Antonius was busy stowing away Luna’s luggage. While Land Speeders were not really the best choice to transport things, the fact that Luna was quite a bit smaller than a Space Marine opened up some space he could use as a stowage. Thankfully, she had been undemanding: a tent, supplies and her saddlebags were everything she had decided to bring along.

„Are you ready?“ Luna asked as she came into the hangar, accompanied by Celestia.

„Almost,“ Antonius answered,
„the Speeder is fully fueled and your luggage is on board. In fact, we can leave as soon as you have been buckled up.“

„Then, let us not waste time. This base is not going to find itself!“

Antonius smiled. Luna was almost as eager to find this remnant of mankind as he was.

„Take care!“ Celestia said as Luna was seated and Antonius had placed himself behind the controls,
„and remember to call me as soon as you find anything.“

„Do not worry, sister,“ Luna smiled,
„we will let you join in on the fun part.“

„Fun? I think you mean dangerous. We don’t know what could be in there.“

„Oh come on, sister, what is the worst thing that could happen?“

„Famous last words,“ Antonius laughed,
„but really, don’t worry, Tia. Just as planned, the three of us will enter the base together, and my bolter is not just an air freshener.“

„That’s what I’m afraid of,“ Celestia grinned,
„farewell, see you soon.“

„Goodbye,“ Luna smiled and put on aviator googles.

Now Antonius started the Land Speeder’s engines and they left the hangar. Once they had descended the mountain, he increased the vehicle’s speed and they swept northwestwards.

„Okay, Antonius,“ Luna screamed over the rush of the wind,
„keep heading in this direction. Soon, we will pass Cloudsdale, then Galloping Gorge. At this speed, we should reach Luna Bay around noon.“

Antonius followed her directions and they made good progress. From time to time, they encountered a few traveling ponies, who looked rather bewildered at the passing Speeder - for a second, then they were left behind.

Right on time, they arrived at Luna Bay, where they made their first stop on top of a small, grassy hill. It was colder than in Canterlot, and there were only some conifers around them.
They left the vehicle and Luna looked at the sea.

„Marvelous, is it not?“ she asked with a smile,
„I like the sea. It looks so… endless.“

„And it is named after you, isn’t it?“ Antonius replied.

„It is, just as the eastern sea is named after my sister.“

„Do you want to take a break or should we continue our mission?“

„Oh, I would like to take a break - a lunch break, to be exact.“

So Antonius fetched the supplies and they sat down on a blanket Luna had brought along. They had just begun eating when they heard a strange buzzing sound. Antonius immediately got up and grabbed his bolter.

„What is that?“ he asked,
„sounds like insects, but it’s either a whole lot of them, or a really big one.“

Luna had gotten up too and said:

„I am not sure, but I better take precautions.“

She lit her horn and created a magical force field that encompassed them, the Speeder and their little picnic. Immediately after she was done, a greenish swarm of insects appeared and closed in on them.

„Ugh, fly-ders,“ Luna groaned.

„What?“ Antonius asked as the creatures surrounded the force field.

„Flying spiders. They can shoot web, and their bite causes swellings and itches. Their usual hunting method is to immobilize their prey and suck its blood.“

„Nice,“ Antonius commented sarcastically,
„arachnophobes really must have some good times here.“

„Are you…?“

„No.“

„Good, me neither. Want to take a closer look at them? I could separate one and let you pick it.“

„Okay. Would certainly be interesting.“

Now, a little bubble formed in the force field, and a single fly-der was allowed into it.

„Grab it,“ Luna said, and Antonius put away his bolter and did so.

There the creature was, between his thumb and index finger. It definitely looked like a spider with insect wings, including four eyes staring at him.
He turned to Luna.

„Umm, you probably shouldn’t point that thing’s butt at…“ she started, but was interrupted when the fly-der shot a web that wrapped around Luna’s muzzle.

She did not seem frightened, just annoyed, but Antonius nevertheless immediately used his free hand to rip off the web, freeing her muzzle again. Then he glared at the insect and hissed:

„Listen, you annoying little abomination: It is considered impolite to shoot sticky white stuff in the face of somepony, especially if this somepony is the princess of the county you are living in.“

For whatever reason, Luna snickered at that. The fly-der, on the other hand, buzzed angrily.

„Hmm…“ Antonius opined,
„at least the insects, spiders - or whatever this thing exactly is - around here seem to be rather ‚normal‘ than ‚highly intelligent‘… or this one is just an idiot.“

Having said this, he squished the creature between his finders and threw the mangled corpse away.

