As Sunset and I sat on the train I nervously shifted back and forth in my seat
"Fret, calm down. It's only the Princess. Besides she told me we'd be meeting her along with some friends of yours" Sunset said as she looked into my eyes
"Sorry Sunny I just have a bit of stage fright." I replied
Sunset looked at me in bewilderment "Ummm....how? You perform on stage in front of millions of ponies on a weekly basis! How do YOU have stage fright?!"
"Well when I'm performing not only do I not know 99 percent of the ponies I perform in front of but since everypony in frickin' Equestria knows who the Princess is, It's different!" I yelled back
"....Fair enough. But still, I've known the princess for more than half my life and I know she'll like you." my marefriend reassured me putting her hoof on my left shoulder
"Thanks Sunny" I replied with a smile as I felt the train come to a stop. I looked out the window and saw the majestic sight of the mountain based city of Canterlot. The city itself is a mixture of pearl whites, silvers, golds, and teal blues. Then there was the castle. With a series of tall spires covered in white and gold with royal purple roofs. The castle was the symbol of the elegance of the city itself. For those who lived here, Canterlot was the height of society but to those who lived anywhere else the city was status incarnate.
As the conductor yelled for us to disembark from the train Sunset and I made our way off the train and into Canterlot proper
Sunset led me towards the castle as I took in some of the nasty looks that the locals gave me although I did appreciate the shocked look I got from a passing Prince Blueblood at the sight of me holding hooves with Sunset.
As we reached the perimeter of the castle we were stopped by a pair of guards "Identification!" One of the guards barked
"Are you kidding me?!" Sunset yelled as she pulled the guard up to her with her magic "I'm a student of Celestia and have a scheduled meeting with the Princess! I-"
"That's enough Sunset." The princess said cutting off my date "Guards please allow these ponies into the castle and escort them to the throne room. I will meet with them shortly"
The two guards saluted Celestia and led us into the castle and though a series of hallways to the throne room
"I wonder what's keeping Celestia?" I asked my fiery haired marefriend
"I don't know but whatever it is it must be important. The Princess hates keeping ponies waiting" Sunset answered just as the throne room doors opened to reveal Celestia along with three other ponies
"Celestia, I'm not sure why you....Sunset Shimmer?" A confused Princess Twilight asked
"Ah good old egghead." Sunset replied with a smirk
The other two ponies looked in my direction and the moment we locked eyes we both yelled in excitement
"FRET!!!"
"DASHIE!"
"Yay!"
"FLUTTERBUTTER!"
I ran up to the two mares and performed me and Dash's secret hoofshake
"Pattycake and loopdiloop! Rock it out and through the hoop! Speedin’ around at the speed of sound, together forever, we're the best in town! Mess with us, it'll be your doom! Rockin and rollin, we'll hit you with a rainboom! Yeah!" We chanted as we ended our hoofshake with a classic brohoof
"Nice to see you again Fret" Fluttershy spoke softly
"Yeah! I heard you're coming out with a new album! It's gonna be wicked cool isn't it?" Rainbow Dash asked
"Yeah but what are you doing here?" I asked "I know you guys are the bearers of the Elements of Harmony but I'd think if that was the reason you were here there would be more of you here so what gives?"
Princess Celestia cleared her throat as everypony in the room fell silent as the princess spoke up "The reason they are here Fret Shredder is because they are associates of yours and they deserve to know the truth. Now if you wouldn't mind please explain to them why you are here."
I looked at my two foalhood friends guiltily and sighed in defeat "Dashie, Flutterbutter, have you heard of the Nightfury?"
