasted.

“Luna’s sleeping soundly. And she smiles. She obviously enjoys this particular way of sleeping. You seem to be quite proficient in spooning.”

Now Celestia grinned. So she had decided not to worry.

“When I was told that Space Marine excel at warfare because they excel at everything, I did not think about something like that,” Antonius deadpanned.

“If only I had a camera…” Celestia thought aloud.

“Don’t you dare!”

“Oh, don’t worry, it would be too much of a coincidence if I actually had a camera with me.”

Having said that, she fetched her PDA and took a photo of Antonius and Luna.

“You told us - more than once - to have our PDAs with us wherever we go,” she smiled,
“now, I’ll leave and let you two sleep. But please don’t do anything… you know…”

“Hey!” Antonius interrupted her,
“I certainly won’t do with Luna what I wouldn’t do with no other creature neither! Wait, what did I just say???”

Celestia almost cracked up and had to leave the room to burst out laughing.

Antonius sighed and, having nothing else to do, stuffed his head back into Luna’s mane.

Some time later, Luna started stirring and yawned. Antonius thought about wishing her good morning now, but decided to wait until she realized that they were actually spooning. He wanted to see her face!

Luna raised her head and started mumbling:

“Hmm, so I really have fallen asleep… what is that? An arm… Antonius’ arm…”
She looked down her body and continued:
“his other hand… on my belly… and how did my tail get wrapped around his leg?”

Antonius had to restrain himself from laughing.

“And who tucked me in?” Luna kept going.

Well, that was a good question. Antonius had assumed it had been Luna, but if it hadn’t been her, was he somehow responsible for that? Did he - in his sleep - notice Luna and tuck her in?
A strange idea.

“Ah, shucks!” Luna suddenly said and put her head back on Antonius’ arm.

That was not exactly the reaction he had expected. Time to let her know that he was awake.

“Good morning,” he said calmly.

Luna tensed up for a second, then she turned her head and replied:

“Good morning… umm… how did you sleep?”

“Fine. In fact, I think I’ve never slept better in my life. And you?”

“Actually, I think it is the same with me.”

“Intriguing. And I thought you said something about ‘enough cuddling’.”

“Hey, I am not the one who is spooning me!”

“Huh? I thought you cuddled up to me…”

“I… do not know, to be honest. Is it possible that I cuddled up to you, and you tucked me in?”

“I have no idea… it would fit the current situation, though. Be that as it may, should we stop and get up?”

“Well, it is quite comfortable. Do you have anything urgent to do?”

“No. And you are right, it is quite comfortable.”

“Then, let us stay just a few more minutes.”

“No objections.”

So they stayed in bed for a while. Antonius thought about the whole situation. He had found a way to increase the efficiency of sleep! But how exactly? It hadn’t been the first time he had shared his sleeping place with Luna, so what was different this time?
The cuddling. She had sort of cuddled up to him before, but it was the first time he had… cuddled back!
Cuddling with a pony increased comfort and hence also the quality sleep!
He highly doubted, though, that this insight would be useful to his chapter. He just couldn’t imagine Ultramarines cuddling with ponies, even if it had such advantages.

So, that obviously was another point where he was different from his brothers. What bugged him more was his disregard of the Codex Astartes. No real Ultramarine would ever do that, especially not as deliberately as he had done it. So, what was he now? A traitor? A renegade?
He wasn’t sure, he only knew that in the eyes of the chapter he had certainly screwed up. Big time.

“Is something wrong?” Luna suddenly asked.

“As I rescued you, I broke the Codex Astartes. It decreed to wait for reinforcements. I still attacked,” Antonius told her bluntly.

“You should perhaps use a codex that does not misjudge your prowess. But I know that this codex is important to you. So, what is going to happen now?”

“Well, I’ll have to report it when my chapter arrives. They’ll punish me.”

“Oh dear. What will this punishment be?”

“A Death Oath, probably.”

“A WHAT?”

“My armor will be stripped of any insignia and I will be sent out on a very dangerous mission to clear my name.”

“A suicidal mission?”

“Near-suicidal.”

“Are they mad? I thought your Chapter Master is a reasonable man!”

“That’s why there’s a near-suicidal mission instead of an execution. That way, the Marine can still bring harm to the enemies of mankind.”

“Sorry, but that is just stupid. If your chapter master - or whoever comes here - has even a modicum of common sense, they will either exculpate you, or mete out a sensible punishment… what about this: they could banish you from your chapter, but order you to stay here and keep protecting us. That punishment would at least make some sense! I still vote for exculpation, though.”

Staying here for the rest of his life? Not participating in the wars to defend mankind?
While this was a harsh punishment for a Space Marine, and it bothered Antonius, he also noticed that the thought didn’t bother him as much as he thought it would - or should.

“Thanks, Luna. While being banished would be a considerable blow, having to stay here would certainly not be the worst fate… especially considering how important this planet is… and since I have good friends here. Well, we’ll have to wait for my chapter to arrive to see what will happen.”

“Yeah. And you bet if they insist on this ‘Death Oath’ stuff, I am going to give them a piece of my mind!”

“Just try not to take on the whole chapter,” Antonius grinned.

“Tony,” Luna asked after a while,
“do you regret saving me?”

“No. Not a single second.”

A few minutes later, they finally got up. Antonius changed into his civil clothes and they visited Celestia in the throne room.

“Ah, there you are!” Celestia greeted with a grin,
“slept well?”

“Extraordinarily well, sister,” Luna replied nonchalantly.

Celestia kept grinning, and Antonius turned to Luna:

“For your information: She knows.”

To prove that, Celestia fetched her PDA and showed her sister the photo she had taken earlier.

“Seriously, sister,” Luna said sternly,
“if you show this picture to another pony, I will club you - with the moon!”

“Don’t worry,” Celestia laughed,
“I will only use it to annoy the two of you directly.”

Well, this was good news… sort of…

“By the way, Twilight and her friends have been waiting for you,” Celestia told them,
“I will send for them immediately.”

The ponies entered the throne room soon, but they were suspiciously quiet.

“Anything wrong?” Antonius asked.

“Well,” Twilight started,
“we had a look at your vid-log.”

“I told you it’s messy.”

“Yes, and I seriously thought I couldn’t trust my eyes. Especially as you jumped at the Nightmare Lord and stabbed him! I mean, he was twice your size and incredibly dangerous!”

“He isn’t anymore.”

“You can say that again! This whole vid-log… even though I knew the outcome, I think I have never been this scared in my life!”

“Thankfully, Princess Celestia watched it with us,” Fluttershy added,
“otherwise I couldn’t have stood it!”

“Best horror and hero movie ever!” Rainbow suddenly exclaimed.

A series of reproachful looks silenced her.

“Now, what are you going to do with the rest of the day?” Celestia inquired.

“We’ll head back to Ponyville,” Twilight told her.

“I’ll join you,” Antonius said,
“while my armor is in need of repairs, I first want to visit Blackwing in the hospital.”

“Yeah, I will visit Blackwing, too,” Luna added.

It was still afternoon when they arrived at Ponyville, near the hospital. The Element Bearers went home, Antonius and Luna entered the building. In Blackwing’s room, they also met Moonlight and Stormy.

“Hello everypony!” they greeted, then Luna asked Backwing:

“How do you feel?”

“Bruises, broken bones,” the batpony replied tiredly,
“nothing too serious.”

Well, the fact that he was in a full body cast did not really support this claim.

Suddenly, Blackwing dozed off.

“He’s been hurt pretty badly,” Moonlight quietly told them,
“and the doctor has put him on painkillers. They make him sleepy. He will be okay again, though - mostly. It just will take some time.”

Damnit, this little family was not exactly blessed with luck: Stormy lost her biological parents, Moonlight was eviscerated, now Blackwing was crushed.

“Stormy,” Moonlight said softly,
“you have been exceptionally patient all day. Don’t you want to go for a walk with Princess Luna and Antonius? Blackwing will sleep at least for an hour.”
She turned to the visitors:
“if you are okay with it, of course.”

“We would be glad to help,” Luna replied, and Stormy just said:

“Okay.”

So Antonius, Luna and Stormy wandered through the adjacent fields. Stormy was very quiet all the time, until she suddenly asked:

“Princess Luna, Antonius, is it possible that I’m a… jinx?”

“What?” Luna asked in surprise,
“no, that is nonsense!”

“But bad things always happen to the ponies around me.”

“That’s not your fault,” Antonius stated,
“it’s the doing of the forces of Chaos. They - and only they - can be blamed for everything that happened to you or your families.”

“Really?” Stormy asked hopefully.

“Absolutely!” Luna confirmed.

Stormy was visibly relieved and started chatting again.

A short time later, they came past a field with cows.

“Hmm… now that I see those cows, a glass of milk would be nice,” Stormy mumbled.

“Shouldn’t be much of a problem,” Antonius opined and turned to Luna:
“Can you create a hard-light cup for Stormy’s milk?”

“You want to…” Luna stammered, staring at him, then she started grinning and continued:
“of course I can!”

Seconds later, Antonius had the magic cup in hand and was walking up to a cow.
The animal turned its head and looked at him.

“Greetings,” he smiled,
“mind if I tap a little milk for my little friend over there?”

The cow took a look at Stormy, as if it had understood him, and Antonius interpreted the fact that the creature didn’t run away as consent. So he tapped the milk - the cow did not seem to mind that… it was rather the opposite - and when he was done, he patted the animal and said

“Thank you!”

He almost had an heart attack when the cow actually replied:

“No, thank you!”

Then she - being obviously sapient disqualified her as real animal - fetched a purse from Emperor-knew-where, gave Antonius three bits and walked away casually.

The Space Marine stared at the money, then at the cow, then at the money again, trying to understand what the hell had just happened.
Luna could hardly restrain herself from bursting out laughing as Antonius walked back to her and gave Stormy her milk.

“You know, you could have warned me that the cows here are sapient,” he said flatly.

At that, Luna broke down laughing, while Stormy took a sip of her milk, not knowing what was so funny.

“I think this is the first time that I actually earned money… but in such a way…” Antonius continued, sending Luna rolling on the floor laughing.

Stormy still didn’t get it.

When Luna finally was on her hooves again, she said:

“Oh dear, that was hilarious! You should have seen your face!”

“If milking is seen as ‘you-know-what’ by cows, how do you ponies get milk at all? You bake a lot, you need milk!” Antonius asked.

“Want to hear the full truth?” Luna grinned.

“Yes!”

“Cows are usually milked in their own stables, by ponies they know well. Milking them on a field is quite uncommon, but I think this particular cow was just pulling your leg.”

“The cow… was kidding me?”

“Definitely.”

Antonius facepalmed. That was sort of embarrassing.

“Oh, Stormy,” Luna now said, turning to the filly,
“you do not understand what is going on, do you?”

“No, to be honest” Stormy answered.

“Lucky child,” Antonius grumbled.

“You will understand once you are older,” Luna continued with a grin,
“in the meantime, please keep this little incident a secret.”

“Okay,” Stormy just answered.

They returned to the hospital, where Blackwing was still asleep.

“Please wait here,” Antonius said,
“I want to see Rapid Cure.”

Having found the doctor, they entered an examination room so that they could talk without being disturbed.

“You surely want to know what’s up with Blackwing,” Rapid Cure guessed,
“well, the good news is that he is not in a life-threatening condition. The bad news is that his crash will leave marks. He won’t be able to fly anymore, and he will probably keep limping a little. He will have to stay here for at least a month.”

“Thank you for the information, doctor,” Antonius replied,
“there is something else I want to talk to you about.”

“How can I help the Hero of Ponykind?”

“The what?” Antonius asked in confusion.

“Oh, everypony is talking about your rescue of Princess Luna. Just go for a stroll through Ponyville and you’ll see. Now, how can I help you?”

“I had a strange sensation recently, best described as ‘uneasiness’ and ‘restlessness’. My body can cope with mundane diseases, so I wanted to know if there’s some sort of magical malady that causes such feelings.”

“Hmm… when did you experience those feelings for the first time?”

“When the Nightmare Forces had abducted Luna.”

“Are you still having those feelings?”

“No, they ended when I had rescued her. I wonder if it was some sort of nightmare curse?”

Rapid Cure raised an eyebrow.

“No other symptoms?” he asked.

“No,” Antonius replied.

“A feeling of loss, then of relief when everything was over?”

“Yeah, about that.”

The doctor started grinning:

“I think I might have an idea what’s going on with you. Just let me quickly examine you to exclude the other possibilities.”
When Rapid Cure was done, he said with a even broader grin:
“Well, you’re physical in an excellent condition, so I think I know what kind of ‘magical malady’ you have. Oh, it is truly magical!”

“Tell me what it is and how I can get rid of it.”

“Lord Varus, believe me, you don’t want to get rid of it.”

“Huh?”

“It is not a malady. It’s just an… well, let’s call it ‘condition’. A positive condition!”

“Uh-huh,” Antonius mumbled skeptically,
“and does this weird ‘positive condition’, that is ‘truly magical’ at least have a name?”

“Oh, yes! Yes, it does! But I won’t tell you.”

“HUH???”

“I think this is something you should figure out by yourself. Trust me. It will be more significant that way.”

“Umm… thanks… I guess?”

“You’re welcome! Bye!”

So a thoroughly confused Antonius left the examination room and went back to his friends. Since Blackwing was still sleeping he and Luna said goodbye and left.

“Doctor Cure suggested that we should walk through Ponyville,” Antonius told Luna,
“the rescue mission seems to be a topic of conversation.”

“Then, let us have a look,” Luna agreed.

The ponies they met in the town really behaved different than usual; some bowed, some clapped their hooves. A pony that behaved as always was Lyra, though.

“Hey, Princess Luna! Lord Varus!” she greeted,
“it’s nice to see you!”

“Lyra, can you tell us what exactly is going on?” Antonius asked.

“You are famous! The newspapers published special editions about your heroic rescue of Princess Luna!”

“Huh? This is by far not the first time I’ve helped somepony.”

“Maybe, but the first time you took on an entire army of daemons - on your own - to rescue a princess! They call you ‘Hero of Ponykind’ now!”

“Hmm… I’ve heard about that…”

“And another newspaper has given you another title. Admittedly, they have messed up the ‘Angel of Death’-thing, but they came up with something even better!”

“How did they mess it up?”

“They mixed it up with your rescue of Princess Luna and call you: ‘Luna’s Angel!”

“They call me what?” Antonius asked in disbelieve.

“Well, they are not entirely wrong,” Luna smiled,
“smiting daemons and rescuing ponies from them surely is sort of ‘angelic’.”

“Well… that’s true, I guess,” Antonius admitted.

Now that they had heard the news, they returned to the chariot. On the flight back to Canterlot, Antonius turned to Luna:

“Luna, I need your opinion.”

“Anytime,” she answered,
“what is bothering you? Is it the title ‘Luna’s Angel’?”

“No, it’s something different. When you were abducted, I felt a weird uneasiness and restlessness that only stopped when you were safe again. I told Doctor Cure, but he told me it wasn’t a malady, as I suspected, but a ‘truly magical positive condition’, and that I should figure this out by myself. This goes over my head, though. Can you help me?”

Luna stared at him for a few seconds with a sad smile on her face, then she hugged him.

“Umm… so you know what it is?” Antonius asked carefully.

“Do not worry,” Luna answered quietly,
“it will not reduce your prowess, make you weak or anything like that.”

“I know. I killed a greater daemon while affected by it, after all.”

“Yes. You did that.”

Okay, so telling Luna got him a hug. While being hugged could be seen as a ‘positive condition’, and the moon-moving, dream-walking pony who hugged him certainly was ‘truly magical’, he seriously doubted that that was the key to understanding this conundrum. So, since he had no clue how to continue, he decided to ignore it temporarily. According to Luna, it wasn’t dangerous, after all. Perhaps he would figure it out at some future time.

As she got the news that Luna and Antonius had returned, Celestia went to her sister’s quarters. Just as she wanted to knock, she heard Luna shout:

“Ugh, no!”

Following a sisterly-protective reflex, she burst into the room, only to see how her sister removed a big bow from her tail and threw it away - she had not even noticed her yet.

“Hmm… perhaps I could braid it… or a part of it…” Luna mumbled, looking into a large mirror.

“Umm… Luna?” Celestia asked in confusion.

Luna spun around and blushed.

“Oh, hello, sister. How can I help you?” she exclaimed.

“I just wanted to see you and make sure that you are okay… you know, big sister stuff if the little sister recently got abducted by daemons… you are okay, aren’t you?”

“Why, yes, of course I am! I am just… er… trying to… uh… oh for goodness’ sake! I am trying to look a little special, that is everything!”

“Oh!” Celestia grinned,
“are you trying to look special for somepony special?”

At the very same time as Celestia had said that, she realized that she probably already knew the answer.
Luna just nodded, but she seemed a little sad.

“Antonius?” Celestia asked carefully and completely serious.

Luna nodded again.

“I think I… like him,” she said.

“Luna, we all like… wait… ’Like’? Like LIKE like?”

Wow, that was probably the dumbest thing she had ever said.

Luna nodded again.

“Oh…” Celestia started, coming a little closer to her sister,
“I had no idea it was that serious. Listen, Luna, I am sorry for teasing you about the spooning. It was just… sorta funny. Well, I am… happy for you… seriously… but… umm… are you sure that you are not just a little excited because of the admittedly heroic rescue?”

“What is it when you are happy as soon as you see somepony, no matter in what predicament you are? What is it when you are both in mortal danger, but you can only think about their well-being? I am sure, sister.”

“Oh. Well… this might get a tad, a tiny little bit…”

“Impossible,” Luna finished.

“Huh? No, I was going to say ‘difficult’. Why did you say ‘impossible’? Does Antonius know? Does he feel the same?”

“He does not know. I am quite sure he feels the same, but he does not know that, either.”

“Huh? He doesn’t know… now THAT is impossible. He’s not a moron, after all!”

“But he is a Space Marine. It is a path he cannot go.”

Celestia stared at her little sister and thought about that. After a while, she asked:

“Luna, if he doesn’t know his own feelings, how do you?”

“He told me.”

“He told you about something he doesn’t know…”

“Yes. He described the feeling quite well, but he cannot figure out what it is.”

“Hmm… what about just telling him?”

“NO!” Luna blurted out, then she continued with a calmer voice:
“it is already difficult enough for him to come to terms with the fact that we are friends. Further development of our friendship would overwhelm him. He already broke this ‘Codex Astartes’ and jeopardized his life to rescue me and feels almost like a traitor because of that. While he said he does not regret his decision, a romantic relationship with a creature like me would surely destroy him. No, there will be no romance between the two of us.”

Celestia still stared at her little sister. This whole situation was so incredibly… BUCKED UP!

“Luna… that is so sad…” she finally said.

“Perhaps the universe is punishing me for the atrocities I committed as Nightmare Moon…”

“What? No! You have never done anything to deserve such a fate!”

“I tried to kill you and bring eternal night to Equestria.”

“Oh, that was nothing… okay, it was not ‘nothing’, but you were under daemonic influence, Luna. That wasn’t really you. But now please tell me: What are you going to do? Can I help you?”

“No… wait, yes, you can. I will have dinner with Antonius tonight. Can you help me look a little special? I know it will and even MUST lead to nothing, but I would still…”

“It’s okay, little sister, I understand,” Celestia smiled and hugged Luna.

After bringing his armor to the armorium and repairing it, Antonius met with Luna for dinner. To his surprise, she had primped herself up quite a bit: She was wearing a long, black dress and had deactivated the magic flow of her mane. Furthermore, she had braided a part of her hair and decorated it with flowers.

“Wow, Luna. You look great,” he smiled,
“I thought this would just be a normal dinner like the ones we already had.”

“Just see it as a sign of gratitude for saving me,” Luna smiled back.

“That wouldn’t have been necessary, but I still appreciate it.”

“So, you like this style? Anything in particular?”

“Yes. And I have to admit I am somehow fond of you deactivating the magic flow of your mane. That way, it looks like… a waterfall of stars flowing down your neck.”

While Antonius wondered how he had come up with those words, Luna replied:

“Thank you. Maybe I am going to let my mane down more often from now on.”

During dinner, Antonius could not shake the feeling that something was a little different from usual. The way Luna smiled was somehow different, but he was not able to put his finger on it.
Perhaps it was the different outfit…

After dinner, they spent some more time together talking about customs of the Ultramarines and various other things, then Antonius said goodnight and retired.

While her little sister and the clueless one were having dinner, Celestia took a stroll through the castle to think about the situation.

There were so many ponies in Equestria, why had Luna taken a liking to Antonius?
Okay, he was nice. Yes, he was an honorable warrior. And he had saved a lot of ponies’ lives. He really was a good friend and an amicable creature once one had learnt to deal with his… peculiarities, but seriously, wouldn’t a local pony have sufficed?

Suddenly, she realized that she had walked deep into the castle and was now standing in front of one of Starswirl’s laboratories. She knew this laboratory… only too well…
Why had she come here? Was it just a coincidence?
Following an inward urge, she opened the door and took a look inside. There it was… the mirror.

At that moment, Celestia realized that she had been a hypocrite:
There were a lot of ponies in Equestria, yet Luna had fallen for Antonius.
There had been a lot of ponies in Equestria, yet Celestia had fallen for…

Celestia slammed the door shut and braced her body against it, as if that could prevent her memories from surfacing. She took a deep breath and shook her head to clear her thoughts.
Yes, she and Luna were sisters. They even had a similar bad luck when it came to relationships.
Celestia turned around and walked back to her quarters, a little faster than usual.

Antonius was standing on a hill near Ponyville. How he had gotten there, he didn’t know. But at the moment, he had more urgent business: Ponyville was burning. Smoke was rising from the town, and flames licked towards the sky.

“Chaos!” Antonius shouted and started running.

Of course, it had to be Chaos, who else would burn down this harmless little town?
Good thing he wore his armor and had his weapons.

Antonius reached Ponyville and froze. It wasn’t Chaos that had come, it was the Adeptus Astartes! Space Marines were setting houses and inhabitants on fire!
There were brothers from different chapters; an Ultramarine, a Salamander, a Blood Angel and many more.

Such a composition was highly unusual, but he had no time to wonder about that. He ran up to the nearest Space Marine; a Black Templar who was just firing a flamer at a house.

“Brother Black Templar!” Antonius shouted,
“what are you doing?”

“The Emperor’s work,” he answered.

“No, those ponies are not our enemies!”

“They are xenos. They deserve death.”

“They aren’t really xenos, and even if they were, they are not hostile! They are our allies!”

“The twisted opinion of a renegade,” the Black Templar sighed contemptuously.

Oh shit… this was like a nightmare… the ponies were killed by his brothers, and he couldn’t do a damned thing about it!

Now, a filly dashed out of the burning house, crying.
Stormy Skies!

The Black Templar picked her up and reached back to throw her into the fire.
Antonius raised his bolter. He could not let that happen!
He aimed at the boot the Black Templar had put his weight on, hoping that that would stop him.

Thunder echoed through the town, and the Black Templar slumped to the ground, dead.
WHAT???
Even a normal human should have survived that! What the hell was going on?
To make things even weirder, every other Space Marine also collapsed, making Antonius the only living human in Ponyville.

He stared at the corpses, trying to understand what was going on.

“Thanks a lot!” Stormy said friendlily, but Antonius was not in the condition to answer.

Suddenly, he was not in Ponyville anymore. This new town was a rural human town, like a human version of Ponyville. His armor and weapons were gone, and the humans that were walking through town also were unarmed. It was downright peaceful - for a second.

Then, Antonius could hear the sounds of lasguns, shotguns and bolters. The town was under attack!

“They are coming!” one of the humans shouted and started running.

Others followed his example, and soon everyone was trying to flee - with one exception: Antonius was not fleeing. He was a Space Marine, even without armor. He would try to stop the attackers, or to slow them down at least.

He dashed towards the noise. When he finally got sight of the attackers, he froze.
Ponies!
Ponies were attacking the town!
Antonius dropped to his knees. It was his fault. He had shot at a human to save a pony. He had chosen ponykind over mankind. It was his fault that those humans would die…

“ENOUGH OF THIS!!!” a loud voice roared, shaking the earth.

Luna?
Yes, it was Luna! She was hovering above the town and fired her horn at the attacking ponies. Within seconds, they were all disintegrated and Luna landed in front of Antonius.

He fell forward, supported himself on his arms and started laughing like a madman:

“I betrayed mankind, now you betray ponykind. Great. That’s really great. I have to compliment you - from traitor to traitor!”

Luna lit her horn and used her magic to force Antonius to look her in the eyes. She was clearly worried, but Antonius was not in a condition to notice that.

“Tony,” she said firmly,
“this is a nightmare.”

“You don’t say?” Antonius laughed, not getting it at all.

Without warning, Luna punched him straight in the face. Antonius shook his head in confusion and slowly stared to become himself again.

“This. Is. A nightmare,” Luna repeated,
“and nothing but a nightmare.”

Antonius blinked.

“Well, that would explain a thing or two…” he mumbled.

“Wake up,” Luna commanded, and Antonius opened his eyes to find himself in bed in his quarters.

He sat up and looked around. As far as he could tell, everything was normal.
Just a nightmare… he had wondered how a nightmare would look like for someone who knew no fear. Now he knew. It still was a seriously disturbing experience.

With a flash of light, Luna appeared next to him. Now, he noticed her worry.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“I… think so,” Antonius answered,
“that was… unpleasant.”

“But only a nightmare, Tony.”

“With a true core. What if mankind does not share my view of ponykind? What if they attack? I can’t ignore an order, but I also can’t hurt my friends just because of an erroneous order… what would I do? I…”

“Shhhh,” Luna tried to calm him,
“do not think about that now. It will not be of any use. I know that you will convince your brothers that we are not your enemies. And do not forget that I already talked to them. Believe me, everything will be fine.”

Antonius looked at her for a while, then he nodded.

“Right,” he said,
“I think I forgot that. My question may still be valid, but only in theory. It’s really no use thinking about it. Thank you, Luna.”

“Anytime,” Luna smiled,
“that is my duty, after all.”

“I’m still surprised that I had a nightmare at all. I thought something like that wasn’t possible. Could it be an aftereffect of this strange wave the Nightmare Lord hit me with?”

“I am not sure about that. Would you allow me to explore your mind? I could see if there is any damage.”

“My mind? I don’t think you will like what you will see.”

“Tony, I have seen countless dreams. Wishes, fears. Desires, both subtle and gross. Nothing will disgust me. And I swear, whatever I will see will not be able to change my opinion about you, and I will always be your friend.”

The procedure Luna had suggested was usually only conducted by librarians. But there was none available, and he had to make sure that there was nothing wrong in his head. Furthermore, if he couldn’t trust Luna, whom could he trust?

“Okay,” he agreed and laid down.

“Please relax,” Luna said and lit her horn.

Antonius had to admit that that was easier said than done. The memory of his nightmare and the consequent questions still kept his mind agitated and calming down completely was easier said than done.

“Do not worry,” Luna said softly,
“we just need to increase your comfort, then you will be able to properly relax. What can I do?”

Hmm…
Well, the cuddling this morning had been quite comfortable, to be honest, but he couldn’t ask that of her, could he?

“Cuddling?” Luna smiled, having guessed his thoughts.

“Umm… that was quite comfortable… but seriously, I’m not a child. I am too old to need a cuddle after a nightmare!”

“Tony, you are never too old for a cuddle - especially after a nightmare,” Luna snickered, crawled into the bed and cuddled up to him,
“and I know what I am talking about - I am much older than you, after all.”

Antonius in turn put his arm around her, and he had to admit that it was indeed comfortable.
After a short while, he felt relaxed and sleepy, and Luna lit her horn.

As he woke up again, Luna was still at his side and greeted him with a friendly

“Good morning, Tony! How did you sleep?”

“Very well, thank you. Did you find any damage or sign of corruption?”

“No. No sign of excessive violence, decay or treason…”

Luna hesitated, so Antonius inquired:

“Why don’t you continue? Have you found something?”

“No, do not worry,” Luna replied,
“I just thought about adding a little joke to cheer you up, but that would probably have been inappropriate.”

“Kinda. This is about the integrity of my soul and my sanity, after all.”

“I thought so. Now, let me tell you what I think: you are just a little stressed, that is all.”

“Please define ‘a little stressed’.”

“You think by disobeying your codex you have put your own wisdom over that of your Primarch. This goes not just against your conditioning, but also against your humility, since you think that you are not worthy of doing so. This also caused your exaggerated nightmare.”

“Hmm… sounds reasonable. Any suggestions how to continue?”

“Be aware that your codex was written for grim times, when cruel decisions are necessary to survive and sacrifices have to be made. Here in Equestria, we can allow ourselves the luxury of looking for solutions without sacrifices. So, while you should keep using your codex as a guideline, you should also be aware that there may be a course of action that is better suited for our relatively peaceful world.”

Wow. Luna was really good at counseling. Her suggestion also made sort of sense.
Antonius looked at her for a few seconds, then he said:

“If you should ever run for chaplain, you’ve got my vote.”

“Thanks,” Luna laughed, then they got up, got ready for the day and met with Celestia for breakfast.

After breakfast, when Antonius had already left to look after his weapons, Celestia turned to Luna. She had stayed at the table instead of following her friend or retiring, and that usually meant that there was something she wanted to talk about.

“What’s wrong, Luna?”

Luna looked up, a little startled by the question.

“It is nothing, actually… I just found out that my assumption was correct.”

“What assumption?”

“Antonius. A romance would destroy the person he is.”

“How so? And how did you find out?”

“He had a nightmare, sister… and what a nightmare! He tried to protect us ponies, and in return, ponies attacked mankind.”

“We would never do something like that!”

“Of course not, but it shows his inner conflict. He allowed me to examine his mind afterward, to make sure that the Nightmare Lord had not damaged his psyche.”

“You examined his mind?”

“Yes, and I have never seen anything like it before. It is somewhat hard to explain, but I am sure he is not the same human he was born as. His subconscious was… modified, reforged. For example, can you imagine what would happen if you tried to frighten him?”

“If you say it like that, he probably wouldn’t get frightened, would he?”

“No. He would get angry. The fear would somehow be diverted and turned into anger. It would need an incredible amount of fear to actually trigger a fear response.”

“He knows no fear…” Celestia mumbled.

“Yes. And that is not the only modification. He told us that his reproductive system was deactivated to reduce his susceptibility to Chaos. For the same reason, he is… ‘reduced’ to friendships with his duty always taking priority.”
Luna sighed and continued:
“His duty… his whole mind is designed to make him do his duty, from the analytical, mathematical part of his subconscious with its lack of emotion to the rules deeply ingrained into his consciousness. They did not just turn his body into a weapon, but his mind, too.”

“That explains why Space Marines have such a reputation,” Celestia said thoughtfully,
“but considering that, Antonius is still somewhat… kind and amicable.”

“Indeed. That is his original character: at his core, he is a kind creature. Now, he still is kind when possible, merciless only if necessary. Still, there are limits to his amicability. His training usually takes priority. When he decided to rescue me, this was shortly turned upside down, causing feelings of guilt, which were intensified since he basically ignored the wisdom of his primarch. I am sure that a romance would mess up his whole psyche to the point that he would probably lose himself.”

“You mean, he would basically suffer from the question ‘love or duty’?”

“Sounds like a cheap romance novel, does it not?”

“In that case,” Celestia mused,
“I’d be your nasty older sister and clandestinely drive you and Tony apart. He would leave, only to somehow realize some time later what really happened. Then, he would come back, you two would reunite, and kick my rump.”

“You have actually read some of those novels?” Luna asked her sister quizzically.

“Well… sometimes…” Celestia admitted, and they both shared a moment of levity.

It was only short-lived, though, as the difficulty of Luna’s situation quickly made them become serious again.

“Love or duty,” Luna mumbled,
“Tony was created for duty, this conditioning is a part of him. Even the possible temptation of choosing ‘love’ could be his undoing.”

“Incredible… he faces monsters and daemons without any kind of problem, but THAT could bring him down… well, I think you are right, you are more proficient than me when it comes to mental problems, after all. So, what are you going to do now?”

“There is only one way to go for him and me: We will stay friends. Best friends, maybe, but just friends.”

Antonius spent most of the day cleaning his equipment and helping the ponies who worked in the armorium. The tank slowly took shape, and Trixie had found two apprentices whom she taught how to create ammunition. Unfortunately, there was still no palladium to be found, but everything else went pretty well.

When it was time for another training session with Luna, he picked up his chainsword and left the armorium. In the training room, Luna was already waiting for him. She still had deactivated her magic flow; instead, she had her mane done in a ponytail.
He put his chainsword in a weapons rack and fetched the training sword Luna had given him.

“Ready?” he asked.

“Of course,” Luna replied,
“but might I ask a favor of you?”

“Anytime. What can I do for you?”

“Could you teach me how to handle your chainsword?”

Well, that was a surprise. Luna really was proficient with normal swords, though, so a chainsword was the next logical step.
Yes, he knew that according to imperial doctrine, he would teach a xeno witch how to handle a signature weapon of the Astartes, but he did not really mind that. He knew that things were different here and he trusted her completely.
So he got the chainsword and gave it to her.

“So, I attack with the toothy edge and defend with the other?” Luna smiled.

“Ah, somepony kept a wary eye on my fighting style,” Antonius grinned,
“you’re right, using a chainsword is more complicated than using a normal sword, but the increased damage makes up for that. Apropos ‘increased damage’ - don’t activate it!”

Now they started fighting, slowly at first so that Luna could get used to the weapon. They soon sped up, and Antonius admitted freely that she was a quick learner. The weight of the weapon also didn’t bother her much. Yes, she was really good with a chainsword.

When the training was over, Luna asked:

“Do you think you will need any ‘fluffy support’ tonight?”

“Probably not,” Antonius laughed,
“while I have to admit that it was quite comfortable, I also have the feeling that it would somehow be a tad inappropriate to do this regularly. You’re a princess and I’m officially your subordinate, after all.”

“Okay, but call me if you have a nightmare again.”

“Promise.”

They bid goodnight and Antonius retired.

The next day, Antonius noticed a new stained glass window in the throne room. It depicted him, fighting the Nightmare Daemons with his bolter. While it was not too graphic, it still conveyed impression of the events.

“Hmm… nice work. You ponies are pretty quick when it comes to those windows,” he remarked.

“It is our way to honor the greatest heroes of ponykind,” Celestia told him with a smile,
“and you are certainly one of them. I may have had some problems with your methods every now and then, but there is no doubt that your are a true friend, Tony.”

“Thank you, Tia,” he smiled back.

A few days later, as Antonius entered the armorium, he found Trixie watching her two apprentices creating ammunition. They worked flawlessly, and the unicorn mare looked quite content.

“You are making progress, I see,” he said, walking up to them.

“Of course,” Trixie exclaimed,
“The Great and Powerful Trixie is also a Great and Powerful teacher!”

Antonius knew what that meant: She had done as he had asked her to and was free to leave any time she wanted. She was so relieved that she even had started boasting again!
She really had been a great help, but she also deserved the freedom of choice how to spend her days. The encounter with the nightmare daemons had unsettled her to a great extend, she would certainly be happier returning to her life as a traveling magician.

“So, you’re leaving?” he asked.

“If you don’t mind,” she answered,
“I want to get back on the road. Since I had to shoot that daemon, I’m not too comfortable working here anymore.”

Antonius turned to the ponies who would take over the ammunition production:

“You are positive you can do this on your own?”

Both answered in the affirmative, so he turned back to Trixie:

“Then, you are free to go. Just see to it that you can be found if there is an emergency.”

“Lord Varus, I’m a stage magician. You shouldn’t have any problems finding me.”

Now Trixie said goodbye to her students and the other ponies who worked in the armorium, then she left the imperial base, accompanied by Antonius. After a quick stop at her quarters, they went straight to the wagon dealer where she got her new caravan.

“Oh, that’s a nice one. It’s even personalized!” Trixie rejoiced.

“Glad you like it. If you want to leave now, I’ll escort you to the city gates.”

At the edge of the city, they said goodbye and Trixie left with her brand new wagon. Before she was out of sight, she waved a last time, then she was gone. Antonius returned to the palace.

58. The life and times of Antonius Varus

A few days later the silversteel from Saddle Arabia finally arrived. Antonius and the princesses accepted the consignment personally and took it to the armorium. There, the best armor smiths of Canterlot got to work.

“I never thought that I would ever have the privilege of wearing an armor made of silversteel,” Luna said.

“Neither did I,” Celestia remarked,
“and even though I still wish it wasn’t be necessary, I am determined to put those armors to good use.”

“We will, sister. Protected by such armor, we will show Chaos that Ponykind is a force to be reckoned with.”

“Good armor is invaluable,” Antonius agreed,
“but every armor can be broken, and a power-armored Chaos Space Marine will be a formidable opponent. Perhaps we can boost your strength or the armors with magic…”

“Sorry, but that won’t work,” Celestia explained,
“while such spells do exist, they wear off too quickly to be of any use.”

“Pity. Well, once you have your armor, we will at least intensify your training.”

“What about the Element Bearers?” Luna asked,
“should we send for them so that we can create armor for them, too? We should have enough silversteel.”

“Yes. They also need the best protection we can offer. Furthermore, I should start training them. Even though their primary weapon is the Elements, it can’t hurt if they can defend themselves in other ways as well.”

“Agreed,” Celestia said,
“I will send them a message. I must say that their presence will be quite convenient, too - perhaps Rarity can help increase the wearing comfort of the armor by putting some soft, yet durable fabric underneath it.”

“Yeah,” Luna added,
“although silversteel is pretty lightweight, chafing armor is most annoying.”

“You are really not used to wearing armor,” Antonius grinned.

“We aren’t used to wearing chafing armor,” Celestia corrected,
“tell me: does your armor chafe?”

“No.”

“See?” Celestia and Luna grinned.

That evening, Luna was walking through the hallways of the royal palace, heading for the imperial base. She had noticed that something seemed to bother Antonius, so she wanted to distract him from whatever it was that kept his mind busy.

She found him outside the base, staring at a light crystal on the wall.

“Tony?” she asked carefully,
“is everything okay?”

“Oh, hello Luna,” he replied, taking a short look at her and then turning back to the crystal,
“can you tell me how those crystals work?”

Huh? That could not really be what bothered him, could it?

“Well, it is a special kind of crystal,” Luna explained,
“a simple light spell was cast on it.”

“Can you cast other spells on those crystals, too?”

“That depends on the size and purity of the crystal. The ones we use for lighting purposes are not the highest quality, so no, using them as a source of light is pretty much their only useful application.”

“What about crystals of higher quality?”

Hmm… he really took an interest in that topic… but certainly not as an end in itself.

“You can cast quite a lot of spells on those, or even combinations of spells. One of my personal favorites is a combination of levitation and light, creating something of a hovering lantern.”

“There are spells to increase a pony’s strength, speed or stamina, correct? Spells for protection, too?” Antonius inquired.

“Yes, there are, but…” Luna answered, then she finally realized what it was that was keeping Antonius busy:
“You want to use the crystals to enchant the silversteel armor, am I right?”

Antonius turned to her and grinned:

“Exactly. Since we don’t have access to standard power armor, I thought about creating magic power armor.”

Luna thought about his proposal. Usually, such amplifications were casted directly on the pony in question and wore off pretty quickly, as her sister had explained. Charging crystals with them and use them in armors was a completely new idea, and one with a few problems.

“I am afraid it will not be as easy as you might think,” Luna told him,
“since the spell is cast on a pony, you need to attune the crystal to the pony so that the spell can work properly. And that only works if the pony in question is a very powerful magic user.”

“So, it would work for you and Tia?” Antonius inquired.

“Hmm… that should work… perhaps it would also work for Twilight, but I am much less optimistic when it comes to her friends.”

“But you do think it would work for you and Tia?”

“Yes, I think so.”

“Then, let’s give it a try. Do we have such crystals?”

“Plenty.”

“Perfect. We should start as soon as possible so that the armor smiths can adapt to our plans. We’ll need Tia, too... so, tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow,” Luna agreed, then she added with a smile:
“tonight, I have something else planned - for the both of us. Care to join me?”

“Of course,” Antonius answered.

A short time later, Antonius and Luna entered the princess’ quarters. A screen was set up in front of the couch, together with a projector.

“Remember when you said you wanted to see a pony movie about space?” Luna asked with a grin.

“Yes, that was when you were blind and I fed you that green stuff…” Antonius replied.

“Exactly! I know, it took quite some time, but here it is: Star Trot! It is a classic, or so I have been told…”

“By whom?”

“Shining Armor. He recommended the movie. And as a snack… I have made these!”

Now Luna hovered a tray with some kind of cookies over, clearly expecting Antonius to sample them. That reminded him that he should better intensify his cooking lessons before Luna accidentally managed to overload his preomnor… well, no matter how bad those cookies probably were, he would at least try them.

So he picked one and took a bite.
Then his eyes went wide.

“These are my Moon Rock Crunchies,” Luna explained, a bit worried,
“do you like them?”

Antonius took a look at the rest of the cookie in his hand, then he turned to Luna:

“Luna, your Moon Rock Crunchies are fantastic!”

Luna was visibly relieved and Antonius didn’t even have to lie. While the Princess of the Night had the wondrous power to turn just about anything she cooked inedible, those cookies were probably the best snack he had ever eaten.

“You made them yourself?” he asked.

“Yes. It is about the only thing I can cook or bake without causing a mass extinction among gustatory nerves.”

“Well, they are truly amazing.”

“Thank you! Now, do you want to start with the movie?”

“With pleasure.”

They both seated themselves next to each other on the couch and Luna lit her horn to start the projector.
After a while, Luna leaned against him, and he put his arm around her to make it more comfortable for her.

When the movie was over, Luna asked:

“And? What do you think about it?”

“Not bad,” Antonius answered truthfully,
“it shows a pretty optimistic view of space, and the gadgets are funny. There is just one thing I don’t understand…”

“Yeah?”

“Why did nopony think of putting some sort of plating on the hulls of those ships? You could think they’re made of paper!”

Luna laughed and hugged him.

“Another one next week?” she asked.

“Okay!” he answered.

About two weeks later, the silversteel armors were ready (and not chafing, thanks to Rarity) and the princesses had enchanted the crystals for their armors.
Antonius now wore his power armor whenever he trained them, so that they could get used to fighting such an enemy.

While the Element Bearers, who trained once a week, were not bad, they were still no match for a Space Marine. At least, they were pretty good at retreats, always taking turns at fighting and getting some distance between them and their attacker. That would give them everything they needed: some space so that they could use the Elements of Harmony.

The princesses, on the other hand, who trained daily, were starting to get seriously dangerous. With their new magic power armor, they were a match for a Space Marine - if they fought together. Then, they put Antonius in need quite often, and he had to use all of his skills to prevent them from defeating him.
Until one day, he failed to do so and ended on the floor.

“Oh, did we hurt you?” Luna asked worriedly.

The princesses, both panting, dropped their weapons and crouched beside him to see if he was okay.

“I’m fine,” Antonius told them,
“in fact, I’m more than fine - I’m proud of you. Your prowess is remarkable.”

“HUZZAH! Chaos shall learn to fear us!” Luna cheered.

“If you can force them into a fair melee,” Antonius deadpanned,
“otherwise, they will use ranged weaponry - or fight dirty. No matter what happens, you two must fight together and try to get your enemy between the both of you. Attacking from opposite sides, you have a really good chance to win, especially since you can use all of your magic then.”

“Let us test this tactic, sister,” Luna grinned,
“with an armored cuddle attack!”

Having said that, she plopped down on Antonius and hugged him. A second later, Celestia followed her example.
Antonius returned the hug with a grin, then he said:

“Okay, now get up.”

“Umm… sorry, but… I cannot, ” Luna admitted after a few failed attempts.

“Neither can I,” Celestia confessed,
“I’m totally exhausted.”

“A short nap? An hour or so?”

“Great idea, sister.”

Now the princesses became suspiciously quiet.

“Umm… girls?” Antonius asked, but only got quiet snoring in response.

This fight had really pushed them to the limit. And since Antonius was not really well-rested, either, he decided that this nap probably was a good idea.

Days and weeks went by. They trained together - Luna even got chainsword lessons at her own request - and they goofed around together.
When Blackwing was allowed to leave the hospital again, Antonius and Luna went to Ponyville for a joint dinner to celebrate his recovery. All told, the batpony stallion had made good progress.
The projects in the armorium were making good progress, too: they now had a small arsenal of shotguns and flamethrowers, plenty of ammunition and the tank was almost ready for the first tests. All told, things went pretty smooth.

Then, one day, Luna was especially excited as she entered the refectory for lunch. Instead of her necklace, she wore a teeshirt.

“Good morning, Luna, you are all smiles today,” Antonius greeted her,
“and up at an unusual time. Is there a specific reason?”

“You bet,” Luna grinned, then she shouted - together with Celestia:
“Today is Summer Wrap Up Festival and Hoedown in Ponyville!”

“I won’t even pretend to know what that means,” Antonius said flatly.

“It means that the both of us are going to take a chariot to Ponyville to join in on the fun!” Luna cheered,
“once there, we will DOMINATE the Summer Wrap Up Games!”

“Whoa, little sister,” Celestia interjected,
“don’t you think it’s a little unfair if you and Antonius form a team? I mean, it’s hard enough to compete against you if you team up with a normal pony, but with Antonius? I’m afraid that would ruin the games for the other ponies.”

“But he will not even wear his armor!” Luna pleaded.

“I’m sorry, Luna, but this still would be anything but fair.”

“Ugh, fine. Then I will have to look for physically fit pony in Ponyville. You are still coming along, Tony, are you not?”

“Of course I’ll come along,” Antonius assured her.

“Maybe you could compete against each other,” Celestia suggested,
“that way, the games would be even more exciting!”

“But then there is nopony to cheer me on!” Luna protested.

“Calm down, Luna. I’ll cheer you on,” Antonius stated.

“Well, if you don’t want to compete with Luna, perhaps you would like to compete with me?” Celestia grinned.

“In what way?”

“Oh, I have a booth there. You’ll see, Tony.”

After lunch, Antonius and Luna took a chariot to Ponyville. The town was bustling. Countless booths were set up just about everywhere and the roads were crowded with ponies. So, that was the (in)famous ‘Summer Wrap Up Festival and Hoedown’. While Ponyville never got boring, today clearly was something special.

As the chariot came in to land on the outskirts, they heard an announcement that the games Luna was looking forward to were about to start.

“Would you mind me flying down now?”Luna asked,
“I need to find a physically fit partner for the games to increase my chances of winning.”

“Fly and have fun. I’ll join you once the chariot has landed,” Antonius replied.

Luna jumped out of the chariot and flew down, loudly introducing herself to the citizens of Ponyville. She was so excited that she even used her slightly archaic speech patterns again.
Antonius smiled. Luna was always adorable, but excitement doubled this adorability. He could only just see her approaching Big McIntosh, Applejack’s brother, then the chariot got too low and he lost eye contact. He wondered how a normal pony was supposed to keep up with the incredible amount of energy Luna seemed to have at the moment, but earth ponies were quite resilient…

When the chariot had touched ground, Antonius hurried to the racetrack. Luna - who had done her mane in a ponytail now - had really managed to get Big McIntosh as a partner for the games; their front legs were tied together for a race, and they were in the lead. Unfortunately - for the stallion - Antonius had been right with his earlier suspicion: Keeping up with Luna was hard for him: she almost ripped his leg out… that was what it looked like, anyway.

