It took the servants a few minutes to get the equipment the ponies had wanted. Or, to be exact, the pony: Applejack had wanted a lasso, the rest of the ponies and Spike were content without armor, weapons or utilities, so Antonius decided not to use his helmet.
Now the ponies started arguing about the order in which they should be tested.

"Let me go first," Rainbow demanded,
"I promise I won't go in too hard and leave something over for you."

Well, she definitely did not suffer from a lack of optimism. Antonius decided to defeat her as quickly as possible to ground her ambition.

"Hey, I want to be first," Stormy protested.

"Come on, Rainbow," Twilight smiled,
"fillies first."

Rainbow grunted.

"Fine, but I'm second!"

It took some time for them to agree on an order.
When they finally were ready, Stormy got into position on the red carpet, close to the steps to the throne. Antonius was standing about ten meters away, also on the carpet.
Everyone else waited nearby Stormy. Pinkie Pie had gotten some pompoms out of nowhere and was cheering for Stormy.

The whole situation had turned pretty ridiculous, but Antonius knew the more serious part would come when the little filly had gotten her way. He did not take any weapon and just got into an defensive stance.

"Ready when you are," he said,
"the round will be over as soon as you surrender."

Stormy pawed the ground a few times.
Damned, that was adorable.

Then, she started running in Antonius' direction. When she was halfway between her starting point and the Space Marine, she buzzed her wings and took off.
Antonius reminded himself that this was not a real fight. Of course he would be able to catch her without a problem, but she would definitely have more fun if her 'attack' was successful. So, he forced himself to stay calm and suppressed his reflexes as Stormy came up to his head, like a fluffy little missile.
She slowed down, reared up and latched on to his face.
That was definitely the weirdest attack Antonius had ever experienced and he was not sure what to do now.

"Have I won?" she asked enthusiastically.

"No," Antonius mumbled into her fur and carefully tried to grab her.

She started laughing:

"Hey, that tickles!"

Oh, that gave him an idea what to do. He started tickling her a bit and she started laughing harder. When she finally could not hold on to his face anymore, he caught her with his left hand.

"Do you surrender?" he asked, looking down at her.

"Nope," she answered with a smile.

Hmm, stubborn little pony. Well, he already knew that she was ticklish, so he would use that weakness again. He held his right index finger a centimeter above her belly and asked again:

"Do you surrender?"

"Nope," Stormy answered again.

She was completely unfazed! Since he never made empty threats, he had to pull this through now.
So he tickled her belly. She laughed and snorted, flailing about with her hooves.
Antonius had to smile. That was too cute to stay serious!

"Okay, okay, I surrender!" Stormy shouted at last.

Victory!

"Do you think he's going to defeat all of us that way?" he suddenly heard Pinkie's voice say.

He froze.
Crap. Of course... he was being watched! Stupid mistake.
His head jerked up and he looked at the ponies. They had broad smiles upon their faces.

"Umm..." he started,
"I... had to find a... non-violent way to... defeat... you ponies..."

"Sure," Twilight smiled back.

Boy, that was embarrassing. A son of Guilliman, an Angel of Death, tickling an alien.

Stormy was still lying in his hand.

"Okay, Stormy, now you have got to make way for the next pony," Antonius quickly said.

The filly did so, but not before hugging him.

He cleared his voice and said:

"Next, please!"

Now Rainbow Dash got ready, a confident smile on her face.

"Try not to be too sad when you lose, because when I fight, it IS about winning!" she quipped.

"I'll do my best," Antonius deadpanned.

Rainbow took off and shot towards him. He had to admit, she was fast. That was definitely positive.
And she made one of those suicidal attack runs. That was rather negative.
Seriously, what's with winged ponies and that kind of attacks?

She closed in and Antonius was ready to grab her. At the last moment, she tried to dive under his arms. A nice attempt, but not a successful one. He caught her and brought her to a stop, his hands under her front legs.

"Darn! I thought this trick would work," Rainbow grumbled.

"Since I think there is still something left of me, do you want another try?" Antonius asked with a smile.

Rainbow nodded and he threw her straight upwards into the air.
She immediately started flapping her wings again and circled above him, then, she accelerated and decreased her altitude, leaving a rainbow-colored trail in the air. Rainbow now was at shoulder-height and Antonius could feel the wind she generated. It was almost like a little tornado. A little, rainbow-colored tornado.

