My Little Xeno 2 - Equinox Knights

Antonius and Luna got up again about an hour before the interrogation was scheduled to continue. He had just helped her into her regalia when a sound told him that someone was waiting at the door. Antonius opened it and was greeted by a familiar face.

“Marcus! It’s a pleasure to see you again!” he greeted.

“The pleasure is all mine, Brother Varus,” Marcus replied,
“I have some food for you and your… guest.”

Antonius took a look at the tray he was carrying. A standard ration bar, two carrots and two glasses of water. Not exactly a feast, but… serviceable (although he wondered where they had gotten the carrots from).
He grinned. He really was a little spoiled by the ponies and the quite lavish meals they usually made.

“Thank you,” Antonius said and took the tray.

“You have my thanks, too,” Luna added.

Marcus took a look at her with a peculiar expression. It wasn’t exactly revulsion, but rather distrust.

“No meed to thank me,” he answered.

“Want to come in?” Antonius offered.

“No, thanks.”

“Hmm… may be better,” Antonius grinned,
“I don’t have my armor at the moment, you know.”

“There we go again,” Marcus grinned back, bowed, turned around and left, quietly mumbling something about ‘never living it down’.

When he was gone and the door was closed again, Antonius set the tray on the table and turned to Luna:

“Let us feast on this hearty meal.”

“You are kidding,” she replied flatly, looking at the food.

“Yes,” he smiled and took the ration bar, while Luna went for the carrots.

“Hmm… without magic, this will be a bit of a problem,” she grumbled.

“Shall I feed you?” Antonius grinned.

“No, thanks.”

Now Luna tried using her hooves, but without even the subconscious low-range telekinesis all ponies used, she was not very successful.

“Come to think of it, yes,” she sighed,
“else I will have to ask for a food bowl.”

Antonius grabbed the carrots and held them out to her.

“There goes my dignity,” Luna mumbled and took a bite.

“As long as my fingers don’t join it,” he joked.

According to Luna’s expression, she didn’t find it particularly funny.
After (carefully) pouring a glass of water down her throat, and ingesting the second one himself, Antonius and Luna were ready to go.

Outside of their quarters, their escort was already - or rather, still - waiting and led them back to the interrogation chamber.

“You may both enter,” the sergeant in charge of the squad told them, so they entered the room together.

Marneus Augustus Calgar kept listening to Antonius’ report. The situations the battle-brother had gotten into kept being very unusual - to put it mildly - but his reactions had at least been reasonable - most of the time.
Inviting princess Luna to join them had turned out to be a good idea, as she contributed additional information, different perspectives or just her personal opinion on the events Antonius described. Very interesting was the way these two worked together; they complemented each other quite well.

In the course of the interrogation, Calgar had gotten to know about other xenos that lived on the planet, too, and those creatures obviously behaved more like he was used to. The ponies still had managed to defeat them all, with varying levels of assistance from Antonius.

The part about the ancient artificial intelligence had been of particular interest for Gearhart, and he had asked a multitude of questions, which Antonius and Luna had willingly answered.
Short glances at the unobtrusively nodding Tigurius had told Calgar that they had told nothing but the truth until now, which was a good omen.

Then, Antonius told them about the time the princess had been abducted by a power called ‘Nightmare Forces’, and how he had rescued her. Again, he was absolutely honest, and admitted that he had deliberately disregarded the Codex Astartes to save her.

“Tell me,” Calgar said,
“why exactly did you choose to act contrary to the teachings of the Codex?”

“I wanted to save Luna from being tortured or killed,” Antonius explained.

“You jeopardized your life and your main mission to acquire the Elements of Harmony for mankind to help her, are you aware of that?”

“I am perfectly aware of that, Lord Calgar.”

“Still, you made this decision. Why?”

“The loss of Luna would have been a considerable blow for the ponies… and Luna is my friend. I couldn’t allow those abominations to hurt her.”

“Just a friend?” Calgar asked calmly.

Thanks to Tigurius, he already knew what was going on, but he wanted to know if Antonius dared to admit it.

“A very good friend,” Antonius replied.

“Could you put the emotions that influenced your decision into words? One word, perhaps?”

