The next days, Antonius continued the training of the new PDF, supported by Luna. They shared the gymnasium of the Royal- and Night Guard for strength training, practiced fighting and got lessons in strategy and tactics. All told, it went really well. The ponies, while not as capable as Space Marines or war-hardened humans, were dedicated to their training and lessons and made good progress.

Then, one afternoon, Celestia entered the room. The ponies bowed deep and greeted her, and Antonius said:

"Hello, Princess Celestia. An unexpected pleasure. How can the Planetary Defense Force be at your service?"

Celestia smiled and answered:

"I just wanted to tell you that we finally managed to create a promising promethium replacement. I would like you to attend our final test as soon as possible."

"That is the kind of surprises I like. Princess Luna, do you want to take over while I'm gone or do you want to join us?"

"I'll come along," Luna said, then she turned to the PDF and commanded:
"Soldiers, keep practicing while the Lord Commander and I are gone. If you hear a 'BOOM!', just ignore it."

The ponies snickered and when Antonius and the princesses were about to leave, when he turned around again and added:

"And if the whole palace explodes, find a new room somewhere else and practice there!"

"It seems you are on good terms with your subjects," Celestia said when they had left the PDF members and were on their way to the armorium.

"Yes, it makes the training easier for them as it overshadows the underlying cruelty of the reason why the PDF was founded in the first place," Antonius replied.

"Not forgetting the fact that you and I prefer the more casual approach," Luna added with a smile.

"True," Antonius admitted.

A few minutes later they entered the armorium, where Twilight and Spike were waiting for them.

"Hello," Twilight greeted excitedly,
"we have prepared the engine and are ready to go. You just need to switch it on!"

"Well, then we will do so," Celestia said.

They retreated behind the sand sacks and Celestia lit up her horn.
The engine was engulfed in her magic and they could hear the mechanical parts work. Then, they could hear the much-anticipated combustions. Celestia stopped her spell, but the engine kept running.

The next moment, Antonius hearing was put to the test as both princesses loudly cheered
"Hooray!",
respectively
"Huzzah!",
supported by Twilight and Spike.

"Outstanding, " Antonius agreed and approached the still puttering engine.

It was running smoothly, no sign of misfires or other problems. There still was something unusual, though:
The exhaust fumes were rainbow-colored... and did he smell chili?
He turned to the ponies and stated:

"Congratulations, color and scent of the exhaust may be unusual, but the fuel you created is obviously suitable for running combustion engines. Really, very good work."

"Wait, there's more to come!" Twilight beamed,
"we found out that the promethium exhaust is quite unhealthy. The exhaust our fuel generates when burned is not dangerous at all! It's absolutely safe to use it!"

"Oh? That's... convenient. How much of this fuel can you produce?"

"How much do you need?" Celestia smiled.

"For the time being, a barrel should be enough... by the way, how stable is your fuel? Does it decompose over time?"

"According to our calculations, it should be usable for over a century before the quality starts to decline."

"Excellent. So, I don't have to use my chainsword too sparingly anymore."

Celestia's face fell.

"I knew there was a catch," she grumbled.

Before Antonius could tell her that he had no intention of running amok, she winked at him and smiled:

"Just kidding. You will get your barrel, then, we can adapt our recipe to make the fuel fit the Land Speeder..."

Judged by Celestia's face, something important had just come into her mind. She turned to Twilight and Spike:

"We... I almost forgot how long you have been here in Canterlot helping me. You must miss your friends."

"A little, Princess," Twilight answered,
"but if you still need me, I will of course stay and continue helping you."

Celestia smiled at her.

"Thank you, Twilight, but that won't be necessary. Return to your friends. Should I need your help again, I will call you."

Twilight bowed.

"As you wish, Princess. I think I will leave tomorrow morning. Antonius, if Stormy and you want to travel to Ponyville, too, we could share a chariot."

"Well, Stormy certainly would like to visit Ponyville again," Antonius opined,
"but I have to train the PDF, I can't leave Canterlot."

Now Luna cleared her voice:

"First, I am still existing and could take over the training. Second, tomorrow is Saturday, remember?"

"Oh, yes, 'weekend': Saturday, the 'do what you want'-day, and Sunday, the 'do nothing at all'-day. So, you suggest pausing the training and taking weekends into account?"

"Definitely. The recreation will do them good. The training is quite intense, after all. Let this night's dream-training be the last until Monday morning."

"Fine, I agree. So, I guess Stormy and I will join you tomorrow, Twilight."

