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The Bad Side

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Written by Arian Mabe (Amethyst Mare)

Commissioned by Lord Legion

_ _

_ _

Sheriff Pinto eyed the desk of paperwork with a scowl, stroking the neckerchief that just wasn't sitting right that day. Her sheriff's badge dug into her chest and the pony sighed again, adjusting its placement against her brown and cream coat - a typical paint with long, white stockings on each leg that drew the eye.

But she didn't want the eye to be drawn to her in her line of work: not unless she was apprehending a criminal, of course. Sometimes, it was hard to be taken seriously as a sheriff, even though she most certainly was not the first mare-sheriff that Appleloosa had had. She wore her neckerchief every day of her work, even though it wasn't strictly work clothing, only removing it once she was back in the comfortable confines of the home she shared with Axel: her husband.

She smiled, sliding her gaze out the window, the sun high in the sky as the day moved by noon. He'd be busy now, on his day off, but he'd be right there waiting for her when she got home, as he always was. The long hours weren't enough to chase him away from her and, truly, she hoped that nothing ever would take him from her heart.

The telegraph machine whirred, clicking and vibrating as it dragged her back to the stark reality of the present, and she cast a sceptical eye over it as the paper reeled out slowly. She almost didn't want to take it (it wasn't as if anything good ever seemed to come through) but she did it all the same and hooked the paper of the telegram in the crook between her hoof and fetlock to read.

Royal Guard of Canterlot.

_ _

She frowned. It had the seal. Did they need to state it like that? Wasn't it obvious already? Her back throbbed in a physical reminder of her annoyance and she groaned, twisting lightly one away and then the other to relieve a little of the residual tension there. Darn it, did she need another coffee!

_ _

A highly dangerous individual is heading your way: a griffon by the name of Lambard Silentwing. He evaded our grasp in Canterlot and was spotted boarding the train to Appleloosa with no further stops this day, although we are aware that he may disembark earlier than expected.

_ _

Griffons, of course, could fly. Another nuance of stating the obvious. But she shouldn't have been so wound up just because the day was dragging on and, well, there was still more to read. Serenity frowned. Annoyingly so. Lambard Silentwing? Just who the hay was that?

_ _

This griffon is as large as an average stallion and of a lean build. We are told that his ribs are showing beneath his grey feathers, which are spotted with black streaks. His fur is brown. A scar is his defining feature, cast below his right eye, and should assist in identifying him. We have received intelligence that he has an injured wing, although cannot confirm which wing.

_ _

Do not attempt to approach this individual as he will be tried in Canterlot Court for his crimes against ponies and griffons alike. We stress that he is highly dangerous. It is for your own safety that we ask you not to approach this griffon.

We are on our way.

_ _

Serenity raised her eyebrows and cast the paper a look even more sceptical than she had the actual machine that had conveyed it to her. Highly dangerous? Did they not think that she didn't deal with highly dangerous criminals in her daily line of work? She knew what she was doing.

Scowling, she rolled her eyes at the machine and pushed the paper to the side, stalking out the door with a sharper edge to her stride, hooves clip-clopping smartly over the bare, wooden floorboards. Who would carpet a sheriff's office anyway? There really was no point. Serenity preferred to be out on the road anyway, doing her job about town, even though the amount of paperwork that seemed to be landing on her desk these days seemed to be doing its very best to chain her to her office.

But she had more important work to do than shuffle papers and Sheriff Pinto bounded outside with lightness in her hooves. If there was any griffon in her Appleloosa, she sure as Tartarus wasn't going to sit around on her behind and wait for him to cause harm or disturbance to her ponies! Or Axel!

Snorting softly, she brushed her forelock out of her eyes, lips softening into a smile. She couldn't imagine any griffon or pony causing Axel any kind of disturbance. He'd be zoned into his own little world while working on his truck, as always, on his day off. Why, she reckoned that a full-on shootout could go on outside his workshop - or even inside it - and he still wouldn't flick a single ear to see what was going on.

He was funny like that.

