Flash led his girlfriend over to a seat at the park where the two had agreed to meet. He had an expression of concern and discomfort upon his face as he met Sunset’s eyes and offered to take her hand, she looked down for a brief second before taking the hand in her own. Their entire relationship at this point was a lot of cautiousness from Sunset. The most she’d ever do was hold his hand, it was difficult to get closer to her, however at the same time whenever he could get anything out of her, he found it difficult to get her to stop. She resisted affection, but the moment she gave in, it was as if she didn’t want to stop, but a force inside her tried to keep her inner desires at bay. As a result, they had not gotten too physical even after all this time, but he could tell he was cracking through her thick armor. Whatever had hurt her enough to resist affection her knew one day he may learn.

He surmised it had to do with her upbringing. Sunset spoke little of her past, but what she did say, Flash became aware that Sunset didn’t have many friends growing up and her parents were relatively cold people that didn’t show much affection to her. He remembered her speaking of the insane standards they had set for her and even when she met them, it wasn’t enough for them. In Flash's mind, they sounded like awful people, and what they put Sunset through sounded much like neglect and even abuse at times. He held his tongue though, knowing it wasn't his place to speak on matters he had no experience with.

She took his hand and held tightly as she kept silent, letting him talk, knowing something was on his mind.

The gentle breeze moved her hair delicately and looking at her, he had almost forgotten how beautiful she could be when the setting was perfect. Her pale complexion was cute in contrast with her vibrant hair, and she had such a young-looking
and adorable face, beautiful and innocent even.

“I wanted to talk to you about something…” he began, his tone filled with caution.

“Alright…” she replied, keeping her tone as neutral as possible. It was always a challenge to read how Sunset was feeling, and it was clear she enjoyed it that way. No amount of time spent with her or studying revealed her true thoughts unless she decided they were to be known. To say she was a complex girl would be an understatement; everything with Sunset had to be over complicated, as she kept many secrets. There were even times where Flash assumed Sunset just didn’t trust him with knowing her thoughts. It certainly put a strain on maintaining a relationship with the girl.

“I heard about the fight you got into this morning. I couldn’t squeeze too much out of Principal Celestia, but she mentioned you gave some girl a black eye?” He raised a brow in concern.

Sunset almost smirked at that reveal, which only raised Flash’s level of concern for her. “Heh, good… I was hoping she’d have something to remember me by…"

Flash frowned as he discovered it was not only true, but Sunset was proud of it. “Why would you do that?”

She rolled her eyes and looked away. “Forget about it… She deserved it…”

“Sunset…” he scolded.

With a sigh, she turned back to him with an annoyed expression. “I had to shut her up. She was giving me a hard time…”

“I hear you are giving a lot of people a hard time…” he inquired further.

“You wouldn’t understand…” she insisted as she turned away, wanting to hide her expression from him. His eyes only made her feel judged, a feeling that she detested.

“I would if you would let me in. You’ve been changing lately, and it’s bothering me. You used to be a shy girl who kept to herself, but ever since you and I became more of a public couple you’ve been getting more and more aggressive with people. Is something bothering you?” he asked with pleading eyes.

She shrugged, not sure of how to answer this accusation. “I don't know what to tell you.”

“Sunset… If something is bothering you… You can tell me, alright? I promise.” He turned her face to face him, she flinched at the sudden touch but didn't resist.

She sighed and nodded. “Yeah… Okay…” She forced a smile for him.

There was an awkward silence before Flash broke it with a subject change. “So… The Fall Formal is coming up… Can I perhaps take the cutest girl in school?”

She rolled her eyes at his flirting attempt and smirked. “I don’t know, you better go ask her.”

He chuckled and nudged her shoulder. “Smartass.”

She giggled and nodded. “That’s what you like about me though.”

“That’s not the only thing.” He smirked.

“Oh yeah? What else then?” Sunset teased.

“I also think you’re really cute.” Flash shined her a bright smile expecting her to be bashful about the comment. Instead, she rolled her eyes and shoved him playfully.

“You’re such a hopeless romantic.” Sunset giggled.

"What can I say? You bring out the best in me?" Flash winked.

Applejack revved the engine of the rented boat that she and the two Sunsets sat in. With clearly skilled steering, she moved them out into the middle of a familiar lake. With a smile, she halted the boat after a short trip and dropped the anchor. The surreal feeling of there being two Sunsets had finally passed and she couldn’t help but snicker as she looked at Shimmer.