Now, Antonius and Luna returned to the PDF, while Celestia returned to her throne and Twilight and Spike paid their family a visit.

When Stormy had returned from school and Antonius had finished the training for that day, they met in their quarters and he asked her:

"Say, Stormy, would you like to visit Ponyville again tomorrow? Twilight is returning there and has offered us a ride."

"Oh yeah, that would be great!" Stormy cheered.

So, that was settled: The next day would be spent in Ponyville.

Later that night, the dream-training had already been completed for a while when Luna appeared again in Antonius' dreams. He noticed that she had not taken the time to create any environment this time.

"Antonius," she immediately started talking,
"it is time to talk to Moonlight and Blackwing about Stormy, don't you think?"

Antonius was taken a little by surprise by that and answered:

"Well, you are right, but I would like to do that in person, not via letter... why are you that frantic all of a sudden?"

"The moment is advantageous: Moonlight has just started dreaming, and Blackwing is also asleep. I do not think we will find a better time to talk to them."

"Oh, you want to talk to them via dream? Good idea. And you are right, the moment seems to be about optimal. So okay, let's do this."

Luna lit up her horn, and a few seconds later, they were standing in the gardens of Canterlot, together with Moonlight and Blackwing.

"Princess Luna?" Moonlight asked,
"is this just a dream, or are you really here? Well, you know what I mean."

"I can assure you that I am here, in your dream. I created a shared dream with Blackwing and Antonius, because there is a matter of great importance we have to discuss."

"Oh! What is it, Princess?"

Well, now came the difficult part. Or, the first difficult part, to be exact. Talking to Stormy later would be even more of a challenge, but he still couldn't just say
'Hey, Moonlight, as you know, you can't have a baby because your womb has ended up in a trashcan. Would you like to take care of Stormy instead?'
No. Nononono. Extraordinarily bad approach.

"It is about Stormy," Luna said cautiously, and Antonius noticed that she probably had similar problems phrasing the matter.

"Oh dear," Moonlight said concernedly,
"is something wrong with her? Does she have problems?"

"No," Antonius told her,
"not really. But we still should talk about her future."

"Her future?"

"Yes. At the moment, she's living with me and Princess Luna."

"Mainly with Antonius, I have to admit," Luna interjected.

"I know," Moonlight said,
"and I am sure you're doing great."

Antonius scratched his head.

"Well, of course I... we are doing our very best, but we cannot offer her a normal pony life."

Moonlight thought about that for a second, then she said:

"I don't think she is upset about that. She was genuinely happy when I last met her. If we can help you in any... hey, just a moment... you want us to help you, don't you?"

Critical part of the conversation imminent.

"Yes. I don't know how to put it, so I will probably be a little blunt: You two wanted to start a family. Unfortunately, your plans were thwarted. Stormy need pony parents to live a normal pony life. So, when we thought about a possible foster family, you two came into our minds."

Moonlight and Blackwing stared at Antonius and Luna.

"Well, you like her, do you not?" Luna asked them with a small smile.

"Of course!" the two batponies shouted.

"And she already knows and likes you," Luna continued,
"we think you are perfect for this task. If you want to accept it, that is. This is your decision, though. We of course do not want to force you."

Moonlight and Blackwing were silent for some time, then she asked:

"What does Stromy say? Is she okay with this?"

"No idea," Antonius told her truthfully,
"we wanted your opinion first."

Again, silence. Again, broken by Moonlight:

"I really like Stormy."

"I really like her, too!" Blackwing added.

"We are batponies, though," Moonlight continued,
"more the nocturnal types... but I think we can change that. Yeah. We can."

Ah, a decision was about to be made.

"Sure we can," Blackwing said as he put his hoof around Moonlight,
"we wouldn't be the first blended family, either."

Moonlight smiled at Antonius and Luna and started tearing up.

"If Stormy is willing to accept us, it would be an honor and a pleasure to become her foster parents," she said.

Thank the Emperor that was over. Such delicate social situations were far beyond Antonius area of expertise - or comfort zone.

"But be careful when you talk to Stormy about it," Moonlight warned them,
"she must not feel rejected!"

"We know," Luna told her.

"Yeah, that will be... difficult, but we will get it right," Antonius added.

Somehow.

"We will talk about the details once we talked to Stormy," Luna stated,
"until then, goodnight, my friends."

The shared dream ended.

The next morning, Twilight and Spike had just joined Celestia and Luna at the breakfast table when Antonius and Stormy also appeared. He wore his armor again, and Stormy was sitting on his pauldron.