“Yes,” Antonius said and turned to Tigurius:
“You have already detected it, I presume, Lord Tigurius?”

“Was hard to miss,” Tigurius told him,
“it’s like a background noise in your souls.”

“Well, then let me be clear and admit it: we are in… well… love.”

“We are,” Luna immediately confirmed.

“Something like that is… unprecedented,” Calgar stated, scratching his head.

“At least they can’t have shared a bed,” Seneca shrugged, then he turned to them:
“You haven’t, have you?”

“Is this not too private to discuss?” Luna interjected.

Bad omen.

“If this concerned only normal humans, probably,” Calgar answered,
“since this is about an Ultramarine and a non-human, it has to be discussed.”

“Very well,” Antonius said,
“in the literal sense, we have shared a bed and taken a nap next to each other. In the figurative sense, we have never mated. Neither did we want to, nor would it have been possible, since my reproductive system was still deactivated back then.”

“You do not necessarily need a working reproductive system to be guilty of fornication,” Cassius told them flatly.

“Fornication?” Luna shouted,
“listen, Chaplain: Antonius and I never ‘fornicated’. And that is a fact.”

“Is it?” Cassius asked dismissively.

“Oh, I see,” the princess glared angrily,
“you have this weird monomania that Antonius and I ‘fornicated’, as you put it, and nothing we can say will convince you of the contrary. Well, Chaplain Cassius, I will leave it to you to choose: Either you rid yourself of this delusion, or you give Antonius and me three hours, then you will have your ‘fornication’!”

Calgar thought he had misheard. That was the weirdest threat he had ever come across!
Luna was livid, the way she glared at Cassius would have made an ork turn around and look for something else to kill. To her, the accusation and its wording clearly was an insult, and now, Calgar wondered how this situation would develop. Of course, they could prevent the princess and Antonius from… doing what she had threatened to do - if she actually had been serious at all - but he was curious about Cassius’ next step. And if he was completely honest, he also wondered which decision Antonius would prefer, his surprised expression was not really telling. Calgar had to ask Tigurius later if he had been able to pick something up.

Cassius, meanwhile, had collected himself again and said:

“You can’t be serious.”

“Test me,” Luna replied coldly and put a wing around Antonius.

After a few seconds, Cassius nodded:

“Very well, I take back my accusation. I take your word that your relationship is… as virtuous as possible.”

“Thank you, Chaplain,” Luna replied with a hinted bow and folded her wing back to her back,
“I guarantee that there is no reason to worry.”

The following silence was interrupted by Gearhart:

“Had you decided not to take back your accusation, we would have been able to gather some never seen before data.”

Now Luna blushed (indicating that she had not been entirely serious with her threat), Antonius looked confused and the Ultramarines were absolutely dumbfounded.

“Throne on Terra, Gearhart,” Calgar grumbled.

The interrogation continued, and Antonius proceeded to tell the Ultramarines about his adventures in Equestria. Finally, he told them about the return of Chaos, the ensuing battle and his sacrifice.

“Unorthodox, but undeniably expedient,” Calgar said,
“reminds me a little of brother Agrippan’s DEATH.”

“Actually,” Antonius replied,
“that’s where I got the idea from. I just did it somewhat more deliberately.”

“So, you are dead now?”

“Not any more.”

“I’d say that requires a thorough explanation.”

“Indeed, Lord Calgar, and I have to admit that I’m still surprised myself, but this is what happened.”

Now Antonius told them of his encounter with the Emperor and Primarch Sanguinius. Much to his amazement, there was less disbelieve in the Ultramarines’ faces than he had expected. Still quite an amount, but they considered his words without declaring him insane at once.
When he had finished, the silence in the room was palpable.

“So,” Calgar summarized,
“you met the Emperor, and he did not only approve the actions you had taken while on this planet, he even upgraded you to a Primaris and added something a magic tree sent him in addition?”

“Well, yes,” Antonius replied.

“And He topped that off with a spark of His own power?”

“Yes.”

Again, the silence was palpable. Calgar rubbed the back of his nose, then he sighed and said:

“Antonius, do you have any idea how unlikely, downright insane that sounds?”

