Destiny looks around wildly, looking for a way out. "W-who are you?"

He grins. "Just a guy looking for fun..."

She smiles unconvincingly and steps back, trying to avoid a confrontation. "I-I'm just lost... Do you know the way out of here?"

He chuckles drunkenly, stumbling over to her and putting an foreleg around her shoulders. "Now now... Why would you want to leave so, *hic*, early?"

She shrugs his foreleg off and steps back, glaring at the drunkard angrily. The drunkards companion, a short black pony with a lazy eye, wanders over to them. Grinning slightly, he gets up in Destiny's face. "Looks like we're going to have fun with you."

His grin widening, the brown drunk walks around behind her and rubs her plot slowly. Slapping his hoof away, she tries to get away from them. "Get away!"

The brown stallion hits her across the face. "No back-talking bitch!"

She drops to the ground, rubbing the red mark slowly darkening on her cheek. The tears she had been holding back during the confrontation were freely flowing now, dripping onto the pavement. The two stallions quickly converge on her, grabbing her by the back of her collar and lifting her up. Grinning, the black stallion stands up...

"FUCK NO, ASSHOLES!"

In a grey blur, a stallion barrels into the black stallion, knocking him over. Destiny gasps. "Chills!"

Grinning, Chills stands back up, his bowtie now askew from the impact. "Are these guys bothering you?"

Crying happily, Destiny quickly nods her head. Chills nods slightly and walks over to her and the brown stallion. He grins evilly as he looks at the terrified drunk. "Now, this could go one of two ways. We can do this the easy way, where you let her go," he nods at Destiny, still staring into the eyes of the stallion, "or we can do this the hard way." He pulls back, ready to sock him in the face.
Suddenly, the drunk is grinning and Destiny has a wild look on her face. "Chills! Behind you!" Turning around, he sees the black stallion coming at him with a length of board in his mouth, ready to swing. Stepping sideways, he shouts, "Destiny! Duck!"

Ducking, she watches as the board flies over her head and hits the brown stallion across the face, knocking him out cold. Staring at his fallen companion, he doesn't notice Destiny until it's too late. All of a sudden, she's on top of him, hitting him again and again.

"Don't." She punctuates the word with a punch. "You. Dare. Try. That. Again."

Chills comes up behind her and yanks her off. "We're trying to teach them a lesson, not kill them."

She struggles, fresh tears of anger falling to the ground. "LET ME GO!"

He solemnly keeps a firm grip. "No, I can't let you do this."

"LIKE HELL YOU CAN'T! LET ME GO RIGHT NOW!"

She rips free of his arms and starts at the downed stallion again, but pulls up just short, breathing heavily and staring into the unconscious pony's face. She sags, falls to her knees, and cries openly. The pain and sorrow she had been holding back rushed out in one torrent of tears and sobs. Chills slowly goes over to her and sits next to her, pulling her into a hug. Her fur, matted with dirt, blood, and tears, soon sully Chills coat, not that he cares. This was the one thing he was afraid of. Not snakes, not spiders, not even death. The only thing he feared was this. Destiny crying. It made him sick to his stomach, watching the one pillar in his life slowly crumble to the ground. It made him want to cry himself.

But he couldn't. She had fallen, and she needed someone to be a foundation for her. He hugs her close and whispers in her ear. "Shh... It's okay... I'm here..."

She clutches at him, refusing to let go. In a way, this had brought them closer together than they would ever have been without it. Tears begin to form in Chills' eyes, rolling down his cheeks and falling to the ground. But they aren't tears of sadness, but of happiness. He was there just in time to save her, the only one he would ever love, from a disaster she could not prevent. This made him happier than he had ever been in his life, and probably happier than he would ever be. He lifts her chin with a hoof and stares deeply into her eyes. "I want you to know something.

"I will never leave you. No matter what happens, I am here for you. I'm one thing you can always rely on. I'll follow you to the ends of Equestria, the ends of the universe if necessary. I love you, Destiny, always have and always will. You are the one pony who makes me truly happy in the world."

"C-Chills..."

He smiles and leans in towards her slowly. Closing her eyes, Destiny leans in and kisses him softly. It is long and drawn out, lasting more than a few seconds. Blushing brightly, Chills slowly closes his eyes and immerses himself in the kiss, falling into a sweet bliss. Eventually he pulls back and opens his eyes, grinning like a fool. Destiny looks at him like he's crazy, then begins to laugh at the absurdity of it all. She soon falls to the ground, clutching her sides. Soon Chills is laughing with her, both rolling on the ground, tears of laughter coming to their eyes.

They slowly get a hold of themselves, sitting up wearily. Chills stands up and holds out a hoof. "Come on, let's go home."

Destiny takes his hoof gratefully, glad to get away from this place full of pain and sorrow and go somewhere warm. As they walk, Chills slowly puts a wing around Destiny, pulling her close. Smiling softly, she rests her head on his neck as they walk, not talking. At this point, there was nothing to talk about. Just the fact that they were together like this was enough for them. Words could not describe the happiness each one felt, finally having shown their true feelings for each other.

Author's Note

I'm finally back! I'm sorry it's been so long since the last chapter, but I've been really busy. I would just like to thank Vivian again for the cover art and hope you guys will keep on reading.

See Y'All Later,

The Salamander