“I’d say I’m surprised y’all have never been fishin’ before, but then I saw your outfit…” Applejack tried to contain her giggles as she looked over Shimmer’s ensemble.

Shimmer looked down at what she was wearing. She had on a simple black button-up blouse and a matching black skirt. Around her neck, she had an orange ribbon tied to match the orange ribbon tying back her long hair. Shimmer looked over to Sunset who was wearing a plain red T-shirt and cargo shorts. With a shrug, Shimmer commented, “I suppose I could have worn my tennis attire?”

Applejack and both Sunset giggled at Shimmer’s expense. “We’ll help you pick out something next time. I never considered you’ve never done this before…” Sunset replied.

Shimmer shrugged. “My family didn’t go fishing. I mean I had a busy schedule as a child, violin lessons, tennis, studying… When I had off time I read books or we went on vacation. Fishing, camping and roughing it weren't really on the list of activities my family partook in...”

“Well this is nothing like either of those, Applejack will show you,” Sunset replied as she began to bait her line. Truthfully she wasn’t too great herself, but she understood the basic concept, much advice coming from Applejack definitely assisted her in improving that was for sure. Applejack was quite a skilled angler.

Applejack smiled as she handed Shimmer a rod. The rich girl took it cautiously, unsure of how to properly hold it until she watched Applejack grip her own rod. “So y’all hold it like this.” Applejack showed. Shimmer followed suit and gripped the rod properly.

“Then, you lean it back and whip it forward pressing the button under the reel.” Applejack demonstrated by casting her line out quite far with little to no effort. Shimmer attempted to follow, though she fell quite short of where Applejack had cast. Though Applejack didn’t object, so she assumed she had done it correctly.

“Then what?” Shimmer asked.

“Then you wait.” Applejack laughed.

“That’s it?” Shimmer tilted her head.

“It’s a relaxin’ activity.” Applejack winked.

“So is taking a nap by that logic…” Shimmer rolled her eyes.

“Well, y’all can do that too while you wait for a bite, shoot I’ve done that a few times in my life.” Applejack chuckled.

"I would bet Rainbow would love it out here then..." Sunset teased.

Applejack rolled her eyes as she recalled a memory. "Surprisingly not, she gets bored too easily and then gets all antsy. That girl has a hard time sitting still yet somehow manages to be the laziest person 'Ah know."

Sunset rolled her eyes and cast her own line out.

Shimmer sighed and leaned back and waited patiently in silence. After a few moments had passed where no one in the boat was speaking, she felt obligated to say something to break the annoying silence. “So… You grew up on a farm?” Shimmer asked.

Applejack nodded. “It wasn’t luxurious, but Ah' wouldn’t change it for anythin'.”

Shimmer smiled and nodded. “What is it like? I've never been on a farm before.”

Applejack blinked a bit surprised that this preppy rich girl was even remotely interested. She turned to Shimmer with a look of shock as she spoke, “well… I’d wake up in the mornin’ go clean out the chicken coops, check on the cows… My brother and me would alternate between a lot of the other chores…”

Shimmer’s smile grew as she listened. “It sounds lovely.”

Applejack blinked again and spoke slowly, “yeah… It is…”

Shimmer looked to the water, still smiling. “I bet your family is really close…”

It became clear what direction this conversation was going. Applejack nodded and frowned a bit, wanting to avoid this subject today in fear that she'd be touching a sore spot. “Yeah… We’re a pretty tight-knit bunch if 'Ah do say so myself. Couldn’t separate us with a pitchfork if ya’ tried.”

“I’d love to meet them…” Shimmer responded.

Applejack smiled back at her finally and nodded. “Y’all will.”

Sunset kept quiet, knowing this was an awkward situation, but decided to ask the question she knew Applejack was thinking. “So… I take it you had a close family, Shimmer?”

Applejack felt a rush of relief wash over her as Sunset spared her a difficult question to ask, the moment the subject came up she couldn't even deny her own curiosity, even though she intended to avoid the subject altogether. She’d have to thank her later.

Shimmer frowned and shook her head. “My parents and I were extremely close, but we were a new money family… The rest of my family wasn’t wealthy, and they were envious of them… I didn’t get to know my grandparents or relatives too well because they all just wanted my parent’s money. When they…” She paused and decided to choose her words carefully, “died… I went to go live with my aunt, but she tried to steal my family fortune from under my nose. I found out she was working with my grandfather to split it with him… I was emancipated shortly after… I haven’t spoken to any of them since, but most of them resent me. They think I'm a selfish child hoarding the fortune to myself...”

