Despite the royal places she had lived in, Sunset Shimmer was actually happiest in danger. Some might call it a suicidal tendency, while others might call her an adrenaline junkie; Sunset had named it her calling. The knife edge of life and death was always a place she excelled, ever since having to act fast and think faster had become her whole life. When her parents had died, her aunt and uncle had taken her in, but by the time she was four, they basically ignored her. All she had was an empty room and the occasional meal when they decided to share that they were eating. So she started living off the bounty of the streets, enjoying it almost instantly, and now, even after education to rival the scholars of old and at one point being rich enough to buy a villa, she still found herself neck-deep in the muck of the street. She smiled as she peeked over the roof. This was where she belonged.

The rooftop was mostly clear, except for four people standing in the open air. Instinctively, Andromalius reached into her pocket, pulling a simple flip knife from its home. The first figure was quite obviously the shooter, wearing a large leather duster that went down to a pair of tan combat boots, accompanied by a simple leather hat in the same vein as Applejack’s. The bright blue hair made Andromalius pause, but the large revolver held in each hand refocused her instantly. They were pointed at two of the three other people, specifically at two familiar figures: Aria Blaze and Adagio Dazzle. Andromalius stared as she looked them over, reminding herself that they were technically a non-threat to Equestria now. However, in the same breath, she basically had come here to kill them. She watched as her thoughts whirled around her head, checking her situation. She didn't have anything close to a full combat load: pocket knife, an emergency invisibility potion and a crippling lack of magical power to use might not be enough. She could only grimace at the possibility that this might be her only chance.

As she slowly snuck up the roof, she heard Aria talking. "Son of a bitch, those things hurt!" She was clutching her shoulder, Andromalius noting the lack of blood and the pained expression on the siren’s face.

The cowboy spoke, Sunset's eyes widening in recognition behind the mask. "You three caused a hell of a lot of trouble, why don't you turn yourselves in and make it easy?" She knew that voice - that was Flash Sentry. He was using the stupid voice he used when they watched movies together, she couldn't forget it if she tried. Unfortunately.

Adagio seemed to purr as she walked up. "And what would we turn ourselves in for, hmm?" She started to grovel mockingly, bending over with clasped hands. "Oh yes, Mr. Policeman? We enslaved a school with our magical powers and then got blasted by the rainbow of friendship. Please punish us!" She laughed as she straightened up. "Yes, we could totally do that and our karma would even out."

Sunset put all her baggage in a mental chest and locked it up tight - there was enough time for a mental breakdown later. Instead, Andromalius began walking up, clapping slowly with each step. Flash turned to her, keeping one pistol on Aria while leveling the second at the experience vigilante. She nearly laughed at the stupid bandana he was wearing - it was the one she gave him as a joke when he tried to dress up for Halloween as a prisoner and had a serial number hand stitched on the back end. He looked between her and the sirens. "And what's this? More tally marks for my barrel?"

Aria cut in before anyone else could. "Like hell we're tally marks! Rubber bullets don't kill, asshole." She paused, reconsidering. "Well, they can. But I'm not dead yet."

Andromalius rolled her eyes but kept her advance steady as she began circling, stopping in between Flash and the Sirens. "Well well well. I decide to go out for a peaceful little walk on my night off, and what do I manage to find but three little monsters and a wannabe hero?" She made a show of looking over them. "So is it my lucky day? Or are you four just the most obvious punks in the area?"

Flash kept his pistol aimed at Andromalius, proclaiming, "I am the Tallier, keeping track of the evil done here. State your name and prepare for justice!"

She didn't even try to stop the laugh in response, putting her free hand to where her mouth would be if not for the mask. "Oh my, you seem to think you’re the real deal little human." She spun the knife between her fingers, letting it dance between her digits like a ballerina. "But since you have given me some courtesy, I must respond. I am Andromalius, Eater of Lies." Her blade leveled at the Sirens. "And those three are the entire reason I'm in this accursed world. So run back home little wannabe. I will ensure there won't be a mess for the police in the morning, so don't worry about that."