He wondered what that was all about, then he felt the small, but increasing updraft.
She wanted to lift him? Well, that was a interesting idea, and if he just stood there and waited, it might even work. He did not think about doing so, however.
So, while the updraft was still unable to counter the weight of him and his armor, his hands shot forward just in time to grab Rainbow Dash. He did a 360 to minimize the deceleration for Rainbow. It had probably looked ridiculous, but it had worked. She hung between his hands, a little dazed.

"Oh, come on!" she complained,
"you caught me again?"

"There was still enough left of me to achieve that," Antonius quipped,
"now, do you surrender?"

Rainbow looked a little offended as she said:

"I hate losing."

"Is that a 'no'?"

"No! I mean, yes, I mean... okay, I surrender."

Antonius sat her down on the ground.

"You know, with just a little more time, I could have beaten you," she smiled.

So much for grounding her ambition. Next try:

"Yeah, you could probably have made my fist bloody - with your face."

"Certainly! Hey, wait a second... oh, now I've got it! That's nice, I've got to remember that! But as for now, I don't want to stall my friends," she said and returned to her friends.

Great. Instead of appropriately threatening her, he had started to goof around. He should better just continue with the next pony.

"Next, please!" Antonius said.

Applejack got ready and charged him, her lasso dancing above her head. It was incredible that she could operate a lasso with her mouth, but it obviously worked.
She came closer and tried to lasso him, but Antonius was able to catch the lasso with his hands, crouched and put it on the ground as Applejack was about to pass him. He pulled the rope upwards, the lasso tightened around all four of her hooves and she lost ground as well as her hat.

"Horseapples!" she shouted as she hung on her own lasso in Antonius' grip.

He raised his arm until they were at eye-level.

Another one of those head-on attacks. Perhaps he should give the other ponies a hint that they should think of a different tactic?

He turned his head to the group and just wanted to start talking as he felt something fluffy wrap around his throat.
What the...?
The muscles in his throat tensed to protect his larynx and windpipe - Space Marines were not easy to strangle - and Antonius checked what it was that attacked him now.
Applejack's tail???

"You thought you got me," she smiled,
"but I ain't gonna give up that easy!"

Antonius was confused:

"How the hell can you do that? Your tail consists solely of hair, there are no muscles!"

"Don't try to distract me. Now, surrender!"

Huh? HE should surrender?

"No way."

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm strangling you."

"I can take more than that."

Applejack tightened her 'grip' around his throat a bit.

"Do you surrender now?" she asked.

"Applejack, just let it be. It won't work."

"Surrender, and I will free you."

She again tightened her 'grip'. Antonius still wasn't in danger, but he really wanted to get rid of her, for every time she did that, the distance between her and his face decreased a bit. There was still enough space left, but if she continued doing so, it would get seriously awkward.

He lowered his hand and Applejack hung in front of his chest like a pendant.
'The pony-pendant, a reward for only the weirdest of Space Marines' popped up in his mind.
He raised his hand again, and Applejack used the opportunity to tighten her 'grip' again.

"I won't let go," she assured him,
"now, what are you going to do?"

"Certainly NOT admiring the view," Antonius said, bending his head back as far as possible.

"Huh? OH..."

Good. She had realized the side-effects of her 'attack'. Now, she would certainly give up.

"Ah, shucks. I won't give up! I'm gonna win this!"

Shit. What a stubborn little pony.

Well, there was an approved method how to 'defeat' them:

"Are you ticklish?" he asked her.

"Don't you dare!" Applejack hissed.

He raised his free hand into Applejack's field of vision and said:

"Surrender."

"NO!"

Antonius held his index finger a centimeter above her belly and repeated:

"Surrender."

"You would never... oh, horseapples, you would, right?" Applejack answered.

Then she loosened her 'grip' around Antonius' throat, let out a groan and added:

"Okay, I surrender."

Antonius put her on the ground and loosened the lasso. She immediately took her hat again and returned to her friends. Antonius could hear her mumble:

"Next time, I'll just try the good old bucking..."

He smiled and said:

"Next, please!"

Now, it was Rarity's turn. Instead of charging him, she casually walked up to him.
Antonius focused on her, his muscles tensed. He expected some trick at any moment, a magical attack - she was a unicorn, after all.
Finally, she was standing right in front of him, smiling friendlily. No trick, no magic. What was she up to?

