We followed Excalibur as he approached an oval looking object.

“What is that?” asked Applejack.

He looked at it, “It’s a cryo pod.” He took his hoof and cleaned the glass to reveal a face. “I don’t recognize that frame.”

He pressed a button on the pod, nothing happened.

He did it again, nothing.

He hit the side of the pod the third time causing a screen to appear and blink. The language was fairly different this time, more... wavy. He pressed one of the buttons on the screen and stepped back. The pod hissed as it opened. The top half lifted up as the lower half split in two to each side.

The pony fell out as Excalibur caught it in his forelegs. “I got yah,” he said taking a knee.

He quickly adjusted him or her in his legs as he cradled them. I couldn’t see under Excalibur's helmet but I knew he felt distraught. As I looked at the being it was orange and black in color. The helmet only had the right side, and it had a rather uncomfortable collar around its neck. Near its hooves it had these large square things on it, on all four of its hooves it had sharp claws. It looked ravenous.

It moaned.

“There we go,” said Excalibur with joy.

We all watched as Excalibur’s friend came to life, but what it did next surprised us.

“AHHH!” it screamed as it jumped out of his hooves.

He released it and allowed it to crawl away in fear.

“It’s ok-”

“Twilight!” he looked at me, “let me handle this.”

I nodded at him.

He stood up slowly, “It’s alright you’re safe now.”

“Who… who are you?” asked the Tenno.

“My name is Excalibur Prime, I’m a Tenno just like you,” he said with his hooves in the air.

“No! you’re… you’re lying!” screamed the Tenno.

“I’m not,” he said calmly, “if you just let me help you.” He took a step forward.

“BACK OFF YOU FILTHY CORPUS FREAK! I WONT LET YOU EXPIRIMENT ON ME ANY MORE!” it screamed.

Experiment! This is bad!

The soldier began to shake violently as it grabbed its head and began to breath heavily.

“I will not let the Corpus touch you again,” said Excalibur softly, “if you would just come-”

“NO!” it rose to its feet as it shook violently, “RAAAAAAAAAA!” the Tenno let out a blood curdling scream as it leaned forward.

I felt a terror filled chill roll up my spine as these bright orange claws appeared from its hooves.

Excalibur looked back at us, “Run.”

We were frozen in fear.

“I SAID RUN!”

We ran.

Without looking back I heard loud banging, I assume it was Excalibur using his Soma. I took a moment to look back; I could see his weapon flashing as sparks flashed off of his attacker as it charged him. While I was looking back I tripped.

“Oof.”

“Twilight we need to go!” screamed Rainbow.

She grabbed me and helped me to my hooves, “I know!”

I could hear more screaming and gunfire erupt through the ship. We ran for I don’t know how far until we came to an intersection in the ship. It was a fact we were lost.

“Which way!?” screamed Spike.

“Uh…” I looked to my right, “this way.”

My friends followed as I sprinted down the hall. The sounds of fighting died off behind us as the sound of our hooves hitting metal filled the room, but we never stopped running.

CRASH!

We came to a sliding stop when one of the walls in front of us exploded with metal chunks flying in all directions. I saw Excalibur peel himself off the opposite wall. A bright orange rope grabbed him by the left leg and dragged him back through. The sound of metal being ripped apart filled the air. I won’t lie… I was really really scared.

“EXCALIBUR!” we all screamed in unison.

He came bursting through the opening in the wall, “PICK ANOTHER DIRECTION!” He ran in the opposite direction of us, his attacker followed close behind.

When it came through the hole in the wall it looked to its right and saw nothing, it turned its head to the left and saw us. It stepped into the hall, walking with a hunch as it approached, dragging its claws against the wall, causing them to spark.

“GOGOGO!” screamed somepony. I was frozen with fear.

My jaw began to quiver as my eyes went wide. It towered over me, bringing up one of those massive claws, I closed my eyes and expected the end. I heard a fwoosh and a groan, I opened my eyes to see Excalibur standing in front of me.

“TWILIGHT GO!” he grabbed me and pushed me in the opposite direction.

That was all the motivation I needed, I ran as fast as I could. I looked over my shoulder, that attacker grabbed Excalibur by the right leg, sinking its claws into his armor. He screamed in agony as he punched it in the head. I looked away, I didn’t want to see him hurt… or die.