“VICTORY!” Luna cheered as they crossed the finish line.

Big McIntosh also seemed happy; if this was caused by winning or surviving was impossible to assess.

There were quite a lot of other competitions, rather normal ones and… less normal ones, then there was a pie eating contest. As Antonius saw Luna dunk her face into her pie, he thought it might be a good idea to get a bucket of water and a face cloth. When he had acquired those and returned, Luna came to meet him, her face covered with red goo.

“We were defeated this time,” she informed him a bit grumpily.

“Well, it was not exactly a test of prowess, fitness, or intelligence,” Antonius replied flatly,
“and may I suggest using a more… subtle approach to this challenge the next time?”

“And lessen our chances of victory? NEVER!”

Antonius laughed and helped Luna clean herself. Now that the sporting activities seemed to be over, Luna removed her hair tie let her mane flow down her neck again. When they were almost done, she spotted her partner and started giving him instructions for the next challenge, a scavenger hunt. She wanted them to go separate ways and compare their findings after an hour. The stallion seemed to be a bit absentminded, though. Finally, Luna gave him a part of the list for the hunt, hugged him - or tried to break his neck - and said goodbye. Then, she turned to Antonius:

“Celestia certainly would not mind the both of us working together for the scavenger hunt, since the only advantage we get is more fun. Do you agree?”

“Absolutely,” Antonius replied.

“Then, let us start. Hmm… Where would one find a horse shoe amongst this lot?”

Working through Luna’s list led them through most of Ponyville and they met almost all of their friends. The Element Bearers, Moonlight, Blackwing and Stormy, Lyra and Bonbon, they all enjoyed the festivities. They also met Rapid Cure, who was deep in conversation with Zecora.
While those encounters were not really surprising, since they all lived in or near Ponyville, seeing Trixie again so soon was definitely unexpected. The unicorn mare had set up a puppet show and was telling stories of her own heroism.

“The version Twilight told me was somewhat different,” Antonius whispered into Luna’s ear.

“I suggest trusting Twilight,” Luna whispered back with a grin.

“Well, at least Trixie is happy again… I guess.”

When the hour was over, they waited for Big McIntosh at the place where they had gone separate ways. Unfortunately, he didn’t show up.

“I wonder where he has got to,” Luna grumbled,
“we have been waiting here for ages.”

“Yeah, ten loooong minutes,” Antonius teased her.

“If he has betrayed me, I will exact vengeance!”

“Luna, it’s only a game. Who knows, perhaps an emergency occurred and he had to help. And even if he just backed out: You had fun having him as a partner, didn’t you? So, be merciful.”

“Perhaps you are right. I should show him my gratitude for assisting me - if I see him again.”

Now Antonius and Luna strolled through Ponyville, trying to get to see the rest of the festival they had not already seen during the scavenger hunt. So, they came across a special booth:
‘Test your strength’ - Celestia’s booth!

“Seriously?” Antonius inquired,
“that’s what you do here?”

“As you can see,” Celestia smiled,
“it is actually a joke, since - as an alicorn - I am stronger than any other pony, but perhaps you would like to test your strength?”

“You are challenging me? What am I supposed to do?”

“It’s a hoof wrestling contest. Are you familiar with the rules?”

“I think so. Challenge accepted!”

Antonius sat down face-to-face with Celestia and got into position, grabbing her hoof.
Almost immediately, the ponies watching started whispering, a second later, they started placing bets. Unsurprisingly, most of them trusted their princess to win, but there were also a few who put their bits on Antonius.

“The contest is actually meant to be just for fun,” Celestia remarked,
“but if you agree, we can allow them to bet on the outcome.”

“Sure,” Antonius replied.

“I will be the arbitrator!” Luna offered and they all got ready to start.

“GO!” Luna shouted.

Antonius quickly increased the push, but so did Celestia. Their arms were barely moving.
A little surprised by the strength of the alicorn mare, Antonius choose not to use all of his power, but to wait for Celestia to try and beat him. This attempt happened after a few seconds, but Antonius was able to keep her at bay. Antonius’ little shot at unnerving her was not very successful, though. She looked a little surprised, but she increased the push further. Antonius was about to reach his limit when the push started stabilizing.

Celestia had reached her limit, too. It was incredible how strong she was, being able to match a Space Marine in raw strength!
Antonius’ muscles were bulging, and even through her fur it was visible that Celestia was in the same condition. Still, their arms were barely moving.
So, this competition would be decided by endurance rather than strength.

Antonius kept pushing, Celestia kept pushing, and the ponies around them were reverently quiet.
Both contestants started sweating now.

For a disturbingly long time, the situation did not change, then Celestia showed a first sign of fatigue: she clenched her teeth.
Antonius had no reason to cheer, though: he did the same only a moment later.

Some time later, their arms started trembling and they were muttering inarticulate sounds. Celestia had her eyes closed and Antonius was staring at at his hand, still unable to defeat his royal opponent.

Suddenly, a blue magic field wrapped around their arms and Luna exclaimed:

“Cease your struggle! This contest has gone far enough, we will not allow one of you to get hurt!”

Antonius and Celestia stared at their arms, then at each other.

“Call it a draw?” the Princess of the Sun panted.

“Agreed,” Antonius replied and they both relaxed.

Now Luna cancelled her spell and turned to them:

“Are you all right?”

“Yeah,” Antonius said, ignoring the fact that he definitely felt his overused arm.

“I’m fine,” Celestia stated, regarding Antonius, who looked right back at her.

Despite not being able to defeat the princess, the Space Marine had to grin now. This test of strength had taken a toll on both of them, even if neither of them was willing to admit it in public.
Celestia also grinned; she was well aware of that, too.

“How about closing your booth and taking a stroll through the town with us?” Luna suggested to her sister,
“after such an effort, you deserve some rest.”

“I think that’s a splendid idea,” Celestia answered.

“But… what about the bits?” a pony asked,
“neither of you won, so who is going to get the money?”

“Donate it to charity,” Celestia smiled and they got going.

While walking through Ponyville, they came upon a wooden display, showing two strange creatures with holes where their heads were supposed to be. One of those creatures, Antonius was familiar with:

“That’s Chrysalis! Why did you put up a picture of her?”

“So that ponies can ridicule her,” Celestia explained,
“it’s a way of dealing with the terror she brought upon us.”

“And who or what is that second creature?”

“That’s Discord.”

“The daemon you told me about?”

“Yes.”

“You do not see him in all of his ‘glory’, though,” Luna added,
“he is only half as ugly without his face.”

Celestia, Luna and Antonius kept enjoying the festival. Later, when the princesses had turned the day into night, they encountered Big McIntosh again, and Luna invited him to take a ride on the Ferris wheel to thank him for his help earlier. Celestia and Antonius stayed on the ground and waited for her.

“Tony, how is your arm doing?” Celestia suddenly asked.

“Much better now. The few hours since our competition allowed it to heal completely,” he answered.

“Hmm… I still feel my front leg. How about a massage when we get back to Canterlot?”

“No problem. Once Luna has finished the ride, we…”

He did not finish the sentence. He looked up at Luna and Big McIntosh. Celestia followed his gaze and saw what had caught his attention: Luna had just kissed Big McIntosh! On the cheek, but it had still been a kiss.

Celestia had to admit that she was a little worried about this situation. What would Antonius do now? How would he react?

“Tony?” she asked.

“Hmm?” he replied.

“It was just a friendly peck on the cheek, nothing to be jealous about.”

“Jealous?” Antonius inquired in confusion,
“I’m not jealous. What makes you think that I’m jealous?”

“Well,” Celestia told him carefully,
“you seemed a little bit startled.”

“Hmm… I was… sort of… but I don’t think that I have a reason to be jealous.”

“That’s true, as I just told you. It was just a little ‘thank you’.”

“That still doesn’t explain why I was startled in the first place… weird.”

“Don’t think too much about it. Such things happen from time to time,” Celestia said with relief.

Since Antonius - as far as she knew - didn’t really have experience with such close friendships as he had with Luna, she had been worried about him running amok in a fit of jealousy, but thankfully those worries had been without any reason.
Still, they way he had reacted was prove enough that he actually felt something for her little sister, even if he really had not realized it yet.

Celestia thought about what Luna had told her about Antonius and how his psyche worked. Then she factored in what had just happened and came to a conclusion:
Luna’s plan to protect Antonius would not work. Sooner or later he would realize what was going on, he already started questioning his reactions.

Perhaps, there was a chance of a little romance for her little sister - if Antonius was able to handle the truth and make the right decision. And Celestia was almost sure that he would be able to do that. Sooner or later. She was not really thrilled by that prospect, but she knew that such things were almost impossible to control.
So maybe, Luna would get a special somepony - unlike her.

Celestia closed her eyes for a second.
Those damned memories kept resurfacing, and the more she thought about Luna and Antonius, the worse it got.

“That was a fun ride!” Luna exclaimed, leaving Big McIntosh and running up to them,
“and I was able to show the citizen my gratitude.”

“I bet he’ll try to help you more often from now on,” Antonius grinned.

“Oh… you have seen the peck… do you mind my demeanor?”

“No, but you should probably be more careful. It looked like you had blown some of his fuses.”

They stayed and enjoyed the festival until it was late at night, then they returned to Canterlot.

A few days later in the morning, Antonius was walking through the palace to welcome Luna after her nightly patrol, just as he always did when she took some Night Guards with her (instead of him) to allow them to gather experience.

Suddenly, he heard a well-known voice at a also somewhat well-known volume:
Luna was shouting.
Something about the duties of the royal family.
Curious about what might be going on, Antonius approached her assumed position - and met Celestia. The princess had a mug of coffee in her magic grasp, was wearing a dressing gown - and a slightly wicked smile was on her face.

“Good morning, Tia,” he greeted, already suspicious,
“I heard Luna shout. Did you two have an argument?”

It was not too far-fetched to suspect that. While they really appreciated each other, minor disputes happened quite often - a sibling thing.
According to Celestia’s smile, she had probably won this argument.

“Not really,” Celestia answered,
“it’s just that Luna thinks she can handle my duties, so I give her a chance.”

“Huh? I know Luna is experienced in dream-walking, patrol duty and fighting in general, but did she ever have to deal with governmental affairs?”

“No,” Celestia answered curtly as she walked past him, taking a sip of coffee from her mug,
“and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t help her. She thinks she can handle everything on her own, after all.”

Celestia was gone now and Antonius wondered where Luna might be.
Throne room? Worth a try.

Just as he was about to enter said room, Luna dashed out of it with a long list, the Royal Scheduling Advisor, Kibitz, and an opossum in tow.

“Good morning, Tony!” she cheered,
“Guess what! Today I will show my supercilious sister that her duties are not harder than mine!”

“What?” Antonius asked in surprise,
“did she claim that?”

“Not directly, but she certainly meant it! But I am going to show her that I can handle all of her responsibilities, and she will…”

“Excuse me, Princess,” Kibitz interrupted her,
“we are now four minutes behind schedule. We really should get going!”

“Right!” Luna exclaimed,
“excuse me, Tony, but this schedule is somewhat important.”

“Could you at least tell me why an opossum is following you?” Antonius inquired.

“Oh, that’s Tiberius! I found him tonight! He’s my new pet!”

“Umm… pleasure?” Antonius said, looking down at the little critter.

To his surprise, Tiberius waved a paw at him. So, probably another one of those disturbingly intelligent ‘animals’ that were almost normal around here.

Since he had nothing urgent to do this morning, Antonius decided to accompany Luna and her entourage.
First, they went to a watch tower to ‘look out for threats’. Finding none, they continued with listening to the morning report of the Royal Guard. Once again, they proved to be a ceremonial unit: the ‘highlight’ of the report was one of them being scared by an opossum.
Antonius suppressed the urge to bang his head against something hard and just followed the equally annoyed Luna.

Some of the duties Luna had to do actually made some sense, others seemed to be ranging from unimportant to downright pointless. As if this weren’t already bad enough, Kibitz’ insistence on keeping to the excessively timed schedule started to get on the Space Marine’ nerves. The advisor almost constantly criticized Luna and praised Celestia’s superior time management skills. Did he realize that he was talking to the Princess of the Night? Well, he dealt with the Princess of the Sun on a daily basis, so he probably was a little indifferent to this fact. Antonius still thought about convincing him to show a little more respect, but unfortunately, he did not have his chainsword with him. So, he just kept accompanying Luna on her partly weird duties.

Did Celestia really do all of those tasks on her average days? Or was this an elaborate prank at the expense of Luna?
The dark blue alicorn already looked somewhat tired, so Antonius decided to figure this out before his friend actually overexerted herself.

So he excused himself and took his PDA to contact Celestia.
She did not answer, so he called Al:

“Al, do you know where Celestia is?”

“No,” Al answered,
“I can only tell you that her PDA is still in or in the immediate vicinity of Canterlot.”

“Great. Any ideas how I could find her?”

“After the last time she went missing, I researched a solution to this problem. The life signs of regular ponies and alicorns differ a little. By connecting your auspex to your PDA, you should be able to find and track her.”

“How difficult is establishing this connection? I’m not a Techmarine, you know.”

“It’s not that difficult. Half an hour at the longest.”

Antonius returned to his quarters, put on his armor and equipment and followed Al’s instructions to create a scanner sufficient for finding alicorns.

“Bingo! Two alicorns!” Antonius stated,
“Now, let’s see… I think this one is Luna… so let’s go and find Tia.”

Following his scanner’s readings, Antonius was soon standing in front of a derelict building.

“‘Keep out. Condemned by Canterlot City Works’,” he read on a sign that was affixed to the wall,
“this doesn’t look right… but the alicorn lifesign is clearly inside this building. Has Celestia managed to get abducted again?”

“If so, she is remarkably relaxed about the situation,” Al stated,
“according to her lifesign, at least.”

Okay, so Antonius would not just break down the door and kill every non-alicorn inside.
Instead, he knocked on the door.
A slider was opened and a pony asked:

“What’s the password?”

“Just open the door,” Antonius replied.

“Wrong!”

The slider was closed again.

Insolence! Who the hell did they think he was?
He knocked again, a little more forceful this time.

Opening the slider, the pony said:

“What’s the… you again?”

“Open the damned door or I will break it - and continue with your skull,” Antonius hissed.

The pony was obviously not stupid enough to take this as an empty threat, because now the door was opened and revealed a large room that was somewhere between luxurious and decadent. Antonius immediately entered and took a look around. On the wall, there was a sign:

‘Welcome to Elite Equine Spa’.

“A spa?” he asked.

“Well, yes,” the pony answered,
“and we would really appreciate it if you didn’t disturb our customers.”

“I need to talk to Princess Celestia. Tell me where she is.”

“Umm… what I just said about not disturbing our customers…”

Antonius groaned and shoved the pony out of his way, then he used his scanner to find Celestia.
She was lying on a massage table, a gleeful expression on her face.

“Hello, Celestia,” he greeted.

“Antonius?” Celestia asked in surprise,
“what are you doing here?”

Antonius turned to the massagers and said:

“Leave.”

They quickly followed his order and he turned back to Celestia:

“I wanted to know if this precious schedule of yours is truly authentic or if you’re just messing with Luna.”

“Can’t that wait?”, Celestia answered,
“I’m here to relax.”

“Does that mean I have to drag you out of this temple of decadence to ask you a question?”

“Fine, let’s talk,” Celestia sighed and sat up, wrapping her towel around her in a quite human way,
“it is authentic. Why do you ask?”

“It is overstuffed and excessively timed. What kind of moron came up with it?”

“Well, that moron was me… together with Kibitz.”

“Tia, seriously, as an Ultramarine I am quite fond of meticulous planning, but this schedule is the most ridiculous piece of garbage I have ever seen. Unimportant tasks that should be delegated to lower personnel, no buffer times and a lot more things to criticize. I thought you mucked your schedule out some time ago?”

“I did! There is some time for our training now!”

“And Luna has to put up with this nightmare of a schedule now while you are ‘relaxing’.”

“That’s her own fault! This evening, she will certainly know what I do for our subjects and Equestria!” Celestia explained herself, then she added:
“How is she doing, by the way?”

“Although tired and out of her element, she’s persevering. You should be proud of her.”

“Tony, I am proud of her. She may be your friend, but she is also my SISTER. I am sure she’s doing everything to the satisfaction of everypony. Especially since Kibitz is there to make sure everything gets done.”

“Ah, the ‘Royal Scheduling Advisor’,” Antonius grumbled with a trace of contempt.

“Is something wrong?” Celestia immediately asked.

“I think he’s not showing Luna enough respect.”

“Tony, I really appreciate you being a little protective of Luna, but please remember that we want to be treated like normal ponies. Honestly, it took me quite some time to get Kibitz to talk upfront with me. So, please don’t blame him for behaving the way he’s supposed to behave.”

“So, you keep ‘relaxing’ and I should just stand around while Luna is annoyed by this ridiculous schedule AND the advisor?”

“To cut a long story short: yes,” Celestia told him with a smile,
“just let her do this on her own. Allow her to make this experience instead of taking the work out of her hooves.”

Antonius was not exactly thrilled, but he nodded and left the spa.
On his way back to the palace, he got a call from the armorium: the engineers wanted him to be present for the first test of the tank’s combustion engine. Since this task concerned his mission to protect the ponies, it took priority over his concern for Luna, so he immediately went to the armorium.

The tank’s engine performed flawlessly, raising Antonius’ spirits. Now, he would look for Luna to see how she was doing.
His good mood was immediately ruined as he found her: Kibitz was dragging her across the floor by her tail!
This lack of respect was intolerable!

“HEY!” he roared, and within moments he was standing next to them and glaring at Kibitz,
“what the hell do you think you are doing?”

Maybe Kibitz was used to working with the princesses of Equestria, but dealing with an acerbic Space Marine (who had unconsciously put his hand on his chainsword) was obviously a bit different.

“I… I’m just making sure that Princess Luna adheres to…” the unicorn stallion stammered, releasing his magic grasp of Luna’s tail.

“Say ‘schedule’ and DIE!” Antonius thundered.

Now that Kibitz was quiet and had let go of Luna, Antonius turned to her.

“Hi, Tony!” she smiled,
“your presence is most pleasant!”

“Yeah, it’s nice seeing you again, too,” Antonius smiled back and picked her up from the floor.

“And thank you for putting Kibitz in his place,” she whispered into his ear.

“Now, what is the next duty on this precious list?” he asked when Luna was standing on her hooves again.

“Well,” Kibitz answered,
“we need to go over choreography for the torch lighting ceremony.”

“I suppose talks of dancing and fire will be interesting,” Luna assumed and Antonius went along.

She was wrong.
The delegates from the Crystal Empire somehow managed to make the meeting so incredibly boring that even Antonius had some problems focusing. Luna was far worse off, however: She visibly fought to stay awake, and her coffee consumption skyrocketed.

Then, finally, she fell asleep for a second and her head hit the table - respectively a cupcake that had the misfortune of standing there.
She immediately woke up again, but from that moment on, her sleep deprivation started getting the better of her. She got erratic and incoherent to the point that Antonius thought about picking her up and taking her to her bed, but the other ponies had already come up with the ridiculous idea of increasing the efficiency by doing all of Luna’s remaining tasks at once.
As an Ultramarine, Antonius was an expert in the field of efficiency, and he knew that this was not the right way to increase it.

“Shall I end this and get you to bed?” he whispered to Luna, who was just staring into space now.

“No,” she answered blankly,
“those are my duties and they have to be done.”

The ponies executed their plan, and soon Luna was surrounded by dresses, flowers, Wonderbolts, some kind of circus and even a frigging dirigible!
Antonius wondered how Luna was able to stand all this as he saw her twitch.
Okay, so now things would get interesting.

When Kibitz expressed his delight about the time they were saving, Luna finally snapped. She seized his pocket watch, threw it out of the window, reared up and roared:

“ENOUGH! SILENCE, SUBORDINATES!”

Luna really was a force of nature when she got angry and Antonius watched with a grin how she stuffed Kibitz’ schedule into the stallion’s mouth.
Then, with a sigh of relief, she turned to Antonius:

“Lord Varus, take your place at my side, please.”

Oh, an official command!
Antonius immediately did so and Luna ordered the ponies present to form a line. Then she listened to everypony’s concerns and helped them to their utmost satisfaction.
Instead of keeping to a schedule, she was doing things her way now, and she truly excelled at it. Even her sleep deprivation seemed to be forgotten for the time being.
Antonius, for his part, played her honor guard and tried to mirror her mood with his facial expression, which meant smiling friendlily most of the time and only having to glare once at two ponies who had committed a fraud.

The rest of the day went past in this manner until finally, Celestia appeared again.
Then, the (thankfully) inevitable reconciliation followed. Celestia expressed her thanks and told Luna that she was free to take over the day every time she wanted, while Luna explained that she now realized how difficult Celestia’s duties were and that she appreciated her sisters work.

“I think you may have the day back for a time,” she concluded,
“I am perfectly happy with the night.”

So, it looked like a happy end of this weird day. At least until…

“I’m glad to hear it,” Celestia yawned while turning to leave,
“Well! It’s been a long day. I’m off to bed. Goodnight everypony.”

What? She was not really doing this, was she?

“Hey,” Luna said in disbelief that quickly turned into desperation,
“come back here! I want to go to bed, too!”

Celestia did not care.
Suddenly, Antonius noticed how much the sun on her flank looked like a target, but he pushed that thought out of his mind. Still, what Celestia was doing now did NOT find his approval. If she wanted to have a little fun with her little sister, fine, but now she was overdoing it. This triple shift would endanger Luna’s health; she was already deprived of sleep, staying awake for several more hours was definitely not advisable.

“Go to bed, Luna,” Antonius suggested,
“I’ll handle the night shift for you.”

“Thanks, Tony, but no,” Luna replied,
“I will not make you do my duties… just a second… do you think my job is that easy that you could just do it without preparation?”

“Huh? Luna, calm down! You know damned well that I do NOT think that!”

“Yes, of course,” Luna admitted,
“I am sorry. I did not mean to snap at you… I am just a little tired…”

“Would you like me to get you some tea?” Kibitz offered.

“I would prefer coffee,” Luna replied.

The night that followed was not the least bit funny. Luna’s coffee consumption reached alarming levels and the sleep deprivation took a heavy toll on her. When she was about to go on her nightly patrol, Antonius had to intervene:

“Luna, you stay here. I’ll go on patrol for you.”

“But…” Luna started.

“You’re in no condition to fight,” Antonius stated, looking at her reddened eyes and the heap of empty coffee cups on the floor,
“you stay, I’ll go. Don’t follow me!”

So he left Luna, collected Night Guards on duty and stuffed them into his Land Speeder. Perhaps he woke up a few ponies as he left the hangar, but he did not really care. However, he got the idea to somehow transport the Speeder onto Celestia’s balcony and show her how loud its engines could be. Of course, he did not do that, there were more urgent things to be done now.

The patrol took a few hours and it was close to sunrise as Antonius finally returned to Canterlot. He immediately looked for Luna in the throne room, and he found her.
She was standing on a veritable mountain of empty coffee cups and similar objects, her eyes even redder than when he had left, her wings spread, her expression deranged.

“I feel like I can do ANYTHING!” Luna shouted,
“I’ll bet I could fly!”

Shit. The combination of sleep deprivation and caffeine was obviously a quite unfortunate one.

Celestia was standing at the foot of coffee-mountain and regarded her sister with a slightly annoyed look.

“I’m switching you to decaf,” she stated.

Sure, as if this whole mess was Luna’s fault!

As Antonius stepped up to them, Luna cheered:

“Hello, Tony! Want to fly with me?”

Antonius regarded her for a few seconds, then he turned to Celestia:

“Tia, seriously: If you ever dare to force another triple shift upon her, I’ll accelerate you sunny butt into orbit.”

Without waiting for an answer from the stunned princess, he turned to Luna and reached out for her.

“Come, Luna,” he said, and she jumped into his arms with a happy

“Whee!”

As Antonius got moving, Luna asked:

“Where are we going?”

“To bed,” Antonius told her.

“Huzzah! Let us go to your room!”

“Fine by me.”

“Umm… Antonius?” Celestia called, but Antonius ignored her and left the room with Luna, followed by Tiberius.

Who would have thought that getting back at Celestia - even in such a minor way - would be so satisfying? Well, there was no time for complacency, the Princess of the Night had to be tucked in, but how hard could that be?

Some day, he would learn not to tempt fate in such a way, and he would also learn not to underestimate the effects of a caffeine trip.
For as he entered his quarters and put Luna down onto his bed, she was somehow wide awake.
While Tiberius hung himself to a scone, Antonius took off her necklace, tiara and shoes.

“Now sleep,” Antonius said,
“you deserve some rest.”

Luna just smiled at him with open front legs.
Perhaps she wanted a hug?

As Antonius approached her, she said:

“No, not while you are wearing your armor! Put on your pajamas!”

“Huh? You’re the one who’s supposed to sleep!” he noted.

“I will not sleep until I get an appropriate cuddle!”

“So, if I don my pajamas and give you a hug, you promise you’ll sleep?” Antonius sighed.

“Absolutely!” Luna snickered.

So, Antonius fetched his pajamas, but then he hesitated. Seeing Luna’s grin, he should probably change his clothes in the bathroom, but he wanted to keep an eye on her.

“Do not worry,” she grinned,
“I promise I will look.”

“You mean you promise you won’t look…”

“Oh, I will not promise that,” Luna cackled.

Oh dear, this combination of sleep deprivation and caffeine was worse than he had thought…

Antonius retreated behind a piece of furniture and took off his armor, keeping a wary eye on Luna. She was still lying in the bed with a playful grin on her face, but didn’t do anything else.
Just as he averted his gaze to reach for his pajamas, he suddenly felt something - or rather somepony - jump on his back.

“GOTCHA!” Luna cheered.

“Luna! Damnit, get down from me!”

“Try and make me!”

Okay, now he had two objectives:
He had to get Luna back to bed and he had to put his pajamas on.
Good thing he was not easily embarrassed, but at least it couldn’t get worse.

He decided to put at least some pants on before dealing with the snickering mare on his back, but as he wanted to seize them, they were engulfed by blue magic and hovered just out of his reach, accompanied by more cackling from his back.

“Seriously?” he asked.

Luna just kept laughing, so he changed his mind and decided that he had to get Luna back to bed first. He tried to grab her, but only got her tail. After some careful pulling, he was finally able to put her down onto the bed again.

For about a second. She jumped at him again, this time hanging in front of him.

“Luna! Would you please let me put on my pajamas? We agreed that you would sleep if I put them on,” Antonius reminded her.

“And as long as you do not wear them, I do not need to sleep!” Luna shouted.

Damnit, he had been fooled by nitpicking - once again.
Well, it was not a typical behavior of Luna to do something like that… she behaved almost like she was drunk.

“Did you, perchance, spike your coffee?” Antonius asked.

“No, I did not put Spike into my coffee,” Luna cackled,
“what a silly question.”

“Hey, you’re the one who is behaving silly!”

“Maybe.”

“Go to bed!”

“Make me!”

“As you wish,” Antonius grumbled and got onto the bed himself, dragging Luna with him.

There he kneeled down, then he bent a little forward, grabbed her front hooves and loosened her grip on him. Finally, she was lying in the bed, and she couldn’t get up again, as she was pinned down underneath him.

“So,” he stated, a little complacent,
“now you…”

“BOOP!” Luna laughed and touched his nose with her front hoof.

“Luna!”

“BOOP!”

“Luna, don’t…”

“BOOP!”

“Okay, that’s enough!”

Antonius grabbed her front hooves with his hands and pinned them down, too. Certain that he had her playfulness under control now, he sighed with relief.
Unfortunately, he had somehow forgotten that ponies have pretty long necks. He was reminded of that fact when Luna raised her head and kissed his nose.

“Gah! You have it in for my nose, huh?” he asked.

“It’s so cute and tiny!” Luna chuckled.

HUH?

After getting another kiss on the noise, Antonius decided to put an end to this, but he heeded a free hand. So he moved Luna’s front legs upwards and under her head until he was able to grab both with just his left hand. While doing so, he also managed to get hold Luna’s mane, enabling him to actually pin her down this time - while still keeping a hand free.

Luna, for her part, was not the least bit fazed by her situation. You would think being pinned down under an unclothed creature twice her size would somehow disturb her, but she was still grinning and giving him a playful, happy smile.

Seeing this, Antonius realized that despite the troubles she had just put him through, he wasn’t annoyed at all. Quite the opposite, Luna’s playfulness seemed to be somewhat contagious.

He could not resist using his free hand to tickle her belly. She screamed and laughed and wiggled her body without being able to escape his grasp.
It took Antonius a few seconds until he realized how terribly inappropriate his behavior was. He immediately stopped and wanted to apologize to Luna, but the warm smile she gave him made him realize that an apology was unnecessary. Obviously, she had greatly enjoyed this unusual treatment… of course, she was an alicorn, after all, she could have broken free or tossed him through the room if she had really wanted to!

Well, she had an excuse for her behavior: The combination of sleep deprivation and way too much caffeine had made her somewhat silly, but what was his excuse?
This was not the way an Ultramarine should behave. He had done quite some unusual things since he had arrived on this planet, he had worked and goofed around with the ponies here, but this? This was way weirder than anything else he had done!

Antonius looked down at Luna. She was still grinning, now completely relaxed again.
The, she blinked and yawned. She dozed off! So, at least his actions had been productive after all!

“I love you,” she whispered with a smile and finally fell asleep.

Antonius took it as a reassurance of their friendship, anything else would never have come to his mind.

Now, he just had to get off Luna and out of the bed - without waking her of course.
He slowly and carefully let go of her, shifted his weight and rolled off her. Lying next to her, he just wanted to get up as Luna rolled around - and was suddenly lying on top of him!

“That can’t be true,” Antonius mumbled, now being pinned down himself by the sleeping mare.

He thought about his options for action, but found that they were somewhat limited.
Wonderful, simply wonderful. He was able to fight alien abominations and the daemons of Chaos, yet he could not manage to get out of bed or put on some frigging pants.
So, with a defeated sigh, he pulled the blanket over Luna and him, put his arms around her and decided to take a nap, too.

As Antonius woke up again, it was late afternoon, judged by the way the sun shone into his room. Luna was still sleeping soundly - as was Tiberius, by the way.
Antonius thought about waking Luna, but decided against it. She deserved her rest and having her lie on him was not exactly uncomfortable, either. It was… well, he could have described it as ‘soft’ or ‘warm’ (or ‘mildly embarrassing’), but those words did not do it justice. Actually, he could not think of the right word for the feeling of sharing his sleeping place with her that particular way.

Some time later, Luna started stirring, yawned and stretched herself, rubbing her body against Antonius in the process. She suddenly froze and opened her eyes.

“Tony?” she asked in surprise.

“Good morning… no, good evening, Luna,” he answered with a smile.

“Yeah… good evening,” she replied, then she lit her horn and lifted the blanket a little.

She craned her neck, took a look, tensed up and quickly turned back to Antonius:

“Are you naked?”

“Now that you mention it…”

“Did we…” Luna started, turning pale.

“What?”

“Umm… you know…” she mumbled, now blushing.

“Luna, wether I am dressed or not has no influence on the fact that my reproductive system is deactivated. So no, we did not. Even if I have to admit that our spatial orientation would somewhat favor suchlike actions.”

“And why are we in this situation?”

“You don’t remember?”

“No!”

“Well, the combination of sleep deprivation and caffeine has a peculiar effect on you.”

Luna stared at him in bafflement for a few seconds, then she asked:

“What have I done?”

“You wanted to cuddle, jumped at me, prevented me from getting my pants,” Antonius told her flatly,
“things like that.”

Luna pondered on that a little while, still baffled.

“You mean I am responsible for you not wearing your pajamas? And for lying on top of you?”

“Sort of, but don’t worry. It’s not uncomfortable.”

“Oh dear… this is so embarrassing!”

“It could be worse.”

“And how?”

“You could be wearing your saddle arabian outfit,” Antonius burst out laughing.

Luna stared at him for a few seconds, then she relaxed again and started laughing, too.

“Or my sister could charge into the room!” she snickered.

“Wearing your saddle arabian outfit…”

They continued laughing, then they abruptly stopped and Luna said:

“Seriously, that last thought is somewhat unsettling.”

“Indeed.”

“Well, I should probably get down from you and… wait a second… I think some of my lost memories are returning… did you tickle my belly?”

“Umm… yeah, I have to admit that. Shall I apologize?”

“No, as far as I can remember it, it was not…” Luna started, then her eyes went wide and she shouted:
“OH DEAR! Tony, do you remember me saying anything before I fell asleep?”

“You mean the ‘I love you’?”

Luna looked like she was about to panic:

“Let me explain…”

“Not necessary,” Antonius reassured her,
“I can still remember Cadance’s lecture about the different kinds of love and so on. It was an affirmation of our friendship.”

“YES!” Luna blurted, forcing a smile onto her face and sweating a little,
“an affirmation of our friendship! Nothing else!”

“Relax,” Antonius said, raising an eyebrow,
“it’s not like you spilled some sort of secret. Our friendship is widely known… especially to me.”

“Yeah, right… it is still high time to get up and prepare for the night!”

They got up and did so. Then, while they were underway to meet with Celestia for dinner, Luna turned to Antonius:

“Tony… I deem it best not to tell my sister in detail how we spent this day. While nothing indecent happened, it would still be difficult not to get the wrong impression.”

“You don’t say…” Antonius agreed.

59. Discord

Some days had passed since Luna’s day shift and now the dark blue alicorn mare was getting ready for her usual night shift.
First, there would be dinner with Celestia and Antonius, then she would raise the moon, go on a patrol to keep her subjects safe and finally, she would watch out for nightmares and guarantee restful sleep everywhere in Equestria.
Luna had to admit, she really liked these duties better than the insanity her sister called her ‘average day’.

Much to her surprise, there was a knock on the door. Wondering who that might be and what urgent business they could possibly have, she called:

“Come in.”

The door opened and Celestia entered her quarters.

“Hello, Luna,” she greeted,
“I hope that you slept well?”

“I did, sister,” Luna answered,
“but tell me, what brings you here that could not wait the few minutes until we would meet for dinner anyway?”

“I have a plan, Luna, and I need your help to execute it.”

“You know you can count on me, sister, but why did you not wait for… wait… you do not want Tony to know. Oh, is it a surprise for him?”

“Well, it certainly will be a surprise for him. I want to reform Discord.”

Luna stared at Celestia for a few seconds, blinked and said:

“I am sorry, sister, but for a second, I thought you said you wanted to…”

“…reform Discord.” Celestia finished.

Luna stared at her sister again.

“Has the insanity of your schedule finally rubbed off on you?” she exclaimed,
“seriously, sister, that is certainly one of the worst ideas ever… and Tony will not only be surprised, he will be downright livid. Discord is something like a Chaos daemon, after all. He will not risk anypony getting harmed and will probably fight him at once.”

“That’s why I need you, Luna. I have use for Discord’s magic, but he must be reformed first to serve good instead of evil. I am planning to task the Element Bearers - and Fluttershy in particular - with reforming him, and I need you to distract Antonius so that he won’t intervene.”

“Distract?” Luna asked.

“You could travel to Horseshoe Bay together and spent a few days there,” Celestia explained,
“you know, like a normal holiday. I don’t think he will suspect a thing and we will be able to take care of Discord.”

“But… Tony will finally find out… when we return to Canterlot at the latest. He will see this ‘distraction’ as treason, and he will be right. You want me to betray him!”

“There is no chance of reforming Discord if Antonius is around trying to kill him! We must get rid of Antonius for a while. When he sees that we have successfully reformed Discord, I’m sure he will calm down rather quickly.”

“And why do you want to reform Discord in the first place? I have to admit that reforming villains is a good thing, and that a creature of his power could be quite useful, but the risk…”

“Is worth it, Luna, and I have my reasons for taking it. Trust me.”

Luna took a deep breath. She did not like the plan. It meant betraying Antonius, but if she refused to play her part, wouldn’t she betray her sister?

“Do you have any idea what you demand from me?” she asked quietly.

“I do, Luna,” Celestia replied compassionately,
“and if there was another way, I would take it, but I see none.
I can’t just tell him to leave for a few days with no further explanation. I also can’t invite him to this vacation myself. There is the Royal Summit I have to attend, and while we are friends, we are not close enough to just go on a vacation together. You are.”

“Perhaps we could talk to Tony and explain…”

“Too unreliable. As you said, Antonius would never take the risk of Discord harming anypony - much less the Element Bearers. He must not know what is going to happen. Please, Luna, help me.”

Some seconds went by, then Luna said:

“Okay, sister. I will help you. Even at the risk of ruining my friendship with Tony.”

“Thank you, Luna. Let’s have dinner now. Antonius will already be waiting for us.”

Probably. But he certainly had no idea that he was also waiting for being betrayed. Luna hated what she was about to do, but it was Antonius or her sister… and she just couldn’t betray Celestia. Not again!

Antonius entered the refectory on time only to find it empty. That was a little odd, since Celestia usually was the first one present when it came to meals.
He did not have to wait long, though. Celestia and Luna joined him after just a few minutes.

While the dinner was delicious as always, Antonius noticed that Luna was not as talkative as usual. He wondered if something was bothering her, but decided to wait for her to open up.

After dinner, he got an explanation as Celestia said:

“Before we part, Luna wanted to ask you something.”

Antonius turned to Luna and waited for her to start talking. She looked a little stressed, and her smile was somewhat forced.

“Tony,” she started,
“I was wondering if you would like to… I mean, only if you do not mind… that mayhaps we, you and I, could… umm…”

“My little sister wants to invite you to go on a vacation to Horseshoe Bay with her,” Celestia explained.

“Yes!” Luna agreed.

Okay, something was wrong here. Antonius knew Luna long enough by now to read her body language and behavior with sufficient precision to notice that. She was way too nervous, and there was a flicker of sadness in her eyes.
Still, being her friend, he would not urge her to tell him what exactly this ‘something’ was.

“A vacation?” he asked,
“a time of being as unproductive as possible somewhere away from home?”

Luna nodded, her smile even more forced than before. Perhaps she was uncertain if he would like to accompany her? Well, that was a sorrow he could ease.

“Of course I would like to go on a vacation with you,” he smiled friendlily.

“Great!” Luna exclaimed.

While she did sound joyful, there was also something else; a little bit of… was that regret? Well, once they were on vacation and Luna had time to relax, she would probably open up and tell him what was bothering her.

That night, Antonius prepared the Land Speeder for the trip and in the morning, they started. The journey itself was pretty uneventful and they soon arrived at their destination.

“Horseshoe Bay Resort,” Antonius grinned as he took a look at the hotel they were going to stay in,
“where your level of stress is lowered almost as fast as the amount of bits you possess.”

“You do not need to worry about that,” Luna replied.

“Actually, it was meant to be a joke.”

“Oh… sorry.”

Okay, so much for his first attempt to cheer her up. He would keep trying, though.

When they were on the beach that afternoon, Luna finally started to loosen up. While she didn’t tell him what had bothered her, she now enjoyed the time they spent together.

They even took part in a sandcastle competition; with Luna’s magic and Antonius’ knowledge, the miniature sand ‘Fortress of Hera’ they built was vastly superior to every other sandcastle and they won in a rout. In order to make up for totally outperforming them, they bought the other participants (mostly foals) ice cream and everything was fine again.

“This was a fun day!” Luna cheered as they were back in their room late at night.

“Definitely,” Antonius agreed,
“it really was a great idea to come here.”

Damnit, there it was again, this bit of regret in her eyes.
Caused by his reassurance that he liked the vacation? Did that make sense?

“Luna,” he finally asked,
“is something wrong?”

“What? No!” she exclaimed,
“what makes you think so?”

“You seem to be a little unhappy at times. Right now, for example.”

“No… umm… you must be mistaken.”

Antonius did not really believe her, but if she needed more time, she would get it.

Since the hotel was not really equipped to accommodate a creature of Antonius’ size, he made camp on the floor while Luna used the bed. They said goodnight - but none of them really slept.
Antonius was keeping an eye on Luna, who was tossing and turning, only dozing off for a few minutes before waking up again.

It was past midnight as Antonius asked:

“Luna?”

“Yes?” she answered.

“What is bothering you?”

“Why do you think something is bothering me?” she asked worriedly.

“You are restless, and you have never been prone to intermittent sleeping before.”

“Sorry, I will be quiet from now on.”

“No, that’s exactly the opposite of what you should do,” he said, got up and sat down on her bed,
“what’s wrong, Luna? Something’s bothering you. We are friends, you can tell me.”

Luna looked like she was about to panic. She sat up and looked around as if she was looking for an escape.
Whatever was going on, it had to be serious.

“Luna,” Antonius said as gently as he could,
“don’t bottle up, that’s not good for you. Tell me.”

Now Luna regarded him, then she lowered her head and mumbled:

“Do not be that nice to me. I do not deserve that.”

“Huh? Why shouldn’t you deserve me being nice?”

“Because… because…”

“Hmm?”

“Because I betrayed you.” Luna whispered and started to tear up.

“What? I can’t imagine that. How? And why?”

“I will betray my sister if I tell you.”

“Oh crap, what is Tia up to?”

“Forgive me, sister,” Luna wept,
“but I cannot keep it a secret… Celestia wants to reform Discord.”

Antonius stared at her in utter bafflement.

“You mean this Chaos daemon?” he inquired incredulously.

Luna nodded. Antonius picked her up, looked her in the puffy eyes and continued:

“What is her plan? What do you know? Tell me!”

“She wants to task Fluttershy with reforming him.”

“She wants to unleash a Chaos daemon on the Element of Kindness?”

Antonius thought he had misheard. This plan was so insane that it was a wonder it was not instantly sucked in by the warp.

“Canterlot or Ponyville?” he asked.

“I do not know,” Luna answered.

Hmm… hopefully Celestia had taken some precautions, like a special room, secured by powerful spells or something like that. Such a room would probably be in Canterlot…

“Please do not hate me,” Luna whispered.

“Pack your things,” Antonius commanded as he let go of her,
“you have five minutes.”

Those five minutes were a delay, but compared to the whole day that had gone by, they were almost negligible, and they were a concession.
Luna quickly packed - with her tail between her legs - while Antonius put on his armor and four minutes later they left their room.

Storming past the reception desk, he looked back and noticed that Luna had put on a brave face as she paid their bill. Only by knowing her better one was able to see her inner turmoil.
Antonius went ahead and prepared the Land Speeder for departure. When Luna had caught up with him, he put her in the Speeder and a few moments later, they were on their way back to Canterlot.

As they speeded through the night, Antonius thought of the terrible things that could have happened by now. Fluttershy, the Element Bearers and a damned Chaos daemon… well, they had defeated the thing once, and the Elements were a powerful weapon, but daemons, especially those of Tzeentch, were devious and not dumb at all.

He took a quick look at Luna. She was crying.
Damnit. Even if the Element Bearers had been able to handle the daemon, Celestia’s plan had still caused quite some damage: to Luna.

Antonius couldn’t take care of her now, he had to go back to Canterlot as quickly as possible. He had to defend Fluttershy and her friends against Discord, that took top priority.
Furthermore, Luna actually had betrayed him by participating in Celestia’s plan, so it was just and consecutive that she felt terrible, right? Right?

Wrong.
She had only had the choice to either betray him or her sister, and after the Nightmare Moon incident…
Damnit.

Antonius slowed the Land Speeder down and stopped. The engines quieted down enough to allow for a conversation without having to shout and he turned to her.
She looked at him in fear and he moved a hand in her direction to put it on her shoulder, but she closed her eyes and winced as if she…

“Oh, damnit,” he said,
“you really expect me to hurt you?”

“I know you hate traitors,” Luna whispered,
“so you have to hate me now, too.”

Antonius thought his stomach turned.

“No, Luna,” he said, gently putting his hand on her shoulder,
“I don’t hate you. I might be a little… disappointed, but I understand your dilemma. It was either me or your sister, and I came off second best. The important thing now is making sure that the Element Bearers are okay. Can I count on your help?”

“Yes,” Luna nodded, a little bit of hope in her eyes.

“Oh, one other thing, Luna: Should I ever try to harm you, you may assume that I suffer from some kind of mind control or temporary insanity. In that case, you have my permission to blast me - without killing me - and subsequently use the Elements of Harmony to restore me.”

Antonius accelerated the Land Speeder again.

It was early in the morning and Celestia was content. Her plan to reform Discord had worked perfectly, thanks to Fluttershy. Now, she could use him and his powers for good.
There was only one problem left: Antonius.
He certainly wouldn’t be too happy about the whole affair, but nopony had been harmed and everything was fine. Well, she still had some time to come up with a way to tell him everything.

At least she had thought so. As the doors to the throne room opened and revealed Antonius, she knew that her sister had spilled the beans - and that she had to improvise. She immediately got up and walked into the room - to greet Antonius and to have some space for evasive maneuvers.

“Guards. Leave,” Antonius commanded and Celestia nodded her approval.

So, he probably wanted to argue with her without undermining her authority in front of her guards. If he was still that considerate, it couldn’t get that bad…

Once the guards had left, he asked:

“Did you free the daemon?”

“We freed Discord,” she answered, trying not to be worried by the anger in his distorted voice,
“and we - respectively Fluttershy - reformed him successfully.”

“I seriously doubt that, but the Element Bearers are okay?”

“Yes, I can assure you they all are fine, and I left the Elements with them, just in case Discord really wants to mess around again. You see, everything is okay.”

“Where is the daemon?”

“Fluttershy’s cottage, and he’s behaving impeccably.”

Now Antonius calmly removed his helmet and then his right gauntlet. Celestia wondered what he could be up to, and got the answer as he slapped her with his now bare hand.
Her head was forced aside and she had to move her hoof to keep her balance, but she also recognized that this attack was more a sign of discontent that an attempt to actually hurt her; it was just not powerful enough to cause actual harm.

“Admit it, you deserved that,” Antonius stated as she turned towards him again.

“For successfully reforming Discord?” Celestia asked, a slightly mocking tone in her voice.

“No, for forcing Luna to deceive me. Have you any idea what you did to her? The treason you made her commit tortured her the whole day, and as I found out, she even was afraid of me hurting her.”

“You didn’t…”

“OF COURSE I DID NOT! I saved that for you, but I never want to see her wince before me ever again! And I do NOT want you to use her like that ever again!”

Crap.
Celestia had been so busy worrying about how Antonius might react to Discord that she somehow forgot to worry about how he might react to Luna’s part in the plan, or her, the creator of that plan!
Thankfully, he hadn’t gotten angry at her sister, but now he was mad at her. Perhaps she could allay his wrath?

“It was necessary,” Celestia said,
“I had to try and reform Discord, and you would never have agreed to such a plan.”

“Damned right,” Antonius grumbled.