Flash froze, before spinning both pistols onto her. "I've heard of you, but I can't let you kill these three girls in cold blood. That's not justice, just murder."

The devilish vigilante’s laugh boomed out across the rooftop, her deep voice only adding a menacing tone. "Oh dear, I needed that." She pretended to wipe a tear from her eye, fighting down more chuckles. "You humans are always so good for laughs. If you think those three little immortals are human, then you’re dumber than your entire school."

Andromalius watched as Flash's hand tightened on his pistol. "What did you say?"

She smiled, pretending to hide her mouth. "Oh, are you in hiding? So sorry, I’ll make sure to remember that from now." She scratched her chin, waving the knife dismissively. "But you might want to run off now, I could forget in a flash."

Flash lowered the hammer on his pistol, jabbing it at her. "How do you know all this? I literally started tonight!"

Andromalius glanced to Adagio, who was looking at her with squinted eyes, as if teasing out her secrets. Aria had grabbed a baton from somewhere, but Sonata. Sonata was just crying, making her pause, before she sighed. "I'm tired, so you'll forgive my lack of playfulness. But I simply must get this finished sooner rather than later." She knew the pistols he was using. He kept them in his rooms. He didn't know she had looked them over herself and found the small assembly of levers that keep the gun at half-cock were slightly out of shape. And while Sunset didn't know how guns worked, she knew the hammer had to fall for those to fire. Burning her dwindling reserve of magic she clenched her fist. There was utter silence for a moment before Adagio gasped.

Both vigilantes turned to look at her, and saw she was sprawled on the floor, squirming away. "H-how did you do that? You can't do that here!"

"Well, she seems to have figured it out." She gestured to Flash, grinning under her mask. "So then, 'Tallier', I just broke your guns. It's the little things by the hammers, so you can fix it later. But for now, buh-bye."

Flash leveled the barrels at her before pulling the triggers. Both guns gave quiet clicks, and Flash stared at them, Andromalius acknowledging it by pointing the knife at him. "Now if I can do that without moving, guess what I could do to you."

Flash cursed before bolting, climbing down the building in a hurry. The remaining crimefighter rolled her head to look at the Sirens. "Now that the lone human is gone, we shall talk. I have so many questions." Andromalius walked up to Adagio, wasting no time by picking her up by the collar of her frayed shirt. "Like how does it feel to kill children?" There was a clamor of footsteps and Andromalius threw Adagio to the side, ducking a haymaker from Aria. She grabbed her arm and pulled, making sure her knife hand stayed on target, slipping it cleanly between Aria's ribs. She barely slowed down as Aria screamed, continuing her questioning.

"How does it feel to destroy entire cities with a single verse of your accursed song?" She left Aria on the floor and moved back towards Adagio, who was frantically crawling away. "And finally, how does it feel, to finally fear death after millennia of life?" She grabbed Adagio's leg, pulling her back and slamming the blade into the base of her skull. There was a loud crack, as the yellow color of Adagio's flesh started to turn a disgusting mix of red and gray.

Andromalius flicked her blade clean, looking to the crying Sonata. "And you, little Sonata, how does it feel? Hmm?" She stalked towards the last siren, keeping her emotions locked away. Even stripped of their powers, they could make a new Heartstone, much like a manticore after it eats its first pony; they had to be put down. The fact that they could speak had no bearing; a Windigo could speak, but that didn't mean it shouldn’t to be put down. She could mourn them later, give them a private funeral between a killer and her victim. Like she used to do with every monster her and Celestia used to do. Dirty, but necessary.

Or so she thought until Sonata let out two soft words in between sobs. "I'm sorry." She continued crying, but the vigilante stopped. She had never known a monster to apologize.

