We walked into the dining hall and began to take our places at the large table. With the way Excalibur had reacted on his ship, no one wanted to talk about anything. He would be nice one minute and angry the next, I didn't really understand it.

Anyway, Princess Celestia took her place at the head of the table. To her left sat Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, Cadence, and Shining Armor. To her right sat Luna, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Excalibur and finally, me.

It was pretty funny when Excalibur sat down. When he did, the chair creaked and shook a little, his head jerked down and he said, “This chair looks a little sketchy.” We all gave out a little chuckle at his remark.

Upon seeing that everypony was seated. Celestia clapped her hooves together, signaling the waiters. A door at the end of the room opened and a waiter pony stepped through. Although he stopped when he spotted Excalibur. After a moment, he hesitantly began to step forward and walked up to Princess Celestia.

“Yes, your majesty. How may I serve you tonight?” he asked.

“What’s for dinner?” she asked.

“Chef’s salad your majesty.”

She looked at everyone at the table and said, “Is that fine everypony?”

“Uh-huh,” responded everyone. Except Excalibur, who just sat there in silence.

“Your food will be ready shortly,” responded the waiter.

He turned and worked his way to the kitchen, leaving us alone.

Luna decided to speak up and break the silence, “So Excalibur, you called your weapon a gun. What does it do?”

“A gun is a very powerful weapon that is not to be taken lightly. They are very lethal when used correctly,” he answered.

“How so?” I asked.

“If I took rock and tossed it at you, do you think it would hurt?” he said looking at me.

“No.”

“Now if I threw it at you at three thousand feet per second, would it hurt?”

My eyes went wide at his remark.

“A gun fires a small projectile called a bullet at speeds faster than the speed of sound. We have weapons that can drop a target at over a mile away, killing you before you even heard the shot.”

“Interesting,” responded Luna, “My sister and I were wondering if… we could... possibly... have some of these weapons?” she asked.

“ABSOLUTLY NOT! I WILL NOT GIVE HIGHLY ADVANCED WEAPONS TO A PLANET THAT IS NOT READY FOR THEM!” he screamed, slamming his hoof on the table.

“AND WHY NOT?!” barked Shiny.

His head jerked over to look at my brother.

“My planet started with the spear, and then the bow, and the sword, and the crossbow, the gun, and eventually the nuclear bomb! If I gave you weapons, I’d have to distribute them to the entire planet, and that is something I will not be a part of!”

The tension in the air was thick enough to cut with a knife.

“Everypony why don’t we just calm down,” I said, trying to lighten the mood.

…

“Most planets adapt and evolve at their own pace. It took mine centuries to get this advanced, yours will too… eventually,” he said in a calmer tone.

'It would appear that my little remark worked.'

I heard the door to the kitchen open and we watched while the waiter walked out with eleven salads. He approached the table and began to distribute them to everypony. But when he got to Excalibur, the Tenno brought up his hoof and waved off the waiter.

“Excalibur darling, you must eat something. You haven’t eaten in at least three days,” said Rarity.

“I’m fine,” he said.

“Please Excalibur, you’re our guest. Eat,” said Celestia.

The waiter just stood there not knowing what to do, but Celestia gave him a nod to leave the salad. So he did and left the room. Excalibur just stared at his meal, not knowing what to do.

“Well, are you going to eat or what?” asked Rainbow.

“Yeah, you afraid of salads or something?” asked Cadence sarcastically.

“I’m more worried about how you’ll react when I take my helmet off,” he said while pointing toward his head.

“Wait… what?” I asked with utter confusion.

“Is this not your true form?” asked Luna.

“No, what you see is a highly advanced exo suit,” he said while holding his hoof to his chest.

“Pardon?” asked Applejack.

“I’m wearing a highly advanced piece of armor, build specifically for me,” he said while looking at my orange friend.

“Excalibur, anything you do now will only peak our interest more. You are full of interesting surprises after all,” said Celestia with a large grin.

“Alright, but I warned you.”