“So I had to distract you, and Luna is the only pony I know capable of doing so. I have to admit that I hated this part of my plan, that I hated using her that way, but I had no choice. As I said, it was necessary.”

According to Antonius’ facial expression, he was neither convinced nor allayed, but Celestia saw not getting slapped again as a good sign.

He put his gauntlet and helmet back on and turned to leave.

“What are you going to do?” Celestia asked.

“Check in on the daemon,” he answered in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Discord is reformed, please don’t do anything that might compromise our success!”

“You clearly have no experience with daemons,” Antonius said and left.

Celestia quickly fetched her PDA and called Twilight.

Antonius found Luna in the hangar where he had left her.

“Ponyville. Fluttershy’s cottage,” he told her and jumped into the Land Speeder.

Luna wordlessly followed his example and they left the hangar again, heading for Ponyville.

They had almost reached Fluttershy’s home as they spotted the Element Bearers - sans the yellow pegasus. The ponies waved at them, and Antonius brought the Speeder to a stop right next to them.

“What’s the situation?” Antonius immediately asked,
“did the daemon attack?”

“No,” Twilight answered,
“everything is okay. We just wanted to make sure that you don’t do something… rash.”

“Celestia called you, didn’t she?”

“Well, yes. Still, I told you the truth… right, Applejack?”

“Yeah, Discord really seems somewhat reformed,” Applejack confirmed,
“we all had our doubts at first, but Fluttershy really did it.”

“See?” Twilight asked with a slightly nervous grin.

“Daemons are treacherous,” Antonius stated,
“it probably only pretends to be reformed to prepare some sort of atrocity.”

“I don’t think so… of course, it’s a possibility, though. That’s why we have the Elements of Harmony at the ready.
But I think we should give Discord a chance instead of just condemning him… by the way, could you please use ‘him’ instead of ‘it’ when talking about him? It really would be nicer.”

“Daemons are to be condemned, Twilight, for they are made of pure evil. Everything they do, they do with malicious intent.”

“This presumes that Discord actually is a daemon, but we can’t be completely sure of that. He could also just be a very, very weird creature… with a preference for chaos magic…”

“Seriously?” Antonius deadpanned.

“I just say that we should give him a chance,” Twilight summarized,
“what about a joint lunch? You could get to know him that way and see for yourself how he behaves or what he is.”

“I would lose the element of surprise.”

“Well, you have all the Elements of Harmony with you, so you won’t need the element of surprise, don’t you think?”

“Hmm… the risk still is quite high…”

“Antonius, I really appreciate that you want to protect us, but do you think you could just trust us this time?”

“You aren’t entirely confident yourself.”

“Maybe not, but with my friends at my side, I know that everything will be fine.”

Antonius took a deep breath. This course of action was incredibly dangerous, but patronizing his friends could lead to even more harm than playing along.

“Fine,” he finally said,
“prepare your joint lunch. But don’t tell Discord who or what I am. I need to see his reaction when he finds out.”

“Okay,” Twilight agreed,
“now, let’s go to the library while our friends prepare everything.”

Once they were in the library, Twilight recapitulated everything she know about Discord and their past encounters.
Antonius had to admit that he really wasn’t a typical Chaos daemon, but that didn’t make him harmless… perhaps he was just pursuing an especially convoluted - and devious - plan.

Antonius countered with a little plan of his own:
The Element Bearers would go in fist, so that they would be together and able to use the Elements. Then, Antonius would appear, and Luna would bring up the rear.

Luna… she still seemed somewhat downcast, thanks to Celestia’s horrible plan. First the triple shift, now that… Celestia seemed to have taken a liking to torturing her little sister…

“Tell me, Twilight,” Antonius said,
“have you noticed changes or irregularities in Celestia’s behavior?”

“Huh? No, not really. Okay, as she brought Discord to us, I have to admit that I wondered what had gotten into her, but her plan worked.”

“Remains to be seen.”

“Come on, Antonius, you really should trust Princess Celestia… wait a second, you really don’t trust her, do you?”

Twilight looked completely flabbergasted. Well, Celestia had always been her role model, somepony she trusted completely. Almost all ponies trusted her completely. But now there was a Space Marine who questioned her motivations. Of course, Twilight didn’t like that, but Antonius would still tell her what he thought:

“Honestly? Not entirely. Some of her actions lately could be interpreted to hint at a beginning corruption.”

“WHAT? That’s insane! Princess Celestia would never…”

“Get corrupted?” Antonius interrupted her,
“she certainly didn’t ask for it, but it can still happen.”

“You must be mistaken.”

“Possible. But as an Element Bearer, you must be prepared to fight Chaos wherever it shows up. While I am aware of the fact that I can’t give you orders, I still beg you to stay alert. I have quite some experience with such… things.”

“Well… okay, but I can assure you that you don’t need to be worried.”

“I hope so.”

When it was time to leave for Fluttershy’s cottage, Antonius checked his weapons and they left the library.

As Twilight entered Fluttershy’s cottage, she was immediately greeted by Discord.

“Ah, Twilight!” he exclaimed,
“about time you showed up! You know, after our nice little dinner party yesterday, I did not even dream of having lunch with all of you today! And even with a surprise guest! What little pony did you invite for my - I mean our - amusement?”

“You’ll just have to wait a minute, he’ll be here soon,” Twilight told him.

“Oh, a stallion! Want to introduce me to your ‘friend’, hmm?”

“What? No!” Twilight stammered with a slight blush,
“he is my friend, but not a FRIEND friend. He’s just our friend, the friend of all of us.”

Now there was a knock on the door and Discord winked at Twilight.

“Well, I’ll let your ‘not FRIEND’ friend in, then we’ll see,” he said with a grin and went to open the door.

To say that Twilight was nervous would have been an understatement. Antonius encountering Discord - that could cause some serious trouble, but it had to be done.
She walked up to Discord’s side as he opened the door and revealed Antonius.

The Space Marine was standing there, fully armored and armed, but his weapons were still at his hip and he made no move to attack.

To be honest, Twilight just waited for Discord to make a snarky remark or something, and it took her a few seconds until she noticed the utter silence. She took a look at Discord and was thoroughly surprised:
The Lord of Chaos stood there slack-jawed and stared at Antonius. Finally, he started stammering:

“You… you are one of Rob’s boys… what are you doing here? Did he sent you?”

Such a reaction was unexpected - to put it mildly. While Twilight could not see Antonius’ face beneath his helmet, she was sure that he was quite surprised, too.

“Rob?” Antonius asked in confusion, confirming Twilight’s assumption,
“Roboute Guilliman? You dare to mention the name of my Primarch - and to profane it by abbreviating it?”

“Yeah, you are an Ultramarine… so prissy… now seriously, the old killjoy did send you, didn’t he?”

“‘KILLJOY’? ‘Killing’ the ‘joy’ of creatures like you is one of our most sacred duties!”

Uh-oh. Things were starting to go south.
Twilight just wanted to intervene, but Fluttershy beat her to it:

“Excuse me, but I think it would be best if you came in and just told Discord if your Primarch sent you, Antonius.”

Antonius took a deep breath. He was obviously angry, but he deferred to Fluttershy’s proposal.

“Fine,” he said and entered the cottage. Luna also did so a few seconds later.

“My Primarch,”Antonius now explained,
“the revered Roboute Guilliman, did not sent me, at least not in person, as it’s quite hard to give orders when you are mortally wounded and inside a stasis field!”

“He is WHAT?” Discord exclaimed.

“Quit playing games! There is no way you don’t know about the Horus Heresy!”

“Horus? Heresy?!? Why should… what happened?”

While Twilight had no idea how it was possible, she was sure that Discord actually knew this ‘Horus’ somehow, he sounded surprised - and even somewhat concerned!
Antonius, however, was livid. He certainly thought Discord was just trying to annoy him, but Twilight wasn’t so sure about that.

“Just tell him, Antonius,” she pleaded.

“Yes,” Discord said with surprising seriousness,
“assume that I really have no idea what has happened.”

“Fine,” Antonius grumbled after a second and told the story of the Horus Heresy, as he had done many moons ago when he had first met the princesses,
“and in the aftermath of the Heresy, Fulgrim, now a Daemon Prince of Slaanesh, stabbed Primarch Guilliman with a poisoned sword. Primarch Guilliman was interred in a stasis field the moment he died, and has been in this state between life and death ever since… until some months ago, that is. Princess Luna has managed to contact the homeworld of my chapter and cast a powerful healing spell on him. Maybe he is already back to full health by now… I don’t know.”

During the last sentences Antonius’ gaze had wandered to Luna, but now he was staring at Discord again.

The Lord of Chaos seemed to be in deep thought. It seemed so unreal that this was the same Discord who had played tricks on them just yesterday.

“Well, that’s quite some news,” he said.

“Content, daemon?” Antonius asked.

“Daemon?” Discord repeated, somewhat affected, then he suddenly changed back to his more familiar personality and proclaimed with a smile:
“Your story was really good. That’s the nice thing about the galaxy: there’s always something happening! If you’ll excuse me now, I’ve gotta go. We’ll have to make good for this lunch some time later. See you!”

A snap of his claws, and Discord was gone.

“What. The. Hell?” Antonius mumbled, totally confused.

That had not been the reaction of a daemon… unless it was part of a plan… but there was no way to figure that out.

“Discord seemed to be honestly upset about what happened to the Imperium and your Primarch,” Fluttershy opined.

“Unless his dismay was faked…” Antonius added for consideration.

“I don’t think that he faked it,” Applejack said,
“as much of a surprise that may be, but I think he was sincere.”

“Hmm,” Antonius started,
“we came here so that I could evaluate Discord, so that I could determine if he’s a daemon - which I had taken as a starting point - and what his plans might be. Now, I have to admit that I am uncertain… of course, he may be a daemon and that may be his intention, but he could also just be a strange creature with some rather daemonic peculiarities… I don’t know… Still, please be wary around him, and keep your Elements within range.”

“We will,” Twilight assured him.

“And now, since the discussions are finally over and we are all here together, let’s start the lunch,” Pinkie Pie suggested.

After the lunch, Antonius and Luna returned to Canterlot. They headed to the throne room, where Celestia already expected them.

“Welcome back,” she greeted,
“please follow me to my quarters. We can talk there without ruffle or excitement.”

Once the door was closed behind them, Celestia asked:

“And? What do you think of Discord?”

“I’m not sure,” Antonius answered truthfully,
“he is either a daemon with an intricate plan, or a very weird creature. It’s impossible to be certain at this point.”

“So, are you more at ease now with me freeing him?”

“You still took an incalculable risk.”

“Since the Element Bearers had their Elements, the risk was actually not as high as you may think.”

“A quick attack could have killed one of them before they would have had a chance to react.”

“Discord does not kill. He knows that he can only annoy ponies if they’re alive… come to think of it, he seems to have a general aversion to killing.”

“Which would make him the most unusual daemon ever… if he is a daemon… damnit, this uncertainty is unnerving.”

“So,” Celestia asked carefully,
“benefit of the doubt? You won’t take action against him?”

“Only if he starts showing malicious intent,” Antonius answered,
“as long as he’s… compliant, I’ll tolerate his existence.”

“Thank you. Now, there is something else we have to talk about: I heard you are worried that I might have been corrupted?”

It was as much an assessment as it was a question, and Celestia seemed to be a little worried.
Antonius, for his part, was a little annoyed.

“Is it even possible to talk to you or Twilight without the other one instantly knowing?” he grumbled.

“Please don’t resent her for it. She called me to tell me that your encounter with Discord was rather peaceful. When she started asking me how I was doing, I knew that something was amiss, so I ‘nudged’ her a little until she told me of your concerns. You really are worried about me being corrupted, aren’t you?”

“Lets put it that way,” Antonius replied,
“I have noticed behavior patterns that hint at a disregard for the wellbeing of your subjects - and those close to you.”

“Well, then I guess it is time to explain my motives,” Celestia said and turned to her sister:
“Luna, I know that I demanded a lot from you, and believe me I hated to do so, but I had to try and reform Discord. We will need his powers sooner or later.”

“If you really think we need Discord’s magic, you are expecting a lot of trouble,” Luna stated,
“please tell us what it so, so that we may prepare ourselves.”

Celestia took a deep breath and said:

“Tirek.”

“The mad centaur?” Luna gasped.

“A centaur?” Antonius inquired,
“another legendary creature. I sincerely hope they’ve been artificially created, too… the alternative would mean that the ancient humans had been somewhat too fond of the ponies they created…”

“This situation is actually too serious for jokes,” Luna told him,
“Tirek came to Equestria a long time ago to drain all ponies of their magic. My sister and I were able to defeat him and imprison him in Tartarus. It was a hazardous fight… fights against Tirek are always extremely dangerous: he has powerful magic, so you need even more powerful magic to stop him, but since he can drain ponies of their magic…”

“It is possible that instead of defeating him you strengthen him,” Antonius concluded.

“Exactly,” Celestia confirmed,
“that’s why I want Discord; not only can he feel the magical disturbance of the draining, his magic is also so… unusual that even Tirek will have problems absorbing it.”

“Hmm… while this sort of makes sense, why not just letting me put a bolt into Tirek’s head as soon as he shows up?”

“You don’t know Tirek, we do. I do not want to risk your life by sending you to engage a creature of his magical prowess.”

Now Antonius was honestly surprised.

“So all of your scheming was - at least partly - because you want to protect me?” he asked.

“We are friends, aren’t we?” Celestia smiled,
“furthermore, we still need somepony who is able to locate and track Tirek. And since I do not like to put all of our eggs into one basket, I can also tell you that we have another… ‘countermeasure’ in the works.”

“Oh, I am positive you will like that one!” Luna remarked eagerly.

“Reminds me of our conversation when I returned from the Crystal Empire,” Antonius mumbled absentmindedly, but seeing the princesses’ startled faces, he stated digging deeper:

“Twilight? She’s your ‘countermeasure’?”

“Oh dear!” Luna exclaimed,
“first, I betray you by agreeing to my sisters plan. Then, I betray my sister by telling you about that plan. Now I betrayed her again by enabling you to connect the dots of her second plan! Excuse me, I think it is better if I go now!”

Luna rushed out of the room, on the edge of tears.

“Luna!” Antonius and Celestia shouted, but she did not stop and vanished.

“Poor little sister,” Celestia said compassionately,
“this day was a little too much for her… and it is all my fault.”

“Mainly, but not entirely,” Antonius rectified,
“I think I also have my share of guilt… damned, I hate seeing her so upset… but why is she so upset? That Twilight and her friends, equipped with the Elements of Harmony, are something like your rapid reaction force is not exactly a secret, after all.”

“This is actually not about Twilight’s friends and the Elements, it’s about Twilight herself.”

“Huh?”

“I have this strange feeling that we shouldn’t completely rely on the Elements of Harmony, but have another option up our sleeves.”

“What are you planning?”

“Would you mind if I still didn’t tell you? As I already told you, even the slightest hint could destroy everything. You won’t have to wait for much longer, though. I feel that my plan will come to fruition soon.”

What a mystery-monger! Well, if she wanted to keep that plan a secret, she should have her way. At the moment, Antonius was more concerned about Luna.

“Fine,” he answered,
“now, I should take care of Luna. Do you want to tag along?”

“I would love to, but there is too much for me to do, too many duties… and I know she is in good hooves - I mean hands,” Celestia replied with a warm smile.

Antonius nodded, left and went to Luna’s quarters. The door was closed, and he knocked:

“Luna? Are you in there? Are you okay?”

“How could I be ‘okay’?” Luna cried,
“I obviously cannot not betray anypony!”

“Nonsense! Your first so called ‘betrayal’ was because you were loyal to your sister. The second was because you were loyal to me. The third did not even happen!”

Now there were some noises inside the room and the door opened a little.

“What do you mean?” Luna asked with puffy eyes.

“I still have no idea what Celestia’s plan with Twilight is. And I swear I won’t even mention that there is some plan, so everything is fine.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“My sister is not mad at me?”

“No.”

“And neither are you? We are still friends?”

“I am not mad, there wasn’t even any malicious intent to be mad at. And I assure you that we will always be friends, Luna.”

She was clearly relieved to hear that, but she still looked rather glum… perhaps he could change that…

“Say, Luna,” Antonius started,
“I wanted to take a little nap now, but because of today’s excitement, I don’t know if will be able to relax properly. Would you mind accompanying me? You know that you have a soothing…”

“OKAY!” Luna exclaimed and immediately left her room,
“I will help you nap with pleasure!”

She noticed her slightly unfortunate choice of words and blushed a little, but Antonius just smiled and they went to his quarters.

When Antonius woke up from the improvised nap, he found Luna lying at his side, a hoof and a wing put across his body. Those napping/cuddling session really did wonders to her mood… and he had to admit that he was quite fond of them, too. He smiled.

Then he heard a familiar voice:

“Morning, darling!”

Unfortunately, Antonius’ arm was pinned under Luna, so he just turned his head.

“Discord,” he hissed.

“The one and only!” Discord exclaimed, waking up Luna.

She blinked, looked around in confusion, spotted the uninvited visitor and snorted.

“What do you want?” Antonius asked.

“Oh, I just wanted to chat a little,” Discord grinned,
“but as I can see, you are somewhat busy. I must say that I am truly shocked. I thought you were Twilight’s friend, but you obviously reach for the stars - or the moon, to be exact.”

“I have no idea what perversions lurk in that mind of yours,” Antonius said as he and Luna got up,
“and I do not even want to know, but…”

He was interrupted by Discord’s laughter:

“A Space Marine in pajamas! With smilies! HAHAHA!”

“Do not dare to laugh at Antonius for being comfortable!” Luna roared, but that only increased Discord’s amusement.

While the strange - and somewhat impolite - creature was distracted by Luna firing a blast of magic at his face, Antonius fetched his combat knife and hid it behind his back; he had an idea how to get another clue if this thing was a daemon or not.

He took position right in front of Discord and feigned trying to slap him - but he had chosen the angle and speed of the strike so that the creature had time to block with his lion-like arm, which he did.
Now Antonius stabbed the knife into Discord’s arm and immediately pulled it out again.

“OW!” Discord screamed and jumped backwards,
“that was impolite!”

A snap of his claws, and the wound was gone.

“I know,” Antonius replied calmly,
“so I thought it fitted you. And now tell me, what are you?”

“Huh?” Discord wondered aloud,
“you said it yourself: I’m a daemon.”

“A daemon that doesn’t kill, has powerful healing skills outside the warp and red blood? Unlikely. You seem like a daemon of Chaos at first glance, but I think you might actually be something else.”

Antonius had to admit that this assumption was just a shot in the dark, but perhaps it would surprise Discord enough to let slip a few words of truth.

“Of course! I am the LORD of Chaos!” Discord exclaimed triumphantly.

Or the attempt would prove to be futile.

“Now tell me: is your Chaos the same chaos that dwells in the immaterium?” Antonius continued.

Discord hesitated for a few seconds, then he said:

“Probably not.”

“So, I ask you again: what are you?”

“One of a kind,” Discord grinned.

Antonius realized that he wouldn’t get a satisfying answer out of the creature, so he had to look for other sources of information. He thought about his blood-stained knife.
Perhaps his omophagea could help? As long as he had no idea what the hell Discord was, ingesting his blood was an incalculable risk, though…

His considerations were rendered moot when a flash of light suddenly cleaned his knife, removing even the least trace of blood.

“You’re welcome,” Discord smiled.

Antonius took a scrutinizing look at the creature. Did he really just want to clean the knife - which was somewhat unlikely - or did he want to destroy the blood so that Antonius could not use it? But that would mean that Discord knew more about Space Marines than most creatures…

“Well, I think the two of you have more important things to do,” Discord said with a wink,
“bye!”

A snap of his claws later, he was gone.

“So Discord just dropped by to annoy us,” Luna grumbled.

“At least he got distracted by the chance to annoy us,” Antonius said.

“Do you really think that he is not really a Chaos daemon?”

“There is some evidence that he is something different, but that could all be part of a devious plan. So, in short: I have no idea.”

60. Alicorns and abhumans

Twilight was on her way towards Canterlot, together with her friends. They all had received an invitation to lunch from Antonius and now they were curious - to put it mildly.

“He has never before invited us to lunch, or any other meal,” Applejack said,
“I wonder if it’s just a pretense and there’s something else going on.”

“Perhaps he just needed some time to find a fancy restaurant - or to learn how to cook,” Rarity added for consideration.

“You think Antonius, awesome super-warrior that he is, has nothing better to do than stand in the kitchen and cook?” Rainbow Dash asked skeptically.

“Well, he is nice and a good friend,” Fluttershy opined,
“and cooking for your friends is a nice thing to do.”

“Especially if whatever you cook is made with a few gems,” Spike grinned,
“but that probably won’t be the case.”

“I hope it’s nothing with meat,” Pinkie Pie worried,
“that would NOT be nice.”

“He knows that we don’t eat meat,” Twilight told her,
“so I am sure he will be considerate.”

When they arrived at the palace, the Royal Guard led them to the refectory, where the princesses were already waiting for them.

“Hello, my little ponies,” Celestia greeted them,
“I am glad you could all make it to Antonius’ lunch.”
Then she bowed down to them and whispered:
“So I’ll at least have some company when they pump my stomach.”

“Oh dear,” Twilight replied,
“is he that bad a cook?”

“Actually, I have no idea,” Celestia smiled,
“but allowing for all possibilities is certainly not wrong.”

“No need to worry, little ponies,” Luna stated,
“I already sampled this kind of meal as he cooked it for the first time a few days ago. I assure you it is quite savory.”

“I would feel better with your expertise if you were at least able to create a non-lethal pancake yourself, Luna,” Celestia grinned.

Luna rolled her eyes at that and they all took a seat at the dining table.
Not even a minute later, Antonius appeared, a few waiters in his wake.

“Greetings, everypony,” he grinned and sat down,
“it’s really nice of you to volunteer as guinea ponies for my newly acquired cooking skills.”

“Could we please define the term ‘volunteer’?” Rarity asked.

Meanwhile, the waiters were placing the dishes with the food in front of everypony.

“Pasta… with tomato sauce…” Twilight stated and sniffed,
“and a lot of garlic.”

“That, and some vegetables,” Antonius told her,
“I have refined my recipe a little since my first attempt.”

Curious, Twilight sampled the meal, and her eyes widened.

“I guess you ‘refined’ it with chilies?” she panted.

“Exactly!”

While the food wasn’t bad at all, it unfortunately hurt a little to eat it. Rarity and Fluttershy were on the verge of tears and Applejack was using her hat to fan herself.

“Tastes great!” Rainbow Dash proclaimed, crying.

The only one of her friends who did not seem to have even the slightest problem with the spiciness was Pinkie Pie - she had stuffed her face into her dish and was eating noisily.
Spike was also able to deal with the chilies remarkably well.

Twilight peeked at the princesses, and to her surprise, they seemed quite happy with the food. Celestia even ordered a second helping!

When they all were done - in more then one way - Antonius looked around at the crying ponies and mumbled:

“Okay… note to self: reduce the amount of chilies next time.”

“Oh, please don’t!” Celestia exclaimed,
“the lunch was perfect the way it was!”

“Indeed,” Luna concurred, wiping a tear from her eye,
“though it was not for the faint of heart… or stomach.”

“So, the lunch was a success?” Antonius asked.

Everypony - no matter if crying or not - answered in the affirmative, resulting in a content looking Ultramarine.

After some milk to extinguish the fires in their throats, Twilight and her friends got ready to leave and take a stroll through Canterlot.

“Before you go,” Celestia said, turning to Twilight and giving her a small parcel,
“I have a little something for you. Please open it once you’re home again and have some spare time.”

Now the Element Bearers and Spike left the castle.

“I wonder if it’s a good idea to walk through Canterlot after this lunch,” Rarity remarked,
“thanks to all that garlic we probably shouldn’t talk to anypony for the rest of the day.”

“Come on, it was tasty,” Rainbow Dash said.

“So good that you were moved to tears,” Applejack grinned.

“You’re one to talk, miss hat fan.”

“Well, it certainly was good,” Twilight laughed,
“and nopony is going to explode because of it or something.”

When they were back in Ponyville that evening, they said goodnight, and Twilight and Spike returned to the Golden Oak Library.

“This day would be perfect with a bubble bath,” Spike grinned,
“you wouldn’t mind me take one, would you?”

“Not at all,” Twilight smiled back,
“have fun!”

The little dragon vanished and Twilight was alone. She knew he wouldn’t return for a few hours - he really loved bubble baths. Twilight was alright with that, as it meant that she could have a look at Celestia’s parcel without ruffle or excitement.
It contained a book and a letter.

It was afternoon and Antonius was working in the armorium. The lunch the day before had gone quite well, even though he had accidentally made the food a little too hot for most of his guests.

Suddenly, his PDA signalized an incoming call. It was Applejack.

“Hello, Antonius?” she said with a forced smile,
“could you please come to Ponyville? With your auspex and stuff?”

“What happened?” Antonius replied with a sense of foreboding.

“Umm… well… you know, Twilight kinda messed up our destinies…”

“She did what?”

“… don’t worry, she was able to set things right.”

“Good.”

“Then, she completed some spell and…”

“And?”

“Umm… it may be possible that we sorta blasted her with the Elements.”

Antonius needed a second to process that.

“YOU DID WHAT? Where is she now? How is she?”

“We don’t know, she is gone.”

“What do you mean by ‘gone’?”

Now Applejack turned her PDA around and showed Antonius a scorch mark on the ground.

“That’s all that’s left of her.”

Antonius was at a loss for words. Had the Element Bearers just disintegrated the Element of Magic?

“Couldn’t you have chosen a way to tell him that was a little less blunt?” Rarity asked in the background.

“Hey, you all made me call him!” Applejack snapped.

“SILENCE!” Antonius roared, stopping the bickering before it could actually start,
“I’ll soon be on my way. Stay where you are! And don’t blast anypony else!”

He ended the call and dashed through the palace to get his armor. While doing so, he called Celestia. As Twilight’s mentor, she should know what had happened, after all. Unfortunately, he got no response.

“Damnit,” he grumled.

Since he was about to pass Luna’s door now, he decided not to call her, but use a more personal means of communication: He banged on the door.

“Luna! Get up, I need you!”

It took a few seconds, then a sleepy Luna opened the door and mumbled:

“Hmm? So ardent all of a sudden?”

Antonius ignored that and said:

“Luna, it looks like the Element Bearers have somehow disintegrated Twilight!”

“Oh?” Luna asked, now wide awake,
“did you tell my sister? What did she say?”

“She didn’t answer my call. We need to go to Ponyville, NOW.”

For whatever reason, Luna made a relaxed impression again and told him:

“Do not worry, Tony.”

“How should I not worry, damnit?” Antonius exclaimed,
“Twilight probably just got killed!”

“Not really,” Luna answered calmly.

“Huh?”

“Remember my sister’s secret plan concerning Twilight? This sounds like the final stage.”

“Do all of Celestia’s secret plans involve murdering somepony?”

“Yeah, pretty much,” Luna grinned, but noticing her friend’s lack of humor in that regard, she became serious again and said:
“alright, fun aside. Please calm down, Tony. I promise, in the end Twilight will be all right. But you are not wrong, we should travel to Ponyville. I will get ready while you put on your armor.”

A few minutes later, Antonius and Luna were in the Land Speeder and on their way to Ponyville. They stopped in front of Twilight’s library, entered the building and were greeted by five panicking ponies and a hysteric dragon.

“There you are at last!” Pinkie Pie screamed, jumping at Antonius and grabbing his helmet,
“Use your high tech stuff and find Twilight!”

Antonius picked her from his face, put her down and took a look at the scorch mark.

“Hmm… this is remarkably… star-shaped…” he mumbled and grabbed his auspex.

His scans did not show any useful results, though.

“Great, so this thing is useless” Rarity griped.

“Hey, this device wasn’t made to locate unicorn mares who were blasted into oblivion by their supposed friends,” Antonius retorted.

“We did NOT blast her into oblivion!” Rainbow Dash screamed,
“we just blasted her… somehow… and now she’s gone… somehow…”

“What if we really killed her?” Fluttershy cried.

“But the Elements of Harmony have never killed anypony ever before!” Applejack noted.

“And they have never done anything like this, either,” Rarity said,
“was anything different this time?”

Ah, an attempt to examine the situation from a logical point of view. Finally.

“Antonius’ hot sauce yesterday?” Pinkie suggested.

Great, so much for that ‘logical point of view’…

“Seriously?” Antonius deadpanned,
“if my sauce were responsible for that, you’re the one who would have exploded.”

“So you think she’s really dead?” Fluttershy sobbed.

“Please calm down,” Luna asked them,
“I assure you that Twilight will be fine by the end of the day.”

“I bet she will,” Applejack interjected,
“but we have to find her first! Come on, girls!”

They rushed out of the library, leaving only Antonius and Luna behind.
He took another look at the unusual scorch mark and pondered what Luna had told him.

“Disintegration? Or rather some sort of violent teleportation?” he finally asked.

“You are quite close to the truth, Tony,” Luna smiled,
“but this is hard to explain to somepony who doesn’t understand magic - no offense.”

“None taken, but are you sure that this is part of Tia’s plan?”

“Quite.”

“Sorry, but ‘quite’ is not enough for me. I think we should help the others look for Twilight. That way, we can also keep an eye on them and see to it that they don’t do something stupid in their panicked state.”

“Agreed.”

Antonius and Luna joined the search party and did their best to keep the frightened ponies - and dragon - at least halfway under control. They searched Ponyville and the immediate vicinity for hours without any result; no trace of Twilight.

Then, as it was already getting dark, Luna suddenly stopped short and exclaimed:

“Ponies! Spike! Antonius! Follow me to the library!”

They all did so and Antonius had the distinct feeling that the conundrum of Twilight’s disappearance would soon be solved.
Before he could ask Luna what exactly was going on now, though, a light appeared in the sky - shaped like Twilight’s cutie mark!

Everypony was staring at it as it slowly descended until it touched the ground and…
revealed Twilight!

“Twilight? Is that you?” Applejack asked incredulously.

Now the freshly returned twilight opened a… pair of wings?
Her friends rallied around her, not able to comprehend what had happened. And they were not the only ones.

“An alicorn?” Antonius mumbled in disbelief.

“Told you you would like it,” Luna smiled.

As Celestia appeared and declared Twilight a princess, it did actually not significantly increase the weirdness of the situation - at least from Antonius’ point of view.

Just a few minutes later, chariots appeared in the sky, proving that Celestia had meticulously planned everything that had happened this day. Celestia, Twilight, and her friends boarded the chariots and left for Canterlot, while Antonius and Luna went to the Land Speeder.

“So, that was Tia’s secret plan, the ‘other countermeasure’ - turn Twilight into an alicorn,” Antonius said.

“Exactly!” Luna cheered,
“is it not a great idea? She really deserves it, and with her help, we will have even better chances of defeating Tirek… by the way, do not tell Twilight about this enemy, she must be able to grow into her role as alicorn and princess without this additional pressure.”

“Okay, no problem.”

Once in the Speeder, they returned to Canterlot.

Antonius, the princesses, the Element Bearers and Spike spent the rest of the evening together, talking about Twilight’s coronation that was scheduled for the next day. When Twilight and her friends had retired, the others went to Celestia’s quarters and she turned to Antonius:

“And? What do you think about PRINCESS Twilight?”

“An extremely interesting move. Could you tell me how you did it? And please don’t just say ‘magic’,” Antonius answered.

“Well, what am I supposed to say when I mustn’t say ‘magic’?”

“I mean, did the Elements teleport her somewhere, you magically upgraded her genes and sent her back? Or did they indeed vaporize her, you intercepted her soul and reforged a new, upgraded body?
While number one sounds fantastic enough, number two would imply a level of power I would only expect of the Emperor.”

“It was both, yet none of this.”

“I... see?”

“Sorry, Tony, but it’s hard to explain…”

“To somepony who doesn’t understand magic?” Antonius finished.

“Well, yes,” Celestia admitted.

“I told him so earlier this day,” Luna smiled,
“hopefully, this is not frustrating you too much.”

“I’ll survive… now that we talk about surviving, what about Twilight? Is she immortal like you now?” Antonius inquired.

“She is,” Celestia answered.

“Good! When are you going to upgrade the other Element Bearers?”

“You… want me to turn them into alicorns, too?”

“Of course. Those six ponies belong together, since they can use the Elements of Harmony only together.”

“To be worthy of becoming an alicorn, a pony must be paragon of virtue, the living embodiment of charity, compassion, devotion, integrity, optimism, and leadership… and they must create new magic!”

“Let’s ignore that you’re blowing your own trumpet, I think Twilight’s friends are almost as worthy as Twilight herself. Sure, they have some flaws, but honestly, your student is not entirely flawless, either.”

“Being an alicorn is not about being flawless. I’m not flawless. But it is about… well, it’s…”

“Hard to explain to somepony who doesn’t understand magic,” Antonius said flatly.

“Well, yes. They must create new magic first, that is the final proof that they are ready for becoming alicorns.”

“So, being an alicorn is restricted to unicorns? I thought Cadance was a pegasus before her ascension.”

“She was. You see, becoming an alicorn is not restricted to unicorns, but that is…”

“Don’t say it. I still think you should grant them alicornhood, though.”

“I really appreciate that you advocate for them, Tony,” Celestia smiled,
“but I’m afraid I won’t do that, not at the moment.”

“Well, guess I’ll just have to trust you in this matter,” Antonius said with a little bit of skepticism,
“I can’t do anything about it anyway.”

“Thank you, and believe me when I say that you really don’t need to worry.”

Antonius and Luna bid goodnight and left.

“You really want to turn the other Element Bearers into alicorns, do you not?” Luna asked as they headed to their quarters.

“Indeed. Increased resistance, strength and immortality would benefit them a lot when the time to fight Chaos has come.”

“I understand, but I think we should trust my sister. And before you ask: I cannot turn ponies into alicorns, Cellie is the only pony with that much power.”

“I didn’t want to ask you for that. You’ve had enough problems with divided or opposing loyalties lately.”

“That is undoubtedly true.”

The next morning, Cadance and Shining Armor arrived for the coronation. It was a nice ceremony and Antonius had to grin: the standard bearers presenting Twilight’s cutie mark banner reminded him a bit of Ultramar - his chapter also loved standards. Fittingly, Celestia had chosen not to create a separate crown for Twilight; her Element of Harmony took that place. That would probably come in handy some time, as Twilight would not have to fetch her Element first should something ‘Element-worthy’ happen. Antonius would just have to make sure that she did not lose it for whatever reason.

The coronation and the corresponding party took the whole day, and when was over, Antonius, Celestia, Luna, the Element Bearers and Spike met again, this time with Cadance and Shining Armor, to discuss a ‘princess summit’ that would soon take place in the Crystal Empire. After the discussion, they all retired.

The next day, Cadance and Shining Armor left to prepare the princess summit. Antonius, Luna and Celestia followed a few days later via Land Speeder to give them enough time for the preparations, while the Element Bearers and Spike took a train. They all united again in the Crystal Castle’s throne room.

“Twilight! I haven't seen you since the coronation!” Cadance laughed.

“Which was just a few days ago,” Antonius mumbled so quietly that only Luna could hear him, who answered with a grin.

“We have so much to discuss,” Celestia said,
“but it can wait until tomorrow. You all look tired from your journey. Now, off to bed, all of you.”

When Twilight and her friends had left, Antonius turned to Luna again:

“So Twilight became a princess to be told to go to bed?” he asked with a grin,
“I thought that such a high position would include the right to decide on your own naptimes.”

“Yeah, that is where you are wrong,” Luna laughed,
“now I will go to bed, as my sister said, and since Cadance has allocated the same quarters to the both of us, you will have to go to bed, too, or do you want to disturb me?”

“I’d never even think of it.”

In the middle of the night, Antonius woke up. There was noise:
Screaming.
Hooves on a crystal floor.

“Luna,” he urged,
“rise, something’s going on.”

They quickly got out of bed. Antonius did not take the time to put on his armor, he just grabbed his chainsword and left the room, Luna on his heels. He followed the sounds as fast as he could, and as he rounded a corner, he could see Twilight and her friends, as well as the rear half of a yellow pony jump… into a mirror?

“The hell?” he mumbled and came to a stop.

“Who was that?” Fluttershy asked.

“Good question. And what did they do here?”

“She stole my crown!” Twilight told him,
“my Element of Harmony!”

“Damnit!” Antonius grunted,
“after that witch! Let us return your Element and make her pay for her infamy!”

“Stop!” Luna exclaimed and all eyes were on her,
“please make no hasty decisions. Get your armor, I will wake up my sister and Cadance. We will meet in the throne room in an hour.”

Said hour later, they had all gathered in the throne room and Celestia told them about the thief of the Element: a former student of hers named ‘Sunset Shimmer’ who turned to evil.
Well, Antonius would take care that her ‘sun’ would ‘set’ forever…

They went to the room where the mirror was. After a short mission briefing - or at least something alike - about returning the Element so that it doesn’t harm the other world (and because it’s sort of important to their own world) Celestia asked Twilight:

“You understand the importance of your task?”

No, not having all the Elements of Harmony wouldn’t be the least bit of a problem when Chaos came… really, sometimes Celestia showed a remarkable propensity for asking stupid questions… Okay, it might also be possible that Antonius was a bit impatient. Every second they spent talking gave the witch more time to further whatever sinister plan she probably had.
And he was also angry at himself for not being able to prevent the witch from stealing such an invaluable artifact.

“Of course,” Twilight answered.

“Good. Then you must go at once,” Celestia said.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed,
“she’s going, we’re going with her.”

Her friends agreed wholeheartedly, but Celestia thwarted their plans:

“I’m afraid I can’t let you go.”

“What?! Why not?!” Rainbow Dash shouted.

“Sending all of you could upset the balance of this alternate world,” Celestia started, then Antonius interrupted her:

“Celestia, we all know that you generally prefer a gentle approach, but in this situation I honestly don’t care about this other world, the Element is too important to show signs of timidity. I say we go in hard, retrieve the Element, and pull out again. A quick mission, executed with utmost precision.”

“That - or sending all of you - might create havoc that would make it impossible for Twilight to get the crown back from Sunset Shimmer. This is something Princess Twilight must do alone.”

“Let me guess… the exact reasons are hard to explain to somepony who doesn’t understand magic, eh?”

“Yes, this is indeed the case… again… sorry.”

“Time is of the essence,” Luna said, and Antonius definitely agreed to that,
“on the third day, when the moon reaches its peak in the night sky, the gateway will close. And once it does, it will be another thirty moons before you will be able to use it to return.”

Now Twilight stepped through the mirror portal and suddenly, Spike rushed to join her. Honestly, Antonius would probably have been fast enough to stop him, but he was sure that her assistant and friend would prove to be invaluable for Twilight, so he did nothing.

Once they were gone, the magic mirror looked just like a mirror again.

“Okay, what do we do now?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Wait for Twilight to return,” Celestia answered.

“I’ll guard the mirror and make sure nothing that’s not Twilight or Spike gets through,” Antonius offered.

“Okay, now even air will be afraid to get through,” Rainbow joked.

The ponies chuckled a bit, Antonius did not. The situation was too serious for humor. One of the Elements was gone, and Twilight and Spike were on their own - for the time being.

Twilight had gone through the portal more than a day ago, and Luna was looking in on Antonius. Ever since she had left, he was standing in front of the magic mirror, his bolter in his hands, and stared at the portal.

“Tony?” Luna asked worriedly.

“Yeah?” he answered immediately, but without turning around.

“Do you not want to have lunch with us? I mean, you are here for more than a day, without sleep, food or drink.”

“I’m fine, Luna. Staying awake for three days is no problem for me, and the nutrients I need I get from my reservoir. Guarding the portal takes priority.”

“Of course,” Luna mumbled slightly disappointed and returned to the others.

“He won’t come, will he?” Cadance asked as Luna entered the dining room.

“No,” she answered curtly.

“Well, he is quite… determined ever since Twilight has gone through the mirror,” Rarity stated,
“somehow… ’Space Marine’-y.”

“Of course he is,” Luna confirmed,
“the Elements of Harmony are his primary mission, the weapon to win a war that has lasted for more than ten thousand years - and Sunset Shimmer has stolen one of them right from under his nose.”

“Yet you still tried to invite him to lunch,” Cadance smiled.

“Just because he can guard the portal for three days nonstop does not mean that it is especially healthy for him to do so,” Luna explained,
“but as I expected, he will not abandon his post. I think he would not even take the time to take off his helmet and eat if we brought him something.”

“Hmm… gotta admire his determination,” Applejack opined.

“Or his stubbornness,” Celestia said,
“I really appreciate his sense of duty, but I honestly hoped he would be a little more relaxed and trust Twilight more.”

“I think he does trust Twilight,” Luna remarked,
“but he is used to bare the risks himself. He hates putting others in danger while staying behind himself.”

“Sometimes, that is the only way to help others grow, and there even are times when it’s the only way altogether.”

“Well, he trusts your judgement, aunt,” Cadance said,
“otherwise he wouldn’t wait here and just guard the portal.”

“Yes, Celestia agreed,
“he would step through the portal and wreak havoc on the other side…”

“That other world would surely be surprised,” Rainbow Dash snickered.

More time passed, and Luna and the others stayed in the mirror room with Antonius whenever they could. He talked to them, and they even got him to remove his helmet for some minutes and eat a bite or two, but he never ceased his vigil over the portal.

It was the third day since Twilight and Spike had left, and now time was getting short. Antonius had chosen not to oppose Celestia, but now his urge to intervene rose.

“The last hour,” Luna stated worriedly.

“What’s taking Twilight so long?” Rainbow asked.

“Perhaps she ran into trouble,” Fluttershy worried.

“Have faith in her,” Celestia said,
“she will prevail.”

“Even the mightiest may fail if the odds are stacked too high against them,” Antonius grumbled.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Rainbow exclaimed.

“That even Twilight might fail if this Sunset Shimmer is too devious,” Rarity translated.

“But we can’t help her without risking to do more harm than good,” Applejack stated.

“Perhaps now would be a good time to try and explain why,” Antonius said.

“Fine,” Celestia sighed,
“I will try. Our worlds are connected and delicately balanced. If we upset the balance, for example by sending too many ponies form one world to the other, we might destroy both worlds.”

“I am not from your world. Neither am I a pony.”

“Oh, you know what I mean.”

“And you definitely are a part of our world,” Luna added.

“Thanks,” Antonius said,
“but the risk of Twilight not returning starts to outweigh the risk of upsetting the balance.”

Then he started checking his weapons.

“Tony… what are you doing?” Celestia asked nervously.

“I’m preparing to bring the Emperor’s justice to the other world,” he said coldly.

“Uh-oh,” Rarity gasped,
“he is so very ‘Space Marine’-y now…”

“Tony, please,” Celestia begged.

“I’ve pondered the risks, but we have not enough information to determine if Twilight might be in trouble and need help. It would be unforgivable if we’d been able to save her, but didn’t because we dreaded the risk. We have less than an hour now. I will go through the portal and see if I can help.”

“Luna!” Celestia shouted, turning to her sister for help.

“May the Emperor guide your ways,” Luna said calmly.

Antonius ducked and crawled through the portal.

The transition was… interesting, to put it mildly - and quite colorful - but finally, he exited the portal.
He immediately checked the readings of his armor, and found it in perfect working condition. His bolter was still in his hands, too, so he was ready for battle.

Antonius quickly scanned his surroundings. He was on some kind of forecourt, and there was a large building nearby. A part of its structure had collapsed, revealing…
What the…
Humans???
No, not exactly. Their eyes were too big, their limbs were too lean (which reminded him a little of the Eldar) and while humanity was known for a multitude of different skin tones, those creatures were a little too colorful… like big-eyed, lean humans with pony color patterns…
Abhumans?
Were they descendants of humanity? Did they know about the Emperor? Did they follow His guidance?
If that were the case, they would deserve Antonius’ protection, like all loyal subjects of the Imperium… but why were their eyes glowing… in such a sickly green color?

He did not have time to ponder this, though, as there was more going on… two daemons hovered above the humans, and there also was a daemonette… or something alike, to be exact. The disgusting creature hovered a few meters above the ground, Twilight’s Element of Harmony on its head!
Well, that was a ‘shoot me!’ if Antonius ever had seen one. He raised his bolter to kill the thing and reclaim the Element, but his line of fire was blocked…

By six also hovering girls, three of them winged, forming the shape of a heart.
This was a very, very weird world.

Still, they had a familiar ring to Antonius… they had the same color patterns as the Element Bearers! What was going on? Was this the balance Celestia had talked about? A Counterpart for every pony?
And what about the abhuman Twilight? Where was the real, pony one?

At the moment, Antonius did not get answers to his questions. Instead, the hovering girls fired a rainbow colored double helix skywards. It narrowed to a ball of light, and from this ball, another rainbow colored beam erupted and homed in on the daemonette.
It wrapped around the obviously frightened creature, creating a tornado of multicolored light.

The Elements of Harmony? But there was only one Element present… this couldn’t be the effect the Elements had… yet, somehow Antonius knew that this beam was caused by those ancient artifacts that probably were the ultimate anti-Chaos weapon.

He watched as more beams sped around and hit the other daemons and abhumans alike. The glow in their eyes vanished, making them look somewhat more normal, and the daemons were turned into abhumans, too.

Incredible. Tabula rasa.
All enemies were gone, defeated within seconds by the Elements of Harmony and their strange rainbow powers, and all that was left was a respectable crater where the daemonette had been.
Damnit, he NEEDED to get them to mankind as soon as possible.

A series of screams made him take another look at the abhumans; they were staring at him with shocked expressions. Well, they had probably never seen an Astartes, but there were more important things to do now than introducing himself. The girls who had fired the rainbow beams were lying scattered on the ground, and Antonius lowered his bolter and walked up to the one who looked like Twilight.

As he knelt down next to her, a small, purple dog came running towards him.

“Antonius!” it called in a familiar voice.

“Spike?” Antonius asked, somewhat puzzled.

“Yeah, it’s a long story. How is Twilight doing? Is she okay?”

“This girl is our Twilight?”

“Yes. Just transformed. Like I said, long story. Is she hurt?”

Antonius put an arm under Twilight’s shoulders and gently lifted her a bit.

“I don’t think so,” he stated.

Now Twilight opened her eyes - and smiled.

“Antonius!” she said,
“you’re here?”

“The last time I looked, I was,” he smiled back, though his helmet made that somewhat pointless.

“Umm… excuse me, darling, but who is that?” another familiar voice asked now.

“That’s Antonius,” Twilight explained as Antonius helped her up,
“he’s a good friend from my world.”

After some rather awkward greetings, Antonius turned to Twilight again:

“So, the ascension to an alicorn wasn’t enough for you, so you ascended a second time to a human - or human-ish - form?” he grinned,
“are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“Good. Then excuse me while I check if there’s something left of the daemonette.”

“Actually, that is Sunset Shimmer.”

“Not for much longer.”

Antonius raised his bolter again, pointing it at the edge of the crater, and advanced, followed by Twilight. Down there, a girl was lying, and according to her color pattern, it was the transformed pony he had seen escape through the mirror.

