Tang Ri Shan
My Little Pony Equestria Girls- Seeing Double
(Wow! I've been really slacking off! Nearly a whole month since my last update? What is wrong with me?!)
CH 28
Twilight leaned against the bleachers, watching as students and staff members filed into the gymnasium two by two. She could feel the cold metal behind her dig into her back, but she didn't move. Even though the entrance was barely 10 feet away from her, the dim lighting, and the angle of the bleacher made it impossible for anyone to see her, as long as she kept still. Through the doorway, she could see the back of Vice Principle Luna's hooded robe. The strict disciplinarian had been doing ID checks on all the students entering the gymnasium, which had worried Twilight since 'Cadence' didn't have a school ID, but Rarity had done some lightning fast sweet talking and they had gotten past without a problem.
As Twilight watched, a second pair of her costumed friends appeared at the doorway. As Luna spoke to them, Twilight tried to determine who they were, but the girls body movements betrayed nothing. As Luna eventually let them pass, one of them glanced in Twilight's direction and nodded. Twilight nodded back, causing one of the girls to speak briefly to the other one, who nodded and the pair separated. Following their progress, Twilight scanned the assembled crowd from her hiding place. She could see Imitae's thralls among the assembled. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, a pair of cat girls, were lurking near the buffet table and Flash Sentry, aka Count Dracula, was hovering near the stage. Professor Doodle was stalking around the edge of the gymnasium. He wasn't wearing a costume, but the scowl on his face could frighten anyone.
As Twilight continued to scan the gymnasium, she saw one of her friends pause in front of the stage, and slowly raise a hand to her ear. A few seconds later, that person began slowly glancing around the gym, searching for something, or someone, at the same time, she tapped her fingers against her hip. Recognizing the signal, Twilight emerged from her hiding place, startling Snips and Snails, who had been standing three feet away, completely oblivious to her presence. "Hey! Where'd she come from?" Twilight heard Snails exclaim and allowed herself to smile.
Crossing the gym, she paused in the middle of the floor and signaled to her friend, who walked over to join her. "What's going on?" Twilight asked in her 'Cadence' voice.
"Sunset wants to know what's happening. She says the sirens are getting bored out there" Rainbow Dash replied in a low voice, causing Twilight to giggle. "D'ya think it's been long enough?"
Twilight glanced around the rapidly-filling gymnasium. There was no sign of either Imitae or Adagio, but their thralls didn't seem very alert, just watching people who were mingling around either by the buffet tables or on the dance floor. Doing a quick count of the crowd, she deemed its size satisfactory and turned back to Rainbow Dash. "I'd say so. Do we have any volunteers to sit out so they can enjoy the party?"
"Fluttershy's volunteered" Rainbow nodded towards two of their friends, who were speaking with a group of assembled girls. "And I'm pretty sure Rarity wouldn't mind either." As if they had heard them, one of the girls glanced in their direction, then nudged the other girl, who quickly excused herself from her conversation. Both girls started towards them, but Twilight shook her head and nodded towards the doors. The girls nodded and separated, one heading towards the buffet table, the other one towards the DJ booth.
"Tell Sunset she can come in" Twilight instructed before walking off.
Outside the rear entrance of the gymnasium, the night was cold and dark. There was supposed to be a full moon, but it was hard to see behind the thick clouds. Still, the cold night and the lack of moonlight didn't seem to bother the trick-or-treaters, who were out in force, laughing, giggling, and making scary noises. A large crowd of them passed by Canterlot High, waving flashlights or glowsticks and chatting excitedly, followed by a small group of tired-looking parents.
Sunset Shimmer heard a sigh as she watched the crowd move past her hiding place near one of the bleachers. "I am so bored!" She frowned as she heard one of the siren's moan, in her voice.
"Can you please stop doing that?" She snapped, glancing towards the shadows of the stands In the dim light, she could just see two identical faces staring back at her.
"Sorry" One of the girls replied, still in Sunset's voice "Just making sure the voice changers still work!" She paused, then added. "But it is boring out here!"
"Yeah!" the other girl replied, also in Sunset's voice. "How soon are they gonna be ready in there?" The girl placed her hands on her hips and glanced towards the doors that lead to the gymnasium.
"Be patient, we need to wait for..." Sunset's reply was cut off by a click in her ear. "Go ahead" She spoke, pressing a small button on her earpiece.
"Hey girls, Twilight says it's safe to come in. We'll meet you behind the DJ booth." Rainbow Dash's voice crackled.
"Gotcha" Sunset glanced up at the sirens. "You hear that, Aria?" One of the girls nodded, while the other gave the impression she was pouting. "Let's go" The three girls dashed across the field to the doors. Sunset reached out and tried the door handle. It jiggled, but didn't budge. "Great, it's locked" She reported.
"Super, now what do we do?" Sonata exclaimed in her own voice.
"Relax, I've got this" Sunset calmed the siren, then reached into a pocket on her costume and pulled out a small leather case. Unzipping it, she unfolded it in her hands, revealing a series of strangely shaped metal tools.
"Woah!" Aria gasped. "Are those...?"
"Lockpicks? Yeah" Sunset confirmed as she selected two such tools from the case. Kneeling in front of the door, she inserted one tool, than the other, into the lock and began wiggling them around. After a few seconds, there was a click and the door handle wobbled slightly. This time, when Sunset tried the handle, the handle turned easily and the door creaked open, expelling loud rock music.
"Wow, that was quick!" Sonata commented as Sunset withdrew the lockpicks and placed them back in the case. "Where'd you get those?"
"A souvenir from my 'bad girl' days." Sunset explained as she zipped the case shut and stuck it in her pocket. "I've broken into plenty of locked places with these boys." She sighed, wincing slightly as she stepped through the door, but not because of the loud music. The sirens exchanged a look and followed her.
Inside, Sunset and the Sirens hugged the shadowy wall of the gymnasium and moved one by one from the door to the DJ booth. As Sunset, who was last, closed the door behind her, she felt eyes upon her and glanced around to see Vinyl watching her with a frown on her face. Then, as Sunset watched, Vinyl's frown slowly turned upside down and she gave a two-fingered salute in Sunset's direction. Sunset nodded and saluted in return, then quickly made her way behind the booth. She didn't know why, but Vinyl's gaze was creeping her out. Or maybe it was her robot costume.
Sunset darted behind the bleachers next to the DJ booth, where the sirens had joined Twilight, Rarity, and Fluttershy. The five girls were conversing in low whispers. As Sunset approached, they all looked up at her. "Hey Sunset" Twilight greeted her, but her voice tone was nervous.
"What's up?" Sunset asked, picking up on Twilight's tone. The girl glanced towards the dance floor.
"Imitae and Adagio just showed up" Twilight revealed. "Take a look" She pointed towards the dance floor. Sunset, Aria, and Sonata crept under the bleachers and peered out at the dance floor between the cracks in the seats. Sunset felt her jaw drop as she spotted a girl with big curly yellow hair, wearing what looked like a black-and-purple cheerleader's outfit.
"No way" Aria exclaimed in disbelief.
That's 'Dagi?" Sonata gasped as Adagio spun around, smiling widely and shaking black pom poms in her hands. Still smiling, she struck a cute pose that made a few boys in the surrounding crowd turn to look at her, at the annoyance of their dates. "Wow! She hasn't worn something like that since that time we..."
"Let's not go there!" Aria snapped suddenly, grabbing Sonata's shoulder and squeezing. "Okay?" The other girls were surprised by the sudden raw fury in Aria's voice.
"Oops. Sorry" Sonata whined, placing a hand over her mouth. Sunset had the impression Sonata was blushing under her mask.
"Creepy part aside, that uniform does go well with her complexion" Rarity admitted as she gazed out at the siren, causing the other girls to look at her. "What? I'm not allowed to compliment on good fashion taste?" She stammered.
"'Dagi always was the most fashion-coordinated of us" Sonata sighed, and her shoulders slumped.
"Where's Imitae?" Sunset asked, turning to the other girls. One of them raised a gloved finger and pointed to a girl wearing what looked like black armor with green highlights that gave her the appearance of being some king of giant insect.
"Not being very inconspicuous, is she?" Twilight said sarcastically as she watched Imitae sip a cup of punch.
Despite the setting, Sunset chuckled. "No, I guess not." Sobering up, she turned to the other girls. "Okay, this is it. Now that Imitae and Adagio are here, there should be no one guarding human Twilight. Cadence, now's the perfect time for you and the sirens to slip away. Mingle with the crowd, then slip through the front entrance, the rest of us will try to distract Imitae as long as possible. Here" She pulled out her case of lockpicks and passed them to Adagio. "Take these. I highly doubt that Imitae would leave her prisoner in an unlocked room. These should be able to open any lock in the school"
The sirens paused, then glanced at each other, then back at Sunset. "Uh yeah..." Aria murmured.
"About that...we have no idea how to use these" Sonata confessed glancing at the case in her hands, causing Sunset to groan.
"Of course you don't" Sunset muttered darkly. Then she gazed at Twilight, who shook her head
"Hey, don't look at me! I'm still getting used to these!" She wiggled her fingers.
"Oh dear" Rarity sucked in a nervous breath. "Maybe one of the other girls should..."
"Uh girls" Fluttershy interrupted suddenly. "Something's happening" She pointed out towards the dance floor. Peeking through the gaps in the seats, the girls saw Imitae surrounded by Adagio and the rest of her thralls, including Vice Principle Luna. The principle whispered something in Imitae's ear and the changeling scanned the gymnasium, until her gaze rested on...one of the Rainbooms, who was leaning against the far wall, tapping her head in time with the music. Imitae said something to Flash Sentry, who frowned and began slipping through the crowd towards the girl.
