The next morning, Antonius donned his armor again and had breakfast with Stormy, Moonlight, Blackwing, Luna and Celestia. Then, he said goodbye to his - now former - protégée and the batponies and went to the PDF's training room, accompanied by Luna.

They were a little early, but the first recruits still entered the room directly after them: Shadow Stalker and Gentle Breeze.

"Good morning," they greeted,
"reporting back to duty."

"Good morning," Antonius and Luna answered, then the princess continued:
"I hope you had a pleasant Hearth's Warming."

"Oh, yes," Gentle Breeze told her,
"and I am glad to tell you that Hope looks more beautiful than ever. We citizens of Hope really keep our tails up."

"Good to hear, Gentle Breeze."

Within the next few minutes, the other recruits also appeared and the PDF was complete even before the scheduled time.
After the official reception, Luna bid goodnight and went to bed while Antonius started a melee training session. Only interrupted by lunch break, this training went on until Luna joined them again in the afternoon, then Antonius said:

"Now that we have refreshed some of the basics, I thought it would be fun to make the strategy and tactics training a little more 'lively'. Go and get your winter gear. We're going out into the gardens."

Soon, they were outside and Antonius put his idea with the snowball fight into practice. They built multiple snow walls as cover, split into teams and tried different approaches to hit each other. As he had predicted, the ponies enjoyed it greatly. Unlike the snowball fight in Ponyville, Antonius and Luna did not directly intervene this time, they just acted as advisors. Time flew, and soon the training was over.

Antonius returned to his room, accompanied by Luna, only to find it devoid of ponies. The furniture that had been set up for Moonlight and Blackwing - and Stormy, too - had been removed. Antonius had actually expected to find them here and help a little. They had obviously already finished this part of their moving.
It was strange how empty the room looked now, without hints at the other members of his little living community. Well, almost without hints: There was a note on his table.

'Hello Antonius, hello Princess Luna,
sorry we didn't wait, but we were faster than we had thought and we did not want to waste time when there is so much left to do. We are also sorry that we didn't say goodbye, but we also didn't want to disturb your training. We are already in Ponyville now, trying to get our stuff into our new house. If you don't have more urgent things to do, you are cordially invited to join us there.
Again, sorry, this is not exactly going as planned.'

"Sounds a little stressed," Luna smiled.

"Indeed," Antonius answered,
"do we have anything urgent to do?"

"Not that I know of."

"Ponyville?"

"I will get my harness."

Not too long after this conversation, the Land Speeder entered Ponyville, Antonius and Luna on board. They hovered through the streets, following the directions Antonius had gotten the evening before.
As they turned into the road where their destination was, they had to stop. Dozens of ponies were bustling about; at least half of Ponyville seemed to be there.

"So, that's why you call them 'block' parties," Antonius mumbled.

Luna snickered:

"Pinkie Pies's work, I presume. Just park here."

Antonius did so and when Luna had taken off her harness they entered the party. The ponies made way for them and they arrived at Moonlight's, Blackwing's and Stormy's new House. It was a typical Ponyville-style home with a little garden in front of it - and obviously the epicenter of the party.
In the garden were tables with waffles, cupcakes and hot cider. There were also the new homeowners, together with the Element Bearers. Stormy, who had obviously been keeping watch, spotted the newcomers first and started waving.

"Greetings, everypony. So, this is what's 'left to do'," Antonius grinned,
"nice party."

Moonlight spun around and said:

"Yeah, umm, no, not really... we thought the moving would take longer, but a lot of ponies helped us. Pinkie Pie started this party as soon as we were done. Had we known this, we would have stayed and said goodbye properly, but... well, we didn't know. Sorry. This whole moving was a bit... much."

"Don't worry, it's interesting to see where you will be living, and we didn't have other plans. Nice house."

"Isn't it?" Stormy smiled,
"wait, I've got to show you my room!"

She galloped towards the front door and Antonius and Luna followed.

"I choose a room on the ground floor so that you could visit me," Stormy explained while leading them into her cozily furnished room.

Antonius could see her Hearth's Warming presents there, as well as her parasprite and the Space Marine plushie on her bed.

"Nice and cozy," Antonius opined.

"Indeed," Luna added,
"I am sure you will like living here."

"Yeah," Stormy answered,
"it's just a little far away from you."

"Nah," Luna told her,
"with this nifty Land Speeder, the journey from Canterlot to Ponyville only takes a few minutes."

"Correct," Antonius confirmed,
"if you want to see us, just tell Twilight - or Applejack. They have voxes and can call us anytime."

