I am War.

“Broken down; ‘till your hope has died...”

“Applejack?” asked Twilight, “What’s that song you’re singing?”

“Huh!?” started Applejack, ‘Was I singing aloud? Sorry Twi, but I heard Excolotis sing it, and it’s been stuck in my head for a while now.”

“That’s alright,” said Twilight, tilting her head in concern, “But it seems a bit violent, doesn’t it?”

“Of course it’s violent,” laughed Excolotis, “it’s a song about how you’re going to get beaten to a pulp! What did you expect?”

“Heh, true that,” nodded Applejack, “But what’s it called?”

“You know, I’m not certain.” Excolotis began to rub the back of his helm with a mild scraping noise, “It’s been a while since I heard it played by a band.”

The three had decided to walk over to Rarity’s boutique, Excolotis getting strange looks. But by now word had spread about the black giant and how he meant no harm, scary though he may be; so apart from a few stares or nervous children, not much fuss was made.

Twilight was still uneasy about the truth she had learned about her teacher, but she was smart enough to realize that it was in the past, and while such an action would of have been hideous beyond all belief today; back then it was probably par for the course. That didn’t mean that she had to like it though, she was just thankful that such things were no longer needed. She wasn’t looking forward to apologising to Pinkie Pie though. The best thing might to give some distance for a few minutes, until Rarity had finished with Excolotis, then she’d head over to Sugar Cube Corner and apologise.

“Ah, Applejack,” smiled Rarity as she poked her head out of her front door, “have you finaaweaaaagh!” Rarity took one look at Excolotis and slammed the door shut.

Twilight knocked on the door, “Rarity, don’t be scared, he’s harmless.” Twilight glanced at the behemoth, “Mostly anyways... look, we just want your help in making something fancy for him to wear!”

The door cracked open an inch, “Promise?” asked Rarity, “He’s harmless?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, it that case,” Rarity opened the door and stepped out, “Let me apologise for my behaviour earlier, it was simply awful!”

“Oh, don’t worry about it;” Excolotis waved his hand, “I can be pretty scary at times.”

“Oh, quite alright, now come inside,” Rarity’s horn lit up as she continued, “And let’s see what we can do.”

With a slight creak, the front door of the boutique came off from the wall, taking a good chunk of wood and plaster with it. This left behind an archway that Excolotis could fit though if he ducked down a bit. Again, the building was extremely roomy, just enough for Excolotis to stand in, provided he was careful of where he put his head.

As Excolotis walked into the Boutique the chunk of wall slid back into place with a click, and Excolotis found he was inside a neat, organized store. Shelving stood off to one side, and in the middle was a podium with open access around it. Clothes mannequins with adjustable dimensions were stacked in a corner, where Rarity could work on outfits without needing her customers to stand around all day. To one side was a waiting area with books and magazines, where friends of customers, and customers themselves, could wait while Rarity finished up with what she was doing, which Applejack and Twilight promptly excused themselves over to; they knew better than to get in Rarity’s way when she was working. Excolotis was gently led to the middle of the store, where Sweetie Belle was colouring with her crayons.

“Oh hi, Excolotis!” said Sweetie Belle, “What are you doing here?”

“Oh nothing much,” Excolotis chuckled, “Just having my clothing brought back up to today’s standards. How about you, little one?”

“Oh, nothing much,” pouted Sweetie Belle, “I just got grounded. For finding you in the cave and all.”

“You did not get in trouble for that, Sweetie,” corrected Rarity, “You were grounded because you ran into a cave without telling any pony where you were going. Now, please head up to your room, I need to work.”

“Okay.” said Sweetie Belle, picking up her stuff and trotting through the doorway to one side. After a while, the clomping of something small hopping up stairs could be heard.

“Ah, well now,” said Rarity, lifting up a fold of black cloth from Excolotis’ tabard “what are you wearing? Black armour? Robes? While I can’t fault your colour choices, the deep violet really enhances the cloak by the way; surely you would like something more bearable?”

“Yeah, about that,” said Excolotis, “I’m more happy in my armour.”

“It’s not exactly something to wear to a party.” Smiled Rarity, “You’ll need something else.”