“If I hadn’t experienced it myself, my Lord, I wouldn’t believe a word either.”

“I did not say that I don’t believe anything,” Calgar told him, much to his surprise,
“we already have strong evidence that the Emperor is somehow involved in this whole situation, but the details admittedly are hard to believe. Fortunately, we can check if what you said is true. Chief Librarian?”

Tigurius nodded and turned to Antonius:

“Antonius, I will perform a deep scan of your mind. That way, we will be able to make sure that you told us the actual truth, and nothing but the truth.”

“I expected such a scan. I concur that it’s the best method of making sure that I’m honest and sane.”

Now Seneca and Cassius got up and grabbed their bolters.

“What are you doing?” Luna demanded to know.

“It’s just a precaution,” Tigurius told her,
“should I find a dormant corruption that becomes active when found, they will eliminate Antonius before he can do any harm.”

“What?”

“It’s okay, Luna,” Antonius tried to becalm her,
“there is nothing to be found, but they have to be careful.”

“If there was anything, we could still ask the Element Bearers to free you, rather than just kill you.”

“True, if you know that the Elements work. My brothers can’t be sure of that at the moment, though, so they take the next best option. Still, since I’m okay, nothing will happen. Trust me, and trust them, Luna.”

Luna was clearly not happy, but she nodded and complied.

Tigurius started staring at Antonius, his eyes beginning to glow. Antonius calmly returned the gaze and opened his mind. From time to time, small arcs of psionic lightning arced around Tigurius head, but other than that, nothing noteworthy was happening.

Then, Tigurius’ eyes returned to normal, and Antonius fortified his mind again.

“That was remarkably civil for a deep scan,” Cassius noted.

“Indeed,” the chief librarian agreed,
“Antonius’ mind was open, downright inviting. He did not try to hide anything and granted me access to everything without even subconscious resistance.”

“And the results?” Calgar inquired.

“No corruption. No treason. No insanity or mental illness. He really told us the truth. I also found the spark of the Emperor’s power, and I am sure it’s genuine. Might I add that the fact that he was able to disable his subconscious resistance to being scanned is a testament of his power and self control?”
Luna looked rather clueless, so Tigurius explained:
“Usually, every living creature tries to resist a deep scan - at least unconsciously. A psyker has to break this resistance, which is quite traumatic for the scanned creature and can lead to them making quite a mess. Antonius, however, was able to deactivate his resistance, allowing me to scan him without stressing his mind. So, no mess.”

“So, Antonius passed the test,” Seneca stated.

“Correct.”

Calgar gestured him and Cassius to lower their weapons and sit down. When they all were sitting at the table again, he said:

“Antonius Varus, Ultramarines second company, you are free of taint. Your recommendations will be followed and we will establish peaceful contact with the ponies of this planet.”
Antonius and Luna sighed with relief.
“But there is still a misconduct we have to deal with: your disregard of the Codex when you rescued princess Luna.”

“Seriously?” Luna exclaimed.

“The Codex is the basis of our lives,” Calgar explained calmly,
“and while we recently were told to not be too strict in that regard, Antonius committed his lapse while not being informed about this change. And don’t forget that he actually endangered his primary mission.”

“To save me!”

“Yes. Anyway, this is my verdict: Antonius, you are banished from the Realm of Ultramar. Your new mission is to stay with the ponies and do everything you can to keep them safe. This banishment is void once you die, and your name will even be put down in the records of the chapter as an example of common sense to show why independent thinking may be more adequate than fanatism in certain situations.”

Antonius was a little surprised - not only would he be mentioned in the records in a positive way, the ‘punishment’ was exactly what Luna had suggested back then. A short glance at her told him that she was well aware of that fact.

“That truly is some good news,” she smiled.

“I have more good news,” Calgar continued with a slight grin,
“as we have recently learned, you already died doing your duty, so the banishment is obsolete already. All told, we have satisfied the law without causing any trouble for any of us, don’t you agree?”

Antonius had to laugh. Calgar had not only come up with a pretty decent punishment, he had also already rehabilitated him.

“You truly have shown why Antonius speaks so well of you,” Luna commented with a little bow.

“Thank you, Princess,” Calgar replied,
“is there anything else you need to tell us?”

