"Are we there yet?"

"No, Stormy," Antonius said,
"it took us quite a few hours to travel from Coltport to Canterlot, remember? How could the way back be faster to travel?"

"Tailwind?" Stormy suggested.

Antonius looked at Luna, who snickered.

"That is indeed a possibility," she smiled,
"unfortunately, it's not the case. We're about halfway to Coltport at the moment."

"It's boring," Stormy complained.

"We left it to you to choose if you wanted to join us, and you wanted to. Coltport is quite far away, at least if you travel by chariot," Antonius explained.

"Do you know any better ways to travel, Lord Commander?" one of the pegasi who pulled the chariot asked a bit offended.

"None that are at our disposal at the moment. I know you are by far the fastest transport available. Just... keep up the good work?"

The pegasus nodded, obviously content.

They were en route to pay Moonlight and Blackwing a visit and have a look at the reconstruction efforts at Hope. None of this was actual work for an Astartes, but Antonius still thought it to be a good idea; it showed that he cared for the ponies who had suffered from Chaos.

He had finished the maintenance of the Land Speeder during the last couple of days, of course interrupted by visits to Ponyville. The combustion engine Celestia and Twilight had built with his help was also ready and just waiting for a promethium replacement. The ponies' attempts so far to create a working fuel had not been successful, but they were optimistic and kept trying new formulas.

Furthermore, the first draft on the history of mankind was also already written. Of course there was still a lot to do, but he could take a few days 'off' for this mission.

"Are we there yet?" Stormy asked again.

"You're doing that just to annoy me, right?" Antonius asked.

"Yep," Stormy grinned.

Antonius sighed, turned to Luna and asked exasperatedly:

"Are we there yet?"

They arrived at Coltport a few hours later, in the middle of the afternoon.

"Guards," Luna said as she jumped out of the chariot,
"thank you for flying us here. Take our luggage to the hotel, then you are relieved of duty for today. Tomorrow morning, we'll fly to Hope. Be ready to leave in the morning. Dismissed."

The guards bowed, fetched the luggage and left. Luna fetched the 'get well'-present she had brought from Canterlot and turned to Antonius and Stormy:

"Okay, you two, let's go to the hospital."

When they entered Moonlight's room, they were immediately greeted by her and Blackwing.

"How do you feel?" Luna asked her.

"Not that bad," Moonlight answered,
"I'm still a bit weak and the wound hurts sometimes, but considering my injuries, I'm feeling surprisingly fine."

Luna sighed.

"I'm sorry this has happened to you at all, Moonlight. As your commander, I should..."

"It wasn't your fault, Princess. It was my decision, and I would do it again to help save somepony. Anyway, I try to see the positive side of this: I've lost some weight."

Huh? Well, Moonlight's humor was really peerless.

"What would you say if we did something to counter that? I've brought a fine cake from Canterlot!" Luna smiled and showed her an ice box that was among the things she had brought here.

Moonlight's face fell a bit.

"I'm sorry, Princess. I would like to, but I'm afraid I'm not allowed to. I was put on a strict diet due to my injuries."

"Oh, that's a pity. For how long?"

"The rest of my life."

Considering the damage she had taken, that was not too surprising. For a sweets-loving pony, that was probably a really annoying restriction, though. Antonius realized that he only knew about Moonlight's general condition, but nothing specific.

"I'm sorry, Moonlight. How inconsiderate of me," Luna said apologetically.

"You had no chance of knowing. I still appreciate the gift. Hey, Blacky, could you see if you find some dishes and stuff? I can't eat the cake, but you four can."

"Okay, I can try to get some," Blackwing answered.

"Can I help you?" Stormy asked.

"Of course. Just hop on my back. Can you make a pleading face?"

Stormy gave him puppy-dog eyes.

"Excellent! They will surely give us what we want. Now, let's go," he said and left the room with Stormy.

Moonlight looked after them, a sad smile on her face.

"He would have been a good father, if only I hadn't married him..."

Huh? What the...?

"'Would have been'?" Antonius asked.

Moonlight nodded.

"Please pull back my blanket," she said.

Well, now it got weird.

"Shouldn't you do that yourself?" he suggested.

"Can't."

Hmm... now that he thought about it, Moonlight had really not moved a lot since he had entered the room. Perhaps her condition was more severe than he had thought? Well, there was only one way to find out, so he carefully started folding the blanket back. He saw the upper part of her scar and...

"Restraints? Why did they put you in restraint? Did you try to elope or what?" he asked confusedly.

