The Mark of Duty

I was one with the flow of battle. My chainsword let out a roar as I met the incubus in front of me. His blade snaked towards me and I swatted it aside with my gauntlet before my blade rushed into his midsection. I revved the sword, sending a spray of viscera and gore over my green armor. I pushed through, sending unspeakable gore in all directions as I separated the daemons torso from his legs. I let out a battle roar as the few foes before I stepped back. The war surrounding me was finally winding down, our victory assured. I stepped forward, my heavy armor causing tremors as I advanced. "BOW DAEMONS!! FOR I AM CRUCIUS MARX, CHAMPION OF THE TERRAN ELMS!!!" I pointed my bolt pistol in my off hand and blew the head off one of the rippers in front of me. "FLEE TO YOUR HOMES, AND TELL YOUR FAMILIES THAT THIS REALM IS UNDER MY EYES!!"

That broke them. They began tripping over themselves as they rushed through the open gates of Tartarus. The steel mouth of hell overflowing as demons rushed through, trampling one another to get through to the relative safety of Hell itself. I smiled under my helmet. "THAT'S RIGHT! FLEE, MY TREE DOES NOT BEND BEFORE YOUR PALTRY WIND!" I fired a salvo of shots into the retreating horde, making flowers of gore explode from the group. I watched as the horde began to disappear and raised my sword to point at the horde. I raised my opposite hand above my head and let out the only cry that could herald such a great victory.

"WWWWWWWWWWWWWWRRRRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYY!!!"

Before I relaxed my stance I saw nothing but the rainbow. I sighed as I felt myself freeze in place. At least I was in a kick-ass pose. The stone cracked into place around me, and the apologetic face of Celestia appeared in front of me. She raised a hoof to my beak. "Although we doubt it is worth much to thou. We are sorry." If I had the ability, I would have spit on her. Instead, I silently grumbled my fate. Damn betrayal cliches.

***

I sighed as the recording ended. Being trapped in stone sucked, but luckily my helmet somehow still worked in its granite prison. I checked on the outside world. The Canterlot gardens were, as always, beautiful. It was night time, the soft embers in the torches nearby alerting me to the hour being late enough for it to have looped around back to being early. I looked for any of the critters that seemed to nest near me. I carefully avoided looking up, since the damnable birds might decide to give me a very unpleasant shower. While the critters were absent, I wasn't alone. A small yellow unicorn was walking up, slowly moving between the hedges to reach my secluded little area of the gardens. Her hair looked like fire, and her eyes were downcast as she walked directly towards my plinth. She paused at my feet and looked me over. 'Take a picture kid, it'll last longer'

She took a deep breath and began speaking. "I know it's crazy to talk to some weird statue, but I need advice." I perked at this. Not many knew of 'Duty' locked away in the corner of the gardens. Even fewer would come for advice. 'Then speak child. Know that duty holds no judgment.' She looked up at me. "I'm stuck. Celestia showed me a mirror that she said could show the future, and I saw myself." She looked to her back. "With wings."

Ah, that would explain the issue. Ascending was rare, and I had only heard of two doing it with their sanity and lives intact. One does not explode twice without several issues. The unicorn looked up to me. "So now I'm stuck. Celestia put her hoof down on me researching ways to ascend. She even barred me from the Royal Archives to stop me. So I'm stuck... Do I have a duty to Celestia, or is it to me? What should I do when my dreams pull me from the fate I've known my whole life."

'Your duty is to what you say it is child.' She paused. I stared as she looked up to me with confusion in her eyes. I smiled wide. This was it, my chance at freedom. I began trying to move, feeling stone give way to my augmented muscles. 'You have a duty to yourself. To be the best you can be. With strength, you can protect others, attack those who mean you harm and stand against all who would strike at you.' The stone began crumbling as my grin turned predatory. 'and your duty never ends. Because... The stone fell away as I shifted into a normal standing position. I crossed my blade across my chest piece. "Only in death, does duty end."

The unicorn stared at me in fear as I looked her over. I was trying to see if I knew her. After a moment, I clapped my hands. "Ah, young Sunset Shimmer. Personal student of Princess Celestia, willful prodigy who would set fire to the world for that which she cares about." I crouched down as her fear multiplied by my knowledge of her. "One who gladly meddles in the unknown in order to gain knowledge and power. I believe you just freed me."

She stared at horror from the plinth to me as I patted her on the head. "For that, you have my thanks." I holstered my weapons and gave a respectful Roman salute across my chest. "I am Crucius Marx, champion of the Terran Elms. And for your service, I am in your debt. So sit, we shall debate the merits of your duties." I slowly took a knee, which was the closest I could get to sitting in full armor.

She planted her flank in the ground like a flag. "U-uh. I just wanted to know what to do since Celestia stopped me from my research."

I looked at her for a moment before reaching up to my head. With a hiss I removed my helmet, allowing my close-cropped blonde hair to breathe for the first time in millennia. I ran a gauntlet over my head. "Ah, the oldest question. Which duty is more important? Duty to self, or duty to the nation?" I paused. "I will admit that I have no love for Celestia, but the way I see it you may not have to split your duties as you have." She looked at me, and I saw the flames of curiosity spark behind her eyes. "If you find the path to ascension you will be strong enough to help Equestria. If you survive anyways." I rolled my hand as I continued. "But if you stay here you have maintained the status quo. And that is a double-edged sword. Never to advance or retreat. An endless stalemate of your inner ideals." I stroked my chin as I thought about this. "Though I may be biased, I believe you should approach this problem directly. Talk to Celestia about your doubts, and tell her you demand an actual reason. If she is so callous with your loyalty as to deny you, then she has no need of you."

