P.O.V. Twilight Sparkle.

“EXCALIBUR!” we all screamed in unison.

Quickly I teleported to his slumped over body. He was sitting on his knees with his forelegs on his side and his head sat limp. Sombra had used his magic to throw his sword through his abdomen. The few seconds Excalibur had been unconscious felt like an eternity.

I placed my hooves on his shoulders and screamed at his face, “EXCALIBUR! WAKE UP! PLEASE WAKE UP!” he still didn’t move. My tears were uncontrollable, “PLEASE WAKE UP!” my lower lip quivered, “Don’t leave me like this… I… I love you.”

I fell to the ground and buried my face into my forelegs. With an injury like that, I knew that he wouldn’t survive.

After a few seconds my head shot up, “Sombra!” I said through gritted teeth. I stood up and glared daggers at the former king, “I”LL KILL YOU!”

I charged him at full speed. He stood shock still. Once I was within reach he slapped me across my face with his hoof. I landed off to the side, while I rubbed my cheek. I tried to stand up and fight him, but I felt my body freeze. Sombra walked in front of me with his horn glowing a sinister black. I was trapped by his magic. He picked me up and placed me in a bowing manner.

“Now… this is what you should be like,” I heard multiple pops of magic. Straining my eyes I could see my friends, Spike, my brother, and sister in law is the same position. We all struggled to break free, but to no avail, “bowing before your king.”

“We will never bow before you!” retaliated Cadence.

He walked up to her, “Bold words for a pony on her knees.”

“You stay away from my wife!” screamed Shining.

He looked at my brother, “Ah,” he walked over to him, “the noble prince,” Shining stared daggers to the former king, “what was your plan here? Send that thing to kill me? You bask in the glory while he did the dirty work? Why… you are no better than me!” he said with a sinister smile.

“At least he was willing to sacrifice himself for the good of the empire!” retaliated my brother, “he will be remember for his acts today!”

“Shining?” I asked softly.

He ignored me, “Somepony that is willing to sacrifice himself for the good of others! He died a warrior’s death, on his hooves with a blade in his hooves!”

I looked at my brother in utter shock and confusion. He may have been mad at the Tenno Warrior, but he truly did care about him.

“You are a fool to think that he could defeat me!” said Sombra.

“At least he tried!” I retaliated.

“Yeah! He is a better pony then you ever would be!” said Rainbow.

“You mean was!” retaliated Sombra as he looked at Rainbow.

“No!” screamed Fluttershy, “even in death he will be there for us!”

I couldn’t help but feel proud of her.

“We owe him our lives! And we intend to avenge him you brute!” said Rarity.

“He was, is, and always will be better then you!” said Applejack.

“Yeah! He was the greatest pony to ever live!” said Pinkie.

Sombra growled in anger. I felt my head get shoved downward, “If you think he’s so perfect,” I heard the shing of a blade being lifted into the air, “then you shall-”

SHING! SHING!

“RRRAAAAAAA!” screamed Sombra in agony.

“HURAA!”

I felt the spell around me fade. Quickly I looked up to see what happened. And I saw…

“Excalibur!” we all screamed in unison.

There he stood, bright as day. He still had his sword sticking through his body, but he obviously didn’t care about it. He shoulders rose every time he took a heavy breath. He stood with a hunch, fore legs slightly bent, his hooves where clenched tight and those metal claws were fully extended.

He leaned back and took a deep breath while crossing his forelegs in an ‘X’ in front of his face, “SOMBRA!” he jerked his forelegs to his sides and leaned forward while taking a small step, “I’M GOING TO RIP YOUR FUCKING HEART OUT!” he grabbed his helmet with his left hoof and pulled it off by the horn before throwing it to the ground, “And you’re going to look me in the eyes WHEN I SUCK YOUR SOUL FROM YOUR. DEAD. CORPSE!”

He grabbed the handle of his sword with his right hoof. With a powerful tug he pulled the blood soaked blade from his abdomen, lifted it over his head, and threw it with such force that it stuck at least four or five inches into the crystal street. He cusped his hooves together and summoned forth an ethereal black and red sword, it looked exactly like his Skana, but this one was made of pure energy.

He turned he head to the side, a powerful and disgusting sounding crack filled the air. His jaw was clenched tight while grinded his teeth. His head was dipped, giving him an evil appearance. The digits on his left hoof wiggled and flexed with anger. I looked in the direction Excalibur was looking. I saw Sombra walk out from the hole he made in the side of a building.