"No, of course not," Moonlight answered,
"the restraints prevent me from accidentally rupturing my belly with my hooves when I have a seizure."

Seizure? Well, she had more or less been gutted, after all...

"In addition to that there is a bite block in the bowl next to you. Luckily, I don't need it anymore. I don't like that thing, but it prevented me from biting my tongue or ruining my teeth during the first few days."

Hmm... it seemed the worst part of being wounded was the convalescence. Antonius silently thanked the Emperor for his advanced physique.

"Could you please continue now?" Moonlight asked,
"although I have to admit that this is going to be a little embarrassing - especially for me."

Antonius finished folding back the blanket.

The scar looked as if some madman had tried to cut her in two - which was, in fact, exactly what had happened. It started near the end of her ribcage and ended under her tail. The fur around the scar was gone, as was the pony-typical skin fold. Everything that had once been underneath it was barely recognizable anymore, too.

"Oh dear," Luna whispered, then she quickly added:
"I mean, it's not that bad..."

"I'm mutilated, Princess," Moonlight said sadly,
"I know that. But it's even worse. My internal injuries... I'll never be able to have a baby..."

Moonlight was crying now and Luna and Antonius were silent.
Usually, as an Astartes, he went from battle to battle, from one fray into another. He had never had to deal with the aftermath of those battles, at least on such a... personal scale. What should he say? What could you say to a little pony whose family-planning had ended in the trash - probably quite literally?

Fortunately, Luna was better at this than he was. She took a tissue from a nearby table, dried Moonlight's tears and nuzzled her.

"Thank you, Princess," Moonlight said quietly,
"I think I still need some time to..."

She did not finish the sentence, but stared straightforward with a almost panicked expression. In addition to that, the fur on her belly started bristling.

"Here it comes again..."

A few seconds later, Moonlight tensed, bucked in her restraints and whimpered miserably. Antonius had seen a lot of things, but he had to admit that her agonies made him feel somewhat... uneasy.

What were his experiences with pain? As an Astartes, he knew that it was just an illusion of the senses.
Well, during his implantation process, this illusion had been quite real, but after that, pain had become more annoying than debilitating. Now that he thought about it, his arrival on this planet had been the first time he had actually been seriously impaired by that feeling since he had become an Ultramarine, as he had only suffered minor injuries during his service.
Of course ponies were more sensitive.

The seizure lasted a few seconds, then Moonlight relaxed again.

"Moonlight, how often do you have such seizures?" Luna asked worriedly.

"Two or three times a day. Have become rarer and less intense compared to the first few days," Moonlight answered.

"Can't they give you something to ease the pain?"

"Not without turning me into a drooling pudding. No, thank you, I prefer the pain."

Well, that mare definitely had some courage, but Antonius already knew that.

"Could you please take the restraints off me now?" she asked.

"Sorry, but don't you... sort of... still need them?" he asked back.

"Well, you are partially right. I do need them, but now I've got at least six hours to the next seizure. That's all concerted with Doctor Cure."

Antonius and Luna freed her and she carefully covered herself with the blanket again.

When Blackwing and Stormy returned a short time later, they brought the dishes they had looked for with them. Moonlight was behaving as if nothing had happened since they had left. The cake was divided and they ate and chatted. Moonlight could not resist and took a single bite.

About half an hour later, Rapid Cure entered the room.

"Hello Princess Luna, hello Antonius, Moonlight, Blackwing and last but not least, Stormy," he greeted,
"sorry for coming only now, but I was a little busy. So, Moonlight, how are you feeling?"

"Quite good, thanks."

Luna eyed her a bit skeptically.

"Any seizures?" the doctor asked.

"One, about half an hour ago."

Rapid Cure nodded. Luna did so, too, albeit almost imperceptibly.

"Seizures?" Stormy asked worriedly.

"Yeah, but don't worry. It sounds worse than it is," Moonlight immediately assured her - you could also say: lied to her.

"Stormy, would you like to stay with Moonlight and Blackwing for a while as Antonius and I have a little chat with the doctor?" Luna asked.

"Okay, Princess," Stormy answered,
"are you going to talk about grown-up stuff?"

"Indeed," Luna said and left the room.

Antonius and Rapid Cure followed. As the door was closed, Luna turned to Rapid Cure:

"Doctor, tell us honestly about Moonlight's condition."