Sunset flinched at that but nodded. "That sounds alright. If all else fails I was able to smuggle one book out of the archives." She pulled an old tome out of her bag and opened it up. I looked over it before scoffing. "Warpcraft, I have neither the skill or inclination to learn such arts." I looked back at her. "Explain if you would." I smiled. "With small words, please."

She nodded, but her ears perked at my mention of Warpcraft. "Basically the mirror is a portal. With the spell listed in this book, I could activate it." She paused. "But then it would be on forever, every thirty moons it would activate for three days, then repeat on that cycle until it either broke, or the connection was fully stabilized."

I nodded. "A gateway, I have heard of such things. In my experience, they are mostly safe methods of transport."

She paused. "Mostly?"

I grimaced. "The creatures that created the gateways were less than hospitable. They could flay the flesh from your bone with almost no effort." I absentmindedly rubbed a gouge on the side of my armor. "One resided in Tartarus, and if he is like the rest of his kind he still lives there."

Sunset nodded slowly. "Well, this one was made by a pony. It leads to a variant of our universe, but all the text from Starswirls trip there are lost."

I nodded. I was trying to remember the movie Equestria Girls but was drawing a blank. Damnit, I had only seen it once. Pirating it when it came out and deciding it was okay. Now that lack of knowledge might bite me right in my ceramite covered ass. But I knew one thing, it had humans. I would kill for that, so my only choice was clear. "Then I assume it safe. Celestia would have hidden it away if it was dangerous." I gestured her to leave. "Go and speak, and if you decide to venture into the portal come by here again. I will rest here until dawn. If the Omnissiah wills it, you shall not need me again." She nodded and ran off, while I slipped my helmet back on.

While she went to talk to the almighty Sunflank I had a few moments to ready myself for what might end up being a very long trip. I began cycling through menus my helmet provided, activating the locators on my weapons. They were scattered around the planet, with only one in the castle. I sighed and used the plinth to support my massive weight. "Of course she scattered all my gear, have to fill every cliche possible." I grumbled and closed my eyes. I couldn't afford to sleep here, but rest was needed. I shut myself down, tuning out most of my senses and allowing time to wash over me. A simple skill I learned back when I was normal but was still useful even now.

While I rested, I planned. If my weapons were in good enough shape to use, I could probably fix them. Apparently, part of whatever deal I had struck was getting some knowledge of Mechanicus secrets shoved in my head. Not that I was complaining. I sighed as I thought back to my now-distant past.

***

"Dude, are you really going as a freaking Lumberjack-themed Space Marine?"

I flexed the plastic armor that swallowed me. "The Terran Elms are a respected chapter focused on life and rebirth through trees. Any and all references to lumberjacking are completely irrelevant and intentional."

Sam laughed and swatted my shoulder, rubbing against the crest on my shoulder. A simple tree growing tall on a planet of spires and gold. "That is the most ridiculous thing ever. I love it."

I smiled behind my helmet and idly checked the beak. My love of the Corvus helms was strong, plus being a 'Beaky' as it were was awesome. "Well come on, I bet I can make bank charging a buck for a photo op."

Sam rolled her eyes. "Of course your thinking of turning a profit here. You're still a two-bit thief at heart aren't you?"

I rolled my shoulder, causing my pauldrons to shift awkwardly. "What do you expect? Just cause you straightened me out doesn't make me some silly paragon of morality."

She rolled her eyes and adjusted her shirt before moving on. "I'm going to the Sailor Moon panel, don't die or anything."

I waved as she left, smiling at her exit. Before descending to the merchant floor of the convention. I was aching for a profit. Granted, I would spend it as I got it, but that was half the fun. I moved through the floor with everyone giving me a wide berth. I had a handmade melt-gun hooked to my back, and a chainsword sheathed at my side. The photo ops were profitable, and I found myself with a nice collection of money to spend however I saw fit. I paused by a stand that seemed to have fallen by the wayside. It had a collection of various replica's that piqued my interest. I saw Majora's Mask, a pokeball, and a few other goodies that I would definitely want. But then I saw her.

A Stalker-Pattern Bolter. It seemed to be based on the more archaic designs, with gold embossing and a magazine well shaped like a human skull. There was so much want in my body I thought I would lose my cool. I thumbed through my collection of bills. Through a few harmless pay raises as the photo ops got more commonplace I had a couple hundred bucks. I nodded to myself, that thing was MINE. I looked around the stand for the owner.

I found him melding into the shadows of the back, turned away from me as he moved a small blade onto a peg. He looked familiar, and after a moment I got it. The merchant from Resident Evil. Creepy bugger. I waved at him. "Hail, I see a fine purchase for my reliquary!"

He turned to look at me before letting out the merchant's signature chuckle. He was scary good at it. "Well hello, there stranger. I take it you're wanting my little piece of the Imperium up there?" God, even the voice was spot on.

I nodded my beak up and down. "Indeed. What's your price?"

He chuckled again. Seriously, I got chills at it. This guy deserved an award. "For a loyal Astartes like yourself, call it one-fifty."

Honestly, that was less than I was expecting. I thought I would have to duck into my personal funds to get it. I counted out the ungodly amount of ones and fives I had and passed them towards him. "Call it sold then my good trader."

He nodded before unhooking the bolter from the wall and looking it over. "She's a fine piece of work young Astartes. Take care of her, you hear?"

I raised my fist to my chest. "On my honor." Granted I normally wasn't this boisterous, but when you have a role like Space Marine, who could resist?

He nodded. "Well then stanger, enjoy your purchase. As well as all it entails." His eyes squinted in a smile as I scooped up the bolter. I was so excited by my purchase that I didn't notice as the sounds of the con faded. When I looked up from my purchase I found myself surrounded by darkness. "What the fuck?" And those were my last words as the darkness consumed me, leading me to a new life.