And he looked angry.

“You just won’t stay dead… will you!?” screamed Sombra out of utter anger.

Excalibur took three steps before leaning back again, “GET OVER HERE!” he continued walking with that hunch.

Excalibur was beyond furious, it was full-fledged rage. His slow step turned into a run, then a trot, and finally he was moving at full speed. Sombra brought his scythe up for an attack, only to have Excalibur knock it out of the way by his left foreleg and get kneed in the face. Sombra went flying back into the previous hole he made. Excalibur walked in, after a few seconds Sombra came flying out of the hole and landed on the ground with a loud thud. Sombra stood up; he shook his head and growled. Excalibur grabbed the broken wall before stepping out.

“Popcorn?”

“Pinkie where did you-”

“Shh! This is so awesome!” said Rainbow.

Anyway, Excalibur walked with a menacing gait. Now that I got a good look at his face, the infection had spread to the right half of his face and both of his eyes had that smoke trail to them. I could see the hatred in his eyes. Sombra turned to face Excalibur with that scythe at the ready. Sombra held his ground while Excalibur walked up. He brought that sword over his head before dropping it, Sombra blocked in a flash of sparks. Excalibur continued his one hoofed assault, each time the bladed weapons clashed in a flurry of red sparks.

With one final attack Sombra’s scythe moved to the side just a little bit. This allowed Excalibur to make another move. He grabbed Sombra by the neck and lifted him into the air. Sombra gaged as he tried to grab Excalibur’s foreleg. Excalibur leaned back and threw Sombra with all his strength. The former king flew through the air before he rolled on the ground until he came to a stop on his stomach.

Excalibur started to walk up to him, “What’s wrong little pony?” he wore a sinister smile, “ya scared?”

Sombra rose to his hooves, “You don’t scare me.”

Excalibur stopped about 20 feet away, “Oh… you will.”

I a burst of speed and red light Excalibur shot forward and swung his blade. Sombra screamed in agony when his left foreleg was severed completely. Excalibur came to a stop just behind him and straightened his back. Sombra sat on his rear and held the stub of a leg. He opened his eyes for a second, only to see his severed limb disappear into a dissolved mess of red light.

“Looks like I found your weakness,” said Excalibur without looking back.

Sombra looked over his shoulder with the first sign of fear, “What… what are you?”

Excalibur turned around, that wicked smile came back, “Your reckoning.”

Excalibur took a step, Sombra turned and fell backwards. He started to crawl away in fear. Once Excalibur reached Sombra he grabbed him by the throat again and lifted him into the air above his head.

“Oh look at you...” Excalibur brought Sombra down in front of his face, “… who’s the weakling now!”

Excalibur lifted Sombra higher and slammed the former king into the ground. He let go, leaned over him, and unleashed a number of brutal attacks with his left hoof. He hit so hard that it was actually forcing Sombra into the hard, crystal ground. Once the brutal attack was finished, he grabbed Sombra and lifted him into the air yet again. Sombra had a bruised right eye, blood trickling out of his nose and he was missing a few of his sharp teeth.

“Pathetic…” Excalibur looked closer at Sombra's now broken face, “what happened to that all powerful king that killed me?” Excalibur threw Sombra back into the ground, “because all I see is a FUCKING COWARD!”

Excalibur brought up his right back leg and started to stomp Sombra into the ground further. He stomped the former king three times until finally kicking him. Sombra barrel rolled in the sky for about fifteen feet before landing face down. Excalibur walked up to the severely injured unicorn and looked down on him.

“Well?” he kicked him in the face, “you gonna fight?” he kicked him again, “or are you going to wallow in your failure!?” He kicked him again, “come on! Fight me you pathetic waste of space!” He started to kick Sombra multiple times.

I heard a strange noise. I looked over to see that scythe start to glow and wiggle. That’s when I knew that Sombra was going to catch Excalibur when he wasn’t looking. The massive weapon levitated off the ground and shot toward Excalibur’s back.

“Excal-”

I didn’t even finish my warning.

SHING!

Ting… ting!

Excalibur had spun 180% and cut the massive scythe in two. Both haves missed him and landed on the ground next to Sombra. I felt my jaw hit the ground. I couldn’t believe that he did that! He stood there for a moment with the blade being held in both of his hooves. After a moment he let go with his left hoof and let his forelegs go limp as he stood up straight.