She leaned down, lifting Sonata's chin with her clean hand. "Are you really?" Sonata nodded, and Andromalius stared at her for a long moment. Sonata didn’t even beg for her life. She simply closed her eyes, waiting for the blade to find her throat. Instead, Sunset sat down beside her, slowly wrapping her arm around her. When she spoke, her voice was softer, drifting away from the deep tones of Andromalius. "Sonata, I want you to be honest. Do you want to be better, not have to cause strife and death wherever you go?" There was a collection of quiet sobs, before a slow nod came. Sunset gave her a solid hug in an attempt to comfort her. "Then I cannot kill you. Do you know who I am?"

Sonata sniffled, tears still spilling freely. "Mhm. Y-you're Andromalius. You wander around the city and stop bad people from hurting other people. Adagio said you were dumb, and that humans fight so much that even if you killed everybody but two of them, one would kill the other within a week."

Sunset laughed, nodding at the statement. "That may be true, but just because you face long odds, doesn't mean you shouldn't do the right thing. But you're wrong, I'm not just Andromalius." She stood up, making a split-second decision. "If you come with me, I'll keep you safe. You'll be fed, have a roof over your head, and the possibility to return to our home one day. This I swear."

Sonata paused. "What do I have to do?"

Smiling behind her mask, Sunset offered her a hand. "Be better. Every day will be hard, you'll feel how easy it would be to do the wrong thing to get what you want. But if you can just do better, I'll do everything in my power to get Celestia herself to let you back into Equestria, and I'll get the two greatest scholars working on a way for you to eat without all the negative side effects."

Sonata slowly raised her hand, before pausing. "You're not trying to trick me? You're not going to take my hand and then hurt me, are you?"

Sunset winced. That was way too close to exactly what she would have done a scant few months ago. "No Sonata. I cannot promise anything about how changing yourself will feel, but I will not hurt you. I know better than most how much changing yourself can hurt." Sonata grabbed the hand, and Sunset pulled her up, wrapping her in a hug while steering her to the edge of the building. "Don't look behind you, your past isn't today, and I can promise you we'll make you better." Sunset looked over the night time city. She saw a glint from the distance and looked to it. And then her shoulder exploded into pain. She felt herself hit the floor, as her shoulder seemed to try and burn itself apart with pain. "SHIT!"

Sonata gasped as Sunset rolled off the roof, grabbing the ledge and laying herself flat to ready for the short fall. As she fell, she screamed, "SONATA, GET DOWN HERE!"

Andromalius hit the cement with a thump, and all the air was knocked out of her, and she gasped on the floor. A lighter footfall sounded beside her. "Uh, Ms. Demon, your bleeding."

She winced in pain, clutching at the wound. "I noticed. Help me up." Sonata grabbed the good arm, hauling her up, and Andromalius looked over the area. "I have some friends that will be nearby, should only be a ten-minute walk." She looked to Sonata, who was looking at her shoulder in horror. "I can't look at it without going into shock, how bad is it?"

Sonata's mouth opened and closed a few times. "Y-you were shot."

"Great, do you know where the fine grind coffee shop is?"

Sonata nodded, trying to avoid looking at the wound. "Yeah, since we've been low on money I've been begging there for a while."

Keeping that information for late, the wounded girl decided to focus on the here and now. "We need to get to the roof. It's a three-story building and I can't climb." Andromalius began walking in its direction with Sonata supporting her. "So I need to find a way to get up there without ruining my shoulder forever. And get a phone call to Feint to make sure she stashed a medkit."

Sonata perked up, sending a slight movement over the Andromalius’ shoulder blades. She winced as a fresh surge of pain racked her body, stumbling. Sonata helped her stay steady, shifting so she could support more weight. "I have a key, the owner left it one night. Since Adagio kicks me out every few nights I'd sleep there if it was cold."

