Canterlot Park was a hive of activity. Teenagers and families relaxed on its lush grass, beneath its beautiful tress. Dog walkers traced its winding paths, while joggers took the opportunity to exercise under the wondrous summer sun. The myriad of public sculptures were tasteful and complimented the tranquil scenery.

After enjoying a stroll around the park, Shimmer found a girl wearing a Stetson running a juice stall on the northern edge. Shimmer could only assume she had come to the right place. Luckily there was not a line. The cowboy hat wearing girl was restocking her supply from a portable cooler when she saw Shimmer. There was also a selection of apples and even some pastries available, all marked as the produce of "Sweet Apple Acres." Judging from the amount of restocking, it looked like today was a good day for business.

"Well, ah'll be, ya really do look just like Sunset Shimmer," the stall runner said with a smile. "I wouldn't have thought you were someone else if Pinkie had not tagged me in some status about a Second Shimmer visiting my stall. Name's Applejack by the way. It's nice to meet ya, bizarre but nice."

"Wait, Second Shimmer, it that what she called me?" Shimmer asked quizzically.

"It looks to be that someone saw you around town, and Sunset soon after and asked if anyone else knew what was going on. They tagged it as Second Shimmer. Its actually exploded surprisingly quickly, along with TwilightReturns. Way ah figure it, things get pretty peaceful here in summer and people want something to talk about," Applejack answered conversationally. "Ah wouldn't worry about it. So what brings you over?"

Shimmer laughed a little, there was something really genuine about this girl. Not exactly blunt, but direct. "I was in town with Sparks, that's my Twilight, and after... splitting up I met Pinkie, and she told me everything about having a double. Pretty amazing stuff actually, magic, other worlds, ponies..."

Applejack shook her head, "She knows she ain't supposed to talk about the stranger parts of it, but I can't fault her for being honest, especially not with you, all things considered. But if ya got the full story, why'd ya come to find me, Sunset?"

"Call me Shimmer," she replied easily, but then hesitation crept in. "The thing is that Pinkie mentioned that something happened with my double last week, and she seemed a little upset about it. I was hoping to find out some more, but she was suddenly very busy with work. So she told me where I could find you, and I was hoping you could..."

"Fill in the blanks," Applejack added helpfully. "Wish ah could, but ah don't know much about it. Ah'm also not sure if ah feel comfortable talking about my friends' personal business with someone ah don't know, no offence?"

Shimmer nodded thoughtfully, "I get that, but I just want to help, one me for another. Do you mind if we talk about your Sunset for a bit. It doesn't have to be anything deep or personal, I'm just curious."

"Ah'm still not sure that it'd be appropriate, but " Applejack stopped as a tall reddish haired teen carrying some crates of sparkling cider walked up to the stall. " Oh, hey Mac, glad you got here, this here is Shimmer, the one Pinkie mentioned. Shimmer, this is my brother Big McIntosh. Mac, you finished your deliveries already?"

"Eeyup!" McIntosh answered with a smile while unpacking the crates. He turned to Shimmer and nodded a greeting, but seemed happy to say little.

Passing a bottle to Shimmer, Applejack wiped her brow, "Try some, it's our own produce. Helping run Sweet Apple Acres is a lot of work, but it's worth it. I swear you can taste the diligence of everyone at the orchard in every drop."

Shimmer knew she wouldn't get any further with her questions, but saw no reason to be rude and took a thankful sip, "This is... really, really good, like, really good. You actually make this?"

"Eeyup!" McIntosh answered with pride.

Applejack was beaming, "We all put a lot of work in. Mac, our little sister, and myself, do deliveries, run the stalls, and help out with some of the jobs on the orchard. We're pretty busy during school holidays as well. We'll be helping out more once we graduate school. We also got a lot of aunts, uncles, and cousins working from the orchard, to packaging, to advertising. It's all one big family thing."

There was no mention of parents among all those family members. Shimmer hid the sympathy in her heart. Everyone has a past, and she knew dredging it up wouldn't help anyone. She flashed a smile, "That's impressive, you don't secretly own the whole town do you?"

"Ah wish," Applejack laughed. "To be honest, we are always trying to get more work. Granny even works in the school cafeteria, though I suspect it's more cause she wants to keep an eye on us, than for the money."

"Actually, if you'd be interested, I might have a proposal for you and yours," Shimmer said, as she offered a business card. "I volunteer with the Everfree City Council on a number of youth projects. We have a series of events throughout the summer. If 'Sweet Apple Acres' would be willing to sponsor us it would get you a lot of great PR in the city, and maybe open up a new market."

