Good to be Bad

by Electric Aura

Rating: everyone
Tags: Main 7 (EqG), Random, Slice of Life, Sunset Shimmer, Equestria Girls
Length: 2807

Sometimes, it's good to be bad, Sunset Shimmer certainly knows that.

Sunset Shimmer moonlights as the street artist Flanksy, but not all of her paintings go off without a hitch.

This story has a sequel which can be found here.

Published 2018-10-24 06:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2018-11-13 01:47:37 UTC

Good to be Bad

The hiss of spray paint being used echoed through an alley, cutting through the silence of the night. Only the slight glow of a streetlight lit the brick wall being painted by a shadowy figure. Beautiful, vibrant colors covered the once bland and boring red bricks of the building, a treat for the eyes. The shadowy figure sprayed with skill, smooth arm movements only broken by occasional stops to shake the can with the distinct spray paint clacking. “Just the signature…” The artist spoke aloud to no one, and swung their backpack around on one arm to switch paint cans. “Hmmm... Let's do purple today.”

A couple quick shakes and the painting continued with a few quick sprays to sign the art. “Flanksy.” Sunset Shimmer mumbled, enunciating each letter as she sprayed her signature, before taking a few steps back to admire her works. “Perfect.” An involuntary grin spread across her face, unable to contain her satisfaction with her work. She snagged her phone out of her pocket to check the time, smiling again at her lock screen photo of her friends. “12:37, I'm getting quick at these.”

Sunset was interrupted by the sound of tires on pavement, crackling over small pebbles on the roadway. Someone was close and driving by very slowly, and the headlights on the street were starting to get brighter. She stared at the entrance to the alley, watching in fear as the nose of the car appeared around the corner of the building. Her heart rate leapt up when the car suddenly turned down the alley, and she was blinded by headlights.

“Damnit!” She cursed under her breath, squinting as red and blue strobe lights flashed, bathing the small alley in a police light show. A spotlight turned on and shined at her, and a loudspeaker crackled to life. “Stay where you are, keep your hands visible!” The voice ordered Sunset, before it's owner stepped out of the police cruiser and cautiously walked towards her, hand on their hip, the light making them a shadow in her vision. She didn't visibly move, but her left hand very subtly reached into her pocket, pulling out a small object she held tightly in her fist. Sunset waited as the shadowy outline got closer, until the distance between her and the cruiser were roughly the same, and acted.

Her hand whipped the small ball at the ground, the little sphere exploding into a cloud of smoke on impact as she turned and bolted in the opposite direction down the alley. 'Thanks Trix.’ Sunset thought to herself, a small smirk on her face as she sprinted away, the officer coughing from the smoke bomb. She hoped the cop would hesitate for a split second on trying to decide whether to pursue on foot or in the car once they regained their bearings. She cursed internally as she heard heavy footsteps sprinting after her. The chase was on, and she had no intention of being caught. Her heart pounded heavily as she rounded the corner onto the street at full speed, making a beeline for the park. “Hey! Stop right there!” The officer shouted after her, also running as fast as possible.

A silent thank you to Rainbow Dash for making her participate in some of the school sports was said as she leapt onto the stone wall on the edge of the park, and dropped down on the other side. She glanced both ways before deciding to dive into a nearby bush, just seconds later a loud thud suggested the officer had made it over the wall too. Her leather jacket and black cap helped her blend into the night, letting her stop for a moment, freezing completely still as she listened for the cop. Breathing was all she heard, she had managed to shake them for the moment, but she couldn't stay in this bush forever and she used the time to tuck her phone back into her pocket. Her keys made a quiet jingle as she pulled them from her other pocket, and with her location revealed, the chase was back on.

The cop dashed to where the sound came from, just in time to see Sunset disappear behind the same wall they had just climbed. She had a lead, just enough she hoped, to get away for good. She had already covered a good distance by the time she heard footsteps again, this was her chance. Sunset put all she had into her sprint, crossed the street into another alley, and through to the next street where she dove behind a parked car on the far side. It was hard to keep quiet as her body demanded air, but the officer had missed where she had gone, and radioed in. “Adam-one-seven to dispatch I need back-up at Seventh Avenue and Whitetail Way, vandalism suspect fled the scene, attempting to locate.”

The cop's voice and heavy breathing was hopefully enough to mask her footsteps, and she snuck around the corner where her parked motorcycle was. On muscle memory alone she slid the key into the ignition and turned it, the bike revving into life without skipping a beat. She kicked up the kickstand as her pursuing officer ran around the corner to investigate, just in time for them to get a small wave from her as she went full throttle and blew past them.