“Money can make people do awful things… Part of why Ah've always been okay with not havin' a lot,” Applejack commented.

“Sometimes I wish I was born without as much…” Shimmer replied, “I could have probably gotten used to a simple farm life even.”

“It ain’t your fault, Sugarcube,” Applejack assured.

Turning to her new friend, Shimmer smiled. “The irony is… If they had told me they were hurting for money… I would have gladly given them some… I have never really been interested in hoarding money to myself...”

Applejack sighed and nodded. “I’ll be honest…”

“What a surprise…” Sunset smirked.

“Oh hush…” Applejack rolled her eyes at Sunset and nudged her.

“Anyways… When 'Ah first met y’all Shimmer… Ah' was kinda assumin’ you’d be a rich spoiled brat… Ah' kind of just assumed rich kids were always sort of stuck up… Ah’m sorry… It was wrong of me to judge… Ah' guess it’s easy to forget that there are tons of rich people out there who want to give back…” Applejack frowned.

Shimmer shook her head. “It’s alright. I’ve always donated to charities in secret, I never took credit for doing good for others. My father always told me that it was important to give back to the world that has given me so much. He always said that you needed to give as much as you could because one day you weren't going to be able to and it would hurt.”

Applejack smiled and adjusted in her seat before checking on her bobber in the water. “Sounds like a great man!”

“He is… I mean... he was...” Shimmer replied softly.

Sunset reached over and placed a hand upon Shimmer’s thigh in comfort. Shimmer looked to her and saw a smile on her face, which seemed to bring a smile to her own. “Applejack knows what you’re going through…”

Shimmer blinked. “Oh?”

Applejack nodded. “Eeyup. My parents disappeared a few years back; we were up in the mountains on our way back from vacation... Car broke down and Pa got out to find help. When he didn't come back... Ma went after him. Big Mac an' me tried lookin' for them but they..." Applejack paused before continuing, "never came back... we never found them either. There was a huge search but the storm from the night before was so bad that they couldn't find anything."

"What do you think happened to them?" Shimmer asked.

"Dunno... Probably dead. If they lived... They'd have come back by now..." Applejack said quietly.

“I’m sorry to hear.” Shimmer frowned.

Applejack reeled her rod in before recasting and answering. “It’s fine. Ah’ve gotten through it over the years. It gets easier.”

“I hope so…”

Looking to Shimmer, Applejack shrugged. "People die. Ain't nothin' we can do to change it, after all, right? It's better to remember them as they were in life."

Sunset coughed and adjusted herself. “Let’s talk about something else… So Applejack, I couldn’t help but notice you weren’t answering my texts the other day…”

A bead of sweat ran down Applejack’s neck. “Oh yeah… Rainbow had me doin’ something… I lost track of time.”

“You’ve been spending a lot of time with her lately.” Sunset smirked.

“Yeah well… Ya’ know…” Applejack clearly wanted to end that topic quickly.

Sunset was snickering, but Shimmer looked back and forth between the two friends with confusion, unsure of what was so funny.

Applejack seemed to get more defensive. "It ain't like that, Ah' mean it. Rainbow was helpin' me with somethin' else, honest."

Sunset gave a roll of her eyes. "I was only teasing."

With a smirk, Applejack cast her line out again. "Y'all are lucky yer' both my friends or Ah'd push ya' out of the boat."

Shimmer’s mother and father had enrolled her in a program at the local school in fear that she wasn’t socializing with other children when they decided to home-school her. She had only been in said program for a few days and at first glance seemed indifferent towards it. However, they had recently gotten a call from the school to come in and speak with the counselor, who ran the program. They had taken their daughter with them and had her sit outside of the councilor’s office before entering and taking a seat to speak with the middle-aged woman.

Shimmer’s mother took her husband’s hand worriedly, clearly not enjoying that the school was having concerns over their daughter.

She spoke up shakily, “what is this about?”

The counselor sighed and adjusted her glasses as she looked over a paper written upon her desk. The woman looked up to the two concerned parents and frowned. “You have a very adorable daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Shimmer, however, I’m afraid I will have to pull her out of the program.”

“What? Why?” Her father squinted.

