The Mark of Duty

Sunset and I had made our way through the original trilogy before we finally called it a day. Mostly due to Sunset finally giving in to go back to sleep at about six AM. I began closing the door to her room before Clint rushed through the door, slipping between its closing doors and laying down at the foot of the bed. I glared at him silently as he quirked his head in confusion. I blew some air out at him before leaving the door cracked and turning around. I heard a clank from Alice's room and used my killer deductive reasoning to figure out she was waking up. I decided to compile my notes and ran into my room. My genius planning was at the forefront as I reread them. Find whoever controls the pale pony and kill the everloving shit out of them.

Truly, a master of strategy and holmes-ian intuition there. I grabbed my journal as well, needing to show off my notes on the whole pale-pony thing. I moved to my chair and sat down, trying to actually figure out what in the Warp was going on. My thoughts were disrupted by a small chime, and objects falling on my head. I flinched under the impromptu assault and looked up, only to dodge a small shuriken the was falling over my head. I rolled to the side and stayed low in case more projectiles decided to fall, mostly in case a grenade followed the worlds worst assassination attempt. I heard a click come from Alice's room and peeked up.

She was watching with a grin on her face. "Well, looks like someone got a few calls back."

I raised an eyebrow as the chime ended. Deciding Alice wouldn't be this calm about a failed assassination I stood up, keeping an eye on the detritus now littering my once clean floor. A rock, a shuriken, a few things I couldn't identify. Nothing superbly noteworthy. Except for one thing. A knife, from something I definitely recognized. I grabbed it, it's small size barely fitting in my hands. It was indeed a data-knife. I played an unhealthy amount of Titanfall 2 before and could recognize it instantly. I flipped it over in my hand and heard a voice. "Hullo, I'm David. Me and Atlas have kinda run out of things to do... So feel free to call on us for whatever. Just make sure I have the chance for a good drink."

I looked to the blade with a raised eyebrow. "Well, I guess I should have expected that."

Alice scoffed and began grabbing the tokens on the floor. "Yep, since this is your home they'll talk to you. Most folks have a flair for the dramatic with 'em. Personally, I find that a short message normally works best. No one likes listening to your life story in a token, but some folk argues it gives you more background on who you're calling for backup."

I shrugged and reached for the shuriken that had tried to go full Jason on my chair. I plucked it out and looked it over. "Howdy, Ah'm Sparrow. If'n y'all need help with some murder-y type folk, I'll kill 'em back with ya. Just try and give me some warnin' first, y'hear?"

I stared at the shuriken in shock before Alice walked up. "What, you get some evil bastard offering you the world or something?"

I shook my head and said the only thing I could think of. "Ninja cowboy."

It was Alice's turn to stare at the shuriken. "Well, that's not the weirdest thing I've ever heard of." She paused, before plucking the small blade from my hand. "Though it's very mundane style of weird does make it pop a little bit."

She had all of the tokens in the crook of her arm before looking around. I pointed to the entertainment center. "Bottom left drawer, it's cleared out because I didn't have anything to put in it."

She nodded and placed all the tokens in the drawer, closing it and turning to me. "So, I figure we don't have much to do until your lawyer friend calls us back about the bar, so what's the plan?"

I gestured to the couch while I sat in my own chair. "We have an issue. I can't do much about it now, but I'm hoping you might be able to help."

Alice let out an easy smile and sat down, reclining over the whole couch. "You know I love helping out big guy, what's up?"

I reached over to my side-table and grabbed my journal and notes. "Journal, near the middle of the bestiary, pale pony."

Her smile dropped as she righted herself, holding out a hand for me to throw her the journal. I passed it underhand and she caught it easily. After flipping through it for a while she stopped on a page and began reading. I watched as she read through it, and then stopped. She moved her eyes back up to the top of the page before reading it again. She let out a sigh and lowered the journal. "I'm going to hazard a guess that you aren't showing me this for an interesting debate about the different creatures of our homes."

I shook my head. "No, I saw one outside our humble abode last night. I want to find the rider, but I don't even know where to start." I paused a moment before jolting up. "Wait a minute, I do know where to start! Journal!"