„Well, you have defeated this one,“ Luna told him,
„unfortunately, its whole family has come to attend the funeral.“

Antonius looked around.

„Yeah,“ he said,
„bolters and chainswords are not really useful here. Can you use your magic to get rid of them?“

„No problem,“ Luna answered and lit her horn again.

The force field burst into fire, and the fly-ders increased their distance to the flames. Then, instead of fleeing, they fired webs at it to extinguish the fire.

„Stubborn little bastards,“ Luna grunted and intensified the fire. At the same time, she increased the size of the burning force field. Finally, that was enough. The fly-ders took flight and vanished.

„There we go!“ Luna cheered,
„now, let us finish our lunch.“

They did so, then Antonius took his auspex and scanned the area.

„No sign of energy signatures,“ he stated,
„well, would have been quite unexpected if we had found the base on our first stop. Let’s get going.“

„We even could keep going if you told me how to use your auspex.“

„Hmm… true. Okay, Luna, listen.“

Antonius taught Luna how to use the auspex and what to look for. Then, they packed up, got into the Speeder and left the hill, heading northwards first, eastwards later and leaving the sea’s sphere of influence.
The barren grassland soon vanished and was replaced by snow covered plains. They traveled alongside the mountain range and every few kilometers, Luna scanned the area with the auspex. After a while, they came across tracks leading northeastward into a valley.

„Those tracks lead to Equestria’s northernmost outpost,“ Luna explained.

„Well, since we are here, let’s pay them a visit,“ Antonius replied and changed course.

They followed the tracks for a few kilometers, then mentioned outpost came into view. The weather had gotten worse the closer to it they had gotten, now they were in the middle of a blizzard. Antonius slowed the Speeder down and stopped close to the building.
Honestly, this outpost looked more like a rail station than anything else. No fortifications, not even a watchtower. At least it was garrisoned by a few guards who came out to greet them as they had left the Land Speeder and walked towards the outpost’s door.

„Princess Luna! Lord Varus! It is a truly unexpected pleasure to see you,“ one of them said,
„I can report that everything is quiet, no signs of unusual activity - or any activity at all.“

„Thank you,“ Luna answered,
„we will stay for just a few minutes.“

Now Luna used the auspex and told Antonius:

„No energy signatures. We can head back and continue our search.“

„Just a moment,“ Antonius replied and walked a few meters past the outpost into the snow.

„Tony…“ Luna started, but he interrupted her:

„Don’t worry, I won’t run off.“

Antonius stood there and looked across the snow covered plains. Even with his auto-senses, it wasn’t easy to see anything, but he could not shake a strange feeling that made him want to draw his bolter. He was almost sure that there was something out there, beyond the veil of snow. Well, that was probably the reason for this outpost and not his task - at least not now.
He still took off his helmet and took a look with his naked eyes, breathing the cold, unfiltered air.
Was there a voice in the wind?
Antonius listened. Every now and then, he could have sworn that there was a sort of whisper in the storm, dark and malevolent. He decided to keep that in mind, then he put his helmet back on and returned to the Speeder.

„Okay. We can resume our quest,“ he told Luna.

They said goodbye to the guards, wished them luck and left, following back the tracks until they had cleared the valley. Then, Antonius turned the Speeder eastwards and left the tracks behind.

After a while it started getting dark, and Luna said:

„Tony, it is soon time for me to raise the moon. We should set up our camp.“

„Okay,“ Antonius confirmed and slowed the Land Speeder down.

They stopped on an even, grassy area on the slopes of the mountains. The campground was surrounded by conifers east and west and a scarp with a rivulet towards the mountains in the north. Southwards, you could see across Equestria.

„A nice place to spent the night,“ Luna opined as she got out of the Speeder,
„would you please set up the tent? I will look for firewood in the meantime. But first…“

The sun was setting now, so Luna lit her horn to raise the moon.

„This duty of mine is done,“ she proclaimed with a smile and entered the small forest.

Antonius took off his helmet, unpacked the necessary equipment and started setting up the tent, using the Speeders’ headlights as a light source. He was just wondering what kind of prankster had written the tent’s assembly instructions as he heard a scream and rumbling.
Luna!

He immediately jumped up and dashed into the small forest, whipping out his chainsword. He noticed the small cliff just in time to stop. A part of the edge was broken of, and a few meters beneath him he could see a small river, as well as Luna lying in a patch of…
Oh shit.
Of course, it was not really shit, although Antonius almost would have preferred that. He immediately put his helmet back on, sealed his armor and switched to internal life support. Then, he put his chainsword back to his hip, jumped down the cliff and knelt down next to Luna.

