The next morning, Antonius entered the small kitchen the princesses commonly used. They were not there, though. He had not yet seen them this day at all, he had been alone. Stormy was in Ponyville, she would return this afternoon.

It had actually been the first time since Hope that he had been the only one in the room where he had slept. In fact, he had gotten so used to sharing his room with a pony that he had almost said goodnight, despite the fact that no one except him had been present!

So that was what happened when you pulled a Space Marine out of his wars and put him into a world full of friendly little alien ponies. He 'got used' to them. As strange and uncommon as this might sound, it was not the worst reaction he could imagine.

Usually, when he made decisions, lives were at stake. Now, the only decision he had to make was what he would like to have for breakfast.
Oatmeal? Toast? Cereal?
Antonius thought of the old Ultramarine proverb 'Making war is easy. Making choices is not.' and chuckled. Whoever had come up with this, he certainly had not expected it to be used in such a situation. It was still somewhat applicable, though.
Toast.

He grabbed two slices of bread and put them into the toaster. Thankfully, it was electric, not magic. He did not like the idea of magic-irradiated breakfast.
Antonius made sure if there was a litany of toasting or something like that inscribed into the device, but finding none, he just pushed the little lever down.
Let the toasting commence!

In the meantime, he fetched a plate for his toasts, as well as butter and strawberry jam. He would have preferred something a bit more savory, but thanks to the ponies having a sweet tooth, such things were quite rare around here.

When the toaster finally had done its work, the thing ejected the slices of bread with enough force to shoot them into the air. As they reached their apex, they suddenly got incinerated, and the only thing that reached the table was ash.
Antonius stared at the toaster.
What?
Did this thing have a malfunction? Alien technology surely did not have a machine spirit he had to placate?

Well, the best course of action was probably to repeat the process, so Antonius took two new slices of bread and put them into the toaster. This time, he kept an eye on the device, but it was no use. The toasts flew out of the thing and burned to ashes again.
Damnit.
Cereal? Cereal.

He put away his not-breakfast and fetched the cereal and milk. He put them into a bowl, and much to his confusion, the stuff started burning.
Antonius looked at the little bonfire he involuntarily had created and muttered:
"Hmm... I really hope this is, in fact, unusual. Even around here."

Then, he heard a barely suppressed chuckle. He immediately turned towards the noise and saw... nothing.
No, 'nothing' could not chuckle. He strained his eyes and was able to recognize something like a faint shadow, barely visible, but there nevertheless.

"Okay," he said sternly,
"either you show yourself or you'll get a flaming cereal meteor into your face."

Now, the shadow vanished and was replaced by... Luna and Celestia. Both were laughing.

"Gotcha!" they shouted.

"Huh?" Antonius replied.

"The prank, remember?" Luna smiled,
"How did you like it? It was funny, wasn't it?"

"You destroyed four perfectly good slices of bread and some cereal."

Luna looked disappointed.

"So you didn't like it?"

"Well, it certainly was unexpected, and nobody got put into hibernation. So I guess it wasn't bad. The only downside of your prank is that I'm still hungry."

"Don't worry," Celestia said,
"I'll make breakfast for us."

Having said that, she got busy and a short time later, three servings of pancakes, garnished with fruit, were ready to be eaten.

"So you don't only know fabrication processes, you can also cook," Antonius commented.

"Yeah," Celestia answered,
"I really enjoy cooking. It's a small way to say I care - or in this case, I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I suggest we three do a training session right after breakfast, if you are not too busy."

"Well, okay, but we have to make it short."

"I'm also fine with it," Luna added, then she continued with a smile:
"You will like the warming up Antonius and I discussed yesterday, sister."

Celestia gave her a skeptical look, but did not reply. Instead, she turned to Antonius:

"Apropos 'yesterday': I wanted to talk to you about the promethium replacement, but then I got... distracted. Now, you said your promethium is extracted from the atmosphere of gas giants?"

"Yes," Antonius answered,
"that's a possible source."

"I think we should discontinue our attempts to use the lamp oil and switch to other substances used for making our weather. A little transfiguration magic could give us what we need."

Antonius raised an eyebrow.

"Magic fuel? Well, I mustn't be picky at the moment. Do whatever you deem useful. We will see if the machine spirits accept your fuel."

"Okay. In the morning, I have some duties. Twilight, Spike and myself will start after lunch. You are welcome to join us."