"Yeah! He's so awesome!" Rainbow Dash replied with glee
"He's that vigilante that flies around Manehattan fighting mobsters. I heard he's really scary." Fluttershy spoke in her signature whispering tone
"He's some stallion that thinks he’s above the law. He should be arrested for what he's done." Princess Twilight said prompting my marefriend to chuckle
"Well.....I'm here girls...because I'm the Nightfury...." I said looking away from my friend's gaze as I revealed my secret
"No way....I don't believe you." Dash said as she gave me a skeptical look
"Well...." I pulled out my mask from my pocket and put it on
"That's amazing!" Fluttershy quietly yelled
"So let me get this straight...you dress up every night in spandex and beat up innocent civilians?" Princess Twilight asked skeptically
'I can just hear Violet yelling 'it's not spandex!' right about now' I thought
"Twilight! You don't have to be so mean. Fret is just trying to protect his city in his own way" Fluttershy said coming to my defense
"Yeah! Fret is a hero and the first thing you say to him is that he's a criminal! Not cool." Dash agreed
"Twilight Sparkle..." Princess Celestia spoke in a soft yet stern tone
"But Celestia he's a crook! Why haven't you arrested him?!" Princess Twilight asked
"Because...I trust him" Princess Celestia said confidently
"Princess Twilight what can I do to get you on my side?" I asked politely
"Other than become a proper royal guard and hang up your spandex....Nothing." Princess Twilight replied
"What if I told you all some of my previous heroic deeds?" I asked
"Ah yeah! Let's hear some awesome hero stories!" Dash yelled excitedly
"That sounds nice. I would like to hear some stories as well" Fluttershy agreed
"Fine. I'll give you a chance to impress me." Princess Twilight begrudgingly agreed
"Alright, this first one way my first night as Nightfury."
I flew through the sky above Manehaten as I looked down looking for some sign of trouble when Violet came on the comms
"Fret, are you still sure about this whole Nightfury thing?" Violet asked
"Yes. I'm dead set on this Violet." I confirmed "Any reports of trouble?"
"No...Wait. We got a report of a filly trapped in an apartment building that caught ablaze. The Fire Department has already tried to get to her with no success. think you're up for it?" Violet replied
Looking around I spotted the burning building about a mile from my position "Yeah. I see the building now. What floor is the filly on?"
"The fifth floor. The stairway to the fifth floor has been destroyed at this point and any attempt the firefighters have made to fly up there has only fed the flames. You need to be quick" Violet answered
"Alright. I'll be in and out" I replied as I flew towards the burning building
"Saving a filly from a building… Sounds pretty heroic" Dash said nudging her purple friend
Princess Twilight simply grumbled and motioned me to continue
"Well it wasn't easy but I managed to get the kid out."
Listening in to the firefighters from above I heard them arguing
"Look Chief we either waste our time trying to save one kid or we keep the flames from spreading to the surrounding buildings! We don't have the stallion power to do both!" one of the firefighters said as I looked at the windows of the fifth floor. Unfortunately for me all the windows were either spewing flames or closed.
Picking one of the closed windows I prepared to smash through the glass 'This is gonna suck' I thought as I rammed through the glass smashing it and leaving me with a bunch of cuts
I looked around the room and yelled "HELLO! KID! I'M HERE TO SAVE YOU! IF YOU COULD JUST LET ME KNOW WHERE YOU ARE THAT WOULD REALLY HELP!"
I heard the sound of whining come from the hallway and I immediately ran out to see a filly with her left hind leg trapped under a piece of fallen ceiling
"Alright kid I'm here to save you!" I yelled as I ran to lift the fallen rubble
"Who are you?" The filly asked
"That's not important right now." I replied "What's your name kid?"
"Sundrop." The filly replied
I looked at the rubble and grimaced "Alright Sundrop, I need you to be strong right now because when I lift this off your leg it's gonna hurt.. A lot. But don't worry. I'll get you out of here."
"Promise?" Sundrop asked tears in her eyes
I smiled "Promise."
"Alright here we go." I said as I began to lift the large piece of rubble off the filly. She began to scream until I gave her a look of confidence and she instead bit down on her lower lip in response to the pain "Alright Sundrop I need you to move! I can't hold this up forever!" I yelled as the filly crawled out from under the rubble
I dropped the rubble wiping the sweat from my face 'We need to get out of here fast. I can't take this heat for much longer' I thought as I looked at Sundrop's leg.