Applejack took the card and looked at it curiously. "Says here you are the chair of 'Horizon Endeavours', but that doesn't mean anything to me"

"I'm not sure how familiar you are with Everfree, but a few years ago there was a serious problem with kids skipping school and joining gangs." Shimmer explained.

Applejack nodded, "We still hear stories about that sorta thing. You saying this has something to do with it?"

"We run events after school, on weekends, and during holidays that help teens feel like a part of something, while helping them develop as individuals and members of the community," Shimmer caught herself, and laughed. "Sorry, I give a lot of funding presentations, jargon just sort of slips out. Anyway, it's going really well. We have a lot of local sponsors and even support from the City Council. We run a lot of events, talent shows, challenges, sporting events, dances, study groups, internships, we're even running a musical at the end of the month."

"How'd ya get involved in all that?" Applejack asked intrigued, "Seems hard to believe adults would leave a teenager in charge of the whole thing."

Shimmer smiled broadly recounting it. "We were discussing the problem in class once and Sparks said that it was probably because of a lack of investment in community areas and projects, alongside a lot of Sociology stuff I still get wrong... even after all this time. So I got stuck on this idea, that all we needed to do to was help direct our energies towards building a community. So I rushed in, by running events for teens, which were successful but not changing anything. So I was about to quit when I asked Sparks what I was doing wrong, and she started explaining all these theories of youth work and community. Re-enthused I declared myself chair, Sparks vice chair, of something that we had not named yet, and we got to work. After three months Sparks suggested we look for local sponsors, and at the six month mark we got a call from the City Council asking if we would like to expand the programme. It's now three years on and we are stronger than ever. The Everfree 'gangs' are more like clubs, competing with each other, than anything else."

"That sure sounds like something great. I'll pass the idea on, if Granny likes it, she'll make sure we send something," Applejack said as she tucked the business card away for later. "Gotta admit I'm impressed, when Sunsets put their minds to something they really go all out."

"I just make a lot of noise, Sparks is the brains behind everything, without her I'd still be running in circles. She also gives the entire thing credibility. I don't think anyone would have taken this seriously... without her, " Shimmer stopped herself from going down that train of thought, and stayed positive. "She is the heart of the group, she keeps us together, even when she is not always around."

"Our Twilight was like that too, it's easy to follow her. She has a certain... something," Applejack reminisced. "She just sort of..."

"Sparkles, yeah, I know." Shimmer completed with a sigh. "It's more than a little corny, but..."

"AJ, um" McIntosh interrupted, gesturing at a line that had formed behind Shimmer.

"Sorry, I'll just wait over here," Shimmer apologised, as she quickly moved out of the way.

She took in the fresh air, and relaxed. It was really peaceful. Maybe she could just get a snack, and rest here for a while. Sort out her thoughts. She was still no closer to finding out what had happened. She checked her phone again, still no word from Sparks, maybe something had... no, she would think about something else. Applejack was really friendly, and McIntosh seemed nice too. Though when she looked at him working she noticed something strange. He would look off into the distance for a couple of seconds, his face would mellow into an easy smile, catch himself, try to look neutral and glance at his sister worriedly, and then about a minute later it'd happen all over again. Shimmer looked behind her. His eyes seemed to be tracking a girl practising football with a younger girl. There was something familiar about her, but Shimmer couldn't think what.

After the queue had once again died down, Shimmer returned to the stall. She was not sure what was going on but she had enough complications without making them worse. There didn't seem to be more she could accomplish here anyway. She bought an apple and another juice, and turned to see the younger soccer player running towards the stall, the older girl chasing after.

"Hey, Scoots, wait up, it's my treat," the rainbow haired girl called to the younger purple haired one. She stopped running and looked at Shimmer, "Sunset..."

Applejack cut in, "Dash, this is Shimmer, she's the Sunset from the city. Shimmer this is Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow's face lost most of its worry. She wore an uneasy grin, "It's nice to meet you."

Shimmer's mind froze, she could feel anger building up in her. There was something about this girl something she was trying to remember, something that she had done to someone she cared about. Then she remembered, and suddenly she snapped, "Rainbow Dash, what the hell is wrong with you?"

Everyone else at the stall stared at Shimmer in stunned silence. Rainbow's confusion turned to anger as she replied, "Look if it's about last week, it's none of your..."

"It's not about that, it's about Gilda, do you remember her, your discarded best friend?" Shimmer interrupted seething.

"Gilda, what? I didn't discard her, she was being a jerk!" Rainbow's voice got louder as she defended herself. She glanced at McIntosh but only for a moment.