He reached up to his head and with his left hoof, he grabbed it just below the horn, and with his right, grabbed the back of his head. Giving it a quick jerk to the left. He lifted his helmet a little, which gave out a light Tsssss.

He tilted his head down and began to pull the helmet off and place it on the table. I didn’t know what to expect, but what I saw was beautiful… I mean interesting! His head was furless except for his small mane on top of his head and the goatee around his mouth. He had a short muzzle and his ears were located on the side of his head instead of the top. But it was those dark brown eyes that really caught my
attention; they were full of wonder and wisdom.

He just turned his head and looked at everypony, examining their reactions. We just sat there in amazement. I won’t lie, for an alien… he was kinda cute.

“So is this who you really are?” asked Celestia.

He looked at her, “Yes, your majesty.”

“Interesting, so what species are you?”

“I’m human.”

“But you said you were a Tenno?” asked Rainbow.

“That’s what we call ourselves, it’s not the name of my species,” he said while looking at Rainbow, “What does the name of your military go by here?” he asked, looking at Princess Celestia.

“The Royal Guard,” she answered.

“Basically it’s the same thing.”

I heard my stomach let out a loud growl, and I felt my face heat up in embarrassment yet again.

“Why don’t we talk and eat?” asked Cadence.

“Let’s,” said Excalibur while grabbing a salad fork and flipping it through the digits on his right hoof.

I levitated my fork and dove in. I was so hungry, and I hadn’t eaten in almost 12 hours. But as I ate, I would eye Excalibur every once and a while, he just ate his salad slowly, but I could tell that he was looking around for something.

“Is there something wrong?” I asked.

“We appear to be lacking something to drink,” he said giving me a glance.

“Here, I’ve got it,” said Cadence as she stood up and walked into the kitchen, after a couple of moments she returned with two bottles of wine and 11 wine glasses.

“I hope you like wine,” she said with joy.

“I prefer cider, but wines fine with me,” said Rainbow.

“With all due respect your majesty, I think I’ll pass on the wine. A glass of water will do me just fine,” said Excalibur.

“Why’s that?” asked Luna.

He looked at her, “I don’t drink,” responded Excalibur, sounding a little frustrated.

“How come?” asked Rarity.

“I’ve watched too many people crawl into a whisky bottle and never climb out,” he said giving Rarity a glance.

He turned his head to Princess Celestia and asked, “May I please have a glass of water?”

“Of course,” answered Celestia with a clap of her hooves.

The waiter pony walked out of the kitchen and up to Princess Celestia.

“Yes your majesty?” he asked.

“Could you please get our guest here a glass of water?”

“Yes your majesty. I’ll be back shortly,” the waiter turned and began to leave the room.

I watched while Excalibur lowered his head and closed his eyes, he took a heavy breath and let it out slowly, “Thank you,” he said trying to calm down a little. The waiter returned shortly and gave Excalibur his drink, which he sipped slowly. Cadence poured the whine and took her seat. A couple minutes of silence passed until I heard the dining hall door open.

There stood Spike as he said, “Hello everypony.”

“Spike, please come and join us,” I said with glee.

“With pleasure!” responded the little dragon.

He took a few steps until he saw Excalibur looking at him.

“Hi, I’m Spike,” he said, looking at our guest.

Excalibur got out of his seat and walked up to the little dragon. He kneeled down and put his hoof out and said, “Spike, it’s nice to meet you, the name's Excalibur,” Spike grabbed his hoof with his claws and gave it a welcoming shake.

Excalibur rose to his feet. I couldn’t help but notice how Excalibur towered over the little dragon, but then again, Spike is still a baby dragon. Those teenage dragons we meet would probably be as tall as Excalibur. Anyway Spike walked over to the table and sat next to me, while Excalibur took his seat back.

“Spike, where have you been?” I asked with confusion and worry.

“Sleeping, why?”

‘Of course he was sleeping.’

“Just wondering,” I said with a smile.

“To bad Spike, you missed out on an AWESOME trip,” Rainbow said enthusiastically with food in her mouth.

Excalibur gave a glance and ran his hoof left and right in front of his neck, trying to get Rainbow to be quiet.