"Well, Antonius," she said,
"before I take part in your indecorous little game, I would like to know why exactly I should get my hooves dirty and my mane disheveled."

Great. Well, if he had to...

He crouched down to be more at eye-level with her - and barely evaded the hoof that shot towards his face. There was the trick, although it was a completely different one from what he had expected. And it was not over yet.
Rarity jumped at him and tried to punch him again. He caught her leg and prevented that from happening. That tactic was surprisingly aggressive - especially for a fashion designer.

"Hmm, you are pretty fast," she said thoughtfully,
"perhaps now would be a good time to surrender?"

"Definitely," he answered and let go of her.

Rarity turned around in mid air and Antonius had to dodge her hind hooves. He noticed, however, that she had aimed for his chest armor now, not for his face. So, even while tricking him, she still had a sense of fairness.

"Hey, didn't you surrender?" he asked.

"Well, actually," she told him,
"I did not say that I surrendered, I said it would be a good time to surrender."

Huh? She had fooled him by nitpicking?

He shot forward and picked her up, glaring at her.
She gave him a forced smile, but before anything else could happen, he heard Spike shout:

"Fear not, Rarity! I'll rescue you!"

Rarity's smile became genuine and she whined:

"Oh, Spike! Rescue a poor unicorn from the clutches of defeat!"

Antonius looked nonplussed.

"This is supposed to be a fight, not drama classes!" he clarified.

It was in vain. Spike had closed the distance and struck a pose.

"Put her down, emissary of mankind, for this mare is under my protection!"

Had Antonius had a hand free, he would have facepalmed.

He changed his grip on the pony and held her over his head, supporting her weight with his left hand on her belly. Spike sprung into action and started climbing Antonius.

Antonius quickly picked him off his armor.

"Enough horseplay. While I don't mind you having a bit fun, you are definitely overdoing it."

"Okay, okay," Spike said, then he turned to Rarity:
"Sorry I could not rescue you."

"Don't apologize, Spike," she answered,
"You bravely charged him to rescue me, and to me, that..."

"WOULD YOU FINALLY STOP PUTTING ON THIS DRAMA??? Just surrender, now, so that I can let you go!"

"Oh, okay, I surrender!" Rarity said.

"Yeah, I surrender, too," Spike agreed.

Antonius nodded and put them down. Rarity turned to him and asked:

"No hard feelings?"

Antonius shook his head.

"No, though I have to admit that that was definitely... uncommon."

She nodded and she and Spike returned to her friends.

Well, this evaluation was quite derailed by now. Antonius wondered if it could get any worse.
He said:

"Next, please!"

This 'next' was Fluttershy. This would be interesting. And possibly worse.

She walked up to him. When she was halfway between her him and her friends, she stopped and looked at him with big eyes.

"Umm... I surrender!" she said.

Before Antonius could say something, Rainbow shouted:

"Come on, Fluttershy! Don't chicken out of this! Give him your stare!"

Stare? What stare?

Fluttershy turned around to face Rainbow and said:

"Rainbow, this is not how it works! My stare just happens."

"Then make it happen now!"

"What 'stare' are you talking about?" Antonius asked.

"Fluttershy can stare a full grown dragon into submission!" Rainbow told him.

"You can what now?" Antonius asked Fluttershy.

"Well, Antonius," she answered,
"I have this stare... and I can use it to... sort of... control animals..."

"Mind control? You are capable of mind control?"

Well, that was a piece of news.

"No, I would not call it mind control, and I can only use it in emergencies."

"Well, this is an emergency!" Rainbow shouted,
"Antonius already has defeated half of us!"

"Rainbow," Twilight lectured her,
"5 out of 8 is more than a half."

"All the worse! Fluttershy, don't leave this to Pinkie and Twilight! I don't think he can be defeated with confetti - or books!"

"Hey!" Twilight yelled, glaring at Rainbow Dash.

"Calm down, ponies!" Antonius said,
"we make use of stable alliances here: You 8 fight me so that I can evaluate your prowess and have a look at pony ways of attacking. Quarrels within the team will not be useful."

The ponies were silent again, until Fluttershy asked hesitantly:

"Umm... does that mean I may surrender?"

Rainbow facehooved and Antonius nodded.