„Luna! Are you okay?“ he asked.

„Yeah,“ Luna answered a bit disgruntled,
„just tell nopony that the Princess of the Night has caused a landslide and slid down a cliff. That is embarrassing!“

„It’s getting even better.“

„Huh?“

„Look what you are lying in.“

Luna looked around.

„Poison Joke?!?“

„Indeed. What…“

„Tony! Is your armor sealed? Are you okay?“ Luna interrupted worriedly.

„Yes, everything is fine, don’t worry,“ Antonius reassured her,
„but what effects does this plant have on you?“

„No idea! This is the first time I made its direct acquaintance.“

„Well, let’s get out of this patch.“

„We have to wash in this small river, too, else you will not be able to take off your helmet for the rest of our journey.“

So they went into the water and had a thorough wash. When they were done, Luna dried them with her magic and used another spell to clear even the faintest remnants of the Poison Joke. Then they circumvented the patch Luna had fallen into and returned to their camp, collecting the needed firewood on their way.

Antonius resumed putting up the tent, while Luna took care of the campfire and the rest of the campsite.

„Tent’s ready,“ Antonius proclaimed after a while.

„The camp is ready, too,“ Luna replied.

She had done a good job: There were logs as sitting accommodations and the campfire was burning brightly. Antonius went to the Speeder, deactivated its headlights and asked:

„And how are you feeling?“

„Good. Poison Joke is not harmful to us ponies, I will just experience some sort of strange or silly effect in the morning - who knows, perhaps it is even funny.“

„Let’s hope so,“ Antonius said grumpily.

„No need to be grumpy,“ Luna smiled,
„we have a camp, a campfire and a nice view. Let us have dinner, that will hopefully lighten your mood. First, we should get some water from that rivulet over there.“

So they went to the scarp and Antonius formed a bowl with his hands and caught the water that was running down the rocks.

„Help yourself,“ he invited Luna.

She looked a little confused, then she stepped closer and took a few sips out of his hands. When she was done, she grinned at Antonius:

„Not too bad, I prefer one of those, though.“

Having said this, she fetched a stainless steel cup from her saddlebags and filled it under the rivulet. Antonius stared at her cup for a few seconds, then he mumbled:

„I’m obviously stupid.“

„Nah,“ Luna laughed,
„just a little unused to pony camping gear. Here, I have brought a cup for you, too.“

Antonius took the cup, filled it and they returned to the campfire. After dinner, Luna fetched some marshmallows and told Antonius:

„It would not be a real camping trip without marshmallows - and a good scary story! I am sure you know a few good ones.“

„Well,“ Antonius answered as he put the little white cylinders on a stick and held them over the fire,
„I surely could tell you a few… disturbing stories, but what about you telling one?“

„Oh, okay. What do you want to hear? The story of the headless horse?“

„What about the story of what the hell is in the northern ice dessert?“

Luna looked a little startled, then she answered:

„Snow. Lots of it.“

„Luna,“ Antonius sighed,
„there is something there, and it is more than just snow. I could hear it in the wind, like a malevolent whisper. A windigo?“

„No, not quite.“

„Then, what is it?“

Luna hesitated for a second, then she said:

„Sombra.“

„And what is a ‚sombra‘?“

„Not what, who. Sombra was an evil unicorn who ruled the Crystal Empire and enslaved the ponies there. About a thousand years ago, my sister and I were able to banish him into the ice of the arctic north, but not before he had a chance to curse the Crystal Empire and make it vanish into thin air.“

„So, there is an evil unicorn and a whole empire somehow hidden up there? Shouldn’t at least this Sombra be dead now?“

„No, for he is more than just a mad unicorn. He is a shadow.“

„Huh?“

„It is hard to explain. He is a pony as well as he is a shadow.“

„Oh? Well, that’s sort of weird… I’ll just blame magic,“ Antonius grinned.

„Dark magic of the worst kind,“ Luna said gravely.

„My faith is my shield,“ Antonius stated.

„Faith alone will not be enough once Sombra and the Crystal Empire return.“

„In that case, I still have a bolter and a chainsword.“

„I hope we will never have to find out how useful they are in that situation.“

„Don’t worry, a bolt to the head is certainly at least seriously annoying.“

As long as there was a physical head - or body - to shoot at. Antonius knew that.
If this Sombra really had some sort of immaterial form, only a psi-weapon could harm him. Unfortunately, there was none available, but perhaps the ponies’ magic could be used as a substitute.
Well, that was a problem for another time, now, the ancient base of mankind took priority.