“What trip was that?” asked Spike.

Rainbow noticed his gesture and said, “Oh… never mind.”

Excalibur leaned over and whispered into my ear, “I’ll take him up when we have a chance, promise.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” I whisper back.

“Oh… okay,” Spike said with a hint of sadness.

A moment of silence passed yet again.

“So Spike, if I’m not mistaken you’re a dragon, correct?” asked Excalibur, while looking at Spike trying to lift his spirits.

“Yes sir,” answered the little dragon.

“Interesting, this is first time I’ve ever met a dragon.”

“Really?” asked Rarity.

He looked at her, “Yep, where I’m from they were always the things of myths and legends. They were thought to be powerful beings shrouded in secrecy… it would appear that they aren’t so secret anymore,” responded Excalibur.

“So I’m guessing you don’t have dragons where you’re from?” asked Cadence while taking a sip of wine.

“Nope, we don’t have Unicorns, Alicorns, or the Pegasus either, or talking ponies for that matter, so meeting you all is a first too.”

“Well we’ve never met a human before, so I guess there’s a first for everything,” said Celestia with a smile.

“Yes there is.”

We all returned to our meals and continued eating. The waiter pony decided to come out to check and see how we were doing, but once he noticed Spike, he turned around and went back to the kitchen to retrieve him a meal. At this time I couldn’t help but notice that my brother kept giving Excalibur the stink eye. I think Excalibur noticed it too, but tried to ignore it.

Excalibur gave Shiny a quick glance and said, “What seems to be troubling you Mr. Armor?”

“What do you think?” he deadpanned.

“Let me guess… it’s me isn’t it?” responded Excalibur while putting his fork down and resting his mouth on his hooves.

“Yes,” Shiny deadpanned.

“And why would that be?”

“Because you think you can just walk in here and save the day!”

“Shining Armor!” screamed Cadence.

“No, its fine your majesty, I want to hear this,” said Excalibur, his face completely expressionless.

Shiny just sat there and glared at Excalibur.

“Look… I did you a favor Mr. Armor,” said Excalibur leaning while back in his chair, “If I hadn’t acted when I did, everyone in this room would most likely be dead.”

“Do you think this is some sort of game!?” barked Shiny.

“No… but apparently you do.”

“What the HELL is that supposed to mean!?”

“To me, that fight was a walk in the park compared to most I’ve been in. Now granted I lost consciousness, but I was able to hold out long enough to save your sister, and yet here I am completely healthy… like nothing ever happened.”

“I think you’re just some filthy war mongrel with blood on your hooves! You don’t care about anypony, you were just looking for a fight… maybe even prove your worth!”

That comment put Excalibur over the top.

Excalibur stood up causing the chair he was in to fall to the floor, he smacked his hoof on the table and screamed, “I”M A HIGHLY DECORATED SOLDIER THAT HAS SACRIFICED EVERYTHING TO SEE HIS SPECIES SURVIVE! YOU’VE NEVER EXPERIENCED WAR LIKE I HAVE, AND YOU NEVER WILL!”

“I WAS THE CAPTAIN OF THE ROYAL GUARD AND PROTECTED THE PRINCESES AND EQUESTRIA WITH PRIDE!” screamed Shiny while doing the same thing Excalibur did.

“I WAS THE GENERAL OF AN ENTIRE RESISTANCE! I WATCHED MY PEOPLE NEARLY BECOME EXTINCT IN A PERIOD OF A FEW MONTHS! EVERYTHING… GONE! OUR WAR WAS LOST BEFORE IT EVER STARTED; EVERYTHING WE HAD WAS TURNED AGAINST US, OUR WEAPONS OUR TECHNOLOGY… WAS USED TO SLAUGHTER US!”

I couldn’t believe this. I knew my brother had issues with Excalibur, but I never knew that this would transpire.

“IF YOU THOUGHT THE CHANGELING ATTACK WAS BAD, WATCH THIS!”

Excalibur reached behind his back and placed a small round device and placed it on the table, he gave it a quick tap and one of those screens popped up.

The camera showed a large city, filled with ruined and blown out buildings, explosions can been seen here and there, bodies litter the town, and the sky was painted black with smoke.

“Commander I want you and the Jagdpanthers to make your advance. Take three Sherman’s with you and head for the rendezvous point, you know what to do,” said an all too familiar voice, while looking up at a young soldier sitting out of the tank.

“Yes sir!” responded the young man, “Alright boys you heard the General let’s move! YEEE HAW!”

The grinding of metal tracks and gears can be heard as the two large tanks roar to life while they pull forward, with three lighter Sherman tanks in tow. The camera pans over to and looks at five more tanks, but they have longer barrels and open tops.

“Alright I want all Hellcats on that ridge,” an arm comes into view and points to a nearby ridge, “Provide covering fire for our ground forces, all remaining Sherman’s, I want you to keep those Cats alive!”

“Yes sir! Cats let’s move!” responded a voice over the radio.

The camera pans over to the burning city, a moment passes, then it pans a little to the left.

“Rhino, how are you holding up?”

A deep voice responds, “We ahead of schedule sir. We're about to reach the rendezvous point.”

“Alright. Wait for the Panthers and begin your advance north.”

“Yes sir.”

The camera pans to the right.

“Nyx, how’s the eastern assault coming?”

Gunfire and the sound of explosions fills the radio. A female voice bleeds through, “Were doing good here, *BOOM*, we’ve run into a little resistance though, *BOOM*, hey take your heads out of your asses and cover the T-72!”

“Nyx you better keep that tank alive, that’s our last T-72!”

“I’ll do my best sir, *BOOM*, what did I just say?! Gaaah, get that Pershing up there!” the radio goes silent.

“Frost, how’s the evacuation coming?”

“Were doing good sir, the rest of the civilians are boarding the shuttles now.”

“Alight,” the camera pans to the sky to see P51’s, P38’s, and Messerschmitt 109 planes flying overhead, “Alright, Hawks you know what to do. Escort those shuttles to the Wasps and they’ll take it from there.”

“Roger that,” answered a young female voice.

“Wasps, when the fly boys get to the rendezvous point, you are to escort the shuttles to the Trinity and the Guardian, got it?”

“Got it,” answered a young male voice.

The camera pans to see a female figure in black with gold outlines and a large orange flame coming from the top of her head.

“You ready lieutenant?”

“Yes Sir,” responded a light female voice.

“Alright.”

The camera drops to see the ground, a pair of arms come into view and plant them selves on the ground. The camera begins to pan up, the sound of metal can be heard. Then the camera begins to move forward followed by the sound of jets taking off. The camera view rises over the city, looking at the fight in progress.

The camera pans over to look at the Lieutenant, she looks back and gives a light nod, the camera does the same. Looking back at the city the video feed begins to descend and lands in the middle of a city street looking directly at these small metallic creatures with a small light in their chests, a large gun barrel comes into view and opens fire.

Excalibur stopped the video and grabbed the little device.

“That was pretty much the extent of my entire force. We were out gunned and outnumbered, and we were constantly on the move… you don’t know what it’s like to fight an enemy that can adapt to just about anything!” barked Excalibur.

“What were those large metal things?” I asked.

“Tanks... from a time long forgotten. Surprisingly enough they were too simple for the Sentients to use.”

A moment of silence filled the hall.

“Anyway I’m done here… I’m not going to sit here and take this shit.”

Excalibur grabbed his helmet and slipped it over his head and walked to the doors of the dining hall and pushed both of them open with a large amount of force.

Before he left he looked over his should and said, “You don’t know what it’s like… to lose EVERYTHING,” then he walked out and into the hall way.

I gave Shiny a glance and said, “We’re going to talk about this later,” I jumped out of my seat and tried to catch up to Excalibur.

Author's Notes:

Uh oh, shit hit the fan, now there's an angry Tenno walking through the halls of Canterlot Castle, what will happen next? Will he go on a murderous rampage? Even I don't know
If you have any questions about certain parts of the flash back or anything previous just let me know