Stormy took off and hugged them.

They left the house again and returned to the batponies. Moonlight was talking to a berry-colored earth pony mare and they both looked up.

"Princess Luna, Antonius, this is Miss Cheerilee, she is the teacher at the local schoolhouse."

Cheerilee knelt down and said:

"It is an honor meeting you, Princess Luna and Lord Varus."

"Greetings," Antonius replied.

"Stand up, good mare," Luna told her,
"so, you are going to be Stormy's teacher from now on?"

"Yes, Moonlight just asked me to enroll her. After the necessary formalities tomorrow morning she can attend my class..."

Cheerilee turned to Stormy and said with a smile:

"Ah, there you are! It is a pleasure to meet you, Stormy."

"It's nice to meet you, too," Stormy answered.

Now Cheerilee started telling Stormy about her class and explained the way to the schoolhouse. She seemed to be a nice pony, friendly, kind and calm. If Antonius wasn't wrong, interventions like the one in Canterlot would not be necessary.

A little later, the Cutie Mark Crusaders showed up and Cheerilee introduced them to their new class mate. That dispelled the last worries Antonius had had; Stormy would be in the same class as her friends, and that was certainly a good thing.

Antonius and Luna mingled - as far as an alicorn and a Space Marine could mingle - and enjoyed the party without notable incidents until Twilight approached Antonius and said:

"Hey, Antonius, I heard your Land Speeder is working again?"

"Yes, it is. It greatly decreases travel time."

"Do you remember that I made a reservation for the second trip? Well, Rarity told me that she was your passenger on the second trip, but I'm also content with the third... or forth."

"No problem, just tell Rarity to make a harness for you and tell me when you would like to start the trip."

"Oh, I've already got a harness," Twilight smiled,
"Rarity made one for me and each my friends."

Antonius raised an eyebrow.

"That means you want your trip now, doesn't it?" he asked.

"No, not while the party is still running. But immediately afterwards would be fine."

Antonius turned to Luna:

"Luna, would you..."

"Not at all," she interrupted him with a smile,
"I am going to wait here for your return."

When the party was over, Twilight fetched her harness - a purple one - and climbed into the Land Speeder. Antonius buckled her up and got behind the controls.

"Are you sure this thing is safe?" Applejack asked.

"Don't worry, darling," Rarity told her,
"I made the journey from Canterlot as a passenger. It was a bit cold, but otherwise quite enjoyable. If you don't mind the fact that you need to put your mane behind your back, that is."

"Well, I don't worry about my mane, but I think I will still wait for spring - I just have to figure out the year."

Antonius grinned at that and started the Speeder. They hovered to the town limits, then Antonius asked:

"Any specific destination?"

"Just a round trip," Twilight answered.

Once again, Antonius gunned the engines and steered around Ponyville in a wide arc.

"That's incredible!" Twilight cheered,
"at that speed, you could travel across Equestria is less than a day!"

"Better than your trains, huh?" Antonius grinned.

"As long as you don't have any luggage, yes!"

"We usually don't carry suitcases into battle, Twilight."

They finished their round trip and hovered back to their starting point. The ponies were gone now, so Antonius proceeded to the batponies' house and parked there. When they entered the house, they found the homeowners, Luna and Twilight's friends in the living room, chatting and drinking the rest of the hot cider.

"Already back?" Moonlight asked,
"this Land Speeder surely is fast. Well, it is called 'speeder', not 'crawler'."

"Yes, it certainly lives up to its name," Antonius agreed,
"by the way, there is also a machine called 'Land Crawler', an agricultural track vehicle. With its anti-grav, the Speeder is of course much faster."

"It really is an outstanding machine," Twilight said,
"but now I would like some hot cider, if possible."

They spent some more time together, then it got time to leave. The Element Bearers said goodnight, and Antonius and Luna had to say goodbye.

"My best wishes for the three of you," Luna smiled,
"enjoy your life in Ponyville. Since you are still members of the Night Guard, you may see this as an order. Blackwing, once you have settled in, I might employ your services for patrols around Ponyville."

"At your service, Princess," Blackwing answered.

Now Stormy hugged Luna, then she buzzed over to Antonius and hugged him, too.

"Bye," she whispered.

"Bye," Antonius answered,
"and don't worry, this will definitely not be the last time we see each other."

They all left the house. While Twilight and her friends went home, Antonius and Luna got into the Land Speeder. Moonlight, Blackwing and Stormy waved them goodbye as they slowly hovered away.

"You will miss Stormy, will you not?" Luna asked as they were soaring over the plains towards Canterlot.