She councilor sighed and looked up to the two loving parents. “It’s my understanding you homeschooled Sunset due to her inability to get along with the other children?”

“More like they refused to get along with her…” her mother defended.

“And I understand she underwent anger therapy for a period of time?” The counselor inquired.

“Which proved ineffective, what of it?” Her father seemed a little annoyed at where this was going.

The counselor nodded and passed the paper over to them as she explained its contents. “Your daughter got into a fight with one of the boys in the program. Apparently he was picking on her and she retaliated quite forcefully… She hit him with a rock and then punched him repeatedly. Two of the supervisors had to pull her off of him. The boy in question was hospitalized with a concussion. His parents said they aren’t pressing charges, but they have asked me to remove Sunset from the program and I agree with them. This kind of behavior is unacceptable…”

Her mother scanned over the paper, down to every detail, it was all there in black and white. Their daughter clearly had a problem.

“Oh dear… I didn’t think it was this bad… I wonder what is causing this…” She frowned, unsure of what they could do to help this problem.

“I recommend potentially seeking medication for her. Her anger is clearly explosive; she seems to have some of the symptoms of bipolar disorder even. She is actually quite an easy child to deal with otherwise, an angel even when she's not having an outburst,” The counselor explained.

The two nodded and took the paper in hand. “We’ll handle this from here. Thank you for your time, and I apologize for any inconvenience this has caused. We didn’t mean to cause any trouble for you, we just wanted to give Sunset a chance to socialize with other children her age… She doesn’t get to meet other children too often and we were hoping this program would help…”

The counselor leaned back in her seat and locked her hands with a sad expression upon her face. “No, I’m sorry. I wish I could help, but my hands are tied. I do hope you can get some help for the poor child, if you need any assistance in finding treatment for her, my card is right there.” She pointed to a set of business cards upon her desk in a little cup, “I might be able to recommend some specialists.”

Her father nodded and took one, as she and his wife huddled together to take their leave. “Thank you, I’ll give you a call.”

“Take care.” She waved as the couple left her office and as the door shut behind them, they saw their daughter sitting upon a bench with her legs dangling as she sat there. She looked so innocent. It would have been impossible to believe this was the same girl from that report if they didn’t know what she was capable of prior.

The two knelt down and placed a hand each upon her shoulder. The little girl blinked and looked back and forth between the two. “Sweetie… We were told about what happened with that little boy…”

Shimmer instantly frowned at hearing their knowledge of the fight. She knew they would be disappointed in her, but she had little to no explanation. Sure she was getting picked on, but she overreacted and she knew that. She always overreacted, and never quite understood why.

“I… I don’t remember…” she said.

“Try…” her father attempted to coax an explanation out of her.

“I am… I just… I get angry and I forget what’s happening…” she admitted.

Her mother and father frowned and placed a hand on the girl’s shoulders. She looked back and forth to her two parents who were smiling as her mother spoke, “don’t worry. We’ll figure this out.”

Flash Sentry frowned as he approached his girlfriend who he could see was giving another student a hard time. The other girl was hunched down, clutching her backpack in front of her and covering in fear as Sunset barked at her. She was quite the timid individual, and Flash recalled her name from sharing a class with her, Fluttershy. Getting closer he could overhear part of the conversation between the two.

“How about you stop putting this crap on my locker?” Sunset growled with a hand full of a wadded-up paper.

“I was just trying to get more volunteers for the animal shelter…” Fluttershy replied meekly.

Sunset shook her head and tossed the wadded up ball at Fluttershy, hitting her in the forehead with it. “I don’t care. I told you tons of times before not to put this crap on my locker. Did you not even listen to me?”

“S-sorry… I forgot that was your locker…” Fluttershy replied as she took a step back into a locker, unable to find a way to get further away from the aggressive girl.

Sunset banged her palm against the locker and locked eyes with Fluttershy, staring the weak girl down. “How about you learn to listen when I’m talking then? Maybe next time you won’t forget. I’m not going to be as nice about it the next time you piss me off…”

Carefully, Sunset took a lock of the girl’s long hair into her hand gently. She ran her fingers down it carefully as she spoke in a hushed threatening voice. “Next time… I’ll have to make sure you have a reminder… And you don’t want that do you?”

“N-no…” Fluttershy shook her head furiously.

“Good.” Sunset scolded as she released the girl’s hair and stepped back. “Now make yourself scarce for me.”