"Good morning, Antonius and Stormy," Twilight snickered,
"excuse me, but you look a little like a pirate and his parrot."

"Oh?" Stormy asked,
"if that's the case: Stormy wants a cracker!"

"Antonius does not have a cracker for Stormy, but he sees quite an amount of pancakes, if Stormy would be satisfied by that," Antonius laughed.

"Accepted!" Stormy smiled.

They started eating. Twilight, though, barely ate a thing, as she was busy writing. She would leave Canterlot today, true, but she wouldn't do so without writing down in detail everything she had learned about promethium and its replacement for Princess Celestia.
When they had finished the breakfast and Twilight had given her notes to her mentor, they said goodbye, boarded the chariot and left for Ponyville.

As they arrived in the town, Antonius and Stormy headed towards Sweet Apple Acres, while Twilight and Spike entered the library.

"Really," Twilight said,
"I like Canterlot, and I especially like being around Princess Celestia, but home has a quality of its own."

Suddenly, a plate on the central table caught her eye.

"Especially, if somepony prepared a plate of food for you!"

She stepped closer and took a closer look at the meal. It looked delicious and Twilight realized how hungry she was.

"Mmh! Quesadillas! Want one, Spike?"

"No, thanks. I had too many pancakes for a second breakfast. A gem or two as a snack, however..."

"Sorry, but we don't have any," Twilight smiled.

"Well, then I guess I'll pay Rarity a visit. Perhaps she has some."

"Okay, Spike. Have fun!"

Spike left and Twilight bit into the first quesadilla.

Antonius and Stormy were on their way to Sweet Apple Acres when they met Pinkie Pie, carrying bulging saddlebags.

"Good morning, Pinkie" he greeted,
"you don't happen to know where the Crusaders are?"

"Oh, they are in their tree house," Pinkie told them,
"I bet they'll be super happy to see you again, Stormy."

"May I go?" Stormy asked.

"Of course. Take care, and see you later!"

Stormy darted away.

"Now, Pinkie," Antonius said,
"I did not expect seeing you here."

"Where else should I buy apples for the pies for the party?" Pinkie grinned.

"Party?"

"Yeah! I saw the chariot in the sky, so I immediately started preparing food for you. Once that is done, I'll prepare everything else for a 'welcome back' party for Twilight and Spike. I hope you are not too busy to attend.
I made quesadillas for you! They are in the library.
Unfortunately, I ran out of apples while baking pie. This is the first time I actually have to delay a party! That's really terrible!"

"Don't worry, I don't think anything bad will hap... just a second, what kind of batter did you use for those quesadillas?"

"My special super-secret Space Marine batter of course, silly! They are for you, after all!"

"Did you put up a warning sign?"

"No, I thought I would return in a minute, then the apples happened. But why should I... oh, I see what you want to say. We should hurry to the library!"

"No objection."

They started running.

A short time later they barged through the library door. Twilight was just swallowing the last bite of the first quesadilla and waved at them.

"Hello, Antonius, hello, Pinkie," she said slightly confused,
"is something wrong? You seem to be in quite a hurry."

"Did you eat a quesadilla?" Pinkie shouted,
"I made them for Antonius!"

"Huh? Sorry, I didn't know that. They looked so tasty! Yes, I ate one of them, but there are still two left, see?"

"No, Twilight, that's not what I meant! That is Space Marine batter!"

"Oh... is that bad?"

Pinkie turned to Antonius:

"Is it?"

"Well," Antonius said,
"as you know, Space Marine food has a very high nutrition value..."

"Does that mean I won't get hungry again for a week or so?" Twilight asked.

"I'm not sure," Antonius admitted and walked over to her,
"the digestive system of normal humans usually has severe problems handling the high amounts of nutrients. How do you feel?"

"Now that you mention it, I'm feeling a little queasy... and I think it's getting worse."

Twilight slowly started turning a little greenish, and suddenly, she shouted:

"Uh-oh. Please excuse me!"

She darted through a door, and one or two seconds later, Antonius and Pinkie heard quite unambiguous sounds.

"I guess ponies react just like humans," Antonius opined.

"I always knew that batter was not really suitable for ponies, but I would never have thought of such effects! Quick, eat those quesadillas!" Pinkie shouted.

"Huh?"

"They are too dangerous to be left lying around!"

"Just take care that no pony eats them, or put up a warning sign or something, I'll have a look how Twilight's doing."