Rapid Cure cleared his voice and started talking:

"Considering what she has gone through, she is in surprisingly good shape. I guess you are concerned about the seizures. They started the night after you had left. I have to admit that I have never seen such severe seizures before. We even had to restrain her to prevent her from accidentally hurting herself. In addition to that, we drugged her up, but we had to use a pretty heavy dose. We could not sustain that level, however, since it would have harmed her. Thankfully, she preferred a lighter dose, even if that meant that she had to endure some pain."

"Will those seizures remain?"

"Possible. They're becoming less frequent, but I can't exclude that she will continue having them from time to time. At the moment, Moonlight has her peace for at least five and a half hours."

"Are you sure you have excised all of the tainted tissue?" Antonius asked.

"Definitely. One-hundred percent. Just as you told us. Still, it was a very severe wound. Such effects are not too surprising, but the intensity is unheard of. Well, we never had such a daemonic wound before."

"I guess you don't have experts in daemonic wounds?"

Rapid cure let out a mirthless laugh.

"Our expert in daemonic wounds is standing right in front of you."

"I thought your knowledge of that kind of wounds was limited to this case and what I told you... oh, I think I get it."

"Exactly. These few sparks of knowledge and experience make me the expert, at least in comparison. Pretty ridiculous, hmm?"

Damnit, the doctor needed a moral boost.

"I'm sure you're doing your best, and since Moonlight obviously is on the road to recovery, I think you are really doing a good job," Antonius told him.

"I certainly hope so," Rapid Cure replied.

"Thank you for your honesty," Luna said,
"let's go back in now."

They went back into Moonlight's room. Rapid Cure did a quick examination of her and left to continue his medical round.

They stayed there and kept Moonlight and Blackwing company until it was time for dinner, then Luna, Antonius and Stormy said goodbye and left the hospital.

"I wonder if they have any nice restaurants here," Luna wondered,
"well, let's check in at the hotel at first, then we can have a look."

They entered the hotel and found a familiar mare at the reception desk.

"Hello and welcome to the Coltport Inn! What can I do for... Princess Luna! It's a honor to have you here in our humble hotel!" she greeted.

Antonius had a feeling of déjà vu.

"I also greet you, Lord Commander Varus, as well as Stormy Skies," she continued.

Well, that was new.

"We've been expecting you. Your luggage and the filly's is already in your room. It's the same as when you last visited us. This time, however, we have another free room for the Lord Commander."

Luna turned to Antonius:

"Do you want a room of your own?"

"Not necessarily," he answered.

Luna turned back to the reception mare:

"One room is enough for us. Feel free to rent out the second one to somepony else."

"Oh? I mean, as you wish, Princess. May I show you your room now?"

"We would appreciate that. By the way, can you recommend a local restaurant?"

"Well, we don't have any fancy restaurants here. If you'd be willing to accept more 'down-to-earth' food, you can eat here. It would be a pleasure for me to prepare a table for you."

"Thank you. Please do that."

"How many ponies?"

"Well, the three of us," Luna told her a bit confused.

"Oh, of course! Your table will be ready in a few minutes!"

The mare left and Luna turned to Stormy:

"Okay, Stormy, now let's wash up and then there will be dinner!"

A few minutes later they were sitting around a table in the hotel's dining room. A stallion approached them with the menus. The choice of meals was not too big, but certainly interesting- at least if you liked grass-based food. So that was what the reception mare had meant with 'down to earth'.

"A daffodil and daisy sandwich sounds quite nice, don't you think?" Luna asked Antonius.

"Well, not really. I prefer my flowers to be processed by animals... and I mean to meat!"

"I don't think you will get meat here. Not enough non-pony tourists."

"Right. Now, I guess bread and cheese will work, too."

After dinner, they returned to their room.

"Now, what are we going to do with the rest of the day?" Luna asked,
"any ideas, Stormy?"

"No, not really," the little mare told them, but she looked a bit uncomfortable while doing so.

"Is something wrong, Stormy?"

"No, no... well, about tomorrow..."

"Yes?"

"Umm... I don't want to return to my old town. It's... creepy."

Well, her feelings were kind of understandable - from her point of view. After everything that had happened to her there...
Suddenly, Antonius got an idea.

"Stormy, would you like to stay with Moonlight and Blackwing at the hospital?"

"May I?"

"I don't see any obstacles to that. You, Luna?"

"No, not at all. I'm sure they will enjoy your company," Luna agreed.

"Then," Stormy smiled,
"I will stay with them. And now, we could play the board game I brought!"

Aha, another crushing defeat was imminent.