"Okay, then: I surrender!" Fluttershy said and returned to the other ponies.

Well, this round had been pretty useless, but at least it hadn't been as bad as the Rarity/Spike-combo.

"Next, please!" Antonius said.

Pinkie Pie. Antonius got ready for suddenly appearing cannons. The pink mare walked up to him, smiling all the while, and started... hopping around? Dancing? What the hell?

"Pinkie, what are you doing?" Antonius asked confusedly.

"I'm challenging you to a dance-off!" she shouted.

WHAT THE...???

"You are kidding, right?"

"Nope. Dance-off!"

Antonius facepalmed. This 'evaluation' finally was completely derailed.

"Throne on Terra I don't believe this," he mumbled and started massaging his temples.

"Oh, you don't feel well?" Pinkie asked.

"I think I'm getting a headache. Until now, I didn't know Astartes could get headaches at all..."

"Hmm, if you are sick, does that mean that I win?"

Antonius took his hands from his temples and glared at Pinkie Pie. She was startled a bit, started walking backward and said with a forced smile:

"Okay, you don't like dancing, got that."

Then she stopped and asked in a more cheerful tone:

"What about singing?"

"No singing. No dancing!" he told her sternly.

"Gee! Your party planers surely have hard times. What about games? We play games like 'pin the tail on the pony'. What games do you play?"

Antonius groaned.
She really had asked him if he played games! She had not yet understood that life - at least outside of this planet - was rather serious business. Of course the Ultramarines celebrated their victories and successful campaigns, but pointless merriment was not common at all.

"Put the bolt into the xeno," he finally deadpanned.

Pinkie tilted her head a bit.

"That doesn't sound like fun."

"That depends on your definition of fun. Now, do me a favor and surrender."

"Oh, okay. No hard feelings! I surrender! Looking forward to the next time!"

What a mess. The Rainbow-round had actually been the most normal one. Pinkie had definitely been the pinnacle of weirdness. Antonius wondered why he was even surprised. His wrap-supplier was sometimes a bit... weird, but as the Element of Laughter, such shenanigans were probably part of her 'job'.

Now, only Twilight was left to be evaluated. Rainbow seemed to think a bit little of her when it came to fighting, but wasn't she a talented psyker? She had been able to teleport him, after all. Antonius took a deep breath and looked at her.

"Antonius, are you okay?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah, yeah," he answered,
"your turn."

"Umm, just for your information, I won't goof around and will use magic to fight you."

Antonius was wide awake.

"Do you want to use your magic ON ME?" he asked.

"No, but I'll use it against you," she answered.

Well, this could be interesting.

"Ready," he said with a smile and got into a defensive stance. Perhaps this fight would be better than the previous rounds.

"Then let's begin!" Twilight whispered and fired a beam of pink magic at Antonius.

He dodged the magic blast, but that was not the only one fired at him. He had to evade a whole barrage of beams, but even that got more difficult. While Twilight had fired the first blast at his center, the other blasts were fired at his side to make him dodge in a specific direction. Then she fired directly into his way and almost scored a hit.

Damned, she was good.

Antonius' main disadvantage was that he could not use ranged weapons as they were lethal, so he was forced to melee. Constantly dodging, he made his way to Twilight. When he had come close enough to leap at her, she suddenly vanished.
He reflexively made a dodge-roll, and this proved to be the right reaction: A magic beam shot past him; had he not moved, it would have hit him in the back.

Antonius looked at the source of this new attack. Of course it was Twilight; she had teleported to a new location and continued firing at him. He closed the distance again, his transhuman reflexes in full use to dodge Twilight's beams. Once he was almost in striking distance, Twilight was gone again.

They continued this fight for some minutes. Every time Antonius came close to her, she teleported away and he had to approach her again.

Yes, that pony was good. Good enough to be downright annoying.

Luckily, she started to get tired. The beams became less frequent, and every time she had to teleport she looked more weary, yet she did not give up.
Now she was standing close to her friends again, who were cheering for her. She sweated and panted, but she kept firing.

Antonius had to admit that this constant dodging started leaving its mark on him, too. He would end this fight as soon as possible.

He closed the distance again, then, after one of her beams, but still not in melee range, he charged her head-on. He could see her eyes widen as he made a dive roll towards her. She managed to fire a last beam that actually hit his pauldron, then he swept her off her hooves.