“TWILIGHT COME ON!” screamed Rarity.

“I’M COMING!” I screamed.

My friends rounded the corner and headed for the massive room we had been in earlier. Before I rounded the corner myself I looked back to see Excalibur limping as he ran right for me.

“COME ON EXCALIBUR!” I screamed frantically.

“JUST GET OUT OF HERE!” he screamed as he waved his hoof.

“NOT WITHOUT YOU!” I retaliate.

He ran up to me and grabbed me by the shoulders, lifting me in the air, “EEP!”

“I SAID GO!” he practically threw me down the hall.

“Oof,” was that really necessary?

Applejack and Rainbow grabbed me and lifted me to my hooves… again. I watched as Excalibur was tackled into the wall of the hallway, causing a loud crash. His attacker began swiping at his head, causing metal shards and shavings to fly in all directions. Thankfully it missed every attack. He took an opening and grabbed it by the neck and unleashed a volley of hits with his right hoof, after the fifth of sixth hit he pushed his attacker away and jumped in the air, kicking them in the chest.

That’s when I stopped looking again, we all ran in a panic as we reentered the massive room once again. We looked around frantically not knowing what to do.

“EVERYPONY HIDE!” I screamed.

We all scattered, I headed for large metal crate. Once I was behind it I peeked out from behind to see Excalibur stumble inside. He looked over his shoulder, then ducked as a rather large pipe went whizzing over his head. I gasped as he began to limp away. Once he was about 20 or so more feet in, he stopped and turned around.

His attacker walked in and looked at him, silence filled the room.

“I’m done fighting you!” he said.

“Just like a Corpus coward, you’d rather beg for your life then fight!” retaliated his attacker.

“I am not a filthy Corpus Zanuka Hunter, I am a Tenno just like you!”

“You’re lying!”

“Then I’ll prove it to you!” he grabbed his helmet, removed it, and let it drop to the floor.

His attacker began to breathe heavily, it was angry. Without hesitation it charged him. He didn’t move, once it was within in reach it grabbed him by the throat and lifted him into the air. It was ready to sink those massive glowing claws into his head and he grabbed at its foreleg.

“NO!” I screamed as I stepped out from my hiding spot.

“TWILIGHT STAY OUT OF THIS!” He screamed.

His attacker looked at me then back to him, “WHO IS SHE!?”

“An innocent civilian, leave her out of this!” he screamed.

His attacker slammed him to the floor, “That’s it! I’m going to kill you right here right now!”

A tense silence filled the air.

“Fine,” replied Excalibur, “If you find me worthy of death then so be it, but you have to honor my last demand.” He sounded so calm.

“And what would that be!?”

“You have to take care of the inhabitants of this planet, they have done nothing to invoke war against the Tenno. They have gained us as an ally, and as your honor states, you have to respect their wishes… along with mine,” he explained.

His attacker looked at him before raising her massive claw, it brought it down hard. I closed my eyes, he was dead and I knew it!

Fwoooooosh!

I looked back and saw Excalibur’s attacker fall on top of him. I began to cry, I couldn’t believe that he was dead! I only knew him for a few days but I cared for him so much. He saved me… my friends; he showed us the wonders of space and what our future holds. He was my hero… and now… he was gone. As I cried, I noticed a foreleg embraced the limp body. It sat up, I saw Excalibur holding his attacker as it fell in his lap.

“EXCALIBUR!” I immediately ran up and grabbed him in a hug, “I thought it killed you!”

I couldn’t hold back my tears I cried into his chest.

“It’s alright Twilight,” he wrapped a foreleg around me, “I had a feeling she wasn’t going to kill me.”

I looked into his dark brown eyes, I felt safe in his grasp. By now my friends had come out from their hiding places, but I paid them no mind. I just wanted to be next to him.

“Are you alright Excalibur?” asked Fluttershy.

He stroked my back, “I feel like I hit a brick wall.”

We all laughed; since he was literally throw through a wall.

“Excalibur I found your helmet!” said Pinkie as she stood up with the helmet hanging loosely on her head.

He looked at her, “Well Pinkie, if I didn’t know any better I’d say you look a lot like a Tenno,” he said happily. She stumbled over to him, “thank you Pinkie.” He took it off her head and placed it on his. She wore a goofy grin when the helmet came off.