After the gaming session they got ready for the night. Luna and Stormy took the bed, Antonius sat down next to it. The filly had her parasprite in her hooves and had cuddled up to Luna.
Then, something happened that surprised Antonius: Luna started humming, then quietly singing some sort of lullaby. While Stormy fell asleep quickly, Antonius was downright mesmerized by the sound and stared at Luna. Even his own breathing seemed rasp and downright disruptive compared to that.

Luna noticed that she had become the center of his attention and smiled at him.

"Is something wrong?" she asked gently.

"No," Antonius quickly assured her,
"everything is fine."

"Don't you have songs and music in your Imperium?"

"Of course we have songs - of great deeds, and also other kinds of music."

"And what kind of music do you listen to?"

"Does the thundering of bolters and the roaring of chainswords count?"

Luna made a face.

"Not really, no. That's not music."

Antonius shrugged.

"That depends on your definition of music. It certainly has some rhythm."

"I think I like our music better."

"Hmm... it probably is better. I am not a musician, really not, but I have to say, I like your singing. It's... how should I phrase it... somehow... beautiful."

Luna blushed a bit as she said

"Thank you,"

then she grinned broadly:

"Do you want a lullaby, too?"

This idea was so strange that Antonius had to chuckle.

"No, thank you. I might take you up on that later."

The next day, after breakfast, they visited Moonlight and Blackwing again. The batpony mare welcomed them with a broad smile, but again without waving.

"You seem to be in a good mood, Moonlight," Luna said,
"are you feeling better?"

"Hmm," Moonlight answered,
"the seizure is already a few hours overdue. They are really getting rarer."

"Glad to hear that, Moonlight."

Now, Luna turned to her and Blackwing.

"Antonius and I are going to visit Hope today. Would the two of you take care of Stormy until we are back?"

The batponies were all smiles.

"Of course!" they answered with one voice.

Now that Stormy was in Moonlight's and Blackwing's care, Antonius and Luna said goodbye and boarded their chariot. Hope was waiting.

When they arrived there, they circled it once before landing on the market square. The reconstruction work had made great progress; almost all of the bolt impact craters and scorch marks were gone. Now, the ponies were busy replacing the upper layer of the ground with fresh, untainted earth.

As they touched ground, a pegasus mare they were already familiar with came to meet them.

"Princess Luna, Lord Commander Varus, it's an honor that you visit us," she greeted while bowing,
"in place of all the citizens of Hope, I want to thank you for your heroism."

"Hello... Gentle Breeze, right?" Luna replied.

"Yes, Princess," Gentle Breeze smiled and got up again,
"I'm glad I can tell you we're making great progress here!"

"We have already seen some of it. Really, good work. The inhabitants of Hope can be proud."

"Thank you, Princess Luna. Might I ask how Moonlight is doing?"

"She is on the road to recovery. Do you know her personally?"

"No, Princess. I just know her from the newspaper. I would like to meet her in person, though, and thank her for her effort, too. How is Stormy Skies doing?"

"She is fine. She is with Moonlight and Blackwing at the moment."

"Glad to hear that. I knew her family. They really were nice ponies."

After a moment of silence, Gentle Breeze continued:

"Well, I could show you around, if you'd like to."

"Please do that."

So they walked through Hope and Luna talked with multiple ponies and inquired about the status of the reconstruction. Antonius stayed in the background and let his 'superior' conduct the conversations. The only time he had to take a more active part was when they discussed how to get rid of the tainted soil; they agreed on using a mixture of fire and magic to get rid of the taint and then put it into a special dumpsite. The ponies obviously were just as unwilling as Antonius to take any risks.

After getting an overview of the work still to be done, the visitors spent a large part of the day helping where they could. Luna carried on an impressive workload with her magic while Antonius' contribution consisted mostly of work suitable for load servitors.

When they prepared to leave in the late afternoon, Gentle Breeze turned to them once again:

"Excuse me, but may I come with you to Coltport? To thank Moonlight?"

"Of course, get your luggage and come back as soon as possible," Luna answered.

"Thank you! I'll be back in a minute!"

Gentle Breeze came back with her saddlebags a few minutes later. They boarded the chariot, took off and headed back to Coltport.

The sun was already setting when they arrived there. They immediately went to the hospital to visit Moonlight and Blackwing and take care of Stormy again. When they opened the door to Moonlight's room, they saw that Moonlight was already sleeping, and she was not the only one: Stormy was also asleep, snuggled to her right front leg. Blackwing was sitting on a chair, but his head was lying on Moonlight's bed. Sleeping pony number three.

"Pity. I wish I had a camera," Luna snickered.

