Luna was happy that Twilight, her friends and of course Antonius had been able to defeat the changelings. Really, the Secretariat Comet had caused quite some troubles, but that thankfully was over now; the creatures had spent their magic and had returned to normal.

With one exception: Luna herself. She had saved the magic boost the comet had given her for a special mission. It would not be risk-free, but the gain would outweigh the risk by far - if she was successful. She was sure of that.

Now she just had to find a quiet place. Any distraction would be very unfavorable. She took a look around:
Twilight and her friends, as well as the fillies, were sleeping close to Celestia, tired out by the events of the day. The pegasus guards were also asleep next to the still burning fire. The only ones awake were Antonius, who stood guard, and herself.
Not bad, but still not good enough. She got up and turned to Antonius:

“Hey, Tony, is everything alright?”

“Yes,” he told her,
“there is no sign of changeling activity - or any other kind of activity. With the exception of our group, this whole area is dead and barren.”

“So, you would not mind me leaving for an hour or two?”

“Why do you want to leave the camp?” he asked in bewilderment.

“Well, I have to do my duties, but because of the comet’s effects, it could be that I disturbed the others if I lit my horn, as it might be brighter than usual. So, I have to find a quiet place slightly away from the camp.”

Well, this was mostly the truth. She would walk a dream, and her horn would probably be very bright. She thought about telling Antonius her whole plan, but decided against it. She did not want to get his hopes high - and maybe disappoint him.

“Hmm…” he said, clearly not thrilled,
“do as you deem necessary. But please take care, stay as close as possible and take your PDA with you.”

“Okay,” she smiled,
“I will just fly down to the lower terrace. You will probably even still be able to see the light from my horn.”

Luna left the camp and did as she had told Antonius.
The ground she landed on was beneath the castle, but still above the defiled village. Giant stone pillars throughout the terrace supported the weight of the castle above. She checked her surroundings, then lay down close to one of the pillars and closed her eyes.
Now, she could begin.

Luna lit her horn as she had done many times before, but this time, she did not look for the dreams of ponies. Instead, she sent out her mind, leaving her body behind. She gained altitude and took a quick look back: Everypony was sleeping quietly, only Antonius was keeping an eye on the castle. Luna continued her journey. She left the planet, passed the moon and finally arrived at the veil.
Now, things would get interesting.

Luna carefully stuck her head through the veil and took a look at whatever was behind. She immediately pulled her head back.
What the hell had that been? She lacked words to describe what she had seen. The closest approximation would probably be ‘miasma’, but that did not do it justice. She thought about cancelling her mission, but decided against it. This was probably the only possibility she would ever get. She had to use it.

She shielded her mind and hid in shadows, then she passed through the veil. Really, this place - if it was a place at all - was so strange and… wrong that her fur stood on end. Well, if she had had any fur at the moment at least. No wonder mankind called it ‘warp’ - everything here was and felt warped.
There was one single thing she could see, though, that was different: It shone like a star and filled her with confidence, the light Antonius had called the ‘Astronomican’. Luna used it to navigate and stated traveling through the warp.

She had travelled for some time when she suddenly got the feeling that she was not alone anymore. She immediately stopped and looked around. There was something… a spot of darkness in the miasma around her.
Luna was absolutely silent, her shadows protecting her from being spotted. This thing slowly moved around, like a predator looking for a victim to devour. Well, that was probably the case. A daemon looking for a poor soul. Her soul.

As she realized that, she could feel a spike of fear, and the thing stopped immediately. Damnit, a little of that emotion must have seeped out of her shield. Luna did not dare to move, all she could do was to be quiet and let this thing pass.

Unfortunately, it slowly crept closer. If it found her, it could be her end. It would definitely be the end of her mission if…
Oh, damnit! If the daemon was able to trace her back to her body, it would know about the position of her planet! Equestria would be overrun by Chaos, everypony would die… and it would be her fault.
Luna felt horror and guilt, and the daemon headed directly towards her, glowing eyes appearing in the darkness that was its essence. She had to fight it, to kill it before…

Suddenly, there was a golden light and the daemon was incinerated within a fraction of a second. Luna had never seen anything that awe-inspiring. All she could do was look at it as it was in front of her, although it was strangely difficult to tell its exact location.

Now, she could feel it touch her mind. It just passed through her mental shield without problem and read her thoughts. Luna tried to comprehend what it was, but all she could sense was a power like she had never sensed before. She could only think of one word to describe it: divine.

