Tang Ri Shan
My Little Pony Equestria Girls- Seeing Double
(I had meant to get this out last week, but I got distracted (as usual). But here's another chapter for you)
CH 34
'Twilight' and 'Sunset' blinked rapidly, their eyes adjusting to the sudden continuous glare of bright light. When they could see again, they found that the sky and school around them had faded away, being replaced by what seemed to be an endless white space.
"Wh-where are we?" 'Sunset' asked, her wings fluttering uneasily as she glanced around.
"I-I don't know" 'Twilight replied, glancing around, then narrowed her eyes. "But we're not alone" She pointed a few feet away where another figure was floating nearby, with insect like wings.
"Imitae" 'Sunset' growled, then paused as she heard what sounded like sniffing. "Is..is she...crying?" She asked.
"Sure sounds like it" 'Twilight' agreed, then flew over to where the changeling was hunched over in a protective pose, her hands crossed in front of her face. The sound of sniffling got louder and 'Twilight' saw something shiny fall from behind her arms. "She is crying" She whispered to 'Sunset' as the latter flew alongside. 'Sunset's wings rustled and Imitae froze at the noise. The sound of sniffling stopped.
"Imitae? Are you okay?" 'Sunset' asked cautiously, reaching forward and tapping Imitae on the arm. Imitae screamed, making both girls jump, and shot backwards, her wings buzzing madly, her face a tear-streaked mask of panic.
"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" She screeched, her vocal tone making both girls wince, her eyes wide and wet. "I'M NEVER GOING BACK! DO YOU HEAR ME? NEVER!"
"Go back?" 'Twilight' repeated, looking as confused as she sounded. "Go back where?"
"Don't play dumb with me, Princess Twilight!" Imitae snapped as she brought her hands out. "You and your little minion are trying to take me back to Equestria! Well it won't happen!"
"Minion?" 'Sunset' repeated, looking insulted. She flew forward, fists clenched, but 'Twilight' darted in front of her, hands raised.
"Cool it, Sunset! Let's not start the light show again, okay?" 'Twilight' soothed, but her voice was firm. 'Sunset' glowered at the changeling, but she eventually backed off. A snapping sound made 'Twilight' turn to face Imitae, who instantly thrust out her hands. Her horn glowed green and 'Twilight' braced herself for another magical onslaught, but nothing happened.
"What?" Imitae's eyes widened in surprise. She thrust her hands out again, narrowing her eyes at 'Twilight', who cocked her head, pondering. Imitae's horn flared green light, and sparks of energy trailed along her arms, but nothing else happened. "What's going on?" Imitae gasped, the confusion on her face giving way to horror. She thrust her hands out a third time, this time she squeezed her eyes shut and gritted her teeth. Her horn seemed to explode with green light, green electricity trailed down her arms and a ball of light formed in her hands for a few seconds, but then it disappeared. The light in her horn faded and Imitae slumped in the air, looking exhausted and gasping for breath. "What...happened...to my...magic?" She panted.
"What happened is that you've been neutralized." 'Twilight' explained, flying closer to the changeling. "We figured out how the Star Stone works. It acts like a wishing star, so all you have to do is wish something and the stone can make it happen"
"So we simply wished that you couldn't use your powers on anyone from this world any more." 'Sunset' took over. "And since both Twilight and I are natives to this world, that includes us"
"What?" Imitae stiffened suddenly and gazed at 'Sunset' with a bewildered look on her face. "You...you're from this world?"
"Yes Imitae" 'Twilight' flapped closer, smiling sweetly at the cowering changeling. "We both are, and despite what you may think, neither of us want to hurt you. Right?" 'Twilight' directed the last word towards 'Sunset' who rolled her eyes and gave a sly smile. But that smug look slowly melted into a concerned one when she saw how scared and confused Imitae looked.
'Sunset' slowly flew forward until she was right in front of Imitae. "Imitae, I don't know why you think you need to fight us, but you don't have to. Neither Twilight, nor I, nor anyone else at Canterlot High wants to hurt you." She said softly, like a concerned parent soothing a frightened child. She held out her hand to Imitae, who glanced at it suspiciously.
"She's right, Imitae" 'Twilight' added clasping hands with 'Sunset'. This caused a flash of purple-and-gold light that filled both girls with a gentle, soothing warmth. 'Twilight' saw Imitae flinch and shut her eyes at this and continued. "We can see that you're scared, and suspicious. I was too when all this started, but it's all going to be okay, I promise"
"How...how can I be sure...that you're...telling the truth?" Imitae whimpered, her eyes darting from one girl to the other. One of her hands began to shake and she clenched it to her breast to stop it. "If you'd seen...what I've seen, than you'd learn to never trust..." She broke off again, sniffling. Tears fell from her eyes, flashing in the light that surrounded them.
"You have to trust someone, Imitae" 'Sunset' reasoned, and there was a flash of recognition in her eyes. "And I promise that you can trust us" Again, 'Sunset' offered Imitae her hand. "Take our hands"
'Twilight' extended her hand as well and smiled eagerly at the changeling, who glanced at them with both fear and eagerness in her eyes. "You don't have to live alone with your fear." 'Twilight' let the pain in her voice speak clearly as bad memories flashed back in her head. Imitae seemed to pick up on that because the fear in her eyes seemed to dim. "There's another way to live, a better way."
'Sunset' nodded slowly, as if she understood exactly what 'Imitae' was thinking. "And we can show you that way. Like someone once showed each of us."