"Probably," Antonius answered,
"I needed some time to get used to having her around, so it will also take some time to get used to not having her around anymore. Still, she has a excellent family, lives in a nice town and goes to the same school her friends attend. We couldn't have done more for her."

"Any ideas what you want to do with your spare time now?"

"Yes. I want to intensify your training, as well as your sister's."

"Celestia will certainly be delighted to hear this," Luna laughed.

When they arrived at Canterlot, Celestia was just lowering the sun. They had their usual training session, then Celestia bid goodnight and retired. Antonius and Luna continued their training, then she also had to leave to perform her duties, so he said goodnight and left.

A short time later, Antonius entered his quarters. He looked around. The room still looked empty and was utterly quiet. Yes, it would take some time getting used to that change, but he did not complain or regret anything.
Everything had been part of his mission, after all. Probably the most unusual mission any Space Marine had ever tried to accomplish: Take care that a little alien, beset by the infernal powers of Chaos, could live a normal life in peace and harmony. Really, that was far from routine. And yet, he had made it - with a little help. This mission was a complete success. Stormy was in good hooves and happy. Antonius smiled.

During the next weeks, Antonius used the weekends to cultivate contacts in Ponyville, workdays, he concentrated on training the PDF - and also the princesses - making good progress. Then, one day, he decided that it was time for a first combat simulation. He discussed the procedure with Luna, and they all met in the dream realm.

"Recruits," Antonius boomed,
"you are about to be tested in your first combat simulation - no slow motion to give you the time to plan your steps, no suggestions what exactly to do, just an objective: eliminate the Chaos forces."

As he had said that, a human shape appeared next to him.

"This is a simulation of a Chaos cultist," Antonius explained,
"at least it's our stand-in for one. I have to admit that we refrained from putting the marks of Chaos on him, since we won't put them on anything, not even simulated enemies. He will still behave like a real cultist: he will try to kill you. For the first fight, we will create 13 of them, one for each pony to deal with. They will be armed with ranged- and melee weapons. Adjust your tactic to that and to the terrain. Any questions?"

"Let's kick some butt!" Black Harrow shouted.

"That's not a question, but I still appreciate your enthusiasm. Now, TO BATTLE!"

The fake cultist vanished and Luna created the attackers. The ponies immediately took cover behind suitable obstacles and waited for them to come closer.

Once they were within weapons range, the recruits quickly fired crossbow bolts at them and hid again. While the execution of this part of the attack had been good, the accuracy had been somewhat off. They hit mainly their enemies' legs, slowing them down, when they could have gone for a lethal shot. A few had caused more serious injuries, though.

The cultists returned fire and plastered the covers with lasfire and bullets. Until now, there were no casualties, just a few wounded cultists.

Then, someone drew first 'blood'. Unfortunately, it was a cultist. His victim was Black Harrow, who had jumped out of cover for another crossbow-shot. Luna teleported him away from the battlefield and he appeared next to her.

"We really have to talk about your definition of 'butt-kicking'," Antonius told him flatly,
"especially as to the active and passive part."

Now, a cultist was killed by Shadow Stalker with a bolt through the eye.
Good, now the numbers were even again.
The next kill was Gentle Breeze's with a bolt through a cultist's throat. The ponies' superiority of numbers did not last long, as another pony was 'killed' by an attacker.

The cultists reached the covers and the melee began. The ponies stood their ground pretty well, but Antonius noticed that something was wrong. One of the recruits had a chance to impale an enemy with her sword, but instead of stabbing him, she swung her sword and just cut him.
An injury instead of a kill. Suboptimal.

Finally, Antonius realized what was going on: Inhibition against killing. Well, he had taught them how to handle weapons, strategy and tactics, but actually killing someone - that was difficult for the ponies. For them as individuals and their society, that maybe was actually a good sign, but in a fight, it would be very disadvantageous, to put it mildly.

So Antonius watched the ponies as most of them tried to just subdue the cultists. They paid for their hesitation. A few of them, however, were going for kills and took over the victorious cultists after killing their respective enemies.
The fight went on, until the last cultist shot Gentle Breeze and was subsequently taken down by Shadow Stalker.
It was a pony victory, but a tight one. Next to Shadow Stalker, only one pegasus mare was still standing.

"You have defeated the enemy," Antonius announced.
They cheered for a second, but he cut them short:
"A small group of easy cultists, and you suffered about 85% casualties. Real cultists will be more dangerous, and they will come in greater numbers."

"That means we have to further improve our skills," Gentle Breeze said.