"Oh great" Sunset growled as they watched Flash stop some distance away from the girl and leaned against the wall. "I think VP Luna just told Imitae what we came as." As they watched, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon left Imitae's side and slipped into the crowd, no doubt searching for the rest of them.
"And if she sees that only three of us are out there..." Twilight theorized, "Then she'll..." Twilight suddenly broke off as they saw another teacher walk up to Imitae, a woman with a pink face and purple-colored hair. She was dressed as a large flower.
Fluttershy gasped in horror as Imite responded back to the teacher without changing her expression at all. "Oh no! Not Miss Cheerilee!" Sure enough, when the librarian turned around, her eyes glowed green. As they watched, she and Professor Doodle strode towards the main entrance to the gymnasium and stood on either side of the door. Though she was smiling, Cheerliee's and Doodle's stances reminded Sunset of a pair of sentinels.
"Somehow I doubt we're gonna get out that way." Aria reasoned.
"Especially if Imitae now knows what to look for" Twilight agreed.
"Hey, who's that?" Sonata suddenly pointed towards Imitae' who was speaking to a grey-skinned girl with yellow hair who was wearing what looked like a mess of paper and plastic bags all over her body.
"Isn't that Derpy?" Fluttershy wondered.
"It can't be" Rarity argued. "Her eyes are...normal...well...they're green, but they not crossed, like Derpy's eyes usually are"
"Hey, where's she going?" Sonata wondered as Derpy suddenly dashed away from Imitae and out the main door.
Sunset gritted her teeth. "I don't like this. You three need to go now. You'll have to sneak out the way we came in." As she spoke, Sunset started to get to her feet.
"We can't" Aria's words made Sunset freeze, then slowly sink back down to her knees.
"What?"
"We can't" Aria repeated. "Sunset, let's be plan isn't going to work." She gestured to Twilight "Twilight's the only one who can find her human counterpart."
"I'm over here" A girl on Aria's other side spoke up in Twilight's voice.
Aria huffed, but continued. "But Sunset's right. If I was Imitae, I wouldn't leave Twilight in an unlocked room, and probably unguarded as well. I think that's where cross-eyes went." Aria glanced towards the door.
"Aria's right" Sonata piped up, holding out the lockpick case. "And you're the only one who knows how to use these, Sunset. You need to go with Twilight, not us"
"But the plan..." Sunset started to argue
"...was to free the human Twilight, which the two of you can do fine on your own. Meanwhile, the rest of us will come up with a way to somehow get the Star Stone off of Imitae." Aria cut in. "And I have an idea that might do just that"
"Are you sure?" Sunset asked hesitantly.
Aria nodded, but before she could day, Applejack's voice suddenly rang in Sunset's ear. "What's the holdup back there? The three of us cant distract Imitae much longer!"
Sunset's mind whirred as she tried to find another idea, but finally sighed and nodded. "Fine. Do what you have to. Just keep her distracted long enough for us to free Twilight. Once we free her and get her in costume, we'll meet you right here."
The other girls nodded. Sunset then tapped her earpiece. "Change of plans girls. The sirens are staying here. I'm going with Twilight."
There was a pause, then Applejack and Rainbow responded.
"You sure about that?"
"I thought we didn't want Imitae finding the sirens!"
"Right now we have no choice" Sunset replied before signing off. "Okay, remember there are seven of you, so one of you will have to pretend to be Cadence. Can you mimic her voice too?"
"No problem" Sonata replied, in Twilight's 'Cadence' voice.
"Good. Okay, wish us luck" Sunset nodded to Twilight and the two girls crept out from behind the bleachers. They hugged the wall and watched as the five other girls strode out from behind the bleachers one by one and began mingling with the crowd. Sunset glanced towards Imitae, who was still sitting in the same place and saw confusion on her face as her eyes darted from one masked girl to the next.
"Our confusion plan seems to be working" Sunset whispered to Twilight as they darted behind the DJ booth.
"Let's just hope the others can keep it up" Twilight added as they darted towards the door, but froze as the lights dimmed even more. Glancing back, she saw Vinyl nod at them and smile briefly before turning back to her turntable.
"Twi, you coming?" Twilight turned around and gasped. The lights were now so dim that Twilight couldn't even see Sunset in her costume.
"W-where'd you go?" Twilight stammered. There was a tiny click and a small rectangle of light appeared in the dimness.
"Come on!" Sunset hissed, reaching out and yanking Twilight through the door, closing it quickly.
Sorry for the long delay, but I've had a lot on my mind lately and I haven't been able to focus on my writing! My thanks to Webbowriter for helping me find my motivation again! Hopefully I can make up for lost time.
Things are getting busy again at my workplace, so I'm not certain how often I'll be able to update. But I'll try not to let this kind of gap happen again. In the meantime, keep R&R (That will ensure this doesn't happen again!)
Until next time!