"No problem," Gentle Breeze said, took out a camera and made one of the most adorable photos ever taken.

"I want prints," Luna stated.

"No problem," the pegasus replied with a smile.

"Should we wake them up or let them sleep?" Antonius asked.

"There is no use in waking Stormy up just to put her to bed in the hotel. I think we should let them sleep - if the doctor agrees that is," Luna answered.

They silently closed the door again and looked for Rapid Cure.

When they found him, Luna asked:

"Doctor Cure, we just visited Moonlight and noticed that she has fallen asleep, just like Blackwing and Stormy. Can we let them sleep or should we take Stormy with us?"

"Hmm, I've seen that. You may let them sleep," he answered,
"they certainly need a good night's rest. You don't need to worry about Moonlight's seizures, either. She had one about an hour ago and fell asleep shortly thereafter. Now, there are at least seven hours until the next one. I'll still have a nurse look after her regularly."

"Seizures?" Gentle Breeze asked worriedly.

"Yes... Gentle Breeze, right? We examined you when you took refuge here."

"Right, Doctor."

"You don't need to worry about the seizures. They are becoming less frequent."

"Thank Celestia."

Luna cleared her voice at that.

"I'm sorry, Princess," Gentle Breeze quickly apologized,
"it's just an expression."

"Never mind," Luna replied.

"Well," Antonius opined,
"as it stands, we can retire. If Stormy wakes up and wants to come to us, please make sure that she is taken to the hotel."

"No Problem, Lord Varus," Rapid Cure said.

Antonius, Luna and Gentle Breeze now went to the hotel. After dinner, the pegasus mare got the vacant room that had originally been provided for Antonius and he and Luna also retired to their room.

"Look, Stormy has left her parasprite here," Luna told Antonius.

"Well, she has Moonlight and Blackwing to cuddle. Should be enough of a substitute," Antonius opined.

"I hope you don't need a substitute for Stormy," Luna smiled.

"Huh?"

"Well, you two have spent the last weeks together. This is your first night without her. Don't you miss her?"

Antonius thought about that. Did he miss Stormy?

"Hmm," he said thoughtfully,
"perhaps a little bit... weird..."

"Not weird at all. I haven't spent as much time with her as you have and yet, I have to admit that I also miss her a bit... I wonder if that's what parents feel once their children have left the house..."

"Umm... we are not really her parents, Luna."

"No, we are not, but we have taken care of her. That makes us some kind of surrogate parents, especially you."

Antonius did not respond. This idea was... he actually had no words to describe it.

"Well... I see myself more as some sort of bodyguard... plus some cuddles..." he finally said.

Luna smiled.

"You are much more than a bodyguard. By the way, how do you estimate Stormy's progress? Has she overcome her traumatization yet?"

"Perhaps not entirely, but she's on a very good way. She likes to spend the days with the Cutie Mark Crusaders and is quite independent. It's really astounding how fast you ponies recover."

"Then, it may be time to reintroduce her to a more 'normal' day. Do you think we can send her to school?"

"Oh, you think she is not already traumatized enough?" Antonius grinned.

Luna stared at him and asked disbelievingly:

"Tony, seriously, what kind of schools do you have in that Imperium of yours?"

"That was supposed to be a joke. I think she can handle school. If we are wrong, we can abort this attempt at any time."

"You think that could be necessary?"

"I just like to be prepared for any kind of outcome."

"Then, we should look for a suitable school for Stormy once we are back in Canterlot."

"Agreed."

The next morning, Antonius and Luna checked out and together with Gentle Breeze they visited Moonlight again. Rapid Cure was also present.
After the pegasus mare had thanked the batponies and some more rather casual talk, it got time for the visitors from Canterlot to part.

"Well, Moonlight, Blackwing, we are going to leave now," Luna said,
"I hope you will get well soon."

"I think I will," Moonlight said with a smile and turned to Rapid Cure,
"but let's ask the expert."

"Your convalescence is making good progress," the doctor told them,
"if no complications arise, you will be home by Heart's Warming."

"That's good to hear," Luna said,
"now, Stormy, ready to leave?"

"I need to pack my things," Stormy stated.

"Already done," Antonius told her.

"Calgy?"

"Packed, in the chariot and ready to travel."

"Then..." she said and turned to the batponies,
"goodbye, Moonlight, Blackwing. It was fun being with you!"

"Likewise, Stormy," Moonlight and Blackwing smiled.

After saying goodbye, Antonius, Luna and Stormy boarded their chariot and headed back to Canterlot.