Nodding, Fluttershy ran off with tears down her cheeks. Sunset rolled her eyes at how easily that girl was intimidated and shook her head. “Stupid girl…” she said out loud.

Flash grimaced and approached, placing a hand upon her back. She flinched and turned quickly with a fist ready. Halting she blinked as she realized it was him. She unclenched her fist and smiled. “Oh… Hey… Sorry.” She blushed and rubbed her neck nervously.

“What was that all about?” Flash asked.

Sunset shrugged. “Stupid girl doesn’t listen, nothing major.”

“We need to talk,” Flash said.

“Sure, what about?” Sunset asked curiously, glad that they would at least be off the subject of Fluttershy.

“About us,” he spoke very directly. His words instantly struck a feeling of concern into her.

Sunset blinked and leaned up against a locker with her arms crossed as she tilted her head, trying to play it off cool. “Something wrong?"

He nodded. “I think we need to see other people.”

“What does that mean?” Sunset asked.

“It means I’m breaking up with you,” Flash bluntly explained.

“Excuse me?” Sunset grew a look of genuine offense.

“You’re not the same person that I started dating. Or rather, I don’t like the person you turned out to be. The moment you started getting a little accepted around here, you quickly took control and more or less made yourself into a bully who pushes people around to get what she wants,” Flash explained.

Sunset felt her cheeks get red with anger as he accused her. She growled and looked away. “I’m just treating them like they treated me…”

“Fluttershy didn’t treat you that way. She's never hurt you, that girl wouldn't hurt a fly and you know it, you had no reason to push her around,” he corrected.

“She didn’t do anything to stop it!” Sunset barked.

Flash shook his head. “It doesn’t make this right. You made a girl cry over a freakin’ poster Sunset. She was just trying to get people to volunteer at the animal shelter.”

“So what?” Sunset replied.

Flash sighed and looked down in disappointment for a moment. He thought about the good times the two had together before finally realizing he was making the right decision here. He looked back up to her and huffed before speaking again, “this is exactly why I’m breaking up with you. You’ve turned into a monster… You see getting even with the world as your only way of dealing with the world. I don’t know much about what made you this way, but I hope you enjoy what this path will bring you. I’m not going to walk it with you though; you’ll have to walk it alone.”

Sunset growled and stepped forward and pushed him. He staggered, but she took a swing and hit him right in the face with a fist. He took the punch quite well but placed a hand upon his lip to feel blood. Sunset looked down to her fist to see a spot of his blood upon it, her hand shook with fear as she witnessed the effects of what she had done. It was such a knee-jerk reaction that she took a moment to determine if it had actually happened.

He nodded and stood up straight. “I see… So that’s how it is. Anyone who stands in your way is an enemy…”

She wanted to apologize but found herself unable to speak as she stared at the blood.

“Goodbye, Sunset,” Flash said before taking his leave.

Sunset couldn't find the words to reply to him. She stood with a dumbfounded expression as he vanished around the corner of the hallway.

Sunset found herself at her makeshift home pacing around in frustration. The thoughts of her break up with Flash Sentry flooding her thoughts. She couldn’t focus on anything else all day. It was nearly impossible for her to take her mind elsewhere. She growled and punched the wall of rock, a trickle of blood dripping down her knuckles as she hissed in anger.

“To hell with him! I don’t need him anyway!” She shouted to herself.

“That boy was just holding me back, keeping the weaker part of me alive…” She reasoned out loud.

Falling back onto her makeshift bed, she looked up to the ceiling of the cave and nodded. “Yeah… That’s right… I was such a weakling when I first got here… Not anymore though… I’m far stronger now than I was. I have no need for weaklings like him to hold me back.”

She frowned as she looked down though, “Still… Maybe coming here was a mistake… I don’t fit in here any more than I did back in Equestria… Maybe it’s time to go back…” She reasoned.

Sunset knew that the portal between Equestria and this world would open soon for a short few days. She could travel home and maybe start over. Perhaps the third time was the charm. Another fresh start might have been just what she needed.

She smiled as she fell back onto her pillow. “It’s decided then… I’ll go back home when the portal opens in a few weeks… I’ll finally be out of this nightmare…”

After such a long day of fishing with Applejack, Sunset and Shimmer both went home to change into something more appropriate for a meeting with friends at the bowling alley. At the very least, Sunset was wearing something more appropriate. The weather was a bit cooler so she got the chance to wear her signature leather jacket with her favorite boots over a simple white top.