“Fine then,” Excolotis sighed. He reached up, and undid the straps on his gorget. Placing the curved piece of metal on the ground, he then slid the helm up and over his head, placing it under the crook of his arm. Underneath his helm, his face was defined, his chin strong. His skin was clear and tanned, plain flesh with wisps of fine hair covering his cheeks. His head was perched atop his neck, the face facing forwards, not unlike a Diamond Dog.

His chin was curved, the jaw bone clearly pronounced and separate from his neck. The nose was a separate organ jutting from the face; a good inch or so from between his eyes. His eyes were small and sunken into his skull, over shadowed by a brow, low and displaying two strips of thick fur. His ears were two discs of flesh to either side of his head, behind his nose. His mouth was two pink folds of fleshy lips, which parted as he sighed; showing sharp teeth for cutting.

The eyes themselves were hidden in pools of shadow by the lighting, and Excolotis squinted against the light, a flash of blue showing between eyelids. Atop his rounded skull was a large swathe of fur, the length of short grass and a deep brown, almost black.

“I’ve never seen a creature like you before,” breathed Rarity, “What are you?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” smiled Excolotis, “And if you want to know what I am, well, why should I tell you? Let me have my own secrets; after all, I don’t have an enchanting personality, and I need something to be interesting.”

“Oh, don’t say that,” laughed Rarity, “you’re wonderful company.”

“I have to admit,” said Twilight, “I want to know why you aren’t a pony. That’s been bugging me for a while.”

“Well,” Excolotis paused, and but his hand to his mouth, “Look at you. You have short legs, no opposable digits, or even grasping appendages; short fur, no real toughness or capacity to defend yourselves. I am not a Pony, because you are not suited to what I am. In your case, form defines function, but for me; function defines form.”

“That doesn’t make sense.” complained Applejack.

“Actually, I think it does.” said Twilight, “He’s an Athropermorthic Personification. Much like how Discord is the spirit of chaos, he’s a spirit of some force, or concept. And from what I’ve heard... Oh wow, why didn’t I think of that before?”

“Think of what?” asked Rarity.

“He’s War.” smiled Twilight.

“What!?” shouted Applejack, leaping to her hooves.

“I thought you said he was harmless!?” screamed Rarity, running for the stairs, “Sweetie Belle, get to Sugar Cube Corner, take the window!”

“Rarity...” called Excolotis, “That’s not what I want; I am harmless! Before you knew what I was, were you scared of me? Was I cruel? You invited me into your house, we chatted, and I made you smile and laugh. Am I really so horrible?”

Applejack nodded in appreciation. “That’s true.” She admitted.

“You’re war! Don’t even think about it!” shouted Rarity, “I’ve got a horn, and I know how to use it!” she crouched into a charging stance and made a few jabs with her head.

“Rarity, calm down!” cried Twilight, “He’s not a mindless butcher!”

“Rarity! What’s gotten into you?!” demanded Applejack. “Twilight! Run back to my place and get my rope!”

“I don’t want this,” snarled Excolotis, “But if you want a fight, I’ll give you one!” He reached out a hand, and dust began to pour into his fingers from the air around him; in moments a sword gleamed in his grasp, black as midnight.

“Rarity, calm down!” shouted Twilight, “Don’t fight! If you stop, Excolotis will stop!”

“He’s got a sword, Twilight!” snarled Rarity, “You call that peaceful?”

“You threatened him first,” Twilight pointed out, “If you just stop and think; no one’s going to be hurt! Is this what you want to be? An intolerant Pony who attacks when she hears about some stranger? Don’t you remember Zecora? He’s not a murderer, he’s a warrior!”

“Damn straight!” agreed Excolotis, “Let’s just calm down, that’s a good girl, or I’ll stick this blade into your chest and watch you bleed.”

“Not helping!” exclaimed Twilight, “Look, let’s just stop, okay?”

“Fine, then.” Excolotis dropped the sword, which dissipated into nothing before it hit the ground. Rarity got up from her crouch, and straightened her hair. Applejack still looked angry, but took a less aggressive pose.

