The Mark of Duty

I looked over the house I had just purchased. I'm not going to say I chose it purely because it came furnished, but I was definitely happy to get to sleep in something that would become my home over the next few years. Shining Armor looked it over as Alice quickly claimed the smallest of the three rooms and began the arduous task of taking a nap, with Sunset swiftly excusing herself for the same. So I looked over the living room of the house, embracing this as my current home. The living room was sealed, doors currently closing it off from the rest of the house. There was an entertainment center against the outside wall, with a couch and two chairs facing it. I would have to throw out the chairs ASAP, what with them being a shade of green normally reserved for the remnants of a babies vomit.

That's not to imply I was hesitant to do this, it was just different. No tents erected, no friends drinking water and talking around a fire. It was... empty. Far too empty compared to what I remembered. I sighed as I ran my hand over the couch in the center of the room, facing an empty entertainment center. Shining Armor had been watching quietly, probably deciding whether or not he should leave. But at that, he spoke up. "You sure your good man? No girls around here to stop some guy talk."

I shrugged. "Nothing you could help with." I paused, trying to think of what to do as Armor looked me over. I finally decided on something. I leaned back, resting an arm on the back of the couch. "Actually, would you like one of those stories now?" He nodded and moved over to one of the chairs near me.

"I can live with that, they told me getting your address was my only job for today since you walked in with freaking weaponry." He said this with a slightly strained smile, which I returned much more easily.

Once he was settled I waved my arm about lazily. "Long ago, there was a lost soldier. He had been raised to fight, changed at the most basic level to wage a war unending against all manner of creatures and people who wanted only to destroy his kingdom." I paused, looking at Shinings confused expression. "There had been many changes, fitting in spares of internal organs, strengthening skin and bone until a blade could barely cut him, stripping him of his humanity to make him something more."

I took a breath, looking at my gear heaped on an end table beside me. "They armed him with weapons that could slay anything they found, so that he may strike down all those that would hurt his people. But then he was taken, sent to a far-off realm by happenstance and a vile merchant. And in that realm, he found a new kingdom. They were weaker than him and relied upon things he thought vile and evil. But, with little other options, he lived alongside them for a time."

I moved the Bolter from it's resting spot and popped the magazine out, racking the slide to free the round resting in its chamber. "While it took him a year to finally accept them, he eventually made himself a quiet life, working a farm and going to a quiet home every night. At least, until the war came." I shuddered involuntarily at the memory that accompanied that particular thought. Either way, I bit it back down. "But that is simply the setting, today I shall tell you of how the war helped him, not how it began."

I moved the bolter to my lap and looked it over slowly, the delicate gold inlay depicting scenes of battle long in the past. The Imperial fists fighting xenos I had never heard of, and traitors I had never seen. "When the war began he instantly joined. Not very formally mind, just striking down those who harmed his adopted homeland. As time went on several joined him, and he found something he hadn't had in a long time. A family." I looked over the empty room and could see them all there as if they were listening too. "They fought and bled together. Never was their camp quiet, for some were always arguing, or practicing. He found the weak people to be good, standing against impossible odds for their friends and family."

I flipped the Bolter over, looking at the much rougher etching made by a combat knife. The jagged cuts made the word Amberly, showing the name I had given my favored tool. "But it was not to last. Though the war was won, a deal was struck that none of the others knew. The leaders of both sides had made a treaty, if the kingdom imprisoned the soldier until his death, there would be no more war. And so on the very night of their victory, when the enemy was still fleeing the field, they struck. Striking the soldier down, locking him away to never again see the light of day."

Shining Armor looked an odd mixture of outrage, disgust, and pity. "Stow the face officer, surely you know this has absolutely nothing at all to do with my past and is made up off the top of my head. It's not like if you accidentally touch my chest before you leave you'll feel a fused ribcage." He looked shocked at that, but I decided he might as well get the ending of my abridged story. "And so it continued, with the soldier locked away, but still able to see the world around him. He knew when his family died, and the news trickled in, bit by bit, of their inevitable fall." I paused, looking at the small vial tied to the rear sight aperture. A few feathers, two scales, and a small crystal. I began to slowly untie them. "And he thought he would be next until a young girl showed up." I looked at the door Sunset had walked through. It was cracked now, where it had been closed before, which made me smile. "She came to speak to something she thought an ideal and freed it by mistake. And so they planned an escape, making it to a far-off land, to escape the sins of others."

I smiled and looked at Shining Armor. "And there we go, happy endings are just the thing for sad stories, right?"

Shining Armor stared at me. "Uh, yeah... sure." He looked around a bit. "So, do you have a job lined up or something? Or is the agency covering you?"

I snapped my fingers. "Yes, I have job prospects. Give me a moment." I opened the metal case that sat at the coffee table in front of me, digging through it a moment before pulling out a small envelope labeled job. I opened it and read through it. It mentioned an open position as an 'entertainer' in their under the table operations. After reading through the perks which included medical care, and an in-house doctor, I figured out what the job was. A pit fighter. I grumbled. "Yes, just a job I don't think I'll enjoy." I made idle note of the code word to get access and folded the note up. "But that is a problem for later in the week, I first have a much more important question." Shining Armor raised an eyebrow as I leaned in. "Where can I buy a bike?"

***

I waved as Shining Armor left the house, smiling at the small notebook paper he had handed me. Directions to the nearest dealership that carried motorcycles written on it. It also had instructions to a grocery store and a furniture store. All a new homeowner would need. Especially since the way to the billing office was already given to me by Ms.Velvet. I cleared my throat. "Sunset, would you like to tag along as I get some shopping done?"

I smiled at the small meep the echoed from behind my couch. Sunsets face popped up behind the couch with an annoyed tilt to her lips. "How'd you know I was here?"