She had barely thought that as she could feel a hint of disapproval from the thing, then, it was replaced by some kind of helpfulness. So, whatever it was, it would not harm her. Probably.

It left her mind and suddenly the golden light encompassed her and propelled her forward. Luna could not even start guessing the speed at which she was traveling now, only that it was FAST.

After a hardly measurable amount of time, the golden sphere around her opened and she saw a planet, blue and green where the sun shone upon it. Was this the correct designation of her journey? Was this Macragge?
Her new golden friend had read her mind, after all, and she had felt helpfulness. This had to be the homeworld of the Ultramarines. Now, there was no time to be lost. Luna closed in on the planet.

It looked quite nice, with its blue oceans and rivers, its green grassy plains and forests and its gray mountains. The nature reminded her of Equestria, but there was more to Macragge than that: There were gigantic structures on the face of the planet; cities of enormous size, and there were more structures above the surface, flying around the planet like extremely weird clouds; probably something for those nifty voidships Antonius had told her about. Said ships were also present; an abundance of ships of various types and sizes, a lot of them bearing the insignia of the Ultramarines.

Yes, this had to be Macragge. Luna descended on the biggest city and started looking for a dream.

Varro Tigurius smiled. It was not too often that he had such nice dreams. At the moment, he was standing on a grassy plain, the Fortress of Hera and Magna Macragge Civitas glistening in the sunlight. Really, this was a view that showed the glorious achievements of mankind on this planet - even if it was just a dream.
He closed his eyes for a second and took a deep breath.

Then his eyes immediately snapped open. He felt something, someone, a presence he was not familiar with. He spun around and saw… a horse.
But not just any horse: it was a small, dark blue, winged unicorn with a spectacularly flowing mane and tail.
Well, that was weird. If he had not been able to feel this presence, he would have thought this creature to be a product of his - obviously a bit overstressed - mind, but as it stood… was that…

“Greetings,” the horse said with a soft, female voice,
“I am Princess Luna of Equestria. You are Chief Librarian Varro Tigurius, I presume?”

Tigurius was completely dumbfounded for a second. He was not sure if he should laugh, scream or just say hello. He choose the latter:

“Greetings, Princess Luna of Equestria. You are right, I am Varro Tigurius, Chief Librarian of the Ultramarines. How do you know about me?”

“Antonius Varus told me…”

“Brother Varus!” Tigurius shouted.

This creature knew Varus? It had talked to him? That was too good to be true!
Yes, it was too good to be true. He was dreaming, after all… but this presence he felt… he was sure that this part was not just a dream. He used his skills and scanned ‘Luna’.
No, she was not just a product of imagination. He may have been dreaming, but Luna was as real as him - and as far as he could tell without malevolent intentions.

“I sense your concerns,” Luna said calmly,
“but I can guarantee that I am indeed real. I have the ability to enter the dreams of other creatures, and a fortunate event - actually, a series of fortunate events - enabled me to bridge the gap from my homeworld to yours. Now, my time is limited. I have to tell you about Antonius and his discoveries on my planet.”

“Just a second,” Tigurius said,
“the chapter master must witness this. He should be asleep now. I would like to call him in. Can you appear in his dream, too?”

Luna nodded.

“I can create shared dreams. If you would be so kind and point me to him, I can add him to this dream.”

Tigurius had to admit, he was excited because of this unexpected visit. But he was neither stupid nor reckless. So, he reached out for his chapter master, but shielded him from any kind of psionic attack at the same time.

A moment later, Marneus Calgar appeared on the grass and looked around. He spotted Luna and said after a second:

“Well, there is something quite unusual going on here.”
He turned to Tigurius while keeping his eyes glued to Luna:
“Either, we have a visitor, or I urgently need a holiday. And I don’t think I need holidays.”

“You are correct, Lord Calgar,” Tigurius simply confirmed.

The chapter master turned back to Luna and said:

“Then let me introduce myself: I am Marneus Augustus Calgar, chapter master of the Ultramarines.”

Luna bowed and replied:

“Greetings, Chapter Master Calgar. I am Princess Luna of Equestria. I bring great news: Antonius Varus is alive and has made great discoveries.”

“Brother Varus!” Calgar shouted,
“Chief Librarian, is she the creature you saw? The smaller shadow?”