"Alright kid it looks like your leg is broken. Climb on my back." I ordered lowering so she could climb on. Sundrop obeyed and climbed on as I turned to exit the way I came only for the ceiling to collapse blocking my exit 'Shit… .Alright you can do this Fret...' I thought as I scanned the hallway for a possible exit only seeing the reminisce of the stairway with flames coming from the floor below 'Well time to put my life on the line' I thought as I yelled "Hold on tight kid!" before I glided down the stairwell flying just above the flames into a room on the floor below and flying out the window
"LOOK! MY BABY!" Yelled Sundrop's mother from below as she spotted me and Sundrop flying out the window
I landed on a roof across the street and let Sundrop down as her parents burst through the roof entrance and grabbed their child "Oh thank you Sir!... Sir?" The mother looked around to see the roof was empty and only a small pendent sitting where I was along with a note. The mother picked up the pendent and note and read it
Your daughter has a broken leg. Get her fixed up and make sure she's okay. No thank you is required.
Nightfury
"So was the filly okay?" Fluttershy asked
"Yeah, I visited her in the hospital a couple weeks after the incident and gave her family a bunch of money to replace their stuff" I replied
"Did you steal that money?" Princess Twilight asked determined to catch me red hoofed
"No."
"Twilight! Not cool!" Dash barked
"That was very heroic Nightfury. Please, continue." Princess Celestia spoke
"Alright this next one happened about fifteen years ago about a few weeks after my college graduation. My… Friend Cold Case and I were in his parent's basement playing when we smelled smoke"
"We need to get outta here dude!"I yelled as Cold Case and I ran out the front door of the house and away from the burning building and into the rain
"Do all your 'heroic deeds' involve escaping burning structures?" Princess Twilight asked eyebrow raised
"It does tend to happen" I responded rubbing the back of my neck
Cold Case whipped around looking back at the building realizing something "Fret! Where are my parents?! They must still be inside!" Cold Case yelled preparing to run back it
I grabbed him by the forehoof and looked him in the eye "Don't you dare try to be a hero. Leave it to the professionals."
One of Cold Case's neighbors, a colt about ten years old, yelled "Yeah like that new guy Nightfury!"
I felt a tinge of guilt fall upon me. I could save his parents, but if I did it would totally blow my cover. I swallowed hard and replied guiltily
"Yeah. The Nightfury...."
I looked over and saw the tail of a griffin disappear into an alley. I looked over to my friend Cold Case "Hey bro, I'm gonna go make sure the fire department is coming." I lied not knowing this would come back to bite me. Cold Case didn't respond instead just standing there staring at the flaming structure. I decided to take my chance to leave and ran into the alley that the griffin had ran off into.
"You just left your best friend there while his house was on fire and his parents were dying inside?" Princess Twilight asked with her eyebrow raised
"It is a bit mean Fret, to just leave him there." Fluttershy reluctantly agreed
"There was nothing I could do. If I left briefly to get my costume and came back to save his parents as Nightfury, Cold would put the pieces together and would have figured out who I am. I couldn't risk it. Besides the story isn't over." I explained
Sunset chimed in and asked "And yet you've told so many others?"
The others looked at me suspiciously as I went silent. Luckily for me Princess Celestia spoke up and got me off the hook "Fret obviously regrets leaving his friend that night but why don't we let him finish his story before we make our judgments"
I gave Princess Celestia a grateful look as I continued my story
"After I entered the alley, I followed the trail that the griffin had left" I continued
Following the trail, I was led to a back alley behind the apartments.I pulled out my comm out of my pocket and put it on my ear "Gadget can you warp my suit to my location?" I asked
"What do you need it for? I thought you were hanging out with Coldy." Violet asked
"His house caught fire and I'm investigating a griffin that was fleeing the scene of the crime." I answered back
"Wait...you just left him there?" Violet asked though I couldn't hear it as the rain began to pick up into a downpour
"I'm sorry Gadget, I couldn't read that. Just get my suit here! My location is the alley between 27 and 33 Crooke Avenue" I replied as I saw my suit appear in front of me with a small device attached to it.