Sunset gave a loud whoop of victory as she sped down the street back towards the park. She reached a stop sign right as a second police cruiser was pulling up to another stop sign on her right. “Oh you have got to be kidding me.” The now fleeing criminal stopped too in a brief moment of hope that it hadn’t been called in yet she was now on a motorcycle. The moment was dashed when blue and red light flicked on. “Damnit!” She was already in too deep, and she knew she had a good chance of getting away. Once more Sunset gunned the throttle and turned right, going past the stopped police cruiser, forcing them to do a time-consuming U-turn. The motorcycle screamed as Sunset held on the throttle, putting a few blocks between her and the pursuing officers before making a left and a right to throw them off her trail. Adrenaline rushed through her system as her heart pounded in both fear and excitement. “Wooo!!!” The thrill of the chase made her cheer loudly, not that it could be heard over the sound of her motorcycle.

Her black cap was coming off, and Sunset used her free hand to stuff it into her jacket, letting her hair get blown around the rushing wind. Her gold and crimson locks looked like fire blazing behind her as it whipped around, lit up in flashes by passing streetlights. Unsure where the cops now were, she doubled back towards the park, keeping quiet and obeying the speed limit to pass on the other side of the park without drawing unnecessary attention. No blue and red lights, no cop cars. Not wanting to lead them back to her apartment, she navigated the streets to find a highway on ramp. No longer worried about being quiet, she again gunned the sport bike, easily getting up to and well past the speed limit.

Adrenaline is a hell of a drug they say, and Sunset was enjoying the high, even if her speed would attract the attention of the highway patrol. She grinned like a girl possessed, her inner rebel was reveling in the moment, and she wanted a little more. Sunset Shimmer didn't like to take stupid risks, but right now she wasn't quite herself... Or maybe she had never been more herself, she didn't care right now, and she did a wheelie down the highway.

It was such a rush, but she still had to get home and avoid any more police encounters, so she doubled back again on surface roads until she was confident there was no chance of being caught. With one last look over her shoulder, Sunset pulled her bike up in front of the apartment and shut it off, hoping the darkness and speedy getaway left the police without a good description. A smug grin was plastered across her face while she unlocked the front door and stepped inside, dropping her bag of spray paint to the floor beside it. Adrenaline wearing off, she slid down the closed door until she sat on the floor with the paint. The silence of her home was suddenly broken as she burst into laughter at the whole situation, grinning the entire time. She ran a hand through her windblown hair, inhaling deeply before sighing happily. “Sometimes... Sometimes it's good to be bad.”

Author's Note

Told you I'd release it the same year I announced it. :rainbowwild:

Epilogue

Sunset Shimmer sat in her usual seat at the group's usual lunch table, dropping into the seat with her tray in hand. The rest of the girls joined one by one, each taking their unassigned but silently claimed seat they always did as they chatted. The former pony munched on a salad, along with Fluttershy who was also vegetarian for obvious reasons. She almost laughed out loud at her vegetarianism that she had stuck to her whole time in the human world. When Sunset was a bully, she had been cruel, manipulative, deceptive, and appeared tough in her leather jacket, yet she had still been a vegetarian. Vegetarians weren't inherently weaker or timid, but it was still funny that the big bad bully of Canterlot high wouldn't eat meat.

“Hey, earth to Sunset, you there?” A blue hand waved in front of her face, trying to get her attention. “You in there Sunny?”

“Huh? Oh, sorry Dash, just thought of something funny.” The fiery-haired girl smiled and gave a small snicker. She noticed the other girls looking at her with various degrees of curiosity and confusion. Her fork stabbed up some of the leafy greens, and she held them up in front of her face, twirling the plastic utensil. “Did you girls ever think about how funny it is that I used to be the big mean bully, but I'm a vegetarian?” She quickly added an addendum to her thought. “Not that vegetarians are weak, just, I mean it's just kinda funny a little meat is my weakness.”

The girls all started snickering and giggling, eventually growing into full on laughter across the table. After the laughter had died down, Twilight was the first to speak up as she wiped a tear from her eyes with a smile, mostly looking at Sunset as she did. “Did you miss what I said Sunset? You were pretty spaced out.”

Sunset blushed a little, embarrassed she had ignored her friend by zoning out. “Yeah, sorry Twi, what were you saying?” She made sure to keep eye contact with Twilight as she ate, making it a point to show she was paying attention this time. “You've got me this time.”

Twilight gave a reassuring smile. “It's okay Sunset, I zone out too sometimes. Anyway, you all know how Shining Armor recently got a promotion yeah? Well now he goes on patrols on his own, no riding along with a senior officer!” The proud smile on her face was unmistakable for anything else, her B.B.B.F.F. was one of the most important people in her life.