Antonius finished his report with the few days he had spent in Equestria after his return from the warp. When he was done, Calgar said:

“Thank you for your report. You really returned in the nick of time, it seems. Now, we can return to the planet and properly introduce ourselves to the ponies. Any objections?”

“Might I ask if we are allowed to inform my sister of our return? She will want to organize a welcome party for all of us, so that we can properly introduce us, too.”

“Sure, feel free to contact her.”

“Okay, the buffet goes over there,” Twilight instructed a group of ponies who were tasked with catering.

An hour ago, she had gotten a message from Princess Celestia: Antonius and Princess Luna had been successful in convincing the Ultramarines that the ponies meant no harm, and they would soon return to officially establish relations. For that purpose, Celestia wanted to throw a party to welcome them, and Twilight was in charge of the preparations.

Thankfully, she had already made pre-preparations ever since Antonius and Luna had left, so everything should be set up in a matter of hours now.

As she walked through the field on which the celebration would take place, she saw Berry Punch and Carrot Top put up a banner, just as she had asked them to:

WELCOME ULTRAMARNIES

Or almost as she had asked them to.

“I’m sorry,” Twilight said,
“but I think you’ve got it wrong.”

“Why?” Berry Punch asked,
“we got the whole word this time!”

“Yes, but they’re called ‘Ultramarines’, you’ve written ‘Ultramarnies’.”

“Oh… do you think they’ll notice?”

“I’m pretty sure they can read, and we don’t want to seem disrespectful. Please take it down and try again.”

Since this problem was dealt with, she continued walking. Her next stop was Pinkie Pie.

“Hello, Pinkie,” she greeted,
“how’s it going?”

“Great!” Pinkie replied cheerfully,
“we’ve balloons, streamers, confetti, I’m just about to set up the party cannons…”

“NO PARTY CANNONS!” Twilight interrupted,
“don’t you remember how Antonius reacted to them?”

“He’s gotten used to them by now, silly.”

“Yeah, but his brothers haven’t. We don’t want this party to end with the eradication of our species, do we?”

“Oh… that would be quite a party pooper…”

“It would. So, no cannons, please.”

“Well, a party without party cannons is only half the fun, but okay. No cannons.”

“Thank you, Pinkie.”

Having averted this crisis, Twilight took a look at the next object on her list. Everything would be fine, she told herself. They were just welcoming a few future friends, and she was the Princess of Friendship. What could possibly go wrong?

An hour later, all preparations were made and the party was ready to start. Princess Celestia had come, and Twilight and her friends had gathered around her.

“Now, we just have to wait for Luna, Antonius and the Ultramarines,” Celestia stated and looked skyward,
“ah, here they come.”

Twilight followed her gaze. There were three balls of fire rushing across the sky.

“They sure like flashy entries,” Applejack deadpanned.

“Actually, they’re just using the atmosphere to slow down,” Twilight told her,
“once they’re slow enough, the fire will vanish and we’ll see the ships they’re using.”

“Still flashy,” Applejack insisted.

Twilight was right; it did not take long for the fire to vanish and three small, dark dots approached them. As they did so, they started growing, until she could discern the shapes.

“Three Thunderhawks,” she said,
“light the navigation lights!”

A moment later, the light crystals they had set up started glowing, indicating the place where their visitors were supposed to touch down.

The dropships came closer, slowed down and circled the field and Ponyville once, then they reduced their speed further and approached the landing site.
As they descended, their engines caused quite a wind that tugged on the ponies’ manes and tails. Well, it was not the first time.

Twilight glanced at her friends. They had averted their faces to protect themselves from the artificial gust, with one exception: Rarity had created a magic shield. As she noticed Twilight’s attention, she said:

“They have ruffled my mane once, darling. I won’t let them do that again.”

The Thunderhawks touched down, and the wind died together with their engines - and Rarity’s shield.
For a moment, the three dropships just stood there, contraptions so blocky that they looked almost incapable of flight, then, the ramp of the central one opened and revealed a large figure.