"I'll be there. By the way, where are they?"

"They had an very early breakfast and are in the library at the moment. Twilight wanted to do some research and dragged Spike along. He did not look especially well rested," Celestia snickered.

Once the breakfast was eaten, Luna, Celestia and Antonius went to the throne room. Servants brought the princesses' equipment and left again, leaving the room devoid of ponies, so that the three of them could train without disruption.

"Okay, sister, you start," Luna smiled.

Celestia nodded, took off her regalia and was just about to put on her armor as Luna stopped her:

"Not so hasty, my dear sister. First, the warming up! Antonius, could you please get into position for the stretching?"

Luna could barely hold back a giggle as she imagined the look on her sister's face during the warming up. She was not disappointed. Celestia's expression as Antonius grabbed her leg and pulled it upwards was hilarious!

"Umm, just don't rip my leg off, okay?" she asked.

"You two really are sisters," Antonius said flatly and continued the stretching exercise.

Some time later, and much to Luna's astonishment, Celestia's expression changed. The funny mixture of bafflement and a little embarrassment was replaced by a more content one.

"And? What do you think of the stretching?," she asked.

"Well," Celestia admitted,
"I find this treatment to be quite pleasant."

Celestia could not prevent herself from grinning. She had seen through Luna's little ploy. Bringing her into this slightly embarrassing situation was her revenge for the false accusations and the teasing.

Now, Celestia had to admit that she wasn't used to somepony handling her that way, but as soon as that feeling had passed, it was actually quite nice. Her muscles needed some pampering as she barely had an opportunity to really use them, so she enjoyed the treatment.
Some minutes later, it was Luna's turn, so they changed places.

When the warming up was done, the princesses put on their armor. Antonius, however, made no sign of going to his quarters to do the same.

"Huh? Don't you want to put on your armor?" Luna asked him.

"I don't think that will be necessary. And if you don't mind, I'd like to use your swords, too. I want to get used to your weapons."

Hmm, without his armor and a familiar sword, Antonius should lose his superiority. This was, at least, what Celestia hoped.
She was disabused from this misconception as soon as they started fighting. He was not as ridiculously strong anymore, but it was still enough to give her a hard time. He hit her armor more than just once and gave her a lot of advice on how to improve.

Despite his helpful manner, Celestia was happy when her turn was over. Sword fighting was more Luna's thing, after all. She gave her sword to Antonius, who had given back Luna's sword.
Much to Celestia's surprise, Luna took off her armor and stated:

"If you don't use your armor, I won't use mine, either. My sword is everything I need."

The two started the exercise.
Celestia watched in astonishment. Their fight was almost a dance of blades, completely different from her own 'lesson'. She had to admit that her little sister's technique was better than her own.

After some time, they stopped fighting and Luna smiled:

"A great fight! We are more on an equal hoofing if you don't use your armor."

"The gap has shrunken a bit, that's true," Antonius agreed and returned Celestia's sword,
"I'd like to get a training sword of my own, so that I neither have to use my chainsword nor borrow yours all the time."

"That's no problem," Celestia told him,
"I'll tell our weaponsmiths to forge one for you."

"Thank you."

"Now, after our training," Luna started,
"how about a little massage before I go to bed?"

Celestia raised an eyebrow.

"Who would have thought that my little sister would become a fan of such treatments?"

"Jelly, Cellie?" Luna smiled back.

"There's no need for that," Antonius stated,
"since the massages are part of the training, you are also entitled to request them."

Huh? A massage from Antonius?
Now Celestia was baffled - but also curious. According to Luna, he was quite good, but at the moment, she had no time for such activities.

"Thank you for the offer, but now I just want to take a quick shower and then start doing my duties," she said,
"I'd like to schedule a massage for this evening, before I go to bed. Is that okay?"

"Sure. Stormy will be back by then, but I think I can leave her alone for a few minutes. She's become pretty independent already, after all."

"Okay. See you again in the afternoon, then."

Antonius and Luna went to Luna's quarters, where the princess got her treatment. Once he was done, he said goodbye and went to the library.

Twilight was sitting at a table, reading, while Spike was rummaging the shelves.

"Oh, hello Antonius," they greeted.

"Hello. Celestia told me you're doing research here," Antonius said.

"Oh, yes," Twilight told him,
"there are lots of transfiguration spells that might prove to be useful. Most of them are pretty advanced, but I'm sure there's nothing Princess Celestia can't handle.
Just as important, however, is the substance we use them on. According to my research, I think rainbow-fluid might be the best substance to start with."

Antonius raised an eyebrow.

"Rainbow-fluid? Eww. Does that mean you want to juice her?"

"What? No! This 'rainbow-fluid' - with a small 'r' - is a liquid we use to create rainbows. It has nothing to do with Rainbow Dash. I already sent a message to Cloudsdale to send us a few canisters. It should arrive by noon."

"Hmm... I'm actually relieved to hear that. While the thought of wringing Rainbow out is somewhat compelling, I think it'd be a bit... harsh."

"You're still angry at her?"

"I won't hurt her."

"That does not answer my question, does it?"

"Well, of course I'm still a bit angry, but I'm giving her the chance to prove that she has a humble, non-mischievous side."

"Good luck with that," Twilight deadpanned.

Antonius grinned. He knew all too well that humility wasn't one of Rainbow's strengths.

"Now that I'm here, can I help you somehow?" he asked.

"No, thank you. I already have Spike to help me," Twilight answered.

"Does this library contain any books about military tactics, battles and wars?"

"Yes, I suggest you should start with the history of the EUP, that's Earth-, Unicorn-, Pegasus-Guard. They were the predecessors of the Royal Guard and the Wonderbolts. You can find the book over there."

Antonius started browsing the library. He started with the book Twilight had suggested and continued with others that had somewhat military titles.
Unfortunately, those books were all more historical than tactical. Well, at least he got an idea of the ponies' relationship to war - they barely had one. There had been border clashes with griffons, and a siege from some sort of shadow-creatures - he decided to inquire about them later - but no prolonged, all-out war.

He spent the entire morning in the library, then he, Twilight and Spike met with Celestia for lunch.
When they were done, Antonius asked:

"Tia, I read that Canterlot was attacked by shadow-creatures a few decades ago. What do you know about them?"

Celestia sighed:

"Almost nothing; they came without warning and besieged us. We managed to push them back, and they crawled into the shadows that formed them and vanished. To ensure the safety of my ponies, I founded the School for Gifted Unicorns after that."

Hmm... minions of Chaos or some other local enemy? Antonius could not be sure, but he would keep those attackers in mind.

Now, they picked up the rainbow-fluid that had arrived in the meantime and went to the armorium. Once there, they started experimenting. They filled the fluid - that was actually rainbow-colored - into small bowls, then Celestia and Twilight used various spells on them. At last, they ignited samples of the treated fluids and watched what happened. Spike carefully took notes and Antonius tried to describe the exact properties of promethium as well as he could.

They continued their work until it was time for Antonius to pick up Stormy. He said goodbye and took a chariot to Ponyville. They landed near Sweet Apple Acres and Antonius approached the farm. Applejack immediately greeted him:

"Hello, Antonius! Here to pick up Stormy, aren't you?"

"Exactly," he answered,
"is she here?"

"No. I think she, my sister and their friends are still in their clubhouse. I'll lead you there."

So they crossed the orchard until they reached a small treehouse with a ramp leading up to it.

"Hello? Anypony there?" Applejack called.

A few seconds later, the four fillies appeared.

"Hi, sis," Apple Bloom said,
"hello, Antonius. Is it time already?"

"Yes. Time for Stormy to return to Canterlot," he answered with a smile.

Antonius, Applejack and the Cutie Mark Crusaders started walking back to the farm. The fillies were chatting and laughing all the time. It was really nice to see that Stormy has found such good friends. It was a pity that she had to leave.
She would probably have liked to stay for longer, or spend her whole time in Ponyville, but neither could Antonius leave her there, nor could he move to the town. He had promised to take care of her, but he could not abandon his other duties. Tomorrow, the training of the PDF would begin; he had to be present.

When they had reached the chariot, Antonius and Stormy said goodbye and boarded it. On their way back to Canterlot, Antonius asked:

"And, Stormy? Did you like the Sleep-over?"

"Yeah!" the little mare shouted,
"it was totally awesome!"

Then she started telling him what they had done. Most of those things were quite weird, but some actually made sense - sort of. Suddenly, after a short pause, Stormy asked:

"Antonius, am I weird?"

"What? No! Why do you ask?"

"We met two other fillies, and they said that I was weird."

Antonius suppressed the spike of anger he felt and asked:

"Two fillies? Who were they?"

"You won't throw them out of a window, will you?"

"No, probably not."

He could still kick them into low orbit...

"Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon," Stormy told him.

"Aha. And why did those two..."
...brats...
"... fillies think that you were weird?"

"They said that I was the only pony who was taken care of by an alien."

Grmpf... 'alien'...

"Well, that's technically true, but that doesn't make you weird, just special."

"I'd rather like to be normal. But I don't want to leave you!" Stormy quickly added.

Hmm... Antonius wanted Stormy to be able to live a normal pony life. Strangely, those two fillies were not entirely wrong. In a way, he prevented himself from achieving his goal. He should talk to Luna about that.

"Don't worry, Stormy," Antonius said,
"I certainly won't force you to leave."

Stormy smiled and hugged him.

When they arrived at Canterlot, they went to the armorium.

"Hello," Antonius greeted,
"we're back."

"Hello, Antonius, hello, Stormy," Celestia, Twilight and Spike returned.

"Any breakthroughs?"

"Not yet," Celestia answered,
"but I have a better feeling about this approach. We can control the liquid's tendency to combust much better now. Actually, we just wanted to make an attempt at starting the engine we built."

"Oh? Well, that's good news. I'll help you."

The small engine that was the result of their earlier sand-casting stood ready for some time now. Antonius had already checked it more than just once and it was ready to be started, with only one exception: the fuel.
Until now, Celestia had been too worried to accidentally damage it with the lamp oil based fuels. The mere fact that she wanted to give the new fuel an actual try now was a good omen in itself.

So, they carefully filled the engine's tank with the rainbow-colored liquid, vented the fuel system and retreated behind a barricade of sand sacks the ponies had built down here - just to be sure.

"Ready?" Celestia asked.

Getting only positive responses, she lit up her horn. A second later, the engine was engulfed in her magic and they could hear the mechanical parts work. Unfortunately, the combustions were missing.
The golden glow around Celestia's horn and the engine faded.

"Hmm... unsuccessful..." she mumbled and went to the engine, followed by the others,
"we'll have to make the next batch more volatile. Now, let's clean the engine and go upstairs again. It will soon be time for dinner and Luna will get up then, too."

After dinner - with the usual small talk - Antonius, Luna and Stormy went to Antonius' quarters. The filly insisted on playing board games, so they did just that. Again, the results were mostly quite predictable.

After nightfall, there was a knock at the door and Celestia came in.

"Hello, you three," she said with a smile,
"am I disturbing you? I just wanted to tell you that my duties for today are done."

Translation: Give me the massage you promised me!

"Hello, Princess Celestia!" Stormy shouted,
"if you have free time now, you can join us! I promise I won't win with too much lead!"

"Well, when I'm invited that nicely, I can't say no," Celestia smiled and joined them.

"Aha, Stormy has found another victim," Luna said flatly.

"So I guess you are losing?"

"'Losing' is an understatement. This little mare is a dice monster."

"Fear not, for your big sister is here," Celestia grinned and put her wing around Luna.

All told, the Princess of the Sun was not able to change the outcomes of the games they played - much to Stormy's delight.

"Well, I guess it's time for fillies to go to bed now, isn't it?" Celestia asked after a while as Stormy started yawning.

"Oh, I'm not..." Stormy started to answer and yawned again,
"... tired."

"Come on, Stormy," Antonius said,
"Princess Celestia is right. Get ready for bed, please."

The little mare obeyed and was soon tucked in, her parasprite in her hooves.

"Stormy, I've still got some business to do with the princesses. Would you mind me leaving you alone for about an hour?"

"Only an hour?" Stormy asked back.

"Yes."

"Hmm... okay. I'll cuddle Calgy in the meantime."

Antonius and the princesses left and went to Celestia's quarters.

"Now, what do you want to discuss with us?" Celestia asked with a smile,
"and please remember this massage you promised me."

"Don't worry," Antonius answered,
"I won't forget it. About my problem: It's about Stormy. As you know, I promised to enable her to live a normal pony life, and I'm true to my word. The problem is that living in my care is by no means 'normal' for a pony."

"I see what you mean," Celestia said,
"you have been very important to her in those last weeks, but perhaps it might be wise to look for a foster home for her. She has started to become more independent, after all."

"Won't she think that she has been... dumped?" Luna interjected.

"That is the main problem of this plan. We must avoid that at all costs," Celestia answered,
"it would be best if she would make this decision - if that's what we are going to do. Antonius, what do you think?"

"I'm not sure. A pony family would certainly be best for her, but I really don't want to send her away. Yet, I think that is what I will have to do - in some way, at least. While I can give her a feeling of security and shelter her, I am no substitute for a family that can give her the attention, love and nurture she deserves."

Ugh, he really was openly talking about love, care, feelings and stuff. Unbelievable.

"I think you're doing fine," Luna assured him.

"Yes, you do," Celestia agreed,
"but your worrying is not without reason. For now, your efforts are enough. But what will happen in the times to come? Stormy will grow up and encounter all sorts of problems, and I think a pony family might be able to help her better than you. No offense."

"None taken. That's why I wanted to talk to you, after all. Luna, what do you think?"

"Well, I can't say that my sister is wrong," Luna admitted hesitantly,
"then we have to find an appropriate foster family, hmm? A family that is kind, loving, and willing to take care of a filly. Perhaps a family she already... knows..."

Luna suddenly started smiling. Antonius did the same. He could guess what had come to Luna's mind, and he thought it was a great idea.

"What is it?" Celestia asked,
"you two already have figured on a specific family, haven't you?"

"Indeed," Luna answered,
"Moonlight and Blackwing. They are very nice ponies and wanted to start a family. Unfortunately, Moonlight's injuries make this impossible. With Stormy, they still could have this family, and Stormy already knows them very well, since they have already spent some time together, not to forget the fact that Moonlight saved Stormy's life."

Celestia thought about that for a second.

"I don't think we will get a better candidate for a foster family - if they really would like to take care of Stormy. We have to talk to them first. If they agree, we have to carefully introduce Stormy to this idea without hurting her feelings. The final decision will be hers."

Antonius, Celestia and Luna agreed on this course of action, hoping that they did what was right.

"Now that this is settled, you can get your massage," Antonius told Celestia, cracking his knuckles,
"so please take off everything you wear, get onto your bed and deactivate your mane flow."

"Okay, but please stop making those noises with your hands. It's quite... disconcerting," Celestia said as she followed his instructions.

Antonius laughed and started.
After a while, he suggested:

"Perhaps it would be a good time to discuss the muster tomorrow."

"Good..." Celestia smiled.

"I'd like to have swords at the ready so that we can see if the applicants already have melee experience," Antonius continued.

"Yeah..." Celestia answered absentmindedly.

Antonius raised an eyebrow. Celestia was thoroughly relaxed - and she did not seem to listen at all. Time to check that:

"And I think I should punch them in the face to test their resilience."

"You do that..."

Luna snickered and Antonius went on:

"Perhaps I can demonstrate a few ways to kill an enemy. Should not take more than 25% of the applicants."

"Hmm...fine..."

"Tony," Luna laughed,
"I think at the moment you could ask my sister to lick your armor clean and she would agree."

"Yikes! I think I'll clean it myself, thank you."

"Clean is good..." Celestia mumbled in deep relaxation.

Antonius and Luna laughed and he continued the massage.

"Okay, Luna, I really have to admit that it was great," Celestia said.

"Told you," Luna grinned back.

Antonius had just left and the princesses were alone in Celestia's quarters. The white mare was still lying on her bed with a broad and somewhat stupid smile on her face while her sister was sitting on a cushion near the headboard.

"Seriously, Luna, how did you trick him into doing this?" Celestia asked.

"I did not 'trick' him," Luna said, slightly indignant,
"I just mentioned that massages are good to treat strains and that I can't get one from a pony. That's all."

"Hmm... first Stormy, now those treatments... Antonius really is a caring creature, isn't he?"

"He is a good friend."

"Your 'good friend'."

"Sister..."

"I'm just joking, Luna. I know you are just friends. And that means that I may borrow him every now and then, doesn't it?" Celestia inquired, still smiling.

"Oh, you really would like to do that, wouldn't you?" Luna laughed,
"just be careful what you promise him while you are that relaxed."

"What do you mean?" Celestia asked confusedly.

"You don't remember?"

"Remember what?"

"That you allowed him to evaluate the applicants via fighting them?"

"What? Oh... well, this will be a muster, after all. It won't be that bad."

"And punch them in the face?"

"WHAT? No, I didn't..."

"You did. But don't worry, he was just joking."

"Oh dear..."

"Indeed. That massage had a peculiar effect of you. And your face now is hilarious."