She tossed it to me and I flipped it open again. I opened it up before moving to a section I rarely used. Pantheons. With creatures that personified natural phenomena, each one normally had their own little kingdom. While Equestria was the only full country that followed that ideal, each one normally used their power to make a much smaller team of ageless allies. I had three or four written down that I had the displeasure to meet. I flipped over to them. There was Neptune, who I actually liked. Of course, the fact that Tsunami was one of his immortal sirens might have had a little to do with that. Then there was Magran, lord of fire. Glancing through his pantheon was a nice trip into Dante's Inferno-inspired monsters. Even if he only had about a dozen. The obvious page related to Celestia and Luna. Alice moved to look over at that page and winced at its mention of family. I said nothing and turned the page.

There it was. The pantheon of Death. I opened it up to try and remember. My own past was biting me in the ass. Far too focused on the war and not what might come after. Granted, at the time it was logical, but this was wasted time. I began reading aloud, putting each word into my mental save file. "Death's pantheon is rarely seen. Even if he shows himself, his pantheon fits into a herald role, paving his was for the most important deaths. Like those of royals, immortals, and heroes. Death gives his heralds autonomy when not in use, meaning that several have what Death calls 'day-jobs'. Currently, the only known herald is The Banshee. A ghostly thestral that will perch upon high buildings before wailing to foretell death."

I looked at Alice with a raised eyebrow, but she waved me on. "While Deaths pantheon is rare, Death himself has released a set of rules they must follow. For one, they must have permission from Death himself or one they consider worthy, before taking a life. Secondly, any creature that identifies them as a herald may call a meeting. And finally, if they are separated from Death for long periods of time, they must act as the death of their area until such a time as he returns. With these rules in place, several ponies have attempted to meet the heralds of Death. Thus far, they have either returned failing, or not at all."

Alice looked at me for a moment, before straightening out behind me. "So if I'm reading this right, you think this pale pony is one of Deaths Heralds?"

I paused, looking over the journal again. "Yes. Mostly because most creatures I encountered in Equestria had a link back home. Sirens, Manticores, Unicorns..." I glanced at the journal. "And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him." I paused before snapping the journal shut. "Revelation 6:8 seems pretty open and close to me."

She paused a moment before grimacing. "I was never really religious, but I don't like the idea of tangling with one of the four horsemen."

I shrugged and passed the journal back to her. "Well, hopefully, I can talk it out. According to..." I paused, remembering who gave me that section of information. "Luna, I should be able to call a meeting with the pale pony." I tapped the book against my head. "And if whoever is doing this runs recon operations like I do, then they'll be back to talk."

Alice smiled wide. "And that's when we go all Dr. Strange." She raised a hand out like she was casting a spell. "Pretty white pony, I've come to bargain."

I smiled. "Indeed. Get it all sorted out, and either kill the rider or make them back off." I looked to the window, before reaching into my pocket and pulling out my phone. Without a thought, I tossed it to Alice. "You're on business and like today, I'll take care of Sunset and guard the homefront."

Alice snorted. "Just admit it, you don't wanna be called the cute boy who's trying to be soooo tough." I flipped her off as she laughed and moved to her guest room. When she was in her own area I opened my door, looking at the small hills surrounding the neighborhood. A few families were having picnics and the like, with one group birdwatching. I watched them for a moment, waiting for a tell of any sort. After a moment one of the birdwatchers turned his binoculars on me. He stared for a moment before moving the binoculars around the neighborhood. I sighed. A normal human probably would have missed it, but I could tell. Either he was a bored birdwatcher, or he was casing my house. If he was casing it wasn't a bad job, I'd done a lot worse back before.

I decided to just nip it in the bud. Besides, despite my anti-social leanings, a neighbor could talk to a neighbor. I was just going to be polite, easy as pie. "By the Omnissiah this is going to be awful," I shouted that I'd be right back through the door and began moving to the hills. I instantly missed my phone, since sprinting up at full speed would attract attention. So I was stuck walking through the silence. "Life is to quiet now."