Marneus Augustus Calgar, leader of the Ultramarines. In many regards, he was the equivalent to the ponies’ Princess Celestia, so Twilight once again told herself to treat him with the utmost respect - especially as she, the Bearer of the Element of Magic and Princess of Friendship, was supposed to officially greet him. Twilight was well aware of the honor, and so, as he set foot on the grass and came walking towards her, his retinue as well as Luna and Antonius in tow, she went to meet him, her friends and Celestia two steps behind her.

When they were just a few meters from each other, they stopped. Now it was time for Twilight’s greeting. She looked up at the giant, clad in elaborate blue and gold armor.
He was quite intimidating at such a close range… especially with the artificial eye…

“Greetings, Marneus Augustus Calgar,” Twilight said solemnly and bowed,
“Chapter Master of the Ultramarnies…”

Oh crap.
Twilight froze, her eyes widened in shock.
Behind her, Rainbow Dash burst out laughing.

Calgar regarded her, an eyebrow raised.
Twilight started sweating blood. That was so embarrassing!

“I am disappointed,” he stated matter-of-factly, and Twilight had horrible ideas about the very short future of Equestria,
“why did I never come up with such a joke about the similarity of my name and the name of my chapter?”

“Wait, what?” Twilight stammered and saw a grin appear on Calgar’s face,
“you… are not angry?”

“Why should I? There was no malicious intent - and it was actually quite funny.”

Twilight took a deep breath and said:

“Thank you for your leniency, Lord Calgar. Now, let me welcome you and your Ultramarines. We are positive that this will be the start of a mutually advantageous friendship between Equestria and Ultramar.”

“Thank you, Princess Twilight Sparkle,” Calgar replied,
“I thank you for your hospitality. Allow me to introduce my brothers who you don’t know yet.”

Now, the ramps of the other Thunderhawks opened, too. A groups of Ultramarines exited one of the dropships, out of the other one came two humans in red robes, one of them with… things on his back. Furthermore, there was… a house. On legs.
They all rallied behind Calgar and his entourage.

“This are Magos Gearhart,” Calgar explained,
“and his aide Aleksa. And this is Brother Parvus.”

“Pleasure…” Twilight stumbled, then she started introducing everypony.

It took some time until all humans and ponies were properly introduced, then the party started… at least it started to start.

Varro Tigurius took a look around. It really was an highly unusual sight: dozens of little, colorful xenos - or rather half-xenos - and among them, Ultramarines and two tech-priests. Calgar had given the order to be as unthreatening and friendly as possible, but for most of his brothers, that was easier said than done. Most of them stood around rather awkwardly or formed small groups to talk among themselves.
Well, they had never been trained to attend parties and make conversation, because why the hell should they have been? Space Marines were bred for war, that was their main purpose, and with the battles taking place all over the Imperium at any given time, they never had had a need to look for something else to do.

As for him, he also was in a group of Ultramarines, keeping close to Calgar just in case he should be needed by his lord. Although, Tigurius had to admit, he would be less useful than usual at the moment. This weird veil was blocking his access to the immaterium, turning him from an experienced librarian into a normal veteran.

He turned his attention to Calgar, who was deep in - rather trivial - conversation with Celestia, Luna and Antonius. Thankfully, psionic powers were obviously not needed at the time.

“Cupcake?” a voice asked, and Tigurius turned his attention to the small creature in front of him.

“Thank you, Princess Twilight Sparkle,” he answered and took the small treat.
It was round, with a green topping and an apple slice right on top.

He sampled it, and since his preomnor did not protest, he took a bigger bite.
Really, the food here was succulent.

“Just like Antonius,” Twilight smiled,
“he was very careful, too, when he first ate our food. Oh, and please call me Twilight.”

“I can assure you, Twilight, it is not a sign of distrust, but rather an ingrained habit when encountering new food.”

“Oh, I know. According to Antonius, our food is perfectly suitable for humans, though.”

“It’s more than that. It’s delicious.”

“You have to tell Applejack and Pinkie Pie. They’ve made them. If you want something more savory, we’ve taken care of that, too. The buffet’s right over there.”

Tigurius had to grin. Such non-human hospitality was unheard of, but he had a feeling that he could get used to it.

“Thank you, but I’ll stay at my Lord’s side for the time being,” he said.

