Step 1: "There She Is!!"
Walking through the streets of Ponyville. The deep snow crunched under my feet with each step, the sun barely keeping me warm, and the sounds of joy coming from young ponies playing in the snow. Sigh.. It's not that I hate ponies, or have a grudge against them. I just don't have a reason to like them. I honestly can't describe how I feel about them. I guess I don't understand because I'm a dragon. In our Homeland, we did not play in snow. We relaxed in lava pits and enjoyed walking through the burning ashes that were once a living forest. This place.. It's cold.. I don't like the cold, but I have nowhere else to go. The Dragon Homelands is said to have been "Forgotten by Time." Even if I could find it, I'd just be alone.. Then again, I'm already alone.. No friends, no family, I have a Phoenix, but I don't think pets count. Anyway, as I walked through the streets crowded by ponies and dragons, I came to a small rest stop. It wasn't much, just a few benches, a playground for kids, bathrooms separated by gender and species, and a vending machine.
Actually, a vending machine sounds good right about now. Maybe a hot drink could help me through the day. I thought as I approached the machine. Lucky for me, there wasn't anyone waiting in line. As I stood before the machine, I saw a variety of canned coffee. Coffee? Not the type of drink I was thinking of, but it'll do for now. I thought with a shrug of my shoulders. I dug deep into the pocket of my jeans. It took me some time, but I found a few quarters, just enough to buy a can of coffee. I slipped the quarters into the coin slot and placed my selection into the machine. With a few whirring sounds and some banging, my coffee fell into the take-out port. I reached inside the port and pulled out the can. Ugh.. I could tell by feeling the outside that the coffee was freezing cold. I opened the can, a small pressurized hiss coming from it, and held it firmly in my hand. By focusing my attention on the can, I sent a rush of heat towards the hand it was in. The can began to turn a burning red as steam emitted from the opening. I soon stopped so I wouldn't end up melting the can by accident. I took a small sip and gave a content sigh. Perfect.. I thought to myself. After taking a look around, I leaned back against the side of the machine and closed my eyes. No one, pony or dragon, seemed to be approaching the machine and no one was close enough to disturb the blissful silence. As I took in a calm breath, I closed my eyes and let out another content sigh. Maybe today would be pretty easy, despite the weather..
Or so I thought. In what seemed like a second later, someone else approached the vending machine. I honestly didn't care enough to open my eyes and see who it was until they began banging on the display glass. Well, there goes my sweet bliss... With a rather annoyed sigh, I walked from beside the machine and saw a pony grabbing a drink from the take-out port. She was a rather cute mare with a white coat, pink and purple mane that had curls at the end, and a horn on her forehead. She was obviously a unicorn. As I was still in my blissful thoughts, I realized the mare before me was staring into my emerald eyes with her light green orbs. With her white coat, it was easy for me to see her blushing face. She looked so... Cute. I couldn't help but feel a small blush on my own face. Coming to my senses, I shook my head and began walking away. Luckily no one saw us. I took another sip of my hot drink before I felt something grab my free hand. I turned my head to see it was the same mare. She still held a dark blush on her face as our hands were still connected. Gulp.. This was... Dangerous. Ponies and Dragons may live alongside each other, but they couldn't live "with" each other. It just wasn't natural. As I tried to pull my hand free before someone noticed, I felt her grip tighten. At that point ponies and dragons had seen us. Looks of disgust were everywhere and they were all pointed at us. This was really dangerous now. With my dragon strength, I quickly jerked my hand away from the mare's and began to run from the area. I passed through the crowd, running through streets, and avoided getting hit by a car or two. Once I was a good six-- no, seven blocks away, I hid around the corner to catch my breath. I had dropped my coffee about five blocks back. Great way to waste some money.. I thought with a saddened sigh. As I walked from around the corner and headed home, I quickly stopped in my tracks to see the same mare standing before me with blushing cheeks, dazzling eyes, and a cute smile. It was so cute, I nearly felt nauseated. And with that thought, I turned around and began walking away in hopes of finding another route home. This time, my walking speed increased as I tried to escape the mare's gaze. I walked a good two blocks before I turned the corner. What happened next frightened me. Standing around the corner, waiting for me, was the same mare. This is seriously dangerous! I gotta get away! I began running block to block, around corners, through oncoming traffic, and between alleyways, but no matter where I went, I ended up stopping in front of that same mare.
After hours of running, I found myself sitting in the old abandoned park. The bench I sat on was pretty dusty, but stable. Sitting beside me was that same mare that constantly pursued me throughout the morning. With only one option left, I decided to talk to her. "Uh.. Hey. My names Spike. What's yours?" I asked as calmly as I could.
The mare looked at me with her unwavering smile before answering. "I'm Sweetiebelle." She said with a soft voice. Was it me, or was her voice actually... Pleasant?
"Nice to meet you, Sweetiebelle." I said with a nervous smile before instantly loosing my cool. "You've been chasing me all morning. Is there something you want?" I asked, a bit panicked and very inclined to leave.
The mare pondered the question before answering. "How about a date?" She asked in a joyful tone. And on that note, I went pale. My jaw dropped, my eyes widened, and I could've sworn I felt the cold hand of bad luck brush against my shoulder.
She was just a young pony. I just had to deal with this delicately. "Sweetiebelle.." I began. "I'd love to date you, but there are a few problems with that. One, I'm a dragon and you're a pony. Two, dragons and ponies aren't allowed to date." I said very carefully with a false smile. I did it! Now she has to leave me alone..
Or so I thought. "So what?" The mare asked. "A forbidden love between species, it just seems so... Romantic.~" she fantasized the idea as she spoke, holding her hands over her cheeks to hide her blush.
This pony doesn't give up easily.. "B-but we just met. We're practically strangers." I commented, but her smile unwavering.
"Even better. Love at first sight." She said with a dreamy sigh and pulled me into a tight hug.
At this point, I was at a loss for words. I had nothing left to say, nowhere left to run. It was time to wave the white flag. I let out a small sigh before opening my mouth to speak. "Fine.. I'll go out with you." I said reluctantly. At this, the mare squealed in delight and jumped onto her feet, releasing me from the tight embrace. With what seemed extraordinary strength, the mare dragged me back to the rest stop where we met by my sleeve. She pulled me over to the vending machine and bought two drinks. One was a soda for me and the other was a coffee for her. The label of the soda said the flavor was 'Yellow Dandelion.' It was obviously a pony drink, but I tried it anyway. To be honest, it actually tasted pretty good. I basically chugged the whole can in a matter of seconds. On the other hand, she was a bit shaky at drinking a coffee. It was obvious that she didn't like the taste, but she drank it anyway.. For me? At this, I couldn't help but feel touched and maybe.. Something else.