Antonius switched to his chainsword and jumped down. He grabbed the crying Sunset Shimmer by her jacket and lifted her into the air.
Essentially, she deserved death for the atrocities she committed, but Twilight would probably not be too happy about him killing her, and maybe it was a good opportunity to study the effects of the Elements further… well, he could ask.

“Want me to kill her?” he inquired, effecting gasps from the girls that accompanied Twilight and the other abhumans who had walked up to the crater by now.

“NO!” Twilight shouted, then she continued in a calmer voice:
“I mean: No, that’s not necessary. Please leave her to me.”

So Antonius jumped out of the crater and dropped Sunset Shimmer at Twilight’s feet. Then, he got into position next to her, his chainsword still in his hand in case the witch was stupid enough to try something funny.

Now Twilight put her in her place - using only words, unfortunately (but predictably) - and the witch apologized, still crying. Yeah, Twilight truly was a pupil of Celestia… apropos Celestia… two adult women approached them, and they looked rather familiar, too.

“I believe this belongs to you,” the abhuman Celestia said and put Twilight’s crown where it belonged - on Twilight’s head. While doing so, she eyed Antonius for a second, but focused on Twilight again immediately.

Then she added a few words of wisdom and inspiration that could have come straight from pony-Celestia.
When she had done so, the other woman, a version of Luna, picked up Sunset Shimmer and said:

“I’ll take care of her… and them, too.”

‘Them’ were the two boys who had been daemons. Antonius watched as the abhuman Luna gathered them all and led them towards the ruined facade of the nearby building.

Since Twilight and Spike were safe and the Element was retaken, Antonius wanted to suggest returning to Equestria, but an abhuman boy turned to Twilight… and asked her for a dance?
What? Daemons, mind control, and an encounter with a Space Marine, and this guy could just think of trying to hit on Twilight?

She giggled and turned to Antonius:

“How much time do we have left?”

“We really should not return at the last second,” he replied, but seeing her face fall, he added:
“but about half an hour should be acceptable.”

Happy again, Twilight and her new friends entered a hall that looked suspiciously like a repurposed gym and danced.

With a somewhat defeated sigh, Antonius put away his sword and took an observation point to keep an eye on Twilight. All of the abhumans steered clear of him, but he did not mind that. He had a lot to think about, now that the battle was over.
Were those almost-humans descendants of mankind?
Or was this a parallel evolution in a parallel universe? If so, did that mean that there was this universe’s version of the Emperor somewhere?

His thoughts were interrupted when Celestia approached him.

“Hello. I’m Principal Celestia.”

“Antonius Varus, Ultramarines second company, Imperium of Mankind, currently Lord Commander of the equestrian PDF,” he introduced himself.

“And Princess Twilight’s bodyguard, I assume?”

“Correct.”

“Okay… would you please tell me what the ‘Imperium of Mankind’ is supposed to be… or ‘Ultramarines’… or this ‘PDF’ you mentioned.”

“The Imperium of Mankind is the pangalactic empire of humanity. The Ultramarines are the chapter of Space Marines I belong to. The PDF is the defensive force I helped forming on Twilight’s homeworld.”

“‘Space Marines’?”

“Transhuman elite warriors on the Imperium.”

“Oh…”

After a few second of silence, she continued:

“Now excuse me if I’m a little blunt, but would you really have killed Sunset Shimmer?”

Yeah, the two Celestias really were similar.

“Of course,” he answered truthfully,
“but I trust Twilight’s judgement. If she says that the witch gets a second chance, she gets a second chance.”

“Umm… ‘witch’?”

“The appellation is correct. It might be a bit hard for you to understand, though. It is…”
He sighed as he realized what he was about to say:
“… hard to explain to someone who doesn’t understand magic.”

“Well, after what I’ve seen today, I’ll just take your word.”

“A wise decision. Now please keep an eye on Twilight while I check in on the witch.”

“Okay, but I can assure you that Vice Principal Luna is more than capable of supervising her.”

Antonius still assured himself that Sunset Shimmer did not pose a threat anymore. After a short introduction and conversation with Vice Principal Luna (who was, despite some similarities, not the Luna he knew so well) and a glare at the ex-daemon, he returned to the gym.

Soon, it was time to leave and he walked up to Twilight who was just taking photos with her new friends.

“Time to go, Twilight,” he stated.

“Oh, okay,” Twilight responded,
“but let’s take a photo first!”

“You already took quite a few.”

“Yeah, but only without you. Come, take off your helmet for a second, get behind us and give us a nice smile!”

After a quick check of the hall, Antonius did as Twilight had asked him to.

“Hmm… more handsome than I thought…” he heard the abhuman Rarity whisper.

“Seriously?” abhuman Applejack whispered back.

Antonius thought it wise to just ignore that.

When the photo was taken, Antonius put his helmet back on and they finally got ready to leave.
Twilight said goodbye to her new friends and asked them to look out for Sunset Shimmer. Then, she stepped through the portal, followed by Spike. After a last look at the abhumans, Antonius followed them.

He almost stumbled over Twilight and Spike as he exited the portal. Twilight’s (pony) friends were already busy welcoming her back, and Antonius was immediately included.

“Sunset Shimmer, is she alright?” Celestia asked worriedly.

“I think she's gonna be fine,” Twilight answered,
“I left her in good hands.”

“Did you say ‘hands’?” Rainbow Dash wanted to know,
“those finger-y things Antonius has?”

“Does that mean you met humans in the other world?” Applejack concluded,
“have you been on an imperial planet?”

“No,” Antonius told her,
“the creatures could be classified as a strain of abhumans… in fact, they looked like humanized versions of you ponies. They weren’t part of the Imperium, though.”

Since Twilight was tired from her mission and her friends were tired from waiting and worrying for her, they retired, accompanied by Cadance.
Antonius, Luna and Celestia stayed in the room.

“I am glad you made it back,” Luna smiled.

“You shouldn’t have gone in the first place,” Celestia remarked, but a little smirk told Antonius that she wasn’t really angry.

“You will be happy to hear that I’ve been pretty useless in the other world,” he admitted,
“I still think that my intervention was justified, though.”

“Well, since none of the worlds has crumbled to dust, I assume we can forget about our little dispute and return to just enjoying each other’s company,” Luna said.

“Agreed,” Antonius replied,
“we just have to keep this magic mirror portal in mind and be prepared when it opens the next time.”

“Don’t worry,” Celestia assured him,
“we’ll make sure that this portal doesn’t pose a threat anymore.”

“Now that that is settled,” Luna smirked,
“what do you think about going to bed? You have been awake for more than three days now.”

“Yes,” Antonius said,
“a nap is certainly a good idea.”

“I will join you and make sure that your slumber is restful.”

Antonius and Luna bid goodnight and left the room. As they were walking down the hallway towards their quarters, Antonius though he heard Celestia sigh. He took a look back and saw her still standing in the room with the mirror, her head hung low.

Hmm… perhaps it was just the tension of the last three days falling off of her… what else could it possibly be?

61. Mirror, mirror

A few days had passed since Antonius, the Royal Sisters and the Element Bearers (and Spike) had returned from the Crystal Empire. Antonius and Luna were taking a stroll through the palace and just passing a window as Luna said:

“Ah, what a lovely eve! The Moon is a ‘waxing crescent’… or is that a ‘waning gibbons’?”

“You really have problems telling them apart?” Antonius asked in disbelieve.

Luna shrugged with a smile and continued:

“Whatever it is, ’tis a beautiful night not to be banished to the moon.”

Antonius and Luna started laughing. It was nice that she was able to make fun of the darker parts of her history.

“Yeah,” Antonius grinned,
“such a beautiful night should last forever!”

Luna rolled her eyes, still in an excellent mood, and replied:

“Oh, maybe we should ask my sister first. She probably would not be too thrilled by the prospect of her sun being ousted by…”

They were just passing the open doors to the throne room. Inside, they could see Celestia. While it was not that unusual that she was in the throne room at this time of day, the construct she stood before was definitely unusual. And she was casting a spell on it, making it spark to life.

“… my moon?” Luna finished in bewilderment.

“Is that another magic portal mirror?” Antonius asked, equally dumbfounded.

As if the mere existence of this mirror had not been bad enough, Celestia now jumped right through it!

“Oh, shit!” Antonius grunted and ran up to the mirror, followed by Luna.

“Sister?” she asked insecurely.
“Celestia?” she continued with more vigor as she touched the mirror, finding it deactivated.
“SISTER!” Luna now screamed, grabbing the mirror with her magic and shaking it in the air in a futile attempt to make Celestia fall out,
“GET THINE HINDQUARTERS BACK HERE THIS INSTANT!”
Realizing that her actions were for naught, she put the mirror back down and turned to Antonius with a shocked expression:
“Oh dear.”

“You can say that again,” Antonius replied,
“I think we might have a little problem here…”

“Princess Luna? Lord Varus?” Kibitz asked as he entered the throne room,
“is something wrong? I heard you shout out loud. Did you accidentally have a little mishap?”

“It is not us who is responsible for the situation we have to face now!” Luna stated,
“my sister is by stepping through this magic mirror!”

“Princess Celestia left?” Kibitz asked in surprise,
“whereto?”

“We do not know!”

“Isn’t this mirror another portal to the world Twilight visited?” Antonius asked.

“I do not think so,” Luna explained,
“I have to admit that I am far from sure, though. The only thing I know is that Celestia and Star Swirl have a history of studying that mirror.”

“If Princess Celestia is not back by the break of dawn, the population will panic!” Kibitz predicted.

“I wouldn’t count on her being back,” Antonius grumbled,
“it’s just a hunch, but I think if she only planned a short, secret trip, she would have hidden the mirror somewhere, not placed it in the throne room.”

“That makes sense… the ponies of Equestria will be frightened to death by the news of their beloved princess disappearing! And who will do her duties?”

“Well,” Luna muttered,
“thankfully, there is still the a little less-beloved princess. I will try to impersonate my sister and assume her duties until she returns - just stay away from me with your lists.”

“And with the also somewhat less-beloved Space Marine to help you, we should probably be able to keep things going somehow,” Antonius added optimistically.

In truth, he was not that optimistic. Although Luna had some experience with her sister’s duties, impersonating her would be difficult - to say nothing of controlling the sun.

“Okay,” Luna said,
“so we have a plan. We will keep this absolutely quiet, only the three of us may know what happened. Kibitz, I need makeup - and wigs!”

“I’ll do my best, Princess,” Kibitz promised and left.

“Tony, please help me prepare everything else.”

“I’ve got your back,” Antonius assured her.

The rest of the night was pretty hectic as Antonius, Luna and Kibitz prepared for the morning. One of the many things they did was relocate the mirror to another, private room.
When it was time to raise the sun, the princess and the Space Marine went to the Royal Garden.
At first, Luna lowered the moon, then she took a deep breath.

“Here goes nothing,” she mumbled and lit her horn again.

It was a tremendous effort, but the sun slowly appeared over the horizon and kept rising.

“Phew!” Luna panted,
“I have done it! Now, let us transform me into my sister!”

They went into Luna’s quarters where everything they needed was at the ready. Luna tied up her hair, then they started applying the makeup.

“It’s more pink than white,” Antonius noted.

“It is the only color Kibitz could get in large enough quantities, according to this note,” Luna told him,
“it will have to do.”

So they slathered the greasy substance all over her body.

“Hmm… your cutie mark wants to shine through,” Antonius commented as he applied copious amounts of makeup to Luna’s flank.

“Yeah, but we will have to take care of the cutie mark anyway,” she replied.

‘Taking care’ emerged to be Antonius painting a sun over the cutie mark. With clown wigs cut into shape and a spare set of Celestia’s regalia, Luna was ready - more or less. The color of Luna’s eyes was wrong, the cutie mark proved that Antonius was not an artist and the regalia didn’t fit.

“I really hope that the ponies who see you today are… dumb,” Antonius remarked with a concerned smile.

“I know it is far from perfect,” Luna admitted,
“but that is where you come into play: follow me wherever I go and look a little grim. I want all ponies to keep some distance, so they hopefully will not notice that something is wrong.”

“This will certainly be interesting.”

The ponies they encountered this day looked a little confused, but thankfully nopony voiced a suspicion, they just went along with the new way Celestia looked - and behaved.

When it was time for dusk, Luna lowered the sun - with great effort - again and raised the moon - with comparatively less effort. After that, the day was far from over: the makeup had to be removed from Luna’s body for the night.
She was standing in her shower and Antonius scrubbed the greasy stuff off her.

“This is not exactly an enjoyable procedure,” she noted.

“Sorry, but it sticks like glue,” he apologized and kept scrubbing.

When Luna looked like herself again, she said:

“I do not think that we should solely rely on my sister returning some time. We should rather investigate the conundrum of that mirror, mayhaps we will be able figure out something. Let us search the libraries!”

They did so until it was time for Luna to go to bed - she had a long day ahead of herself again, after all.

The next days went pretty - or awfully - similar: Celestia’s duties at day, Luna’s duties and searching for clues at night. Antonius took over most of the nightly patrols so that Luna could concentrate on looking for information about the mirror. In addition to that, he and Kibitz took turns keeping an eye on the portal. All the time, they hoped that Celestia finally would return, yet she didn’t.
Each day, Luna had to strain herself more to move the sun, and some ponies started getting a little suspicious. While this was a positive testament to the intelligence of the species, it was rather unfortunate for Antonius, Luna, Kibitz and - by extension - all of Equestria.

When almost a week had passed, Luna wasn’t able to completely hide her fatigue anymore. Even through the layer of makeup, she looked exhausted.

“Excuse me, Lord Varus,” a stallion named Fancy Pants whispered as they were outside and out of Luna’s earshot,
“but I have noticed that Princess Celestia looks a little… different today, and somewhat tired. Would you mind telling me if there is a particular reason for that - if it’s not confidential, of course.”

Okay, so now the first pony had dared to ask this well justified question, and he had been too polite for Antonius to just brush him off.

“Princess Celestia is… trying a new style,” Antonius lied.

“Really? I wonder why she should do that, we all admire her the way she is.”

Nice of them - for Celestia, not for Antonius.

“Midlife crisis,” Antonius continued.

“An immortal alicorn can have a midlife crisis?”

“Apparently.”

“And the midlife crisis made her shrink a little? How is that even possible?”

This stallion was a little too smart in Antonius’ opinion… now he needed an excuse…

“Umm… magic!” Antonius ventured,
“you don’t need to worry, though. I can assure you that this is only a short phase, and that Princess Celestia will be back to her familiar self in no time.”

“Ah, I’m glad to hear that,” Fancy Pants said,
“thank you for your honesty.”

If this guy knew…

That evening, Luna was standing in the royal garden and taking deep breaths to prepare herself for the exertion of lowering the sun, Antonius at her side.

“This time, I’m going to raise the moon first,” she told him,
“it is easier, and I feel like I should start with something easy.”

She lit her horn and the moon appeared in the sky.

“Sun and moon together,” she mumbled,
“just as it should be with Cellie and me.”

Then she lowered the sun. The effort was so big that she collapsed to the ground, raising a hoof towards the sun and slowly crawling forward as if that could help her control its movement.
Antonius knelt down and supported her, unable to really help her.

Luna whimpered and cried, but finally, she had made the sun set - and fainted.
Antonius picked her up and carried her to her quarters, where he put her in the shower to clean her. She stayed unconscious most of the time Antonius needed to remove the makeup and make her look like herself again.

While he was rubbing her down, Luna whispered:

“Tony… it is too much… I cannot take it any longer. The sun is my sister’s domain. I fear I will risk my magic if I continue to control it.”

“What can I do, Luna?” Antonius asked,
“do you think Twilight could help?”

“Yes… get Twilight and her friends… there must be another library… Star Swirl’s original library… perhaps they can find it…”

“Okay,” Antonius stated,
“I will call Twilight and her friends. You go to bed. I’ll wake you when they arrive.”

A few hours later, when the Element Bearers and Spike had arrived, Luna was awake again and they all gathered in the room with the mirror. Antonius relieved the exhausted Kibitz as guardian of the portal, then Luna explained what had happened and briefed them on the current situation.

“As you can see, we have a little bit of a problem,” Antonius commented.

“But you also have a cunning plan,” Twilight said,
“that’s why you called us, to help you execute that plan.”

“Well, I would not call it a ‘cunning plan’…” Luna admitted.

“More like a faint idea,” Antonius finished.

“Well… that’s much better than nothing,” Twilight opined with a forced smile,
“so, what can we do?”

“Come with me, we will talk on the way,” Luna told them.

“I’ll stay here and keep an eye on the magic mirror,” Antonius stated.

The ponies (and dragon) left.

Some time later, Luna and Spike returned.

“Twilight and her friends are looking for Star Swirl’s library,” Luna told him,
“all we can do now is wait.”

“And I’ll get you your hot cocoa!” Spike offered,
“I’ll also get us some board games, that should make the waiting more bearable!”

He left and Antonius and Luna were alone.

“We really just wait and play games now?” Antonius asked.

“I am sorry, Tony, but I am still quite exhausted. I would really appreciate the opportunity to relax a little. If you would prefer to leave and…”

“No,” Antonius interrupted,
“after bustling about the whole week, it will be a nice change… and I certainly won’t leave this stupid mirror - or you - unguarded now.”

Luna answered with a smile.

Soon, Spike returned with a couple of board games and three cups of hot cocoa - one of them Antonius’ supersize cup.

“Nice,” Antonius grinned.

“Yeah,” Spike told him proudly,
“I’m not called Twilight’s number one assistant for nothing!”

So they had cocoa, played games and waited.

Antonius and Luna were just being fleeced by Spike in some strange board game that seemed to promote ruthless capitalism as the Space Marine heard something; a rumbling noise that obviously came from one of the walls. He got up and drew his chainsword.

Suddenly, a picture on that wall swung open and - much to the surprise of everyone - the Element Bearers fell out of a secret passageway.

“Huh?” Antonius wondered and put his sword away,
“I really need a map to the secrets of this castle.”

“Princess Luna!” Twilight beamed when she was back on her hooves,
“we found something!”

“Twilight Sparkle! You astound me…” Luna smiled with relief,
“tell all.”

“That mirror leads to another parallel universe besides the one I’ve already been to. Isn’t that neat?”

Well, it was as much as Antonius had guessed… and he was not really sure if ‘neat’ was the right term to describe it. The more important question, however, was…

“…so…” Luna asked,
“how do we get through the mirror to find Celestia?”

Yes, that was the more important question.

“Weeeeeell…” Twilight answered,
“that’s really the only answer I didn’t find…”

Great. So, the Element Bearers’ little excursion was not as successful as they had hoped. This lack of true success was rendered moot a moment later, as the mirror sparked to life.
Antonius whipped out his sword again, ready to face whatever might come through the portal, and hoping that it was Celestia who finally came back. Of course he wouldn’t need the sword in that case, but the Princess of the Sun would certainly not get off scot-free for the stunt she had pulled.

“What…? Sister!” Luna exclaimed as Celestia’s silhouette appeared through the mirror, then she immediately started chiding her big sister for her actions.

While this was actually appropriate, Luna should have taken a closer look at Celestia, for she was clearly battered. She had obviously been in a fight, and since Antonius knew the strength and resilience of alicorns, he guessed that it had been a pretty rough one.

“Do you know what this kind of stress does to me?” Luna ended, just in time to see Celestia collapse to the floor.

Well, that was bad news, so Antonius decided to postpone telling Celestia off until she felt better.
Meanwhile, Luna rushed to support her sister.

Suddenly, something - or rather somepony - else appeared in the mirror.

“King Sombra? No!” Twilight screamed.

She was right. The creature in the mirror looked like Sombra.
Well, Antonius had not killed him in this universe, but this other version of the tyrant would not be that lucky.

“Sister!” Luna pleaded,
“I did not mean it! I love stress! Wake up!”

Well, Celestia would not be necessary for dealing with Sombra, for now Antonius stepped in front of the mirror, his chainsword roaring, ready to slice his enemy to pieces, but the portal closed as abruptly as it had opened, and the mirror was back to being a mirror again.

Antonius grunted, but it was no use getting irritated now at his inability to use his sword, so he put it away again and turned to Celestia and Luna:

“How is she?”

“She’s unconscious!” Luna answered,
“we need to help her! Patch her up!”

“I’ll get the dressing material.”

Just a minute later, Antonius was back and lifted the still unconscious Celestia onto a table. He took off her battered regalia and started treating her wounds. She had lots of bruises and cuts, but thankfully she wasn’t in a critical condition.

As Antonius was about to finish patching her up, she finally opened her eyes again - or one of her eyes, to be exact. The other one had swollen to the point that she could barely open it more a few millimeters.

“Tony?” she whispered.

“Indeed,” Antonius told her,
“as well as Luna, Twilight, the rest of the Element Bearers, and Spike. Now hold still while I take care of your eye.”

Celestia adhered to his instructions, and soon she was lying on the table more comfortably.

“Sister, how are you feeling?” Luna asked.

The Element Bearers used that moment to voice their concerns or offer their services, but Celestia answered with:

“I’m fine, thank you, everypony.”

“FINE?” Luna now thundered,
“you tumble out of a magic mirror into a lifeless heap and you are fine? Where have you been? What happened?”

“I was… in another world,” Celestia answered,
“I was attacked.”

“Could you perhaps explain it even more generically?” Antonius deadpanned.

“We saw King Sombra in the mirror,” Fluttershy told her,
“is he the one who attacked you?”

Well, that question was unnecessary. Of course he was.

“What? No!” Celestia exclaimed, much to Antonius - and everypony’s - surprise,
“of course he didn’t! He’d never… I mean…”

“Uh… princess, he’d never what?” Applejack asked.

“Of course he would, he’s a villain!” Rainbow Dash shouted.

“No, he’s not,” Celestia stated with determination,
“not where I was.”

“What?” Twilight exclaimed, voicing what everypony thought,
“Princess? What’s going on?!”

“I would like to know that myself,” Luna grumbled.

Now Celestia finally revealed some details about the other world and the portal mirror. Apparently, it was a prototype that could lead to different worlds, and the one she’s been in was ruled by a good version of Sombra… which meant that Antonius once again did not get to kill a Sombra.
Now, ‘something’ had started binding both worlds together, and Sombra’s fight against the evil there started influencing this Equestria and Celestia.

“Then we shall go into this other world and smite the enemy!” Luna declared and nudged Antonius,
“I have been anxious for a good scuffle for months.”

“Excellent idea,” Antonius grinned,
“any threat to this world has to be taken seriously. We will pacify this other world as quickly as possible and return.”

“No!” Celestia screamed,
“Luna, you and I cannot be involved in this… and neither can Antonius.”

“What?” Luna snarled,
“perilous journeys are what I thrive upon!”

“And I was literally created for combat,” Antonius added,
“so let us go through the portal, vanquish all evil we find, and come back to celebrate our victory!”

Antonius had to admit that he was looking forward to fighting alongside Luna. He knew from their training that they were an excellent team, and it also meant that the Element Bearers would stay in the safety of Canterlot.

“Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia started and Antonius felt the urge to facepalm,
“I need you and your friends to take the Elements of Harmony through the mirror.”

Now, that was way beyond simple facepalm levels.
Antonius just had enough patience to let Celestia finish explaining the mission to Twilight (something about unimaginably powerful, yet flawed villains), then he asked as calm as he could:

“So you want to send the invaluable Elements of Harmony and the just as invaluable Element Bearers through a magic portal into another, unknown world to face some very powerful evil all on their own?
WHAT THE HELL?”

“YEAH!” Luna agreed,
“and just why can you, Tony and I not do this ourselves? I know a thing or two about powerful yet flawed malefactors.”

“Luna,” Celestia started explaining,
“we cannot go because we are the evil that is encroaching upon that land. We… we’re the villains.”

Well, that was some news… but it sort of made sense… a good Sombra, an evil Celestia, and evil Luna… and?

“What about me?” Antonius asked insistently,
“is there also an evil version of me there? Perhaps a disgusting traitor Marine? A creature I just have to annihilate?”

“No, I have never even heard of another, evil version of you there.”

“At least a little bit of luck,” Fluttershy mumbled.

The discussion still went on after that, and it was pretty lively. According to Celestia, only the Elements of Harmony and their Bearers could be sent through the portal without messing up the balance of both worlds, because the Elements didn’t exist in the other world. For some reason, she did not want Antonius to accompany them.

“Listen, Celestia,” Antonius said angrily,
“if you think I’ll let them go alone, you are very much mistaken. You said it yourself, I don’t have an evil counterpart and therefore won’t mess up this precious balance, so I will go and protect them!”

“You can’t!” Celestia replied,
“you may not have an evil counterpart there, but you are not from this world! Letting you go would be an incalculable risk! Our worlds could crumble or collide just by you taking a step through the mirror”!

“I also visited the other, human-like world without causing an apocalypse.”

“Yes, but this is… different… please trust me.. it is hard to explain…”

“To somepony who doesn’t understand magic. I know this sentence all too well by now.
Damn those stupid magical impediments!”

Antonius took a deep breath. The problem - one of them - was that he could not assess the risks of using the portal, so he had to rely on Celestia, even if he had his doubts about her telling the whole truth.

“Fine… I’ll stay with you and Luna,” he finally said.

Celestia was clearly relieved to hear that, and while Spike fetched the Elements of Harmony, she gave Twilight a last briefing on how to return or send a message, then the Element Bearers, the Elements and Spike passed the portal and were gone.

Luna turned to her sister and hissed:

“And now you and I are going to have a little chat about all this.”

“Hmm,” Antonius added,
“I’d like to have a word with you, too.”

Celestia gulped.

Then, she finally told them what had happened in the past:
In short, Celestia had had an… affair with the other world’s Sombra, throwing both worlds out of balance. And now, she had repeated this obvious mistake.
Antonius could hardly believe it. Usually, Celestia was a capable and caring leader of the ponies - even if she had an inappropriate, much too peaceful moral code.
On this matter, however, she had screwed up so badly that Antonius had put a bolt in her head had he not known her better. Such a disregard of her duty… or common sense!

He had to close his eyes to concentrate and force himself to keep calm. He could hear Luna and Celestia talk, but he also had to ignore that. Beating the crap out of Celestia for her stupidity would probably have been somewhat satisfying, but it would certainly have been counterproductive in the long run.
So he just kept calm and followed the princesses as they went onto a balcony to get some fresh air.

Suddenly, Celestia went down, as if hit by something.
Well, she could at least have waited for him to hit her…

This incident, however, brought Antonius back to reality. His anger had to wait - there obviously were more urgent problems to deal with.

“Celestia?!” Luna exclaimed,
“sister! Are you alright?”

“The rift,” Celestia mumbled, and Antonius was all ears,
“they can’t harm her… I was afraid of… this.”

Antonius understood.

“So, this is the real reason you wanted me to stay here,” he grumbled,
“you were afraid that I’d put a bolt into the other Celestia’s head and kill you at the same time.”

“Sort of…” Celestia admitted ruefully,
“I also think it would be unwise to leave a lot of your bolts in the other world. We must keep the worlds strictly separated.”

The hypocrite really should have told that to herself…

Luna screamed for parchment and a quill to write a message to Spike about this unfortunate connection of both worlds, then she suddenly touched her muzzle as if it had been hit - which had probably just happened in the other world.

Now, that was a serious problem - how could you stop (or kill) the villains without harming the princesses?
…
Magic.
Probably magic.
Antonius was about to freak out.

As Luna was frantically writing the letter, Celestia turned to her and said:

“Tell them they have to save him… I love him.”

Now Antonius Varus, Ultramarines 2nd company, the Lord Commander of Equestria’s PFD and good friend of a lot of ponies, finally snapped.

“DAMNIT!” he roared, making the princesses wince,
“first, you deliberately endanger two worlds just to get laid, now, instead of fixing your damned mess, the Element Bearers shall focus on saving your stallion?!?
WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG IN THAT BRAIN OF YOURS?
If you think with your brain at all - you seem to think entirely with your friggin’ libido!
Damned, am I glad that the Emperor had had the wisdom to deactivate my reproduction system, otherwise I might have been prone to such reckless, unbelievable stupidity, too!”

The only sound now was the crying of Celestia, and Luna looked thoroughly shocked - and at Antonius’ hip.
It took him a second to realize why - he had his hand closed around the hilt of his combat knife. He opened the hand again and took it away from the weapon.

“I need to get some fresh air,” he stated and left the balcony… into the castle.

Antonius stomped through the hallways of the castle with no particular destination. He just had to get away from that pony before he really lost his temper and introduced her to one of his weapons.
He took a deep breath - anger always was a bad advisor.
But seriously…
No, no excuses. Anger reduced his effectiveness, and as bad as things were now, he could not afford that.
And a libido was not even a real organ… ah screw it.
He had reached the gardens by now and took a look at the sky. A swirling, greenish sky.

“Oh damnit,” he mumbled and raced back to the princesses.

“Seen the sky?” he asked as he entered the room.

“Yes,” Celestia answered sadly,
“the barrier is fracturing. Our worlds… they are colliding… and it is all my fault.”

“Now is not the time for blaming yourself, now is the time for crisis management. You say the worlds are colliding? Well, if your evil counterparts come here, I should be able to surprise them. They have never seen a Space Marine, after all. We must make use of that.”

“So, you have calmed down a little?” Luna asked carefully.

“Not really, but I’m quite good at prioritizing. So what do you think we should - or can - do?”

“We have to put out trust in Twilight,” Celestia answered.

So, that meant more waiting. Antonius wasn’t happy about this, but he went along with it - for now.

He walked around the room, alert for suddenly appearing threats and anything else that could give him information about the situation. Celestia was staring at the unnatural sky. Luna, however, was lying in front of the mirror and feeding her pet.
Despite the grim circumstances, Antonius had to smile. Luna really was an oasis of calmness in those troubled times. He was walking up to her when he heard a loud crack.

Suddenly, Luna was sent flying towards the mirror. Antonius’ transhuman reflexes kicked in and he jumped forwards to catch her. It was a close call, but he managed to save her… at least he thought so at first.

“Hey, Luna,” he said,
“what was… Luna? LUNA?”

“Luna!” Celestia screamed and ran up to them, but Luna still didn’t answer; she was unconscious - or worse.

Antonius put her down immediately and checked her life signs.

“She’s alive,” Antonius said with relief,
“but somehow in a less than fortunate condition… the other Luna probably got hurt.”

“You’ll be fine, Luna…” Celestia said as she put a hoof around her sister,
“I’ll get help…”

“I can’t believe that this is Twilight’s doing,” Antonius stated,
“she - or the others - would never attack the other Luna in such a way.”

Hurting villains was more his MO, after all…

“It isn’t,” Celestia told him,
“my evil counterpart did that. Please, Antonius, get a first aid kit or something.”

“I think I rather stay here.”

“Please, Antonius. I know that you are disappointed, and that you don’t trust me anymore, and I can’t even blame you for that, but please get something to help Luna. I promise I will watch over her in the meantime… I will protect her with my life!”

Celestia was right. Antonius did not trust her anymore. But Luna really did need help.

“You will only be able to disappoint me one more time,” he grumbled, jumped up and dashed out of the room, looking for a first aid kit.

Thankfully, there was a stock of them not too far away, but just as Antonius had grabbed one, there was a loud rumbling and a moment later, the room around him started to crumble. But it wasn’t just the room - the whole world was doing the same. Cracks started appearing in the very fabric of reality and he was uncannily reminded of warp rifts.

Antonius commented on this with a barrage of profanity and tried to return to Luna and Celestia as fast as he could, but suddenly he was standing on a dirt road in a gray environment.
He looked around, trying to grasp what had happened. He had probably gotten through one of the cracks in reality - there were lots of them all around - and was in the other world. There was a castle not too far away, and either they had put on a light show of some sorts there, or there was a magic battle going on.

Antonius put the first aid kit to his belt and grabbed his bolter. Since the situation had deteriorated that badly, there was no room left for the ponies’ typical ‘minimum violence solutions’. The evil Celestia had to be stopped, no matter the cost.
He started running towards the castle.

While on his way, he could see both Celestias battling it out in the sky. One of them had a purple and green glow around her - probably the evil one - the other one was ablaze.
…
Celestia could set herself ablaze?
That was an interesting piece of news, but it did not really change anything.
He kept running.

The ponies really weren’t idling around. Both Celestias now got encased in glowing bubbles, and a moment later, the Element Bearers were also floating in the sky next to them.
Damnit, getting to that stupid castle seemed to take forever…

Something seemed to happen to the bubbles, then suddenly, another pony attacked Twilight and her friends. Sombra?
Wasn’t he supposed to be the good guy? Was this an effect of the merging worlds? No matter what it was, it was also treason!
Unfortunately, they were still out of range.

Now, the ‘light show’ continued, and Sombra was obviously in the center of it.

Antonius just arrived when the lights stopped. His friends seemed to be fine (even Luna was back on her hooves), and there also were the other versions of Celestia and Luna, as well as Sombra.

Now, what the hell had happened?
Were the worlds still entangled?
What about the other versions of the princesses?
What about Sombra?
And could he finally kill a villain now?

At least one of his questions was answered when he took a closer look at Sombra and the stallion opened his eyes: He looked pretty much like the Sombra he had helped defeat.
Villain? Villain.
He must somehow have sucked the evil out of the evil princesses… so it was a sort of sacrifice. Still, this stallion knew way too much about Equestria for Antonius to allow him to run around as a villain.

Antonius just leveled his bolter as Sombra took off like a rocket.

“Oh, come on!” Antonius groaned and adjusted his aim.

“NO!” Celestia shouted and jumped at his bolter.

So, Sombra was gone now, another threat that would probably come back to bite them some time in the future, but the weapon’s muzzle was aiming right at Celestia’s chest, and for the fraction of a second, Antonius thought about pulling the trigger anyway. He looked into her tear-dimmed eyes and realized that she knew that too well.

“Do not tempt me like that,” he grumbled after taking a deep breath and lowered his bolter.

He just wanted to turn to the alternate versions of Celestia and Luna to see what was going on with them as he felt a strange pull.
The world - now green and vibrant - seemed to repair itself, and the pull came from a nearby crack that was closing. The ponies all jumped - or were pulled - through it, and Antonius understood that there was no time for checking in on anything.
Of course, there was the mirror, but due to the destruction he had witnessed in Canterlot he did not count on it still being intact.

“Luna!” Celestia shouted, but she was talking to the ‘other Luna’,
“take care of him!”
Oh, for Emperor’s sake…
“Take care of your Equestria!”

“Celestia,” she answered,
“I’m so sorry! Thank you…”

Antonius did not hear more. He had dashed towards the closing rift and now he tackled Celestia through it before it was too late.

They got teleported - or whatever you wanted to call this method of traveling - to Canterlot, right into the room with the blasted mirror. It still was intact.
So was Celestia, thanks to Antonius having the presence of mind to catch his weight with his arms instead of turning her into a pancake (or ponycake?).

“Everypony back?” he shouted as he got up.

Thankfully, the ponies all answered in the affirmative.

“Good,” Antonius stated.

At least Celestia’s ‘stunt’ had not inflicted any casualties.
He looked at the mirror.
His first idea was to destroy it and thus close the portal forever, but there was an evil Sombra in the other world who knew of this world. He had to keep a way open to go there and deal with him should he cause any trouble. Of course he couldn’t let Celestia have control over this portal for rather obvious reasons.

Antonius walked towards the mirror and asked:

“Those gems - are they just decoration or enchanted and important for the portal to work?”

“They are enchanted,” Twilight told him a bit confused,
“without them, the portal doesn’t work.”

“Difficult to enchant?”

“Yes,” Celestia answered, just as confused as Twilight,
“only Star Swirl had the knowledge and power to perform such enchantments. But why do you ask?”

Antonius ignored her question and whipped out his combat knife.

“What are you doing?” Celestia shouted.

“I’m taking precautions,” he grumbled and used his knife to lever out one of the gems.

“What?”

“To be honest, I don’t think you have the mental strength to resist the temptation of going back and trying to rescue this stallion,” he told her bluntly and levered out two more gems.

He had half expected her to try and stop him, but she was just standing there with an expression of guilt and shame. Well, at least she knew that she had messed up.

Antonius looked at the three gems in his hand and suddenly, an old saying came to his mind.

“One for the Astartes, for we owe them the safety of mankind,
one for the Primarch, for we owe him the glory of the legion,
one for the Emperor, for we owe Him everything,” he mumbled, then he turned around and left the room.

He headed straight to his Land Speeder and left Canterlot. He needed a safe place for those gems, and that meant that he had to get them out of Celestia’s sphere of influence. Unfortunately, every single pony saw her as the flawless demigoddess of the sun and would give her those blasted gems without hesitation, but he didn’t really know any of non-ponies around here…
wait a second… he knew one non-pony, and it was somepony he could trust.

He drove eastwards, so that any observer would record the wrong direction. Then, when he was out of sight of Canterlot, he turned southwards. Finally, he started closing in on his destination by a devious route. While doing so, he received a call.

“Lord Varus?” Al asked.

“Yes?” Antonius answered.

“Could you be so kind and explain to me what happened? I got some sensor data, but it didn’t really make much sense… as if the space time continuum was turned upside down, which is impossible.”

“Not as impossible as you might think. Two worlds, dimensions, or whatever you want to call them were almost merged by some weird magic. Save the readings you got. Alert me immediately should such a phenomenon appear again.”

“Okay… I have to admit that even after all my years on this planet, and my observations of the ponies, their magic still is an enigma to me.”

“Not only to you.”

Some time later, Antonius arrived at Zecora’s tree, for the zebra was only trustworthy non-pony he knew.

He knocked at the door, and she opened.

“Antonius, what a pleasant surprise,” she smiled,
“please come into my hut, where it’s warm and nice!”

“Thanks,” Antonius answered, took off his helmet and entered her home.

“Antonius, you look a little concerned,” she stated as they had sat down,
“is there troubling news you have learned?”

“Tell me, Zecora, are you a subject of Celestia just as the ponies are?”

“No, as a zebra, free I can run,
but I would never oppose the princess of the sun!”

“What if you knew it were necessary?”

“What is wrong? What do you want me to do?
I beg you, please give me a clue!”

“I have three gems here. They are important, so I need someone trustworthy to keep them safe. In the hooves of Celestia, however, they are dangerous, so I need someone who is not her subject and just gives them to her. Simply put, I need you.”

“You don’t trust the princess? That’s…”

“Zecora, I know that this is highly unusual, but I have to ask you to just trust me.”

Zecora looked at him for a few long seconds, then she nodded and fetched a small chest.

“I promise to give them only to you,
Antonius, the mystery in blue,” she said with a slightly sad smile.

Antonius smiled back in the same way and put the gems into the chest. Zecora stowed it away again and asked:

“A little time ago, there was a peculiar show,
does this have anything to do with my vow?”

“‘Show’?”

“Cracks and rifts in reality’s face,
even around here not commonplace.”

“Sorta… you should keep this information confidential, though.”

Really, this society depended too much on its leader, the truth would cause quite a ruckus… to put it mildly.

“Don’t worry, nopony will get to know anything from me,
now, I really think we could use a cup of tea.”

Some minutes - and some tea - later, as Antonius was about to jump into the Speeder, Zecora said:

“Antonius, would you be so nice
and listen to a piece of advice?”

“Sure,” Antonius answered while putting on his helmet.

“With Princess Celestia you should reconcile,
even if it might take effort - and quite a while.”

“Probably,” Antonius answered, started the Speeder and returned to Canterlot.

On his way back to the capital, he thought about everything that had happened. Two worlds almost destroyed (especially this one), the Elements almost lost.
He wondered if he could he have done anything to prevent this course of events - apart from shooting Celestia last week.
No, that was nonsense. Even if he had the ability to travel back in time, he would not do that. Things had turned out alright, and he would not risk changing that by tinkering with something as complex as time itself.

Damnit, what the hell had Tia been thinking? What was wrong with her?
Machinations of Slaanesh?
No, this whole mess had started about a thousand years ago, if Slaanesh had known about the ponies for that long, this world would have been destroyed long ago.

So, it seemed to be ‘just’ some sort of emotional attachment that interfered with duty and common sense.
Well, since he had taken care that she couldn’t return to the other world, this attachment would hopefully weaken over time. The week Celestia and Sombra had spent together would be their last, and the two worlds would be strictly separated again to prevent another merging.

Suddenly, Antonius had an unsettling realization:
A week.
A whole week.
With nights.
And overall plenty of time.

He went to the room with the mirror as soon as he had arrived in Canterlot. The mirror was gone, however, and only Luna was in the room.

“Ah, you are back,” she said,
“I guess you have hidden the gems?”

“A plausible theory,” Antonius answered.

“So, you also do not trust me in that matter?”

“I just want to save you from conflicting loyalties.”

“It is a little late for that.”

“How so?”

“Tony, we are friends, right?”

“Of course.”

“Please remember that when I give you a piece of my mind now.”

As Luna took a deep breath, Antonius started regretting that he had taken his helmet off after arriving in the hanger a few minutes ago.

“How could you have been that harsh to my sister?” Luna shouted,
“have you not realized that she is already downcast enough? But no, Mr. Merciless Duty has to rub it in!”

“Oh sure!” Antonius shouted back,
“let her put her libido over the wellbeing of everypony and human without even mentioning how terribly derelict such behavior is!”

“This is not about her libido! She has been in love!”

“As if that would make it better…”

“She made a mistake. We all make mistakes! Have you never ignored a rule and done something because you felt an urge to?”

“Nev…” Antonius started, but fell silent. After a few seconds, he continued:
“I ignored the Codex Astartes to rescue you.”

Luna looked shocked now, and Antonius kept mumbling:

“But I just rescued you… I did not endanger a world, did I?”

Did he?
What if the daemons had not been that weak?
What if…

He could not finish his thoughts. Luna suddenly hugged him.

“No,” she said insistently,
“you did not.”

Somehow, Antonius found Luna’s certainty strangely reassuring. Well, she was the best friend he had around here, if he couldn’t trust her, whom could he trust?
Which turned his thoughts back to Celestia, whose trustworthiness was somewhat undecided at the moment.

“Luna,” he said when they had ended the hug,
“I need your expertise on a certain subject.”

“Yes?” she replied.

“Can you empathize with your sister about this ‘being in love’ thing?”

“Well,” she said with a somewhat sad smile,
“I can at least try.”

“Good. Now please imagine you have a special somepony, and that the two of you have been separated for centuries. Then, you reunite. What would you do if given a whole week of time?”

“Well, we would certainly celebrate our reunification.”

“How exactly?”

“Umm…” Luna murmured, blushing.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. Or more exactly, what I was worried about,” Antonius deadpanned.

“Huh? What are you worried about? Why do you ask me…
Oh.
Oh!
OH!
You think…?”

“I think it’s somewhere between possible and probable. And if they were ‘successful’, we still have a piece of this other world in our world that could destabilize the border between both worlds.”

“Wait a second… you really think my sister could be…?”

“Pregnant. It is certainly possible. We must inquire about that.”

“Tony,” Luna said flatly,
“Cellie just lost the pony she loved. You cannot just walk up to her and ask her if they mated and if she is expecting a baby now.”

“This question will have to be asked,” Antonius stated.

“Not now, Tony. Please give her some time… give her time.”

Three days passed. Celestia raised and lowered the sun on time, but beyond that, she made herself scarce. In fact, she had spent the last days in her quarters and refused to talk to anypony.

“How much time do you think she’ll need?” Antonius asked Luna, his patience slowly beginning to wear thin.

“I do not know,” Luna admitted,
“I tried to talk to her, but she did not even open the door. She just sent me away.”

“Maybe I should have a word with her.”

“Oh… that might not be the best idea…”

“Why? We can’t just let her mope around any longer, it’s time to set her back on her hooves. She must face and overcome the consequences of her actions.”

“Umm… you are not going to punish her, are you?”

“You mean, something like chaining her up and throwing her into the deepest, darkest dungeon, with the darksteel splint on her horn, which only comes off for her to move the sun while she has my knife on her throat to keep her from trying something funny?”

Luna looked somewhat disturbed as she answered:

“Something like that, yeah. You will refrain from such a thing, will you not?”

“Don’t worry,” Antonius sighed,
“I won’t do anything like that, no matter how much she’d deserve it.”

“That is good to hear… though admittedly a little unexpected,” Luna smiled.

“Yeah, I know. As a Space Marine, I should take action against anything and anyone who might impede the success of my mission… but despite Celestia’s irresponsible behavior, I… pity her… somehow. I think about how she probably feels, and since - for whatever reason - I still see her as a friend, I want to help her.
Damnit! I am supposed to be a merciless, remorseless Angel of Death, and look at me now: I am the tolerant, merciful friend of somepony who almost destroyed two worlds!
That must be your fault…”

“My fault?” Luna asked in surprise.

“I mean you ponies. Your lifestyle obviously made me go nuts…” Antonius told her half jokingly.

“I am quite sure that you are wrong,” Luna replied with a smile,
“you have always been a kind creature. Here, you just had the opportunity to let your true self shine.”

“Eh? Was that an insult?”

“That was a compliment, you doofus!”

They both laughed, then Luna continued:

“Okay, joke aside… what do you think we can do to help my sister?”

“That actually is a very good question,” Antonius admitted,
“I am no expert when it comes to such feelings…”

“You do not say…”

“… but I try looking at it from a logical point of view: Celestia feels down because she has lost her special somepony, so maybe we should try to replace him somehow.”

“Wow,” Luna said flatly,
“I think I should call you ‘Cadance 2’ from now on.”

“No, seriously: I think that might work… possibly,” Antonius said and called Al to get help with the selection,
“of course, we must be picky when selecting this pony.
Since Sombra was a stallion, his replacement should be male, too. Since Tia is rather big, we need a something of a giant. He should also be quite resilient, you know, because of the alicorn strength. And he should of course not be intimidated by Celestia’s godlike reputation. Any suggestions?”

“Yes,” Al told them,
“you match the specified parameters quite well.”

“WHAT?” Antonius and Luna blurted.

“Male, big, resilient, sees Celestia as a pony,” Al explained.

“No,” Antonius stated,
“seriously, no. No way. Thankfully, that wouldn’t even technically be possible.”

“According to my database, it should be possible.”

“Huh? And how is this supposed to be possible, hmm?”

Antonius knew that this question was a mistake as soon as he had asked it. He was not disappointed as Al answered:

“Example: Have you ever seen an anteater assault an anthill? Sort of like that.”

Antonius and Luna stared at Al’s picture on the PDA for a few seconds, processing what Al had just said, then Antonius exclaimed:

“DAMNIT, AL! That is…”

“Unsettling, disturbing, perturbing, and all around terrible!” Luna finished.

“Hey, you asked me…” Al said apologetically,
“and I came up with a factually correct solution.”

“That will probably give me nightmares,” Antonius deadpanned.

“Well, I would have to help you, since you are my friend and that is my duty,” Luna remarked,
“although I would NOT like to see those nightmares!”

“Let’s forget this whole idea - and the mental image… especially the mental image! We should still go to Tia and see if we can help her. We’ll have to improvise.”

“It is worth a try, but as I sad, she has always sent me away whenever I tried to talk to her.”