A few moments later, the door burst open and a small group of ponies ran inside, Unicorns reading spells, Pegasus rustling their wings, and Earth Ponies stomping their hooves.

“Is everything alright Rarity?” asked the defacto leader: an aqua unicorn, “We heard shouting.”

“Oh, everything’s fine,” said Twilight, “Just a mild misunderstanding... oh hello Lyra.”

Lyra ignored Twilight, the aqua unicorn stepping forwards uncertainly. She opened and closed her mouth a few times.

“YES!” she yelled, jumping into the air and startling everyone crammed into the boutique, “Yes! Vindication! I knew it! Ha! I was right; suck it Octavia! Who’s the crazy mule now?!” Lyra began to dance happily, jumping back and forth on her hooves and shaking her head and rump from side to side.  She stopped as an unpleasant thought struck her. “You guys do see that, right? The tanned, hairless skin and small eyes?” after general nodding, Lyra beamed.

“Ha ha!” she laughed, “I’ve got to tell Bonbon! She’ll never believe this, not in a hundred years!” And with that, she bolted out of the door. The other ponies followed soon after, muttering amongst themselves.

“Right...” said Excolotis, raising an eyebrow. “Now if you don’t mind, I’m putting my helm back on.”

“Uh, actually,” said Rarity, rubbing her foreleg, “I’d like to apologise for my behaviour. If you don’t mind, can we pretend that never happened?”

Excolotis sighed, “Fine, but what about Sweetie Belle?”

“...Oh dear.” frowned Rarity, “She’s probably halfway to Pinkie’s by now and scared out of her mind...”

“Don’t worry,” said Applejack, “I’ll go find her.”

“Right,” nodded Twilight, “and I’ll go check upstairs, she might still be here.”

Applejack galloped out the door, and Twilight trotted upstairs, leaving Excolotis and one very embarrassed Rarity in the Boutique. “So, uh, Excolotis,” said Rarity, “Could you take off the rest of your armour? I need to get your measurements.”

“...Fine.”

Applejack ran down the street, her hooves thudding on the dirt path as she looked for Sweetie Belle. Eventually, she spotted the young unicorn running down the street, tears trailing behind her as she ran as if the thought monsters were after her; which to be honest, she probably did. Applejack was a fast runner though, and easily caught up with Rarity’s sister.

“Hey now, girl,” she said gently, “Every thing’s alright now.”

“Applejack,” cried Sweetie Belle, hugging onto the farm pony for dear life, “What’s going on?”

“Nothin’ sugar cube,” Soothed Applejack, “Rarity just got scared something awful.”

“By what?” sniffed Sweetie Belle.

“Well,” thought Applejack, “Y’know how Excolotis can be mighty scary at times? Well your big sis thought that he was some scary monster, and thought that you might be in danger.”

“That’s true.” said Pinkie, her hair back to its puffy self, “being the Athropermorthic Personification of War can be a bit scary to us ponies.”

Applejack jumped into the air, and said a very naughty word. “Where did you come from Pinkie?!” demanded Applejack, “Didn’t your ma ever teach you not to sneak up on ponies?”

“She tried,” said Pinkie, “But she gave up after a while; as for where I came from? Well it all started long ago, when my dad fell in love with my mom...”

“Whoa, Pinkie,” interrupted Applejack, “Not that far back!”

“Sorry,” smiled Pinkie, “If you mean more recently, I was coming back from the bakery. I needed to apologise to Twilight about my grumpy grump earlier. I get a teensy bit upset about my time on the farm.”

“Wait...” Applejack furrowed her brow, “How did you know what he was?”

Pinkie put her head on an angle, and looked at Applejack under hooded eyes, a mild frown on her face as if to say; ‘Bitch, please!’

“Ah, right. Come on then, lets head over to Rarity’s and see what she’s up to.” Applejack started over, “Don’t know why we need all that froufrou stuff anyhow, he’s just fine with the armour and robes.”

“This is stupid.”

“It’s not stupid! It’s fashion!”

“Still stupid!”