To lighten the mood and cheer Luna up, Antonius started telling some funny anecdotes, and Luna soon also told him a few strange experiences.
When it was time to retire, Antonius asked:

„Who’s going to take the first watch?“

„Watch?“

„We’re in the wild, we must not be careless, even though we should be able to deal with any wild creature without much of a problem.“

„You are right. I suggest Mr. Magical Force Field takes the watch.“

Now she lit up her horn, and said force field came into existence. It surrounded the whole campsite, including the Land Speeder. Thankfully, the campfire’s smoke - and air in general - was able to pass it.

„This field will exist until sunrise and keep us save. Now, let us go to sleep. I have brought bedrolls, one of them your size.“

„Thanks, but I’ll leave my armor on and do thus not have a need for a bedroll.“

„Oh, so I have brought your pajamas for nothing, too?“

„You have brought my pajamas?“

„Of course.“

„Well, thank you, ‚mommy‘, but I will stick to my decision.“

„So you want to ignore the wisdom of a hundred centuries?“ Luna grinned.

„Not to take off your armor while sleeping in the wild seems wiser to me,“ Antonius grinned back.

They entered the tent. Antonius lay down, Luna took off her jewelry and crawled into her bedroll. They bid goodnight and were soon asleep.

Antonius awoke again before sunrise. He crawled to the entrance and took a look outside: Luna’s force field was still active and there was no sign of anything wanting to penetrate it. He turned to Luna to make sure that she was alright. He could hear her quiet breathing, and she turned around in her sleep.
But why did just the upper part of the bedroll move?

Antonius crept a little closer and peeked into her bedroll. He could see her mane, but it was light blue, as if she had decided to deactivate the magical effects she usually put on it. But even it that was true, there was less mane than usual. Luna moved again, and a small horn protruded from the hair.

This pony was not Luna, although she had quite some similarities with her! What had happened? Where was Luna? And how did that filly get into her bedroll?
Or… no, that was a little far fetched, wasn’t it? Perhaps… well, he had to make sure.

He carefully lifted the part of the bedroll that covered her. Her fur was brighter than Luna’s, but there were wings! So she was a alicorn filly with an overall striking resemblance to the Princess of the Night. Despite the quite unfortunate implications, he had to make sure and took a look at the filly’s flank. Luna’s cutie mark!

This filly was Luna! Was that the effect the Poison Joke had had on her? Probably, he couldn’t think of another reason for this weird transformation at least.

Luna moved again, and this time, she opened her eyes and looked at him.

„Good morning, Tony,“ she smiled, then she raised an eyebrow,
„umm… are you peeking at me?“

„Sorry, Luna,“ Antonius replied,
„but I had to make sure that you are really… you.“

„Huh? What do you mean by that? Of course I am…“
She turned her head, took a look at her body and froze. Then she started screaming.
„Tony! We are a filly!“

„It looks that way.“

„‚It looks that way‘? What a stupid answer is that supposed to be? Do something!“

„And what? I can’t really stretch you back to your normal shape. I think this is the result of your contact with the Poison Joke.“

Luna stared at him for a few seconds, then she pouted and said:

„I hate Poison Joke.“

Antonius could not prevent himself from snickering. Mini-Luna pouting just looked too adorable!

„This is not funny,“ she grumbled.

„Sorry, Luna, but honestly, you are so damned adorable as a filly.“

„I would like to forego this adorability.“

Antonius laughed and could not restrain himself from asking:

„Ooh, widdle Woona is grumpy-wumpy?“

Luna glared at him:

„Widdle Woona will kick your butty-wutty!“

That was too much for Antonius. He broke down laughing.

„When you are done making fun of me, perhaps you could try to help me?“ Luna asked him.

He immediately realized that she really sounded hurt, so her reigned himself in and looked her in the eyes.

„Luna, I don’t want to make fun of you. It’s just…“

„Yeah, I am adorable, I got that. This is still an involuntary change to my body. Would you like to wake up as a child?“

Antonius made a face.

„Hell, no. Well, Luna, it is probably just Poison Joke, and there is a cure for that. We could abort our mission and visit Zecora. She has a remedy.“

Luna tilted her head a little bit.