I looked down at the unconscious being in his lap, “What are you going to do with him?”

He looked at it, “Her actually… I’ll take her to the ship and place her in my medical pod,” he said.

“Are you sure that’s a safe thing to do?” asked Rarity.

“She’s a Tenno, and we stand by each other no matter what,” he said, “once she awakes I’ll make sure to calm her down.”

“And what if she attacks again?” asked Rainbow.

“I have a few ability inhibitors, I can control her abilities with that. As for now… restraining her is a bad idea,” he said.

He stood up and cradled her in his forelegs; Rarity took notice of his injured leg.

“Oh my! Excalibur you’re injured,” she said.

“Huh?” he looked at his leg, “oh, I can fix that.”

“Excalibur I know for a fact that you are going to need stiches,” replied Rarity.

“Pff, I’d rather fix it now then wait,” he said.

“How do yah intend to do that?” asked Applejack.

“Like this.”

He placed his friend down and pulled out a little device from behind his back. He pressed it and the little device lengthened. He pressed it to his leg, it let out a light psss. We watched in awe as the five holes in his armor disappeared.

“How did you do that?” I asked.

“It’s a med pack,” he tossed the used canister and picked up his friend and began walking forward, “stupid thing about my armor is it doesn’t allow me to use the medication for other Tenno on myself, why the Orokin did that, I’ll never know. Anyway, it’s a mix of highly potent endorphins, once it mixes with my blood, my blood cells work on overdrive. Allowing a severe injury that would take days, weeks, or months to heal, in a matter of seconds.”

“Wow.”

“Anyway, let’s get you all home,” said Excalibur.

We came out of the Everfree forest and headed for Excalibur’s ship. Every once and a while I glanced at the mare in his forelegs. Apparently she had lost consciousness. She may have tried to kill him, but she was his friend. We entered town walked through Ponyville. Most of the townsfolk looked at Excalibur with fear. He was intimidating at first but once they get to know him, I'm sure they will like him. Once we approached the ship in the center of town, most of the ponies that looked at the ship scattered as we approached. The door to the ship opened as we walked inside.

“Ordis I’ve got a patient, I need the medical pod,” he said.

“Yes Excalibur, opening now,” replied Ordis.

I watched as a metal and glass pod came out of the floor and flattened out near his foundry. He placed the mare in the pod and closed the doors.

“Ordis I need you to do a diagnostic scan. I want to know her suit name, shields, armor, and vitals,” he said.

“Yes Excalibur.”

“Thank you Ordis,” he said.

He headed back outside as we followed close behind. He took off his helmet and held it as he looked around.

“So this is where you live?” he asked.

“Yep, this is Ponyville,” I said.

He shook his head, “It’s quaint,” he looked at us, “I like it, reminds me of home… sort of.”

“It’s a nice little town,” said Rarity.

“I can tell,” he said.

We stood there as he continued to look around. Just down the street I could see three familiar fillies running toward us. They were in a hurry when the arrived because they were breathing hard.

“Applejack!” said Apple Bloom.

“Rarity!” said Sweetie Belle.

“Rainbow Dash!” said Scootaloo.

“Have… you… seen… this thing yet!?” said Scootaloo as she pointed at Excalibur’s ship.

“Of course we have,” replied Rarity.

“Yah Apple Bloom, our friend Excalibur here brought us back in it,” said Applejack.

“Who?” asked Sweetie Belle.

Apparently they missed the tall two legged creature standing a few feet away.

“Me,” said Excalibur.

All three girls looked at him, then to each other then back to him. All three smiled as a mischievous grin crawled across their faces.

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS ALIEN HUNTRERS!” they all screamed in unison.

“What?” said Excalibur as he raised an eyebrow.

They jump at him. Excalibur’s eyes went wide; he dropped his helmet as they tried to tackle him. What he did next no pony expected. He leaned forward and jumped into to air, doing a back flip before landing on his feet. All three fillies missed him and landed on the ground behind him.

He looked at us, “Anyone want to explain what that was?”

“APPLE BLOOM!” screamed Applejack.

“SWEETIE BELLE!” screamed Rarity.

My two friends walked up to their sisters as the three fillies moaned and rubbed their heads.