“Then I will go and talk to her. I just need my…”

Armor, weapons and the darksteel splint, in case Celestia should go haywire… no.
Meeting her ready for battle would be unfavorable, he had to be as harmless and friendly as possible, even if it meant taking a risk against the alicorn.

“You need what?” Luna inquired.

“Luck,” Antonius finished,
“I’ll need quite an amount of luck.”

A short time later, he was standing in front of the door to Celestia’s quarters. He knocked.

“Go away, Luna!” Celestia shouted through the closed door.

Well, he wasn’t Luna, so he put his hand on the lock and started pushing. A crack, and the door swung open. Antonius entered the room and closed the door behind him.

“Hello, Tia,” he greeted nonchalantly.

The princess had been lying on her bed, but now she got up and glared at Antonius, though the glare was somewhat mollified by her puffy eyes. Her mane was a disaster and her fur had seen better days, too.

“I told you to go away!” she exclaimed with a quivering voice.

“Actually, you told Luna to go away. I am not Luna.”

“If I don’t even want to see my sister, what makes you think I want to see you?”

“This is not about what you want, but about what you need. You’ve been moping around for three days now, and probably even for all the wrong reasons.”

Oops. That definitely wasn’t the gentle approach he had had in mind, but now that he had said it…

“What do you mean? And I am not moping around, I just need some time alone to come to terms with…”

She did not finish the sentence, but started crying.

“Don’t cry for your personal loss, cry for your subjects you betrayed.”

Yeah, Antonius realized that he wasn’t good at being helpful in such a situation. Although he still saw Celestia as his friend, he also was still angry at her for neglecting her duty in such a way.

“Go to hell!” she spat.

Antonius slowly walked through her room towards the balcony door, thinking about that and his actions since he had arrived on this planet. Once at the door, he turned to Celestia and said:

“Maybe I will some day. The Emperor shall decide my fate.”

Celestia looked surprised for a moment, then she was back in her sad and glum state of mind.

“What do you want?” she asked.

“Actually, I want to help you… but first I have to make sure that there are no loose ends that could endanger this world.”

“What do you mean by ‘loose ends’?”

Antonius could not think of a gently way to ask the question he had to ask, so he inquired with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer:

“You are not somewhat pregnant, are you?”

Celestia looked as if the imaginary sledgehammer had hit her in the gut and she screamed:

“That is nothing of your concern!”

“Actually, it is,” Antonius replied,
“as a hybrid of two worlds could cause both to crumble. You know that.”

Celestia was mad with anger. She took a step towards Antonius and roared:

“So what are you going to do? Punch me in the gut? Or do you have even nastier atrocities in mind?”

Yikes.
While that would probably technically work, it was a cruel and amoral way of keeping this world safe.

Antonius approached her while she was glaring at him.
Then, he crouched down and looked her in the eyes.

“I said a hybrid could cause trouble,” he told a now confused looking Celestia,
“but as far as I know, there will be some signs if the worlds are starting to collide again. We will have to watch for those signs. I am definitely not going to kill an innocent baby unless there is no other way to ensure the continued existence of mankind and ponykind, and even then I would be disgusted by this atrocity.”

Now Celestia sat down, and they sat in front of each other for some time. Suddenly, she said:

“I’m not pregnant. I checked it with a spell. You don’t need to worry. Now, please leave me alone.”

Antonius sighed in relieve, but stayed put.

“I still want to help you,” he said,
“I heard that you didn’t talk to Luna, but perhaps you could talk to me about… your feelings or something like that? That’s how such problems are usually solved, right?”

“‘Such problems’? You mean almost getting your subjects enslaved or even killed, endangering another species, letting everypony you know down and dooming the pony you love to an eternity of daemonic possession?”

“Umm… sorta?”

Celestia jumped to her hooves and took up a stance in front of Antonius.

“And why should I talk to you if I don’t even talk to Luna?” she hissed.

Damnit, her mood was dangerously fickle. One second, she was deeply grieved, then she suddenly was furious. This was as far as you could get from the even-tempered pony he knew.

Antonius remained calm and said:

“Because you care too much about Luna’s opinion of you. You are afraid of what she could think should you honestly tell her everything that bothers you. With me, you don’t have to worry about that. Let’s be honest, my opinion of you has suffered quite a bit lately, and you think I would murder a baby just like that. Despite all of this, I am still your friend, and I am here to offer my help.”

Celestia looked at him for a few seconds, teary-eyed, then she slumped down.

“I already told you,” she whispered,
“what I did was inexcusable, and because of my flaws, the pony I love has turned into an insane villain. I should have been encase in that crystal bubble, and he should have stayed himself. That would have been more just.”

“Sombra though otherwise. To him, your safety was more important than his own, so he sacrificed himself to save you. A valiant action. You can be proud of him.”

“It is hard to feel anything but grief when you have burdened yourself with that much guilt.”

Now Antonius picked her up and hugged her.

“I do not deserve that,” Celestia breathed.

“Maybe, but you need it,” Antonius told her,
“now enjoy the hug, then get your act together and resume your duties. Sombra did not sacrifice himself for you to spend the rest of your life in your quarters, but for you to continue ruling your land as successful as ever. Equestria needs you.”

“Thank you, “ Celestia said and returned the hug,
“you may be a somewhat difficult friend at times, but you really are a good one.”

“Yeah, you fluffy little ponies really start to rub off on me.”

Antonius helped Celestia make herself presentable again, then they left her quarters and went to the throne room. Luna was more than relieved to have her sister back, and the three of them spent the rest of the day together.

When it was time to retire, Antonius and Luna escorted Celestia to her quarters. After that, they went to Luna’s room.

“I owe you for getting Cellie to leave her quarters,” Luna said,
“I wonder how you have achieved that.”

“Frankly, I don’t know,” Antonius admitted,
“I guess I really had more than just a bit of luck.”

“Whatever you did, thank you. And now, good night and sweet dreams… oh damnit!”

“What?”

“Sorry, but I just thought about…no, I will not say it.”

“The mental image we agreed to forget?” Antonius deadpanned.

“How do you know?” Luna wondered.

“We both talked about having nightmares about it, so the subject of dreaming reminded you of it. I can empathize with you. Unfortunately.”

“So… I guess we will meet in a disturbing dream?”

“Either that, or, since we have a calming effect on each other, we could stay together and hope to prevent such dreams that way.”

“Good idea, let us go to your quarters.”

62. To boldly go…

Marneus Augustus Calgar took a look at the assembled Ultramarines and the navigator. Varro Tigurius, Ortan Cassius, Seneca and Lady Angren were ready to board the Thunderhawk that would bring them all onboard the ‘Sword of Iax’, the strike cruiser that had been refitted for their mission and the associated long journey.

Also present was Cato Sicarius, and Calgar could easily see that the captain was a little miffed that it was not him who was in command of this mission. Of course, he would have been fully capable of being in charge, but this was something Calgar wanted to do himself, and it would cement the cut that the Primarch was the only commander of the Ultramarines now.

“Ready, everyone?” Calgar asked, more out of politeness than doubt.

“Last chance for a bathroom break,” Seneca grinned.

After rolling their eyes and answering Calgar’s question in the affirmative, they started boarding the waiting Thunderhawk.

“Excuse me, my Lord,” Sicarius said quietly, walking up to Calgar,
“do you really want to lead this mission yourself? I still think that you are too valuable and vital for the chapter to leave for a few years.”

“And you think you aren’t?” Calgar answered with leniency.

“Certainly not to the same amount as you.”

“Cato, I’ve been that ‘valuable’ and ‘vital’ for centuries, and I still went on mission for the good of mankind. Now that Primarch Guilliman has returned, I am not that vital anymore and can afford such a long-term enterprise. So, stop hogging all the fun.”

“Is that an order?” Sicarius smiled a little forced.

“Absolutely!” Calgar laughed,
“and now, goodbye, Cato. See you in a few years. May the Emperor be with you.”

“And with you… Marneus.”

Now Calgar entered the Thunderhawk and they left Macragge.
On board the ‘Sword of Iax’, magos Gearhart was waiting for them in the hangar. A mask and ocular augments were concealing his face - as far as he still had one - and four mechadentrites were folded to his back. As a less fanatic and more reasonable member of the Adeptus Mechanicus, Calgar had asked him to oversee the refitting of the ship and accompany them on their journey. Now he walked up to the new arrivals and said:

“Greetings, Lord Calgar. Greetings, honorable entourage. I am pleased to be able to tell you that all systems are operational, the new hydroponics system is working flawlessly and that we have enough spare parts on board to prevail in 87,314% of our standard worst-case scenarios. In short, we are ready for departure.”

“Thank you, Magos,” Calgar replied,
“are we complete? Has everyone settled in?”

“In addition to the standard crew, we accommodate 50 Ultramarines, 200 chapter serfs and two Knights. Brother Parvus is on board and is currently being looked after by my aide. Your personal Land Raider and the armament you listed are also stowed away safely.”

“Very good. We will meet on the bridge in ten minutes.”

Ten minutes later, they all were on the strike cruiser’s bridge and Lady Angren had taken her place as the ship’s navigator. The Hastings brothers were also present, but kept to the sidelines.
Calgar took a look around. The huge, cathedral-like room was bustling with activity. Servitors and crew were hurrying around, making a few last preparations and ensuring that the ‘Sword of Iax’ was fully operational.

“We are being hailed, my Lord,” a crewman told Calgar.

“Put it through to the command lectern,” Calgar replied and went to said lectern.

There, Guilliman’s face appeared.

“Status?” the Primarch asked.

“We are ready for departure,” Calgar answered.

“Excellent. Start your mission now. As of yet, nobody knows that you have left the surface, and I want you to have a considerable headstart before anyone notices that you are gone. May the Emperor be with you.”

“And with you, Your Excellency.”

The connection was terminated and Calgar gave the order to leave the orbit of Macragge.

As the ship turned its crystalflex windows away from the planet, a young woman clad in the robes of the Mechanicum burst into the bridge and hurried to magos Gearhart. The former chapter master had seen her before. Her name was Aleksa; she was Gearhart’s aide for a few years now.

“Sorry for being a little late,” she whispered to him, albeit a little too loud to not be noticed,
“did I miss anything?”

“A conversation with Primarch Guilliman,” Gearhart told her flatly.

“Oh…”

“You might be pleased to hear that we still do not know the reason for, or destination of this journey, though.”

Having said that, he turned to Calgar:

“Lord Calgar, I assume you had your reasons for this secrecy, but it would make my tasks somewhat easier if I knew where we were heading.”

“I will tell you as soon as we have translated into the warp,” Calgar replied.

“Exciting!” Aleksa whispered, again a little too loud.

It took them some time to reach the minimum safety distance for warp jumps, then they initiated the corresponding routines.

“Commencing the rites of translation…” magos Gearhart, having hooked up to a data port, informed them,
“Gellar field generators are online and working within specified parameters… doxology of the warp drive completed… drive fully charged. We are ready for translation.”

“Initiate jump,” Calgar commanded.

The main engines of the ‘Sword of Iax’ expired as in front of the ship real space was torn apart. A unnatural, purple-ish rift appeared where the warp drive did its work, discharges of electricity and less convenient energies lining its fringes. When this artificial gate to the immaterium had stabilized enough to be passed, the engines kicked back in and shoved the strike cruiser into a not-place every halfway sane human would call ‘hell’.

“Translation successfull,” magos Gearhart informed them.

“We are on course,” Lady Angren added.

Now the magos disconnected from his data port, walked up to Calgar and waited without saying a word.

“Yes, I will tell you now,” Calgar sighed,
“let us go to the ready room.”

Once there and after hearing destination and reason for their journey, Gearhart looked dumbfounded. He managed to do so despite his extensive augmentations.

“I think I am having a short circuit,” he stated in his usual matter-of-fact tone.

His aide was less factual:

“Holy Omnissiah! A weapon against Chaos, and a working and complete STC system? With an AI that is not insane? Wow! I think I’m gonna need a cold shower!”

“Aleksa, postpone that,” Gearhart said, then he turned to Calgar:
“Lord Calgar, would you mind telling me why you did not inform the Mechanicum? We could have sent an exploration fleet to secure the STC system.”

“That’s what I was worried about,” Calgar responded.

“Please explain.”

“What would such a fleet have done with the inhabitants of this world?”

“Those within a security zone around the STC system would have been eliminated, other specimens would have been studied.”

“Vivisected?”

“Certainly.”

“Yeah, and I wanted to prevent exactly that from happening… even if your magi would have been content with killing just the aliens…”

“My Lord?”

Now Calgar told him a short version of his past experiences with the Mechanicum, and once again, Gearhart managed to look dumbfounded.

“I can assure you that I do not approve of the methods applied by my Adeptus,” he finally stated.

“I know,” Calgar told him,
“that’s why I asked you to come along.”

“Thank you for informing us,” Gearhart said after a few seconds of contemplation,
“now, please excuse us. We have to do our duties. Aleksa, follow me.”

The magos and his aide left.

“Are you sure they are trustworthy?” Seneca asked when they were gone.

“Gearhart? I think so. In the case of Aleksa, I’m not so sure since I barely know her. Gearhart, however, trusts her… Perhaps I should talk to her…” Calgar answered, then he turned to Tigurius:
“… or should I say, WE should talk to her?”

“Anytime you wish, my Lord,” Tigurius replied.

After a long day of duty, Aleksa was back in her quarters. It was one of the concessions magos Gearhart had made to make her feel a little more comfortable. Another one was the recaf machine that was waiting for her on a wooden table.
She quickly lit an incense stick to convince her favorite machine spirit that it was time to do some work, filled the ingredients into the according chambers and put a cup under its outlet.

Just as she wanted to push the activation rune, there was a knock on the door.

“What a surprise,” she mumbled, left her beloved machine and opened.

To her actual surprise, it was magos Gearhart.

“Magos!” she exclaimed,
“come in. How can I be of service? A cup of recaf, perhaps?”

“If we can find a straw,” Gearhart said as he entered the room,
“and my mouth.”

“Oh… right… well…”

“Aleksa, tell me,” he interrupted,
“what do you think about the current situation?”

“It’s amazing that we have the chance to acquire an intact STC system… it’s much less amazing that we have to do so without help from the Mechanicum.”

“Do you think we should try to contact and tell them?”

Oh. Did he actually want her opinion, or was this a test of her loyalty? And if it was the second, her loyalty to whom?

“Well… to be completely honest… no,” she answered.

“So you suggest that we betray the Adeptus Mechanicus?”

“No! I mean… not really… perhaps a little… umm… yes, somehow…”

“Explain,” magos Gearhart said calmly.

Since she was still alive, and even got a chance to explain herself, the answer had probably not been too terribly wrong.

“You see, Magos, either we betray the Mechanicum or we betray the Ultramarines, and I can understand why the Ultramarines act the way they do. Involving our Adeptus would probably lead to those creatures being slaughtered, and if they really are the only ones who can wield this strange weapon, that would be a terrible loss. And to think that a fanatical magos like the one on the space hulk might lead the mission and turn on pretty much everyone…”

Aleksa shuddered and Gearhart walked to her recaf machine and pushed the activation rune. He waited patiently until the cup was full of steaming hot, brown liquid, then he handed it to his aide.

“Thank you,” she said.

“I concur,” he told her,
“as strange as it may sound, a slightly increased difficulty in acquiring the STC system is acceptable if it means being able to acquire the anti-Chaos weapon. Of course, not many magi would think so.”

“So, we just help the Ultramarines? No strings attached?”

“Yes.”

Aleksa was relieved to hear that and took a sip from her cup. While doing so, she noticed that her right hand was trembling a little.

“We need to recalibrate your bionics,” Gearhart noted.

“Guess so,” she answered, put down her cup and rolled up her sleeve,
“would be a shame if I spilled my recaf.”

The magos seized her right wrist with one of his mechadentrites and attached another one to her right upper arm.

“As usual…” he started,

“… this will hurt,” Aleksa finished.

For a few seconds, her arm seemed to be on fire and she had an attack of sweating, then the pain was gone and the arm worked properly again. Now that they were at it, they also checked the function of her other limbs, then magos Gearhart turned to leave.

“Aleksa, now might be a good time to take that shower you had to postpone,” he told her flatly as he walked through the door.

Well, no matter if he was joking or not, he was not wrong, but first, Aleksa sat down and enjoyed her cup of recaf.

Mere minutes after receiving the call from Calgar, Marcus entered the former chapter master’s quarters. Since it was not common that he, a simple chapter serf, was called by such a high ranking member of the Ultramarines, he had made haste, and now he was standing in front of the giant.

“Lord Calgar,” he said,
“how can I be of service?”

“Find Aleksa, magos Gearhart’s aide, and tell her that I would like to talk to her,” Calgar told him,
“ask her to come here at her earliest convenience.”

“Yes, my Lord.”

Marcus left and started looking for the recipient of his message. He expected her to be crawling through some maintenance tunnels and was really surprised as he got to know that she was in her room.

Having found it, he knocked politely, and was surprised a second time as the voice that told him to ‘wait a second’ sounded truly female instead of mechanic.
When the door opened, his surprise triple was complete: Not only did this ‘Aleksa’ sound like a ‘normal’ woman, she also looked much less artificial than he had estimated. A pleasant face, surrounded by shoulder-long, black hair. The only bionic parts he could see were her arms, which she used to keep a towel closed around her body while dripping water on the floor.

“Sorry,” she said,
“but I have just taken a shower. What do you want?”

Marcus stopped staring at her like a moron and started:

“Lord Calgar would…”

“Lord Calgar?” Aleksa interrupted with a smile and grabbed him by his shoulder with her right arm,
“do come in and tell me what he wants!”

Now she yanked him into her quarters and he almost lost balance. While trying to prevent himself from greeting the ground in a rather embarrassing way, her other hand closed around his wrist and he was forced into an upright and stable position. Effective, but it has almost cost him his wrist.

As Aleksa was behind him, he just wanted to turn around as he heard something that sounded suspiciously like fabric hitting the floor.

“Oh,” Aleksa said and grabbed his head from behind.

Then, she turned him towards a wall and said:

“Stay here and don’t dare to turn around, okay?”

“Okay,” Marcus confirmed, then she let go of him.

Since the only thing he could see was wall and did not dare to chance that, he listened.
Aleksa was probably in another room now and sometimes, he could hear a sound like metal on tiles.
A short time later, she entered again and said:

“Okay, now turn around and give me your Lord’s message.”

Marcus did both, and Aleksa, now wearing the typical Machanicum attire, smiled:

“Thank you. I will see Lord Calgar immediately. Oh, and sorry for the… unusual welcome.”

“Don’t worry, I am not hurt. I must admit, though, that your strength is probably sufficient to lift a tank…”
He rubbed his wrist.
“…or to beat it up.”

Aleksa laughed and said:

“Well, my arms and legs are bionics, that’s rather obvious. But my spine, hip and shoulders are also artificial, just inside what’s left of my body.”

“Left of your body? Because you are a member of the Mechanicum, right?”

“Not exactly, I had a… little accident, but now let’s get going. I don’t want to keep Lord Calgar waiting.”

So they left Aleksa’s quarters and headed to Calgar’s. On their way, they made some small talk. Marcus had to admit that magos Gearhart’s aide was not at all how he had expected her to be, and he did not mean the fact that her bionics looked more like actual human body parts than the usual Mechanicum type.

“Tell me,” Aleksa suddenly said,
“do you know an Ultramarine named Antonius Varus? He should be a member of the second company.”

Marcus did not need to think about that for long:

“Actually, yes, I do. He’s not on board, though. I haven’t seen him for some time, but I’ve heard he’s listed as ‘missing’. Why do you ask?”

“Oh, just curiosity. I’ve heard a few things about him.”

“Well, he’s still one of the examples why the end doesn’t justify the means…”

“Huh?”

“He’s beaten an unbeatable test, but he disregarded the Codex Astartes while doing so. That means his actions were wrong, despite his success.”

“I see…” Aleksa mumbled, but she didn’t sound convinced at all.

“But I don’t only know him from that story, I also know him personally,” Marcus added.

“Oh? That’s great! Tell me how you met and how he is, please.”

“Well, to be honest… I was serving some hot soup during a celebration when I tripped and dumped a plateful into his lap…”

Aleksa stopped and stared at him.

“No way,” she said,
“what did he do? You don’t look mangled.”

“He didn’t ‘mangle’ me. He hissed: ‘It’s already deactivated, you don’t need to scald it.’”

Aleksa burst out laughing, and Marcus had to join her.

“Yeah, that was also Sergeant Seneca’s reaction. The other Ultramarines were not that lighthearted, but I just had to run some errands for him as a punishment. Every time he sees me now, though, he asks for his armor… or more armor.”

Aleksa laughed again and both continued their way.

“I think I’m going to like him,” she grinned,
“if I ever meet him, of course.”

“And?” Calgar asked Tigurius as magos Gearhart’s aide had left the room,
“what do you think?”

“No signs of treachery. She meant what she said. She’s not too happy with the whole situation, but she will help us as best she can.”

“Good. Anything else?”

“Magos Gearhart also tested her loyalty. Seems that we all agree that our course of action is appropriate. Further, Marcus has told her stories about brother Varus and now she is eager to meet him.”

“The stronghold test? The Tau?”

“The test and something with hot soup.”

“Come again?”

“I’ve never heard of that one, but Aleksa thought it was funny. Seneca should be able to give us the details.”

“Hmm. Guess we’ll have to talk to him later. Now, please continue.”

“She sees Marcus as a friend, despite this being the first time they met. She has even taken a liking to him.”

“What? This may be a ‘cruiser’, but it’s a strike cruiser, not a cruise ship! Do you think it’s a cause for concern?”

“Not really, my Lord. All told, Aleksa is just… kind. She mostly lacks the sobriety usually associated with the Mechanicum, but that’s not entirely unheard-of when talking about low level acolytes.”

“Hmm… so, she’s more human than expected… that may actually turn out to be good news. Anything else to say about her?”

“She’s naturally curious. Oh, and she has no idea what a pony is.”

“Well,” Calgar mused,
“that is something she will get to know.”

63. The Tree of Harmony

Luna landed in front of Moonlight, Blackwing and Stormy’s house in Ponyville to follow an invitation for dinner. Antonius had been there the whole day, his Land Speeder on the road a visible sign of his presence in the nice little cottage.

She just wanted to knock as Antonius’ helmet came dashing around the corner of the house. Luna raised an eyebrow in surprise. The helmet was not only running on four grey legs, it was also giggling.
She started grinning. Stormy.

“Will you get back here, you little helmet swiper!” Antonius called as he came around the corner in pursuit of Stormy.

Luna immediately realized that he was playing with her, he was deliberately slow so that she could keep some distance between them. Her grin widened. Seeing her friend be so playful was really nice.

Stormy noticed her and made a beeline for her.

“Luna, help!” she laughed.

Luna didn’t need to be told twice. She lit her horn and hovered Stormy onto her back. Then, she spread her wings and took off.

“Oh, no, you don’t!” Antonius exclaimed and jumped.

He managed to grab her hind hooves and pulled her back onto the ground.

“Oh, woe is me!” Luna wailed dramatically,
“I have been too slow to escape!”

“Woe is us!” Stormy joined in.

Antonius picked them both up and said:

“Indeed. Now, for your punishment: You will spend an evening in a cell, on bread and water!”

“Ha! There are no cells here!” Stormy giggled,
“and mom and dad already cooked a tasty meal!”

“Hmm… okay…” Antonius admitted,
“then, you will spend an evening in this beautiful house, eating whatever delicious meal is served to you!”

“Oh, what a punishment!” Luna laughed.

“Gotta be flexible, you know,” Antonius winked.

“Ah, there you are,” Moonlight smiled, peeking out of the front door,
“come on in, dinner is almost ready!”

When it was time to return to Canterlot, Luna and Antonius said goodbye to their friends and got into the Land Speeder. On their way to the capital, Luna suddenly turned to Antonius:

“You know, Tony, we still have some time before I have to raise the moon… how about teaching me how to drive your Land Speeder?”

“Seriously?” Antonius answered in surprise,
“you, the magic Princess of the Night, capable of flight and teleportation, want to learn how to handle this human means of transportation?”

“Yes, because I enjoy traveling with it.”

“Commendable,” Antonius grinned and stopped.

Luna was all smiles. Of course, she had expected him to accommodate her wish; they were close friends, after all.

After solving the problems that came with taking each other’s seat, Antonius told her how to operate the Land Speeder. While Luna had watched him closely, she was glad about the explanation and did her best to figure out a way to get along with the controls despite her lack of hands.
She worked out a mix of hooves and magic and gently accelerated the Speeder.

Antonius was giving her advice (quite a lot of it) and Luna started to get familiar with the vehicle.
She increased the speed.
Truly, being a passenger had been great, but being the driver was fantastic!

A Land Speeder was a technical marvel made by mankind. Designed as a light recon vehicle, it was armored well enough to withstand a firefight and equipped with a powerful engine that was capable of getting it into or out of said fight in a minimum of time, while the anti-grav system reliably kept the ground at bay. This particular one was an old Mk 1, which lacked the usual armament as well as the color pattern of a chapter. Still, it was fully functional and an incredibly useful asset to Antonius on this planet.
Now Luna was driving it like a madmare.

They left a cloud of dust and colorful exhaust fumes behind them as they traveled at maximum vertical velocity.

“This is fantastic!” Luna screamed.

“Yeah, but please try not to get carried away,” Antonius tried to rein her in, with somewhat limited success.

Suddenly, she made a hard turn to the left and they were flying along the shoreline of a lake.

“Sorry,” Luna shouted,
“I almost overlooked that lake! I rally did not want to cause an accident!”

Antonius looked out across the water surface, then he turned to his enthusiastic pilot:

“There’s nothing on that lake we could have crashed into. What accident are you talking about?”

“Huh? Is it not called a LAND Speeder because it only works on solid ground?”

Antonius laughed and answered:

“Luna, it is called a LAND Speeder because its STC was rediscovered by a magos of the Mechanicum named Arkhan LAND. It has nothing to do with its area of application.”

“Oh… if that is the case…”

Luna made another hard turn, this time to the right and onto the lake, replacing the dust in their wake with mist.

“We are really not sinking!” she cheered and left the water again towards Canterlot.

As they approached the mountain, Antonius shouted:

“You should stop now so that I can get us into the hangar.”

“Hey, I can do that, too!” Luna grinned.

“I meant in one piece. So please stop now.”

“Aww, you are no fun,” Luna pouted and stopped the Land Speeder.

When Antonius had brought them back into the hangar, they went to one of Canterlot’s highest towers and stepped onto a balcony where Luna raised the moon.

“Well, this duty of mine is done,” she said with a smile,
“I am really happy that I can do that again. Those thousand years on the moon were… not to my liking.”

“Why are you thinking about that now?” Antonius inquired.

“The Summer Sun Celebration will be the day after tomorrow. As you know, it celebrates my sister’s victory over Nightmare Moon… and it was on a Summer Sun Celebration that Twilight and her friends freed me from that daemon.”

“Hmm… I truly am thankful for that,” Antonius grinned, which earned him a hug.

They left the balcony and headed for Luna’s quarters as the princess said:

“I wonder if somepony will think of Nightmare Moon tonight… well, I will have to be watchful while I am on my patrol.”

Luna was a little glum. The Summer Sun Celebration had stirred some unpleasant memories and emotions. Perhaps Antonius could help her by taking some of her duties off her.

“I could take over the patrol,” he offered,
“that way, you could focus on the ponies’ dreams.”

“That would be nice,” Luna smiled.

After putting the two batponies assigned to this night’s patrol into the Land Speeder, they left Canterlot and headed for White Tail Woods. The patrol itself was was pretty uneventful, but the animals that lived in the forest were unusually nervous and very easily startled.
Wondering what could be the cause of this behavior, Antonius and his companions tried to investigate the matter, but did not find any clues.

It was past dawn as they returned to the Land Speeder - or, to be exact, it should have been past dawn. When they left White Tail Woods, however, a strange sight met their eyes:
sun and moon were in the sky together, bathing Equestria in a strange twilight that defied the laws of physics.

“Is this a part of the Summer Sun Celebration?” Antonius asked.

“No, this is just weird,” the batponies told him.

“Get ready to return to Canterlot. I’ll call the princesses and ask them what’s going on.”

Neither Luna nor Celestia answered, but fortunately, there was a third princess in Canterlot, so Antonius called Twilight. It took a few seconds, but she finally appeared on the PDA. She looked sleepy, but at least she was willing - or able - to answer him.

“Twilight, what’s going on?” Antonius asked.

“Huh?” Twilight asked drowsily,
“what do you mean?”

“Have you looked out of the window?”

“What? No, why should… SWEET CELESTIA!”

“Yeah, that’s what I was talking about,” Antonius deadpanned.

“What’s going on?” Twilight inquired.

“I asked first… so, you don’t know, either?”

“No! But I will find out!”

“I’ll return to Canterlot as fast as I can.”

“Good. Please make haste. SPIKE!”

Twilight cut the connection and Antonius jumped into the Speeder. The batponies were ready by now and they set off for Canterlot.

On their way there, Antonius received a message from Twilight:

“Antonius, change of plans: Come to Ponyville immediately.”

“Mind telling me why?” Antonius wanted to know, but already adjusted his course.

“Luna and Celestia have gone missing and the Everfree is invading Ponyville!”

A forest invading a town? Antonius wondered how that was supposed to look like. But the fact that the princesses had gone missing… well, that was really bad news… and Antonius again felt a strange uneasiness he could not really describe.

“I don’t think that is a coincidence,” he grumbled.

“Whatever it is, I’m going to Ponyville, too, to get our friends and the Elements of Harmony!”

“With you in a minute.”

As the Land Speeder approached Ponyville, it became pretty obvious what Twilight had meant with the Everfree ‘invading’ Ponyville: Thick, black, thorny vines were literally everywhere, coiling through the town at speeds very unusual for normal plants - they seemed to be almost animal-like.
As if that wasn’t already bad enough, dark, spiky clouds were littering the sky.

“What the heck?” one of the batponies mumbled.

Antonius evaded the vines and stopped in front of the Golden Oak Library.

“Evacuate the citizens,” he commanded while they all disembarked,
“I’ll join the Element Bearers to stop this threat.”

Just at that moment, Twilight and her friends came out of the library.

“Antonius!” Twilight greeted,
“am I glad to see you!”

“Likewise,” Antonius answered,
“I see you already have the Elements. That’s good. What or who do we have to aim them at?”

“We think Discord is behind all of this. This situation has his hoofprints all over it!”

“I won’t even ask how often I’ve told you that this creature can’t be trusted, no matter what he really is… anyway, let’s blast him!”

A few ponies screamed in the distance, and Twilight took a worried look in that direction. Then she turned to the Space Marine again:

“Antonius, we’ll be able to deal with Discord on our own… wouldn’t be the first time, after all. I would rather like you to help the citizens of Ponyville. See to it that they can escape those briars.”

“Well, I think defeating Discord and rescuing the princesses has priority, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, but we’re already at it. Please help the ponies, I promise Celestia and Luna will be alright.”

“Acknowledged,” Antonius answered after a second and dashed off towards the spot where the scream had supposedly come from.

Yeah, instead of making sure that Discord got blasted and rescuing the irreplaceable princesses, he complied with Twilight’s request to help the ponies of Ponyville instead.
This place really had left a mark on him.

Finding the source of the screams proved to be quite simple and thankfully, cutting the vines that had grabbed the ponies with the chainsword was just as easy.

“Are you okay?” Antonius asked.

“Yes,” a mare he had just rescued told him,
“we are not hurt… just terrified.”

Really, none of the ponies was wounded, despite the vines that had grabbed them being covered with thorns.
Was this just a lucky coincidence? Or was it purpose? Did those vines just ‘want’ to cause a commotion without hurting anypony?
Well, that would fit Discord’s usual MO, if the stories he had heard were correct.

Antonius wondered how the Element Bearer’s fight with Discord was going - there was a serious lack of giant, magical rainbows in the sky, after all - when another scream forced him to focus on his rescuing business again.

For some time, he kept dashing through Ponyville, cutting vines and helping ponies. Then he started to get worried. There still was no sign that the Elements had been used, and that was a bad omen.

So Antonius started looking for Twilight and her friends. He soon found Twilight; he saw her running out of Ponyville and into the Everfree Forest accompanied by Spike. Just Spike, no other ponies.

Antonius immediately started following her, but before he had passed the borders of the town, he encountered Discord.

“You should not chase after mares like that,” Discord grinned,
“if she loves you, she will return to you.”

Ignoring the attempt to anger him - he already was annoyed enough - Antonius responded:

“Where is Twilight going?”

“Into the Everfree, of course.”

“Where are the other Element Bearers?”

“They preceded her.”

“Don’t tell me they split up!”

“Okay, I won’t tell you.”

Being fed up with this conversation, Antonius just wanted to get going again as Discord teleported in front of him.

“Oh no, I don’t think they’ll need your help,” he said and blocked his way.

Already more that fed up with Discord, Antonius punched him in the face, which now seemed to have been swallowed by the rest of his head.

“Ow!” Discord said with a muffled voice,
“okay, just go on…”

Not caring for Discord’s permission, Antonius now dashed past him and followed Twilight as fast as he could. He neither saw Discord grumpily pull his face out of his head nor did he hear him mutter

“Impolite.”

Instead, he managed to catch up to Twilight and Spike - thankfully, the ponies had left clear trails.

“Twilight! Spike!” he shouted.

“Antonius!” Twilight replied,
“are the citizens of Ponyville okay?”

“They are not hurt, those vines are not really harmful, just seriously annoying. But they cause quite some property damage. We have to find out what’s behind all of this, or else the attempt to save Ponyville will be in vain.”

“I think I know what’s going on. The Tree of Harmony is probably in danger.”

“There’s a TREE of Harmony? Nice that somepony finally told me.”

“I just got to know that, too. We have to save it!”

“I save things that are called ‘… of Harmony’ by default. So let’s get going!”

While Twilight briefed Antonius on everything she had gotten to know about the tree, they journeyed deeper into the out-of-control forest, until Spike asked:

“Are we there yet?”

“I don’t know where we are,” Twilight admitted,
“we’re lost. I never should have left my friends.”

“Then I wouldn’t have had a chance to join you,” Antonius added for consideration,
“but why did you leave them in the first place?”

“They told me that as a princess I was too important to risk my life.”

“Hmm… according to that, all six of you should have stayed somewhere safe and I should have gone on this mission on my own.”

“Huh? You are just as important as any of us!” Twilight stated.

“In the end, I’m not, Twilight. I can’t use the Elements. You can. So, I’m expendable, but that is what enables me to do my duty no matter what I have to face and no matter the cost.”

“That’s… weird. And we still don’t know where to go.”

Now Antonius fetched his auspex.

“To reunite with your friends, we have to go this way,” he said and pointed in the corresponding direction - and at a strange, black plant that was worming towards them.

“What is that?” Spike gasped.

“Looks like an amalgamation of those vines, a venus flytrap and a tyranid ripper,” Antonius grumbled,
“so it looks like wanting to be killed. Twilight, surveil our suroundings. Ranged combat. Keep any of them that show up at bay. I’ll attack them in melee.”

Antonius had expected more of those things to show up, and he wasn’t proven wrong: As he closed in on the first one, more of them came crawling out of the forest.
An ambush, but if they weren’t decisively more resilient than the ‘normal’ vines, this should not prove to be a problem.

He was almost in melee range when the thing spat a dust cloud at him. Antonius quickly sealed his helmet, switched to internal life support and brought his chainsword down on the plant.
It was not more resilient than the vines.

Behind him, he could hear Twilight fire her magic blasts, so he turned around and engaged the next monstrosity.

He had just cut down the second one as Spike shouted:

“Twilight! Watch out!”

Antonius took a look and saw another plant-thing engulf Twilight in a cloud of this strange dust. She coughed and collapsed to the ground.

“Damnit,” Antonius grumbled, dashed over to her and killed her attacker with a swing of his sword.

“Spike,” he shouted as he focused on their enemies again,
“take care of her!”

The things had crept closer by now, and a jump was enough to get into melee range again and cut them down.
When the area was cleared of hostiles, Antonius turned back to Twilight and Spike. The alicorn was looking a bit groggy, but she did not seem to be too badly off.

“Are you okay?” he inquired.

“I think so,” Twilight replied and got up,
“this strange dust just knocked me out for a second… seems to be some kind of sleeping dust… But now let’s go and find our friends!”

They followed the directions given by the auspex and soon stood at the ledge of a cliff. In the valley at the bottom there were more vines, and they all seemed to come out of a cave.
Just in front of that cave, Twilight friends were standing.

“There they are,” Antonius said,
“now we just have to find a way down.”

“We could take these stairs!” Spike suggested and pointed out his discovery.

“Oh… that is an expedient idea.”

So they took the stairs. While they were doing so, their friends spotted them and they met down in the valley.

“Twilight! Antonius!” Applejack shouted,
“I sure am glad you came looking for us!”

“Not as glad as I am that we found you,” Twilight answered.

“The truth of it is, Twilight,” Rarity smiled,
“we’re simply lost without you.”

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash agreed,
“Equestria may need its princess…”

“… but we need our friend.” Fluttershy finished.

As they celebrated their reunification with the inevitable group hug, Antonius remarked:

“Could we maybe save the displays of affection until after this crisis is over?”

“No,” Pinkie Pie told him bluntly and pulled him into the hug.

When they were done, they entered the cave the vines came out of.
Inside there was a tree made of crystal, spotting a large star in its center and sockets on five branches - the Tree of Harmony. Antonius did not need any confirmation to be sure of this.

Unfortunately - but not at all surprisingly - it really was in danger; the dark vines were coiling themselves around it, and Antonius noticed two heaps of them to either side of the tree.
A short glance at his auspex validated his suspicion.

“Good news: we’ve found the princesses,” he stated,
“bad news: they’re temporarily unavailable. More good news: That can be changed”.

He cut a vine with his chainsword, but another one immediately took its place.

“Huh?” he wondered,
“they seem to be much more determined now.”

Twilight slowly flew forward and took a closer look at the tree. A vine attacked her at once and coiled itself around her hoof. While she struggled to retreat, Antonius jumped and cut the vine, freeing Twilight. They both returned to the rest of the Element Bearers, and the vines intensified their grip on the Tree of Harmony.

“Now we have a problem,” Antonius stated,
“while those vines are easily cut, there are a lot of them, and I’m not sure I can deal with them fast enough to prevent them from strangling the tree or the imprisoned princesses. Perhaps you could use your Elements and blast them?”

“That would only be a temporary solution,” Twilight said,
“the vines would return and we’d be in trouble all over again… but I know how we can save the tree. We have to give it the Elements of Harmony.”

She wanted to give such powerful artifacts to a tree? Well, they had come from that tree, so it kind of made sense…

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, heh,” Rainbow Dash objected,
“how are we supposed to protect Equestria?”

Or help mankind?

“How are we meant to rein Discord in if we can’t use the Elements to turn him back to stone?” Rarity added.

Or keep the promise to help mankind?

“Twilight,” Applejack said,
“the Elements of Harmony… They’re what keep us connected no matter what.”

“You’re right about one thing, Applejack,” Twilight answered,
“the Elements of Harmony did bring us together. But it isn’t the Elements that will keep us connected. It’s our friendship. And it’s more important and more powerful than any magic. My new role in Equestria may mean I have to take on new responsibilities, and our friendships may be tested, but it will never, ever be broken. There’s no time to lose. Everypony ready?”

“Ready,” Twilight’s friends answered.

“Antonius?” Twilight asked a little worried.

Of course she knew what her plan meant.
Now Antonius had to decide if he should trust her or insist on looking for a different plan. After a second of hesitation - and consideration - he answered:

“The vines will probably attack you again, but I will take care of them. You focus on your task.”

He stepped between Twilight and the tree, the chainsword in his hand. With the sound of Twilight’s wing beat above and behind him, he waited for the inevitable attack.
It came promptly.

A whole series of vines shot towards her, but Antonius managed to cut them down before they could reach their target.
More of them were quickly advancing, seemingly from just about every direction at once. With his superior reflexes he still managed to keep Twilight safe, but he also noticed that those vines were not just some plants that moved because of simple reflexes. An intelligence was working against him, trying to predict his moves and luring him into opening a window in his defense they could attack Twilight through.

While he was fighting, Twilight hovered the Elements towards the Tree of Harmony. As each of them was placed into a free socket, the tree closed around them, making them parts of the branch.

Antonius just cut a vine that had managed to coil itself around Twilight’s leg as she finished her task by putting the last Element - Magic - into the central socket.

Now all of the Elements started glowing and a moment later, the whole tree followed. With an explosion of multicolored light, it disintegrated the vines completely - freeing the princesses in the process.

Twilight dashed towards them and hugged them.
Antonius was tempted to do the same - especially since this strange uneasiness was gone again now - but he restrained himself and just sighed in relief.

“We know how difficult it must have been for you to give up the Elements,” Celestia said,
“it took great courage to relinquish them.”
Then she turned to Antonius:
“This applies to you, too. I thought you would try to prevent this from happening.”

“You know,” Antonius replied, scratching his helmet,
“I guess they are not stuck in that tree forever. They came from the tree, they returned to the tree for now. I consider them just being in their charge station… only that they seem to charge the tree… which does not really make sense, since they seem to be some kind of ‘fruit’ of the tree… but that isn’t the first time something related to magic does not really make sense to me, so I decided to just trust Twilight.”

Surprisingly, the Tree of Harmony wasn’t done yet. It channeled multicolored light from the Elements and directed it into one of its roots, where a bud sprouted.
This bud quickly grew into a flower, and as it opened, it revealed a hexagonal chest.

The three princesses and Antonius approached this new item.

“What’s inside it?” Twilight wondered,
“how am i supposed to open it?”

“Six locks, six keys,” Luna commented.

“I do not know where they are,” Celestia admitted,
“but I do know that it is a mystery you will not be solving alone.”

“Six Elements, six Element Bearers, six keys,” Antonius added, then he took a scrutinizing look at the Tree of Harmony.

Now that the vines were gone, it shone in new splendor, and there were more symbols on it than just the star in its center:
A sun and a moon; Tia’s and Luna’s cutie marks… perhaps the star was not just a star, but Twilight’s cutie mark?
That hinted at a connection - a connection that had been made long before Twilight had even been born - the tree was at least a thousand years old, after all. Did that mean that he had stumbled into a plan that was probably more that a millennium old? With a tree as the centerpiece?
Who had ever heard of such an important tree?

Actually, he had.
It was a legend about a tree of unimaginable power: The Tree of Life.
The Primarch of the Space Wolves, Leman Russ, had allegedly disappeared while looking for it. He had wanted to use its seeds to…
heal the Emperor.

Antonius stared at the Tree of Harmony.
Could it be?
The seeds… the Elements…

Following an impulse, he reached out and gently put his hand on the tree.

Despite being made out of crystal, the tree did not feel as cold as one should have expected. It radiated a nice and cozy warmth, and as Antonius removed his hand a few seconds later, he felt exactly that way.
Maybe the Elements of Harmony would prove to be even more valuable than he had already thought.

When they all had left the cave, Celestia turned to Twilight and her friends:

“You deserve some rest now, my little ponies. Return to Ponyville. Luna and I will teleport to Canterlot and finish the preparations for The Summer Sun Celebration. We’ll see you again this evening for the start of the festivities.”

“I’ll go to Ponyville, too,” Antonius said,
“I’ve got to get the Speeder.”

“What about teleporting to the Speeder?” Luna suggested.

“If you don’t need me anymore,” Antonius said, turned to Twilight and her friends.

“Not really, thank you,” Twilight answered,
“we don’t mind you joining Celestia and Luna.”

So Celestia teleported to Canterlot and Luna and Antonius teleported to Ponyville.

As they jumped into the Land Speeder, Antonius grinned:

“I just realized that instead of an unhurried walk through the forest, we basically volunteered for more preparation work.”

“Well, we cannot let my sister carry this burden alone, can we?” Luna smiled back.

“Would be worth a try,” Antonius laughed and started the engines.

Back in Canterlot, Antonius and Luna helped Celestia preparing the Celebration. In the evening, Twilight and her friends arrived and joined them and the festivities started. They took the whole night and reached their climax when it was time for sunrise.

Luna lowered the moon, Celestia raised the sun, and Twilight magic-ed a giant star into the sky, accompanied by a lot of cheering from the assembled ponies.

Later, when the Summer Sun Celebration was over, Celestia, Luna and Antonius met in the throne room.

“Antonius,” Celestia said,
“just to dispel any possible doubts or worries: We promised to help mankind, and even with the Elements of Harmony temporarily unavailable, we will keep this promise.”

“I’m sure of that,” Antonius replied,
“I’m just curious how long the Elements will have to stay in the Tree of Harmony until they can be removed again.”

“That’s hard to say… but I’m sure the Tree will let us use them once we need them.”

“Let us just hope that we do not need them too soon,” Luna remarked.

At that moment, the door was pushed open and a guard came running in.

“Princesses!” he shouted,
“the beacons! The western beacons are lit!”

Antonius, Luna and Celestia looked at each other.

“Of course,” Antonius commented flatly.

64. Abandon all Hope

Antonius scratched his head. The timing for the return of Chaos could not possibly be worse. The Elements of Harmony had probably become unavailable and there had been no time to find a replacement. Al wasn’t ready, either, the only assets they had were shotguns, flamers, and an untested tank prototype.

“Perhaps it’s just a false alarm,” Celestia suggested.

“You may hope for that,” Antonius replied,
“but we must not count on it. Instead, we will assume the threat is real.
Put Equestria under martial law. Send for the PDF, they must be ready to move out as soon as we have localized the Chaos incursion. Make sure that they are equipped with the guns we produced… damnit, I wish we’ve had time to actually train them. Now, a crash course must suffice.”

“What about the tank?” Luna inquired.

“Ready but untested. Guess it’ll be ‘trial by fire’ for it, too.”

Now Antonius fetched his PDA and called Twilight.

“Hello,” she answered cheerfully.

“Twilight,” Antonius said,
“Chaos has probably returned.

“Please tell me that you’re kidding,” she said as she paled.

“Unfortunately, I’m not. We still don’t know any details but we’ll take it with the utmost seriousness. Get your friends and revisit the Tree of Harmony. See if it releases the Elements. Then call me and report on the situation.”

He closed the connection and voxed Al.

“Hello,” Al answered,
“how can I be of service?”

“Al,” Antonius told him,
“we have a probable Chaos incursion.”

“Oh no! That really is more than just inconvenient! We are not ready yet. We have no new units, no new weapons, not even the production facilities. I do not even have the new reactor ready!”

“Calm down. I am well aware of that. We’ll have to stick to the equipment the ponies produced. Can you mask your energy signature? Chaos must not find you.”

“I think so… but I can’t continue replacing my reactor while doing so.”

“Doesn’t matter. Mask your signature and maintain radio silence. Only use the vox if absolutely necessary.”

“Our communication is already encrypted, but in addition to that, I will narrow down the wave band and keep to your order, that should make it much harder for them to locate me.”

“Good. I will send some ponies over to seek shelter in your core halls. Over.”

“Understood. Over.”

