“Unlike you, I can have everything I want!” she heard her own voice yell at the girl below.
As she shot down what would have been a deadly blast of magic; Twilight’s eyes snapped open as she sat up in bed. Her pajama top clung to her back as she wiped the cold sweat from her forehead.
It was only a dream now but it all felt like it had just happened. She hoped that the dream was a one time thing but after the last few days; Twilight found that it wasn’t the case. Logically, she knew that it wasn’t really her fault. Still, the very idea of what she used magic for was terrifying.
In truth, Twilight was afraid.
No. She thought to herself, There is always an explanation. There is nothing to be afraid of.
She sat in her bed for another while before she took a deep breath and put her glasses on, I will never mess with magic again. Sunset was right, I shouldn’t be fooling around with something this dangerous if I don’t understand it.
After a long weekend of homework and honest boredom; Sunset was happy to be driving her bike to school. She could already see Rainbow, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie hanging out at the portal from across the courtyard. The pedestal looked so strange without the mascot standing on top of it. Due to the fact that they already had to replace the front entrance to the school this year; Celestia and Luna were pretty sure the school board wasn’t going to replace the statue any time soon.
Sunset pulled into her parking spot then headed towards the portal. Out of the corner of her eye; she saw Twilight get out of her dad’s car and wave before heading to the portal as well.
“Hey guys!” Sunset greeted with a smile just as Twilight came jogging toward them, giving them all another wave.
“How was your weekend?” Twilight asked.
Fluttershy grinned; “Oh it was wonderful. We adopted out one of the cats to this lovely family. You should come help out, Sunset; Fauna is asking about how you’ve been.”
Sunset smiled, “I do miss petting everyone. They’re so fluffy!”
“You help out at the animal shelter?” Twilight asked.
“Yeah.” Sunset said, “I used to bring in strays I found on the street, then Fluttershy convinced me to volunteer with her one day.”
“Shining Armor got me at the shelter in the city!” Spike said, poking his head out of Twilight’s bag.
“Your brother got you a puppy?” Fluttershy asked, “That’s so sweet.”
Twilight smiled, letting Spike out of the bag, “Yeah, it was mostly because he wanted me to get out of my lab. He thought looking after Spike would give me a reason to.”
“Little did he know I would be a great lab assistant!” Spike said, letting Sunset and Fluttershy scratch his belly.
Applejack joined them not long after with a large frown evident on her face.
“What’s wrong, AJ?” Rainbow asked
“I went to Sugarcube Corner for a coffee and saw that someone had graffitied it last night.” She took out her phone and showed everyone that the wall had been sloppily spray painted ‘Sweet as Slime’ with an equally bad spray painted cupcake with worms and bugs crawling out of it.
“Well that’s just rude.” Twilight noted.
“And the Cake’s can’t afford to fix it right now.” AJ said, “Some folks saw it and steered clear of the place.”
Sunset scowled at the picture but didn’t say anything as the first bell rang and they all headed into the building.
It was just some punks playing a stupid prank but Sunset was still angry. It was more than rude; it was cruel. The Cake’s had been so good to her over the years. They treated all their customers like family.
Just then; Sunset got an idea. It wasn’t her best idea and it might get her into a lot of trouble. At the moment; she didn’t care.
After the bell rang, she went and told Celestia she was going to be late getting home that night before leaving the school and driving to the art store in town.
“Hi, Sunset. Are you out of 4H again?” The store clerk, Red Canvas, asked.
“Not this time. I need some spray paint.” She said.
Red Canvas gave her a concerned look, “Why?”
Sunset understood. It was a small area so word about Sugarcube Corner had probably spread pretty fast. She took out her sketchbook and showed her some scribbled down designs.
“It’s a personal project.” Sunset tried to assure her.
Red raised a brow before taking a breath and smiling, “What colors?”
Sunset grinned and rattled off the list she had made at lunch. She paid and before the clerk handed her the brown bag she looked around, making sure they were the only ones in the store.
“It wasn’t you, was it?” Red asked.
Sunset furrowed her brows, “I would never do that.”
Red smiled and handed her the bag.
Before Sunset opened the door she turned back to Red, “Can you please keep this to yourself?”
Red nodded, “As long as you don’t do anything stupid. Don’t be a jerk.”
Sunset nodded with a smile before leaving the store and driving home. Her heart was beating so quickly and she hadn’t done anything but buy paint. She parked a little bit down the road and walked up the driveway.
She shoved the cans in her school bag and folded the brown paper bag and shoved it in there as well before she entered.
“I’m home!” She called.
Luna peaked around the corner from the kitchen and smiled, “Where did you get off to?”
“Art store.” Sunset said, “What are we having for dinner?”
“Pancakes.” Luna said.
Sunset cocked her head to the side, “Pancakes?”
Luna gave a small pout, “I really want some syrup.”
Sunset chucked, “Call me when they’re ready.”
Luna nodded and returned to her task. While Sunset went up to her room and closed the door.
She knew it wasn’t a lie but she also knew Luna wouldn’t question why she went or what she had bought. Even if it was for a good cause and she wasn’t doing anything necessarily bad; she still felt a little ball of guilt form in the pit of her stomach.
She pulled the spray paint out of her bag and set them on her desk before going to the closet and digging out a grey hoodie and her duffel bag. She shoved the cans and the sweater into the bag before storing it at the bottom of her closet just in time for Luna to call her and Celestia for dinner.
Sunset was pumped full of adrenaline. She was surprised how easy it was to sneak out of her window and off the garage roof. Still she had some reservations about what she was about to do. She knew she had the best of intentions but it was still very illegal. Sunset was pretty sure the police wouldn’t care why she did it.
So, Sunset parked a couple blocks away and slipped into a nearby alley and swapped out her jacket and helmet for the hoodie and hat. She then walked the distance to Sugar Cube Corner. Since it was about three in the morning; everything was dark and quiet save for the street lights.
I can’t believe I’m going to do this. If Celestia found out, she would kill me. I should have bought the paint and gave it to the Cake’s or at least offered to do this in person instead of sneaking out to do it illegally. Sunset wared with herself. However, she kind of liked the adrenaline and the excitement. Well, I’ve come this far...
So, Sunset set to work and started spraying down the wall, keeping an ear out for cars or people. Surprisingly she didn’t have an issue. It was a lot more fun than she thought. Soon enough it had been a little over an hour and the gross graffiti was gone. Instead; there was a colorful and fluffy cupcake that looked like a shooting star. Little stacks of sugar cubes making golden streaks along with it.
She admired her work for a moment before she left quickly; slipping into the same alley and changing out her clothes again and driving home.
When she got there; she didn’t realize that she forgot to leave herself a way back in.
“Crap.” She said under her breath.
So, she was forced to go in the front door.
She managed to chuck the bag and helmet on the roof before she went inside. All the lights were off. She half expected for it to go like in the movies where the parents sat in the dark until their kids got home. But, that didn’t happen. Sunset grabbed her things from the roof and shoved the bag in the closet. Everyone stayed asleep and no one even knew she was gone.
She sighed as she lay in bed. If I ever do that again; I’m leaving out a ladder or something.