Antonius opened the door Twilight had run through a crack and peeked into the room. Twilight was still busy saying goodbye forever to the quesadilla she had eaten.

"Can I help you somehow?" he asked cautiously.

Twilight shook her head a little.

"Thank you, but I think I'm empty now."

She flushed and staggered to a sink where she washed her face and mouth, then she slowly left the bathroom.
Antonius could see that her belly contracted again and she burped.

"Urgh! I'll never eat a quesadilla ever again!" Twilight groaned,
"that cheesy taste when... ewwww..."

"I'm sorry, Twilight," Pinkie said sadly.

Antonius looked in her direction and had to take a double take: she had indeed put up warning signs for the quesadillas. Flashing ones.

"It's not your fault, Pinkie," Twilight said, then she added:
"please get those things out of my home. If you excuse me, I think I'll go to bed now. With a good book - and perhaps a cup of chamomile tea. Yeah, good idea. Better than quesadillas and cheese, anyway."

She fetched a book with her magic and slowly trotted up the stairs.
When she was gone, Pinkie said thoughtfully:

"I think we should cancel the party. And I should better take a note: No quesadillas for Twilight. Ever."

"Sounds like a good idea," Antonius agreed.

"What about you? Do you still want to eat them?"

"They are perfectly fine for me, and I usually do not throw away perfectly fine food. I should probably leave Twilight's library first, however, to fulfill her wish and minimize the cheesy scent in here."

So Antonius and Pinkie left the library, and the Space Marine looked for a nice tree under which he could eat - and hence render harmless - the two remaining quesadillas.
Once he was done with that, he returned to the library to check on Twilight. She just came out of the kitchen, a kettle and a cup in her magical grasp.

"Hello again, Twilight. Feeling better?" Antonius asked.

"A little," she answered,
"have you gotten rid of those cheesy abominations?"

"Yes. Put them into a special recycling system where they won't harm anypony."

"What recycling system?"

Antonius patted his belly in response.
Twilight stared at him for a second, then she said:

"If that's the case, you'll get a cup of tea, too."

A minute later, they were sitting at the central table together and were drinking chamomile tea.
Antonius took his first sip of the hot fluid and was a little surprised: he had thought that Twilight wanted to avoid vomiting, but that tea seemed not to further that case, judged by its taste.

"You don't like it?" she asked, seeing Antonius' expression.

"Not really. Some of its components may have some sort of positive effect, but the taste isn't my... cup of tea. So that's where this proverb comes from... oh, damnit. I just realized that I'm starting to get picky."

Twilight snickered.

"Well, you are not obliged to like everything we serve you... would you like some poison-joke tea?"

"Would you like to be used as a dart?"

"He-he. Not really, but why a 'dart'?"

"Your horn would probably make a suitable tip."

"Funny that you mention my horn, because that's the part of me poison-joke affects: it becomes all wobbly. That was embarrassing..."

"Yeah, I've got some experiences with embarrassing effects of this plant, but perhaps we can use it in our favor. That gives me an idea: Do you have any books about the Everfree's flora? Perhaps there are other plants we can use out there."

"Antonius, asking me if I have a book is like asking water if it's wet. Of course I have books about the Everfree, and if you want some first-hoof experience, you can also go talk to Zecora."

"I'll talk to Zecora once she has finished her research. I can't ask her to do something and then always interrupt her. I'll stick to the books for the time being."

"Great! Just a second, I'll get them and help you!"

"You are feeling better indeed."

"Pff... I'm never too sick for some exciting research!"

As the day progressed, they found possible candidates for harmful flora that could probably be weaponized. Some of the plant's effects were abhorrent enough to remind Antonius of the machinations of Chaos... seriously, flowers that could turn you into trees? That was enough of a 'change' for Tzeentch to like it.

"You know," Twilight suddenly said,
"I just discovered a flaw in our research."

"What flaw?" Antonius wanted to know.

"We cannot test our results. You are the only Space Marine at our disposal, and poisoning you to see how you react does not seem to be a good idea. We can't just produce potions from every plant and hope for the best, either, as they may have no or even positive effects on our enemies.
Our research is certainly interesting and a great help for understanding the dangers of the Everfree, but I'm afraid it's of no practical use for us."

Antonius looked at her, then he turned to his notes and mumbled:

"Hmm... good point. So, this day's work was more or less in vain."

"Not really. I'm sure Zecora will like the notes we put together. We'll give them to her as a thank-you gift for creating the poison-joke potions."

