• Published 8th Mar 2017
  • 14,019 Views, 915 Comments

Hell & High Water - Uria the Sacred Beast



Sunset's life takes a turn when Anon-a-Miss appears on MyStable, slandering her name, and spiraling her life down a road she never could have expected. Are all her attempts at changing for naught, or will one spark of hope keep the fire burning?

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7 - Sometimes I Give Myself The Creeps

Rainbow laughed as Applejack cracked another joke about ‘that darn chemistry teacher’. Sunset lifted her head up. She was sitting in the CHS lunch room, cafeteria slop in front of her and the other girls.

“What?” She muttered in confusion.

“Ya okay there, Sunset?” Applejack asked, glancing over, “Ya nodded off.”

“Huh? Oh...I guess so.” Sunset muttered, staring back in surprise. “Think I was daydreaming.”

“Well try and stay focused, could ya? We gotta be ready for the Battle!” Dash pounded a fist into her palm.

“The Battle?” Sunset paused. This was feeling too familiar now.

Yeah! The Battle of the Bands! The sirens!” Dash made a face.

Sunset’s eyes widened, shaking her head, and standing with a start. Her head whipped around, searching for something to read, a clock. The one on the fair right read as 1:30. She looked away and glanced back. 7:49. “Dream.” She sighed, in both relief and regret, shaking off the feeling. Just a dream.

“Or nightmare.” Another voice countered, Sunset face planting into concrete as the dreamscape shifted around her. “Pick your poison.”

With a groan, she pulled herself back to her knees. Her heart sank as she realized where she now was. In front of her stood the girls, led by Princess Twilight, all of them staring defiantly up at something behind her, decked out in dresses.

‘Don't look. It doesn't exist in the dream if you don't look.’

It? That's just mean.” The echoing voice responded, “And no way to think of yourself.”

That made Sunset frown, a surge of confidence flowing over her, “You're not m-!” And that confidence quickly faded as she spun on a heel, faltering under the burning gaze of the red-skinned monster.

“What a cliche response.” The demon laughed with a lazy smirk, hovering in the air weightlessly.

“What do you want?” Sunset asked, trying to muster up that courage once more. She glanced back at the girls, or rather their mental projections. They seemed to be frozen in time, still as death.

“Relax, they’re not going to interrupt us.” The demon responded. “Come on, why the questions? I was hoping you’d be happy to see me again.” The smirk widened into a full toothy grin and laugh.

“Why in Tartarus would I be happy to see you!?” Sunset turned back, anger replacing the fear. At least that she could work with.

“Easy with the self-hate, Shimmy.” She held up her claws in mock offense, “Or is it Stanza now?” Another laugh, “Queen. Oh please, you couldn’t lead a band let alone a species.”

“You think I don’t know that?!” Sunset snapped back, face flushing as she realized she had agreed to the insult as well as the observation.

“Well, duh, I said it.” She responded, tauntingly.

“I’m not afraid of you.”

“Another cliche response.” A roll of soulless black eyes followed that, “I know you aren’t afraid. What was it? ‘I’m in a much better place now?’ So much better.” She deadpanned.

“You’re not real!” Sunset fired again, “You’re just my guilt!”

The figure tapped a finger to her chin, “Guilt? Well that’s certainly a possibility, but I think there’s more to it than just that. You’re thinking too narrowly.”

“What do you want?” She curled her hands into fists, clenching her teeth as she stared herself down.

The demon smiled, as if she were a teacher whose student had just asked the right question. “You tell me.”

“If I knew, why would I ask you?” Sunset was rapidly losing patience with the being.

“Why would I exist if you didn’t create me? Give me purpo-”

“The crown created you!” Sunset shifted gears into annoyance as the monster devolved into a fit of laughter, seeming to honestly find that funny.

“Oh Sunset, Sunset, Sunset.” She shook her head, “You and I, or rather you and you, know that’s anything but the truth. A magical artifact cannot create sentience from nothing. You already said it, I’m not real, right?”

“...” Sunset paused now, going over the facts and trying to figure this out. If she wanted to hurt her, she’d have down so by now, right?

“That’s right.” She smirked, as if answering her mental question. “Oh, I am. In your head, remember?”

Sunset blanched further, “...oh. Comforting.”