Giving a bitter smile, the vigilante gave a nod of approval. "Yeah, that works." She reached into her pocket, only to feel half a burner phone in her pocket. "Shit, looks like we're going to be going in blind. My phone broke in the fall."

"Okay, I know they keep one in the store if that helps at all."

Shaking her head in response, the wounded girl peeked around a corner. "Nope, I pack the group kits for my little gang of delinquents, so it has what I need."

Sonata nodded as the turned the corner, and stopped asking questions. They walked in silence, with Andromalius’ eyes slowly faltering as they continued moving. Once they finally arrived, Sonata proved true to her word, taking a small key out of her pocket and opening the door. The injured girl immediately collapsed in a nearby seat, and looked to Sonata. She paused before speaking, as she felt the potion that created the voice of Andromalius wear off, her vocal cords rearranging. "Okay, lesson one in being better; try and help your friends. Think you can pass the practical?" Sonata nodded, and Sunset grimaced, but still thankful that she didn’t recognize her voice. "I need to get into my backpack; can you give me a hand?"

Sonata carefully removed the strap from Sunset's good shoulder, and then stood back up. After a few seconds of confused and slightly awkward silence, Sunset spoke up. "What about the other strap?"

"Um, it was where you were hit. There isn't really a second strap anymore."

"Oh." She reached behind her, trying to haul it over her body, only managing to do it once Sonata gave her a hand. Once it was in her lap, Sunset looked to the siren, calmly speaking. "Now, I'm going to take my mask off. You'll probably recognize me, so try to keep it down, okay?"

She nodded, and Sunset took off her white mask, exposing her face to the outside world. There was a sharp inhale from in front of her, but Sunset paused, ignoring it as she looked at her mask. It had a red splatter over its face, and only now that she had taken it off did she realize it was clouding her vision quite badly. After a moment, Sonata talked, with a clear shocked tone to her voice. "You're that girl! The one who stopped us at the Battle of the Bands!" Sonata froze, both her voice and expression becoming very disappointed. "So you were lying..."

Sunset cocked her head to the side, trying to blank out the pain. While she had practice and experience, this was way more pain than she was used to. "How do you figure?"

Sonata seemed to deflate, sighing. "You’re just some high school girl. Even if you know that princess, they would never take a human’s word that I was doing better."

In response, Sunset raised her good hand, lifting Sonata's chin so she was looking her in the eyes. "Sonata, we've never introduced ourselves." Sighing, the part time vigilante decided to go all in with honesty. "I am Sunset Shimmer. The former student of Princess Celestia. Magus of the sixth order, and First Disciple of the Holy Fire." After a moment, Sunset tapped Sonata's shoulder, wincing. "And also currently deeply in pain, so take heart. I did not lie, and I desperately need that medkit. So we’ll go and head upstairs to hunt down the guys, right?"

Sonata nodded as Sunset pulled her mask from the backpack, putting the bloody one back inside. As she was helped up, the remasked girl spoke up, her voice undistorted. "Also, they don't know me as Andromalius, so call me Flanksy when we get up there, ‘kay?" She flinched as she felt the mask over, finding the bottom half was cracked and broken off, and the paint had chipped off. She left it on nonetheless, having no time as Sonata opened the door to the stairwell. Flanksy flinched, but began the slow climb up.

When they reached the top floor they heard voices from the other side. Before Sunset could talk Sonata opened the door. "Well everybody, if Flanksy doesn't get here in the next few minutes we'll-"

Feint was talking, but Retna was the one who saw them first. "Everybody, cameras down! We got an issue!" Suddenly, there was a lot of scraping as Sonata hauled Flanksy to a loose chair that seemed to be set up for rooftop reading. Brainwash was on her in an instant. "Flanksy, what happened?!"

"Did you know that snipers are a thing?" She coughed, using the time to try and get her story straight. "Andromalius was busting a small gang fight, I think I caught a bullet for her."