„You would abort this important mission to get me cured?“

„Of course. Shall I prepare our departure?“

Luna thought about that for a second, then she answered:

„Yes, but we are not going to Zecora yet. I do not want to delay our discovery of the base just because I was stupid enough to fall into a patch of that flower. We will continue our mission and pay Zecora a visit as soon as the base is found.“

„Are you sure?“

„Of course. It may be weird, but temporary being a filly is not exactly dangerous to me. Just no ‚widdle Woona‘ jokes, okay? Just treat me as if I were still my real size.“

„Okay.“

Since the time for dawn had come by now, they left the tent and Luna lit her (adorable little) horn to lower the moon. It started… sauntering towards the horizon?
Antonius took a look at Luna: Her face showed more that just a little strain. When the moon had traveled more than half the way towards the horizon, it suddenly stopped. The glow around Luna’s horn vanished and she took several deep breaths.

„Damnit,“ she mumbled,
„this is surprisingly difficult. My condition seems to affect my powers. This is very unsettling.“

At that moment, Antonius’ vox beeped. He activated the device and they could hear Celestia’s voice:

„Antonius? Is Luna okay? What is going on? Are you having any problems?“

Luna waved urgently at Antonius, so he muted the vox and turned to her.

„Please do not tell my sister that I am a filly. I would never her the end of it!“ she pleaded.

Antonius nodded and unmuted the vox:

„We had a little incident with Poison Joke. While my armor protected me, Luna was unfortunately exposed to the plant. Her magical capabilities seem to be reduced. Otherwise, she has suffered no harm.
We thought about aborting our mission, but she decided to carry on. On our way back, we will stop at Zecora’s.“

Antonius had to grin a bit. He had not lied; being a filly was not really harmful to Luna. He had just not told the whole truth.

„Oh, okay,“ Celestia responded,
„shall I take over Luna’s moon-duty in the meantime?“

Antonius took a look at Luna. She did not seem to be particularly excited about this prospect, but she still nodded, albeit reluctantly.

„Yes,“ Antonius said curtly.

„Can I talk to her?“

Crap. Celestia would surely recognize that Luna sounded quite a bit younger and smaller now. Luna obviously thought the same, as she firmly shook her head - sending her mane flying.

„Sorry, but the Poison Joke has affected her voice as well, so she wants to go easy on it as much as possible.“

„But she IS okay?“

„Alive and kicking - figuratively. No need to worry.“

„Okay. Please tell me if anything noteworthy should happen. Celestia, out.“

„Antonius, out.“

He deactivated the vox.
A second later, the moon started moving again and vanished behind the horizon to be replaced by the sun.

„Let us hurry to find that base,“ Luna grumbled,
„I want my full magic back.“

They still took the time to have a quick breakfast. When Luna got her cup of coffee, she started grinning and said:

„You know, my magic may be weak, but being this small has an advantage: The coffee is much bigger now!“

When they were done, they packed everything together and got into the Land Speeder.

„Another problem,“ Antonius noticed,
„your harness does not fit you anymore.“

„Then we will have to improvise something… There is a long scarf in my luggage, perhaps it can help?“

„Hmm… worth a try.“

This ‚something‘ they improvised turned out to be tying Luna to her harness with the help of her scarf. Quite unorthodox, but it worked.

Soon, they left the campsite and continued their search for the ancient base of mankind. They entered every valley and conducted thorough scans, but by the end of the day, they had not found anything.

They set up another camp next to a small lake. To compensate for his failed Mucranoid, Antonius took a bath in that lake while Luna stood guard. When he was done, they switched places.
Since Luna was not able to establish a reliable force field, he offered to keep watch during the night while she slept.

It was past midnight when Luna came out of the tent. Antonius turned to her:

„Luna? Is something wrong?“

„Well, yes, it is,“ she said hesitantly,
„you see, my body is much smaller now, and… that is why… umm… I am cold.“

Well, it was pretty cold here, at least for a normal human - or a pony. They were way up north, close to the mountains, and it was still early spring. No wonder Luna was cold. In retrospect, the bath in the lake had probably not been the wisest thing to do, either.

Now, Antonius had to come up with an idea to keep her warm. He looked around, and his eyes fell upon the Speeder.
A ramjet-heater… no, that would blow Luna away… and burn her… and probably kill her.
The life support system in his armor? No, he couldn’t stuff her into the armor.
The campfire? Not possible in the tent, and the air outside was too chilly.
He could heat up rocks with a fire and put them into the tent… but that would take some time, and he couldn’t risk Luna becoming hypothermic.
There was still one way to warm her: He was warm-blooded. He could act as a living hot-water bottle. So he asked her:

„The only reasonable way to warm you I see is body heat. Do you concur?“

„I concur, as long as it keeps me warm,“ Luna shivered.