No! Focus! Serenity shook her head with a grumble and nodded politely to the passing Grandmare Dolly, an old mare with a black and white patched coat that was now greyer than anything else.

"A pleasure to see you out and about again, Grandmare Dolly," Serenity said, tipping her muzzle respectfully. "How's that ol' hip of yours holdin' up after surgery? You had to go up into Canterlot to have them unicorns operate?"

The Grandmare of the town, who was both everyone's Grandmare and no one's at all, at least by blood, smiled and came to a creaky stop, leaning heavily on her walker that helped her keep her forelegs supported and up off the hard, Appleloosa streets. Unfortunately, there was little of a dignified form that could support a dodgy hip but it still helped her get about and take breaks when she could - not that she would let anyone help her, of course. That wouldn't be like Grandmare at all to admit any sense of weakness.

"Yes, young 'un," Grandmare said in her usual, shaky warble, peering at the Sheriff. "It's coming along right nice now, it is. But did I tell you the tale..."

Serenity should have been listening: everypony listened to Grandmare's stories, regardless of how long they went on, but Serenity's eyes had already snapped elsewhere. And that was weird for her, considering that she rather did like Grandmare Dolly's stories. But she'd seen something that made her heart stop, freezing in place as her ears flicked one way and then the other to catch every little sound in the near vicinity.

The griffon. How could he be right there? Blinking several times, Serenity stared at him, his retreating back shuffling through the ground. But, when he turned, she could be sure with that dangling wing and the scar, the tip of the feathers dragging nearly all the way down to the dirt as he traipsed wearily on his way.

The mare tensed, rocking back on her haunches. Grandmare Dolly, completely oblivious, rambled on and on, her gaze hazing over in memory of one thing or another. But Serenity could not listen when she had her quarry right there before her.

She had to get him!

"Hold on' up, Grandmare - I'm gonna have to get back to y'all on that one!"

Leaving a confused elder in her wake, Serenity leapt off the raised steps of the sheriff's department and hurled herself into his wake, clouds of dust following the course of her hooves.

"Halt!"

The griffon barely looked around, flicking his leonine tail as if annoyed at the interruption.

"What's a bird gotta do to get a drink around here?" He grumbled, apparently affecting a tipsy sway. "Something wrong with you ponies? Not seen a griffon before?"

Serenity skidded to a sliding stop beside him, cuffs at the ready.

"I've seen plenty of griffons in my time, pardner, but I think y'all are one of the ones that I'll be glad to see the back of."

It shouldn't have been so quick - and yet it was. A slight scuffle was all there was but, truly, the griffon seemed to use flight as his main method of escape and evasion and that wasn't much good with a broken wing. He swore and fought like a demon though as she cuffed him, clocking him accidentally with a hock as she pinned him down, locking him up as quick as anypony could like. Muttering under her breath, her mane a mess, she hefted him up and marched him straight past a slack-jawed Grandmare Dolly - "well, I never!" - and into the Sheriff's department.

"Y'all came to mess with the wrong town," she growled, thrusting him into the holding cell as he struggled. "Y'all can stay cuffed too if you're gonna fight like that! The Canterlot guard will be here soon enough to take you from my sight."

Lambard spat and swore, pacing the cell on his hind legs, one wing dragging. Seating herself at the desk opposite - she thought it would do good to keep an eye on him - Serenity brushed her mane back into place, checking that the badge was still on her neckerchief. She was sweatier than she would have liked after the scuffle, but a shower when she returned home would take care of that.

Sighing, she glanced at the clock. She wouldn't be able to go home until the Royal Canterlot Guard picked him up and who knew just how long that would take.

"You're a fine, young filly now, aren't you?" The griffon crooned, pressing a broken beak up to the bars of the cell. "What's a pretty thing like you doing in this godforsaken ramshackle town?"

Serenity snorted, seating herself at the desk where she could see out the small window. It still had bars across it, as it was overlooking the holding cell, but it was still a little flicker of the outside world that allowed her not to completely disconnect from reality.

"Y'all don't seem drunk anymore now, do you?"

The griffon scoffed.

