//------------------------------//
// Golden Opportunity 
// Story: How to be a school filly 
// by Party Pop 
//------------------------------//

	Sarah sat on a bench, typing away at a poem she had been writing for Alex. She had been eagerly waiting for him to return from his trip to Egypt, and wanted to surprise him with her romantic sonnet. She had even made the first four lines spell his name, like an acronym. She smiled as she looked down at her work, her confession of her undying love for the man of her dreams. At last finished, she copied the text from her screen, and flipped over to her google translate tab to switch it to arabic, as a cute addition at the bottom. She giggled as she used the program's draw tool to put cutsey little hearts on it. Alex could be temperamental sometimes, but deep down, he was quite a softie for romantic sentiment. She closed the laptop with a dull click and stowed it in her homemade saddlebag. Chuck yawned beside her, redirecting her attention to the man sitting of the other end of the bench.

"Tough night?" she asked.

"Yep." he replied.

"What was it this time, your drunk uncle? Or perhaps his insane girlfriend? Did she pilfer your wallet for drug money again?" she inquired with a snicker. She managed to get a chuckle out of him, and before long, they were rolling on the bench, laughing until their sides burned. Not far off, Alex was watching the whole thing. It pained him to do so, knowing that Sarah was so happy now, and he was about to make her so sad. He sighed, pulling his baseball cap's brim down over his forehead, and made his approach.

After all, there was no sense in delaying things.

Sarah looked up as she heard someone coming, and smiled wide as she saw her dreamy crush walking up to her. She bounced up off the bench, nearly knocking Chuck over in the process, and Charging towards Alex for a hug.

"ALEX!!! Oh my gosh, I missed you so-" she began, but stopped when her muzzle smushed into his raised hand from her speed. Alex lowered his hand, looking at his shoes as he bit his lip, the terrible task finally at hand.

"Alex, what's wrong? Aren't you glad to be back?" she asked. Alex sighed, and looked up into her eyes.

"Sarah... I don't think we can see each other anymore." he said, sounding much calmer and colder than he felt inside. Sarah's ears and jaw dropped like synchronized olympic divers as her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. A small whimper tried to escape her chest, but she held it in.

"W... Why? What did I do wrong?..." she asked. Alex was running out of patience with his task, and blurted out horrible words that he regretted forever.

"Well, what did you honestly expect? I can't date an animal! My family would be disgraced! It's too sexually provocative! You're a horse, for god's sake!" he practically shouted as he tried to hold back his tears of rage. Sarah's face fell as she bit her lip, trying not to scream at him.

"... I understand." she said, turning to go, shaking slightly. Alex blinked in surprise. Was that it? Was it really that simple?

No, no it wasn't.

Her cries were one of the most heart wrenching things he had ever heard as she galloped away, sobbing her broken heart out. Chuck raced after her as fast as he could. He might not have been her boyfriend, but by god, he was still going to do whatever it took to soothe her as he dried her tears.