Tears of Sunlight

Chapter 16

Sunset could barely drag herself out of bed. Her high had seriously tanked when she got home; only getting about an hour of sleep before her alarm went off. She managed to catch a ride with Luna before she headed out that morning.

However, when she got to school, the campus was buzzing. Everyone was talking about something Sunset didn't have the energy nor the sense to figure out. That was, until Applejack spotted her and met her half way. They walked side by side as Applejack shoved her phone into Sunset's hands. The image on the small screen woke her up in a heartbeat.

"I just can't believe it." AJ said, "Someone just up and covered the graffiti overnight!"

Sunset took a minute to process what to say; looking at her own graffiti job on the wall of Sugarcube corner with a few bystanders gawking at it.

"Someone must not have agreed with what the vandal did." Sunset managed.

"I guess not. It's amazing." AJ said.

They made it to the portal where the others greeted Sunset.

"Too bad the cops don't agree with that. They want to catch both of them." Rainbow crossed her arms over her chest, "They were just trying to help."

"Yes but it is still illegal." Twilight chimed in, "They can't have multiple people going around painting whatever they want in the middle of the night. They can't differ between those doing it or else it would be hard to enforce that law."

Sunset nodded in agreement, "If everyone went around doing it, the walls and alleys around town would look like an odd collage of random pictures; good and bad."

She knew Twilight had a point, infact, she had made the same ones to herself when she was doing the rough sketches the previous day. Now that she thought about it; it was a bit of an extreme reaction to the entire situation. There are definitely better ways she could have done it. Still, as the day went on; Sunset liked the anonymity of the whole thing. In fact; it was exhilarating and she kind of wanted to do it again. That thought took her aback.

What am I thinking?! That's crazy, illegal and I will get caught eventually. She thought. Still the feeling of people not knowing it was her was addictive.

***

"You ready to go?" Celestia asked as Sunset entered her office.

Sunset smiled and nodded.

Celestia paused for a second and took a good look at her face, "You look tired, Sunset. Did you sleep alright?"

Sunset shrugged, "I had a hard time getting to sleep."

Celestia sighed, "You can't keep doing your homework so late at night. It's going to wear you down."

Sunset frowned, "I know."

Celestia changed the subject, "Anyway, is it alright if we stop off at Sugarcube corner before we go home?"

"Sure," Sunset said, "You want to check on the Cake's?"

Celestia nodded and led the way out of the office to the staff parking lot. "The graffiti situation from yesterday was probably hard on them."

"Didn't someone cover it up last night?" Sunset said.

"Yes, and selfishly I want to see it for myself." admitted Celestia with a small smile.

In the rest of the short ride; Sunset and Celestia relayed their days before pulling up the newly painted wall at Sugar Cube Corner.

"Wow." Celestia muttered as they both got out of the car.

Wow was right, Sunset didn't realize how much wall she painted. It was dark so she didn't get to see it very well. Admittedly; it turned out better than she thought it did.

Sunset followed celestia inside of the busy cafe where they were quickly greeted by a very happy Mrs. Cake.

"Oh it's so nice to see you two!" She said, giving them a hug.

"How are you doing Mrs. Cake?" Celestia asked.

"Wonderful!" the older woman beamed, "So many people came by to look at the wall outside and then they come in for a sweet treat! Whatever street artist covered up that nasty graffiti was so kind. I wanted to thank them but the police don't even know who did it. They even questioned the woman at the art store but no dice."

"You think she was protecting whoever did this one?" Sunset asked.

Mrs. Cake nodded, "I hope so because I just don't think whoever did this deserves to be punished for it."

"Yes," Celestia added, "A lot of my students weren't happy with what happened yesterday. My sister even overheard some threats to cover it up."

"Do you think they'll question the students?" Mrs. Cake asked.

Celestia chuckled, "They may question Luna and I about it but I don't think they'll investigate it very far."

"Yeah, I can't see then putting up a manhunt for someone who was obviously trying to right a wrong." Sunset chimed in.

Mrs. Cake heard the counter's bell and ran over and returned with two to go cups, one Chai Latte for Sunset and an orange pekoe tea for Celetia before saying her good-byes and got back to work as Celestia and Sunset left.

"I'm glad it worked out for them." Celestia said.

Sunset sighed, "I just hope the idiot who did it first doesn't do it again."

Celestia hummed as they pulled onto the road and headed home.

Sunset glanced at an alley a few blocks from Sugar Cube Corner that was covered in tags and graffiti.

Suddenly, she got an itch she wasn't sure if she wanted to scratch.

***

A few days after fixing the graffiti on Sugar Cube Corner's outer wall; Sunset snuck out of the house with her duffel bag and her new protective masks. She learned her lesson about the paint fumes.

An hour later, she stared at her work and grinned. Just as she was leaving; a set of headlights rounded the corner so she ducked out of sight. After a blup from a police car, she heard the vehicle come to a stop right in front of the alley she was just in.

A couple doors slammed and she heard footsteps on the pavement.

"Another one." one of the officers, a man said.

"You've got to admit; this kid has some serious talent." A female officer said.

"I kind of feel bad we have to catch them." the man said.

Sunset kept her back to the wall as she slowly inched towards the other end of the alley and took off towards her bike.

That was too close. She thought; still with a grin adorning her face.

She loved the rush and the danger of almost being caught. It was the start of a very complicated chapter of her life.