I reached the hills within a few minutes. Most of the families were ignoring me, but one of the two birdwatchers was looking at me with a curious glint in her eyes. My lack of social interaction bit me in the ass here. Was she in a range where the average human could see that? Or was she technically supposed to be hard to see right now? I hedged my bet, waving and beginning to move towards them.

I was wrong. The woman had skin darker than ebony, but I couldn't see much of the man behind his suit and white hair. At least until the woman said something with a shocked expression on her face. I didn't speed up, instead calmly walking over as the man turned to look at me. I nearly stumbled. Sure, he wasn't a half-horse monster. But that was Tirek. Tirek who I almost certainly remember ripping in half and throwing into an ocean. I know the demon form of him is probably nearly healed by now, but it's still a shock to see a dead man.

My face apparently betrayed the confusion I felt, as the man flinched on seeing me. I held back a moment of panic. Cover story, cover story, cover story. That's what I needed. A random fact drifted into my head. Tirek had a brother. One who was similar in looks to him. I spread my arms wide. "Scorpan, my old friend! I heard you were dead. So imagine my shock when I hear a whisper from my friends that you're birdwatching right beside my own home?"

Tirek flinched. It was then I remembered that he hated his brother. Whoops. I focused on the woman beside him. "And who is this picture of beauty?" I moved my arms, pointing her out with upward palms. "If this is why I haven't heard from you I am hardly offended. She is a vision to behold."

Tirek coughed into his hand. "I'm sorry sir, I believe you've mistaken me for someone else."

I paused, putting on an air of confusion. "Really? But that red skin... hmmm." I looked at him critically. "Ah, he had a brother, yes? You must be Tirek then. He told me of you." I raised an eyebrow at him. "He said you had done many dark deeds. But I digress. It is fortunate to see you here, after the tidings of the other day a familiar face is what I need. Even if it is only familiar by reputation."

The woman sat up. She held a regal air, holding herself high, giving the impression that you were looking up to her even while sitting down. "Is this how you speak to new people? Without even a vague introduction."

I raised my hands, pretending to look embarrassed. "Ah, I apologize." I gave a short half-bow. "I am Crucius Marx, traveler of all the paths life has to offer."

The woman raised an eyebrow but nodded. "I am Chrysalis, and my companion, as you have guessed, is Tirek. Now may I ask what you want?"

I looked between them. Tirek did not watch birds. And I knew that Chrysalis didn't either. So the chances of these two being related to the pale horse were nearly one-hundred percent. I could at least try to weasel information out of them. Unfortunately, I had used all of my skills in subterfuge just to get them talking. So now it was time for my trademark brand of subterfuge.

I sat down across from Tirek and Chrysalis. "Well, originally I was just seeing who was casing my home with binoculars while pretending to birdwatch." Neither of the once-villains even flinched, causing me to maintain my serious airs. "Then I thought of the herald of death that came to visit my home last night." That got a raised eyebrow from Chrysalis. "And now I see two people on a hill over my house. One who I have met in my travels, and one who I know the tale of by sheer coincidence." I raised a hand, pointing to Tirek. "Tirek the Demon. I have seen you twice, and neither time were you as you are now. But you are the same in spirit. Proud, strong, and devious." I smiled as I looked to the binoculars in his lap. "Not at all the type to watch birds in his free time."

I turned my finger to Chrysalis. "And you. Queen Chrysalis. I have seen your tale unfold. Where I came from you conquered the strongest fortress of a nation. Only to be cast out afterward." I tapped my chin with my finger. "I wonder how similar your story is here. Though I know Tirek's is different. After all, I doubt he's been ripped in half here." I looked Tirek up and down. "But if I'm wrong he wears it well."

Tirek scoffed. "And what does this insanity have to do with us?"

I let out a feral grin. "A simple offer. Bring the pale pony back to my house, I wish to speak to it." I looked between them. "Besides, it needs to be fed anyways, and I could give it a meal until it's full to bursting." I got up without another word, walking back to my house. I groaned when I reached the door. Alice was gonna be pissed.