"Thank Celestia that Violet made this portable teleporter. Makes getting my suit to me a heck of alot easier" I said as I got my costume on
After putting on my suit I activated my scanners and followed the trail of latent magic residue that the griffin had left. Violet explained to me
that all beings had latent magic that their bodies produced that allowed them to do things like use magic spells, fly when their wings shouldn't allow them to, and manipulate the clouds among other things that I didn't catch due to the fact that I dozed off halfway through her technobabble speech. She of course yelled at me but I tuned her out and told her as long as it works that's all I need to know.
Following the traces of magic that that griffin left, I was led out of the alley to the opposite street and into a closed construction site where the trail went dry
"Where oh where could that griffin gotten off to?" I asked myself as I spotted a clearing in the rubble that had a trap door in the center of it. I trotted up to the trap door and opened it to find a secret tunnel that seemingly led to the griffin's base.
Following the tunnel I was finally led to an underground subway tunnel and an abandoned subway car on a separated piece of track. I went to investigate the car only to see the griffin and a larger griffin talking inside. The smaller griffin seemed to be wearing some sort of suit and carried a large flamethrower.
"Did you get the job done Cinder?" Asked the larger griffin
"Yes sir! The Hard Case household is ablaze as we speak!" Cinder answered in glee from behind his mask
"Good working with you Cinder. Glad to see someone can get that job done without that pesky Nightfury getting in the way." The larger griffin replied "Always a pleasure seeing a fellow griffin get the job done"
I thought back. The past few weeks I had faced off with a bunch of different griffins, all within a couple of miles of Cold Case's apartment.
"Oh it was my pleasure Iron Claw! You know how much I love the beautiful flames of destruction!" Cinder answered back with a childish giggle
"Oh I do Cinder. I do...now I need to get back to base to give my speech to the new recruits." Iron Claw said as he exited the abandoned subway car and flew out of the subway tunnel and into the night sky
"Lightning I got a positive ID on Iron Claw...I'm gonna go after him. " I whispered into my comm
"No kid. You aren't prepared for a full on fight right now. Your suit is only prepared for light combat and search and rescue." Power Cord answered back.
I was about to argue when I thought of something "How is it against fire?" I asked
"Your current suit is fire proof, yes. Why?" Violet responded confused by my question.
"Cause I'm about to go up against a Pyromaniac" I replied as I turned my comms off and, using my shock gloves, I lifted the bar connecting his car to the third rail that fed his car the magic that powered his car, dropping it off the rail.
"What in Tartarus!" The griffin pyro yelled as the lights in his car went out. The griffin went out to inspect the bar and I hid behind the car in an attempt to jump him. The griffin walked over to the disconnected bar and looked around. "Alright you stupid teens I'm gonna light you up this time! I warned you the last time not to mess with Cinder and it's time you all joined your friend's in Tartarus!"
Just as the suited griffin turned the corner I speared him into the dirt and gave him a shock to the chest with my shock gloves. Unfortunately for me his suit absorbed most of the electricity and the rest simply took out the voice box of his suit.
"Ah yeah! Fight time!" Dash exclaimed
"I'm guessing you beat him up?" Princess Twilight asked sarcastically
"Wow Sparkle, I didn't think you were capable of sarcasm." Sunset joked "You and Moondancer always seemed so oblivious back in school."
Princess Twilight rolled her eyes as Fluttershy giggled at that.
I waved them to quiet down and continued my story.
Cinder threw me off as he let out what I assumed was a threat that got muffled through his mask "MMM GRMMM PHRRMM!!!"