"Didn't think you'd fall for that..." He smirked, eyes glinting. "You're too smart for that, aren't you?"

"Shut your trap."

"I should compliment you, you know," he said, slumping back as if he was settling down for the long haul. "You saw right through my disguise and captured me. I mean, even with a broken wing, no one has been able to take me down that easily. And, even then, I meant for it to happen."

"I suppose I'll take that a mite graciously and thank you then," Sheriff Pinto said dryly. "But, if y'all will forgive me, I'd rather have some peace and quiet to get all this here paperwork done while I'm stuck babysitting you."

Lambard sat down on his haunches, although it was a difficult position to maintain with his clawed forepaws cuffed behind his back. He watched her as she filed paperwork, frowning at a report left without the correct seal. That was annoying. That meant she had to send it back. The paperwork would all take longer as a result.

The clock ticked on the wall, her only testament to the passing time. It wasn't as if she could see the sun moving across the sun, controlled by Celestia throughout the course of the day.

"It's strange to be here... You know I've never been in Appleloosa before?" He said as if conversationally. "It's a nice town. Kind of. You like it here?"

Serenity sighed.

"Y'all are a talker? I like it well enough."

"You're easy to get talking, my dear. Maybe you just need someone real nice to talk to. How long have you been here?"

Serenity raised an eyebrow.

"What a strange question for a griffon who says they've never been to Appleloosa before. I don't believe that for a second. It's been long enough, feathers, and y'all will let me get on with this if you know what's good for ya."

The griffon chuckled again, feathers ruffling slightly across his shoulders.

"Oh, such a clever one, dear... I do like your style."

Serenity didn't dignify that with an answer, instead focusing on her work. The sooner she got it done, the sooner she'd be able to get back to the more pleasurable side of the daily grind in keeping the streets of Appleloosa clean. Lambard picked at his beak like a stallion may pick at his teeth, a claw digging and scraping out scraps of flesh. Sheriff Pinto tried not to gag.

"Do you know what it's like to see someone take their dying breath?"

Serenity froze.

"What did you just say?"

Lambard chuckled softly, though it was a low, throaty sort of sound that rang with cruelty and not a friendly kind of chuckle in the slightest. Serenity eyed him levelly, taking in the griffon in a new light.

So. He was dangerous. She shrugged. She knew that already. What of it? It would be all the better when she knew he was behind magically reinforced bars. Let the princesses deal with him when he was hauled before them.

"It's a special kind of sound, you know," Lambard went on, linking his claws under his chin. "That death rattle. It comes from a variety of kills too and not just the one, as you may think. Even those poisoned... It's a gargle if you tip poison down their throats but spit bubbling up, frothing at the mouth, ah... There's nothing like it when they let out that last breath that they may have thought would save them and, yet, did nothing for them at all."

Serenity fought down a shiver, refusing to look at the griffon. Let him talk to a stone wall if he so pleased. She would not give him the satisfaction.

"I've done everything you know. Petty crimes got worse as I went along and, you know what, I like it too."

Clenching his paws into fists, the griffon let out a low churr, seeming to vibrate softly. It was all Serenity could do to not hum a tune to herself, mind unwillingly drifting to the last murder case she'd had to take a part in. That had been another less enjoyable part of her work, but not one that, thankfully, she had had to be all that closely involved in.

"Robbery... Oh, that was an early one, dear, but a good one. Gets you a lot for little risk, you know? No weapons or blood spilt... Real nice and quick jobs too. But it's the murders, oh, the murders..."

She turned away from him, nose wrinkling in distaste as her stomach churned, nausea and bile rising thick and acrid in the back of her throat.

"No one wants to listen to that tail end of a pony coming out of y'all's mouth."

"Oh, but I do... And what do you think you're going to do to stop me from continuing, hm?"

The griffon knew that he had her and chuckled again, the room seeming all too quiet besides his low, conniving tone.

"Slitting a throat... Oh, it's a cop-out, too quick and easy. It's better to draw out a death to see them squirm and writhe in a pool of their own blood, life seeping away from slit wrists or breaking bones, one by one, before driving a claw through their heart."