“That's great Twilight! I'm impressed he already gets to patrol alone, that was a fast promotion!” Sunset smiled, hoping there wasn't any lettuce in her teeth. “Tell him congratulations from me.”

“Will do, but that's not the exciting part! I mean, it's kinda scary, but it's exciting too!” She pushed her glasses up her nose. “Last night he got into a chase.”

There was a collection of reactions around the table, ranging from Rarity's 'oh my,’ to Rainbow Dash's 'awesome!’

The blood in Sunset's veins ran cold, it couldn't have been. “Oh, r-really? A chase? What happened?”

“Yeah! Tell us everything, that sounds so awesome! Did he get into a car chase? Or have to knock out some bad guy?! O-” Applejack's hand covered Dash's mouth, silencing the excited girl.

“How ‘bout we let Twilight tell us wha happened Rainbow.” AJ removed her hand to let Rainbow speak.

“Oh, right, go ahead Twilight.”

Twilight smiled, she didn't usually get to tell a story this cool at lunch. “Last night, Shining was out patrolling around the shops downtown and he found someone vandalizing a brick wall in one of the alleys. It wasn't just any vandal though, it was FLANKSY!”

Gasps echoed around the table. Ice blue eyes immediately locked onto Sunset, and she looked back, Rarity staring at her with both worry and suspicion. A silent conversation took place with their eyes alone.

'Please tell me he was mistaken.’

'Uhm…’

‘What did you do?!’

‘What? I got caught, I had to run! I didn't know it was Twilight's brother!’

'Please tell me you didn't do anything to rash?’

'Erm…’

Sunset's silent conversation was cut off as Twilight continued on. “He's pretty sure it was Flanksy at least, she was standing next to a freshly painted mural with Flanksy's signature. When he got out of his car to arrest her though, she threw a smoke bomb at his feet and ran!”

“A smoke bomb!” Pinkie loudly exclaimed, Applejack's hand clamping over her mouth before she continued. “Sorry.” She mumbled before being allowed to continue. “Does that mean Trixie is Flanksy?”

“No, well, probably not, Shiny said she had yellowish skin, definitely not like Trixie.” Twilight shot down the theory. “It was definitely a smoke bomb though.”

Rarity shot a look of disbelief at Sunset.

'A smoke bomb?!’

'I had to get away!’

Rainbow Dash was practically vibrating. “Come on! What happened?!”

Twilight finished chewing her bite of food and swallowed. “He chased her into the park across the street and she lept over the wall.”

“Ha! Not bad for an artist.” Dash grinned.

“Shining followed her, but she dove into a bush before going back over the wall and through a different alley onto another street. He lost her after that, and when he followed the sound of an engine starting, he found her riding away on a motorcycle! She even waved at him as she drove away.” Twilight finished off the story, but Sunset was still on edge.

Rainbow started laughing hysterically. “She waved at him?! Ha! No way, she is gutsy!”

A small pout grew on Twilight's face. “I was hoping Shiny would catch her and prove himself, but at the same time I really like Flanksy's art. I'm kinda glad she got away, just don't tell Shining that!”

“Yes, especially after running from the police. If she had been caught she would have been in even more trouble than if she had let herself be arrested.” Rarity said sharply, her eyes never leaving Sunset.

Sunset looked down at her lunch tray, a mix of emotions in the bottom of her stomach. She had not only run from the police, but she had smoke bombed Shining Armor. “Twilight did Shining Armor say if he got a description of Flanksy? Or the bike?”

Twilight answered without missing a beat. “Uh huh, he said she looked like she was our age with yellowish skin, but he couldn't see her hair under her hat. And he said the bike was a red sport bike, with an S or a 5 as the first character on the license plate.” She stopped and looked up at Sunset. “Wait, do you think you know Flanksy?”

“Something like that.” Sunset mumbled.

RIIING!

A massive sigh of relief escaped the fiery girl, lunch was over. “See you girls after school!” She quickly dumped her trash and ran out the door of the cafeteria, leaving the others behind.

Sunset's friends were gathered around the Wondercolt statue, making plans for the weekend or catching up on homework. Interestingly though, Sunset wasn't present, as she had spent the rest of the day avoiding Rarity and Twilight, who would inevitably ask questions.

“Anybody seen Sunny?” Pinkie asked, receiving a chorus of answers in the negative. “Huh.”

Twilight lifted her head at the sound of an engine revving, and saw a red sport bike pull up to the stop sign at the exit of the school. It was Sunset's bike, Sunset the girl with pale yellow skin. And when the bike turned onto the street, away from the group, Twilight could see the first character on the license plate was an S.

“Sunset?”

Author's Note

The epilogue I said I might do has been done! Celestia, I love Sunny with a bad girl streak! I even bought a leather jacket because of her. :twilightsmile: