Line #63 Fanfic/HellAndHighWater


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dvfence.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:''“The past doesn’t matter! I don’t care who you were! It's who you ''are''. Here, now. And that’s my friend. My best friend.”'']]
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4	''[[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/366213/hell-and-high-water Hell and High Water]]'' is a ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls Equestria Girls]]'' fanfic by [[https://www.fimfiction.net/user/6341/Uria+the+Sacred+Beast Uria the Sacred Beast]].
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6	The holidays are fast approaching for the city of Canterlot. Snow is on the ground, carols fill the air, and the students of Canterlot High await release for winter vacation. However, its never peaceful in Canterlot for long. Right when things are looking calm, secrets start spilling around the school. With more being revealed each day, all eyes turn to Sunset Shimmer, the former bully of CHS. With the school turning against her and no clues to follow, can she possibly figure out the culprit and clear her name?
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8	A BetrayalFic using the ''Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDWHolidays2014'' comic as the foundation, the story takes influence from [[RecursiveFanfiction other fan works]] that [[FandomSpecificPlot also did their own takes on that comic's plot]]. These include ''Fanfic/TellMeBaby'', ''[[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/300056/silent-night Silent Night]]'' and Dainn's ''[[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/272101/anon-a-miss Anon-a-Miss]]''. Uria and Dainn would later crossover the two fanfics in a one-shot chronologically taking place months after both stories, during the climax of ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsFriendshipGames Friendship Games]]'', called ''[[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/414679/alone-together Alone Together]]'' Some of its tropes are shared below, but be warned that said crossover contains major spoilers for ''Hell and High Water'' up to the events of Chapter 16.
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10	The fic [[OrphanedSeries was cancelled]] in 2022, with the author [[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/366213/hell-high-water#comment/11221087 citing their unhappiness with the long hiatuses between updates and the bloated nature of the plot]] as their reasons for abandoning it.
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12	----
13	!!''Hell and High Water'' includes examples of:
14	* AcquittedTooLate: Sunset and Rainbow suffer this and end up hospitalized. [[spoiler:It's only through an act of literal DivineIntervention that they don't die.]]
15	* AesopAmnesia: Subverted with Rainbow, who remembers that refusing to look past bruised egos to hear the other party out is exactly how she and the others ruined their friendships years ago, leading her to trust Sunset. Played straight with the others, with Applejack and Princess Twilight later lampshading it.
16	-->'''Princess Twilight''': No. No, you’re not stupid. But clearly, only Dash learned from the last time.
17	* [[AllThereInTheManual All There in the Author's Notes]]: Additional information about the goings-on in Equestria, as well as the contents of the [[spoiler:Siren journal]] can be found in the author's notes at the end of each chapter.
18	* AlternateSelf:
19	** [[spoiler:Sour Sweet is the native human world's Sunset Shimmer.]]
20	** Uria and Dainn's Sunsets meet in the crossover fic, after an attack from their respective Midnight Sparkles sends them to a pocket dimension.
21	* AssholeVictim:
22	** During [[spoiler:Rainbow's sleepwalking demon jaunts,]] they set a few house roofs on fire with lightning strikes. It's clear that the targets are [[spoiler:either people that either attacked them, like Lightning Dust, or who abandoned them, like Applejack.]] None of the houses burn down thanks to good response time from the local fire station, though the damage is more extensive than simple charring.
23	** Canterlot High School as a whole viewed Sunset Shimmer like this, with Scootaloo reminding Principal Celestia that prior to her recent HeelFaceTurn, she spent almost four years as an AlphaBitch who made everyone's lives miserable, giving a lot of people a good reason to get back at her.
24	* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler:Sunset actually dies as a result of the injuries sustained in the attack by the CHS students. She only survives because the deceased Siren Queen, Crescendo Avanti, converses with her in the afterlife and transfers over her title and abilities to her with the agreement that Sunset will save her race. Afterwards, Sunset uses her new powers to prevent Rainbow from being permanently comatose herself.]]
25	* BadPowersGoodPeople:
26	** After [[spoiler:becoming a siren]], Sunset is capable of mind control. She's only used it sparingly so far, only pulling out the trick a few times when attempting to locate the Dazzlings.
27	** [[spoiler:Rainbow is outright able to change into her own Sunset-style demonic form, though only while sleepwalking at first. She's later able to do it consciously, though still struggles to control it due to her new anger problems.]]
28	* BetrayalFic: Sunset and Rainbow are abandoned by the other girls, with the story following the duo as they cope and adjust to everything that occurs afterward.
29	* CallBack: In the crossover fic, after Rainbow takes down Human!Twilight in a fight that leaves the latter at the bottom of a crater, she begins to recite word-for-word the same speech Pony!Twilight gave Sunset in the original ''Equestria Girls'' movie. Sunset isn't amused and pushes her into the hole mid-sentence.
30	* DarkIsNotEvil: Sunset and [[spoiler:Rainbow]] both become wielders of dark magic. The journal that Sunset gets [[spoiler:on the history of the Siren race]] even makes a point of explaining the nature of dark magic and why it isn't inherently evil like ponies believe.
31	* DestroyTheEvidence: Gilda steals Fluttershy's phone to lure Rainbow and Sunset into a trap. When it comes out they attacked the wrong people, Gilda destroys it.
32	* {{Determinator}}: Rainbow Dash, who despite suffering a severe knife wound and freezing temperatures, tries to keep Sunset alive and manages to remain conscious long enough for them both to be found. [[spoiler:Though if it wasn't for Queen Avanti, both of them would have died regardless]].
33	* DirtyCoward: Scootaloo and Apple Bloom when the former accidentally reveals herself and her friends as Anon-A-Miss to a nearby Misty Fly. In the principal's office, Scootaloo claims that the others blackmailed her into helping, while Apple Bloom plays dumb until Applejack takes her phone by force and finds it logged into the Anon-A-Miss account. {{Averted}} for Sweetie Belle, who just tells the truth, getting let off lightly for her honesty.
34	* FakeOutOpening:
35	** The fanfic begins with Sunset seemingly about to kill Rainbow, while the latter begs for mercy. It turns out that they're just playing a fighting game.
36	** The April Fool's Day chapter opens with Rainbow and Sunset sharing some [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything suspicious dialogue]], culminating in Lightning Dust finding them getting ready to play a "[[VideoGame/DeadOrAlive volleyball game]]."
37	* FantasticRacism: The Sirens claim that many see Equestria as a very xenophobic country, due to ponies' unwillingness to learn about and understand other species and cultures. When Rainbow questions how "the land of friendship and harmony" can be that bad, Sunset looks away and gives a NotSoInnocentWhistle.
38	* ForegoneConclusion: The crossover fic revealed that ''Hell and High Water'' would have ended with Sunset and Rainbow [[spoiler:never reconciling with Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity]]. In addition, [[spoiler:Sunset and company would successfully defeat the cult with no causalities on their end, with Sunset making Maretonia her new "base of operations" as part of her promise to the previous Siren Queen.]]
39	* ForWantOfANail: The fan fic starts with the basic idea of "What if Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty, believed Sunset during Anon-a-Miss?" and goes from there.
40	** The crossover fic has both Sunsets discussing the trope, trying to figure out the divergence point before realizing the big difference comes in Rainbow Dash. While this fic's Rainbow firmly stood by her, the other's Rainbow not only abandoned her, but also helped Gilda with setting up her assault and near-death in that timeline.
41	* FrameUp: The entire point of Anon-A-Miss, with the CMC hoping to pin the rumor mill on Sunset. It successfully works on the entire student body sans Rainbow Dash, and their attempt to make Rainbow distrustful of Sunset backfires -- instead firmly entrenching Rainbow on her side -- thanks to a slow internet connection meaning they're unable to update the site during the brief moment that Sunset ''isn't'' being hovered over by Rainbow before the latter returns.
42	* GoodIsNotNice: Despite agreeing to help the Shadowbolts, Rainbow tries to avoid doing so after learning that CMC were the ones behind Anon-a-Miss, demanding that they focus their efforts on getting revenge on them instead. Sunset reminds her that not only is Principal Celestia probably handling the trio's punishment, but at this point, they have far bigger issues to deal with.
43	* GuiltByAssociation: Because Rainbow Dash sides with Sunset, the rest of the student body accuses her of being Anon-A-Miss as well. Her pointing out that she's also been attacked by [=MyStable=] account doesn't help, with Gilda claiming that to be a poor attempt to avoid suspicion.