“Okay,” Twilight replied,
“just enjoy the party.”

“Will do.”

Seneca was busy building himself a sandwich. This really was by far the most amicable welcome he had ever gotten on a non-imperial planet. The ponies really had put some effort into this party. He knew from Antonius that they were vegetarians, but he had just - among other tasty things - shoveled some ham on his bread, so they had organized the meat just for the Ultramarines. Furthermore, there was no one questioning his choice of food, unlike that time when he had still been a boy and his vegetarian sister had seen it fit to annoy him.

“Excuse me, Sergeant,” a voice from behind him said.

Seneca turned around. It was a Space Marine. Now, he had half expected a pony having concern about his dietary habits, but one of his brothers?

“Yes, Brother?” Seneca replied.

“No offense, but do you think it is wise to trust the xenos’ food?”

Seneca looked at his sandwich and took a bite. He started chewing with an inquisitive look on his face, then he gave conversational parter a thumbs-up.
Seeing the dumbfounded expression on the Marine’s face, he elaborated:

“You have heard the briefing, Brother. The ponies are a non-malevolent species, and now that they have put that much effort into acquiring the food, it would be impolite to spurn it. Not to mention the fact that it’s quite tasty.”

“This is all so… wrong.”

“Unusual, yes, but actually not wrong. Keep in mind that we are not trigger-happy psychopaths like orks or Khornates. We are guardians of mankind, and if these creatures here can help us in some way, it’s prudent to be nice around them.”

“So, you think we can trust them?”

“Guess so - within certain limits. I don’t think that there’s evil on their minds, and if they had planned anything, they would have done so while they only had had to deal with brother Varus. Now that we are here, they’ll be even less inclined to do something stupid. In the worst case, trust your preomnor.”

He took another bite.

“Muffin?” another voice suddenly asked.

It was a grey pegasus mare who used her wings to carry a tray full of the pastries.

Receiving a questioning look from the Marine, Seneca just nodded calmly, and the battle-brother sampled one of the treats.

“Damnit, that’s good,” he mumbled.

“Told you,” Seneca grinned, chewing.

Ridiculously. Cute. Creatures.
Aleksa had to suppress the urge to pick one of them up and cuddle them. She choose to distract herself with the food their hosts had provided, which worked well enough. Yes, finding delight in succulent food was a weakness of the flesh, and the Mechanicum was usually less than thrilled about such weaknesses.

Gearhart, though, did obviously not deem it necessary to reproach her, so she continued eating. With a decent piece of chocolate cake on her plate, she tried to gain an overview of the festive grounds. A little apart, she saw Parvus, and went to talk to him.

“Hello, Parvus,” she smiled,
“and, what do you think of our hosts? Are they comparable to the horses you know?”

“Their physique? Yes, to a certain extent. Their behaviour? Not quite. They remind me more of humans than horses.”

“Indeed.”

“Have we already given them the carrots and sugar cubes as a hospitality gift?”

“No, Parvus. Brother Varus and Princess Luna told us about their culture, so we realized that those gifts would have been somewhat inappropriate.”

“A wise decision. They remind me of humans more than horses anyway.”

“Humans who can make a sensational chocolate cake.”

“Really? A pity I cannot sample it, but I don’t think we can get the stuff into my sarcophagus, and even if we could, the amniotic fluid would ruin the cake… do I even have taste buds left?”

“Probably just a few,” Aleksa grinned, then she became serious and started twirling her fork,
“but maybe I could connect to your system and relay the taste-information from my brain to your cerebral cortex… that should enable you to taste any food that I eat… hmm… I have to crunch the numbers on that…”

“Your help would be appreciated,” Parvus told her with a strange sound that probably was a laugh.

The welcome party went on for some time. While the mood was not as exuberant as Antonius was used to when it came to the ponies, the fact that there were no casualties yet was definitely good.
Among the colorful equines, the Ultramarines definitely were ‘alien bodies’, though. Most of them didn’t even attempt to mingle, but that was hardly surprising. A lifetime of hating and distrusting all non-humans couldn’t be ignored just like that. Some of them, however, tried at least to enjoy the party.

