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 Notes:

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