"The fighting itself wasn't that bad, but most of you lacked the intention to actually kill. We will have to... re-adjust that. Do not waste your mercy on the enemy, for they will show you none."

After this fight, Antonius adjusted the training. The new exercises included attacking straw-ponies and straw-cultists, while the nightly dream-training continued the simulated fights against Chaos.
The PDF gradually became better, especially in melee. In fact, after a few weeks of training they were more than a match for the initial cultists, and Luna and Antonius had to increase the difficulty by giving the cultist better armor and weapons.

One day, Antonius' daily routine was disrupted. He had just returned to his quarters from the afternoon training when there was a knock on his door. He opened it and Cadance quickly slipped into his room, a funnel-like parcel in her magical grasp.

"Hi, Antonius," she greeted.

"Umm... hello. How can I help you?"

"Well, actually, I'm here to help you."

"I need help?"

"Oh yes, most definitely, or do you know what day it is today?"

"I guess it's not just an ordinary day?"

"No, not at all! It's Hearts and Hooves Day! And that means that you really should give some flowers to Luna."

As she said that, Cadance unwrapped the big bouquet of flowers she had brought along.
Antonius raised an eyebrow.

"'Hearts and Hooves Day'?" he asked,
"is it common that Luna gets flowers today? I haven't seen anypony else give her flowers."

"Antonius, today we show our best friends that we appreciate them. Luna is your best friend, isn't she?"

"Sort of... yes, she is."

Cadance hovered the flowers over to him and said:

"Then, take those flowers and give them to Luna. Now.
Oh, and don't tell her that I gave them to you. It's better when she thinks you got them yourself."

"Umm... okay. Thanks."

"You're welcome!" Cadance cooed sweetly,
"and another tip: Get out of your armor and into more casual clothes, that's more appropriate for the occasion."

Now Antonius' alertness made itself felt and warned him of a possibly ulterior motive of Cadance - her smile was a little too sweet - but honestly, how bad could a flower that was not poison joke be?

Cadance left and Antonius followed her advice and donned his casual clothes, then he left his quarters, too. He walked to Luna's quarters and knocked, the bouquet in hand. After a few seconds, Luna opened the door, and her eyes went wide.

"Happy Hearts and Hooves Day," Antonius smiled and held out the flowers,
"those are for you. You are not allergic to flowers, are you?"

"Umm... hello, Tony... well, no, I am not allergic... umm... come in," Luna stammered.

Hmm... something was wrong here. Why was Luna so startled by this little present? She took the flowers and asked:

"Are they really for me?"

Antonius raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I didn't bring them here just to walk them."

Luna looked a bit bewildered now, but she still smelled at the flowers.

"They are beautiful, thank you," she said with a soft voice, though still a little nervous,
"I will put them in a vase, get yourself comfortable in the meantime."

Luna left with the flowers.

Oh dear.
Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.

Luna was totally flabberghasted. Almost a bit panicky. Antonius had given her flowers for Hearts and Hooves Day. That meant, he saw her as his special somepony! She started hyperventilating.

Yes, she liked him.
No, she really was not ready for a relationship of such a... magnitude. But she didn't want to turn him down, either. They were good friends, and she was afraid to destroy that.

She had to talk to him. Yes. Perhaps she could somehow find a way to... oh dear.
How did he get to know about Hearts and Hooves Day, damnit!

Wait a second... how did he get to know about Hearts and Hooves Day?
She really had to talk to him. Carefully.

Antonius was contend. The flowers had obviously been a good present. He should thank Cadance again later. Strange was the fact that his alertness was still anything but silent. He sat down on a couch and waited for Luna.

She came back soon, the flowers in a vase, and set them down on the table next to the couch. Then she hopped onto the couch next to Antonius.

"Thank you again for the flowers, Tony. I am surprised you know about Hearts and Hooves Day and its meaning."

"Well, to be honest, Cadance told me about today."

Luna raised an eyebrow.

"Cadance? What exactly did she tell you?"

"Umm... that it's common to give your best friends flowers. So here I am."

Luna seemed a bit undecided, then she asked hesitantly:

"Tony, I really do not want to... annoy you, but could you please define 'best friends'?"

"Huh?"

Luna sighed:

"Tony, I will just ask you this question, and please do not resent me for it: Are you contend with our friendship or do you want a romantic relationship?"

WHAT??? Those flowers were far too effective!
He almost blurted out a 'NO!', but he held himself back. Did Luna want a romantic relationship? That was definitely beyond - far beyond - his capabilities or wishes, but how could he turn her down without hurting her?