“Nice try.”

SHING!

“RAAAAAAA!”

Excalibur turned around quickly and cut off Sombra’s horn. After a few seconds of screaming, Sombra gained what little composure he had. He started to shake with fear, his eyes were bigger then dinner plates as he started to crawl away on his back.

SHING!

Excalibur… with a ruthless thrust… shoved the sword though the bottom of Sombra’s jaw, the blade sticking out of his now opened mouth. Sombra gagged and pawed at the blade sticking out of his mouth. Excalibur lifted him off the ground and into the air, where he held him at chest height.

Excalibur leaned into his ear, “Let me tell you something Sombra… the Tenno don’t die… we just go to hell and regroup.”

He leaned back and held up his left hoof next to Sombras eye.

SHING!

The claws on his left hoof opened. Sombras eye went wide yet again.

“… If this wound kills me… I’ll see you there.”

Then Excalibur shoved the three metal claws into Sombra’s side. He pulled them out; they were now red with Sombra's blood. He brought his foreleg back and thrust the blades in again… and again… and again… he did it about twelve times, each time Sombra maoned in agony… even a few tears escaped his eyes. After the final attack, Excalibur left the blades in Sombra’s side. He removed the ethereal sword from Sombra’s jaw. His head went limp as the former king gagged while he sucked in as much air as he could.

“You are not from this realm,” said Sombra with a scratchy voice.

“No…”

SHING!

Excalibur shoved the sword through the bottom of Sombra’s head, thus killing the unicorn king.

“… I’m not.”

Excalibur thrust the sword even farther into the deceased king’s head. My friends all looked away or closed their eyes at the site, but I couldn't look away. After a few seconds the former king began to dissolve into nothing. Once half of his body was gone it fell from the claws and landed on the ground before finally disappearing into nothing.

A second or two passed.

“KING SOMBRA IS DEAD!” screamed a bystander.

“YAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!” screamed the crowd of crystal ponies.

Excalibur looked at the corpse before looking back at us. We all leaned back in fear. He just ruthlessly killed the former king. Who’s to say that he wouldn’t turn on us? I could see the hate in his eyes, but I could also see a slight hint of accomplishment. He closed the claws on his left hoof and began walking toward us. He grabbed the end of the sword in front of his chest and collapsed it into his right hoof. He walked up and stood in front of Cadence. She looked up at him with fear while he looked at her with no emotion at all.

“The empire is saved.”

Excalibur’s eyes rolled into the back of his head as he fell on his knees with his forelegs limp and his head hung low. He gave it his all. Immediately we all jumped into action. Without saying a word we surrounded him, but we didn’t know what to do!

“What do we do!?” I screamed.

“I don’t know!” replied Cadence.

Rarity perked up, “Twilight! Remember that thing he did at the ship in the Everfree!”

I had a moment of realization, “I do!” I looked at my friends, “Quick look for one of those healing things!”

We started to search his limp body.

“Ah can’t find anything!” said Applejack frantically.

“Me neither!” screamed Rainbow.

“Excalibur!”

“Ooooh!” I looked at Cadence, “I don’t know what to do!”

“Excalibur, please respond!”

I heard a faint voice. I looked at his helmet.

“Ordis!” I ran over and grabbed the helmet with my magic, “Ordis, is that you!?” I screamed into the opening.

“Miss Sparkle! Where is Excalibur? He is not responding and his vitals are dropping rapidly!”

“He’s here with us! He’s unconscious and has a terrible wound in his stomach! What do we do!?” I said frantically.

“Okay, you need to grab a health restore! He carries them on his left hip!”

I ran back to Excalibur with the helmet in tow. I looked around frantically to see a bunch of those small devices he carries, “Ordis which one is it!?”

“Far left!” replied the Cephalon.

I grabbed one of the devices on the very end, “Okay now what!?”

“Press it and it should open!”

After fiddling with it for a few seconds the device extended, “Okay what now!?”

“You have to *BZZT* THRUST IT INTO HIS THIGH! *BZZT* you have to inject the serum into a large muscle like his thigh!”

“His thigh?” I repeated.

“The big meaty part on his leg!”

I looked at the long tube before thrusting it into Excalibur’s leg. We watched for a few seconds until Ordis spoke up again.

“Okay, his vitals are stabilizing, but he is suffering from a severe infection of unknown origin!”