They came to a stop in-between Twilight's friends. She was lying on her back, completely exhausted, Antonius was kneeling next to her.

"Damned, that was a good fight!" Antonius admitted with a smile,
"now, do you surrender?"

Twilight nodded.

"Yes, you have won. 0 out of 8 victories for ponykind, not too good, hmm?"

"Twilight, I already told you this was not about winning. You have done really well, though. You are a nuisance to every melee-based attacker. Really, you can be proud of you."

"Thank you," Twilight smiled.

"Sorry, Antonius," Applejack suddenly said,
"but when you wanted to see us fighting to evaluate our prowess, you have forgotten something."

"Which is?"

"We usually fight as a team."

Antonius quickly took a look around:

Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and even Stormy all pawed the ground and grinned at him.
Fluttershy and Spike did not paw the ground, but they still grinned.

"Antonius," Twilight said with a huge smile on her face,
"I am quite positive that you are screwed now."

Antonius smiled back at her:

"We'll see."

"GET HIM!" Applejack shouted and a moment later Antonius was covered in ponies - and a dragon.

Of course, they could not get dangerous in any way; his power armor provided superior protection and with his own strength and his armor's servo system he could still move. The most difficult part for him actually was to keep down his reflexes and not just swat his little assailants.

Antonius had a look where the ponies were hanging at the moment:
Rainbow Dash, right arm.
Rarity, left arm.
Applejack and Twilight, torso.
Pinkie, left leg.
Stormy and Spike, right leg.

Where was Fluttershy?
He got the answer when he felt something warm at the back of his head and two hooves were shifted in front of his eyes.

"Sorry, I hope you don't mind me attacking you a bit, too," she said apologetically.

"Fluttershy, we are opponents! Stop being so friendly!" Rainbow mumbled,
"now, everypony, knock him over!"

Antonius felt the tug, and he had to make a stand against it, but it was not enough to make him lose his balance.
He slowly moved his arms, including the corresponding ponies, and grabbed Fluttershy. He took her off his neck and held her in front of him.

"Umm... I think your plan doesn't work," Fluttershy told her friends.

"Oh, come on!" Rainbow complained,
"we are 8 ponies, and we still don't stand a chance!"

"Are you really surprised?" Antonius asked her,
"no armor, no weapons. Of course you don't stand a chance! It would be a sad commentary on my armor if you had a chance!"

"He's right, girls," Twilight agreed,

"at the moment, we are no match for a Space Marine, at least in such a training. Against such a foe, we would normally use the Elements, but we can't do this now, so I think, we'll have to surrender again."

"You don't need to," Antonius told them,
"just let go, and we'll call this evaluation finished."

The ponies agreed and Antonius was 'free' again.

Now Celestia and Luna stepped up to them.

"You have done well, my little ponies," Celestia said,
"don't you agree, Antonius?"

"I agree. Your species has potential, even though some of your antics were... a bit strange.
Well, you don't give up easy and you know teamwork, these are important traits we can build on."

"We still got our butts kicked," Rainbow complained,
"a match mankind versus ponykind, and mankind won 8-0. No, even 9-0."

"Hmm," Celestia smiled,
"perhaps I can turn this 9-1. If you excuse me, please, I will get my armor and sword."

She turned around and left the room. The ponies were staring after her.

"Princess Celestia is going to fight you?" Rainbow shouted,
"awesome! Then we will at least get one victory!"

Well, Antonius had originally not planned fighting Celestia today, but he would not let this opportunity slip. He had already fought Luna and was curious if Celestia used a similar fighting style.

A few minutes later, Celestia came back. She had donned an elaborate golden armor which's individual parts looked like the wings of a swan. The sword she used was very slim and equally as elaborate as her armor. That was the first noteworthy difference: Luna had used a much broader sword.

"10 bits on the princess," Pinkie Pie shouted.

"20 bits on the princess!" Rainbow Dash cheered.

"Pinkie, Rainbow," Twilight said,
"if you want to bet, you need someone to bet against Princess Celestia. I don't think anypony is willing to do that."

"Umm, I would, but I don't have money" Stormy admitted.

"That's no problem, Stormy," Luna smiled,
"I'll bet against my sister with the sum of your stakes."

Aha, their sisterly rivalry came to light again.