“You want to send ponies to Al?” Celestia wanted to know.

“Yes,” Antonius told her,
“if we can’t get the Elements, Twilight and her friends. I any case, we’ll send Cadance, Shining Armor and a few other selected ponies who will hide there and await the arrival of my chapter if we should fail.”

“Why them? And who are the ‘selected’ ponies?”

“Twilight and her friends will wait for the tree to release the Elements. Cadance and Shining Armor are a leader couple and can keep your culture alive. The ‘selected’ ponies must either have a connection to mankind to convince my chapter that your species really is worth being rescued, or other talents that make them especially valuable.”

“So… Moonlight, Blackwing, Stormy Skies?”

“Yes, also Zecora for her knowledge of Poison Joke potions and the engineers who work in the armorium… Rapid Cure and Redheart, too, since they are familiar with daemonic wounds and Astartes anatomy.”

“This… selection is… troubling.”

“Yes, but necessary.”

“And what do you want us to do?”

“We’ll take on the forces of Chaos.
Tia, supervise the preparations and advise the population to seek shelter. They should get ready to fight for their lives.
Luna, get your armor. You and I will locate the enemy.”

“Hey,” Celestia retorted,
“not so fast! I know that you have more experience than me when it comes to fighting Chaos, and I don’t want to badmouth your plans, but Luna went with you the last time. This time, it’s my turn.”

Antonius shook his head:

“I’ll select the pony to join me. Luna is a better fighter than you are.”

“Maybe, but I have the more powerful magic. And as I said, it’s my turn.
No arguments! I’m still the princess of Equestria, the older sister and I must insist on you listening to me! I’ll go get my armor.”

Celestia quickly left and Antonius turned to Luna, who did not exactly look happy.

“She’s kidding… or insane. We are well attuned and you are the better fighter. What has gotten into her?”

“She either thinks that it really is a false alarm,” Luna opined,
“or she wants to keep me safe, away from the front lines.”

“We could just leave…”

“No, my sister can be incredibly stubborn. I do not like to admit it, but I guess that she is going to accompany you this time.”

“Great,” Antonius grumbled.

“Hey, it’s… not that bad. She is more powerful than I am, after all… and perhaps she had one of her visions and knows that she must go on this mission with you!”

“Hmm… a glimpse in the future could almost convince me to settle for her despite actually wanting you to accompany me.”

“I would also like to go with you, but knowing my sister, that will be impossible. Report back as soon as you can, I promise the PDF will be ready, and we will come with our new weapons and our tank to vanquish the enemy!”

Now Celestia entered again, her armor and the Poison Joke grenades in her magic grasp.

“What are you waiting for?” she called,
“let’s go and see what’s going on!”

They all went to the hangar. While Celestia took on her armor and buckled up, and Luna taught her how to use the auspex, Antonius made the last preparations to start the mission.

“See you soon, Luna,” he said when he was ready to enter the Land Speeder.

“See you soon,” Luna answered and hugged him,
“may your Emperor protect you.”

So Antonius and Celestia left the hangar and headed west at full speed. As they crossed a little hill, he took a look into the rear view monitor. There was Canterlot, the heart of ponykind, his home for more than a year.
He had a strange and unsettling feeling, as if he would never see it again, but he pushed that thought aside. Despite his… infractions, he still was an Ultramarine.
No fear, no mercy, no remorse.
Courage and honor.

“You are not exited about me joining you,” Celestia suddenly stated.

“As I said,” Antonius replied,
“I’d have liked to pick the pony to accompany me on this mission.”

“I already watched my little sister putting herself in unknown danger once. This time, we’ll find out what’s waiting for us first.”

After a while, they got a call from Twilight and her friends:

“Princess Celestia, Antonius, I’m afraid I have bad news: we couldn’t get the Elements. The Tree of Harmony won’t release them.”

“A pity, but hardly surprising,” Antonius grumbled,
“I guess there is no way to… forcefully acquire them?”

“If you mean we could cut down the Tree: no,” Celestia told him,
“the Tree and the Elements belong together, one can’t exist without the other.”

“Twilight, get to Canterlot as fast as you can. Luna will give you further orders. Goodbye, my friends.”

He closed the connection, then Celestia said:

“You know… that sounded a little… final.”

“That remains to be seen.”

“What remains to be seen?” a familiar voice cut in.

“Discord,” Antonius sighed.

“The one and only!” Discord grinned, hanging on one of the Speeder’s control surfaces.

“What do you want, Discord?” Celestia asked.

“Oh, I just noticed that you tried to retrieve the Elements of Harmony again, so I wanted to check if you were going to use them on poor, unsuspecting me.”

“Even if your ego never allowed you to come up with the idea,” Antonius grumbled,
“we actually have a bigger problem than you at the moment.”

“Oh, and what could be more terrible than the Lord of Chaos?”

“A Chaos warband.”

Discord was quiet for a second, then he asked:

“You mean the dark gods worshipping, mass murdering, evil kind of Chaos?”

“Exactly. I don’t suppose you could help us get rid of them?”

“I’m afraid I can’t,” Discord answered seriously,
“my powers might be too close to their dark magic, so it’s possible that I could accidentally help them if I tried to defeat them.”

A little surprised by Discord’s seriousness, Antonius said:

“Then go to Canterlot. Help wherever you can, but listen to Luna’s orders.”

Discord nodded and vanished in a flash of light.

“Even he seems to take the matter serious,” Celestia remarked.

“Hmm,” was everything Antonius replied.

Antonius and Celestia followed the lit beacons, and after a few hours they arrived at Coltport.
On the mountain range near Hope, the outermost beacon of this line of beacons was still burning.

“Hope,” Antonius stated.

“Again,” Celestia added.

“Maybe they followed the trace the first Chaos Marine has left. Let’s look for refugees and question them.”

Unlike last time, there were no refugees from Hope to be found, but the population of Coltport was on edge. A few had already left, some were preparing to leave, others had barricaded themselves up in their houses.
It took Celestia’s authority to restore at least a little order.

“Perhaps the lighting of the beacons was a mistake,” Celestia said hopefully as they were back at the Speeder,
“if there are no refugees…”

“They would have put out their beacon by now,” Antonius told her,
“and you know that. No refugees just means that nopony was able to escape.”

They divided Celestia’s Poison Joke grenades equally between them and continued their journey towards their final destination: the town of Hope.

As they arrived there, they left the Speeder close to the outskirts and used the auspex to scan the area.

“One weak life sign… pony… near the center of the town,” Celestia said.

“Let’s have a look,” Antonius replied and checked his bolter.

They carefully entered the town through a side road. There was a lot of battle damage; holes left by bolter rounds and scorch marks left by lasbolts. The walls and the ground were stained with blood in some places - but there were no bodies.

“Undoubtedly Chaos,” Antonius said,
“send a scroll to Luna. The PDF shall rally in Coltport.”

“I guess it would be too much to ask for if I hoped that the ponies had made it out of here alive?” Celestia whispered as she sent the scroll.

“Quite,” Antonius answered, his bolter ready to fire.

They proceeded towards the main road that would lead them to the central plaza.

“Another life sign,” Celestia told Antonius,
“even weaker than the first one… the pony must be on the main road.”

When they took a look into that road, Celestia paled:
There were two rows of impaled ponies, like a macabre alley.

“Where is the life sign?” Antonius inquired calmly.

“What? How can you stay that calm when you’re seeing… this?”

“Training, and it’s honestly not the most disgusting thing I’ve seen in my life. Now, where is the life sign located?”

Celestia consulted the auspex and pointed him in the right direction.
A few seconds later, they were standing in front of an impaled mare, transfixed by a wooden spear from her back to her belly. Antonius touched her head, and her eyes snapped open.

“Oh dear,” Celestia mumbled and lit her horn.

Antonius was well aware that she tried to heal the pony, but he estimated this to be a futile attempt. Meanwhile, the mare tried to talk, but she wasn’t able to say anything, she just gurgled a bit and blood was running from her muzzle. Her mouth still formed words Antonius could interpret: ‘Kill me’.

He turned to Celestia:

“Are you able to help her?”

“I… I… don’t think so… but I must try! We can’t let her suffer like this… but the next hospital is so far away…”

“Right,” Antonius agreed and changed his grip on her head.

“What?” Celestia asked in confusion.

“May your soul find the way to your ‘Great Beyond’,” Antonius said and snapped the impaled mare’s neck.

In the last moment of her life, her expression had changed from pain into one of relief.

“WHAT?” Celestia exclaimed,
“we are here to save them!”

“I just did that,” Antonius said and carefully let go of the mare.

“This is… probably not wrong… oh damnit, I hate all of this.”

“I’d certainly prefer being in Canterlot spending time with you and your sister to being here and euthanizing victims of Chaos, too, but we’ve got those traitor bastards to blame for that. Now, what about that second life sign?”

“Still there, stronger than the first one, but still very weak. We must hurry if we want to save that pony!”

“Let us proceed, but keep an eye on the auspex.”

They carefully sneaked along the rows of dead ponies, until Celestia whispered:

“Your auspex is only showing this life sign, nothing else… couldn’t we hurry up a bit?”

“No,” Antonius answered,
“they might have left us some unpleasant surprises. Be alert - and watch the… auspex…”

“Did you notice anything?”

“What’s wrong here, I mean with the impaled ponies?”

“Besides the fact that they are impaled and dead?”

“There are only adults… where are the foals?”

“You’re right! That’s a good sign, isn’t it?”

Antonius slowly shook his head and continued advancing towards the central plaza. When they had finally arrived there, he peeked around the corner of a house.

“Found the foals,” he said tonelessly.

“Are they… they are not well, are they?” Celestia inquired worriedly.

“Not at all.”

Celestia now walked up to Antonius and took a look herself. Then she immediately jumped back and closed her eyes.

“No,” she whispered.

Antonius had to admit, it was a gruesome sight, even for him:
When the inhabitants of Hope had rebuilt their town, they had planted a tree in the central plaza, to symbolize their home thriving again after the first attack of Chaos. Now, the bodies of Hope’s dead foals were nailed to that tree.

“I… I… I can’t,” Celestia whimpered, then she forcefully ejected her last meal.

“I know it’s cruel, but we still have this life sign to inspect. Let’s go.”

So they both entered the plaza and advanced in the direction the auspex showed them - towards the tree.

In front of it, there was a wooden table that had been turned into an improvised torture rack. On that rack, there was a pony, the chest still moving - the life sign.

“Goodness!” Celestia cried and dashed past Antonius.

He only just managed to grab her by her tail and yank her back. She turned around, a mixture of confusion, horror and anger written on her face.

“Running into a booby trap s NOT advisable,” Antonius told her urgently and pointed at the ground between them and the pony.

There were several wires that all lead to the table.

“I… did not notice them,” Celestia admitted,
“what kind of… and why do I even ask…”

This whole situation was a bit much for her. Antonius wondered for a second if Luna had probably fared better, but what pony would have been able to swallow such levels of cruelty?
Nopony. Here, the training of an Astartes was needed, the dauntless performance of one’s duties no matter what.

He encouragingly patted her back - she really needed that - and approached the table, careful to avoid the wires. Ignoring the pony for now, he took a look under the table and found the booby trap.

“A melta charge,” he grumbled,
“oh damnit, it’s rigged. I don’t think I can disarm it.”

“What if I teleported it a hundred meters out of Hope?” Celestia asked.

“Good idea. Just make sure it doesn’t detonate during dematerialization.”

A moment later, the charge was gone. Another moment later, they heard an explosion outside of the town.

“Perfect, thank you,” Antonius said and turned to the pony on the table.

It was another mare, nailed to the table and partly skinned or shaved. Her whole body was covered with cuts, bruises and burns.
Antonius took a look at her cutie mark, barely visible on her bare, tortured flesh, and realized that he knew her.

“Gentle Breeze?!” he exclaimed.

The mare opened her eyes - which were unnaturally grayish - and asked weakly:

“Lord Varus?”

It really was Gentle Breeze, sergeant of the PDF, who had gone to Hope to train new recruits.
Celestia immediately lit her horn.

“I’m sorry,” she coughed,
“we were not able to stop them… too many… too strong…”

“How many?”

“30 Chaos Space Marines… about a hundred human cultists… some ponies who defected… we couldn’t stop them… we just… the beacons?”

“Lit,” Antonius told her,
“that brought us here.”

“So, at least we did not fail completely.”

“Nopony who does their duty can truly fail,” Antonius stated and looked at Celestia.

“She’s in a bad shape,” she said,
“but better off than the other mare. I think she might survive, but we have to get her to a hospital as soon as possible.”

“Then let’s make haste. I’ll remove the nails, you work your healing magic… and keep a look on the auspex.”

While Antonius did as he said, he noticed that Gentle Breeze’s legs were broken multiple times, and she whimpered and cried as he freed her. The pain had to be tremendous - and it would stay like that at least for some hours. If only her survival would be certain, but as it stood, it was possible - even probable - that she suffered only to die in the end. A look at Celestia’s expression told him that the situation really was as grim as he had estimated.

“Gentle Breeze,” he said,
“I know your pain must be extreme. Do you think you can prevail or do you want me to end your life and deliver you from your pain?”

She seemed to think about that for a few seconds, then she said with determination:
“No. it is… tempting, but I don’t want to give them that satisfaction. I’ll try to stick it out… if I can.”

“Good. I would have hated euthanizing you. Too many ponies have died already.”

Relieved, Antonius continued freeing Gentle Breeze, then he carefully picked her up and they started their way back to the Land Speeder.

When they had almost reached the border of the destroyed town, they heard a voice, rasp even through the vox unit that amplified it:

“Leaving so soon?”

“Goodness,” Celestia mumbled as she froze,
“I forgot to check the auspex.”

“Seems so,” Antonius replied, also stopping dead in his tracks.

They slowly turned around and saw the actually all too expected problem that had still managed to surprise them:
A Word Bearer.

Antonius wanted to kick himself for being stupid enough to get ambushed like that. The only reason he was still alive was the tendency of Chaos to gloat - and Word Bearers were quite talkative at that.

He automatically checked his enemy’s equipment and noticed that the traitor was a normal Chaos Space Marine, armed with a bolter - already in his hands - and a knife.
While that meant that Antonius was actually better armed, he couldn’t make use of it, since he was carrying the grizzly wounded mare.
He also couldn’t ask Celestia if she could take her, since the traitor would certainly open fire as soon as he thought he was about to loose his - admittedly massive - advantage.
Not even the poison joke grenades he and Celestia carried would be of use, ‘thanks’ to his helmet.

So Antonius answered:

“Yes. We are kind of in a hurry.”

“To try and save this creature you’re carrying, I presume?” the Word Bearer asked.

“As always, the Ultramarines will do their best to set right what you did wrong.”

“How valiant… and emetic! Well, I have to admit that this one was quite resilient. Not even our servants who have taken a liking to Slaanesh could convince her to talk. You’re still wasting your time, though. This creature was supposed to survive just long enough for you to find her, and now she will die painfully… unless you grant her a quick death. Or do you want me to do it for you?”

The traitor was really enjoying himself… but at least that gave Antonius the chance to come up with some kind of plan… theoretically, this is.

“She is a citizen of Equestria,” Celestia stated,
“and you and your kin will let go of her!”

While the Word Bearer laughed, Gentle Breeze mumbled:

“Drop me. And then get him!”

That may have been a plan, but not a good one. The reflexes of a Chaos Space Marine were about as good as his own, there was no chance he could be the first one to open fire… and every plan that involved Celestia had to be communicated to her first.
The traitor would not give them that time.

“You must be Celestia,” the Word Bearer stated,
“yes, we have heard of you. The other inhabitants of this town were quite talkative - especially the parents were quite easy to properly motivate.”

Unfortunately, it was not too difficult to imagine what he had meant. He continued:

“And so we also got to know of your sister, Luna.”

“You will leave her alone!” Celestia blurted out.

“How could we? Why should we? She was once a part of the glory that is Chaos! A daemonhost for a daemon of Tzeentch! But then, she betrayed us! She will pay for this infamy!”

“Betrayed traitors whine the loudest, I guess,” Antonius commented, barely able to contain his anger - and his desire to kill that bastard.

“If you want to hear loud whining, wait until we find her!”

“Luna is free now!” Celestia shouted,
“and you will NOT defile her with one of your dark creatures ever again!”

“Oh, you are mistaken,” the traitor said with a disturbing amount of glee,
“we will not grace her with a daemon, we will use her to make an example:
We will torture her in ways you can’t imagine, flay her and nail her to the lintel of the fortress we’ll build here, atop the ruins of your capital. There she will stay, kept alive by a the powers of Nurgle, to suffer for all of eternity! Maybe her blood will even form a little rivulet… Isn’t this a fitting punishment for her? Eternal suffering of unimaginable scale? Just thinking about it puts a smile on my face… seeing it, helping with it will be incredible!”

Antonius was extremely tempted to drop Gentle Breeze and attack. No creature deserved such a fate, especially not his dear friend Luna! The mere thought of something like that almost made his stomach turn.
This Word Bearer would die, and he would die now!

Just at that moment, Antonius noticed a bright, golden yellow glow next to him.
Was that Celestia?

The traitor looked in that direction, seemingly mesmerized - and surprised - by whatever it was that was happening now.
Unfortunately, Antonius could not risk to take a look himself. There was no chance he would take his eye off his target.

The glow rose a little higher, and the Chaos Space Marine followed it with his gaze.

Then, just as the Word Bearer made a step back and wanted to raise his bolter - which almost made Antonius drop Gentle Breeze and grab his own bolter - a beam that looked like pure sun plasma crossed the distance to the traitor and hit him in the chest, accompanied by an unbelievably vitriolic

“DIE, BASTARD!”

Celestia???
This was Celestia’s doing…
So, that’s how it was like when the Princess of the Sun was pushed beyond her friendly and peaceful behavior…

Not even a second later, the beam erupted from the back of the traitor and drilled a hole in the ground a few meters behind him.
Wow, the armor piercing of that beam was obviously pretty high - something like the magical equivalent of an energy lance…

Now fire shot out of the joints of the traitor’s armor as he was burned to ashes inside - without even getting the opportunity to scream.
The now empty, molten and completely destroyed armor collapsed and the beam vanished.

Antonius turned around to regard Celestia, but the creature he saw was not the Celestia he knew.
He had seen her angry before - even ablaze back when she fought her evil mirror version, but this now was different.
Her mane and tail had turned into fire, her body was glowing brightly, her eyes were shining with the intensity of a sun. While her wings were unfurled, she did not flap them, she just hovered, held aloft just by her magic - or by sheer force of anger. She downright radiated power.

“Holy Terra,” Antonius exclaimed,
“why did you never tell me that you could do that?”

Celestia turned to regard him, and the fact that she still bared her teeth did not bode well.

“YOU!” she thundered,
“THIS IS YOUR FAULT! YOU LED THEM HERE!”

Oh.
Uh-oh.
Celestia was still livid… and Antonius still had Gentle Breeze in his arms.
Should he drop her now - to be able to dodge a possible attack - after she had even survived the encounter with the Word Bearer?
No, definitely not.
He did not move, he just looked at Celestia and said emphatically:

“Tia… we’re done for now. The Chaos Space Marine is dead. Now, we should get Gentle Breeze to a hospital, don’t you think?”

Celestia still stared at him, with way more fire around her than Antonius was comfortable with.
Then, her eyes suddenly widened and she shuddered. The fire vanished and she set her hooves on the ground again, becoming the Celestia he knew - just her armor was still glowing a little.
Her facial expression had also changed: she looked troubled, downright horrified now.

“I…” she started,
“I killed… and I almost…”

“Please, Tia, let’s just hurry back to the Land Speeder, okay?”

Celestia nodded and they continued their way to the vehicle.

So, a second time Antonius and a princess of Equestria rushed from Hope to Coltport to try and save the life of a mare who had proven to be a loyal warrior.

When they arrived at their destination, they stopped right in front of the hospital and immediately entered it.

“One pony, mare, severely injured!” Antonius shouted, and within seconds a doctor and a nurse appeared - two ponies Antonius knew quite well.
“Rapid Cure? Redheart? I thought you were going to the north.”

“And leave you alone?” Rapid Cure replied,
“no way! We are the ponies with the most experience when it comes to daemonic wounds, so we insisted to be sent here. Princess Luna was so kind to teleport us with some special spell. She and most of the PDF should arrive tonight.”

More hospital staff showed up now and they immediately took Gentle Breeze into an operating room, leaving Antonius and Celestia alone.

“I hope she makes it,” Celestia whispered.

“So do I,” Antonius answered.

As they left the hospital, they could see a group of five pegasi approach Coltport from the east. They came closer, and Antonius recognized the Wonderbolts, led by Spitfire. Landing right in front of them, she greeted:

“Hello, Princess Celestia, Lord Varus. We came as fast as we could. Any orders? How can we help?”

It did not take a genius to see that they all were quite exhausted from their journey, but he urgently needed some aerial reconnaissance, so Antonius said:

“We need to locate the enemy forces. They should probably be somewhere between Coltport and what’s left of Hope, but we know that they aren’t making a beeline for us, else we would have stumbled upon them. Try to find them, but fly high and come back as soon as you’ve found them. Do NOT engage them! This is a reconnaissance mission. Once we know where they are, you will get time to rest.”

The ponies saluted and took off again.

“And what are we supposed to do?” Celestia asked.

“When the first PDF troops arrive, we’ll see to it that they are properly accommodated. After that, we’ll build some fortifications. How fast can you build a trench?”

“Within seconds.”

“Good, that means we can postpone that until we know from where the enemy will strike. Now, let’s go to the Coltport Inn and requisition a room for tonight. You’ll need it later.”

They had just had time to get a room, then they were called outside again by some ruckus: The PDF unit from Las Pegasus and Applewood, led by Black Harrow, had just arrived.

“This is not a drill, is it?” the stallion asked with some worry in his voice.

“No,” Antonius told him,
“commandeer quarters for your soldiers. Then, barricade the roads that lead out of town. When you’re done, tell your ponies to rest while they can. They must have their equipment ready, though, as we might have only little advance warning time.”

“Yes, my Lord!” Back Harrow saluted and led his subordinates away towards the hotel.

The next unit to arrive was Shadow Stalker’s from Vanhoover, and as the day progressed, more soldiers arrived and took up quarters.

In addition to them, a score of Night Guards joined them and were ordered to start their nightly patrols as soon as the sun set.

As the afternoon turned into evening, the Wonderbolts returned and Spitfire reported in:

“Princess Celestia, Lord Varus, we have found them! They were north of the road in the forest and are now moving towards Coltport. I guess they will arrive before noon tomorrow.”

“Well done, Spitfire, and well done, Wonderbolts,” Antonius said,
“now, report your findings to the Night Guard. They have taken up quarters in the town hall. Then get a bite and rest. We’ll need you again tomorrow at sunrise.”

The ponies saluted and left, and he turned to Celestia:

“Resting might be a good idea, Tia. You look like you could use some sleep.”

Celestia nodded wordlessly and turned to go to their room.
Usually, Antonius would have supervised the quartering of the PDF soldiers and the preparations, but Celestia gave the impression of needing some company, so he joined her. A downcast Princess of the Sun would have a devastating effect on the ponies’ morale, so consoling her was a high priority task - and she was a friend who needed help.

She did not get more chatty as she took off her armor and crawled into the bed. Antonius just sat down on the floor next to her and waited.
Despite her fatigue, Celestia lay awake and stared at the ceiling. Just as he had decided that it was time to finally say something, she beat him to it:

“Tony, please be honest.”

“I’m always honest, Tia… or let’s say most of the time,” Antonius replied with a small smile.

“What are our chances?”

Of course, that was a justified question. He just wished he had had a more positive answer than:

“Our ponies should be able to deal with the cultists… as long as the equipment arrives in time, that is. Against the Chaos Space Marines… well, I still have to do some calculations, but things don’t look too pretty.”

“Perhaps I could… use my powers again…”

“It would help, but it wouldn’t be enough. You needed more than five seconds to eliminate the Word Bearer, and that only worked because the arrogant moron was surprised. I don’t think the 30 of them will be surprised for two and a half minutes.”

“Probably not.”

“And you also can’t keep up a shield for this timespan when bolts and laser blasts rain down on you, I presume?”

“No, even with Luna and additional unicorns I don’t think we could stand their weapons for that long.”

“Hmm… I thought so… can you perhaps create a large explosion with the same armor penetration as that beam you used?”

“No large explosions. Damnit, I always thought this… ability of mine was terrible enough… I’d never have thought that I’d need even more destructive powers than my sun beam…”

“Just out of interest, why did you never tell me about this sun beam of yours?”

Celestia was silent for a few seconds, then she said:

“Because I wanted to forget that I could get that mad… and I wanted to forget the atrocities I committed…”

“You? Atrocities?” Antonius asked in disbelieve.

“Yes,” Celestia answered,
“nopony actually remembers by now, but there is still a subconscious fear of angering me…”

“I noticed that.”

“It was millennia ago, when Luna and I had not ruled Equestria for more than a hundred years. There was a border conflict with the griffons. Luna and I were visiting our soldiers when Luna walked into a griffon trap - rocks thrown from a cliff injured her badly.”

“And you sought vengeance?”

“Yes. After getting Luna to safety. Nopony knew if she would survive, and as I looked at my unconscious little sister I… freaked out. I hunted the griffon commander down and cornered him near one of their forts.”

“You killed him? But that’s no atrocity, that’s justified retribution.”

“I did not kill just him… his family had left the fort and run to meet him, and… his child got in the way. The little griffon jumped into my beam to protect his father. I killed a child… an innocent little child… because I was so filled with hate that I couldn’t think clearly.”

After a few seconds of silence, Antonius inquired:

“So, that’s the reason why you are so peaceful nowadays? Because of this child? You didn’t kill it on purpose.”

“This… incident taught me that hate and violence are never solutions. They just cause suffering. That day, I vowed to myself never to use brute force to settle a conflict, but to talk things out instead… but now…”
Now Celestia turned to Antonius and started to tear up.
“I am sorry, Tony. I am sorry for reprimanding you. You were right all along. I just couldn’t see it, or perhaps I didn’t want to see it. I was living in an ivory tower of peace and harmony, while you knew how the universe really is.”

Great. Now she had realized that violence was necessary sometimes, but the circumstances prevented Antonius from enjoying this realization.

“The universe? Maybe,” he replied,
“but this planet, your land Equestria, they are different. Your peaceful approach has its benefits here. Dozens of generations of ponies lived without knowing war, and that is something worth striving for. Damnit, that is basically what mankind is striving for! We fight so that we may live in peace one day, we wage wars to end all wars.
Tia, please don’t despair. Don’t let your morale be another victim of Chaos.”

“If my morale were the only victim… but look at our situation! Tomorrow, we all might die and the forces of evil might overrun the whole planet!”

Celestia was devastated, but unfortunately not entirely wrong. Their chances of winning tomorrow's battle were indeed not too good - and if Celestia did not get any sleep it would get even worse.

So, Antonius grabbed the crying princess, pulled her onto his lap and put his arms around her. The hug was returned immediately.

“Thank you”, she whispered after a while,
“I needed that… but I must apologize again.”

“Why?” Antonius asked.

“This might be our last night… you should have spent it with Luna, since she’s… your best friend. Instead, I have taken her place.”

“Cuddles where cuddles are due,” Antonius grinned,
“now try to get some sleep, Tia. While Luna is indeed my best friend, we’re friends, too.”

“But what about tomorrow? Is there hope at all?”

“You know, when I came here, I would just have answered ‘hope is the first step on the road to disappointment’, since Space Marines do not need hope to fight. We fight because we were created to fight, because it is our duty and the right thing to do.
Now, however, let me answer with an ancient quote. I don’t know who said it, and I don’t know what else he or she said or did, but I think it fits our situation:
‘Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.’”

“We should tell Applejack,” Celestia smiled and got comfortable.

She was just about to fall asleep as there was a knock on the door.

“Perhaps some news,” Antonius mused,
“come in!”

Much to his surprise and delight, it was Luna who entered the room.

“Luna! It is an unexpected joy to see you that soon.”

“Well, I had a hunch that it was ‘unexpected’,” Luna grinned.

“Don’t worry, little sister,” Celestia said and got ready to get up,
“I only…”

“You may stay where you are, Cellie, just clear a little space for me.”

A few seconds later, Antonius had two princesses sitting on his thighs.

“Now that we are comfortable,” Luna said with a small smile,
“let me tell you about our preparations: The majority of the PDF is here, as is our equipment. At sunrise, it will be distributed amongst the soldiers. By then, the tank should arrive, too.”

“Good news,” Antonius nodded,
“are Twilight, her friends and the other ponies in the ancient base?”

“They are - mostly. Twilight and her friends were not exactly happy, but they obeyed. Cadance and Shining refused to go and insisted on staying to protect the Crystal Ponies - at first. I had to find some rather graphic examples of what Chaos would do to them, then Shining sided with me and convinced Cadance to go while he stayed to protect their subjects.”

“Hmm… I should have expected something like that… their conscientiousness is laudable.”

“Yeah, and Cadance told me that she will kick you should Shining get hurt. I told her that Chaos will first have to defeat us for him to get hurt… that gave her food for thought, I guess.”

“What about the others? I noticed that Rapid Cure is here.”

“Yeah, he insisted to help. The other ponies are on their way to Al. Zecora packed everything she needed to brew more poison joke potions.”

“Good.”

“Really ‘good’ would be a way to defeat Chaos. Do you have a plan how to achieve that?”

“I’m still running some calculations,” Antonius told her,
“tomorrow at sunrise I’ll be able to tell you what we are going to do.”

“Well, that is ‘good’,” Luna sighed.

“Now, let us sleep,” Celestia said,
“we need to be well rested tomorrow.”

The princesses cuddled up to him and were soon asleep.
Antonius smiled. Such a high level of concord had not always been between the three of them, but now, all those former little quarrels were forgotten in the presence of the forces of Chaos. Now, it was up to him to come up with a plan how to blast those traitors into oblivion.

He had been working on this problem for about an hour when there was another knock on the door.

“Come in,” he said, just loud enough to be heard - to not disturb the sleeping princesses.

It was Rapid Cure.

“Hello, Lord Varus,” he greeted,
“I just dropped by to tell you that Gentle Breeze is alive… in a coma, but alive. We had to make some… hard decisions, but she will survive.”

“‘Hard decisions’?”

“There was no way to save her legs. Also, I’m afraid she is blind. I’m sorry we couldn't do more.”

Rapid Cure really needed to be cheered up a little, so Antonius said:

“Considering her injuries, you have achieved a lot. Let me thank you for your commitment… also in the name of these two sleeping beauties here.”

This at least put a small smile on the stallion’s face.

“Well, I see that you are making the most out of the last night before the battle… with both princesses… at the same time.”

“Yeah,” Antonius grinned,
“my incredible manliness demands that.”

This good-natured nonsense made the doctor chuckle a bit, and he said as he left:

“Guess I will leave you to your two incredibly attractive mares and bid you goodnight. See you tomorrow.”

“Goodnight,” Antonius answered and turned his thoughts back to the problem of defeating Chaos.

65. The battle for ponykind

Antonius had brooded over the imminent battle all night. He had gone through every even halfway suitable tactic the Codex Astartes offered, and the result had always been the same:
Defeat.
While the cultists were not much of a problem, there was just no way to successfully deal with about 30 Chaos Space Marines. The closest he had gotten to winning was when he had assumed that most of them were morons, perpetually surprised and without helmets. Which was - unfortunately - highly unlikely.
Well, actually, they were morons, since they worshipped Chaos, but that sadly was a kind of ‘moron’ he couldn’t use to his benefit.

Now it was almost time for sunrise. Soon, the princesses would wake up and ask him for his plan, and everything he could tell them was that it would come down to a last stand in which they could fight valiantly to the end.
What a giant pile of shit, but if it was going to be the end, it would be an end Chaos would never forget.

Celestia stirred first and moved her head. In doing so, she touched Luna’s muzzle with hers. That woke both mares up. They opened their eyes wide and immediately moved their heads to a safe distance, making their discomfort verbally known.

Antonius started laughing, thankful for this delay of the bad news he had for them.

“Great,” Luna grumbled,
“possibly the last display of physical affection I get, and I get it from my sister.”

“I didn’t do it on purpose,” Celestia replied,
“and I am sure you’ll have time to get more such ‘displays’, right, Tony?”

“I’m not going to ‘make out’ with her now,” Antonius stated.

“That’s not what I meant.”

“I’m aware of that, but honestly, this goofing around is much more enjoyable than the news I’ve got for you.”

Both princesses went silent, then Luna asked:

“You didn’t find a way to defeat the forces of Chaos?”

“I just don’t know how to successfully engage 30 Chaos Space Marines… no matter the strategy or tactic, I couldn’t make up for the disequilibrium.”

“So… we’re doomed?” Celestia asked.

“Not exactly,” Antonius answered,
“we just have to do our best and fight. Perhaps, an opportunity will show up that I didn’t think of. Still, we should be prepared for the worst. Tia, Luna, if the imminent battle goes awry, I want you two to withdraw. Teleport around like crazy, so that Chaos loses your trail, then hide in the ancient base with the other ponies.”

“And hope that they do not find us there?” Luna inquired with obvious discontent,
“that means abandoning our subjects! And what if the forces of Chaos find us?”

“That could take time. While 30 Chaos Space Marines are a serious threat to anypony and anything they encounter, their number is quite small when it comes to combing through a whole country - unless they manage to open a warp portal, then thousands of daemons will swarm the planet, but the veil should prevent that from happening.
If they find you, try to hold them off and hope that my chapter arrives in time. If it doesn’t…”

“Yeah?”

“If everything is lost, use your magic. Deny Chaos the Elements, and spare the creatures of this planet the atrocities they would undoubtedly do to them. Grab the sun and the moon and crash them into the planet.”

Several seconds of shocked silence later, Celestia mumbled:

“You want us to kill every creature on this planet? And destroy the planet itself?”

“It’s better than allowing it to fall to Chaos.”

“What about you?” Luna asked.

“I will fight here to the end to buy you enough time to escape,” Antonius told her.

“No. Way! We need you, and if we have to withdraw, you are definitely coming with us.”

“Luna…”

“Luna is right,” Celestia interjected,
“you are too valuable for us to die here. Either, all three of us get away, or none of us will.”

“And they will look for us anyway,” Luna added,
“so it will not matter if you accompany us or not. Furthermore, we will need you for our last stand…”
Quieter, she said:
“… and if we all die, we should at least die together.”

A prolonged group hug later, the princesses got ready and put on their armors.

“Two knight-mares, ready to become nightmares for our enemies,” Antonius grinned.

“I should probably slap you once this is over,” Luna opined with a sad smile.

“Now, let’s get the… crappiness of our situation out of our heads,” Celestia said,
“we’ve got to encourage our ponies if we want to have a chance. So, no more frowns. And as Tony said, something unexpected may happen and save us.”

“What about the Emperor?” Luna suddenly exclaimed.

“Huh?” Antonius wondered.

“Mayhaps it was him who helped me reach Macragge. You know, the golden light I told you about. In that case, he might be aware of our predicament and help us.”

“Well, there are reports of inexplicable events… Space Marines suddenly becoming unstoppable or even ghostly armies, wreathed in flames, popping up out of nowhere and vanquishing the enemies of mankind…”

“See?”

“Still, we shouldn’t count on it… but in any case we can show Him that we are worth His help by fighting as good as we can.”

They left the hotel and while Luna lowered the moon, Celestia raised the sun. She managed to create a beautiful sunrise, but what became visible in the light was even more beautiful: a multitude of pegasi approached, carrying with them the equipment and the tank they were expecting.

“A lovely dawn,” Luna commented.

“A dawn of war,” Antonius smiled grimly.

As the pegasi were about to land, the Wonderbolts showed up and reported ready for duty. Shortly after them, the batponies of the Night Guard returned and gave an account of the events they had witnessed:

“On their way here, the Chaos forces found the Blue Depths, a cave system. All but one Chaos Space Marine stayed there, but the cultists and the Marine are still closing in.”

“Thank you,” Antonius said,
“now rest. We’ll need you for the battle.”

The batponies left, and he turned to the Wonderbolts:

“Split up. Keep an eye on the advancing enemy force and the other Chaos Space Marines. Should you see some kind of weird discharges, notify me immediately.”

Spitfire and her team saluted and took off.

“You think that they are trying to open a warp portal, right?” Celestia inquired.

“The only reason I can think of that would prevent most of them from joining the battle,” Antonius replied,
“Tia, Luna, do you know those ‘Blue Depths’? Can we make them collapse onto our enemies’ heads?”

“I am afraid this cave system is too large for us to completely destroy it,” Celestia told him,
“and everything below total destruction would not suffice here, I think.”

“True. Well, can you discern if the veil is somewhat weakened?”

Both princesses closed their eyes and lit their horns for a second, then Celestia said:

“The veil seems to be fine… I will keep monitoring it and tell you if it looses integrity.”

“Good. Now, let’s get our PDF armed and ready.”

During the next hours, the final preparations for the battle were made. Ponies were armed and instructed, more barricades were built and the princesses dug trenches with their magic. The tank was also brought into position and the Wonderbolts continuously reported on the progress of the enemy army.

As the forces of Chaos finally appeared on the horizon, everything was ready for the most important battle ponykind had ever fought up to that day; 84 PDF ponies were expecting a superior number of cultists. Now, it was time to boost the morale of the soldiers.

“Ponies of the Planetary Defense Force,” Antonius boomed,
“you see the enemy approaching. A bunch of frenzied madmen who fight simply for destructiveness and mayhem.
Remember why we fight. Not for such insane reasons, not even for reputation or glory. We fight for our families and friends. For our loved ones. To protect them from the tide of madness that is coming our way.
We will break it. We will stop the forces of Chaos right here and teach them that attacking ponykind is a grave mistake.
We will not back down, we will not yield, and we will not fail!
For all that is good, for our families and friends, WE FIGHT!!!”

An affirmative cheer told him that his little speech had fulfilled its purpose. Yes, technically, the plan was to get the princesses out of here if things went south (and they had insisted on him joining them), but since this strike force consisted mostly of cultists and just a single Chaos Space Marine, it should not come to that.

Chaos approached further, surely over-confident as they generally were. Antonius spotted the traitor Marine among them, wielding a large chainaxe. As they were almost within weapons range, they suddenly stopped.

“What the hell?” Antonius mumbled.

It was highly unusual that Chaos cultists did not charge into battle, and even the Marine - who had a fondness for Khorne judged by his weapon of choice - showed a distinctly above-average amount of self control.
That meant that their hitherto unseen leader did not only have a plan, but his subordinates also well under control.
Not the best news.

“They want us to meet them in the open field,” Luna mused.

“But we won’t take the bait,” Celestia stated.

“Not unless we have to,” Antonius said,
“how’s the veil?”

“Still fine… you think they want to buy time?”

“I’m afraid so. We can’t wait for them forever, we have to defeat them and then take care of the other Chaos Space Marines before they can open a warp portal.”

“Then, we should take the bait?”

“Yes, but differently than they want us to. Tia, Luna, how about some magic shields?”

“Oh, this is going to be good,” Luna grinned.

So, the PDF left their positions and started advancing towards the enemy forces while the tank started maneuvering around the trenches. The Chaos worshippers cheered like crazy, thinking their plan was working flawlessly. As they leveled their weapons, the princesses and the unicorns created magic shields that covered the whole frontline.
With surprised howls, the Chaos forces opened fire. Lasbolts and stubber rounds hit the shields and were deflected.

“Shotguns! Return fire!” Antonius commanded.

The PDF soldiers obeyed immediately. Unfortunately, the few traitorous unicorns among the enemy forces had seized on the idea of magic shields, but none of them had the magic capacity of the princesses, so their shields would soon collapse.
Chaos was obviously aware of that, since they started charging towards the PDF, still protected by the fading shields.

“All ponies, open fire!” Antonius roared.

Now shotgun rounds and burning promethium replacement assaulted the advancing Chaos troops, and the first shield collapsed. A few cultists and a traitorous unicorn were set ablaze, but the majority of the enemy force kept advancing.

The well-known - and nicely close - sound of a combustion engine told Antonius that the tank had caught up with the main PDF force by now, so he ordered:

“Heavy artillery, fire.”

The tank’s main cannon thundered, and another enemy shield was obliterated - just as the cultists it had protected.

“It’s going quite well,” Luna mumbled.

As if on cue, the Word Bearer now charged through the cloud of dust and smoke the impact of the artillery shell had left. Wanting to save his remaining 18 bolts for the other Chaos Space Marines, Antonius immediately stepped forward to meet him with his chainsword.

“Blood for the Blood God!” the traitor yelled with a raspy voice.

“And cake for the princesses,” Antonius retorted drily.

Now the chainaxe came down on him, but Antonius managed to dodge the whirring axe head. While he and his opponent were about equally fast and strong, the axe was a much more cumbersome weapon compared to a chainsword, and he used this to his advantage.

After evading the first strike, he lashed out at the traitor, creating a shower of sparks as he hit the hip armor. Then, he jumped to evade the second strike.

The Word Bearer roared in anger and raised his axe above his helmeted head. Antonius used this opportunity and slammed into him, throwing him out of balance. As he took a step back to regain his balance, Antonius slashed at his throat, but the attack was blocked by the hilt of the chainaxe.

“You are not bad, almost a worthy sacrifice,” the Chaos Space Marine hissed,
“your skull will be a nice addition to Khorne’s throne.”

“It’s always skulls… this lack of variation must bore it to death,” Antonius replied and cut the chainaxe in half with his chainsword.

Before he could strike gain, however, the traitor grabbed his wrist, and he immediately grabbed his opponent’s other wrist.
They both tried to push each other backwards, but none of them succeeded.

It was time for a different tactic, so Antonius suddenly started pulling and caught his enemy of guard. Bringing a boot to his hip, he sent the Word Bearer flying over him. He jumped up at once to engage the traitor again when he heard him hiss:

“The princesses…”

He was right with that; Luna and Celestia were standing right next to him now.

“You don’t say,” Celestia hissed back and both alicorns lit their horns.

Just as the Word Bearer wanted to get up again, they put their horns together and fired a beam of magic in silver and gold at his head, eliminating him. Then Luna turned to Antonius:

“I hope you do not mind us helping you a bit.”

“They day I will mind a dead traitor will hopefully never come,” Antonius replied and looked for a new target.

The battle was now mostly a melee, with shotguns fired at point blank range, random shots out of lasguns and stubbers and a lot of stabbing and slicing.
A notable exception was the tank that still dealt out devastating blows.

Antonius was just bisecting a mutated cultist as he heard a fateful sound: the sound of a missile launcher. He looked up and saw the warhead approach the tank.
Damnit, the armored vehicle was a great asset, loosing it could tip the balance of the battle, but not even he was fast enough now to stop the missile…

At that moment, a pegasus shot past the tank, screaming, and slammed himself into the missile.
It detonated meters in front of the tank, blowing a few ponies and cultists alike off their hooves respectively feet, but it did not cause much harm - the tank in particular was undamaged.

The pegasus’ exceptional bravery and willingness to sacrifice had not gone unnoticed by the tank crew, however, and the main cannon swung around and aimed at the cultist with the missile launcher. The traitor just had time to look greatly perturbed, then he was converted into a cloud of gore, just as his companions around him as the tank crew avenged the death of their fellow soldier.

Antonius quickly scanned the enemy forces for another missile launcher, but he couldn’t find such equipment. What he found was that the number of the cultists had dwindled considerably. Unfortunately, the PDF had fared only a little better. Mangled corpses were lying everywhere and wounded ponies were screaming for help. It was no different from a battle of a human PDF against Chaos, with the exception that these ponies did not have as much training as their human counterparts. Still, their love for their home, family and friends made them surpass themselves. They really would win this battle. But those damned traitor Marines…

“Antonius!” Celestia suddenly shouted,
“the veil! It’s under attack!”

Shit.

“What’s its status?” Antonius returned, running towards her and Luna.

“Stable - at the moment. The attack was ineffective, but I don’t think it will stay that way.”

“Certainly not.”

“What are we going to do?” Luna asked.

Well, that was a damned good question. While the cultists were almost defeated, the Word Bearers were a much more problematic enemy. Even with the tank and the princesses, there was no realistic chance of winning. That’s what the Codex Astartes told him.

Unless…
Antonius thought about this whole situation, about what the Word Bearer had uttered…
Perhaps there was a chance to save the ponies, a way that was not at all compliant with the Codex…
But a way that might work… by making use of the specific kind of ‘moron’ the Word Bearers were… as an emergency backup plan.

“You two stay here and end this battle,” he told the princesses,
“I’ll take care of the Chaos Space Marines.”

“WHAT?” Luna screamed,
“are you insane? You cannot hope to win that fight! There are almost 30 of them!”

“Luna is right!” Celestia agreed,
“we should march to their cave with everypony we have left.”

“The weakened remnants of our PDF won’t make much of a difference. Even the tank could only kill a small number of them before they destroy it. And you two… I have no doubt that you would put up a memorable fight, but there are too many of them. They would either kill, or - even worse - catch you. I will not risk that.”

“But if they can defeat our PDF, the tank, my sister, me AND you, what do you think you can do on your own?” Luna asked.

“Whatever is necessary to save your species - and you,” Antonius answered.

“I am your friend, I will come with you!”

“No, Luna. This one time, I do NOT want you to accompany me. It would destroy my plans. Stay here, and help everypony defeat the rest of the Chaos cultists.
Do. Not. Follow. Me.
Trust me, it’s the only way.”

“You will die,” Luna whimpered.

Antonius knelt down in front of the princesses and took off his helmet.

“The Emperor will be with you - always,” he said.

While this was one of the most uplifting things to say in the Imperium, it seemed to be strangely insufficient here and now.
Especially for Luna, he needed something better, a better way to say… goodbye.

Antonius gently put his hand on Luna’s cheek and kissed her.
It was not the first time that they had done this, but somehow, it felt different now, like… actually, he lacked the words to describe it.

As their lips parted, he could see that she was crying, and out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Celestia was also about to tear up.
Such fine ponies, his friends. A little more than a year was not nearly enough time to live among them, but he couldn’t help it.
With a last smile, he put his helmet back on, got up, turned around and dashed to the Land Speeder.

On his way there, he waved at Spitfire, who landed next to him just as he jumped into the vehicle.

“Lord Varus?” she asked.

“Can you guide me to the Blue Depths?”

“Of course… wait, do you want to go alone?”

“Just get in and hold on, we have no time to buckle you up.”

Spitfire did as she was told, and they darted out of Coltport, bypassed the ending battle, and headed straight towards their destination.

A few minutes later, Spitfire shouted:

“It’s behind that little grove, just a hundred meters from here!”

Antonius stopped the Speeder and turned to his companion:

“Thank you. Return to the battle now.”

“We will come as soon as we can.”

“NO. You will not come here… and you will do everything you can to prevent the princesses from coming here.”

“What? How?”

“If necessary, bite into their wings. Or horns. Whatever, they MUST NOT come here!”

“Okay… good luck!” Spitfire replied a little dumbfounded and took off.

