Hearts-A-Glow

Candle Glow sighed softly and ran a shaky hoof through her hair. Lantern's eager words echoed through her head as she sat in the quiet restaurant.
"Jus be yerself, like ya always do. Bout time ya found a special somepony. "
She loathed not knowing what pony would sit down across from her, but knowing Lantern, likely he was aware she preferred Stallions, and thus set her up with one. However, not knowing this pony's name, description, or personality, she couldn't help but be nervous.

Frozen walked into the restaurant wearing his tuxedo. His hair was slightly done with a little bit on the wild side. He said something to the waitress and she brought him to the table Candle Glow was at. He sat down and ruffled his hair a bit. He looked at Candle Glow with a shy smile. "Hi! I'm Frozen Flame. You can call me Flamy or Frozen." Frozen said with a shy grin. He looked down at the menu and looked through the options. A waiter came over and poured some water. "Thanks.." He said quietly and drank some of the water.

Candle smiled nervously and sipped her water as well. "Hey! Most just call me Candy or Glow, I'm Candle Glow." She let her eyes drift over him in curiosity before landing them on the table in nervousness. She couldn't help but let her mind scream past all of the chants of Lantern's advice the fact that was very blatant to her. 'He's so cute... and handsome.. and hot.. ' Biting her lip gently, as to control her words, she looked up at him with her pale pink eyes. "So, what do you do?"

"I'm a weather pony. Yeah, I work in the Rainbow Factory sometimes but mostly clearing the skies. How about you?" Frozen said with a nervous laugh at the end. He looked at her questioningly, his eyes scanning her. 'Nice pony by the looks.' He thought with a shrug.

"That's really cool, I don't really have a solid job. I'm an artist for the most part and I live off whatever I can sell. It's not a rich or a glamorous life, but it works." She smiled softy at him, sipping her water as she did so.

"Oh that's nice.. I bet your paintings are magnificent." He said with a friendly smile. "Not as magnificent as you though..." He whispered to himself. The waiter walked over hovering a pen and notepad. "What would you like to eat?" He said. "Oh I will have the Apple Special with a glass of apple cider. A side of hay fries please and a salad." Frozen said handing the menu to the waiter after he finished writing. The waiter looked at candle Glow. "For you miss?" He said.

Candle laughed lightly to herself. "The same, thank you." Smiling she handed the waiter her menu. "Great minds think alike I suppose." She sipped her water gently. "I'm sorry for whatever my cousin did to get you to come... he's rather, well stubborn sometimes."

"Alright." The waiter said and trotted off to the kitchen. "No he didn't do much, really. He told me to go on a date, told me a little about you, and I agreed. I was single anyways and not many ponies find my look appealing." He said gesturing to his white stripes. He sipped his water then their cider was brought out and he drank some of it.

Candle gave a look of surprise. "Truly?" She blushed slightly, running a hoof through her mane. "I er... I mean, you're handsome, I don't see how they couldn't think that..."

"Well ponies think the white stripes are un-natural and the fact that i'm not a zebra...." He said. "Thank you though. It's nice to know some pony other than my cousin thinks so. You look beautiful." He said and blushed.

Candle turned as pink as her mane and looked at the table infront of her. "Th-thank you. " Candle began stirring her water with her straw, using magic.

Frozen gave a small smile then their food came. "Bon a petit." He said and started to eat.

Candle simply couldn't stop smiling as she began eating. 'Frozen seems wonderful... I hope this turns out well...' She thought to herself. "So, what do you enjoy doing? Other than flying of course." She asked between bites.

Frozen laughed. "Other than flying? That's funny. I like calm night walks or flights. I love pranking people and making jokes." Frozen said with a smile. "And how about you. What do you like doing? Other than using magic of course." Frozen said with a gleam of humor in his eyes.

Candle laughed. "I love doing almost anything in the evening. Especially calm strolls. I absolutely adore making others happy though, just something about adding a little light to another's darkness thrills me. "

"That's nice! I like to make people laugh. I was wondering if after dinner you want to take a stroll?" Frozen said then eating some hay fries.

Candle nodded happily, pushing her mane out of her eyes. "I'd love to."

He smiled and finished his dinner and the waiter took their plates and came back with the bill. Frozen payed and stood. "C'mon, lets go." He said with a smile.

Candle nodded and stood, following him out. "Just wondering.. What did my cousin tell you about me?" She asked genuinely as they walked.

"Stuff. You're nice and caring. We would be a perfect match." Frozen said as they walked around the town.

Candle nodded, smiling softly. "He's always saying stuff like that to ponies. Lantern has tried to set me up for ages. Do you have any family here in Ponyville? "

"Yes, my cousin Sky. The rest of my family lives in Manehatten or CloudsDale. How about you?" Frozen said. 'Dummy, she obviously has her cousin in town!' He thought. "Stupid.." He said out loud accidentally.

Candle didn't even hear him call himself stupid. "Lets see.. there's well, just me and Lantern really. My parents and brothers used to live here, but they moved around. Parents now live in a cottage by the Canterlot sea, and Maestro lives in Canterlot City, and Electric lives in Manehatten." Smiling at him she nudged him playfully while they walked. "Gets a little lonesome without them around, but I take care of Lantern, as his parents don't trust him to be on his own yet."

"Ha. I used to live with my brothers and sister but I left as soon as I got the chance. I hate my brothers but I love my sister with all my heart and if something bad happens to her, I will always be right there. Same for Sky, always there. I actually have to look out for her. Her brother told me so once he heard I was moving to PonyVille as well. The reason I hate my brothers, before you ask, is they use to beat my sister and me. That was after my dad died though. My dad would protect us but as soon as he died we were like injured rabbits in an open field, and they were the wolves. They normally only beat us if we did something wrong or upset them. It was worse when they were drunk... i'm not going into details. I hate hanging around Taverns because I think I might see my brothers there someday. I hope my sisters doing alright with them, or if she left them to crumble." Frozen said his ears back and some tears falling from his eyes, silently. "It's in the past though........ I don't like to talk about them......." He said his voice quivering as if he was about to cry, really hard.

Candle looked at him, her own pink eyes watering in sympathy. Moving closer to him, she nuzzled him softly and tried to wipe the tears from his eyes with her magic. "I'm sorry... We can talk about something else if you want, or just walk too. The past is just the past, isn't it?" Candle smiled at him encouragingly, recanting slightly her own past, and how different it was from his. She had a loving and wholesome family, but had taken it for granted for too long, and now, she was repairing the bonds that were broken.