Author's Note

Sorry for the wait. But things. Like roommates. And ignore the spoiler bars if you wanna avoid laughing.

Chapter 2

Double edge

As the girl stared at the knife laying neatly in her lap, her mind couldn't stand the stress and shock and she fainted. Upon seeing her eyes roll up in her head, he dashed forward to keep her from hitting the hard cement. But in doing so he scared the other girl into grabbing the knife and pointing it at him, which forced him to pause in his advance long enough for the blue haired girl to hit the ground with an audible thump.

"Damn..." Roseshield said under his breath, "I'm sorry for scaring you, but I was only trying to keep her from hitting the ground. I really am bound to that blade in your hand. If somepony were to give a command while holding it, I would have to obey it. Please, put it down so we can get the three of you back home. OK?"

The girl simple stared at him, fear and adrenaline making her eyes wide and her hands shaky. But she was not scared enough to be useless. Instead of putting the knife down, she put it in her pocket, careful to keep it from stabbing her. Then she slowly got up and moved to the orange haired girl and picked her up, holding her with one arm over her shoulder. Roseshield picked up the other girl and carried her bridal style.

"So, where too?" Roseshield asked, turning towards the purple haired girl.

"H-Home," was her unsteady response.

As it turned out, 'home' was a run down, back street, abandoned warehouse. Upon seeing it, Roseshield almost dropped the blue haired girl. The girls had all recovered from their respective states, but the blue haired one liked that he was carrying her, rather than dragging her like the purple haired girl was. After giving a bit of each others history, minus names as an act of mistrust on both sides that Roseshield wanted to end as quick as possible, he figured out that they were banished here after a fight with the Princesses Celestia and Luna.

"So. Your names are...?" Roseshield prompted, after they had all gotten inside the warehouse. Which was actually more inviting once inside the doors than it looked.

"I'm Sonata Dusk," the blue one said, pointing to herself, "That's Aria Blaze, and Adagio Dazzle!" She said, pointing to each of the girls in turn.

"I am Roseshield. Demon hunter and trapper, and Shadow of Death. I have been in Equestria for about about half a century before being chased here," Roseshield said, looking around the room as he realized that his heart was beating frantically. He placed a hand over it quizzically and tried to focus on what was making it flutter so.

Upon seeing this, Sonata took his hand. "Magic here is weird. So you being an undead immortal back in Equestria doen't mean anything here. Your heart is beating for the first time in about a half century, right?"

Roseshield looked up at her, not just from the contact but by the uncharacteristic words of wisdom coming from the most playful of the sirens. "It's only ever beat when I was near a threat or demon... So yes. For the first time in a half century, my heart beats its own song... But how do you-"

"She does that. She'll sometimes have more wisdom than even old Sunbutt could in all her and her sisters years put together," said Adagio, staring Roseshield down, hoping to make him uncomfortable. But he shot back a glare cold enough to put ice cubes in someones drink.

"If it's a stare off you want, Adagio, then I can assure you that I will win. Got it?" Roseshield said in a voice so cold that the Arctic would seem warm in comparison. Adagio simply nodded to this, cowed by the pure killing intent under the coldness that only she could sense pouring from him in waves. "Now then. Author-" *SMACK* I BLEEDING TOLD YOU STOP BREAKING THE WALL! Gods! Do you know how much it costs to repair the wall you idiot!?

Aria saw this and moved an inch farther from him. Sonata being the oblivious fun lover that she usually was again, missed it entirely. "So. Demon hunter, huh?" Aria said, hoping to divert the sudden awkward silence.

Roseshield noticed her effort and went with it saying, "Yes. I hunt down the various demons and spiritual threats toward Equestria. Then, once I manage to weaken them enough, I would seal them away in my soulless body."

"Because you were a walking corpse, right?" Sonata said in her usual carefree voice.

Roseshield blinked at her, slightly amazed she remembered that small detail. "Yeah. Exactly. But the last time I went down to the Underworld to visit Death, it seemed to have some more flesh and a lot less creepiness."

"So maybe you sealed something that was sealing Death?" Adagio asked, still wary of their savior.

"Perhaps. But I wouldn't know unless I went down there and released and resealed each of them individually," Roseshield said.

"You thought about doing that once, didn't you?" Aria asked, seeing Roseshield's downcast eyes.

"Hmm? Oh. Yes. Sorry, I was miles down memory lane. But I have thought about doing it, but then realized how hard some of them are to fight, let alone seal the individual demons. It would take me longer to figure out which ones sealed Death away," Roseshield said, looking at each of the girls in turn. And then he felt something foreign in his chest. A kind of swelling that he hadn't felt in years. But as he tried to pin it down for identification, it grew. And he knew without needing to pin it down what it was. Not love, but pride. Pride that he had saved creatures of darkness without needing to seal them away. Or use his magic. He was proud of being able to do that, as it was one of the last things Bluemane taught him before he died at the hands of that one demon...

To be continued...