Cinder proceeded to shoot me with his flamethrower which I dodged easily as I flipped over him and grabbing a loose pipe I swung at the tubing that connected the flamethrower to his backpack gas tanks, knocking it out. After avoiding a swing from his flame thrower, I threw one of Vinyl and Violet's experimental pocket speakers under him and activated it sending a shockwave of sound out, knocking Cinder onto his ass as I jumped onto the suited griffin's chest and gave him a right hook to the face knocking the pyromaniac out.
I got off of the griffin and turned my comms back on "Gadget, call the police. Tell them that the griffin pyro that they've been looking for is
waiting for them in the subway tunnel under Ocean Avenue"
"Got it Nightfury." Violet responded
"That didn't seem very heroic to me..." Princess Twilight responded "Seemed more like you were just some vigilante who got lucky and beat up a thug."
"Well maybe you just don't know what heroism is then" I muttered
"What was that?" Princess Twilight asked
"Oh nothing!" I replied with a smile
"Twilight you just need to give Fret a break. Sure his methods are a bit violent but that's what you gotta do when your a crime fighter. " Sunset added
"Thank you Sunnyside." I replied to my marefriend's comment
".....Sunnyside?" Princess Celestia asked bemused by the nickname
"Ugh Fret I thought I told you not to call me that around the Princess." Sunset told me with a frown
"Uh you didn't say anything about that." I replied
"Well I should have!" Sunset shot back
"Oooo! Fret you got problems in the bedroom?" Dash joked as both Sunset and I shot her a glare
Princess Celestia stepped in front of us, breaking us up before we could do anything we'd regret "How about we hear one more story Fret Shredder? Perhaps you tell us how you decided to become the Nightfury?" Princess Celestia suggested
"Well I usually don't like to tell others this story but if you all promise to keep this between us then I guess I could." I responded looking around the room
"You already got my word" Sunset responded
"I promise" Fluttershy replied
"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" Dash responded doing some weird motions along with it
"Fine. I promise." Princess Twilight replied with a groan
"And I promise as well." Princess Celestia replied
"Well it started after my brother died. My brother Blazewing was the only one in my family that was ever nice to me so it was a big deal to me when he died." I started
"Hold on....Blazewing? You mean the royal guard Blazewing?" Princess Twilight asked
"Yeah. Why? Did you know him?" I replied
"Well kind of. He was a friend of my brother Shining Armor when he was in training to become a royal guard. " The princess of friendship answered
"Oh! Shining Armor! Yeah Blazewing used to talk about him. He always said that he saw him going places. I guess he was right considering he's essentially a prince now." I replied "Anyways after Blazewing died We went through his will and me and my parents found out that his daughter Scootaloo Lightwing's custody was to be given to me. To say my parents were pissed would be putting it lightly."
"Well you can't blame them. You don't seem like the most responsible pony." Princess Twilight said causing my eye to twitch
Dash and Fluttershy gave their alicorn friend a dirty look as Dash replied "Not. Cool."
"What did I say?" Princess Twilight asked
Sunset spoke up and explained "Twilight, Fret's parents took away his rights to see Scootaloo and the custody through a rigged court."
Princess Twilight looked at me with a stunned look. "How do your parents' hate you that much?" She asked trying to contemplate the idea of parents who don't like their child "It just doesn't make sense. Why would any parent hate their child?"
I sighed and answered "My parents didn't hate me when I was born. They hated me because I wanted to be a musician, which to them was a disgrace. They always drilled into my head that musicians were low class scum that could never get anywhere in life. I disobeyed them and they thought as me as exactly what they thought a musician was: a low life."
"That's.....just wrong..." Princess Twilight muttered in disbelief
"Now you see why I had to become what I am." I replied "They told me in that courtroom that I didn't have what it took to be a guardian...so I proved them wrong, becoming the guardian of Manehattan."
"I see....." Princess Twilight answered back finally breaking out of her trance."I guess I was wrong about you. While I still don't agree with your methods I can at least say I see why you are what you are."