Before Brainwash could talk, Feint had bodily pushed him out of the way, pulling a medkit out from under the chair. "This kit isn't set up for wounds this big. I'll call a hospital as soon as your stable."

Flanksy shook her head, her mask wobbling a little. "No can do, I'm not allowed to be here, that would be signing my death warrant. Is that one of the kits I packed?" Feint nodded, already grabbing a bandage. "Pull the small string under the pressure bandage." Feint did so, and let out a small choked noise as she looked, but wasn’t given time to process it. "Grab one of the syrettes on the left-hand side, and pass it to me."

Feint did so, and Sunset instantly bit the cap off, not caring that her mask was barely hiding her identity anymore. She looked at the needlepoint, slightly squeezing the container until a single drop fell from it. She then slammed the needle into the top of her shoulder and let out a scream. The rooftop froze as they all looked at her before she took another deep breath. "Okay, I'm better now. Now there should be a metal bottle with a red cross on it, pass it to me."

Feint raised an eyebrow but passed it to her regardless. With a wince Sunset felt her reserves flare from their low threshold. "Shit, actually, I'm gonna have to do this the painful way. Pass me the bottle with the black skull that says for emergencies only." Feint looked to the bottle with suspicion, and passed it to her. Sunset almost physically flinched from it, resisting the urge to recoil away. She looked up, and saw her whole group was watching her. She also noticed Mouse had forgotten to take off his camera. "Mouse, call out on stream. Tell them if Trix is watching to head to my apartment. There's a key hidden in a small hole in the top left corner of the door. Go in and go to my room, there's a small flip phone in the end-table beside my couch. Tell her to call the nurse and that I need a house call. Money is no object."

Mouse nodded, running to the computer, while Sunset just sighed. "Alright guys, get me a piece of wood or something to bite down on." Retna reached into his pocket and pulled out a tin stick of wood.

Sunset raised an eyebrow, and Retna gave a shrug. "It's got a set of lockpicks hidden in it. Can never be to careful, right?"

Sunset smirked, before taking it and popping the top on the black potion. She took a mouthful of it and tilted her head back. She swallowed and instantly jammed the wood between her teeth. Her body became an inferno as soon as the potion dropped into her gut. Her blood seeming to boil as she could feel her skin bubble. She wasn't sure if she was screaming, but she couldn't even look at her friends to check. She felt like her eyelids had fused together, her whole body feeling like it was in the midst of a magma bath.

After what felt like years it stopped. She spit out the wood and looked around. Each member of her group was staring, with Sonata staring in what looked like fear and awe. Sunset let out a gasp as her shoulder pulsed, but her magic reserves were healthy again. Not full, but enough to limp through a half-assed healing potion. She grabbed the potion, slamming a sip down. She couldn't handle more than that. She felt her numbed body knit slightly, the blood that was seeming to ooze from her shoulder seemed to slow.

Retna stepped forward. "Flanksy, the hell was that?!"

Sunset leaned back, feeling herself droop and almost pass out. She felt her stomach lurch, and she threw of her mask. She threw up over the side of the chair. After a moment she slumped back in her chair. "That, was an incredibly old art from my home. Also an incredibly sucky one." She paused, before shouting. "MOUSE, UNTIL YOU TAKE THAT CAMERA OFF STAY FAR THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!" There was a clatter behind the group, but Sunset just leaned back. "But I need a lift home. Anybody got wheels?"

Feint stepped forward. "You got hurt on my run, I've got you, boss."

Sunset held out a hand. "Sonata, you’re with me, I promised you a roof, and you'll get one." Sunset stumbled, before leaning into Feint. She spoke slowly, forcing the words out. "I live in the Canter Blues building, basement room." As Feint helped her up she stumbled again, and her shoulder exploded into pain again. She had a moment to realize she was blacking out before she heard herself hit the floor.

Author's Note

And we've reached the halfway point. Step into my parlor and enjoy sweating it out.

Edited by kitkataddel, posted on 2/16/19