Shimmer on the other hand who was arriving shortly after Sunset was sporting her usual overly fashionable attire. Not a strand of hair was out of place, her makeup was done with an expert level of finesse, and sporting high heels and a very attractive black and orange dress. Her legs were covered in stockings that if you looked closely had little dog bones on them.

In her hand though, Sunset noticed she was carrying a motorcycle helmet. Behind her through the door, Sunset could make out a bike parked if she craned her neck. A bit of jealousy overcame her as she had always wanted one, but it was out of her reach. Her finances hardly made a car feasible, let alone a nice motorcycle.

Shimmer placed the helmet into a locker and turned the key before removing it and placing it in her purse. She approached and smiled at Sunset who stood dumbstruck among their friends who all waved.

Shimmer snickered at Sunset. “I didn’t know you rode a bike…” Sunset commented.

The fashionable girl blinked and tilted her head. “I thought you have one myself, I mean you always have that jacket in your car after all…”

Sunset frowned and shook her head. “Nah… I wish…”

That was an understatement.

“Such a poser.” Shimmer teased and poked Sunset’s nose. “Maybe I’ll let you take mine for a ride sometime,” she added, sticking her tongue out.

Sunset smirked and nodded. “That would be cool.”

Another serious understatement, Sunset thought to herself.

Turning around, Sunset walked her over to their friends who had already been lacing up some tacky bowling shoes, Sunset always wondered why bowling shoes had to be hideous; was there some group that got together and decided such things?.

Rainbow Dash blinked as she looked Shimmer up and down, breaking Sunset's line of thought. “You’re going to bowl in that?"

Shimmer looked down to her own expensive dress and then back to Rainbow. “What’s wrong with this?”

“Don’t y’all think ya' should've picked somethin' a little more… Casual?” Applejack asked, clearly trying to choose her words very carefully.

Shimmer shrugged. “This is the kind of thing I wear on a regular day. For me this is casual, I guess?”

Rarity stepped forward gave a dismissive hand gesture towards Applejack and Rainbow Dash who rolled their eyes knowing where this was going. “Nonsense, don’t listen to them, darling. You look fabulous, and that is commendable. I am envious of your sense of style, It’s absolutely top tier. I’d love to pick your brain for fashion advice.”

"Whoa, Rarity askin' someone else for fashion advice? Ah' think we're in the Twilight Zone..." Applejack teased.

Rarity gave Applejack a wave of her hand to dismiss her. "I can recognize genius when I see it, thank you. I'm not so egotistical that I would ignore others who clearly have good insight to offer."

“We’ll have to do that sometime.” Shimmer nodded and smiled.

Rarity gently led her to a table that she and Fluttershy were sitting at and crossed her legs as she sat down. Shimmer sat next to Rarity as Sunset sat across from Shimmer next to Fluttershy smiling at her friend.

“I swear we need to go to the beach soon this Summer,” Rarity complained, trying to change the subject.

Sunset made an awkward face and rubbed her neck. “Count me out.”

“Oh, why are you such a party pooper, Sunset?” Rarity pouted.

Pinkie popped up from what seemed to be underneath the table and poked her head up. “Did someone say party?”

The group rolled their eyes and Fluttershy found herself giggling a little. “I’m just not a big fan of swimming, that’s all…” Sunset replied.

“What about you, Shimmer? You’ll come to the beach with us, right?” Rarity took Shimmer’s hands and pleaded with puppy eyes.

“Uh… Sure I guess…” She blinked, unsure of how she was expected to answer.

“Oh, I am sure you will look absolutely adorable in a swimsuit!” Rarity was squealing with excitement.

Shimmer laughed and rolled her eyes, knowing that all kinds of strange images were running through Rarity’s head right now.

“I’m okay I guess? I never really thought about it… I mostly only swim in my pool, so no one is usually around…” Shimmer shrugged.

Sunset became really off-put by the conversation and shuffled in her seat awkwardly. “Can we uh… Talk about something else?”

“Honestly are you afraid of water, Sunset? No… That’s not possible you seemed fine at Camp Everfree…” Rarity thought it over, trying to recall if Sunset ever showed and adverse feelings towards water before.

“It’s nothing, can we just drop it?” Sunset frowned.