"Thank you Princess Twilight. That's all I'd ever ask for. Now, is there anything else you’d like from me Princess Celestia?" I asked
"There is one other thing but I'm afraid the others will have to wait outside for this." Princess Celestia replied motioning for the others to leave the room. They all complied and stepped out as the princess gave me a serious look "Fret Shredder, I'm sure Sunset Shimmer has explained the importance of the name Nightfury so I'll get to the point. You are the descendant of a long forgotten class of elite warriors. The Nightfuries and the Daybreakers were officially disbanded after my sister's transformation into Nightmare Moon....unofficially though, they still exist. Your brother was in training to become one before he died and that responsibility passed on to you upon his death. You becoming Nightfury was no accident. My sister and I have been leading you towards that destiny ever since your brother's death."
"Wait...so you've been messing with my life! I was never meant to become Nightfury?!" I asked in disbelief
"Yes Fret Shredder. My sister and I have lead you down this path but it was you who decided to continue down it, not us. You have a choice Nightfury....continue down this path and defend Manehattan....or give up the path and let the city fall to ruin. It is your choice to make no matter how my sister and I manipulate your destiny. The wolf may follow the moon or he may follow the pack but it is his decision. So what is your choice?" Princess Celestia explained
I thought for a moment. I could give up being Nightfury.... But what would that teach Scootaloo? Give up on your dreams? Accept defeat when the going gets tough? No. I had a responsibility and I would continue to fulfill that responsibility no matter the odds. "I will follow the moon. I am no quitter." I answered
"Good. Now go to your friends and catch up with them. Have a good time." Princess Celestia replied "And know that when the time comes, you will be called upon to protect Equestria."
I nodded and ran out to my friends.
"So what have you mares been up to other than saving all of Equestria from evil with your orbital friendship cannon?" I asked asked as I took a sip of my milkshake. After leaving the castle the five of us decided to go to Joe's Donut store as Sunset and Princess Twilight suggested telling us "It's the best donut you'll ever eat!" Which I kindly disagreed telling them of the awesome Moe's Donuts back in Manehattan...turns out the two are related.
"Well I finally performed my Sonic Rainboom at the last Young Flier's Competition!" Dash replied
"Isn't that the move that the troublesome trio used to say you faked?" I asked
"Yup. They ate their words after the competition." Dash replied
"What about you Flutterbutter?" I asked
"well I made a new friend a few months ago." Fluttershy replied with a innocent smile
"Oh? And who is that?" I asked taking a big sip of my milkshake
"Discord" Fluttershy answered causing me to nearly sit my mouth's contents all over my marefriend who sat next to me
"Di-Discord! I thought he was turned to stone by your elements! When did he get free?" I replied a little afraid for my sanity at the thought of the spirit of disharmony and chaos on the loose
"Princess Celestia thought it would be good if I reformed Discord so he could use his magic for good instead of evil. She put me in charge, so I decided to try to befriend him. Turns out the poor fella has never had a friend and he's actually a very nice draconequus. We have tea parties every Tuesday." Fluttershy explained "And don't worry. I told discord that if he wants to keep me as a friend then he has to be a good guy and not try to take over Equestria."
I smirked at that. If there's one thing that Fluttershy has always been good at, it's manipulation, and while most ponies would call that a flaw Dash and I know that it can be very useful as a tool....It's how we got extra cookies back in flight camp.
"So Egghead. How's being a princess be going?" Sunset asked her former classmate
"Well I have been having to get used to these wings. Not exactly easy when you weren't born with them." Princess Twilight answered
"Eh you'll get used to them. " I added
"You still got that reptilian assistant?" Sunset asked
"Yeah. Spike has been doing well, especially with Rarity around." Princess Twilight replied
"Oh? Does the little guy have a crush?" Sunset joked
".... Yeah" Princess Twilight answered embarrassed
"How old is she?" I asked "I'm assuming she's a pony."