"According to your face, you are perfectly fine with our friendship," Luna stated.

"Umm..."

"I am perfectly fine with it, too."

HUH?

"Excuse me, but didn't you just sort of ask me..."

"Actually, you just asked me," Luna explained with a smile,
"Cadance has not told you everything. Hearts and Hooves Day is all about romance. This 'best friend' you give flowers to is supposed to be your special somepony."

"My what?"

"Your... envisaged partner, your mate, the pony you want to spend your life with."

Now Antonius was shocked.

"Do you mean... I just proposed to you?" he panted.

"No, but you quasi asked for a romantic relationship."

Antonius narrowed his eyes.

"I'm... going... to... KILL HER!"

"No, that is not wicked enough," Luna grinned,
"I have a better idea. Tonight, I will request Shining Armor's attendance at an unscheduled inspection of the guard. Poor Cadance, all alone on Hearts and Hooves Day."

Antonius blinked.

"Hmm... I guess that is pretty wicked... I'm all for it!"

So the next day saw a tired Shining Armor, a grumpy Cadance and two grinning commanders of the PDF.

When spring had come, the recruits had reached the point Antonius considered to be their peak. While their ranged weaponry was somewhat inferior, they made up for that in melee. They showed their enemies no mercy anymore and stabbed and dismembered them with high efficiency.

Ponies, once kind and peaceful, had become soldiers, warriors. While off duty, they still enjoyed the usual pony leisure activities, but Antonius had noticed that they had become a little more serious than they had initially been. Their duty took their toll on them, just like on a normal human. Their kind innocence was gone and they had joined the reality of the galaxy.
So, one day after the afternoon training, Antonius turned to them.

"Soldiers of the Planetary Defense Force," he started and was rewarded with slightly confused faces;
it had been the first time he had called them 'soldiers' instead of 'recruits', after all,
"your training is over. You have learned everything I taught you, and you have proven yourself in the simulations. Now, it is time for you to be sent out throughout Equestria to create and train PDF companies. But first, we will extend the command structure. You already know that I am your commander and that Princess Luna is my commander. In addition to that, there will be a captain and a sergeant from now on."

Now Luna took a step forward.

"Shadow Stalker," she declared,
"we promote you to captain. You are in command if Lord Varus or myself are not available.
Gentle Breeze, we promote you to sergeant. So you are the next pony in the line of command.
Now, let us see where you will do your duty from now on."

She lit her horn and unveiled a big map of Equestria next to her, so that the ponies could choose their future spheres of action.
Shadow Stalker would move to Vanhoover in the northwest, Gentle Breeze would return to Hope. The others would cover the other parts of the country, from Las Pegasus to Manehattan, from Rainbow Falls to Appleloosa.

"Tonight, there will be a farewell celebration," Luna told them,
"tomorrow, we will give you the papers necessary to prove your position and task and provide you with means of transportation. Dismissed."

They met again later when the party started, and Celestia also joined them soon. There was plenty of food and drink, all kinds of treats and pastries. It was a merry gathering and they laughed a lot when they thought about some of the stranger things that had happened during their training; mistakes that had been irritating back then, but that were quite funny in retrospect.

"Really a fine group of ponies," Celestia told Luna and Antonius,
"you can be proud of them."

"Oh, we are, sister," Luna smiled,
"they are the best military force in Equestria."

"Indeed," Antonius agreed,
"every single pony is a capable soldier, and when together, their teamwork makes them even better. Once they have created and trained their companies, the Chaos cultists we expect should not be too much of a problem anymore."

"What about the Chaos Space Marines?" Celestia asked quietly.

"That is another story," Antonius answered just as quietly,
"we still need to improve our weaponry. Well, I know a thing or two we may be able to use."

"So, is that what you are going to do from now on?" Luna wanted to know,
"invent weapons for the PDF? Well, you have quite some spare time now that the PDF is sent out."

"I've thought about that, too, and I decided to take care of the weapons later. There is something I want to do as soon as possible."

"And that is?"

"I want to look for the old base of mankind. Who knows, perhaps we can find something useful there."

"Right, that is still on our to-do list. I may still tag along?" Luna inquired.

"Of course," Antonius replied,
"we will take the Land Speeder and scan the mountain rage with the auspex, west to east. You should be prepared to spend a few days in the wilderness."

"Oh, that will not be a problem. When would you like to start? Would the day after tomorrow be acceptable?"

"Yes."

"Good. In the meantime, I will advise the night guard to perform the nightly patrols on their own and get a few things packed."