“Possible,” Tigurius answered,
“she is about the right size.”

“Excuse me,” Luna asked, obviously puzzled,
“but what are you talking about?”

Tigurius quickly told her what he had seen back then when Varus had been tested. She did not look less puzzled now.

“But… that was just a memory Tony showed me…”
Tony?
“…but you seemed to look at me at the end… well, that is not important right now. Let me tell you about Antonius and what he has discovered!”

“We are listening,” Calgar assured her.

“First of all, we have magical artifacts we call the ‘Elements of Harmony’. They are capable of turning daemonic creatures into stone, and can furthermore expel daemonic influences from possessed beings, returning them to their real self.”

“That sounds like a mighty weapon,” Calgar said thoughtfully,
“if those artifacts are really capable of doing what you said. Unfortunately, we do not have the best experiences regarding the honesty of aliens. Can you somehow prove your words?”

Luna seemed to think about that, then she said:

“No, not really. I could promise that I told you the truth, but you would have no reason to believe me if you did not trust me already. I would have to demonstrate the Elements’ effects, but I cannot do that here and now. You will just have to believe me. If you are worried because if the whole ‘alien’-thing, I can reassure you: we are not real aliens, we were created by mankind during the ‘Golden Age’.”

Calgar raised an eyebrow:

“You were what?”

“Created by mankind. It was a company named ‘Hastings Brothers’ that built a base on our planet and created us.”

“There is a human base on your planet?”

“Yeah, Antonius found it. And once there, he found something he called a ‘Standard Template Construction System’.”

“He found… in what condition?” Calgar inquired, flabbergasted and with barely hidden excitement.

“It is functional, but short on energy. Oh, and it is ‘complete’. Antonius was very excited about that.”

“Well, I can imagine that,” Calgar said, quickly regaining his composure.

He took a look at Tigurius, and the librarian nodded. There was no lie in what Luna had said, so she at least believed it herself.

“So,” Calgar continued,
“you want to tell us that on your planet are the keys not only to defeat our arch-enemy, the ruinous powers of Chaos, but also to herald the start of a second Golden Age?”

“Well, yes.”

Calgar was silent for a few seconds, then he said:

“Luna of Equestria, do you have any idea how improbable that sounds?”

“You do not believe me?” Luna asked, worry in her voice.

“I am not sure. This is almost too unbelievable to actually be a lie.”

“I swear I speak the truth! Please, you must come, reunite with Antonius and help us against Chaos!”

“The forces of Chaos are on your planet?!”

“They were and will be again. Antonius killed a Chaos Space Marine who devastated one of our towns and killed a lot of ponies. He estimates that a larger strike force will arrive within the next century, decade or even year!
Chapter Master, we need your help. We may have the Elements and the construction system, and Antonius is training a newly founded PDF, but it would still be a risk relying solely on that. The Ultramarines would be more than welcome. In return, we will gladly help you in every way we can.”

Calgar was silent. Tigurius knew he thought about the best course of action, and soon he would probably…

“Tigurius?”

There it was.

“There was no lie in Princess Luna’s words,” Tigurius told him,
“everything she told us is the truth as she sees it.”

Calgar nodded and turned to Luna:

“Well, Princess Luna of Equestria. I have a message for you and for brother Varus: We will come and help you.”

“Oh, thank you!” Luna cheered, jumped forward and hugged a visibly surprised Calgar.

“Umm… you’re welcome?” he stammered while Tigurius had to suppress a smile.

Luna quickly ended the hug and stepped back again.

“Sorry,” she said with a light blush,
“but I am thoroughly happy that my mission to contact you and request your help was a success. Tony will also be very happy.”

There it was again. She really had called brother Varus ‘Tony’.

“Now, tell us where your planet is located,” Calgar requested.

“It is in the intergalactic void. Perhaps you can make use of the view of the galaxy we have from our planet?”

Having said that, Luna lit her horn and an image of the galaxy appeared in front of them. Tigurius immediately committed what he saw to his memory.

“Hmm… your planet is quite far beyond the edge of our galaxy. It will take some time traveling there,” Calgar said, then he turned to Tigurius:
“We’ll have to refit a ship for this journey, strike cruiser at the minimum.”