Fluttershy interjected and decided it was time to put a halt to all of the talk of swimming. “Rarity, if Sunset is uncomfortable we should just drop it.”

Rarity found herself frowning before nodding, realizing she may have been a bit too brazen about the subject. “Yes… You’re right. I’m sorry, Sunset. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“It’s okay Rarity.” Sunset forced a smile upon her face.

Shimmer’s eyes narrowed behind her glasses as she thought it over. Sunset didn’t strike her as the kind of girl who was afraid of swimming. There was definitely something she was hiding behind this ruse, but it was impossible to tell. Part of her wished that they really were sisters so she could see if the whole twins having telepathy thing worked in real life; being able to read Sunset’s thoughts would certainly help her out from time to time. Sunset often presented herself as a girl with many secrets.

Fluttershy stood up with a smile and looked to the others at the table. “I’m going to get us some drinks.”

“Diet please, I’m a diabetic,” Shimmer instructed.

Fluttershy nodded and trailed off to go and retrieve beverages for the group.

“Interesting, Sunset has an obnoxious sweet tooth sometimes. Once she made us all pull over to get ice cream and she was super cranky until we got it,” Rarity teased.

Sunset blushed at that story, remembering it quite vividly. She had let her sweet tooth turn her into an insufferable companion on that car trip. “Yeah well…” She rubbed her neck.

“I guess Sunset and I have a few qualities that differ…” Shimmer smiled.

Rarity shook her head. “I actually think despite similar appearances you are both clearly very different people.”

“Y-you think so?” Shimmer stuttered a bit surprised someone would think that.

Nodding, Rarity smiled. “You both are obviously your own person. However you clearly have a lot in common as well. So I guess the story of you two being sisters is a sensible one. It’s a fib that will be easy to pass off to anyone that’s for sure.”

“We sort of made it up on the fly,” Sunset admitted.

“Though my parents did always talk about wanting to give me a sibling, they never got around to it though because they had their hands full with me,” Shimmer said.

“Really? You don’t strike me as a handful…” Rarity blinked.

Shimmer smirked. “Wait a while and see if you change your mind.”

Rainbow made a snide comment under her breath from behind them, which they saw Applejack punch her shoulder for. Shimmer blinked and tilted her head. “What was that?”

“Go on Rainbow, tell her,” Applejack spoke in a scolding tone.

“Nothing…”

Applejack nudged Rainbow's shoulder aggressively.

“Just being a pervert, don’t mind me…” Rainbow admitted.

“Sorry about her, she’s a nice girl, just has a dirty mind,” Applejack apologized on Rainbow’s behalf.

“It’s quite alright, I’m not offended.” Shimmer smiled.

Fluttershy made her return with a tray full of drinks to pass around. Approaching Sunset and Shimmer’s side of the table, she picked up one of the cups and tried to offer it to Shimmer. “Okay, so you had the di-“ She gasped as she tripped and the drink fell towards Shimmer.

Panicking, Rarity saw the beverage about to ruin Shimmer’s outfit. Her medallion around her neck shined and Rarity quickly put up a diamond force field around Shimmer without even thinking. The drink hit the barrier and bounced off, spilling all over the floor.

When the barrier subsided, Sunset quickly grew angry. “Rarity!” She scolded.

“I’m sorry dear, it was a reflex! I saw a fabulous outfit about to get ruined and I-“ She broke her sentence and looked to Shimmer who had stood up and fallen backward onto her rear. Her pupils dilated and she looked to the spilled drink in pure horror.

Shimmer couldn’t comprehend what she just saw. Her mind quickly started racing with thoughts. An image popped into her head, an image she spent years trying to block out. The moment it appeared she felt herself wretch and leaned over to vomit onto the floor.

Sunset and Rarity both quickly bolted from their seats to race to her side, but it was too late. After the vomit, Shimmer stared at the floor with her eyes wide open. The memories quickly flashed over her and she could feel dizzy. Before she knew it, she collapsed completely and could feel herself losing consciousness.

Wow, Applety didn't think she was going to finish on time, but luckily she made it! Big thanks to her! It's been a busy week!

Behind the Scenes: Shimmer originally was going to have different colored eyes than Sunset and contacts, but ultimately I went with glasses in the end. I felt it was necessary for her and Sunset to "share a face" to feel that level of connection. Her love of dogs is sort of an homage and nod to our own dog named "Luna" whereas Shimmer's dog is named "Moon".