Twilight looked a bit surprised, but then she said:

"If so: 50 bits on Princess Celestia!"

"50?" Applejack asked,
"That's too much for me, but I'm gonna bet 20."

Finally, Rarity and Spike bet 10 bits on Celestia and the princess and the Space Marine got ready to fight.

Now, Luna cleared her voice and spoke up:

"This will be a sword fight. No offensive magic. It will end as soon as one of you surrenders or is pinned down."

Then she turned to Antonius:

"Antonius, don't fool around. I've got quite some bits on you. Just sweep her off her hooves and we'll split the profit."

"The abundance of loyalty towards your big sister is duly noted, Luna," Celestia deadpanned and drew her sword.
"She is still right, Antonius. Don't hold back. I finally want to see if the praise you get is justified," she added with a smile.

"Are you sure?" Antonius asked.

"Of course."

Antonius nodded, put on his helmet and drew his chainsword.

"Whoa, that means business, doesn't it?" Applejack asked.

"Certainly," Luna smiled and shouted:
"Begin!"

Celestia slowly approached Antonius. She knew that the Space Marine was bigger and thoroughly trained, but she was also no slouch and had millennia of experience. She did not doubt that she could surprise her opponent in more than one way.

Antonius stomped towards her, the red eye lenses of his helmet glaring at her. She held her sword in front of her and waited for an opportunity to attack him.
When he was close enough, she stung forward at his' chest, but this attack did not work at all. He beat her sword away with so much force she almost lost her magical grip on it. At the same moment, he made a step forward and swung his sword towards her throat.
Celestia was shocked. Damned, he was fast!
The only thing she could do to prevent this fight from ending right at that moment was to teleport a few meters away.

"Okay, Antonius, point for y..." Celestia started, but she was interrupted as Antonius had almost immediately closed the distance and his sword came down on her.

She blocked the strike, but he pushed her back, her hooves sliding over the floor. She could as well have tried to stop a train.
Not only fast, also extremely strong. Crap. She teleported again.

Now she was standing near Twilight.

"Princess Celestia, what..." Twilight began, but Celestia interrupted her:

"No time to talk, Twilight!"

She was right. Antonius charged her again, swinging his chainsword. This time, she also charged, stabbing forward with her sword. Perhaps she could surprise him with a more aggressive tactic.
It didn't work. He deflected her attack with an upward strike, then his left hand shot forward and grabbed her armor. She realized that she had concentrated too much in his sword and right arm, neglecting his left hand. He now lifted her into the air, seemingly ignoring her weight. When he was about to smash her into the ground, she teleported again.

Celestia was directly behind him now and swung her sword. Perhaps that would surprise him.
No. Damnit.
Antonius spun around with an angry grunt and their swords met. Celestia's weapon, unfortunately, did not survive this clash: the metal broke and the severed blade fell clanking to the ground. The princess stumbled backwards - and teleported again.

It really was enough to drive her mad: Nothing seemed to work against him! She was at a loss. And more alarming: She felt fear. This armored giant was able to mop the floor with her, his angry grunt had also not been helping.
The only thing she could think of now to prevent him from defeating her at that very instant was to get out of his range, so she had teleported a few meters upward and was hovering now. Thankfully, he could not fly.

"Antonius..." she panted.

He did not wait for her to finish that sentence. He instead leapt for her and got hold of one of her hind hooves.
Damnit, she had not been high enough!
Antonius quickly pulled her down, floored her and pinned her to the ground with a knee on her chest armor. Finally, he put his chainsword to her throat.
The fight was over.
Celestia had lost.

Victory. Despite of his success, Antonius had to admit that he had liked his fight with Luna better. Well, Luna had not insisted that he should not hold back. This request of Celestia had made the fight a bit one-sided.

Luna casually walked up to them and declared:

"Antonius wins. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to ask him not to hold back."

Ah, Luna agreed in that opinion.

Celestia's expression was somewhere between surprised, incredulous and downright horrified.

"Can't deny that," she said.

Antonius stood up and helped her back to her hooves. Then he turned to the ponies. Their expressions were hilarious! There they stood, their mouths wide open, pure horror on their faces.

"What. The. Buck?" Applejack finally stammered.

"Princess Celestia... has lost," Twilight said in an almost heartbroken tone.