I gestured towards the door. "You forgot to close the door after you snuck in, I noticed after my story."

Sunset sighed. "Darn, thought I felt it shut behind me."

I shrugged. "Sneaking is an art most haven't mastered, do not fret over a minor misstep when you were welcome either way."

She paused. "Wait, you'd really let me sit in on your stories?"

I shrugged. "If I was your father I'd say absolutely not, my past is coated in blood and horror. But you are you're own woman, it is your choice if you want the scars." I stood up. "But if you wish to accompany me, we can get a few of the things you need for this world, and we'll be able to pick up some much-needed transport."

She nodded. "Fine, I'll put off sleep for a bit, this isn't the first all-nighter I've pulled."

I smiled. "Nor will it be the last I imagine." We walked together out the door, with me checking over the directions. The dealership was a simple bus ride away, with the nearest bus stop being a few blocks away. I began leading Sunset through the suburbs that were now our home.

We walked in silence for a moment before Sunset apparently worked up the guts to ask a question. "So, I've noticed you have a bit of a limp..."

Well, it's not really a question, but it'll do. "Yep, I'm down one foot. Back home I had a fancy augmetic. It could feel, and was tough enough to stand against blows that would break even mithril." I stomped my fake foot as I walked. "Here though, it's basically plastic and polymer in the general shape of a foot so I can balance and walk. Running is... possible, but not fun."

Sunset stared at me for a moment. "YOU lost a foot? Aren't you some sort of super soldier?"

I shrugged as we reached the bus stop. A glance at the schedule told me we had a few minutes to kill. "Even great combat prowess cannot save you from coincidence." I sighed. "I lost my foot in an accident before I was like this. In a vehicle like Officer Armor's patrol car. It collided with a tree, and the steel of the body cleanly severed my leg, forcing them to operate. They saved my life, but the foot couldn't be reattached." I watched as a bus with our station on the glowing placard made its slow crawl on the opposite side of the street. There was probably a turn around down the street.

Sunset looked at it and then back to me. "So, what should we be expecting then, I'm here to look for a way to ascend after all, and not even being a pony puts a hamper on that plan."

I looked down at Sunset. I noted her clothes for the first time. A T-shirt, her cutie mark proudly emblazoned on it, with a pair of jeans, and black combat boots. I looked to her eyes. There it was, that fire that I needed to see. The fire that let you follow someone from the bridges they burn. I couldn't deny that fire, it needed to be stoked. Even if I wasn't going to rage against the dying light anymore, I could keep the fire going in my own way. Even if it came at a high cost. But I couldn't let her fire be put out by circumstance. "Very well. In all the futures I've seen, I know of several that allow you to ascend." I thought through all the stories I'd read. Too many have bad ends for this poor girl. "However it will cost you. You will gain treasures worth more than all of Canterlot, and lose them." I paused, thinking of all the trials she faces. "Three times. But you will reach your goal. And to do that you must simply follow your goals, and I will tell you the one piece of information you need."

She looked at me in rapt attention. I couldn't resist giving her this. "The element of magic will be across the mirror in two and a half years." I paused, thinking through the show's rough timeline. "But more time will pass then that in Equestria, I think roughly ten or so years, but I am unsure."

Sunset raised a hand up to her mouth, deep in thought as the bus rolled up to the stop. A few spare one dollar bills I had been able to make change for from Mrs.Velvet and I was happily standing on the bus as Sunset sat behind me, looking at the bus with a bit more trepidation than before. Probably with the knowledge that it took my foot. I ruffled her hair the same way I used to do with Sam. "Do not worry little one. These vehicles are just as safe as carts and chariots. Safer actually. Just enjoy the ride as we move through town, once we get to the dealership we'll get something like my old pair of wheels, and I'm safest on a bike."

She didn't seem convinced but nodded as I turned to look over the bus. I could feel the cash just sitting in my pocket. I needed a wallet, just toting all my stuff in my pockets was begging for trouble. We were silent again, as Sunset planned and I looked for our stop.

The dealership was very well-placed. Literally across the street from the bus stop. Sunset was still lost in thought as I walked across the street keeping her close. The traffic was a fair bit more congested here. Though Sunset apparently was thinking deep enough to not notice. Or was actively ignoring it. Either way, I made my way into the dealership. It reminded me of a bike store in my old city. It had a few display bikes outside, but the dealership itself was a large sheet metal warehouse. I ignored the outer display and walked straight into the building. Inside was a bikers wet dream. It was obviously a refurbed warehouse, with ninety percent of the floor space taken up by motorcycles and ATV's. A few people were milling about, and I quickly went about my normal method of vehicle shopping. Staring at pricetags grumpily while looking for a bike that fit my massive size. Most of the little Asian looking models were much to small for my freakish height, but the cruisers fit me alright. Sunset was stuck looking at a small Harley, seeming to salivate. I Ruffled her hair. "Ah, does the little scholar have her first crush?"

She didn't even move my hand, just staring at the bike. "Yeah, she does." She moved the tag over. "Harneigh Davidson? Is that a good brand?"

I flinched at the pun. Omnissiah damn these heretics for that pun. "Should be, but you can't get a bike yet, you can't even drive it yet. We'll see about it once you get a drivers license." She grumbled as I walked up to a large bike. Looking it over I saw it was a touring bike. Made for long hauls with plenty of weight. Perfect for a space marine that weighed only slightly less than the bike itself. I sat on it, moving myself to center on it. It wasn't meant to lean over, which was different than what I was used to. But I could survive that if it meant feeling the wind wash over me like the good old days. I signaled over some official looking blue skinned man with a name tag. I was finally feeling like myself for the first time in ages.