"She was trying to be cool, you know, like you," Shimmer's voice became cold and bitter. "Do you know what she was like when I first met her. She was a transfer student that couldn't relate to anyone, always acting out. The first time I saw her smile was when she was telling everyone she was going to spend her weekend visiting the best, most loyal, coolest friend in the world. She was so excited, it was infectious. Suddenly people started to notice how nice she could be, and asked her to tell them all about it when she got back, but that Monday she wouldn't talk about it. Every time someone asked she folded more into herself. She was depressed and broken. That was two years ago."

"Its not my fault. I didn't know. She was treating my friends like they were nothing, and I..." Rainbow struggled to think, stunned by something she had almost forgotten coming back like this. Her eyes darted to each of her gathered friends, lingering once more on McIntosh. Shimmer wasn't sure what to make of it, but right now she didn't care.

"She was probably jealous, she had no friends and you had... replaced her." Shimmer started walking towards the other girl. Her entire posture changed, almost becoming predatory.

"I didn't..." Rainbow protested, for a moment before releasing a defeated sigh. "Is she okay now?"

Shimmer stopped at that. She fought her anger back down. This wasn't fair. "She's fine, it took a few months, but after she came back everyone worked to make her feel welcome. I think she still misses you though. I'm sorry. I had no right to... it's been a weird day. I should get out of here."

She turned and walked away, leaving the group in a stunned silence. She felt rotten. She was not exactly sure where all that had come from. She didn't want to guess, but it was probably the idea of discarding a friend, and seeing someone fall apart like that. It made her feel uneasy about her and Sparks. They didn't hang out as much any more and they were becoming more and more distant. Still that didn't excuse anything. She cursed her stupidity as she left the park, not sure where she was going. She also had probably hurt her doubles reputation, even though they were different people. If people thought all Sunsets were terrible then they would be less likely to forgive her double's past deeds.

"Ah'm guessing that wasn't really about Rainbow," Applejack said standing in front of Shimmer. McIntosh sat in the driver seat of a Sweet Apple Acres delivery van a little down the street. "She's pretty loyal actually, watching the stand right now."

Shimmer couldn't look at the girl that had been so nice to her, "I'm sorry. You're right, it's... complicated."

"Rainbow's in a strange place at the moment, part of it's about Sunset, but there's something else," Applejack look a little uncomfortable as she continued. "and now you've brought up something from years ago. Seems like she's feeling pretty bad about a lot of things at the moment. So if you are serious about wanting to help your double ah'll tell ya something, because I can tell ya care about those around ya and try to make things better, even when ya mess up."

Shimmer looked at Applejack, she seemed very serious but not exactly angry, "I want to help, and I won't go off like that again."

Applejack looked at Shimmer weighing her character, and nodded, "Last week Sunset and Rainbow had a fight, ah don't know the details but they were with Rarity at the time, she might be able to shed some light on it. Since then ah haven't seen Sunset much, she's been avoiding all of us, and Dash won't talk about it, and ah don't like to intrude, but ah'm worried. Even Pinkie seems on edge and I don't know if our friendship'll survive a big fight."

Shimmer nodded, she remembered Pinkie's smile momentarily fading, "Where do I find Rarity?"

"She volunteers in a thrift shop two block that way, it's called 'Carousel Boutique', it's really something, she takes old clothes and modifies them, make 'em special. She's kind, you'll like her, but clear your head before ya go though. Maybe find that Sparks of yours," Applejack advised.

"I will and thank you," Shimmer said softly. "Tell Rainbow I'm sorry."

"Will do," Applejack answered smiling. "Ah'm taking a risk on you, so don't mess it up, clear?"

"Why do you trust me?" Shimmer asked hesitatingly.

"Well it's like a said earlier, Sunsets get things done when they set their minds to them. Ah'm going to gamble on that, because ah got nothing else." Applejack turned towards the delivery van. "Ah promised Rainbow ah wouldn't look into the fight, never said ah wouldn't let someone else... Well ah better get back. G'luck!"

Shimmer couldn't help smiling, she felt... grounded. Sure, she now had a responsibility to see this through. She even thought about continuing alone, but she needed to sort her head out and calm down. That meant getting in contact with Sparks, and touching base. She took out her phone and started typing.

Author's Note

Life got a bit crazy there for a minute. I am hoping to maintain a once a week schedule at least.

The next chapter shouldn't take much longer, and will follow Sparks and Sunset. This one took a while because there was a lot I wanted to happen on Shimmer's side, and trying to get the voices of particular characters can be difficult.

Hope you are still enjoying it.