“Apple Bloom where are your manners!?” scolded Applejack.

Apple Bloom looked away nervously.

“Sweetie Belle, a lady doesn’t treat a guest like that!” scolded Rarity.

“I…” Sweetie Belle trailed off.

I watched as Excalibur walked up to the feuding sisters.

“Girls let me handle this,” he said.

What would he know about children? Unless… he’s married…

He kneeled down in front of the three fillies but looked at Applejack and Rarity.

“Instead of scolding them, it’s better to see what they learned from the situation,” he looked at the three fillies. They looked nervous, “girls I want you to give three reasons why what you did was a bad idea?”

They looked at him nervously.

“It’s only one reason each,” he said.

“Uh… we could have gotten hurt,” said Scootaloo.

“We could have hurt you,” said Sweetie Belle.

“We weren’t thinkin,” said Apple Bloom.

“Not the best answers but I’ll take them,” said Excalibur as he stood up and looked at us with a smile.

They all looked at him with awe

“Wow yer tall,” said Apple Bloom.

He looked down at here, “Well it can be a curse at times.”

“How so?” asked Scootaloo.

“You hit your head on everything less than five feet tall,” he said happily.

That got a laugh out of the fillies and us.

“Hey mister could I get a ride on yer shoulders?” asked Apple Bloom.

“...I don’t see why not, here turn around,” he said.

“Like this?” asked Apple Bloom as she turned to face away from him.

“Yep,” he reached down and grabbed her under her forelegs and lifted her into the air, placing her on his shoulders. “Now hold on tight,” she wrapped her forelegs around his forehead as he lowered his forelegs.

“Woah, so this is what it’s like ta be tall,” said Apple Bloom happily.

“Can we ride next?” asked Scootaloo excitedly.

“Yeah I wanna ride!” said Sweetie Belle.

He chuckled happily, “Here both of you turn around,” he said.

Quickly they turned around; he wrapped a foreleg around their sides and under their chests. Slowly he lifted them onto his shoulders and held onto them. They laughed and smiled at their new increase in height.

“This is awesome!” said and excited Scootaloo.

“Yeah!” screamed Sweetie Belle enthusiastically.

Excalibur smiled and laughed as he held the three fillies. I could feel my heart melt, he maybe an advanced soldier but he is a caring pony and he proved it time and time again.

“Applejack, look at how tall ah ah’m,” said Apple Bloom happily.

Applejack laughed a little before speaking up, “Apple Bloom ah think we should leave Excalibur and let him get back to his work.”

“Awe, do we have to?” asked Apple Bloom.

“I’m sorry girls but I have work that needs to get done,” said Excalibur.

“Awwwwww,” they all said in unison as their heads dipped and ears fell back.

He placed Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle down before removing Apple Bloom. They walked to their sisters and stood by them, except Scootaloo who stood by Rainbow. Excalibur picked up his helmet off the ground and walked past and back to his ship. He took a deep breath as he ran his hooves through his mane. I walked up next to him and looked at him.

“What are you thinking?” I asked.

“I’d rather not leave my ship in the center of town,” he said as he looked at me.

“But it can’t fly, right?” I asked.

“Well it can, but I can’t go forward.”

“So what are you going to do?”

He let out a heavy sigh, “Maybe limp it to a nearby field or something.”

I know there’s a large field near the library.

“You can park it near the library,” I offered.

“And where is that located?” he asked.

“Follow me,” I said happily.

“Twi were gonna head out,” said Applejack.

“Okay by girls,” I said with a wave.

“By Twilight, by Excalibur” said everypony in unison.

“By everyone,” said Excalibur. He looked at me, “So where to?”

“Right this way,” I said.

We left his ship as we headed for the library. It was a tense few minutes. The residents of Ponyville were still nervous about the new alien and his fancy ship. Then again, we did crash rather violently. I know that he made a deal with Celestia and Luna so he won’t hurt anypony, but the local residents don’t know that. Anyway within a few minutes we were at the library. Excalibur walked past the “building” and surveyed the nearby field.

He crossed his forelegs, “Well it’s out of the way and on the edge of town,” he said. He turned around and let his forelegs drop, “it’ll do.”

“Really!?” I have no idea why I was so excited.