"Good idea. Hey, it's almost time to return to Canterlot. I'll better look for Stormy... What about you? Are you all right again?"

"Oh yes, thank you. I think I'll have a light dinner once Spike returns from Rarity."

"Some cheese?" Antonius grinned.

"You are cruel," Twilight whined, then she added with a smile:
"But don't forget to call me if you need any help with the Land Speeder fuel, and tell me what's going on in Canterlot."

"Don't worry, I'll keep you up to date. Goodbye, Twilight."

"Goodbye, Antonius."

Antonius left the library and started looking for Stormy. His first waypoint was Sweet Apple Acres, then he proceeded to the Crusaders' clubhouse.
Finally standing in front of the little tree house, ha called:

"Hello! Anyone home?"

A few seconds later, the door opened and Stormy and her friends appeared.

"Hello, Antonius! Is it already time to leave?" Stormy asked.

"I'm afraid so," he answered.

"Oh..." Stormy mumbled sadly.

"Don't be sad," Apple Bloom cheered her up,
"you can return tomorrow, if you want to."

"May I?" Stormy asked Antonius.

"Well..." he started, and Stormy immediately interjected a puppy-eyed

"Please?"

Antonius groaned.

"Well, there is no PDF training until Monday, so okay, we'll return tomorrow."

"THANK YOU!" all four fillies shouted and gave him a hug.

"Okay, okay, you don't need to exaggerate that much," Antonius laughed, then they said good bye and parted.

On the chariot back to Canterlot, Antonius asked Stormy:

"And? How was your day?"

"Great!" she answered, and started telling him how she had spent her day,
"...then, we ran into Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon..."

Ah, those two brats again. As Stormy did not continue talking at the moment, Antonius asked:

"What happened? More of this 'weird' nonsense?"

"Yes, at first. When I mentioned that Princess Luna is also taking care of me, I thought their eyes would pop out! Then, suddenly, they were very nice. Even a bit too nice."

"Ingratiation?"

"What ?"

"Brownnosing."

"Oh, yes, something alike. It was somewhat disgusting. I'm not sure, but I think it is not much better than being bullied."

Antonius chuckled.

"True foes are better than false friends."

Well, when Antonius thought about it, now would perhaps be a good time to carefully ask Stormy about Moonlight and Blackwing, since they had already broached the topic.

"You know, you are really living under special conditions. And sometimes I wonder if I can give you the care and attention you deserve. Have you ever thought about starting to look for a real foster family? They would probably be more suitable than me for granting you a normal pony life."

Brilliant. Simply brilliant. With all the grace and subtlety of a sledgehammer.
Stormy looked confused.

"What? No! Why should I think about that?"

"Not too long ago, you told me that you would prefer to be 'normal'."

"But I also told you that I don't want to leave you!"

Now Stormy suddenly looked frightened.

"Do you want me to leave?" she asked insecurely.

Shit.

"Huh? No! I assure you I would never force you to leave, just as I already promised."

Stormy relaxed again.

"Okay, good. I really can't imagine leaving you and Princess Luna and living with ponies I don't know."

"Believe me, we would never send you to ponies you don't know."

That was true. Not just technically.

Now, his first attempt to talk to Stormy about a foster family was over. It had not really been successful, but it wasn't even clear to him how to define 'successful' in this context.

Later that day, after dinner with the princesses, Antonius, Luna and Stormy were in Antonius' quarters, playing games. When Stormy left them for a bathroom-brake, Antonius quickly told Luna about his first attempt.

"You almost messed it up!" Luna whispered angrily.

"I think it's impossible not to 'almost mess it up'. The topic is too delicate to phrase the matter in an absolutely safe way," Antonius replied.

"Perhaps you are right," Luna admitted, calmer again,
"and I must say that I do not have any idea how to phrase it any better than you did. Shall we still try again?"

"I guess we'll have to. I don't want to keep our two batponies waiting for too long."

Luna nodded.
Stormy returned, and they continued their game.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Luna said after a while,
"greetings from Moonlight and Blackwing. We met them in a dream a short while ago."

Okay, attempt number two had been started.

"Hey, that's nice," Stormy said,
"I really like them. They're nice and funny!"

'And ponies you know!' Antonius almost blurted out.
He held back instead and thought about a more elegant way to help Luna. Thankfully, Stormy continued:

"How is Moonlight doing? Is she well again?"

"Moonlight is feeling much better now," Luna answered.

Then, she opened her mouth to say something else, but closed it again and looked at Antonius, silently asking for help.