"Indeed," Celestia confirmed,
"that was a storm I could not abide. The praise you get, Antonius, is indeed justified. Well, since I'm already wearing my armor, would you agree to fight a normal training match? And would you hold back this time? I just need a new sword."

"With pleasure, Celestia," Antonius agreed.

While the ponies were paying their debts to a grinning Luna, a servant brought a new - broader -sword and they fought again.
Antonius' first assessment during their initial fight had been correct: she was a bit stronger than Luna, but she lacked her overall fighting prowess. Her attacks were too predictable and lacked in variation. Luna was, all told, a more dangerous opponent.
Antonius gave Celestia some advice how to improve, and she did her best to follow them, but she occasionally fell back into her old patterns. She wasn't bad, but still not as good as her younger sister.
They ended the fight after about fifteen minutes.

"We should do this regularly from now on," Antonius told her,
"you need to improve your skills."

Celestia nodded.

"Agreed. But now, before we retire, after you have thoroughly tested us, I would like to test you."

"In what way?"

"Just wait a minute, and you shall see. I'll prepare the test and take off my armor. "

She left the room.

"Hmm. I'm not too fond of surprises," Antonius muttered.

A few minutes later, Celestia came back, the box of the Elements in her magical grasp, and declared solemnly:

"The Elements of Harmony!"

"What exactly do you want to do with them?" Antonius asked cautiously.

"The Elements of Harmony react to a pony's personality. They work with the Element Bearers because they are their embodiments. Now, I would like to know how much of each Element is in you," Celestia explained,
"I suggest we use the same order in which you tested the Element Bearers, so the first Element will be the Element of Loyalty. Please hold out your hand."

"Will the Elements - or your magic - influence me in any way?" Antonius asked.

"No, don't worry. We will just see how the Element reacts to you. Who knows, there is even a minimum probability that you are another embodiment of an Element and thus able to use it," Celestia smirked.

Well, that was interesting. Was it possible that humans could use this anti-Chaos-weapon themselves?
That was a question worth investigating, even if it meant to partake in some sort of magic ritual. He was not really comfortable with this test - not at all - but he decided to do it anyway.

Antonius held out his hand and Celestia put the Element of Loyalty into it. Then, her horn started glowing. The same yellow glow appeared around his hand and - to everyone's surprise - the Element also lit up. A bold red shine.

"Well, I honestly didn't expect this result. The Element reacts to you in an outstanding way. Antonius, that means that you are extraordinary loyal, perhaps even loyal enough to wield the Element of Loyalty!"

So, an alien artifact attested to him that he was loyal. Was that a good or a bad sign?

"So, Antonius is the new Rainbow Dash?" Spike suddenly asked.

"Hey, there is only one Rainbow Dash," Rainbow stated.

"Of course, my little pony, you are still the Bearer of the Element of Loyalty," Celestia explained,
"but in case of an emergency, it might be worth a try to let Antonius wield your Element."

Well, that really was interesting: You did probably not unconditionally need ponies to wield the Elements of Harmony, humans with appropriate character traits could also work.
So you just had to find humans who were the embodiments of loyalty, honesty, generosity, kindness and laughter, as well as some kind of friendship-psyker, and they all had to become friends somehow...
...
On a second though, you still needed ponies.

Celestia's horn stopped glowing and so did the Element. She put it back in the box and said:

"Now, the Element of Honesty."

This time, the result was a bit different. The Element still lit up, though by far not as bright as the Element of Loyalty had.

"Seems your Element calls me a liar," Antonius commented drily.

"Perhaps it found some white lies," Celestia teased,
"don't worry, though, it is still bright enough for you to be trustworthy."

"Oh, what a relief," he deadpanned.

"Now, the Element of Generosity," she said with a smile.

This Element also lit up, but even less bright than its predecessor had.

"When it comes to generosity, you are obviously just mediocrity," Celestia stated.

She had way too much fun with this.

"Strange, I've always been generous sending bolts to the enemies of mankind," Antonius quipped.

Celestia did not laugh now.

"Now, kindness," she said quickly.

About the same result as generosity. The Element though he was kind in some way?
Antonius thought about everything he had done on this planet, especially accepting to take care of Stormy. Damned, that thing was probably right.

"Laughter," Celestia announced.

The least bright Element up to now.

"Too bad," Pinkie said sadly,
"you don't seem to like fun."

"Maybe the Element and I just have different definitions of fun," Antonius pointed out.