They entered the tent.

„Guess it was a good thing you brought my pajamas in the end,“ Antonius opined and started taking off his armor.

He still kept the chainsword close by at any time, just in case some wild creature should show up. When he had donned the pajamas, he turned to Luna; she was looking at him.

„Umm, Luna…“

„Yeah?“

„You did not really peek at me, did you?“

„No,“ she answered curtly.

The fact that she turned crimson did not really support her statement, but Antonius choose to ignore that, especially since it probably just was her ‘revenge’ for him peeking at her earlier. After everything that had happened to them, this was negligible. Damnit, now that he thought about it, they had been in a lot of weird situations.

Antonius just nodded and crawled into his bedroll.
Now Luna climbed onto his shoulders and vanished inside the bedroll. A moment later, her head emerged again on his chest, close to his head.

„Warm?“ Antonius asked.

„Yeah, thank you,“ Luna smiled,
„you know, at the moment, one could say that you are a…“

„If you call me a ‚hottie‘ I will freak out,“ Antonius interrupted her.

„Oh… I did not say anything,“ Luna decided any curled up on his chest.

Antonius put his hands around her, and soon, she was asleep while he wanted to stay awake and keep watch.

When Antonius woke up the next morning, he realized that something had not gone according to that plan. He had fallen asleep.
Damnit, why? Was it because of the fluffy little filly on his chest? Had she made him so sleepy?

He could still feel her lying on his chest, covered by his hands, but somehow, she was even fluffier than a few hours before. He opened his eyes and took a look:
Luna was lying on her back and his fingers were buried in the fur of her belly. Well, that explained the extra fluffiness.

Antonius decided to wake her up so that they could continue their mission. He removed a hand from her belly and gently patted her head. It took a few pats for Luna to wake up, and the first thing she said was a drowsy

„Five more minutes.“

Antonius’ second attempt at waking up Luna - five minutes later - was more successful. They packed together and left the campsite.

It was early afternoon when Luna suddenly shouted:

„Tony! Tony! I am getting a reading!“

Antonius stopped the Land Speeder and took a look at the auspex.

„Bingo. A faint energy signature. Highly likely artificial. Let’s have a closer look at it.“

He steered the Speeder closer to the signature until they were in front of a wall of rock. Lots of boulders were lying around, and the rocks themselves looked weathered.

„A few landslides must have come down here,“ Luna opined.

„Indeed,“ Antonius answered,
„taking all those millennia into consideration, it’s not really surprising.
I think the base is inside this mountain. At least I don’t know what else could have such an energy signature and the mountain range has some similarities to the one in the drawings.
Now, we have to find a way inside… no, that’s not quite right.“

„We have to pick up my sister first, right?“

„Yeah. And we have to cure you, too. Something is still active in there. I would like to explore it with two combat-ready alicorns, just to be sure. Furthermore, that was our plan. I’ll mark this position with my data-slate.“

Antonius fetched the slate and pushed the corresponding runes. A new waypoint lit up on the device’s map of Equestria.

„Okay, now we’ll inform Celestia.“

A few seconds later, the Princess of the Sun was on the vox.

„Antonius? Luna? How’s it going?“

„We’ve found an energy signature inside a mountain. Highly likely the base we are looking for.“

„That’s fantastic! Where are you?“

„Almost directly north of Canterlot. Your ancestors must have wandered straight southward. Now, we will return. We should arrive this evening. I suggest you pack your things and prepare yourself for a expedition - and it would be really convenient if you could send someone to Zecora so that she is waiting for us with the Poison Joke remedy.“

„I’ll send a letter to Twilight; she can contact Zecora. Do you want to set out tomorrow or do you want to spend a day or two in Canterlot to regenerate?“

„Tomorrow!“ Luna cheered, then she realized that she had just revealed her not quite mature voice.

„Wow, Luna“, Celestia noticed,
„the Poison Joke has really affected your voice. You almost sound like a filly!“

Luna laughed awkwardly and Antonius said:

„This will be fixed before the day is over. We’re coming back now. Antonius, out.“

„I’ll be waiting for you. Celestia, out.“

Antonius turned the Land Speeder southward and accelerated.
Tomorrow the ancient base of mankind would be reclaimed by the Imperium of Mankind!

Author's Notes:

In case you are wondering about the style of the quotation marks:
I switched to a new word processor and it handles those a bit differently.