Now Antonius checked his weapons and started sneaking through the grove. He soon found the entrance to the cave system - as well as two Word Bearers guarding it - and took cover.

His primary - and somewhat codex-conform - plan was to fight his way into the cave system and kill every Chaos Space Marine he encountered. But since he knew that his chances of success were minuscule (respectively nonexistent), he had come up with another plan, an emergency backup plan. He prepared everything for this plan, then he muttered a prayer to the Emperor - and attacked.

A carefully aimed bolt hit one of the traitors right in the eye(lens), killing him instantly. The other one spun around and fired a volley of bolts in the direction the shot had come from, but only managed to graze Antonius’ armor.
The Ultramarine’s retaliation was more effective; one of the bolts he fired hit the weak spot at the Word Bearers’s throat, ripping his head off.

Antonius burst out of his cover and dashed towards the entrance to the Blue Depths. Shouting from inside told him that his little ‘hello’ gad gone about as unnoticed as he had expected.

As he had crossed about half the distance to the dark opening, another Word Bearer appeared. Antonius immediately fired again, and the third traitor met his doom.
This was going unexpectedly well.

He was about to enter the cave system when a volley of bolts forced him to take cover outside. Before he could fire into the cave passage, two more Word Bearers darted out of it.
Time for melee.

Putting his bolter into his left hand, he drew the chainsword with his right and attacked.
The traitor parried the blow with his bolter while his companion reached for his sword. Antonius managed to force the weapon down and shot his enemy in the face at point-blank range. With one of the Word Bearers down, he focused on the second one. They exchanged a series of blows, and just as Antonius sliced the traitor’s throat, a roar from behind told him that the melee was far from over. He tried to dodge the imminent attack, but he was a little too slow and his hud went dark with a crack.

He spun around and lashed out at his new opponent. He hit him, but he could not penetrate the defiled armor that easily. Rolling to temporary safety, he ripped the destroyed helmet from his head, for everything it did now was obscure his vision.
His enemy approached, wielding a thunder hammer. Three more Word Bearers appeared at his side, two with power swords and one with a bolter, and fanned out.

Outnumbered and outgunned, things started to turn darker now, but Antonius did not hesitate. He targeted the traitor with the ranged weapon and fired. The impacts of the bolts ripped his enemy’s arm off, preventing him from firing, but instead of yielding up to his fate, he jumped towards Antonius, drawing a knife.

He blocked the attack with his sword and leveled his bolter. With the characteristic clicking of an almost empty magazine, the bolts disintegrated the Word Bearer’s head.
It was the last time Antonius fired his bolter, though.
A blade, engulfed in unclean energies, cut off his left arm and left him with only half of his lower arm while his sacred weapon clattered to the ground.

Not taking the time to register the pain, Antonius curiously just regretted that a few superb bolts would never get the opportunity to make a heretic explode as he swung his sword and slit the throat of his attacker, killing this mission’s seventh Word Bearer. Then he dodged just in time to evade another strike of the thunder hammer.

It’s wielder rushed towards him, and he reached back with his chainsword as another sword thrust cut off his wrist and sent his sword flying, still in his severed hand’s grasp. It landed behind a large rock, but Antonius did not have the time to follow its trajectory.

Now completely disarmed - almost literally - his primary plan had failed, but he did not allow that to stop him. He kicked the Word Bearer with the sword, forcing him to take a step back, then an impact shattered his leg.
The thunder hammer.

Antonius turned around on his last remaining limb. Oddly, the Chaos Space Marine did not attack; he seemed to wait for something.
This ‘something’ appeared to be his companion, respectively his sword. Antonius saw it break through his chest armor after impaling him. As the sword was pulled out again, the hammer crashed into his damaged chestplate and swept him off his remaining foot.

Lying in the dirt in front of the entrance to the Blue Depths, Antonius knew that the fight was finally over. But a feeling of warmth at his back told him that his emergency backup plan still had a chance of success - if he had judged those damned Word Bearers correctly.

“What a shitbag,” a raspy voice rambled.

“Yeah,” another - equally disgusting - voice replied,
“but he should be a good sacrifice.”

Bingo.

“Can’t we just kill him here and now? He killed… seven of us, after all.”

“That is what makes him such a good sacrifice. A good warrior is worth more than a bad one. With his ‘help’, we will finally be able to open a warp gate and flood this damned world with daemons.”

“Still…”

Antonius felt a kick to his head, and his left eye went blind.
Pain was an illusion of the senses… that started making itself felt.

“Stop that. We can’t sacrifice a corpse, moron.”

Now Antonius was picked up and the traitor with the hammer looked at him.

“Call it a draw?” Antonius grinned in pain.

“Now what do you say about that,” the Word Bearer said,
“an Ultramarine with a sense of humor. Let’s get him inside… what are you doing?”

“I’m taking his severed arm,” the other Chaos Space Marine answered,
“later, I’ll make one of those ponies eat it. Should be fun.”

“That idea is disgusting… I like it.”

Now the Word Bearers started dragging him into the cave system.
Antonius had judged them correctly. They did not miss out on the opportunity to sacrifice an Ultramarine. And the heat at his back slowly grew stronger.

66. Sunrise

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! :twilightsmile:

Bonus 5.5. Recipes

Author's Note

This bonus chaper is a silly idea I had while writing my story.
Since the story did not exactly have a happy (preliminary) end, I thought I'd publish it (to lighten the mood a little :trollestia:).

Bonus 5.5. Recipes

Pinkie Pie went into her room and set down onto her bed. Meeting this ‘Antonius Varus’ had not gone as smoothly as she had imagined, but she at least still had the chance to become his friend. She just had to figure out a way how.

Pinkie looked at…
…
No, Pinkie, no…

“Why not? You know I can do this, so why shouldn’t i do it?”

Pinkie, you just don’t break the fourth wall. It’s… confusing… especially for the author…

“Oh, come on! I just have a teensy, tiny little request.”

What kind of request?

“Can’t you make me and Antonius Varus friends? You just need to write something like ‘and then they were besties’ or so.”

No, Pinkie, no. That would bee too fast, and too easy. If we start solving difficulties this way, the whole story will become a mess.

“Why?”

Well, imagine someone had just written ‘and then Nightmare Moon suddenly became friendly and released Celestia’ after she showed up for the first time. You would never have discovered that you are the Element of Laughter.

“Oh… that makes sense…”

See? So, you’ll have to find a way to become Antonius’ friend.

“Hmm… what’s his favorite food?”

Huh?

“I want to prepare his favorite food for him!”

I… did not think about that yet.

“What? How could you not? Eating is, like, super important, you know!”

I know, Pinkie. I eat, too.

“Do you have a favorite food?”

Yes… I think so…

“Than, just tell me and make your favorite food Antonius’ favorite food - problem solved.”

Pinkie, Antonius is a Space Marine. His favorite food should be Space Marine food with a higher nutrition value.

“Just think of something and give me the recipe, okay?”

Recipe? There are no recipes for Space Marine food! At least I don’t know any.

BUT I DO!

Huh? Who’s that?

THE ONLY ONE WHO IS IMPORTANT ENOUGH TO ALWAYS WRITE IN CAPITAL LETTERS - I AM THE EMPEROR OF MANKIND!

Huh? You’re not supposed to show up here - at least not now!

I AM THE EMPEROR. I DO NOT BOW TO THE WILL OF LESSER HUMANS!

I am the author.

I AM THE EMPEROR. WHO HAS THE CAPITAL LETTERS, HUH?

Info for my readers: I just sighed.

“Hey, Mr. Emperor?”

YES, LITTLE ONE?

Oh great, now they’re talking to each other…

“Do you really know a recipe for Space Marine food? As the big, important Emperor, you should know such stuff…”

Pinkie, I don’t think that…

OF COURSE I KNOW SUCH A RECIPE, AND I CAME HERE TO SHARE IT!

What?

“Hooray!”

I WILL BESTOW A RECIPE FOR A NUTRIENT BATTER UPON YOU. WITH ITS HELP, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO PREPARE A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT DISHES.

“That’s perfect! Thank you, Mr. Emperor!”

YOU ARE WELCOME, LITTLE PONY.

“I can give you one of my favorite muffin recipes in return - marble muffins!”

SOUNDS DELICIOUS.

Okay… Pinkie Pie and the Emperor of Mankind are exchanging recipes…

“Thant’s intercultural understanding! Even delicious intercultural understanding!”

I CAN HARDLY WAIT TO GET MY LIVING BODY BACK SO THAT I CAN ACTUALLY TASTE THEM!

I…
I…
I need a drink.

2. First contact

Antonius Varus made his way back to the pond he discovered earlier. He was quite dissatisfied with his performance. He had been supposed to gather information without being discovered.
But he had been discovered. First by a squirrel he underestimated - and that fact was ridiculous on its own - then by a little xeno horse.

Antonius knew that time was getting short. When the alien told others of its species about him, they would probably set up a search party, or even a hunting party to investigate.
That would clearly worsen his situation. He had to make first contact as soon as possible.

When Antonius arrived at the pond, he quickly cleaned his armor and equipment, making himself presentable again. He was thankful that he could get rid of the daemon filth.

While doing so, he thought about his next steps, how to achieve this first contact without causing a panic among the xenos.
Simply stomping into their village would be a bad idea. Too much initiative from his side.
Waiting until they found him was even worse. Not enough initiative.
He had to take initiative, but also had to allow the xenos to take some to prevent them from getting too scared.

Antonius chose the hilly area between the cottage and the farm as the location where he would show himself, a hilltop meant a tactical advantage, after all.
So he started walking again, keeping some distance to the route he had already used, always wary if someone was already following him.
There was no one. At least a bit of luck.

On his way, he thought about this strange planet he was on: The atmosphere, a lot of the flora and fauna - the similarities to ancient terra were obvious. And then, there were the xenos, creatures of legend from the cradle of mankind.
There had to be a secret behind all this, the probability that this was just parallel evolution was almost zero. He would try to find out what was going on here, perhaps the Imperium could make use of it in some way.

A short time later, Antonius again noticed daylight in front of him. The edge of the forest.
He stepped out onto the grass and verified his position: He could see the cottage in the distance to his right, as well as the town, and the farm with its orchard to his left. A road connected the town and the farm.

He put his bolter to the magnetic holster on his belt to look as nonthreatening as possible.
Being almost three times as big as the aliens, clad in power-armor, armed with a bolter, a chainsword and a knife that had to look like a short sword to them, that was a rather futile attempt, but still better than keeping the gun in his hands.

The Space Marine stepped onto a hilltop close to the road, not far away from the apple trees. He stood in the bright daylight, his armor glistening in the sun that stood high in the sky. He had selected the location of the first contact, now he would wait for the horses to take action.
He did not have to wait long.

Just a few minutes later, he spotted two of them on the road from the farm as they came out of the orchard.
One was about the size of the pegasus he had already seen, had orange fur, yellow mane and tail and a... stetson on its head.
This planet kept getting weirder and weirder.
At least it resembled a rather normal horse, so no wings, but a branding of three red apples.
The second one was smaller, and, to be honest, cute enough that even battle-hardened veterans of the Imperial Guard would immediately start to 'Squee!'. Its fur was yellow, it had a red mane and tail and a big pink bow in its mane. Intriguingly, it had no branding.

This little one noticed Antonius first. It stopped abruptly and stared at him, shouting

"Applejack, look! What's that thingy over there?"

Thingy?
Well, he would forgive her this insult.

"I don't know, Applebloom, but it looks kinda dangerous."

The orange one - with the hat - had stopped and looked at the Space Marine. She had a strange pronunciation, but was still intelligible. Thanks to his Lyman's Ear and the acoustic sensors in his helmet, Antonius was able to hear every word they spoke, and that included the names of these aliens.
Apple farmers with apple-based names. Was the name picked according to their profession or the other way round?
Well, that question would have to wait until later.

"I don't know. It looks... quite chubby..." said Applebloom.

Chubby? Another - unintentional - insult.
Why did this creature think he was chubby? Perhaps the pauldrons...

"You don't dare go near this... whatever. Follow me and stay quiet."

This 'Applejack' was obviously cautious. Good. That would prevent her from doing something stupid - hopefully.

They slowly walked towards the town. Applejack was always keeping herself between the little horse and the marine. When they reached the point on the road closest to the him, she whispered to Applebloom:

"Go and tell Twilight to come here at once. I'll stay here and watch it."

Applebloom dashed off towards the town, Applejack turned towards Antonius. He could see big eyes with green irises watching him. The mare came a bit closer and set down. Obviously, she wanted to wait for this 'Twilight', whoever he, she, or it was.

The Astartes wondered if he should do anything, but decided against it.
He would let them pick their pace. Rushing this wouldn't be good.

A few minutes later, Applebloom returned, and she was not alone. She was accompanied by a purple... unicorn.
In the name of the Emperor, how many legends had become true on this world?
Antonius guessed that the newcomer had to be 'Twilight'.

"Hello Applejack. Applebloom told me you have a strange cre... WHAT IN CELESTIA'S NAME?"

She had spotted him and ran to the place where the orange pony was still sitting.

"Nothing you see all day, right, sugarcube?" whispered Applejack.

"Right," Twilight whispered back.

"Any idea was it is?"

"Not really. I've never seen anything like it before. Looks a bit like a minotaur."

Minotaurs? Another legend covered. What was next? Dragons?

"A bit strange, even for a minotaur," Applejack opined.

"I think it's the creature Fluttershy scared off this morning".

Scared off? He was definitely NOT scared off. It was a tactical retreat.

"I don't think it can be scared off that easily - if it's even possible to scare it off at all."

Better. Applejack was obviously an intelligent alien.

"Well, it retreated into the Everfree. But we can't stay here talking about it. We must talk TO it. But we must be careful. One giant creature rampaging through Ponyville a week is really enough. I should have brought my book about first contacts..."

"You have a book about first contacts?"

"Sort of... Diplomacy 101."

"Forget that I asked." Applejack turned to Applebloom:
"You'll stay here, we'll go."

"Hey, I wanna go, too!"

"No discussion, little sister. You stay here!"

Applebloom pouted, but did as she was told. The other two came closer.

A very interesting conversation. Antonius had learned a bit about the world these creatures lived in. The part about the 'giant creature' was especially interesting. And he knew that the next conversation would be even more interesting.

Twilight had never seen a creature like this one.
A huge biped in some kind of blue armor. On the centre of its chest piece was a winged, golden skull, but without the muzzle ponies had.
It fitted the design of its helmet, which looked like frowning and showed malevolent red eyes.
The rims of the massive pauldrons were golden like the skull and its wings. On those pauldrons was some kind of insignia, but Twilight could not really see it, the creature was too broad.
The creature's arms ended in some kind of armored claws or paws.

On its right hip hung a black box of some sort, almost as long as she was tall. She had no idea what this thing could be.
What the giant creature wore on its left hip was much more frightening: an enormous sword with a serrated edge, looking incredibly brutal. The whole creature looked like some kind of exaggerated warrior-character out of Spike's comic books - not that she read them.
But she wouldn't judge the creature by the looks. It did not even try to harm her friend Fluttershy, after all.

As she got closer, an old memory came to the surface of her mind: Hadn't she once read a fairytale about creatures that basically looked like that? What were they called? 'Humins'? Those creatures Lyra was so crazy about...
Fiddlesticks.
She hadn't paid too much attention to this non-scientific nonsense. Perhaps she could ask Lyra later, but now, there were more important things to do. They were at a good distance to the giant, not too close, not too far away.
So, Twilight stopped. Applejack did the same.
Time for Twilight to talk.

"Hello stranger, and welcome to Ponyville!" She waved a hoof in the direction of her hometown.
"My name is Twilight Sparkle and this is my friend Applejack. May I ask who you are, where you are from, what you want here and how we can help you?"
She gave the giant a warm smile.

Then, it - no, he - spoke, a deep, metallic rattling:

"Greetings, inhabitants of this world. I am Brother Antonius Varus, Ultramarines second company, Imperium of Mankind. I came to your planet because of a teleporter accident. I mean you no harm."

The ponies stared at Antonius, their jaws wide open.

"World? Planet? You mean, you are an alien? And you can understand me? And what are 'Ultramarines'? Oh, I have a million questions!"

Twilight was very enthusiastic. She had just made contact to an alien! A real alien, full of knowledge of other worlds.
Her smile grew bigger.
The giant just looked at her.

"So it would seem. Let me answer your first two questions:
From your point of view, I am an alien. I would prefer if you used my name to address me, though.
I can understand you, because the language you use is well known in the Imperium. It's called 'Low Gothic'. Who taught you this language?"

Twilight's mind was extremely busy now. The Equestrian she spoke was this alien's 'Low Gothic'? That was impossible, wasn't it?

"Well, we speak this language we call 'Equestrian' for several thousand years now. I don't think we really were taught this language, but perhaps we can find a book about its origin in my library. Well, it's not really my library, but I live there.
May I invite you to pay me a visit? We can discuss every question each of us has there."

Applejack was shocked as she heard her friend say this.
They had no idea what this creature really was, and Twilight was so eager that she had invited it to her home?
What if it was dangerous? It certainly looked dangerous.
What was she supposed to do?
Tell Twilight that this was a bad idea? In front of the giant?
Drag Twilight away to tell her?
She couldn't do anything.
No. That was not right. There was one thing she could do.

"Hey, Twilight, I think it may be a good idea to fetch the girls so we all can help you answer the questions our guest might have."

Twilight looked at her for a moment, then she understood the hidden meaning in Applejack's remark.

"Hmm... good idea. You fetch our friends, I take Mr. Varus on a trip through the town. We'll meet in the library."

She turned towards Antonius:

"Would that be okay with you?"

He nodded.

"Acceptable. Lead the way."

Author's Note

I've added the "Comedy"-tag to show that the story is not meant to be taken dead-serious.

14. The night belongs to... friends!

He was a Space Marine, damnit! Supposed to destroy the alien, the mutant, the heretic.
And now, he was following an alien princess to her private quarters. But not an regular alien: those ponies turned mankind's experiences upside down. Even all of them he had met until now combined were not half as spiteful as the average Eldar or Tau.

They arrived at Luna's room soon, not too far away from her sister's.
It was as cozy as Celestia's, although in a different way, and darker in color. The ceiling was covered with a night-themed fresco and in its center was a huge glass dome. There was something particular that attracted Antonius' attention: The whole room had some Gothic influences that reminded him of the Imperium.

"And? What do you think of my quarters?" Luna asked.

"A nice place to live," Antonius answered.

She was about to sit down on a huge carpet and said:

"Thank you, I hoped you... OW!"

She stood up again and looked at her flank where Antonius had hit her with the blunt side of his chainsword.
Had he injured her? That would be quite unfavorable. He had to do something.

"Have I hurt you?" he asked.

"Oh, I'm sure it's nothing," she said as she moved her hind leg in small circles.

"Let's play it safe. I'm not an Apothecarius, but I know a thing or two about first aid. You need to take off your armor, though."

"Of course, I did not plan to keep it on the whole night, anyway."

Hmm, why did that sound a little weird? Nonsense.

Luna got out of her armor and laid down for Antonius to have a look at her flank, where the sword had hit her and where her cutie-mark was.
He couldn't see anything, the fur was too dense. So, he carefully stroked the fur aside to take a look at the skin underneath. Still nothing.

"Hmm... I can't see anything. You could perhaps..."

He stopped talking when he noticed a very strange fact:
He had stroked aside her fur, but her cutie-mark was still in place. How could that be?
He stroked the fur again and watched carefully. The hairs instantly changed color to keep the cutie-mark in place! It was strangely fascinating. He repeated this experiment with the same result: the hairs immediately changed color.
Those marks really were 'magical symbols', just as Apple Bloom had told him when they first had met.

Antonius froze when he finally realized what he was doing. That was not exactly an acceptable way of treating a leader of an ally.
He quickly pulled his hand back and turned towards Luna.

"Sorry," he said,
"but I am not familiar with this whole cutie-mark system. It is... intriguing."

She just smiled:

"No problem, I'm proud of my cutie-mark. I see your interest as an honor.
I guess we are the first species you encountered with marks like these?"

"If you ignore the marks of Chaos, yes."

"Not a very charming comparison."

Yes, she was definitely right with that.

"I did not mean to insult you," Antonius assured her.

"Don't worry, you didn't."

Good, accidentally hurting her was unfavorable enough - even if he couldn't see an injury.
Wait a moment, that was not the only attack that had hit her...

"What about your chest, Luna?" he asked.

"My chest?"

"The chest I slammed into a few minutes ago. When the sword thrust has injured you, your chest could also have been affected."

"Oh, I think my chest is fine, but it would probably be better if you could you have a look."

Antonius did her the favor and confirmed her suspicion:

"You were right. No sign of an injury and the ribcage is also intact.
After seeing this, I am honestly not sure that my attack caused the pain you feel."

"Well, I think it is a strain. It was an exhausting fight and I am admittedly a bit out of practice."

She lighted her horn and her flank was surrounded by a dark blue aura. When the light faded, she said:

"So, I'm fine again."

Antonius raised an eyebrow:

"Healing-magic?"

"Exactly."

"Why haven't you done this in the first place?"

"You should know an injury before using healing-magic, as it is a quite complicated kind of magic. You can't just pour magic into a wound, strain or whatever and expect it to immediately heal. You must direct the magic, tell it what to do at any time."

Oh, that was interesting. And it was the reason why Luna had been unsure if healing-magic could help his Primarch.
After a short silence, Luna continued:

"If you don't mind, we could talk a little more."

They sat down on the carpet between some cushions and continued the conversation they had had with Celestia.
Shortly afterwards, Luna yawned.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Antonius, but I barely got any sleep the last two days.
Well, there is still time before the nightly patrol starts, so we could take a nap. If you wouldn't mind staying here, I will show you your room once we are back. Now, it's barely worth the effort for this short amount of time."

Antonius nodded and Luna continued:

"As my guest, feel free to use my bed, I'll stick with the carpet."

"Thank you for your offer, but that is not necessary. Furthermore, your bed won't be able to stand the weight of my armor."

"Why don't you take it off, then?" she asked.

That topic again. This time, not too much diplomacy, just politeness.

"Since humans don't have fur, it is considered indecent to run around without clothes. You should never ask a human to take off his clothes, or in my case, armor. There is some... ambiguity."

Luna looked a bit confused now.

"You mean... THAT kind of ambiguity?"

"Correct."

"So, I accidentally put myself in the role of..."

"Don't worry, I just see it as an intercultural misunderstanding."

"Oh, yes! I would never even think of... no, that's rude...
I certainly would... no, that's not really better...
I mean..."

She sighed and continued:

"Perhaps we should stop talking and go to bed...
NO! I did not mean it THAT way!"

She buried her head in the cushions and mumbled:

"This is so embarrassing..."

Antonius could barely keep himself from laughing. Luna was not just the Princess of the Night, she was also the queen of accidental ambiguity!

The mere thought of a human-pony relationship was equally disgusting and ridiculous.
They were animals, for Emperor's sake!!!
...
Except for the fact that they weren't.
They were fully intelligent, sapient and sentient creatures, they just looked like animals.
But they still were aliens, and even if they were friendly, that kind of relationship with a nonhuman was absolutely unthinkable.
Cooperation? Yes, if necessary.
Friendship? Weird enough, but in their case, tolerable and even justified.
More? No. Definitely not.

Luna turned her head a bit and one of her eyes peeked out of the cushions and looked at him. He smiled down at her.
Yes, she was kind of adorable.
Crap. He really had thought that, hadn't he? Certainly a ramification of his humanity.

Now, he finally realized the meaning of Celestia's comment, and he was not very comfortable with it.
Not at all. What a weird situation... What a weird kind of humor... at least Luna's reactions had been quite funny. He would simply ignore the rest.

"Oh, well, I think I'll go to bed now... in my bed... alone," Luna said as she stood up and went through a door into another room.

Antonius found a spot not too far from neither too close to her bed and sat down there, his back against the wall.
A few minutes later, she came back, took off her necklace, tiara and shoes and crawled into her bed.

"Goodnight, Antonius," she said,
"would you mind meeting me in a dream again?"

"Not at all, Luna, but can you properly regenerate while doing your dream-walking?"

"Not as much as when I'm completely asleep, but it will do."

"Then, goodnight. See you in a moment."

Luna smiled, closed her eyes and was soon asleep.
Antonius also started to relax. This place was safe, he could take a nap. He had the feeling that he needed one.

Luna did not have to wait long for Antonius to arrive in the dreamscape.
She had created the same environment as when she first had visited his dreams, but she did not plan to stay here the whole time. She wanted to get to know more about him, so she greeted him:

"Hello, Antonius! Is there anything special you want to see or may I ask a favor of you?"

"What do you want?" he asked.

"You told us how you became a Space Marine. Now, I'm curious. Could you show me some of your memories in that regard?"

"Okay, Luna. I think I'll show you my 'final exam'."

Something about his intonation and the small smile told Luna that this would be anything but an normal exam, but it would certainly be interesting. She used her abilities and read the memory he thought about, then, she recreated it.

The environment vanished and was replaced by a different one. She knew where they were. She had seen those gigantic buildings before. They were in the Fortress of Hera, but this time, they were inside, high above the ground on some kind of parade ground. Next to a wall, a group of young humans was standing in rank and file in the sunlight. Luna recognized one of them.

"Is that you?" she asked.

"Yes," Antonius answered,
"shortly before becoming an Neophyte."

She looked at the young Antonius. Compared to the later Antonius, this human looked fragile, but there was something about his eyes - the same determination she knew from her friend.
Luna took a look at the other humans on the parade ground. There were a few Space Marines in their blue armors, as well as another Space Marine in a white armor, only his pauldron bore the blue of his chapter.

"An Apothecarius, about to tell us the results of the tests," Antonius - the real one - explained.

While this Apothecarius was reading from some kind of... book, yet another Space Marine came into view. This one wore a strange kind of hat Luna had never seen before, and had a giant staff in one of his hands. He downright radiated authority and power.

"Antonius, who is this Space Marine with the strange hat?"

Antonius laughed.

"If you should ever meet him, don't tell him that. This hat is the Hood of Hellfire, a psychic hood, and the Space Marine is Varro Tigurius, Chief Librarian of my chapter."

"Librarian? Like Twilight Sparkle?"

"No! 'Librarian' is a title for Space Marine psykers, and I can tell you, he is an incredibly powerful one."

"So, a librarian who can use magic. That is a bit like Twilight, isn't it?"

"It is not magic! Even though Twilight's powers are quite impressive, Chief Librarian Tigurius' powers are another order of magnitude."

Tigurius came closer, and everyone snapped to attention - even more than before. He strode past the young humans, taking an appraising, yet friendly look at them. When he passed young Antonius, he slowed down for a second, then, he continued his way. He reached the end of the row and turned to a Space Marine who was standing there, whispering something to him.

"What is going on?" Luna wanted to know.

"Just wait and see," answered Antonius.

The Space Marine Tigurius had talked to walked along the row of youngsters until he was directly in front of young Antonius.

"This is your lucky day, lad. Show me what you've got!" he said to the boy.

Then he turned around and walked a few meters towards the middle of the parade ground, followed by Antonius.

Luna was flabbergasted.

"What the...? Did he just challenge you? He is kidding, isn't he?"

"Not at all," Antonius explained,
"sometimes, an Aspirant gets the chance to prove himself in a duel with a Space Marine. I had this honor."

Two other Space Marines went to the two unlike opponents and handed them swords. For the Space Marine, it was a short sword, for Antonius, it looked more like a great sword.

"This is unfair," Luna complained.

"This is a challenge," rectified Antonius.

"You don't have a chance to win!"

"This is not about winning, it's about how you fail."

Huh? That was crazy!

The Space Marine told young Antonius:

"Okay, lad. Pretend that I am an enemy of mankind. Go!"

Now, they started fighting. Luna could barely look. Young Antonius did his best, but he did not have the slightest chance against the armored hulk. Yet, he did not give up.

"You need to vary your attacks to a greater extend," the Space Marine told him,
"try to surprise me."

Young Antonius crouched and attacked his opponents legs, not unlike Luna had done when fighting the real Antonius. Similar to her attack, the Space Marine deflected it without problem.
Then, his gauntlet came down. Young Antonius tried to dodge, but he was a tad too slow. The attack grazed him, sending him to the ground. He quickly rolled out of his opponent range and came back to his feet, a bit shakily, but he stood again.

Now, he attacked. It was in vain again, but this time, the Space Marine's sword quickly came down on his right arm.
At the last possible moment, the Ultramarine twisted it and hit Antonius' right arm with the blunt side.
Luna could hear bones break and the boy let out a short scream.
His sword fell to the ground. He immediately picked the weapon up with his left hand and got into position again.

"You are crazy," muttered Luna.

"Thank you," smiled the real Antonius.

Fighting with his left hand, the boy had even less of a chance.
Another attack of the Space Marine sent him to the ground with a sick, crunching noise.
Luna knew that young Antonius was severely injured now, barely more than a beaten heap of flesh on the ground.
Yet, he tried to stand up again.

"I take it back," Luna said,
"you are not just crazy, you are downright suicidal."

The Space Marine seemed to think the same, as he told young Antonius:

"Lad, you are defeated. Stay down and surrender, it wasn't a bad performance."

Young Antonius looked up at him:

"You told me to pretend that you are an enemy of mankind. I will NEVER surrender to an enemy of mankind!"

The Space Marine seemed a bit surprised and looked at Tigurius, who simply nodded, smiling a bit, then, he turned back to his opponent, taking off his helmet:

"That's the spirit, lad! You passed the test. Consider yourself an Ultramarine."

"Thank you, my Lord."

"Apothecarius, take care of Neophyte Varus," Tigurius ordered, still smiling a bit,
"Seneca, assist him. Now that you have beaten the crap out of the boy you can also help transport him to the Apothecarion."

"Of course, Chief Librarian," Seneca answered, also with a smile on his face.

While he was helping the Apothecarius to place young Antonius on a litter, Tigurius walked along the row of young humans. Luna took a look at them. They all looked at the scene in awe.

"Aspirants," Tigurius boomed, now completely serious again,
"you all have seen this. Devotion. Determination. The iron will never to surrender, no matter how bad the odds might look.
That is one of the key features of every single Astartes. Now, you are about to become Astartes, Ultramarines!
Together with your brothers, you will be the breakwater that protects mankind from the tides of aliens, mutants and heretics!
You will never falter, never be found wanting! You will be the guardians of mankind and the harbingers of the Emperor's wrath!"

The environment started to vanish. A moment before it was gone, Luna had the impression that Tigurius was quickly taking a look at her. That was impossible, it must have been her imagination or a strange coincidence. It was just a memory, after all, she had never been really there.

Now, she and Antonius were standing in her dreamscape again.

"Wow," Luna said,
"that was an... unusual final exam."

"Yes, it was. Even for Space Marines."

"Why did Tigurius pick you for this test? He slowed down as he passed you."

"I have no idea, but Chief Librarian Tigurius is a mystery. Perhaps he has seen something in my mind, or he has foreseen something, though I can't imagine what that could have been. I'm pretty much an average Ultramarine, nothing special."

"You are the only Ultramarine in Equestria, and, according to the stories you told us, the first human in recorded history to befriend non-humans."

Antonius looked sceptical.

"I really don't think he has foreseen this."

Luna wanted to reply, but she felt that something was... wrong.

"Luna?" Antonius asked, realizing that she was concerned.

She did not answer. Instead, she used her magic to check the dreams of the ponies in the castle. She found...

"Celestia!" she shouted.

"What's up with Celestia?"

"Antonius, wake up. I need you in the real world. Now!"

Antonius immediately woke up and jumped to his feet. Luna did the same and rushed towards the door and out of her quarters, followed by him.

"Luna, what the hell is going on?" he wanted to know.

"I sensed a terrifying darkness in my sister's dreams. She has the gift of foresight, and I think she has a vision of something important - and cruel."

As if on cue, they heard a scream echoing through the hallway.
Celestia.

"Antonius, if you can be faster than me, then RUN!"

Antonius did exactly that. He overtook Luna and dashed down the corridor. He had only gone this way once, and in the opposite direction, but that was enough for his enhanced memory to guide him. He rounded a corner and Celestia's quarters were directly ahead now.
In front of the door a group of guards was standing. One of them carefully knocked at the door.

"Your majesty? Are you all right?"

Fools. Their princess was screaming in horror, and they knocked and asked 'Are you all right?'.
Ridiculous. They turned towards him as he approached:

"Mr. Varus, what are you doing..."

"What are YOU doing?" he interrupted,
"your princess obviously needs your assistance!"

Without slowing down, he smashed his pauldron into the door. It could not stand the impact and was ripped if its hinges, while being shattered at the same time.

Antonius barged into Celestia's quarters and immediately checked the room. No sign of a threat, but the princess was sitting in her bed, panting and dripping with sweat. She turned her head and looked at him. He could see fear. No matter what she had seen in her vision, it had shaken her to the very foundations.

"Celestia, what is going on? Are you all right?"

Crap. Now he had said it. Well, what else was he supposed to say ?

He came to a stop beside her bed and crouched to be more at eye level with her. She still looked at him.

"Antonius?" she asked.

"In person," he answered.

Now, Luna came running into the room.

"Sister, are you all right?"

Hmm... everyone seemed to ask that question.

"Luna!" Celestia exclaimed,
"I'm happy that you are here."

"What have you seen, sister?" asked Luna as she stepped up to her sister's bed.

Celestia cringed.

"Have you not seen it, Luna?" she asked.

"Just darkness."

"Yes, it was darkness. But it was what was in this darkness that..."

She took a deep breath.

"I saw ponies, dead. Unspeakable things had been done to them. Carnage, slaughter. Incredible atrocities."

"Who has done that, sister? Where?"

"I don't know who has done that, but I know where: The town of Hope at Equestria's western border."

"Then we will go there and find the culprit. Have you seen anything that could give us a hint at who it was?"

Celestia though for a second, then she slowly said:

"Yes, I think there was something, but it was just a symbol."

"What kind of symbol?"

"An eight-pointed star."

Antonius took a deep breath, making a disgusted face, and the princesses turned towards him.

"Antonius, do you know that symbol?" Luna asked,
"do you know who is responsible for this?"

Antonius nodded.

"Chaos," he almost spat.

"You mean the Chaos that was responsible for the Horus Heresy? That Chaos?"

"Definitely that. Seems you have become a part of our galaxy. Now, we must ensure that you survive."

Author's Note

Caution:
The next chapter will have a heavier emphasis on the tags 'gore' and 'dark'.

33. Twas the Week Before Hearth's Warming

Antonius spent the following workdays training the PDF, the weekends he spent with Stormy in Ponyville.
Well, to be exact: Stormy was hanging out with the Cutie Mark Crusaders and he divided his time between helping the Element Bearers with their tasks, telling Lyra stories about mankind (she could not get enough of them) and visiting Zecora to learn about the Everfree as soon as the potions she had made were ready.
For security measures, those potions were kept in Princess Celestia's private safe.

In addition to that, he taught Twilight and her friends the basics of close combat, building on their abilities they had shown when he had evaluated their prowess; Rarity was surprisingly proficient with her front hoofs, Twilight used magic even at melee range and Fluttershy... was good at dodging.
The other three ponies had changed their styles a little. Rainbow Dash used a technique that reminded Antonius of martial arts, Applejack brought her hind legs to bear and Pinkie showed a tendency to weaponize her environment or even pull her party-cannon seemingly out of nowhere to shoot confetti and streamers with a kinetic force not to sneeze at. All told, he was content with their progress.

Then, it was the last weekend before the celebration the ponies called 'Hearth's Warming', where they commemorated the founding of Equestria. That was everything Luna had wanted to tell him, because she had not wanted to 'spoil the pageant'. So, there obviously would be some kind of theater play. Well, why not.
Furthermore, she had asked him to take part in and enjoy the celebrations, and since they did not sound heretic, he had agreed.

However, this 'Hearth's Warming' would not be the only notable event in the next few days: Tomorrow, Moonlight and Blackwing would return from Coltport - and move in with him and Stormy. Antonius' plan was to slowly withdraw from the newly created family and give them time to really get to know each other without interference.

Today was probably the last time he was in Ponyville as Stormy's 'chaperone', and Stormy spent it - as usual - with the Crusaders. Antonius just entered Twilight's library and found her and Spike with a big scroll.

"Hello, Twilight," he greeted,
"busy today?"

"Yep," Twilight answered,
"I'm going through my to-do-list for Hearth's warming! I'm just looking if... one moment... yes, I already have got all the presents for my family and friends!"

"Yeah, just like the last two times you checked that," Spike mumbled.

"Presents for family and friends?" Antonius asked.

"Of course!" Spike shouted,
"what would Hearth's warming be without presents?"

"Still a very nice holiday," Twilight corrected his attitude and nudged him,
"a time to remember the love, friendship and harmony between you and your family and friends."

"I thought it was about the founding of your country," Antonius interjected.

"That, too," Twilight explained,
"but I'm afraid I can't tell you more, since I promised not to spoil the pageant for you."

"Is everypony in on keeping me in the dark about this celebration and the pageant?"

"Hmm... I think there might be one or two who don't know - but don't start looking for them!"

"No worries. I guess this pageant is quite a 'big thing' then, hmm?"

"Of course! My friends and I will even take part this year! What an honor!"
She suddenly winced.
"Oh dear. Was that supposed to be a secret, too? You didn't hear that, okay?"

"Okay," Antonius smiled,
"I did not hear that you and your friends will take part in the pageant."

"Umm... thanks... anyway, where did I stop? Right, the presents."

"I have a question about that: Who is giving what to whom?"

"Everypony. Something nice. Family and friends.
Wait a second... you don't know that? Of course you don't! Sorry, Hearth's Warming is such a part of our social life that everypony's familiar with it, and because of our little 'vow of silence', we forgot to tell you our customs! But don't worry, nopony will expect you to throw presents around."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but that only works if I don't get any presents, either, otherwise receiving without giving would be against the principle of mutuality commonly found in friendships... so I should hope that I don't get any presents."

"Well, I would not exactly count on that..." Twilight admitted with a forced smile.

"So you know that somepony will give me a present?"

"Umm... yes."

"Who? Wait, it's probably Luna, isn't it?"
Twilight just kept her forced smile, so Antonius continued:
"Aha. Okay. Mind if I leave now? Completely unrelated to the fact that I actually have to get some presents for... for whom?
Luna? Yes.
Stormy? Yes, definitely, fillies certainly like presents.
Celestia? Hmm... probably."

"Yeah... and me and my friends..."

"All six of you?"

"Sorta..."

"Whoa. And with my duties, I only have little time left... I better get going. Bye, Twilight!"

Antonius left the library.

Damnit. How many of those blasted presents did he need?
Stormy, the Princesses, the Elements... nine. He had to come up with nine presents... if he didn't count Moonlight and Blackwing, that is. Or Lyra and Bon Bon. And Zecora?
No, he would concentrate on the ponies who he knew were going to give him a present, so he needed nine ideas for presents.

First: Luna.
And there was the first problem: What do you give to a magical pony princess who should already have anything she wanted? It probably had to be something rather new... idea!
Antonius went straight to the Carousel Boutique.

"Hello, Rarity," he greeted,
"do you have a moment?"

"Of course," she answered,
"how can I help you?"

"I just learned that it is a custom among you ponies to give presents to each other on Hearth's Warming. Now, I need your opinion: Would a set of socks be a suitable present for a pony?"

"Oh, definitely. As I already told you, they are great casual wear! Whom do you want the socks for?"

"Princess Luna."

Rarity looked surprised.

"Princess Luna? There's a little problem... I'm afraid I haven't got her measurements."

"No problem, we can determine them with the help of my memory. I'm positive I can show you the size of her legs with sufficient accuracy."

"Oh, well, it's worth a try, I guess? Okay, Antonius, let us begin."

Thanks to his advanced memory, Antonius was able to provide Rarity with enough data so that they could determine the needed measurements. Rarity seemed to be quite amused by the fact that he could show her the circumference of Luna's legs at any given height - especially when they reached the upper part of Luna's hind legs. Antonius chose to ignore this and thanked Rarity for her help.

As he was just about to go, he turned to her again:

"About the payment: How do you want me to pay you? Usually, Luna is invoiced, but in this situation, that is out of the question."

"Don't worry, I won't take money for this."

"Are costless presents considered to be valid presents?"

"Of course!"

"Okay. Thanks again. One done, eight to go. Oh, by the way: Is there anything you want as a present? Now that I think about it, I should also have asked Twilight... I'll do that later."

"Oh, just surprise me..." Rarity said, then she raised an eyebrow:
"Please wait a second: 'one done, eight to go'?"

"Yes, one present for each pony who I know is going to give one to me, so that everything is mutual."

"How do you know that... Twilight spilled the beans, didn't she?"

"Rather accidentally, but yes, she did. And I'm glad she did, otherwise I wouldn't have had any idea of this presents trouble."

"Antonius, I think you are missing the underlying idea of this custom. It's not just an exchange of material goods, and you should not feel obliged to give somepony a present."

"Oh? Well, be that as it may, I better get going again."

Antonius left the boutique.

Rarity kept looking at the door for a few seconds. Antonius tried to adapt to their customs, but he obviously didn't get the point of Hearth's Warming, probably due to his different cultural background.

Now, if she didn't do anything about it, she would get some kind of present. If she intervened, she would probably get nothing. Of course, presents were nice, but more important was the right reason to make them.
As the Element of Generosity, she just had to do something about it. She left her boutique and headed towards Twilight's library.

She met her friend about halfway.

"Hello, Twilight," she said,
"I just had a slightly troubled visitor who was convinced he has to come up with some presents for us."

"Yeah," Twilight answered with an awkward smile,
"it is possible that he got that impression. He concluded plausibly that he has to give us presents if we give him presents. Then he left."

"Same here. I tried to tell him that presents are not a necessity, but he was a little too caught up to get that. I guess he is running around Ponyville trying to find something he can give us."

"Hmm. I'm trying to find him to set the whole matter right. Perhaps we should get the girls, that will increase our chances of finding him."

"Good idea."

Second: Stormy.
Done, thanks to Fluttershy's help.

Third: Celestia.
Well, that was a problem similar to the one he had had with Luna's present, but this time, he couldn't use the Luna-solution. Giving similar presents to different ponies would probably be considered unimaginative, and that would without doubt not be beneficial for the concerned friendship.
So, what to give to Celestia? The Princess of the Sun?
Umm...
Sunglasses?
Sunscreen?
A sunshade?
Something that did not start with the word 'sun', perhaps?

Antonius was annoyed. He had had just two ideas for presents and he needed seven more, but he seemed to have run out of creativity.
He noticed that Rainbow Dash was just passing in the sky above him, but that did not inspire him at all. He thought hard, but the only effect was that he started feeling the urge to punch something.
Somepony should have told him that friendships with ponies could become so complicated.

Antonius had walked through Ponyville for some time, hoping for an usable idea, when he heard Rainbow Dash shout:

"There he is! I told you I saw him earlier!"

He turned around. All six Element Bearers were running up to him.

"Antonius!" Twilight exclaimed,
"Good thing we found you!"

"What's wrong?" Antonius asked,
"is there a problem?"

"Actually, yes, there is," Rarity told him,
"you seem to have misunderstood the meaning of Hearth's Warming."

"Huh? As far as I know, you celebrate the founding of Equestria and friends and family exchange presents."

"That is what happens, but it's not the actual meaning," Applejack said,
"it's rather a time to cherish your family and friends. The presents are not important."

"Why do you make sure to have a present for each of your friends, then?" Antonius asked.

"Well... to show them that we value them?" Twilight said hesitantly.

"So, presents are sort of necessary in your culture to prove your friendships," Antonius stated.

"No, silly," Pinkie Pie corrected him,
"presents may be nice, but nopony will think you don't value them just because they get no present from you."

"And the best present you can give to your friends is not some knick-knack, it's your friendship, love and support," Fluttershy added.

"Yeah, that sounds sappy, but Fluttershy is totally right," Rainbow Dash agreed.

The other ponies also voiced their consent. Antonius was slightly confused.

"So," he started,
"you give each other presents as a visible sign of your friendships. Despite there being no need for that, since your behavior towards each other is better suitable for proving those friendships."

"It sounds totally weird if you phrase it like that," Twilight sighed,
"look, it's a custom... a nice touch... what would you say if I gave you a present?"

"Thank you?"

"Would you suddenly like me much more because of that?"

"I don't think my level of 'liking you' would change significantly."

"Okay, now, if I didn't give you a present, would you suddenly hate me?"

"No. That would be a ridiculous overreaction."

"See it now? Presents are nice, but not necessary in a true friendship, okay? What kind of friends would we be if we demanded presents from each other?"

Antonius was silent for a second, then he said:

"You have some weird customs here, but I think I get the drift."

"Finally," Twilight sighed in relief,
"and to prove that, we want you NOT to give us presents."

"No?"

"No."

"And you won't give me presents either, right?"

"Oh, we will still give you presents."

"Huh? That would violate the principle of mutuality."

"Yes! But we don't care!" Twilight screamed, half in supplication, half in exasperation.

"Oh. Okay, as you wish. But what about my presents for the Princesses and Stormy?"

Now Twilight hesitated.

"Well, fillies usually get presents, and thinking about how closely you work with the princesses, presents would certainly..."
Rarity nudged her forcefully.
"... still not be necessary!" Twilight quickly finished.

"Hmm," Antonius said thoughtfully,
"truth be told, I would still like to get at least those three presents. I know I don't need to, but it still feels right somehow."

"I think he's finally got it!" Pinkie cheered.

"Yeah," Applejack agreed,
"now, what do want to give to them?"

"I've already got Luna and Stormy covered," Antonius told them,
"I just lack an idea for Celestia."

The ponies looked at each other.

"Well, a present for Princess Celestia is certainly difficult to choose," Twilight admitted,
"I usually look for an extremely rare book that is not already in the Royal Library. Finding one gets harder every year, though. Perhaps..."

She started smiling.

"Antonius, I've got it! You have learned a friendship lesson today, haven't you?"

"I have what?" Antonius asked in confusion.

Twilight's friends started smiling, too.

"You have learned something about friendships. What do you think about writing a letter to the Princess and telling her what you have learned?"

Antonius stared at her, dumbfounded.

"You are kidding."

"Not at all!" Twilight laughed,
"and I guarantee she will like it!"

A short time later, they were in Twilight's library and Antonius was sitting in front of a blank scroll, a pencil in his hand.

"Okay, now, any suggestions how I should start?" he asked.

"Just write something like 'Dear Princess Celestia', and then tell her what you have learned. That easy," Twilight said.

"Well, if you say so..."

Dear Princess Celestia,
hello Tia,

today I learned a lesson about friendships. I had recently learned about the custom to give presents to your friends on Hearth's Warming, and I thought that I had to come up with presents for everypony who also has a present for me.
Now, the Element Bearers told me that this assumption was wrong, presents are actually an unnecessary sign; nice, but not that important.
A true friend does not need to be 'bought'. He/She cannot be 'bought'.
If a friendship is dependent on material gifts, it is worthless.
A true friendship is independent from knick-knack of that kind, it is sustained by love, care and support for each other.
Yes, that's sappy.
Nonetheless, it's true.