"Okay, now for the last Element: The Element of Magic!" Celestia declared.

Antonius was sure about this result: No light, no glow, nothing. He wasn't a psyker, let alone a pony psyker, after all.
He was very surprised as the Element proved him wrong: A faint glow, not very bright, but undeniably a glow.

"Huh?!? Your Element must be broken. I am absolutely sure I do not have any magic!" he stated.

"Well," Twilight began to speak,
"you have formed friendships here, and - as everypony knows - friendship is magic!"

"WHAT???"

Oh, damnit. This insight was... worrying, to say the least.

"Do you mean by befriending me, you corrupted me with your magic?" Antonius asked.

"We did not 'corrupt' you" Twilight told him indignantly,
"this magic you dislike so much is the spark of friendship you feel when you realize that you like and care for somepony."

"All right, all right - can I get it out somehow?"

"Antonius," Luna said reassuringly,
"I swear that you did not get 'corrupted', and there is no need to 'get something out'.
Here in Equestria, friendship and magic are closely interconnected. The Element of Magic just detects the feeling of friendship inside you, and that's nothing bad. Or do you now think our friendship to be abominable?"

Antonius took a deep breath. The Element of Magic had reacted to him. There was equestrian magic somewhere inside him. But this magic was apparently nothing he would call magic, but rather friendship, which was - for some strange reasons - the same around here.
Whoa.
He really wished he had a librarian at hand to check him for corruption, but there was none.
Now, he had to make a decision: Would he trust the ponies and live with this friendship/magic, or would he not be able to do that? He thought about his self-imposed mission concerning the Elements and about the threat the ponies could possibly pose with their magic.
Well, he had been willing to make use of their healing magic and of the Elements of Harmony. He was already dealing with their magic, he even planned to use it for mankind. This friendship/magic inside him was just another step down that road - even if it really was magic.
In the worst case, it would cost his life and the contact of humans to ponies had to be severely restricted or forbidden. Not too high a price for the continued existence of mankind and the destruction of Chaos.
Perhaps, it was not magic, just friendship, and he had already justified befriending them - at least to himself.

Antonius looked at Luna. He could see her concealed tension and a tad of insecurity in her eyes.

"I am proud of our friendship, Luna," he finally said.

Luna relaxed again immediately.

"I'd need a much better - or worse - reason to contest it. If friendship here is actually magic, I will also survive that," he added with a smile.

"Your sense of humor is a bit weird at times," Twilight stated.

"Thank you," Antonius answered.

"Antonius, before we part for today, I have a request," Celestia said,
"now that you are a part of our society, the ponies of Equestria should get to know more about you and your species. Could you please write down the history of mankind? The important parts at least? We will copy your writings and make them publically available."

"Of course, good idea."

"Well, I think we are done. I'll retire now. Good night."

"Retiring is an excellent idea. We should savor our last night in Canterlot with a prolonged beauty sleep!" Rarity smiled.

"I wouldn't call that 'savor', but going to bed sure is a fine idea," Applejack opined.

So, everyone bid goodnight and retired, while Luna got ready for her duties. Stormy took place on Antonius' pauldron and they left the throne room.
Once in their quarters, they got ready for the night and went to bed. This time, Stormy chose Antonius' cushion as a resting place, her back against his cheek. Antonius had to smile. It was strange, but he could really get used to that.

Luna decided to pay her sister a visit. She entered her chambers just as she wanted to go to bed.

"Hello, Luna. Is there something you want to talk about?" Celestia asked.

"Yes, I wanted to thank you for making me win my bet," Luna smiled.

"Luna, that was not funny. Have you seen that? Incredible!"

"Indeed. He was able to lift you."

"Luna! Not funny! This fight was a frightening experience! He did not even give me a chance to breath. And his strength!
Really, if he was evil, we would be in serious trouble."

"But he is not evil."

"No, he isn't. He is martial, and he sometimes shows a quite crude sense of humor, but he is not evil."

"What gave you the idea to test him with the Elements?"

"You know, Luna, Antonius is something like the embodiment of war, the opposite to our peaceful philosophy. I was just curious how the Elements would react to him."

"I'd say they reacted quite positive."

"Yes, they did. Fascinating, isn't it? Despite all our differences, the qualities we value most are present in mankind, present in this warrior."