He held up a forepaw, studying it meticulously. Serenity suppressed a shiver, realising belatedly that one claw was much longer than all the others.

"This one here..." Lambard tapped it for emphasis. "This is the one that is the money-maker, the life-taker. I'll let you kiss it, if you like."

"I'd rather not."

"Suit yourself."

Lambard shrugged, which was a motion a little more difficult than one could expect while in cuffs.

"I was a college student, you know," he continued as if she hadn't said anything to stop him at all. "I was in medical. I was going to be good at it too, studying at the Royal Canterlot University. But, one can't make their way without money, alas, and the debts racked up. I dropped out and turned to a life of crime, although I never paid back those debts. Sad, isn't it?"

Serenity pressed her lips together.

"Sure is."

"You remind me of my last murder victim, you know."

Serenity gasped audibly and his eyes gleamed, the griffon knowing that he had her right where he wanted her to be.

"She was sweet and innocent too, although she had a pale pastel coat. Funny what colours you ponies come in. A sexy mare like yourself though has good, natural griffon colours. You'd be real nice to see squirm...whether it was with a blade in your chest or a -"

"Enough of that!"

Serenity snapped, standing and glaring at him with a look that would have made a stallion scarper for his dam. The griffon was just trying to unnerve her and, gosh darn it, he was succeeding! But she didn't have to let him and neither did she have to humour him any more if she didn't want to. The day would come to an end and then she wouldn't have to think about the vile character for even a second longer.

Reaching back inside a drawer to replace her pen - it wasn't as if she was going to be able to finish her paperwork after that - she cursed lightly under her breath as she dislodged her wedding ring. Most earth ponies just wore a non-piercing ring in their ears but she kept it out during work hours: there was too much risk of it catching and digging or even ripping.

"Oh, is that from your special mare-friend?" He chortled, eyes alight. "I'm sure she's waiting for you... Such a dangerous job for a mare with such nice, plump haunches. That's muscle and not fat, isn't it, my dear? You work hard. You should let a good griffon work hard for you."

"I'm not sure who you're implying is a good griffon then. I've met many and y'all are certainly not one of them."

"Oh, I don't think so..."

He grinned - a smile that would have been toothy if he had any teeth to speak of and not just a beak. The hook to the tip was more than enough to frighten off anyone but Sheriff Pinto held her ground firmly, regardless of how shaken she was. She wasn't a mare to show it in a tremble, but her eyes lost just a little of their hardness, lips pressed together a little too tightly for comfort.

No, he was not the sort of griffon that she would have chosen to consort with, regardless of what he had or had not done. She liked the kindness and sweetness of her lover - and Lambard had it had it all wrong anyway with thinking that she had a mare-friend, although there was, of course, nothing at all wrong with that.

Serenity gave him no reaction, placing the ring back inside the drawer with far more care than it had been jostled forth. But the griffon had pressed forward before the ring disappeared, eyes sparkling although not with any sense of wholesome joy that Serenity would have otherwise expected to see in a much kinder pony or griffon alike. The damage, in fact, had already been done, no matter how quickly she'd returned the ring and hidden it from sight.

Lambard_smirked_.

"Or maybe..."

She flicked one ear in his direction but otherwise did not give him the satisfaction of a reaction. What had he ever done to earn or deserve such a thing from her? Serenity was almost beginning to regret catching the griffon in the first place, although she knew, in her heart, that it was far better to have him off the streets. She, more so than other ponies, was better equipped to deal with his sordid kind.

"Wait... What is that?" The griffon leaned up against the bars, beaked pressed between them, although he'd already seen what he needed to see with his eagle-sharp vision. "Ah... Axel? Axel is written on the ring?"

Serenity inhaled sharply, although only her nostrils puckered lightly, and he knew that he'd hit home.

"Oh,Axel," he repeated, rapping his tail sharply on the bars. "Well, well, well, my dear, so you have found a stallion, even though I daresay a fine piece of flank like you is all hot an' bothered an' hankering after a slice of griffon-meat still..."

