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.