Your little sister's second in command,
Antonius Varus
(actually Ultramarines 2nd company)

P.S.: I did not miss the irony in giving you this letter as a present.

Antonius put away the pencil and rolled up the scroll.

"Great!" Twilight laughed,
"this is a great friendship letter! And it's also so very much you!"

"Thank you," Antonius answered,
"now, are you sure you don't want presents, too? Not even voluntary ones?"

"No, don't you dare to get something for us!"

Antonius and the ponies stayed in the library until afternoon. They told him about some of the friendship letters they had written to the Princess and the stories connected to them. They also agreed to meet at the Canterlot station the next day, so that Antonius could take the presents for the Princesses and Stormy.
Then it slowly got time to return to Canterlot.

"Goodbye, my friends," Antonius said,
"I'll pick up Stormy and get to the chariot."

"She's probably at the Crusaders' clubhouse. I'll accompany you to Sweet Apple Acres," Applejack offered.

"I'll join you for a while, too," Fluttershy said.

So they left the library and headed towards the Apple farm.
They found Stormy and her three friends just outside Ponyville, babbling something about 'Cutie Mark Crusader Tunnelers'. They looked accordingly.
Applejack picked up her little sister, Antonius picked up Stormy and they all said goodbye and parted ways.

"Well, Stormy," Antonius said on their way back to the waiting chariot,
"I guess this evening will hold a bath and a preening session for you. Tomorrow, Moonlight and Blackwing will arrive, after all, and you don't want to look like a moving little mess, do you?"

"No, of course not. I'm really looking forward to seeing them again," Stormy answered.

The next morning, Antonius, Stormy and Luna were waiting on the landing platforms. It had started snowing about an hour ago, and the snowflakes already covered the ground in a thin layer.
They had to wait just a few minutes, then the expected chariot came into view. It closed in on the platforms and came in to land.

"Hey, there is somepony onboard I have not expected," Antonius said.

"Neither have I, but it surely is a welcome surprise," Luna replied.

The chariot landed, and Moonlight, Blackwing, and Rapid Cure got off.

"Hello, Moonlight and Blackwing. How are you?" Luna greeted them.

"I'm fine," Moonlight answered with a small smile.

While her fellow passengers just wore scarves, she had donned a dress that covered her whole body. Only her head, neck and hooves were still visible.

"I'm happy to be back home," Blackwing grinned.

Luna turned to the third pony:

"Hello, Doctor Cure. What brings you here?"

"Well, as the 'specialist' for this specific kind of injuries, I thought it would be a good idea to stay close to my patient. So, I applied for a transfer to Canterlot General. The clinic administration approved it, and here I am."

"That's good news. Now, lets us get inside. There is no need to stand here in the cold."

A short time later, they were in Antonius' and Stormy's quarters - now Antonius', Stormy's, Moonlight's and Blackwing's quarters. An additional bed had been set up in the room, as well as an extra table, chairs and a cupboard, all of them pony-sized. The personal belongings of the batponies had also been transferred to this room.

"Well, that's for sure better than the barracks," Blackwing grinned.

They stayed together until after lunch, then Luna went to bed and Rapid Cure left to meet with the moving company he had employed to ship his personal belongings to Canterlot.

In the afternoon, Moonlight and Blackwing asked Antonius a lot of questions about what had happened in Canterlot and Ponyville while they had been gone. They were not completely unaware of some of those events, though; they had gotten letters from Gentle Breeze.

Later, they made a stroll through now snowy Canterlot before they met with the princesses for dinner.

After that, they returned to their room for some more games and harmless merriment.
Moonlight, however, seemed to become a little tense now, she often changed the way she sat or lay. Suddenly, she asked:

"Umm, Antonius, would you mind if I took off my dress? Sometimes, my scar's getting a bit itchy if covered for too long."

Aha, so she was not completely 'fine' again.

"Why should I mind that?" Antonius answered with a question of his own.

"Well, my scar is not exactly pretty."

"It is a sign that you did your duty in the face of adversity. Look at my scar. Do you want me to cover it?"

"No, of course not."

"Then, you should feel free to be undressed any time you want... oh, that sounded weird."

Moonlight snickered and took off her dress. The scar was still clearly visible, but the fur around it had grown back. Antonius could only see about half of it, since Moonlight carefully covered the rest with her tail.

"Feeling better now?" Antonius asked.

"Yeah, thank you," Moonlight answered.

"May I have a look at it?" Stormy asked shyly.

"Huh? Sure, Stormy, but are you not... well... a little disgusted by that scar?" Moonlight asked insecurely.

"What? No, not at all. You got injured when you saved my life. So, how could I ever be disgusted?"

Moonlight was obviously relieved to hear that. She grabbed Stormy and cuddled her. The little mare laughed and hugged her.

Later, they got ready for bed. That included handling the line that formed in front of the bathroom.
Despite trusting the two batponies, Antonius chose not to disable his alertness, just in case anything should happen.

It was after midnight when this alertness woke him up. There was movement in the room. He opened his eyes and saw Moonlight, walking through the room in his direction.

"Moonlight?" he ask quietly to avoid disturbing Stormy.

She did not answer, but she kept approaching him. When she stood next to his bed, she made a little jump forward - and bit into his neck.

What the hell? That was quite a surprise.
Antonius quickly noticed, however, that this 'bite' hardly deserved that name. It could not harm anything more resilient than an earthworm.

"Moonlight, what the hell do you think you are doing???" he asked quietly, but she still did not answer.

Antonius carefully grabbed her and pulled her away from his neck a few centimeters. She started hissing and bared her teeth. He let go of her again, and she was back at his neck.

Damnit. He should better get some help.
He grabbed a cushion and threw it at Blackwing. The batpony stallion jumped up - and fell out of his bed.

"What's going on?" he asked sleepy as his head appeared again.

"YOU tell ME!" Antonius hissed.

Blackwing shook his head, then he looked at the strange scene.

"Oh," he said.

"Oh?" Antonius asked,
"That's hardly an explanation! Why has your wife come over to bite me?"

"Umm, do you know sleepwalking?"

"She's sleepwalking?"

"Well, when you're a batpony, it's more like sleephunting."

"What? You are kidding, right?"

"No, it happens to her when she's very nervous. Today, she was very nervous. She wanted to make a good impression on Stormy. But I can assure you it's not dangerous, she doesn't really bite, or does she?"

"No, she doesn't. Can you still get her off of me?"

"Nope. She's very persistent once she has bitten on."

"Great. Now what are we supposed to do?"

"Pet her back."

"WHAT?"

"Trust me. We got to know each other that way. It may have been a bit embarrassing, but it was quite funny. Pet her back, and she will stop biting you."

Sometimes, Antonius had the impression that he had determined the true meaning of the universe: it existed solely to make fun of him.

Having no better idea, though, he started petting Moonlight's back.
The good news was that she really let go of his neck.
The bad news was that she crawled into his bed and made herself comfortable between his chest and his arm.

"Blackwing! What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"She's still asleep. It's no use trying to get her out of your bed, she will just aim for your neck again. Just let her sleep. If she starts stirring, just pet her back again."

"That's all?"

"Not exactly," Blackwing grinned,
"if you pet her flank, she will start hissing and biting again. And I will get jealous, so don't do that."

"Thank you," Antonius deadpanned,
"you have been a wonderful help."

"You're welcome," Blackwing snickered.

So, Antonius spent the night with a sleephunting batpony mare in his arm. It was really astonishing how this planet managed to steadily increase the level of weirdness.

The next morning, after a short and light sleep, Antonius still waited for Moonlight to wake up. Stormy woke up first, however, and found the event of the night hilarious.

Then, there was a knock at the door and Luna came in. She took a look at the scene and stepped up to Antonius.

"No. Comment," he said sternly.

Luna grinned and whispered into his ear:

"And I thought I was your personal cuddly-pony."

"I'm certainly not responsible for this!"

"I know, she was sleephunting. That also explains the strange dream she had last night."

Huh?

Now, finally, Moonlight woke up and yawned. She opened her eyes, only a bit at first, then, as she looked into Antonius' face, wide.

"Huh?" she asked with a blush and in total confusion,
"oh, sorry, umm... did I sleephunt you?"

"Indeed," Antonius answered.

Luna, Blackwing and Stormy burst out laughing.
Well, this living community certainly was 'interesting'.

47. Long-distance dream

Luna was happy that Twilight, her friends and of course Antonius had been able to defeat the changelings. Really, the Secretariat Comet had caused quite some troubles, but that thankfully was over now; the creatures had spent their magic and had returned to normal.

With one exception: Luna herself. She had saved the magic boost the comet had given her for a special mission. It would not be risk-free, but the gain would outweigh the risk by far - if she was successful. She was sure of that.

Now she just had to find a quiet place. Any distraction would be very unfavorable. She took a look around:
Twilight and her friends, as well as the fillies, were sleeping close to Celestia, tired out by the events of the day. The pegasus guards were also asleep next to the still burning fire. The only ones awake were Antonius, who stood guard, and herself.
Not bad, but still not good enough. She got up and turned to Antonius:

“Hey, Tony, is everything alright?”

“Yes,” he told her,
“there is no sign of changeling activity - or any other kind of activity. With the exception of our group, this whole area is dead and barren.”

“So, you would not mind me leaving for an hour or two?”

“Why do you want to leave the camp?” he asked in bewilderment.

“Well, I have to do my duties, but because of the comet’s effects, it could be that I disturbed the others if I lit my horn, as it might be brighter than usual. So, I have to find a quiet place slightly away from the camp.”

Well, this was mostly the truth. She would walk a dream, and her horn would probably be very bright. She thought about telling Antonius her whole plan, but decided against it. She did not want to get his hopes high - and maybe disappoint him.

“Hmm…” he said, clearly not thrilled,
“do as you deem necessary. But please take care, stay as close as possible and take your PDA with you.”

“Okay,” she smiled,
“I will just fly down to the lower terrace. You will probably even still be able to see the light from my horn.”

Luna left the camp and did as she had told Antonius.
The ground she landed on was beneath the castle, but still above the defiled village. Giant stone pillars throughout the terrace supported the weight of the castle above. She checked her surroundings, then lay down close to one of the pillars and closed her eyes.
Now, she could begin.

Luna lit her horn as she had done many times before, but this time, she did not look for the dreams of ponies. Instead, she sent out her mind, leaving her body behind. She gained altitude and took a quick look back: Everypony was sleeping quietly, only Antonius was keeping an eye on the castle. Luna continued her journey. She left the planet, passed the moon and finally arrived at the veil.
Now, things would get interesting.

Luna carefully stuck her head through the veil and took a look at whatever was behind. She immediately pulled her head back.
What the hell had that been? She lacked words to describe what she had seen. The closest approximation would probably be ‘miasma’, but that did not do it justice. She thought about cancelling her mission, but decided against it. This was probably the only possibility she would ever get. She had to use it.

She shielded her mind and hid in shadows, then she passed through the veil. Really, this place - if it was a place at all - was so strange and… wrong that her fur stood on end. Well, if she had had any fur at the moment at least. No wonder mankind called it ‘warp’ - everything here was and felt warped.
There was one single thing she could see, though, that was different: It shone like a star and filled her with confidence, the light Antonius had called the ‘Astronomican’. Luna used it to navigate and stated traveling through the warp.

She had travelled for some time when she suddenly got the feeling that she was not alone anymore. She immediately stopped and looked around. There was something… a spot of darkness in the miasma around her.
Luna was absolutely silent, her shadows protecting her from being spotted. This thing slowly moved around, like a predator looking for a victim to devour. Well, that was probably the case. A daemon looking for a poor soul. Her soul.

As she realized that, she could feel a spike of fear, and the thing stopped immediately. Damnit, a little of that emotion must have seeped out of her shield. Luna did not dare to move, all she could do was to be quiet and let this thing pass.

Unfortunately, it slowly crept closer. If it found her, it could be her end. It would definitely be the end of her mission if…
Oh, damnit! If the daemon was able to trace her back to her body, it would know about the position of her planet! Equestria would be overrun by Chaos, everypony would die… and it would be her fault.
Luna felt horror and guilt, and the daemon headed directly towards her, glowing eyes appearing in the darkness that was its essence. She had to fight it, to kill it before…

Suddenly, there was a golden light and the daemon was incinerated within a fraction of a second. Luna had never seen anything that awe-inspiring. All she could do was look at it as it was in front of her, although it was strangely difficult to tell its exact location.

Now, she could feel it touch her mind. It just passed through her mental shield without problem and read her thoughts. Luna tried to comprehend what it was, but all she could sense was a power like she had never sensed before. She could only think of one word to describe it: divine.

She had barely thought that as she could feel a hint of disapproval from the thing, then, it was replaced by some kind of helpfulness. So, whatever it was, it would not harm her. Probably.

It left her mind and suddenly the golden light encompassed her and propelled her forward. Luna could not even start guessing the speed at which she was traveling now, only that it was FAST.

After a hardly measurable amount of time, the golden sphere around her opened and she saw a planet, blue and green where the sun shone upon it. Was this the correct designation of her journey? Was this Macragge?
Her new golden friend had read her mind, after all, and she had felt helpfulness. This had to be the homeworld of the Ultramarines. Now, there was no time to be lost. Luna closed in on the planet.

It looked quite nice, with its blue oceans and rivers, its green grassy plains and forests and its gray mountains. The nature reminded her of Equestria, but there was more to Macragge than that: There were gigantic structures on the face of the planet; cities of enormous size, and there were more structures above the surface, flying around the planet like extremely weird clouds; probably something for those nifty voidships Antonius had told her about. Said ships were also present; an abundance of ships of various types and sizes, a lot of them bearing the insignia of the Ultramarines.

Yes, this had to be Macragge. Luna descended on the biggest city and started looking for a dream.

Varro Tigurius smiled. It was not too often that he had such nice dreams. At the moment, he was standing on a grassy plain, the Fortress of Hera and Magna Macragge Civitas glistening in the sunlight. Really, this was a view that showed the glorious achievements of mankind on this planet - even if it was just a dream.
He closed his eyes for a second and took a deep breath.

Then his eyes immediately snapped open. He felt something, someone, a presence he was not familiar with. He spun around and saw… a horse.
But not just any horse: it was a small, dark blue, winged unicorn with a spectacularly flowing mane and tail.
Well, that was weird. If he had not been able to feel this presence, he would have thought this creature to be a product of his - obviously a bit overstressed - mind, but as it stood… was that…

“Greetings,” the horse said with a soft, female voice,
“I am Princess Luna of Equestria. You are Chief Librarian Varro Tigurius, I presume?”

Tigurius was completely dumbfounded for a second. He was not sure if he should laugh, scream or just say hello. He choose the latter:

“Greetings, Princess Luna of Equestria. You are right, I am Varro Tigurius, Chief Librarian of the Ultramarines. How do you know about me?”

“Antonius Varus told me…”

“Brother Varus!” Tigurius shouted.

This creature knew Varus? It had talked to him? That was too good to be true!
Yes, it was too good to be true. He was dreaming, after all… but this presence he felt… he was sure that this part was not just a dream. He used his skills and scanned ‘Luna’.
No, she was not just a product of imagination. He may have been dreaming, but Luna was as real as him - and as far as he could tell without malevolent intentions.

“I sense your concerns,” Luna said calmly,
“but I can guarantee that I am indeed real. I have the ability to enter the dreams of other creatures, and a fortunate event - actually, a series of fortunate events - enabled me to bridge the gap from my homeworld to yours. Now, my time is limited. I have to tell you about Antonius and his discoveries on my planet.”

“Just a second,” Tigurius said,
“the chapter master must witness this. He should be asleep now. I would like to call him in. Can you appear in his dream, too?”

Luna nodded.

“I can create shared dreams. If you would be so kind and point me to him, I can add him to this dream.”

Tigurius had to admit, he was excited because of this unexpected visit. But he was neither stupid nor reckless. So, he reached out for his chapter master, but shielded him from any kind of psionic attack at the same time.

A moment later, Marneus Calgar appeared on the grass and looked around. He spotted Luna and said after a second:

“Well, there is something quite unusual going on here.”
He turned to Tigurius while keeping his eyes glued to Luna:
“Either, we have a visitor, or I urgently need a holiday. And I don’t think I need holidays.”

“You are correct, Lord Calgar,” Tigurius simply confirmed.

The chapter master turned back to Luna and said:

“Then let me introduce myself: I am Marneus Augustus Calgar, chapter master of the Ultramarines.”

Luna bowed and replied:

“Greetings, Chapter Master Calgar. I am Princess Luna of Equestria. I bring great news: Antonius Varus is alive and has made great discoveries.”

“Brother Varus!” Calgar shouted,
“Chief Librarian, is she the creature you saw? The smaller shadow?”

“Possible,” Tigurius answered,
“she is about the right size.”

“Excuse me,” Luna asked, obviously puzzled,
“but what are you talking about?”

Tigurius quickly told her what he had seen back then when Varus had been tested. She did not look less puzzled now.

“But… that was just a memory Tony showed me…”
Tony?
“…but you seemed to look at me at the end… well, that is not important right now. Let me tell you about Antonius and what he has discovered!”

“We are listening,” Calgar assured her.

“First of all, we have magical artifacts we call the ‘Elements of Harmony’. They are capable of turning daemonic creatures into stone, and can furthermore expel daemonic influences from possessed beings, returning them to their real self.”

“That sounds like a mighty weapon,” Calgar said thoughtfully,
“if those artifacts are really capable of doing what you said. Unfortunately, we do not have the best experiences regarding the honesty of aliens. Can you somehow prove your words?”

Luna seemed to think about that, then she said:

“No, not really. I could promise that I told you the truth, but you would have no reason to believe me if you did not trust me already. I would have to demonstrate the Elements’ effects, but I cannot do that here and now. You will just have to believe me. If you are worried because if the whole ‘alien’-thing, I can reassure you: we are not real aliens, we were created by mankind during the ‘Golden Age’.”

Calgar raised an eyebrow:

“You were what?”

“Created by mankind. It was a company named ‘Hastings Brothers’ that built a base on our planet and created us.”

“There is a human base on your planet?”

“Yeah, Antonius found it. And once there, he found something he called a ‘Standard Template Construction System’.”

“He found… in what condition?” Calgar inquired, flabbergasted and with barely hidden excitement.

“It is functional, but short on energy. Oh, and it is ‘complete’. Antonius was very excited about that.”

“Well, I can imagine that,” Calgar said, quickly regaining his composure.

He took a look at Tigurius, and the librarian nodded. There was no lie in what Luna had said, so she at least believed it herself.

“So,” Calgar continued,
“you want to tell us that on your planet are the keys not only to defeat our arch-enemy, the ruinous powers of Chaos, but also to herald the start of a second Golden Age?”

“Well, yes.”

Calgar was silent for a few seconds, then he said:

“Luna of Equestria, do you have any idea how improbable that sounds?”

“You do not believe me?” Luna asked, worry in her voice.

“I am not sure. This is almost too unbelievable to actually be a lie.”

“I swear I speak the truth! Please, you must come, reunite with Antonius and help us against Chaos!”

“The forces of Chaos are on your planet?!”

“They were and will be again. Antonius killed a Chaos Space Marine who devastated one of our towns and killed a lot of ponies. He estimates that a larger strike force will arrive within the next century, decade or even year!
Chapter Master, we need your help. We may have the Elements and the construction system, and Antonius is training a newly founded PDF, but it would still be a risk relying solely on that. The Ultramarines would be more than welcome. In return, we will gladly help you in every way we can.”

Calgar was silent. Tigurius knew he thought about the best course of action, and soon he would probably…

“Tigurius?”

There it was.

“There was no lie in Princess Luna’s words,” Tigurius told him,
“everything she told us is the truth as she sees it.”

Calgar nodded and turned to Luna:

“Well, Princess Luna of Equestria. I have a message for you and for brother Varus: We will come and help you.”

“Oh, thank you!” Luna cheered, jumped forward and hugged a visibly surprised Calgar.

“Umm… you’re welcome?” he stammered while Tigurius had to suppress a smile.

Luna quickly ended the hug and stepped back again.

“Sorry,” she said with a light blush,
“but I am thoroughly happy that my mission to contact you and request your help was a success. Tony will also be very happy.”

There it was again. She really had called brother Varus ‘Tony’.

“Now, tell us where your planet is located,” Calgar requested.

“It is in the intergalactic void. Perhaps you can make use of the view of the galaxy we have from our planet?”

Having said that, Luna lit her horn and an image of the galaxy appeared in front of them. Tigurius immediately committed what he saw to his memory.

“Hmm… your planet is quite far beyond the edge of our galaxy. It will take some time traveling there,” Calgar said, then he turned to Tigurius:
“We’ll have to refit a ship for this journey, strike cruiser at the minimum.”

“Indeed, my Lord, and that far away from the Astronomican, traveling the Immaterium will be tricky and dangerous and take us additional time. It may take almost a year to get there.”
Tigurius now turned to Luna:
“Princess, how exactly were you able to cross the distance from your planet to Macragge? You said something about fortunate events, but it is still a long way. Are you that powerful?”

“Well, to be honest,” Luna explained,
“a rare celestial phenomenon boosted my power, but even with that I do not think that I would have been able to contact you. Fortunately, I encountered a golden… entity that helped me.”

Tigurius was all ears, even more so than before:

“A ‘golden entity’? Please tell me more about it.”

“Unfortunately, I am not able to describe it sufficiently. The closest approximation would probably be ‘divine’, although it did not seem to like that thought of mine. It picked me up and helped me reach you.”

Tigurius and Calgar exchanged a glance, then Calgar turned back to Luna:

“A very interesting aspect of your visit. It actually reinforces my decision to come to your aid, but it will still take some time. In the meantime, forward this to Brother Varus: He shall protect you, those ‘Elements of Harmony’, and the construction system. Furthermore, he shall continue his training of your PDF. Make sure that you still exist when we arrive.”

“I will tell him your orders, Lord Calgar,” Luna smiled.

“Good, now, tell me how he is doing.”

“He is quite alright. Oh, with one exception: He said his Mucranoid is defective.”

“That may be inconvenient, but should not do any harm. Do you know how that happened?”

“Yes,” Luna answered a bit hesitantly, then she continued:
“He got in contact with a flower we call ‘Poison Joke’. It put him into hibernation.”

“Then… he is in hibernation? Is this what you call ‘quite alright’?”

“Oh, no, he is awake. We put him into a bath with the antidote and I was able to wake him up with my magic.”

They put Varus into a bath? Tigurius could hardly wait to hear his report.

“I must ask you to limit the use of your magic on brother Varus to the absolute minimum,” Calgar told her sternly.

“There is no reason to worry, Lord Calgar,” Luna replied,
“while our magic is not dangerous, we do not use it recklessly. I can assure you, though, that it was necessary in that case.”

Calgar nodded and said:

“I believe your options were quite limited. Now, is there anything else we can do for you?”

“I do not think so, Lord Calgar, but perhaps there is something I can do for you.”

Luna lit her horn, and at the next moment, they were standing in front of the Shrine of the Primarch.

“How… how do you know about this place?” Calgar wanted to know.

“Oh, Antonius showed me the shrine in a dream. I saw this as a great honor,” Luna answered.

Well, it certainly was, and more than that. Tigurius was contemplating what might have persuaded brother Varus to show Luna the Shrine of the Primarch, the holiest place in the Realm of Ultramar, but his thoughts were interrupted when he noticed Luna’s horn glowing brightly.

“Princess Luna, what are you doing?” he asked.

“I have been working on an advanced healing spell for some time now, and I want to use it on your Primarch.”

WHAT?

“Princess Luna,” Calgar quickly intervened,
“I do not think this is wise… and I thought this was just a dream.”

“It may be a dream, but I am also here. I am not sure if it is going to work, but I will use every bit of magic I have left and try to heal your Primarch. After this attempt, I will be forced to leave immediately. So, fare thee well, Chapter Master Calgar, and fare thee well, Chief Librarian Tigurius. We will wait for your arrival.”

“Princess, while I do not doubt your good intentions, I must ask you NOT to use your magic on Primarch Guilliman! The risk would be too… TIGURIUS!”

At that moment, Luna fired a bright beam at the Primarch.
Tigurius wanted to put a shield around him, but realized that he had no idea how to create a psionic shield inside a dream to protect something that was probably just a vision - and he wasn't sure if that was a bad course of events.
So, he could just stare as Roboute Guilliman was surrounded by a shining aura.
He turned back to Luna, but she was gone, and his dream ended abruptly.

Luna was pulled away from the planet. She was completely exhausted and just hoped she would make it back into her body. She left the atmosphere, passed the orbital installations and met her new, golden friend again, who encompassed and accelerated her immediately.
Interestingly, she could feel a hint of disapproval again.

“I know it was a bold move,” she whispered,
“but it was a chance I had to use. If I was successful, the Primarch of the Ultramarines will rise again, and that will be a great blessing for Tony’s chapter, will it not?”

While her golden companion did not really answer, Luna suddenly felt that her action would affect more than just the Ultramarines; it would affect the whole Imperium if she had been successful.

“Well, in any case, I managed to tell them where we are, and they will come and help us. Tony will surely be happy.”

Yes, he would certainly be happy. Luna thought about his probable reaction: first, a flabbergasted expression, but then, hopefully a smile of pure joy…

Again, this hint of disapproval.

“What? We need them, and we will help them in return.”

No, that was not the reason for the disapproval.

“Why… oh, is it about Tony?”

Hint of disapproval.

“Hey, we are only friends… gee, even if you have a predilection for gold, please do not mimic my sister.”

It was incredible that her new friend could pull off an eye-roll without having visible eyes.

“So, everything is fine? I promise that I will take good care of Tony until his chapter arrives.”

A mental sigh, then a feeling of approval (a bit reluctant, but honest) told her that everything was okay.

The next moment, the golden light vanished, and Luna was fired through the veil that protected her planet. She entered the atmosphere and went hurtling towards her body. When she finally reached - or slammed into - it, everything went black.

Antonius still stood guard and watched the castle the changelings were imprisoned in. From time to time, he took a look back to check in on Luna. While he couldn’t see her directly, the light from her horn dimly illuminated a branch of a tree that grew near the ledge of the plateau the castle stood on. Now, this sign of Luna’s presence was gone, so Antonius assumed Luna would show up again every moment.

When few minutes had passed, and there was still no sign of Luna, Antonius got a little concerned. He walked up to Celestia and awoke her.

“Huh? Is it morning already?” she asked drowsily.

“Not yet,” Antonius quietly told her, as not to awake the sleeping ponies around her,
“but I have to look in on Luna and don’t want the castle to be unguarded.”

“Luna? Isn’t she here? Where has she gone?”

“She wanted to do her dream-walking duty and left the camp so that she wouldn’t awake you. I was able to see the glow from her horn, but that stopped a few minutes ago, yet she has not returned. Now, I want to go and see what’s going on.”

“Okay. I will watch the castle. Call me if something should be wrong.”

Antonius left the camp and walked up to the ledge of the plateau. As he looked down, he could see Luna’s shape lying in the darkness below him. He took his PDA and called her. Antonius noticed Luna’s PDA light up down below, and he heard the sound it made to gain her attention, but it was a futile attempt: Luna did not move to answer the call.
Was she asleep? Possible.
Or something less convenient was going on; the light from her PDA seemed to be a little reddish.

Antonius ended the call, put his PDA away and grabbed his bolter. Then, he made his way down the slope that led to the lower terrace. He walked up to Luna, scanning his surroundings for enemies all the while, but there was no sign of hostile activity.

“Luna?” he asked, kneeling down next to her.

No answer.

He gently touched her shoulder, and it felt wet. When he looked at his hand after that, he could see blood on it.
What the hell?

Her face was concealed by her mane, so he lifted her hair and took a look.

“Oh shit…”

Now, Antonius had seen psykers bleed out of their noses if they had strained themselves, but Luna had bled out of her nose, ears and even eyes, and that was something different - and worrying. To make it worse, every sweat gland seemed to have exuded a small amount of blood, which probably added up to a serious blood loss.
Thankfully, Luna now opened her eyes a little and smiled.

“Hello, Tony,” she whispered,
“I made it.”

“If you mean you almost killed yourself, you are obviously right,” Antonius answered, then he used his vox to call Celestia.

“Hello, Antonius,” she answered,
“is everything okay?”

“No, not at all. Luna has lost quite some blood. Come here, lower terrace, now.”

“Oh, goodness! What happened?”

“Don’t know. Get moving,” Antonius answered curtly and terminated the connection.

“Your chapter…” Luna whispered.

“What is with my chapter?” Antonius asked in confusion.

“I managed to contact them… they will come… and aid us.”

Antonius stared at her, totally flabbergasted. Had she really managed to somehow send a message to Macragge? Like an Astropath? Or was it just the blood loss? He put a hand under her shoulder and lifted her a bit so that she was half lying on his arm now.

“Luna, what have you done? I thought you just wanted to do some dream-walking.”

“That is exactly what I have done,” Luna smiled,
“I just used the Secretariat Comet’s magical boost to extend my range a bit.”

“A bit? You have extremely overexerted yourself.”

Now, Celestia landed next to them and said:

“I have awoken everypony. Now, what is going on?”

“Luna apparently has sent a message to Macragge,” Antonius told her.

“What?” Celestia shouted,
“how… oh, I see. The comet. Luna, that was extremely dangerous.”

“But worth it!” Luna insisted,
“especially since I had the chance to try and revive your Primarch.”

Antonius thought he had misheard.

“You have WHAT?”

“I used an advanced healing spell I have been working on for some time now. It took me a lot of power, and I cannot be sure, but I think it worked. I think he will rise again.”

Antonius took off his helmet and stared at her in disbelieve.

“I really thought you would smile,” Luna whispered.

Now Antonius picked her up and said with the expected smile:

“Luna, my friend, a smile is not nearly enough to show you my appreciation!”

Then he hugged her and she wearily returned the hug.

“That is more like it,” she grinned.

“Okay, seriously, what is going on now?”

“I don’t know, Rainbow,” Twilight answered,
“I can only guess that it’s something with Princess Luna or Antonius, since Princess Celestia has gone looking for them.”

That really was everything she knew. A few minutes ago, Celestia had awoken them and told them to stand guard while she was looking for her sister and Antonius.

“As if the day wasn’t eventful enough already, huh?” Applejack grumbled, a hoof around her little sister.

Eventful. That was a nice way to describe a day that had seen a magical duel and a not so magical brawl. Twilight had already seen Antonius kill a creature before; the manticore that had attacked her in the Everfree, but she had never seen him engage his enemies in melee.
Thinking about it made her shiver a little. The roaring sword, the shrieking changelings, and finally his barefisted fight with Chrysalis. At the time, she had been so focused on saving her friends that she had just registered, but not really comprehended what had been going on, but now she had time to think and realize the cruelty she had witnessed.
Her thoughts were interrupted when Celestia returned.

“Princess?” Twilight asked,
“is everything okay?”

“I guess so,” Celestia answered,
“powered by the Secretariat Comet, Luna managed to contact Macragge, Antonius’ homeworld.”

“What?” Twilight and her friends shouted in amazement.

“My sister used her dream-walking ability to enter the dream of a powerful Ulramarines sorcerer. He brought their leader in, and Luna told them about Antonius and our world.”

“Does that mean that they will come to take Antonius home?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yes, but first, they will help us against the threat of Chaos.”

“I hope they are as good-natured as Antonius,” Rarity commented.

“Well, Antonius told us that his chapter is reasonable at least, and since we have a common foe, I think that everything will be alright as long as we don’t mess things up. There is no way to be sure, of course, but a society that spawned somepony like Antonius can’t be… too bad.”

Twilight had to think of the events of the day again, but pushed those thoughts away. Antonius had always helped them; not once had he used his prowess to inflict harm on her, her friends or the princesses. He was a friend, just one with special abilities... and methods.
That still did not really make her feel better when she thought about the carnage he had caused in the castle.

“Where are Princess Luna and Antonius now?” Applejack asked.

“They are at a small river down on the terrace below us. The overexertion of communicating with Macragge has left my sister a little... stained; she got nosebleed. Antonius is helping her wash up.”

“So, everypony is okay?” Fluttershy asked compassionately.

“Yes,” Celestia assured them,
“they will be here again soon.”

“This calls for a ‘Glad-that-you-could-tell-the-Ultramarines-that-Antonius-is-here-and-are-still-okay’ party, doesn’t it?” Pinkie smiled.

“Don’t tell me you have any more party...” Rainbow Dash started, but finished with a deadpan
“okay, who am I kidding, of course you have more party supplies with you.”

“Sure thing!” Pinkie exclaimed and produced an accordingly labeled cake from her mane,
“now, the only thing missing are Luna and Antonius.”

“I’ll check in on them,” Rarity offered and left the campfire.

She walked to the ledge of the plateau and looked down, then she suddenly lay down, still watching whatever it was that caught her attention. That made Twilight curious.

“I think I’ll join Rarity,” she said and walked up to her.

Once there, she took a look down and saw what Rarity was watching:
In the small river down there, lit up by the moonlight, there were Antonius and Luna. The Princess of the Night seemed to be completely exhausted, and Antonius was carefully cradling her in his arms, washing her.

“Can you believe that?” Rarity asked quietly,
“a few hours ago, we have seen him cut his way through a small army of changelings without mercy or hesitation, and now he is treating Luna with such a gentleness - makes you wonder how that can be the same pony… human, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Twilight mumbled in surprise, then she continued with more determination:
“and no. We know Antonius. We know what he can do. And we also know his reasons. He may be a warrior without peer, but he is loyal to his friends. His enemies may expect no mercy, but he would never attack us. He IS our friend, after all.”

“Nicely said,” Rarity smiled,
“and completely right. It is nice to know that friendship works even with creatures that are used to perpetual war. Oh, look, they are done and coming back!”

Rarity was right; Antonius was walking back towards the slope that led up to the castle, Luna in his arms.

“Let’s return to the camp,” Twilight said.

As Antonius arrived at the camp, he put the already sleeping Luna down next to the campfire, fetched a blanket and covered her with it. Then he also sat down and realized that he was the center of attention; all the ponies were looking at him.

“What?” he asked, slightly confused.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Celestia smiled,
“we were just wondering if your brothers will be as nice as you are.”

“Certainly,” Antonius answered, ignoring the quiet giggling all around,
“some might be a little less appreciative of your Elements and help, but they surely will see the benefits in helping each other.”

Yes, they would. Antonius was sure of that. The only thing he was wondering about was his report.
‘I spent a year with a couple of female nudist xenos who showed me the benefits of friendship’ did not sound too good in his opinion.
Well, the chance to defeat Chaos and restore the Golden Age would certainly outweigh his admittedly unusual methods. Yeah, the end did not always justify the means, but in this case, it surely did, especially since his actions had been guided by honor and the spirit of the Codex Astartes.

“I think we should all go back to sleep,” Celestia said,
“the guards and workers should arrive tomorrow morning, and we’ll have to instruct them.”

They all agreed to this, and while the ponies went back to sleep, Antonius returned to standing guard.

The next morning, the advised ponies arrived and were instructed by Celestia. The princesses, the Element Bearers and Antonius stayed another day to oversee the beginning of the construction, then, after using an additional containment spell to imprison the changelings until the workers were done, they boarded chariots and returned to Canterlot.

A day later, Twilight and her friends returned to Ponyville, accompanied by Antonius who got the Land Speeder. When he arrived at the hangar later that day, he was - to his surprise - expected by Celestia. Even more to his surprise, she hugged him when he had gotten out of the speeder.

“To what do I owe the honor of this?” he asked in confusion.

As far as he could remember, their relationship was still a little strained.

“Well, Antonius,” Celestia started,
“see it as an attempt at reconciliation. I know we had some difficulties, but now I think I understand you better. You may be strict, you may even be merciless, but deep inside you I’m sure you are still a good pony. You do not kill just for the fun of it, you kill to protect your friends and allies. While I still find your methods unsettling, I accept that they are a part of who and what you are.”

“Oh,” Antonius replied, quite a bit surprised,
“why the change of heart?”

“Al showed me the ‘vid-log’ of your mission to rescue Twilight and her friends...”
Huh? Al had not only recorded the telemetry of his armor, but shown it to Celestia?
“... I have seen how you acted. That cave troll... you had every opportunity to kill it and continue your mission, but you choose a non-violent solution. That is commendable. You really kill only if necessary.”

“Umm... yes, sort of. I use lethal means when they are the optimal solution for a situation.”

“Unless somepony begs you to spare your enemy.”

Antonius sighed. She was right, he had spared Chrysalis at Twilight’s request.

“Yeah, that might happen... but you should better not count on it,” he said.

Celestia tilted her head a little.

”You like the reputation,” she stated,
”you like to be considered dangerous.”

”Well, I’m used to it - and honestly, I am dangerous. I never tried to sugarcoat this.”

“Well, you are right. You have always been honest about that. Now, I think you deserve some kind of reward for your efforts. Do you have any wishes?”

“Every righteous act rewards itself, but actually, I do have a request.”

“Then tell me.”

“Could you teach me how to cook?”

Celestia tilted her head a bit again.

“What? You want to learn how to cook?”

“Yes, and Luna told me that you are quite good at cooking. So?”

“Well, okay!” Celestia laughed in relief,
“your wish shall be granted, but now, let’s have dinner and leave the cooking to the royal chefs!”

They went to the dining room, where they met with Luna. Cadance and Shining Armor were also there, having returned from their honeymoon.

After dinner, Antonius went down to the armorium to clean and refuel his chainsword.
Then, he went to his room, fetched his PDA and started writing a report on his experiences and adventures on this planet.
His superiors would surely be interested in it, however unusual it was.

1. A strange new world

"Ouch" was the first thought that came to Antonius Varus' mind when he regained consciousness.
At the moment, his whole world consisted of darkness and pain. It took a few seconds for his hazy mind to become clearer. He realized that he was lying somewhere, his eyes closed. The attempt to open them was thwarted by his anguish.
This whole situation was wrong. A Space Marine should be able to open his eyes. He shouldn't even fall unconscious in the first place.
He couldn't get rid of the darkness, so he started to analyze the pain he felt: an almost electrical burning in every cell of his body. Quite uncomfortable, but it slowly faded away.
He checked his other senses: He could taste a bit of blood and smelled a trace of ozone.
He was familiar with that; the side-effects of teleportation. Now, his memory came back.

He had participated in the boarding operation of a Chaos cruiser and was about to teleport back when the charges they had placed on the traitors' warp drive detonated. Didn't he hear the explosion of the Chaos warp drive as he dematerialized? Well, be that as it may, he was alive. He had made it back to his company's strike cruiser.
The pain he had felt was gone by now, that meant there wasn't any teleporter-accident. Those were especially nasty and lead to new levels of agony, but he was ok. He smiled. Good.

He finally opened his eyes, expecting to see the ceiling of the teleporter-room, perhaps the ceiling of the infirmary. What he saw was... sky. Bright, blue sky, including fluffy, white clouds, everything with a tinge of red sunrise. Wait, what?
His smile faded at once. What had happened? This was clearly not the cruiser, this was a planet. But there wasn't any planet in range, so he couldn't be here. Yet, he was here. He sat up and checked his surroundings.
He was sitting in the middle of a small clearing of a forest. The trees looked old and dark. He heard the distant chirping of birds, but saw no animal.

A strange thought came to his mind: Was this the afterlife? He discarded the thought at once. In the afterlife, he should meet the Emperor to be judged, but this place had a serious lack of 'Emperor'. So he would proceed on the assumption that he was still alive, and had somehow teleported to this planet.

Antonius used the built-in sensors of his helmet to analyze the air. The main constituents were seventy-eight percent nitrogen and twenty-one percent oxygen. Some noble gases and carbon dioxide completed the mixture. No hint of poison, neurotoxins or other harmful gases. No sign of noteworthy pollution.
Terra-compatible. This was a terra-compatible planet.
He reconfigured his respirator to use the planet's air and took a breath. The air was rich, he could smell the surrounding forest and traces of flowers, really, this planet's atmosphere was more than just suitable, it was perfect.

He stood up and checked his equipment. His armor was covered in dried, black daemon-blood, but had suffered only a few scratches. His bolter was also in good condition, but the ammunition was not. The current magazine had twenty-one bolts left, and he had only one full magazine in reserve. Fifty-one bolts in total. Not much, so Antonius set the bolter to single-fire mode. The chainsword he got from his former sergeant of the 7th on their way back to the extraction point was fully functional, its promethium tank almost full. His combat knife was also in good condition, but he had no grenades left.

After this little survey, he thought about a plan what to do now.
He had to find a way back to his chapter.
Well, that was nothing he would call a plan, more a declaration of intent. There was a decent possibility that this planet had been colonized by the Imperium, it was terra-compatible after all. But the lack of pollution meant that the society here - if existing - was on a low level of technology. Not too good. But perhaps they had a working vox-system.
He activated his own vox, scanned through the frequencies and listened. Nothing.
He thought about sending a message, but discarded this idea at once.
What was he supposed to say?

"Hello, I'm a lonesome Astartes, separated from my chapter. Please come and kill me"?

So, no vox messages.
Antonius reconfigured his vox to only use the external speakers, not the radio. But he left the receiver on, perhaps he would pick up something later.

He looked around again. A light breeze was rustling the leaves of the trees. The sun was apparently just above the horizon, and a few meters into the forest, everything was dark. No matter where he looked, the sight was the same.
Waiting here would not be useful, but which direction should he go?
Damned lack of information. The only thing he definitely knew was that he knew almost nothing of this world.

Of course, the Codex Astartes had a standard procedure for such situations: Find water and food. Gather information. Stay undetected.
A scouting mission.
As a member of Vorolanus' squad he had some experience with that. With his usually bright blue armor, this would have been quite a problem, but the filth that covered him at the moment provided a good camouflage.
So he picked a direction at random and started walking, his bolter in his hands.

The forest was really dense and dark with a lot of undergrowth. It did not really slow Antonius down, although he moved cautious and quietly.
After a few kilometers, he discovered a clearing with a pond, fed by a small stream, and checked the water. It was fresh and clean, so one part of his quest was solved.
Also a good opportunity to clean his armor, once he didn't need the camouflage anymore. But for now, he would stay dirty, despite the fact that he hated being covered with the blood of one of those warp-spawns.
He committed the location of the pond to his memory and moved on.

The forest was still as dense as it had been at the beginning of his journey, yet now, he could see some animals, birds he had only heard until now and small rodents.
Once his targeting system had scanned them, their shapes were outlined by yellow lines - neutral contacts, moderate threat level.
If he didn't find anything more suitable, that would be enough for the 'food' part of his quest. Although he would have to catch quite a lot of the little critters, considering the amount of 'normal' food a Space Marine needed.
Of course, he could use his armor's nutrient reservoir in addition, but fresh food was a lot nicer.

Some time later, Antonius noticed a difference in front of him: Daylight between the trunks of the trees. He was closing in on the edge of the forest. He slowed down and advanced carefully until he could see beyond the trees.
There was a small cottage not far away, surrounded by various kinds of animals. A short distance behind it was a village or little town. To his left, he could see some kind of farm not too far away behind undulating grassland, surrounded by fields and a large apple orchard. To his right was more grassland and more forest. He concentrated on the cottage again.

Antonius could see rabbits, different birds, a tiny horse... with wings... WHAT???
His gaze was glued to this strange animal.
He analyzed the air again, just to be on the safe side. No sign of hallucinogenic substances.
It really was a little, yellow horse, with a pink mane and tail, and most of all, with wings!
A pegasus! What the hell was a creature of ancient terran legends doing here on this planet?
He watched the creature more closely. It looked somewhat strange, although not in a negative way. Its head was too big for its body and its eyes too big for its head. Small child pattern made flesh.
How could evolution create such a ridiculously cute creature? It looked like straight out of a small children's cartoon. A cartoon even older audiences would probably watch.

Antonius kept on examining the animal. There was some kind of branding on its flank; three pink butterflies. That meant it belonged to someone, but to use it as a mount, this 'someone' had to be really small. The horse was just as tall as his legs!
When he looked again at the mane and tail, he noticed that they were styled. Styled! This was obviously more a pet than a mount.
Pet-mane-stylist. Strange profession.

And what was the creature doing? It had a bag in its mouth and moved over to some of the birds. Once there, it set the bag on the ground.
Then it spoke.
In a female voice.
It really talked to the birds, with a kind smile:

"Here is your lunch, my little friends, I hope you like it."

Antonius just stared at the creature. Low Gothic. It was speaking Low Gothic.
The Astartes came to a realization: This little horse was neither a mount, nor a pet of an inhabitant, it was the inhabitant. A xeno.
He reflexively aligned his bolter. The reticle, displayed by his helmet's targeting system, was directly over the creatures head.
Antonius hesitated. What was he supposed to do?
The Codex Astartes had no entry concerning such legendary creatures from ancient terra.

Should he really kill this creature that was just feeding its pets?
Courage and honor.
The creed of his chapter.
But he would not need any courage to exterminate this xeno out of his hiding spot.
And he highly doubted that killing this creature would bring him honor.
Yes, it was a xeno. But was that really enough to justify its death?
He thought of the Tau and the Eldar, who fought alongside the Ultramarines from time to time.
He thought of the Jokaero, who worked for the Inquisition. The Inquisition!
So, being a xeno was obviously not enough to warrant immediate elimination.
But being a threat to mankind certainly was.
Was this little horse a threat to mankind? Would it please the Emperor if he killed it now while it was doing nothing hostile?
No.
He lowered his bolter.

As long as this xeno didn't prove to be a threat to mankind, he would give it the benefit of the doubt.
Perhaps, he could get some information from it. Unreliable information, but better than nothing.
That meant, of course, that he had to make first contact. Oh boy... He needed time to mentally prepare for that.

Antonius was pulled out of his thoughts as he recognized a movement to his right. He turned his head and aligned his bolter. It was a squirrel, watching him. Watching him with strangely intelligent eyes. He lowered his bolter again. No danger came from this creature. The squirrel continued watching him a few more seconds, then it jumped down to the ground... and ran right towards the horse.

"What the hell?" mumbled Antonius,
"is this squirrel going to..."

Yes, it was. It sat down in front of the equine, squeaked and pointed its little paw at the Space Marine, who could just mutter

"Oh crap."

The horse looked in his direction. Had it already seen him? It said:

"H.. Hello? Who's there? C.. Could you please come out of the forest? I.. I promise I won't hurt you."

Hurt him? Fat chance.

The creature slowly came closer.
First contact was imminent.

Then Antonius remembered that he was still covered with daemon-blood. Not really good as a first impression.
Furthermore, he was not the one taking action. The xeno got ahead of him in that regard.
Not good. Rather the opposite.
He would make first contact when he was ready for it, not when a little horse forced him to do so.
So, Antonius retreated. Fast, yet with barely a noise. He left behind a confused and scared alien.

Author's Note

Here it is, the first chapter of the first fanfiction I've ever written!
Please be aware of the fact that I'm not a native English speaker, so you will probably encounter some strange formulations and errors.
That's why I'm looking for a proofreader.
If you are interested and perhaps have a bit of WH40k background knowledge, tell me.
Anyway, I hope you like the story!