He affected half a Western accent, not really dropping into any particular dialect as he failed to acquire what he wanted, eyebrows waggling in wicked suggestion. There was something far more sinister about the action, however, than all that Serenity had seen from stallions and, yes, mares too, who had propositioned her after a few too many drinks and salt licks had slipped down their aching throats.

"Is he good to you, Sheriff Pinto?" He crooned, tail stroking the bars as if he was imagining it to be her flank. "Does he...satisfy you?"

The sheriff looked down, although it was not a look that meant anything at all besides the sole wish that the griffon stopped talking - immediately.

"Oh, you should have a griffon instead, my dear," he whispered, voice dropping to a low, sinuous hiss like that of a serpent. "I'll satisfy you like you've never been before... And that stallion of yours, well... Maybe I can take a little blood sample of him, put right the fear of the claw into him."

She couldn't breathe, her chest too tight as she looked anywhere but directly at the griffon, blood roaring in her ears. She could see blood trickling into the floorboards, a hallucination in the desperation of her own mind, her lover's head...

No.No. He was trying to get to her, trying to make her think that she didn't have a single jot of power over him, what with that ridiculous fake accent of his and the conniving smile on his beak!

"He'd look nice mounted on the wall now, wouldn't he...Sheriff Pinto?"

Stop talking, stop talking, stop talking, stop talking!

_ _

"Nothing to say? Well, that there's just fine, my dear. Maybe I could insert something real special into your stallion, show him what he really needs to do to satisfy a mare."

Rolling his shoulders, the griffon grinned widely, his expression unexpectedly bright for the horrors he was detailing.

There's something sick about this one...

_ _

"You'd be welcome to watch too, my dear," he went on, forging through her silence as he gained new ground over her mind. "In fact, I'd insist. I wouldn't break him too badly either... And, if I did, you'd have me to take care of you as y'all clearly so desperately need taking_care_ of!"

"Enough!"

She couldn't take it anymore, thrusting the image of Axel on all fours, tears running down his face, from her mind, head spinning as rage flared to the surface, as hot and biting as it ever was when she so very rarely lost her temper. Clenching her jaw, she growled under her breathe, pleased to see that Lambard retreated just a little. It was better when that was the order of things - with his vicious kind of criminal, at least.

"Y'all aren't Appleloosan," she said abruptly, standing up from her desk as the chair scraped back obnoxiously. "So I suggest you stop talking like y'all might be one of us, as that's simply not gonna happen."

"Ah, but Ms Pinto -"

"Quiet," she snapped, eyes hard. "I suggest y'all cease speaking immediately or else this'll go into my report. Would y'all like more charges on there?"

Shaking his head, although it was not in agreement with her, the griffon took a step back away from the bars, lifting his talons high in the air in mock surrender. Serenity flinched. The cuffs dangled from one paw, the metal on the other slide sliced clean through.

"Like a magic trick..."

Shuddering inwardly - she'd never let that show outwardly - at how easily he'd escaped the cuffs, even if, perhaps, he'd been distracting her the whole time, Serenity shook her head, slowly and surely. She was pleased to see Lambard fluff up his wings a little, mantling them over his back as if he was trying to protect himself, although she could only see a griffon who had taken so many wrong turns in life that the creature he'd once been was not recognisable at all. And that wasn't entirely a bad thing, if she didn't remember that he'd once been a hatchling, big-eyed and in awe at the world. Her world had its dark sides too and she would do well to remember that.

"That'll be a harassment charge then going into the file. Don't make it another."

She wasn't taking any prisoners as she sat back down at her desk with his report in front of here. Although she wasn't so sure that she could do anything to add to his years in prison - wherever the princesses ended up sending him - she could only report everything as accurately as it had happened and, well, she'd see to it herself that he never again hurt a single soul.

Most of all Axel.

Surprisingly, the griffon remained silent until the Canterlot Feds picked him up, even stricter and sterner than the guard, which likely only denoted just how seriously they took their position. Glad to see the back of her charge, Serenity hustled back into the office as he was taken away in magical chains, just to make sure he didn't pull another escape act in any flustered moment of his transport, returned her marriage ring to its rightful place in her ear and headed straight out the door.

Night had fallen and she trotted quickly through town, avoiding friends and acquaintances alike. After what had happened, who had happened, she just couldn't bring herself to face anyone, although she did catch herself giving each alleyway a good check as she passed, not because she was afraid of what may be down there but because she didn't want anyone else to have a worse night than she'd had a day.

She could not have said that she wasn't mighty relieved, however, when she finally reached the glow of the cabin she shared with Axel, her husband and her lover. Entering quickly through the unlocked door, she exhaled slowly and made sure to lock it on her heels, slipping off her neckerchief and letting the badge clank onto the side table. Let her be off-duty for a night.

The stallion that had stolen her heart poked his head out of the kitchen with an easy smile on his red muzzle, his white mane struck through with the faintest hint of blue, which sometimes happened when he didn't spend enough time in the sun. He must have been busy in the workshop again, perhaps for rather a bit longer than she'd realised. With the music from his beloved record player floating through the cabin, she could not help but smile, albeit tightly.

Every night I should be on my knees, Lord knows how lucky I am. I'll never say near enough, Thank God for this woman, Amen.

_ _

"Hey!"

Axel waved at her and moved into the hallway, clearly going in for a hug - but Serenity beat him to it. Closing the gap between them at a brisk trot, she hugged him tightly with one foreleg, burying her nose in his mane as she inhaled deeply.

_ _

Oh, oh, oh, Oh, oh, oh.

_ _

This world has a way of shaking your faith, I've been broken again and again. But I need all the cracks in my shattered heart,'

Cause that's where her love gets in.

"Hard day at work?" Axel murmured, softening against her even as he held her closer than ever. "You've got that look in your eye."

Serenity grimaced.

"You have no idea."

There didn't need to be more said, the lovers knowing each other as intimately as they would know themselves - and perhaps even better when it came right down to it. Axel held her for as long as she needed him to, taking his cues from her as she sighed and nuzzled absentmindedly down her stallion-friend's neck, nose questing after the scent of his aftershave. The stallion, however, had not donned any aromas and only boasted the scent of natural musk, the oddly earthy tone of him more comforting than even a familiar aftershave that she could carry with her throughout the day was, just to remind her that he wasn't that far despite the separation of work.

No... Serenity was simply lucky that she got to come home to such a wonderful stallion each and every night. It made everything worth it, even if she had to deal with such sordid, vile characters as the griffon.

And then her armour cracked, the mare shivering as she stepped away from Axel, muzzle turned down. She couldn't hold it together around him and, thinking of that horrible smirk on Lambard's face while he depicted all he could to do her, to Axel, in detail that her mind was only too happy to fill in the blanks regarding.

"I'm sorry, Axel... It's really just been one of those days."

But she didn't need to say that even if she was worried he would think her weak for letting her feelings show so, something that was terribly done in her line of work. After all, what mare wanted to show weakness when she was to be the strength and justice in the community? She could not. And yet Axel knew that too, putting a hoof on her shoulder as he stopped her, just in the nick of time, from turning away and going about her business as if a moment had not passed between them at all.

"I'm here if you want to talk about it though, honey," Axel said, eyes brimming over with sincerity, one ear flicked back towards the kitchen and dinner. "If you want to talk... But I'm not gonna make you, Serenity."

He hesitated, stroking her cheek. Without thinking, she leaned into his touch, half-closing her eyes. That was nice. That was actually very nice to feel his touch on her again after such a horrendous day.

So tonight I will fall down on my knees 'Cause Lord knows how lucky I am I'm gonna shout at the top of my lungs Thank God for this woman, Amen And thank God for this woman, Amen

Maybe she wasn't the only lucky one in the relationship. It was not the right moment for her to think it and yet it made her smile anyway as the music blossomed, Axel kissing her cheek gently as he took her hoof and towed her into the kitchen.