Seneca, for example, had taken a liking to the buffet and even had had a few short conversations with ponies. Well, he had been on the Emperor’s list of potential candidates, after all.
Calgar was still having a casual conversation with Celestia, and they seemed to get along reasonably well.
As for the members of the Mechanicum, Gearhart’s aide was astonishingly tolerant and obviously enjoyed the party.

Antonius silently thanked the Emperor that the Ultramarines as well as their company preferred reason over fanatism, a quality that unfortunately was not too wide-spread in the Imperium… although, with the enemies mankind had to face, who could blame them?

When it was time for the day to yield to the night, the Luna and Celestia became active, creating a beautiful dusk, much to the amazement of the humans - sans Antonius, he was used to their magic, of course.

As the party ended, Twilight approached Calgar:

“Lord Calgar, may I invite you and your retinue to stay the night in my castle? You wouldn’t have to return to your ship or travel to Canterlot that way.”

“We accept your generous offer,” Calgar replied, and Twilight led the way to her abode.

It was a strange little migration: the Element Bearers were in front, followed by the princesses, Antonius, Calgar and his command squad. Behind them were Gearhart, Aleksa and Parvus. The rest of the Ultramarines was bringing up the rear.

When they arrived at the castle, Calgar turned to Twilight:

“Interesting architecture. It was created by your Tree of Harmony?”

“Yes,” Twilight confirmed,
“I guess you could say that it is my HQ, from where I spread friendship around Equestria.”

She opened the main gate and invited them in.

“What?” Seneca asked as he took a look into the building,
“how does such a large entrance hall fit into that crystal trunk?”

“Folded space?” Tigurius guessed.

“Magic,” Twilight answered.

“In any case this castle is bigger on the inside,” Calgar stated.

“My Lord,” Cassius said,
“do we really want to stay in a place that is so… drenched in the ponies’ magic?”

“It is not harmful,” Twilight insisted.

“If you really don’t want to stay here,” Applejack told them,
“the next best place in Ponyville is one of our barns.”

“Castle or barn… hard decision,” Seneca grinned.

“Our barns are not that bad,” Applejack protested.

“We’ll stay here,” Calgar decided,
“after all, the Elements of Harmony and their magic were one of the reasons that brought us here.”

The princesses had to temporarily dematerialize the doorframe of the main gates for Parvus to get into the castle, then, when the rooms for all humans were assigned, Celestia and Twilight’s friends bid goodnight and returned to their homes. Antonius and Luna stayed in the castle to keep Twilight and the Ultramarines company.

“Truly, a nice welcome,” Calgar stated.

Tigurius, Cassius, Seneca and Gearhart had gathered in his quarters to discuss the current situation and exchange their thought on their hosts.

“Indeed,” Tigurius agreed,
“the ponies really are a friendly species - at least the ones we’ve met by now.”

“Be careful not to get lulled into a false sense of security,” Cassius warned,
“they may seem rather harmless, but alertness never hurts.”

“True,” Calgar said,
“yet it would be wise to respond to their kindness with some friendliness of our own. We are here to win them as allies, after all.”

“That is already as good as done,” Seneca opined,
“thanks to Antonius.”

“Hmm… his unusual methods have paved the way for us. We basically just need to reap the benefits.”

“The Elements and the STC-System,” Tigurius outlined.

“I beg your pardon,” Gearhart interjected,
“but up to this point, our primary concern was the trustworthiness of the ponies. While this issue is suitably resolved, we have neither tested those Elements nor have we verified the integrity of the local STC database - not to mention the AI in control of said database.”

“One thing at a time, Gearhart,” Calgar smiled,
“but you’re right. Now that we’ve paid respect to their culture by attending this party, we’ll see to it that we can visit this ‘Tree of Harmony’ tomorrow. Furthermore, you’ll probably get the opportunity to say hello to the AI. I’m well aware that this means that you’ll come into conflict with the Mechanicum’s concerns regarding AIs.”

“True. The laws of the Mechanicum are unambiguous, but loosing a complete STC-system is unacceptable. If possible, I will try to be lenient.”

“‘Lenient’ is not a word often heard by someone of your profession,” Seneca grinned.

“I looked it up in a dictionary,” Gearhart deadpanned.