"She's the same age as me." Princess Twilight answered
"And how old is he?" I asked
"Well I hatched him when I was seven so he's seven years younger than me… What's your point?" She asked
"Well considering this Rarity is the same age as you and he's seven years younger than you that makes him seven years younger than Rarity. I've seen bigger age gaps between couples and dragon and pony relationships aren't exactly unheard of so I don't see why you are embarrassed." I replied
"Huh.... I never thought of it that way...." Princess Twilight answered looking away in thought "Perhaps I could get Cadence to give him some love advice… granted Rarity isn't pining over another stallion."
"So Fret, how did you and Sunnyside meet?" Dash asked
I looked at my marefriend and shrugged "Me and the gang were in the middle of celebrating at Six String's and I heard some noise outside so I went to investigate. Found Sunset here fighting off some muggers with her magic. It was love at first fight." I replied
"I saw him drooling over me and knew he was Nightfury so I asked him out and told him I was ordered to join his team." Sunset added
"I'm sure Violet was thrilled." Dash responded
"Oh she was ecstatic." I answered back, sarcasm lining my words
Donut Joe finally walked out and asked in an accent that was clearly Manehattan in origin "What else can I get ya?"
"I'd like a chocolate long john with strawberry filling" I asked
"I'll have a vanilla with sprinkles" Princess Twilight ordered
"A bag of chocolate munchkins" Fluttershy ordered quietly
"Gimme a double chocolate supreme!" Rainbow Dash ordered. I gave her a surprised look and Dash replied "What? Pinkie got me hooked!"
"Pinkie? As in Pinkie Pie? The world famous party planner?" I asked
"Yup!.... Wait… World famous?" Dash asked as the three Ponyville mares looked at me in confusion
"Yeah! Ever since my cuz Vinyl used her as a planner for the Vinyl Scratch One Year Anniversary Party she's been known all over Equestria as the best party planner in all the land!" I explained "I heard even Cheese Sandwich has endorsed her… He also said he would love to challenge her to a goof off."
"A what?" Asked Princess Twilight
"A goof off. It' s a traditional challenge that party planners do to see who the better partyer is." I replied
"I'll have to look that up." the alicorn replied
After eating our donuts we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. Sunset and I made our way to the train station and waited for our train
"So when are you gonna become an alicorn?" I asked my marefriend as we sat on the train station bench
Sunset gave me dirty look and I raised my hooves in defense "I asked Princess Celestia the same thing a long time ago. I was planning on running away but she told me I had a different destiny. I asked what she meant and she replied that I was born into one of the families of the Daybreakers. I was destined to become one but after your brother died I was put in charge of making sure you became a Nightfury in your brother's place. That book that you found was mine and I purposely dropped it so you could find it." Sunset explained "I've been helping the princesses manipulate your life for years...." My marefriend looked away in shame
I used my hoof to gently move her head to look me in the eye "Don't feel bad. I chose this path and I will protect Equestria whether it be under the Princess' order or my own decision. If being your dark knight is my destiny, then I say it's worth it to have my Fiery Princess."
Sunset gave me a smile and chuckled "You know there was one thing I've done that wasn't under the order of the princess'"
"And what's that?" I asked
"Fall in love with you." Sunset replied giving me a kiss on the lips
I returned the kiss and we stayed like that for a good minute and a half..unfortunately for us we weren't the only ones in the train station...
A flash from a camera caused us to unexpectedly break our kiss as we saw a reported standing a few feet away from us
"Shit..." I muttered as my marefriend chased after the reporter screaming profanities. She eventually gave up the chase as the reporter ran onto a train that quickly took off
Sunset drudged her way back to me and sighed "We're gonna be headlines aren't we?"