Imitae clutched both hands to her chest, stared at them, then frowned and turned away. She paused for a second, then glanced back, her eyes suddenly full of tears. "You..you promise?" She squeaked, her voice high pitched with pent-up emotion.
"We promise" 'Twilight' and 'Sunset' said simultaneously, and they both meant it. Imitae stared at them for a second, tears sliding uncontrollably not down her face and she slowly reached out with shaking hands and clasped the hands of both 'Twilight' and 'Sunset'. As she did, there was a small flash and a stream of gold and purple rose from each hand and wound their way up Imitae's arms and the girl shuddered and gave a great sigh, closing her eyes. As she did, the light around the three girls began to dim.
"What is that?"Flash Sentry's shout made everyone glance up at the explosion of light above them. Students gasped as a large ball of light floated down through the hole in the gymnasium roof, bathing the entire room in a soft white glow. The ball hovered in the air for a moment, then slowly lowered down towards the very center of the gymnasium floor, causing students to scramble out of its way. The ball touched the floor, flashed once, then twice, then finally dissolved into a cloud of sparkles, expelling three occupants. Two were wearing identical purple costumes, hats and capes with emotionless blue masks covering their faces. The third figure, clutching the hands of the fist two, was wearing black and had green hair and grayish skin.
"What just happened?"
"Where did the light go?"
"Why is the gym wrecked?"
"Who are they?"
Students began chatting at once as they surrounded the three girls, so most them didn't notice the Rainbooms floating down to the ground, landing softly on the stage.
"Are they okay?" Fluttershy asked as they reverted back to human form, their ears, tails, and wings disappearing.
"Let's go see" Sunset suggested and the girls began pushing their way through the crowd, but Sunset held back and grabbed Twilight's arm as she was about to join them. When Twilight glanced at her, Sunset thrust the Cadence wig into her hands and nodded. "Just for fun" She whispered and winked.
Smiling sheepishly, Twilight jammed the wig on her head and tucked her purple hair underneath the white strands, becoming Cadence once more. "How do I look?" She whispered. Sunset smiled and gave her a thumbs up, then the two girls moved into the crowd.
"Excuse me! Coming through!" Rainbow hollered at the crowd, making them move aside to reveal the three girls, now all staring at the crowd around them. Imitae's eyes widened when she saw them approach and she shrank backwards somewhat fearfully. 'Twilight' and 'Sunset's expressions were unreadable, but both girls nodded at the Rainbooms' approach.
"Are you girls okay?" Twilight asked in her Cadence voice, drawing a confused look from Imitae and a snigger from the other girls.
"We're fine" 'Twilight' responded, stepping forward and pulling her mask off. Excited whispers broke through the surrounding students as they recognized Twilight. "How about you girls?"
"We're okay." Rainbow answered, then her eyes widened as a groan sounded not far away. "What was that?
Pinkie suddenly gave a dramatic gasp. "That sounded like Sonata!" With that, she darted across the small clearing and plunged into the crowd on the opposite side, which parted like a river, clearing a path to the three siren sisters, who were sitting up groggily. As Pinkie approached them, Aria and Sonata suddenly leaned in and threw their arms around Adagio, who started for a second, then hugged her sisters back.
"Are you girls okay?" Pinkie asked, kneeling down next to them.
"Yeah, we're fine" Aria replied, glancing up at Pinkie. Then she looked past the pink-haired girl and saw Imitae. Her eyes narrowed. "No thanks to her!" She growled fiercely. Imitae winced like Aria had struck her and her lip quivered for a second. 'Sunset' stepped in front of her, placed her hands on her hips and shook her head in warning at Aria. The siren scowled in response, but didn't say anything more.
"Don't be mad at Imitae" 'Twilight' scolded as Principle Celestia and Vice Principle Luna pushed through the crowd. "I think she's done playing the villain"
"She's right" Imitae's voice, meek and quiet, still made everyone freeze. "And I'm sorry. I'll understand if you never forgive me for what I did, there's no reason for you to. But just know that I never...I...I never...!" Imitae's voice broke, her lip quivered and silent tears began running down her face, and to everyone's surprise, Imitae suddenly collapsed onto her knees and began to quietly sob into her hands.
"Oh there there" Fluttershy darted forward and gently pulled one of Imitae's hands away from her tear-stained face. Imitae flinched, but offered no resistance. "There's no need to cry. I'm sure we can work all this out" She soothed, then she glanced at her friends. "Right?"
The other Rainbooms glanced at each other, but before any of them could speak, they heard a tiny and tense voice say
"Please...please..." Imitae glanced up at the other students, her face and eyes damp. She looked nothing like the Imitae they had faced a few minutes ago, she looked...broken. "I'll do whatever you want...but please don't send me back to Equestria. Please!" She begged, her eyes glancing from student to student.
"Why wouldn't you want to go back to Equestria?" Fluttershy asked.
"Because back there, I'm a...a fugitive" She blurted out.
"A fugitive?" Applejack repeated. "As in an escaped criminal" She pondered aloud, to a chorus of nervous whispers.
Imitae shook her head. "No, as in there's a price on my head!" She replied, to a collection of gasps. "And If I go back to Equestria, I'll...I'll be killed!"
Well, that's enough for now!
So now Imitae seems to be acting out of self-defense? What's up with that?
Stay tuned to hear Imitae explain herself! Hopefully this will answer any questions we have about her actions.
Glad to see that people appreciate the plot so far. But be warned, there are more plot twists yet! I know I said 1 or 2 more chapters 1-2 chapters ago, but I've decided to extend this story a bit, so be ready for anything!
Keep reading and reviewing! Let me know that you guys are alive out there!
Until Next Time!