Excolotis was jammed into a tight suit, the padded shoulders giving him a triangular look. He wore nothing on his feet. “I can’t even move in this!” complained Excolotis, “It’s like I’m wrapped in bandages! We need to rethink this.”

"But it looks so smart on you!” said Rarity, “It matches you perfectly!”

“Yes,” conceded Excolotis, “It does, but this is something I’d wear to a funeral, not a party! I need something smart, yet casual. And loosen it up a bit; I want to be able to move properly.”

“She’s not upstairs,” called Twilight, “she must of have jumped out the window. Nice suit!”

Rarity beamed.

“But isn’t it a bit much?’ asked Twilight, “He’s not going to the Grand Galloping Gala.”

Excolotis smirked, “Told you.”

“Oh, fine.” Said Rarity, “But you can still keep the suit.”

Excolotis beamed again, and began to wiggle out of the outfit.

Celestia flew up and around the clouds, looking for a familiar cyan Pegasus. She knew very well that she needed someone to keep tabs on Excolotis, and yet was fast enough to respond. If Excolotis had one flaw, he wasn’t very fast. While he could move faster than any pony at short range, he couldn’t keep up over long distances even though his immortality meant he was immune to fatigue; for the most part, he just ran Ponies into the ground.

After a few minutes of flying she saw the Weather Pony cleaning up some clouds. Despite what she would of have expected from Twilights letters, Rainbow Dash was hard at work. Taking this as an excellent opportunity to see what the Element of Loyalty was like, she settled down on a cloud to watch.

Rainbow Dash moved fast, blasting clouds out of the air according to her instructions. Occasionally, she would stop and pull out a piece of paper with the weather codes, give it a quick read, and set off again.

“Grid 3 to 8/H to k; no clouds,” Dash said, nodding at her work, ‘grid 2/A by grid 8/C by grid 1/Z; mild cloud... Light rain in all grids scheduled at 11:42 PM. Glad I’m on day shift... Princess Celestia!”

“Hello Rainbow Dash.” smiled the princess from her cloud, “I have a job for you.”

“This isn’t half bad,” nodded Excolotis, “What’s this thing called again?”

“A turtle neck,” said Rarity, “I thought it would look nice with the dinner jacket and pants.”

The new outfit was almost complete. The dinner jacket was made from a heavy, smooth cloth, dyed jet black. The pants were the same, while the turtle neck was made from slate grey wool.  All in all, it was comfy, practical, stylish, and warm; perfect for the colder weather. Excolotis had explained the concept of shoes to Rarity, and she had decided to make black leather shoes, (similar to what you would call loafers) that fit snugly on his feet. Rarity still wasn’t satisfied, however; the jacket hung badly in some places and needed to be tightened up, the edges of the pants were frayed in some places, and all in all, the outfit was far from finished.

With a final flash of Rarity’s horn, the jacked snapped into a fine fit, and the ragged ends cleaned up.

Now it was finished.

“Magic...” said Excolotis, “Is there anything it can’t do?”

“Yes!” said Rarity, “It’s not all powerful, for instance, I can’t do half the things that Twilight can do. I can only do half of these spells because I excel at dress making!”

“Whoa, calm down girl,” Said Excolotis, holding up his hands, “There’s no need to fly off the handle like that.”

“Sorry,” said Rarity, “I’m just tired of all the misconceptions about magic. Pegasus and Earth Ponies? They always assume that we have all the answers, when we just don’t have all that.”

“Fair enough,” said Excolotis, “I’d like it if ponies would understand that I’m a warrior, not some crazed maniacal killer.”

“Actually,” mused Twilight, “What, exactly, is the difference? I know that there is a difference, but I can’t say I know the specifics.”

“Warriors have a code,” explained Excolotis, “Warriors don’t go looking for fights all the time, though we do respond to outside threats. We don’t start fights without good reason, and when we do, we have standards. We don’t attack for the sake of battle, we don’t hurt innocents if we can help it, and we understand the concept of surrender. Basically, warriors live in a violent world of grey morality; we are good creatures, but we know how to kill, and more importantly... when to kill.”

“Nice.” nodded Twilight.

“Thank you; now let’s go find Pinkie Pie.”