Cadence perked up, “The crystal!”

I looked at her, “Can you fix it!?” I asked frantically.

“I don’t know!” she looked up before looking to the side, “the heart!”

She ran over and grabbed the crystal heart off of the ground with her magic. She stopped and looked at the surrounding crowd.

“The crystal heart has returned! Use the light and love within you to restore the glory of the empire! You are free!” She used her magic to throw heart toward the middle of the courtyard of the castle.

Once the heart passed over the center star in the street. Two crystal spikes appeared and grabbed the heart. The crowd smiled with joy. Immediately they started to bow as their coats changed from dark and colorless to a crystal shine. The magic they were letting off began to flow into the streets, causing them to glow. The power surged out before coming back to the heart, causing it to spin.

It reached an incalculable speed and released a surge of magic, much like at Cadences wedding. The large blue wave filled the air. As it passed past Cadence, me, and my friends we gained a beautiful crystal coat, and the surge caused all the dark crystal to shatter into nothing. I looked up at the sky to see a rainbow pulse shoot from the top of the castle. It peaked out and exploded in a flash of light as the rainbow magic floated in all directions. I was over joyed! The empire was saved and the magic was restored!

But our joy was short lived.

I looked back at Excalibur who had a slight glow but was still unconscious.

“Miss Sparkle! Whatever you did has purged the infection from Excalibur’s body!”

I couldn’t believe that that worked.

“How is he holding up?” I asked feeling a little relieved.

Cadence walked up.

“He is suffering from severe blood loss. He has severe internal hemorrhaging. I suggest you get him to me as soon as possible!”

My relief disappeared, “Ordis we can’t! We are at least a day’s travel from Ponyville!”

“Well that… complicates things…” replied the cephalon.

“What do we do?” I asked.

Ordis went silent for a few moments, “Make him comfortable until…” he trailed off.

“Until what!?”

“Until he passes…”

“What!?” I said frantically.

“I’m sorry Miss Sparkle, but he only has a three point two percent chance of surviving a wound like this. Without the help of a medical pod he will most likely not survive!”

“But… but he survived the changeling attack!” I said quickly.

“He was not suffering from such severe internal bleeding! He only had internal bruising, which is easily survivable for a man of his stature… this… this is one of the worst wounds he has ever suffered from. I… I don’t know if the suits auto heal can keep up and fix this! If Trinity, Oberon, or even Chroma were there I know they could easily save his life!” I didn’t know what to think, “I’m sorry Miss Sparkle.”

My head dropped as I started to cry harder, “I *sniffle* understand Ordis.”

I looked at my friends, who were all crying. “Come on girls, you heard Ordis.”

Cadence grabbed Excalibur with her magic and lifted him into the air. We walked to the castle with our heads hung low. The only sounds that were heard were the occasional sniffle. A large crowd gathered on each side of us. While we walked, the crowd bowed out of respect. We entered the castle and took Excalibur to an empty bedroom. Cadence removed his weapons and placed them in a nearby chair before she laid him down and made him comfortable. She placed a sheet on his lower half. Ordis wanted to watch him, so I placed the helmet on a nearby chair so it faced Excalibur. We all cried while we looked at the war hero.

After a few minutes we left without saying a word. The rest of the day was a miserable one. I didn’t even eat dinner. That night, I didn’t sleep either. At about midnight I left my room and walked to Excalibur’s. I stood just inside the room and looked at him. His breathing was light, but at least he was still alive.

“Twilight?”

“Eep!” I jumped a little. I looked back to see Cadence standing in the doorway, “oh Cadence… it’s you,” I said out of relief as I tried to control my pounding heart.

“Sorry for scaring you,” she walked up to me, “Couldn’t sleep?”

I looked at her, “No.” We stood next to each other and looked at Excalibur.

“Me neither.”

A few seconds of silence passed.

“You love him,” she looked at me, “don’t you?”

I sighed, “I do. Even though I haven’t known him very long,” I looked at her, “he has sacrificed so much for us,” I looked back at him, “...do you think he has the same feelings for me?”

She sighed, “I’m sorry Twilight, but I can’t tell you that,” she said with sadness.

A second or two passed, “*sniffle* why not? Is it because you are trying to spare my feelings?” I asked as tears rolled down my cheeks while I looked at her.

“Actually I can’t tell…”

Wait… what?