"It really is good news," Antonius said, but he couldn't think of anything else to say.

Suddenly, Stormy turned to Luna and asked:

"You said 'we met them in a dream'. You meant yourself and Antonius?"

"Umm... yes?" Luna admitted with a forced smile.

Now Stormy turned to Antonius:

"So... ponies I know, hmm?"

Shit. She had seen through their game.

"Stormy, let me explain," Antonius quickly started,
"both Luna and I want you to live a normal, happy pony life.
Unfortunately, none of us is exactly 'normal', so we are sort of hampering ourselves. Furthermore, our duties prevent us from spending as much time with you as we would like and as you deserve.
That's why we came up with the - theoretical - idea of a pony foster family. This idea led to us thinking of Moonlight and Blackwing. They wanted to start a family, but unfortunately, Moonlight's injuries prevent them from doing that.
So, they are a nice pony couple you already know, and therefore a good candidate for possible foster parents.
But this is just an idea, neither Luna nor I would ever try to force you to leave! It is just an option we wanted to present to you. You may stay with us, or with Moonlight and Blackwing. No matter how you decide, you will always be able to visit the party you do not choose.
Now, please don't be angry, disappointed, traumatized or something."

Damnit. That was not how it should have gone. Stormy had been too clever - or they had been too stupid. Anyway, things were quite out of their control now.
Stormy looked at both of them for a while, then she said:

"You know I like living with you."

"Yes, and we like living with you," Antonius confirmed.

"But I also like Moonlight and Blackwing. By choosing them, I could... you know... repay them for saving my life..."

"Stormy," Luna said compassionately,
"guilt is a bad advisor. Choose freely, and you also do not have to choose now. Perhaps, I should arrange a shared dream? You, Antonius, me, Moonlight and Blackwing. Then, we can discuss everything together."

"Hmm..." Stormy mumbled, lost in thought,
"I think that's a good idea. Can we stop playing games? I have a lot to think about."

"Sure, Stormy."

They put away the games and just stayed in the room with Stormy. Sometimes, she was lying on her bed, sometimes, she came to Antonius or Luna to cuddle. They did not talk much, Antonius and Luna just answered Stormy's questions about the consequences of her choice. Other than that, there was just a bit of harmless small talk.

Later that night, Luna suddenly said:

"Moonlight and Blackwing are dreaming now. If we want to talk to them, now is the time."

"I don't think I can sleep now, there's just too much going on in my head," Stormy opined.

"No problem," Luna said and lit her horn.

The little mare fell asleep within seconds, then Luna turned to Antonius:

"Your turn."

Antonius could feel a wave of sleepiness in his mind. The defensives of his trained mind wanted to counter it, but he managed to stop them. He was lulled into sleep.

The next moment, he found himself in the gardens of Canterlot again. With him were Luna, Stormy, Moonlight and Blackwing; every pony involved in the matter.

"Hello, everypony," Luna greeted,
"all of you know why we are here, so let us get this started."

They sat down in a circle, and the discussion started. Most points had already been discussed in one way or another, and some points were explained multiple times, for example the fact that everyone was perfectly willing to take care of Stormy, and that the decision that would have to be made was Stormy's in the end.
The little mare sat there and stared at the ground. Antonius watched her. The decision was hard for her. Very hard. Perhaps too hard.
'Making war is easy. Making choices is not.' indeed.

When he thought about it, she probably did not really have enough information to make this decision. At the moment, she knew life in her original family and life with him and Luna. However, she didn't know life with the two batponies. That gave him an idea:

"I have a suggestion," he said,
"Moonlight, Blackwing, you are living in the barracks of the Night Guard, correct?"

"Yes, until now at least," Moonlight answered.

"Then, once you return to Canterlot, you will move in with Stormy and myself. That way, Stormy can experience how living with you would be like. That should make the decision easier. Opinions?"

"Well, that will be quite a interesting living community," Moonlight snickered,
"do you snore?"

"What? No, I don't think so. Stormy, do I snore?"

"No," Stormy giggled,
"and I'm okay with it. I'm actually looking forward to living with you."

Good.
Luna nodded:

"So, we will proceed according to that plan. I will also join you as often as my duties allow it. Moonlight, Blackwing, do you already know when you will return to Canterlot?"

"A week before Hearths Warming," Blackwing answered.

So, Moonlight's convalescence made better progress than expected. That was good news.

"Very well. Until then. Now, goodnight, everypony," Luna said.

Then she lit her horn, and the shared dream ended.