“Yep,” he looked to the sky, “Ordis you got my location?”

I couldn’t hear what Ordis said.

Excalibur walked a little ways away from me before he spoke again.

“Alright, Ordis orient the ship and come to the field I’m in.”

I looked back over Ponyville to see the ship rise about the buildings. Slowly but surely the ship turned to face away from us and it began to back up, within a few minutes it was above the field. The engines roared as it began to lower to the ground. Once the legs were planted firmly the ship turned off.

“Wow!” said Excalibur.

“What?” I asked as I trotted up to him, Spike followed close behind.

“Now that I have a minute to look at the damage, it looks like my ship went through a metal grinder,” he said.

I looked up at the back of the ship. The back end was filled with black holes of various shapes and sizes. There were large metal flaps which had a small amount of smoke coming out of them. Excalibur walked forward and ducked under the ship, I followed him yet again.

“Woof… so that’s what that did,” he said while looking at the belly of the ship.

I walked over and looked at the rather large hole in the bottom of the ship. The hole was black around the edges, the metal was torn to shreds, and it was leaking some kind of fluid.

“What happened?” I asked.

He continued to look at the whole as he talked, “A Grineer gunner got a lucky shot,” he leaned in closer, “what is that?”

He took his helmet off and squinted to get a better look. He turned sideways and stuck his right foreleg inside the whole. Whatever he was looking at was wedged in there pretty far because he reached in until placed his shoulder next to the ship.

“Ah,” he pulled away a little, “I think I got it.” he grunted one last time. He pulled his hoof out as he held a small, black pointed object with a white tip. He walked out from under the ship to get a better look; once again I followed with Spike in tow. He held it up in front of his face as he examined it.

“What is that?” asked Spike.

“It’s a 40 millimeter armor piercing high explosive anti-air round,” he said, “and it’s live.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

I know what 40 millimeter means, but I don’t know what anti-air means, and high explosive had me worried.

“It can go off at any moment.”

“WHAT!?” I screamed out of shock.

“This is one of the reasons why I hate Grineer ammo,” he turned around and faced the field. He brought his left lower leg up as he held the small object. He grunted as he brought his right foreleg forward. I was impressed at the throw; the small object went at least 200 feet.

BOOM!

The small object exploded once it hit the ground, causing dirt and grass to fly in all directions. I felt my eyes go wide and my jaw went slack. That little object could have killed us without hesitation.

“Wow, I can’t believe that worked,” said Excalibur. “Alright.” He turned around and headed for his ship.

Spike eventually knocked me out of my thoughts.

“That was... AWESOME!” he said.

I shook my head as I regained my thoughts.

“Excalibur!?” I said frantically as I ran up to him.

“Yes Twilight?” he asked as he turned to look at me.

I was really scared, I could have just died.

“Y-you f-face that… everyday?” I asked with my fear showing.

He kneeled down and looked me in the eye, “Twilight what I face could turn your planet to ashes. War was never meant to be pretty… you and your species are decades no! Centuries behind where I stand. Technology can not only extend life… but take it too.”

“Why is your species so violent?” I asked nervously.

“The unfortunate fact about my species is that we hate each other. We have, and always will try to kill each other.” He smiled lightly, “Twilight you should be glad you live in a peaceful place like this. I lost my life and my planet to war. Now the changeling attack was bad, but that was nothing compared to the horrors my species has enacted on each other.”

“Like what?” I don’t know if I want to hear him answer.

“Genocide, or massive cleansings of ethnic races,” he paused, “you know? I think telling you about the violent history of my people is probably a bad idea at the moment.”

Probably a good idea.

“But you face violent weaponry like that on a regular basis?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“Why!? Why would you willingly run into a fight like that?” I asked frantically.

Then again my friends and I faced Nightmare Moon and she wanted eternal night.

“Because I fight for freedom, peace, and love… I fight for you.”

He’s fighting for me? Does he have feelings for me?

“Everyone deserves to live, others deserve to lose it by my hand,” he said, “I am a protector… a guardian. I’d hate to see a young girl like you die prematurely.”

Author's Notes:

We got a new player in the game.

And for those of you that have made it this far but don't know what Excalibur looks like go back to chapter two and click on armor where I described Excalibur, there is a pick of what he looks like.