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?