“Indeed, my Lord, and that far away from the Astronomican, traveling the Immaterium will be tricky and dangerous and take us additional time. It may take almost a year to get there.”
Tigurius now turned to Luna:
“Princess, how exactly were you able to cross the distance from your planet to Macragge? You said something about fortunate events, but it is still a long way. Are you that powerful?”

“Well, to be honest,” Luna explained,
“a rare celestial phenomenon boosted my power, but even with that I do not think that I would have been able to contact you. Fortunately, I encountered a golden… entity that helped me.”

Tigurius was all ears, even more so than before:

“A ‘golden entity’? Please tell me more about it.”

“Unfortunately, I am not able to describe it sufficiently. The closest approximation would probably be ‘divine’, although it did not seem to like that thought of mine. It picked me up and helped me reach you.”

Tigurius and Calgar exchanged a glance, then Calgar turned back to Luna:

“A very interesting aspect of your visit. It actually reinforces my decision to come to your aid, but it will still take some time. In the meantime, forward this to Brother Varus: He shall protect you, those ‘Elements of Harmony’, and the construction system. Furthermore, he shall continue his training of your PDF. Make sure that you still exist when we arrive.”

“I will tell him your orders, Lord Calgar,” Luna smiled.

“Good, now, tell me how he is doing.”

“He is quite alright. Oh, with one exception: He said his Mucranoid is defective.”

“That may be inconvenient, but should not do any harm. Do you know how that happened?”

“Yes,” Luna answered a bit hesitantly, then she continued:
“He got in contact with a flower we call ‘Poison Joke’. It put him into hibernation.”

“Then… he is in hibernation? Is this what you call ‘quite alright’?”

“Oh, no, he is awake. We put him into a bath with the antidote and I was able to wake him up with my magic.”

They put Varus into a bath? Tigurius could hardly wait to hear his report.

“I must ask you to limit the use of your magic on brother Varus to the absolute minimum,” Calgar told her sternly.

“There is no reason to worry, Lord Calgar,” Luna replied,
“while our magic is not dangerous, we do not use it recklessly. I can assure you, though, that it was necessary in that case.”

Calgar nodded and said:

“I believe your options were quite limited. Now, is there anything else we can do for you?”

“I do not think so, Lord Calgar, but perhaps there is something I can do for you.”

Luna lit her horn, and at the next moment, they were standing in front of the Shrine of the Primarch.

“How… how do you know about this place?” Calgar wanted to know.

“Oh, Antonius showed me the shrine in a dream. I saw this as a great honor,” Luna answered.

Well, it certainly was, and more than that. Tigurius was contemplating what might have persuaded brother Varus to show Luna the Shrine of the Primarch, the holiest place in the Realm of Ultramar, but his thoughts were interrupted when he noticed Luna’s horn glowing brightly.

“Princess Luna, what are you doing?” he asked.

“I have been working on an advanced healing spell for some time now, and I want to use it on your Primarch.”

WHAT?

“Princess Luna,” Calgar quickly intervened,
“I do not think this is wise… and I thought this was just a dream.”

“It may be a dream, but I am also here. I am not sure if it is going to work, but I will use every bit of magic I have left and try to heal your Primarch. After this attempt, I will be forced to leave immediately. So, fare thee well, Chapter Master Calgar, and fare thee well, Chief Librarian Tigurius. We will wait for your arrival.”

“Princess, while I do not doubt your good intentions, I must ask you NOT to use your magic on Primarch Guilliman! The risk would be too… TIGURIUS!”

At that moment, Luna fired a bright beam at the Primarch.
Tigurius wanted to put a shield around him, but realized that he had no idea how to create a psionic shield inside a dream to protect something that was probably just a vision - and he wasn't sure if that was a bad course of events.
So, he could just stare as Roboute Guilliman was surrounded by a shining aura.
He turned back to Luna, but she was gone, and his dream ended abruptly.

Luna was pulled away from the planet. She was completely exhausted and just hoped she would make it back into her body. She left the atmosphere, passed the orbital installations and met her new, golden friend again, who encompassed and accelerated her immediately.
Interestingly, she could feel a hint of disapproval again.

“I know it was a bold move,” she whispered,
“but it was a chance I had to use. If I was successful, the Primarch of the Ultramarines will rise again, and that will be a great blessing for Tony’s chapter, will it not?”

While her golden companion did not really answer, Luna suddenly felt that her action would affect more than just the Ultramarines; it would affect the whole Imperium if she had been successful.

“Well, in any case, I managed to tell them where we are, and they will come and help us. Tony will surely be happy.”

Yes, he would certainly be happy. Luna thought about his probable reaction: first, a flabbergasted expression, but then, hopefully a smile of pure joy…

Again, this hint of disapproval.

“What? We need them, and we will help them in return.”

No, that was not the reason for the disapproval.

“Why… oh, is it about Tony?”

Hint of disapproval.

“Hey, we are only friends… gee, even if you have a predilection for gold, please do not mimic my sister.”

It was incredible that her new friend could pull off an eye-roll without having visible eyes.

“So, everything is fine? I promise that I will take good care of Tony until his chapter arrives.”

A mental sigh, then a feeling of approval (a bit reluctant, but honest) told her that everything was okay.

The next moment, the golden light vanished, and Luna was fired through the veil that protected her planet. She entered the atmosphere and went hurtling towards her body. When she finally reached - or slammed into - it, everything went black.

Antonius still stood guard and watched the castle the changelings were imprisoned in. From time to time, he took a look back to check in on Luna. While he couldn’t see her directly, the light from her horn dimly illuminated a branch of a tree that grew near the ledge of the plateau the castle stood on. Now, this sign of Luna’s presence was gone, so Antonius assumed Luna would show up again every moment.

When few minutes had passed, and there was still no sign of Luna, Antonius got a little concerned. He walked up to Celestia and awoke her.

“Huh? Is it morning already?” she asked drowsily.

“Not yet,” Antonius quietly told her, as not to awake the sleeping ponies around her,
“but I have to look in on Luna and don’t want the castle to be unguarded.”

“Luna? Isn’t she here? Where has she gone?”

“She wanted to do her dream-walking duty and left the camp so that she wouldn’t awake you. I was able to see the glow from her horn, but that stopped a few minutes ago, yet she has not returned. Now, I want to go and see what’s going on.”

“Okay. I will watch the castle. Call me if something should be wrong.”

Antonius left the camp and walked up to the ledge of the plateau. As he looked down, he could see Luna’s shape lying in the darkness below him. He took his PDA and called her. Antonius noticed Luna’s PDA light up down below, and he heard the sound it made to gain her attention, but it was a futile attempt: Luna did not move to answer the call.
Was she asleep? Possible.
Or something less convenient was going on; the light from her PDA seemed to be a little reddish.

Antonius ended the call, put his PDA away and grabbed his bolter. Then, he made his way down the slope that led to the lower terrace. He walked up to Luna, scanning his surroundings for enemies all the while, but there was no sign of hostile activity.

“Luna?” he asked, kneeling down next to her.

No answer.

He gently touched her shoulder, and it felt wet. When he looked at his hand after that, he could see blood on it.
What the hell?

Her face was concealed by her mane, so he lifted her hair and took a look.

“Oh shit…”

Now, Antonius had seen psykers bleed out of their noses if they had strained themselves, but Luna had bled out of her nose, ears and even eyes, and that was something different - and worrying. To make it worse, every sweat gland seemed to have exuded a small amount of blood, which probably added up to a serious blood loss.
Thankfully, Luna now opened her eyes a little and smiled.

“Hello, Tony,” she whispered,
“I made it.”

“If you mean you almost killed yourself, you are obviously right,” Antonius answered, then he used his vox to call Celestia.

“Hello, Antonius,” she answered,
“is everything okay?”

“No, not at all. Luna has lost quite some blood. Come here, lower terrace, now.”

“Oh, goodness! What happened?”

“Don’t know. Get moving,” Antonius answered curtly and terminated the connection.

“Your chapter…” Luna whispered.

“What is with my chapter?” Antonius asked in confusion.

“I managed to contact them… they will come… and aid us.”

Antonius stared at her, totally flabbergasted. Had she really managed to somehow send a message to Macragge? Like an Astropath? Or was it just the blood loss? He put a hand under her shoulder and lifted her a bit so that she was half lying on his arm now.

“Luna, what have you done? I thought you just wanted to do some dream-walking.”

“That is exactly what I have done,” Luna smiled,
“I just used the Secretariat Comet’s magical boost to extend my range a bit.”

“A bit? You have extremely overexerted yourself.”

Now, Celestia landed next to them and said:

“I have awoken everypony. Now, what is going on?”

“Luna apparently has sent a message to Macragge,” Antonius told her.