"Look!" He said, tone flush with cheerfulness, which was only ever so slightly forced. "I made your favourite or, at least, one of your favourites!"

Serenity perked up a little at that, her mood lifting ever so slightly, as she leaned forward to see just what he had bubbling away on the stove: a nice, vegetable stew that had her stomach rumbling just from the aroma of it alone. She moaned softly, a near sexual sound, and pressed her hoof to it, licking her lips like a canine pet as she leaned over the pot, barely keeping back her drool.

"It's been a while since y'all made this one from back in Ponyille," she murmured softly. "What brought this on? Y'all are too good cooking like this for me, Axel."

The stallion beamed, his lips stretching into his characteristic, easy grin.

"Ah, Serenity, it'll always be a simple pleasure for y'all."

Although he'd been in Appleloosa for some time, he didn't slip into the local accent and dialect all that often but his use of certain terms had softened her edges to him right from the beginning. It was true to him too - not like it had been when Lambard was putting it on - something genuine and sweet that could not help but bring a more genuine smile to her lips.

But Axel was bustling about, trying to cheer her up as he always did, showing her all the side dishes he'd put together just because he could. He was becoming a rather dab hoof in the kitchen too, seeming to throw himself into learning how to cook after they'd become married and finding pleasure in it that he had not had before when he'd merely been a bachelor stallion waiting for the right mare to come along.

"And Ace sent me a recipe too from Rarity..."

Axel scratched the back of his head and laughed lightly, giving the oven an unduly wary glance.

"It's called 'apple crumble' but I'm not so sure I've done it right... We'll see!"

Serenity smiled.

"We sure will, sugar."

With that, she kissed him, pressing her lips to his as the surprised stallion automatically leaned in, allowing her to easily wrap her forelegs around his neck. She trusted him to support her, holding her up as she tasted far more sweetness on his lips than she would ever glean from a desert.

And he was there for her, just as he'd always been from the very first moment he walked into her life. He was the light to her dark, the balance that made the harsh reality of being a sheriff pony worth it at the crux of what made her a pony. Sheriff Pinto swallowed hard and kissed him all the more fiercely, eyes closed as their tongues pressed gently together, the kiss deepening with an edge of desperation.

If she kissed him hard enough, after all, the act of kissing him would sweep her up and away from all trauma and terror, taking her to another place where she didn't have to think about the worst parts of the pony world. It was not only they that needed saving and protecting, however, and perhaps she'd been a little too sheltered in her hometown before even coming to Appleloosa, but she was in for a wake-up call as to the true state of Equestria in coming months.

And yet she didn't have to think about that just yet as her lover broke the kiss, ever so slightly breathless as Axel nuzzled down her neck, lips leaving a warm trail down her throat as she trembled - but in a good way.

"Mm..." Axel stepped back with a blush, the darker shade reaching the insides of his ears and down his neck. "That was nice... What brought that on?"

But she was not yet ready to tell him everything, although it would all come out, eventually, in the wash, as she knew it would. And, so, Serenity only smiled, looking him in the eyes with as much sincerity and gratitude as she could put into a single look, tail flicking gently to shift the loose hair from where it had become clumped together and stuck up against her dock.

"I don't know what I'd do without, y'all... That's all."

Axel chuckled and shook his head, ducking his nose down shyly as if he was trying to put his chin to his chest.

"Oh... You're never going to find that out. I'm here to stay, stuck to you. Just like glue."

"I think I like this kinda glue."

Together, they finished cooking dinner and, although the apple crumble was a little burned around the edges, they enjoyed it all the more together because they got to enjoy it with the quiet pleasure of company - the best kind of company. And what pony could possibly ask for more than the love they had between one another, a peaceful moment as the lamps flickered and they retreated to the bedroom when their bones ached for the sweetness that came between husband and pony-wife?

No... Axel and Serenity would face many challenges in their life together but they would always have each other above all else. Everything would be fine as long as they were together.

For, where there were bad sides, the good also prevailed. And Axel would forever remain her very, very best side.

The reality of her world wasn't so bad after all.