“Something is preventing me from feeling his emotions. I couldn’t even feel anything during his battle with Sombra. I knew that he was angry, and his facial expression just screamed hate… but to be honest Twilight,” she looked at me, “I don’t know what he thinks of you.”

I looked back at him, “Well… at least you're honest with me.”

“I always will be Twilight,” she looked at me, so I looked back, “go to him, even if he doesn’t love you… at least you know he was willing to sacrifice himself for you.”

I smiled, “Thank you Cadence.”

I gave her a hug, which she gladly returned, “Your welcome Twilight.”

We separated from each other. She smiled at me and I smiled back. She turned and left the room without saying another word. I turned back and looked at Excalibur. I put one hoof in front of the other and walked up to the bed. I used my magic to move the sheet to the side and climbed onto the bed. I moved his right foreleg and cuddled up next to him. I used my magic to place his limp appendage around me and pulled the sheet over me.

I cried into his chest until I finally fell asleep.

I was a miserable wreck. I never left Excalibur’s side… well only when I had to go to the bathroom. I ate in the same room and looked at the ceiling all day. I didn't bathe, brush my mane or tail, and my eyes still stung from all the crying I had done. Over the last two days my friends tried to coax me out and do something, but each time I refused. I wanted to be there when he passed.

I will admit that on more than one occasion I imagined the things we would do together. The first kiss we would have, then him proposing to me at dusk in Canterlot. Then the wedding, he would hold me close while we danced our first dance, then the honeymoon, where we would go somewhere far away where we would be alone. Then our first foal, I would be in the hospital where he would be as happy as a school filly while he held my hoof and gave me words of encouragement. He would hold our child as he sat next to me on the hospital bed.

We would sit together as we watched him or her play with their toys. I would get to wake up every morning to the human I love. He would say “good morning sweetheart” with the most loving tone, then I would smile and give him a big hug. Then we would walk our foal to school and pick them up at the end of the day. We would grow old together, and I would be the happiest mare in the world.

“*sigh* if only,” I said to myself.

I rested my head in that pocket on Excalibur’s chest where his foreleg connected. I lied there with my eyes closed as I imagined more scenarios. Then I felt something move on my back. My head shot up to look at the digits on Excalibur’s hooves. I watched it for a few seconds. I thought I was feeling things so I turned back.

That’s when I felt it again.

I looked back to see the digits twitch. I looked back at him. His face winced a couple of times before he finally held his closed eyes tight. His head moved to the right before rolling to the left. His left hoof came up and grabbed his forehead.

“Awwwww,” his eyes opened as he ran his hoof through his mane, “what happened?”

“Excalibur?” I asked softly.

He looked at me, “Twilight?”

I nodded.

He moaned and grabbed his eyes and rubbed them, “What happened?” he ran his hoof across his face before stopping at the back of his head, “did we win?”

I shot forward and wrapped my hooves around his neck. I cried as I held him close. He was shocked at first but he eventually wrapped his hooves around me. I held him close, not wanting to break the embrace.

I didn’t even notice Cadence walk in.

“Twilight I was-” I heard her hooves stop, “SHINING! SPIKE! GIRLS! GET IN HERE! HE'S AWAKE!” she screamed as she left the room and ran down the hall.

I just ignored her, “Excalibur… I missed you,” I said into his ear.

“Quick question,” I leaned back and looked him in the eyes, “where did I go?”

Author's Notes:

To explain how he survived the attack, I have a mod combo on my Excalibur called Quick Thinking and Rage.
Rage, converts 40% of damage on health to energy.
Quick Thinking, Drains energy to stop lethal damage with 240% efficiency.
When used together they can prolong survivability, so an attack that would normally kill a frame, so when Excalibur takes physical damage, i.e. a sword through the abdomen, his energy is used to reduce that damage, but rage also converts energy into health. SO they counteract and can prolong life for the amount of time he has energy. And since his energy was maxed before the attack, he survived, much like in the beginning of this story. So that mod combo prolonged life just long enough for him to survive. I'm also making this realistic, so energy orbs, and health orbs don't drop from enemies, so the suit has a built in energy restore, but the auto heal is Rejuvenation, which is an aura, or mod that can heal, which is an attachment not built in, but this one takes time to actually heal injuries. Bullet wounds and minor injuries heal quickly, or even quicker with health restores, but severe injuries like this take a lot of time to heal.

Okay I think I'm done with my little explanation.