“What?” Celestia shouted,
“how… oh, I see. The comet. Luna, that was extremely dangerous.”

“But worth it!” Luna insisted,
“especially since I had the chance to try and revive your Primarch.”

Antonius thought he had misheard.

“You have WHAT?”

“I used an advanced healing spell I have been working on for some time now. It took me a lot of power, and I cannot be sure, but I think it worked. I think he will rise again.”

Antonius took off his helmet and stared at her in disbelieve.

“I really thought you would smile,” Luna whispered.

Now Antonius picked her up and said with the expected smile:

“Luna, my friend, a smile is not nearly enough to show you my appreciation!”

Then he hugged her and she wearily returned the hug.

“That is more like it,” she grinned.

“Okay, seriously, what is going on now?”

“I don’t know, Rainbow,” Twilight answered,
“I can only guess that it’s something with Princess Luna or Antonius, since Princess Celestia has gone looking for them.”

That really was everything she knew. A few minutes ago, Celestia had awoken them and told them to stand guard while she was looking for her sister and Antonius.

“As if the day wasn’t eventful enough already, huh?” Applejack grumbled, a hoof around her little sister.

Eventful. That was a nice way to describe a day that had seen a magical duel and a not so magical brawl. Twilight had already seen Antonius kill a creature before; the manticore that had attacked her in the Everfree, but she had never seen him engage his enemies in melee.
Thinking about it made her shiver a little. The roaring sword, the shrieking changelings, and finally his barefisted fight with Chrysalis. At the time, she had been so focused on saving her friends that she had just registered, but not really comprehended what had been going on, but now she had time to think and realize the cruelty she had witnessed.
Her thoughts were interrupted when Celestia returned.

“Princess?” Twilight asked,
“is everything okay?”

“I guess so,” Celestia answered,
“powered by the Secretariat Comet, Luna managed to contact Macragge, Antonius’ homeworld.”

“What?” Twilight and her friends shouted in amazement.

“My sister used her dream-walking ability to enter the dream of a powerful Ulramarines sorcerer. He brought their leader in, and Luna told them about Antonius and our world.”

“Does that mean that they will come to take Antonius home?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yes, but first, they will help us against the threat of Chaos.”

“I hope they are as good-natured as Antonius,” Rarity commented.

“Well, Antonius told us that his chapter is reasonable at least, and since we have a common foe, I think that everything will be alright as long as we don’t mess things up. There is no way to be sure, of course, but a society that spawned somepony like Antonius can’t be… too bad.”

Twilight had to think of the events of the day again, but pushed those thoughts away. Antonius had always helped them; not once had he used his prowess to inflict harm on her, her friends or the princesses. He was a friend, just one with special abilities... and methods.
That still did not really make her feel better when she thought about the carnage he had caused in the castle.

“Where are Princess Luna and Antonius now?” Applejack asked.

“They are at a small river down on the terrace below us. The overexertion of communicating with Macragge has left my sister a little... stained; she got nosebleed. Antonius is helping her wash up.”

“So, everypony is okay?” Fluttershy asked compassionately.

“Yes,” Celestia assured them,
“they will be here again soon.”

“This calls for a ‘Glad-that-you-could-tell-the-Ultramarines-that-Antonius-is-here-and-are-still-okay’ party, doesn’t it?” Pinkie smiled.

“Don’t tell me you have any more party...” Rainbow Dash started, but finished with a deadpan
“okay, who am I kidding, of course you have more party supplies with you.”

“Sure thing!” Pinkie exclaimed and produced an accordingly labeled cake from her mane,
“now, the only thing missing are Luna and Antonius.”

“I’ll check in on them,” Rarity offered and left the campfire.

She walked to the ledge of the plateau and looked down, then she suddenly lay down, still watching whatever it was that caught her attention. That made Twilight curious.

“I think I’ll join Rarity,” she said and walked up to her.

Once there, she took a look down and saw what Rarity was watching:
In the small river down there, lit up by the moonlight, there were Antonius and Luna. The Princess of the Night seemed to be completely exhausted, and Antonius was carefully cradling her in his arms, washing her.

“Can you believe that?” Rarity asked quietly,
“a few hours ago, we have seen him cut his way through a small army of changelings without mercy or hesitation, and now he is treating Luna with such a gentleness - makes you wonder how that can be the same pony… human, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Twilight mumbled in surprise, then she continued with more determination:
“and no. We know Antonius. We know what he can do. And we also know his reasons. He may be a warrior without peer, but he is loyal to his friends. His enemies may expect no mercy, but he would never attack us. He IS our friend, after all.”

“Nicely said,” Rarity smiled,
“and completely right. It is nice to know that friendship works even with creatures that are used to perpetual war. Oh, look, they are done and coming back!”

Rarity was right; Antonius was walking back towards the slope that led up to the castle, Luna in his arms.

“Let’s return to the camp,” Twilight said.

As Antonius arrived at the camp, he put the already sleeping Luna down next to the campfire, fetched a blanket and covered her with it. Then he also sat down and realized that he was the center of attention; all the ponies were looking at him.

“What?” he asked, slightly confused.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Celestia smiled,
“we were just wondering if your brothers will be as nice as you are.”

“Certainly,” Antonius answered, ignoring the quiet giggling all around,
“some might be a little less appreciative of your Elements and help, but they surely will see the benefits in helping each other.”

Yes, they would. Antonius was sure of that. The only thing he was wondering about was his report.
‘I spent a year with a couple of female nudist xenos who showed me the benefits of friendship’ did not sound too good in his opinion.
Well, the chance to defeat Chaos and restore the Golden Age would certainly outweigh his admittedly unusual methods. Yeah, the end did not always justify the means, but in this case, it surely did, especially since his actions had been guided by honor and the spirit of the Codex Astartes.

“I think we should all go back to sleep,” Celestia said,
“the guards and workers should arrive tomorrow morning, and we’ll have to instruct them.”

They all agreed to this, and while the ponies went back to sleep, Antonius returned to standing guard.

The next morning, the advised ponies arrived and were instructed by Celestia. The princesses, the Element Bearers and Antonius stayed another day to oversee the beginning of the construction, then, after using an additional containment spell to imprison the changelings until the workers were done, they boarded chariots and returned to Canterlot.

A day later, Twilight and her friends returned to Ponyville, accompanied by Antonius who got the Land Speeder. When he arrived at the hangar later that day, he was - to his surprise - expected by Celestia. Even more to his surprise, she hugged him when he had gotten out of the speeder.

“To what do I owe the honor of this?” he asked in confusion.

As far as he could remember, their relationship was still a little strained.

“Well, Antonius,” Celestia started,
“see it as an attempt at reconciliation. I know we had some difficulties, but now I think I understand you better. You may be strict, you may even be merciless, but deep inside you I’m sure you are still a good pony. You do not kill just for the fun of it, you kill to protect your friends and allies. While I still find your methods unsettling, I accept that they are a part of who and what you are.”

“Oh,” Antonius replied, quite a bit surprised,
“why the change of heart?”

“Al showed me the ‘vid-log’ of your mission to rescue Twilight and her friends...”
Huh? Al had not only recorded the telemetry of his armor, but shown it to Celestia?
“... I have seen how you acted. That cave troll... you had every opportunity to kill it and continue your mission, but you choose a non-violent solution. That is commendable. You really kill only if necessary.”

“Umm... yes, sort of. I use lethal means when they are the optimal solution for a situation.”

“Unless somepony begs you to spare your enemy.”

Antonius sighed. She was right, he had spared Chrysalis at Twilight’s request.

“Yeah, that might happen... but you should better not count on it,” he said.

Celestia tilted her head a little.

”You like the reputation,” she stated,
”you like to be considered dangerous.”

”Well, I’m used to it - and honestly, I am dangerous. I never tried to sugarcoat this.”

“Well, you are right. You have always been honest about that. Now, I think you deserve some kind of reward for your efforts. Do you have any wishes?”

“Every righteous act rewards itself, but actually, I do have a request.”

“Then tell me.”

“Could you teach me how to cook?”

Celestia tilted her head a bit again.

“What? You want to learn how to cook?”

“Yes, and Luna told me that you are quite good at cooking. So?”

“Well, okay!” Celestia laughed in relief,
“your wish shall be granted, but now, let’s have dinner and leave the cooking to the royal chefs!”

They went to the dining room, where they met with Luna. Cadance and Shining Armor were also there, having returned from their honeymoon.

After dinner, Antonius went down to the armorium to clean and refuel his chainsword.
Then, he went to his room, fetched his PDA and started writing a report on his experiences and adventures on this planet.
His superiors would surely be interested in it, however unusual it was.