"Most likely." I replied "Hey, It's not like I'm not used to it"
"I'm not...." Sunset replied
"Well you're dating me. You're gonna have to." I replied
"This is gonna suck" She answered back
"Agreed" I said as our train rolled into the station
A week passed since our visit to Canterlot and the news of our relationship spread like a plague through the media staying in the papers for three days after it hit the news. Vinyl and I decided to make the most of it and use it as a publicity stunt
"You are listening to the show that will pierce the heavens with my voice! Hello Equestria, you are listening to K-COLT! Rockin your world since 1001! Welcome to The Vinyl Scratch! I'm your host, the Master of Metal, DJ PON-3 Metal riff plays and my co-host the classical genius herself, Octavia!"
"...keep that one Vinyl... I like that title." Octavia replied
"Sweet! I finally came up with one you like! Anyways today we've got a special treat for you! In the studio today we've got the new dynamic duo, the former student of Celestia and the international rock star and my cousin, Sunset Shimmer and Fret Shredder! After the break we'll have their story on how they met and how their relationship will affect Fret's life as a rock star! But first we've got a special lineup of Phoenix Rising hits starting with their hit single 'Rainboom of the Heart' " Vinyl yelled into her mic before hitting the button to mute the mics
"Alright Fret, you and your marefriend got a cover story on how you met?" Vinyl asked
"Wait....Are you going to lie on live radio?" Octavia asked
"No Octy, we're just not going to tell the truth" I answered " And yes cuz, we've got a cover story."
"Alright cool! We're back on in 5...4...3...2...1 and We're back! Today we've got Fret Shredder and Sunset Shimmer in the studio so let's get to it! Fret, how did you and Sunset meet?" Vinyl asked
"Well me and the band were hanging at our usual spot when in walks Sunset and I nudged my buddy Drumroll sayin' 'dude look at that mare over there! That is some hot stuff!' so Drumroll dares me to go over and talk to her so I do and well...Sunny you take over."
Sunset took the mic and continued the story "Fret walked over to me and I looked at him and rolled my eyes, I knew who he was but he didn't know me so the first thing I do is ask him 'before you start talking rock star what's my name?' Fret looks at me nervous for a few moments and says 'Sunset Shimmer?'." Sunset handed the mic over to me and I continued
"I got lucky since I had been interviewed back when you left Celestia." I commented
"In fact one could say you got lucky in more ways then one!" Vinyl added
"VINYL! There are children that listen to this!" Octavia yelled at her co-host
"After Fret correctly guessed my name I gave him the chance to speak and to my surprise he wasn't just an arrogant prick. We talked for a while and I decided to give the guy a break and asked him out." Sunset continued
"I thought we agreed I asked you out!" I argued
"In your dreams rock star." Sunset replied with her tongue stuck out
"Well the tension in the air of the studio is thick with these two! So Sunset, does this mean you'll be joining the band?" Vinyl asked
"No. I have no desire to be a rock star. I'm content with dating one but not being one" Sunset answered
"What about you Fret? How will this new relationship change your status as a rock legend?" Vinyl asked
"Hopefully it won't. I'm still the Rockin' Wolf, Fret Shredder, but that doesn't mean I can't have a nice marefriend on the side." I explained
Octavia spoke up "And will you be writing any songs about your new marefriend?"
"Good Question Tavi! All us hopeless romantics need to know Fret! Will your next album feature a song proclaiming your undying love for Sunset Shimmer?" Vinyl asked
"Eh maybe… Depends on if inspiration strikes. If I come up with an awesome idea for a song then yeah probably" I answered
"Oh really Fret? And what kind of song would you write about me?" Sunset asked
"Ummm...I dunno....probably a love song..." I replied embarrassed
"Eh good enough for me." Sunset replied
The interview continued for another hour cutting to commercial several times and Vinyl and Octavia asking things such as when we would be getting married, which we both unanimously agreed "Not any time soon" or things such as whether or not Sunset would be moving into the mansion, which Sunset surprisingly replied "Maybe in the future." until Vinyl had to wrap it up yelling to her listeners "Well that wraps up our show! Tune in next time when we interview the Prince and Princess of the Crystal Empire themselves Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor! Keep rockin' and Ro Ro fightin' the power!"