44	* GuiltRiddenAccomplice: Lightning Dust to Gilda. [[spoiler:Lightning participated in the initial ambush, but was only aware of that part, not the murder. When Gilda picks up Lightning from the hospital after Sunset broke her nose in the attack, Gilda lies to her about the murder, claiming that [[NeverMyFault the other attackers took it that far despite dealing the lethal blow herself]]. What Gilda didn't count on is Lightning feeling horrified and guilty enough about the outcome that she'd confess to her family rather than keep quiet.]]
45	* HilariousOuttakes: The April Fool's Day chapter is structured like this, with the characters being actors in a film version of the fanfic and director Uria being depicted [[Franchise/YuGiOh as his dragon namesake]].
46	* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: Every chapter title is a song lyric, with the theme of the song as a whole being related to the events of the chapter in some way. For example, Chapter 14 is named "[[Music/OfMonstersAndMen Howling Ghosts They Reappear in Mountains That Are Stacked With Fear]]" and deals with [[spoiler: Sunset Stanza helping Marred Spectrum reign in her anger at their ex-friends, followed by Marred helping Stanza get some remaining worries and secrets off her chest]]. Similarly, the crossover fic gets its title from the Music/FallOutBoy song of the same name, with the only chapter ("Do You Got Room for One More Troubled Soul?") being one of its lyrics.
47	* {{Irony}}: Rainbow and Sunset have, respectively, fought against demons and sirens. [[spoiler:Now they ARE the demon and siren. This is not lost on them.]]
48	* KnowWhenToFoldEm: When Sweetie Belle is brought in for questioning about Anon-A-Miss, she realizes that the game is over and tells Principal Celestia everything.
49	* LaserGuidedAmnesia: [[spoiler:[[AlphaBitch Sour]] [[MoodSwinger Sweet]] has the Memory Stone from WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsForgottenFriendship, stealing it from Wallflower Blush four years ago.]] She is perfectly willing to abuse its power and has already done so multiple times in the past in order to become an {{Unperson}} and influence the minds of everyone at CHS and Crystal Prep, in part being the reason why everyone at the former was so willing to quickly turn on Sunset.
50	* LastOfTheirKind: The Dazzlings and [[spoiler:Sunset Stanza]] are the only remaining sirens. [[spoiler:Had Sunset not agreed to become the new Siren Queen, the species would have died out completely, as breaking their pendants left them unable to feed, condemning them to slowly starve to death.]]
51	* LateToTheTragedy: Princess Twilight was away attending a Hearth's Warming pageant in Canterlot and left the journal at the castle. As such, she doesn't learn about the Anon-a-Miss situation until the end of Chapter 13, at which point the CMC have already been outed, and Sunset and Rainbow have already transferred schools. When she finally meets up with the duo and sheepishly admits what she was doing while they were [[spoiler:being beaten to death]], they're naturally not amused.
52	-->'''Rainbow Dash''': Hear that, Sunset? No big deal. She forgot the journal. That makes everything alright.\
53	'''Sunset Shimmer''': Mm. Indeed, I can feel my scars healing as we speak. Amazing.
54	* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: In Chapter 19, Rainbow exasperatedly laments that it took two years for them to finally get to training in order to fight the Equestrian-Human World cult. While it had [[WebcomicTime only been a few days in-story]], the chapter was posted almost two years to the day of that plot point being introduced.
55	* LikeAnOldMarriedCouple: Sunset and Rainbow. The fic opens with them having [[TrueCompanions the closest friendship out of any of the Main Six]], with the two of them implied to regularly hang out alone at the latter's home. Rainbow Dash is deathly loyal and protective towards Sunset after the group breaks up during Anon-A-Miss, prioritizing Sunset's safety over her own [[spoiler:when both are on the verge of death]]. Later, [[spoiler:Sunset is the only person able to talk Rainbow down whenever she's gone out of control in her demonic form]]. At one point, Dainn's Sunset uses these exact words to describe their relationship after seeing them bicker, to Rainbow's blushing embarrassment, though it's left ambiguous as to whether they had started dating yet or not.
56	* LogicalLatecomer: Averted with [[spoiler:Human Twilight]]. No one is happy with the idea that they have to deal with bringing her up to speed on top of everything else... so Aria quietly mindwipes her offscreen as soon as possible, so it isn't an issue.
57	-->'''Adagio Dazzle''': To make this as basic as I believe I can, the girl on our side is Sunset, and the girl you seem to know as [[spoiler:Sour Sweet]] is her counterpart from your world.\
58	'''[[spoiler:Human!Twilight]]''': That implies that Sunset isn’t from this world.\
59	'''Adagio''': Look, I said I’d try and make this the simple version. That involves skipping a few extraneous details.