“I don’t appreciate that you constantly refer to me as ‘monster’ by the by. That’s unhealthy.”

“Is that a threat from someone that isn’t real?” She accused, glaring.

“No, not really. Just wondering why you keep insulting yourself.” The demon leaned back, examining her claws, trying to look innocent.

“Mysel-what?! You’re not m-”

“I heard you earlier. Blah blah blah, you’re not me, denial, thee art thou, stupid looking boss.” She waved, “Look, as cute as it is to watch you constantly deny it, put the puzzle together already.” She landed on the ground, walking up to Sunset, who promptly took several steps back. “We’re in your head. I am not a separate entity. We’re having an eloquent conversation.” She leaned down, getting eye to eye with the shorter girl, “Meaning?”

“...” Sunset froze, “You’re a manifestation of more than just my guilt. Y-you’re-”

“Less a projection of simple guilt, and more of a compilation of all your self-defined ‘worst qualities’.” She nodded, “The manipulation, the severance, the thievery, the lies, everything. A kind of ‘Sunset Shimmer’s Greatest Hits’.” She leaned back up, growling, “But you changed, didn’t you? Not just now physically, but as a person.” This was said more mockingly.

“I-I did! I’m past all that!”

“No you aren’t! You’ve just turned a blind eye towards yourself and used me as a canvas for it all! You’re distancing yourself from your own actions, running away again.” The sneer deepened.

“That’s...not true.” Sunset shook her head weakly, hardly able to even sound convincing.

“You and I are one and the same. You understand that, you just won’t admit it.”

Sunset didn’t respond, shaking slightly.

The streak of red in the her double’s flaming hair flickered, marginalising and becoming mostly blue. “...” She looked up at it, “Well, I suppose that’s a start.”

“I never said anything!” Sunset defended manically.

“No, but your mind shifted its stance. You can’t hide anything from yourself. Not in here.” She shook her head, pausing, “...you’re still afraid of it. Even after it saved the life of both you and Rainbow Dash.”

“...dark magic.” Sunset winced, “It resulted in you after all.”

“Because you didn’t understand how to use it.”

“I won’t let it take control of me again!” Sunset earned a bop on the head for that. She blinked dumbly, staring back at the figure.

Demonset stared back boredly, “Because you didn’t understand how to use it. Learn...and seriously? ‘Demonset’?”

“What do you want me to call you?!” Sunset snapped, angered and stressed.

Now laughter. She definitely swapped emotions as fast as a Sunset. “It's just cheesy. Though considering where we’re from, I suppose that’s a given.”

The two stood in awkward silence for a moment.

“So...you don’t want to...take over or something?” Sunset asked, wanting to be absolutely sure.

“I’m. Not. Real.” She repeated slowly. “Any actions that were out of your control after you put on the crown was you losing your shit from being overwhelmed by the new, volatile type of magic. You weren’t ready for it and lost control of your emotions, and by extension powers, when Sparkle started giving her little friendship speech.”

“Yeah. Not ready.” Sunset grumbled in response.

“Oh shut up. This isn’t the time to pout.” Demonset flicked her on the nose.

“!” Sunset frowned back, swatting the arm away, “So what...don’t be afraid of you?”

“Oh no, you should definitely be afraid of me! The idea of me at the very least.” She grinned, “Use dark magic to this extent without any training and you’ll lose control again at the slightest provocation!” Demonset laughed, “Who knows what you’ll do without the girls to stop you?”

Sunset deflated as the thought struck her. Dash laying on the ground, body cooked to a crisp. She wobbled on her feet, looking sick.

“Unless, of course, you read through Crescendo’s big book of magic and learn a bit about it? Practice, learn, and maybe work your way back up to all this.” She shrugged nonchalantly, gesturing to herself much like how one would present a fine piece of clothing, “Otherwise you can just live your life in fear of losing control one day and killing everyone around you.”

“What an option.” Sunset sneered heavily.

“Hey, not exactly what I want either. Granted what you put on me says I do want that. Not sure what’s true.” She laughed, hovering again. “Now wake up and get your ass to work. Dash is gonna have questions for you!”

The world quaked around her, a sure sign that the dream was ending.

“So learning this power will get rid of you?” Sunset raised an eyebrow, swallowing the nausea.

“The fear of me maybe.” She shrugged, “The guilt and shame? Well, that’s gonna take a bit more work. Though if you’d like my advice-”

“Not really.”

“-Keep in mind that four of the assholes behind you didn’t even want to hear your side of the story a few days ago~” With a wink, the world faded out.


Sunset stretched, sitting up in the bed. She glanced around, eyelids hanging low. Across the room, Rainbow Dash lay passed out on a couch, snoring loudly. That proved as a nice counterbalance to what she had just gone through in her dreams. With a sigh, Sunset swung her legs out and sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing her face.

With a snort and a slight cough, Rainbow shook herself awake, “Wha-huh? Oh, Sunset! You’re awake!” She hopped up, shaking off any remains of her sleep. “How’d you sleep?”

“Uh...could be better, but all things considered? Not bad.” She sighed.

“Okay, good. Now could you explain what happened last night?!” Sunset had to flinch back from the exclamation, it came so hard and fast.

“Well...I think I died, Rainbow…” Sunset bit her lip, taking a moment to really think over everything.

Dash slunk back in her seat, looking at her friend with a dead look, “...but you’re right here. I-I’m talking to you.”

“Yeah. I was resuscitated.” She clasped her hands together, “I met someone up there.”

“Up there?...as in like heaven? The afterlife?” The dead stare deepened.

“Not quite. It was an...in between of sorts. She called it ‘rented space’. Queen Crescendo.” She stated the name to avoid having to play the pronoun game, “She made me a deal to come back.”

Dash ran a hand through her hair, looking beyond nervous, “So the deal was to make you a siren?!”

“Queen.” She added, “The deal was to be her successor.”

“...what does that mean?”

“The Dazzlings are dying.” Came the blunt response.

“...” Dash sunk back in the couch to the point that Sunset worried she may disappear into the cushions, “D-dying? I...I thought all we did was break their pendants! Stop their evil plan!”

“I did too. Until I met Crescendo that is. Apparently those pendants, their ‘Hearts’, do more than absorb negative energy. They were keeping them alive all this time.” Sunset tensed a bit, squeezing her hands together.

“That thing isn’t keeping you alive is it?” Dash asked quietly, a tense silence beginning to descend on them.

“No, no. Crescendo brought me back through other means. This Heart is purified from the original curse it would seem, so I won’t be feeding off of any strife with it. In fact, the book says that it won’t even cause discord unless I so desire.” She glanced back at the bedside table.

“What book?” Dash followed her gaze. The leather book sat perched near the bed, page folded where Sunset had paused in reading last night.

“It was in the hospital room when I woke up. Crescendo sent it with me to help me understand anything I needed to.” She nodded. “I think it was her old journa-....JOURNAL!” Sunset shot up, scanning the room in a panic before she spotted the book over on Rainbow’s dresser. She shot over to it and began scribbling in it furiously with a nearby pen.

“Your book?” Dash glanced over, flinching lightly from Sunset’s flailing.

“Twilight! We can get Twilight involved!” Sunset exclaimed, “All I have to let her know is that we got injured and she’ll be over in no time!”

“How can Twilight help with all this?” Dash frowned, unsure.

“I don’t know, but hell, wouldn’t you want one more by our side during this?” Sunset looked over, a hint of desperation in her eyes, “We can’t go after them legally because not only did I wipe the records of our visit, good job me, but there’s no record of a Sunset Shimmer anywhere.”

“...why is that?”

“I don’t know...perhaps something to look into later?”

“Yeah, but Gilda and them don’t know that!” Dash shot back, “What if...I dunno. Pull a ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’?”

“A what?” Sunset blanked.

“You know what? Scratch that, bad analogy.” Dash backtracked, realizing Sunset wouldn’t get the joke. After all, if she had been homeless all this time, what were the chances she’d seen a cruddy horror movie from 1997? “My point is, what if we sent her an unsigned note? ‘We know what you did’ or something?”

“I…” Sunset pursed her lips, looking down at the book. Nothing yet. Twilight just needed time, it was still early.

“We could...hmm.” Dash hummed.

“It needs to wait.”

“What?!” Dash shot up again, “What do you mean it needs to wait! She killed us! You! Ugh!”

“Part of my promise to come back was to save the other sirens. To give them Hearts like the one I was given.” Sunset looked down, brushing a thumb over her gem.

“Wait. You’re gonna give them their powers back?” Dash’s eyes dilated.

“I can’t let them die, Rainbow. Even with that they were trying to do along with surviving, they don’t deserve death.” Sunset looked back up, finality in her eyes.

“...well...yeah.” Dash bit her lip, looking away. “It's just...after everything they di-...” She clenched her fists, “If they promise to stop, I can give them the benefit of the doubt.” She looked back up, nodding solidly.

Sunset smiled, seeing the change of emotions on Rainbow’s face. “Almost called you out for being a hypocrite.” She joked.

“Hey. I’m learning, aren't I?” Dash grinned broadly, “Though seriously. If they still plan to do whatever after you fix them…”

“Right. Then let’s hope they’re reasonable.” Sunset sighed, “...where are we even going to start looking?”

“Well, let’s narrow down some ideas.” Dash shrugged. “Would they have left Canterlot?”

“Without a way to bum a ride or place to stay off someone? No. Without their powers, they’d probably still be hiding out somewhere.” Sunset shook her head.

“So familiar territory for you then?”

Sunset’s eyes lit up, “I have an idea! They need a way to eat, literal food that is, so where would they need to go for free food?”

“Soup kitchen!” Rainbow realized, “Isn’t there one in North Canterlot?”

“Used to hang around there during freshman year.” Sunset admitted with a light blush.

“Sounds like we’ve got a plan then!” Dash clapped her hands together with a grin.

“I think we should stop by a clothing store first. Grab something else. Even if everyone’ll be in school for a bit longer…” Sunset winced, “Maybe it’d be best that we didn’t stand out?”

Dash tilted her head in consideration, “Yeah, guess so. Sucks. I liked these clothes. Besides, you don’t look half bad!” She teased.

“Didn’t say you had to burn them or something.” Sunset waved, “We just need to blend into the crowd. Don’t need attention on ourselves yet.”

“So is that what that name thing was about then?” Rainbow asked.

“Huh?” Sunset blinked.

“Stanza. You mentioned it in the car.” She thumbed over her shoulder, as if pointing at it.

“Oh, that. I forget how different Earth’s customs are at times.” Sunset laughed, scratching the back of her head.

“To echo you...huh?”

“Ponies are born with given names, however given the naming conventions of Equestria, it's very common for one to change part or all of their name after getting their cutie marks. In some cases it's not necessary because the name may be general enough. Like...Rainbow Dash?” She smirked.

Dash blinked, hand raising to her hair, “I see your point there.”

“Equestrian names don’t hold the same meaning or gravity as they do here on Earth, right?” She tilted her head.

“Well, yeah. People do change their names now and again, but it's pretty rare. You gotta go to the mayor, pay a fee, do a buncha paperwork.” Dash rolled her eyes, “Though since you don’t have papers anyways, you’d be free to do whatever with your identity.”

“...maybe you should consider something similar.”

“What, changing my name?” Rainbow scoffed, “I kinda like being Rainbow Dash.”

“Right. I didn’t mean full on changing your name, but an alias might help.” Sunset shrugged.

“An alias?” Dash blinked in confusion, “If I look different, why would I-”

“That’s why you should. Yeah, no one will recognize you, but if they hear me call you Rainbow Dash?” She shrugged, “Kinda out the window.”

“...yeaahhhh.” She winced, “I guess I’ll...think of something. So I guess that means I’m calling you Stanza in public? That’ll take some getting used to.” Dash scratched the back of her head, “Hell, all of this will.”

“Tell me about it. For now though, we just have to work through it.” She nodded towards the door, “C’mon.”

The two were stopped by Rainbow Blaze in the living room, “You two aren’t going back to the school, are you?” He looked tired. Tired and beyond worried.

“We need to go looking for someone in North Canterlot. Can we take the car?” Dash asked, shuffling on her feet.

Blaze sighed, fishing a cell phone from his pocket, “Take my cell too. Keep it on you until we can get you a new one. Please. Be safe.” He gave her a sad look and pulled her into a hug.

Dash gladly returned it, “We’re on guard now. Promise, dad. We’ll be back in no time.”

“You better. Or your mother will kill both of us.” He chuckled lightly. “Be back in…”

Dash glanced at Sunset, “3 hours?”

Sunset nodded, “That’ll work. We’ll be back in three hours, Mr. Blaze.”

He let Rainbow go, “Okay. Try not to scare me again, okay?”

Dash nodded, rubbing her arm, “Promise.”

“Okay, then you two get going. Just take care of yourselves.”

“We will. I have no intention to let Dash get hurt again.” Sunset nodded with certainty.

“And I won’t let Sunset get hurt either!” Dash pounded a fist to her palm, “...though we won’t go looking for trouble.” She clarified before heading out the door with Sunset, keys in hand.


“What do you mean they’re not here!?” A blue fist pounded the office desk. The nurse behind it flinched at the anger.

“I’m sorry, Miss Shade, but no one under those names were ever admitted here. No files at all.” Snowheart frowned, shaking her head.

“Impossible. We were there last night. We made the call to the police. We saw them!” Starry Skies insisted. Blitz stood back, keeping an eye out for familiar faces. They’d all cut class and preferred to not get caught. Now seeing that they may have come here for nothing, nerves were fraying.

“Look. I’d like to help you, dears, really I would. However, we have nothing on a Sunset Shimmer or Rainbow Dash in the system. I see that you’re worried, but maybe they were taken to another hospital?”

“The officer said they were going here!” Nightshade insisted.

Blitz bounced on her heels, starting to get nervous, “C’mon girls. Let’s….let’s just leave. We’re not getting anywhere.”

“Ze...Blitz, are you crazy?” Nightshade turned to glare, “We need to make sure they’re okay!”

“And they might not be here! Let’s go get the other girls or something and see if we can’t find something as a group.” The lightning haired girl insisted.

Starry snapped her fingers, “They were Wondercolts, right? Nightshade, maybe your brother knew them!”

Shade blinked, eyes widening, “Starry, you’re a genius!” Whipping out her keys, the bluenette grabbed Starry by the wrist and pulled her out the door, Blitz following.

“Woo! Maybe my BFF will be there!” She skipped after them.


“So this is the place?” Dash asked, climbing out of the car. The stop at the strip mall had been easy and uneventful. Dash had traded in her clothes for a dark red t-shirt, flat purple hoodie, a pair of jeans, and some dark hi-tops. She had been sending Sunset a bit of a stink eye after leaving though. Taking the clothes for free on the count of siren powers didn’t really sit well with her.

Sunset pulled herself out of the car, stretching. “Yep, I’d know that potato soup anywhere.” She snickered. With her signature leather jacket ensemble long bloodied and gone, Sunset’s new look consisted of a licensed Shadowbolt hoodie (that had gotten a look from Rainbow), yellow tee with some sort of jagged pattern stamped across the front that resembled a face, a black skirt with fire nipping at the bottom corner, and a pair of boots that looked just a little too familiar for Rainbow’s taste. All in all, she was looking rather happy with herself.

“So do we just expect to find them chilling out in there?” Dash asked, a little disbelievingly.

“As idyllic as that would be, unlikely.” Sunset nodded, “What I’m hoping for is that we can catch wind of someone that may recognize them.” She scanned the room as she walked in the front door. All things considered, the place had a cheery atmosphere, and wasn’t that heavily populated at the moment. Between it still being school hours and Canterlot’s below average poverty level, this wasn’t too surprising.

“Excuse me?” Dash strolled up to one of the women behind the counter, “Can you help us? We’re looking for someone.”

The woman cast a doubtful glance at her, observing her well kept appearance (for Rainbow Dash at least). “That right?”

“I’m sorry, miss, but it's very important that we know if you’ve seen any of them.” Stanza made her way up with her.

“And who might you two be?” She crossed her arms, “Some Crystal Prep kids playing hooky?”

Rainbow didn’t get a chance to utter her angry retort thanks to Sunset’s hand, “My name is Stanza.”

Her blank stare clearly meant she wanted to know Dash too.

“Marred!” Dash exclaimed, throwing her hand away, “Marred, uh...Spectrum!” She smiled innocently.

“I’m not buying it. If you kids wanna stir up trouble, try it with the more fortunate.”

Sunset frowned, “Miss-”

“Do I need to call the cops?”

“That won’t be necessary.” Rainbow shivered as she watched another person fall under the siren’s song. “Just let me ask you a question. Have you seen any of these three girls? Purple, blue, or yellow. Pig tails, pony tail, or…”

“Fluffy.” Dash supplied.

Fluffy. Have you seen anything like that?”

“There’s a few girls that come and go, no blue or yellow besides you two, but there’s a purple girl that comes in every few days. Aria.” She said flatly, eyes unfocused.

“Aria?” Dash tilted her head.

Stanza grinned, nodding, “Thank you.” The red glow ceased and the woman shook her head, setting a hand to her temple. “Now we just need to find-”

A clatter came from behind them. Dash was the first one to spin on a heel. Behind them stood a lilac girl with long purple hair streaked with aquamarine. The three stared for a few tense moments.

Aria blinked, glancing down at the tray on the floor, up to Rainbow, over to Sunset, back to the server, and landing on the red pendent around Stanza’s neck. She blinked again.

“...Aria?” Stanza asked carefully.

“How?” Came the croaky reply. Getting a good look at her now, Sunset could see that the ex-siren was in bad shape. Her eyes were sunken back, black crescents circling underneath them, and body looking pale and lithe.

“What?” Dash replied first, blinking dumbly at the awful shape the girl was in. Her clothes were hanging loosely off her torso, almost as if she hadn’t been eati-yikes.

“How...how can there…” Aria took a shaky step forwards, now looking at Stanza like she was a ghost, a pillar of sand threatening to blow away in the wind. She tripped over herself, hands landing on her shoulders and hanging off her weakly. “Another...another siren?”

Aria hadn’t left much of an impression on Sunset during the Battle of the Bands. She had stuck to the back and mostly told the blue one, Sonata, to shut up and the like. She hadn’t even heard the girl’s name til just now. Even still, the attitude she was showing now was vastly different from what she did recall. Hesitantly, she laid her hands on Aria’s arms, helping to keep somewhat upright, “Yes, another siren.”

“Hey...where are the other two of you guys?” Dash spoke up.

Aria blinked from her awed stare, looking over at the other, as if just realizing she was there, “...they...Adagio can’t leave the apartment. Too weak. Sonata won’t come out of her room. Keeps crying.”

Stanza froze. She had already noticed the all too familiar look of desperation plastered across the girl's face, the faint glimmer of hope. Hearing this made her feel sick, a wall of guilt coming down on her. Yes the Dazzlings had attempted to hypnotize the entire school, but...but so had she. “Where are they? I ca-I can help!”

The urgency and promise of assistance seemed to snap Aria out of her daze, “Yes. Yes! C’mon, follow me!” Adrenaline now rushing through her, the thin girl took off in a sprint out the door, Rainbow and Sunset in hot pursuit.

The two steeled themselves, unsure of whatever they’d find at this apartment, but it sounded like there was still time. All they needed now was a little magic...this was going to be a fun explanation.

Author's Note:

Today's shoutout goes to NebulaNyx for Vance Joy's Riptide.

Page 987, Paragraphs 2 & 3

Sadly that is not all that occurred today. I witnessed something awful. Something I know i will come to witness again and again and again now. Operetta died today. I have heard of other starving already, those that have already wasted away, but I had hoped that maybe returning to corporeal foods was helping some, but it seems that all it has done is prolonged the suffering, dragging a month into two. Of course, we'll all do so, all that have some level of hope in surviving peacefully. No creature on Terra would simply allow themselves to die if any hopes of prolonging their lives sat before them.

We will not falter under Tirek's curse, we will not be his master's toys in this immortal game between gods. My people are stronger than that. Even so, some have fallen, left in search of this negative energy. I cannot blame them though. As I said, hopes of prolonging their lives. I hope they're okay.

Yo everyone. Dash here, or Marred as I'll now be known to the public. Uria's a bit beat from finishing the rest of the chapter at 6 in the mornin', so that's why I'm here!

And I'm here to keep you in line.

Oi. Anyways, thanks for dropping by to read, everyone! We'll be seeing you in the next chapter!

Or sooner if we highjack his account again. Hmm hmm.