60	* MeaningfulRename:
61	** Sunset Shimmer renames herself [[spoiler:Sunset Stanza to better reflect her new title as Queen of the Sirens, with everyone referring to her as Stanza from that point forward.]]
62	** Downplayed with Rainbow Dash. At one point, in a panic, she calls herself [[spoiler:Marred Spectrum to hide her identity and reflect how dark magic altered her appearance]]. From that point on, the characters jump between using both names when addressing her.
63	* MinorCrimeRevealsMajorPlot: Well, not so much a minor crime given it was [[spoiler: ([[BackFromTheDead momentarily successful]]) murder]], but does eventually lead the characters to slowly uncovering a sinister plot involving Equestrian-Human World cult activity and [[spoiler:Grogar.]]
64	* OutOfCharacterAlert: The reason why Rainbow Dash decides to stay with Sunset. When leaving with the others, it suddenly occurs to her that Sunset is an empathetic person who is so obviously regretful about her past, that she wouldn't even ''think'' about doing something like Anon-a-Miss. And even in the off-chance that she did go back to being the school bully, this isn't at all how she'd behave in that situation either.
65	* RelatedInTheAdaptation: [[spoiler:Daring Do]] is Rainbow Dash's mother in this fic. Meanwhile, [[spoiler:Indigo Zap is Soarin's sister.]]
66	* SecretIdentity: Several, mostly among [[spoiler:the Crystal Prep students]].
67	** Most prominent with [[spoiler:Sour Sweet]], who turns out to be [[spoiler:the human world's Sunset Shimmer]].
68	* ShipTease: Plenty between Sunset and Rainbow, with [[EveryoneCanSeeIt other characters commenting on their chemistry as well]].
69	* TakingYouWithMe: [[spoiler:When Lightning Dust realizes how much trouble Gilda has gotten her into with nothing to show for it, she tells her family, knowing full well that she would be jailed, just to bring Gilda down.]]
70	* TalkingToThemself: Both Sunset and Rainbow each do this once while sleeping, talking with the representation of their subconscious (Demon Sunset and a dream-version of Sunset, respectively). Both imaginary figments are forced to spend a good chunk of the conversation trying getting their person to understand that they aren't separate entities; Demon Sunset because of Sunset's insistence that she must be a SuperpoweredEvilSide, and Dream Sunset because Rainbow keeps asking unanswerable questions as though she's talking to the real one.
71	-->'''Sunset''': So... you don’t want to... take over or something?\
72	'''Demon Sunset''': [[YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe I’m. Not. Real.]]
73	* TeethClenchedTeamwork: [[spoiler:Sour Sweet with Sunset and the others. Sunset demands that they deal with all the problems she caused Sour Sweet once they've taken down the cult, and Sour Sweet begrudgingly agrees due to "get curbstomped by four sirens and a demon" being the only other option.]]
74	* TheMasquerade: An interesting variation, as we learn that local law enforcement have been the ones covering up all the magical activity that has occurred since the Fall Formal, with little understanding about the nature or origin of it. Learning that everything is coming from an alternate dimension doesn't surprise Captain Lightspeed Barrage, who has come to view these incidents with minor annoyance more than anything else.
75	* TranslationConvention: After the situation is explained to the Dazzlings, they have a conversation amongst themselves over whether or not to trust Sunset and Rainbow. To keep it private, they hold it in their native tongue. After the first line meant to establish that Sunset and Rainbow have been locked out of the loop, it's written in English for the sake of the reader.
76	* UnPerson: On the way back from the hospital, Sunset reveals that this is the status of her human counterpart, with any attempts to uncover any documents pertaining to her existence coming up null. [[spoiler:This was intentional on Human Sunset's part.]]
77	* VoidBetweenTheWorlds: Dainn!Sunset and Uria!Sunset meet up in one of these when fighting their respective Midnight Sparkles.
78	* WitchHunt: CHS performs one on Sunset over the Anon-A-Miss account. Poor Rainbow is dragged along with her for the sole crime of being a good friend.
79	* WhatTheHellHero: Principal Celestia makes a few comments along these lines when Applejack and Rarity downplay the fact that Sunset and Rainbow [[spoiler:were assaulted and nearly died]].

Context Fanfic / HellAndHighWater