"ORDER UP!"

Quick Snap heaved a sigh, sliding the tray of food over the counter and picking up the attached ticket.

"Order number 87!" Leaning over the counter he carefully slid the tray toward a small filly, the little unicorn reaching up to take it in her mouth. "There you go, sweetie." Quick Snap turning back to face the new fry cook/bagger.

"For the last time, Deep Fry, you're not in the taco cart anymore. You can't just scream across the restaurant!" The portly pegasus simply gave a shrug in response. Quick Snap rolled his eyes in amusement, looking forward and smiling to greet the next customer.

"Hello! Welcome to-"

"You got my order wrong! I asked for a Hayburger with-"

Snap quickly put on his best customer service smile, reaching under the counter and flashing a small board painted blue at his colleagues, all of whom were looking over at the increasingly loud mare opposite the counter.

Snap could feel the thump of his heart starting to pound in his ears, he had joined several customer service roles over the years to try and improve his social anxiety. He could proudly say that it had worked, however, when someone caught him off guard it could still flare-up.

Quick Snap took a deep, slow breath and gently pressed a hoof to his chest.

"Become the mask... Become the mask..." Opening his eyes Quick Snap was waiting for the mare to reach the end of her tirade, and as she finally wound down, he struck.

"I am terribly sorry about that madam," Quick Snap's hooves moved in a flash as they flew under the counter, a ripping sound accompanying a coupon being pushed across the counter toward the customer. "Please accept this coupon for a free meal on your next visit to Hayburgers and a complimentary drink!" The beverage levitated into his hoof, courtesy of one of his unicorn co-workers. The deep blue earth pony slid it over to the rapidly calming mare.

"We'll remake your order and have it brought right over to your table, once again I apologise for any inconvenience we may have caused you today. Is there anything else I can help you with, madam?" He flashed her his sincerest smile... Well, his fakest sincerest smile, but what she didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

"Oh... Right, well, thank you..." The mare took the coupon and drink in her magic and walked back to her table. Quick Snap breathed a sigh of relief, turning toward his colleagues he got a wink Swift Hoof, his supervisor, she was mouthing the words "Nailed it!" at him.

Quick Snap carried on serving customers and calling out orders, at one point he leaned sideways to get a better look down the line, swearing blind that he saw Princess Twilight walk in. Shaking his head he dismissed the notion, that was ludicrous.

"Ok, one more customer then I can go on break." Snap took a quick breath before returning back to the counter, quickly glancing down at the latest order and calling it out.

"Hello! Welcome to Haaaaayyyyyy-" Quick Snap felt his heart pounding again, was it supposed to skip a beat like that?
The mare in front of him was talking but all he heard was a growing ringing in his ears, her light blue fur shining with a brilliance he had never seen, her mane was a shimmering blonde, smooth and curling over her right eye. Even when speaking she was carrying a soft smile, though the words were lost he could still hear the melody of them, and the eye he could see? Oh, Celestia, he could gaze into its amber depths forever...

"Wow..." The whisper came out like a passing wind, the unicorn in front of him drawing her head back with an amused smirk.

"Excuse me?" She gave a chuckle, Quick Snap's usually blue coat rapidly turning crimson.

"I-erm- Er... Wh-what I meant was... Um... I-I-I-"

"Smooth." Snap jumped as he realised Swift Hoof had snuck up on him unawares, a chorus of chuckles coming from the kitchen. "Don't worry hun, I got your order." Ringing up the order she looked over at Quick Snap.

"Isn't it your break now, Cassanova?" Ignoring Snap's snap of his head toward her, she turned her focus back to the mare. "Is that to eat in or to go?"

The mare in question glanced between the two of them, her smirk growing as her eye settled on Quick Snap, the blue earth pony still sporting a two-tone coat.

"I'd like to dine in, please." Using her magic to pick up a plastic table number, she turned away to the nearest table, glancing back at Snap a little longer than he expected.

"Ooooh, she's got that hip sashay down!" Swift Hoof jabbed him playfully with her elbow.

"Shut up, she's beautiful!" Quick Snap whispered to her harshly, his embarrassment rising tenfold as he realised what he said. Swift Hoof collapsed into a rather unprofessional laughing fit, even by Hayburger's standards.

Quick Snap rolled his eyes, ducking out from under her hoof and heading back toward the small staff room. Quickly divulging himself of his uniform he couldn't help but let his mind drift to the mare he had just seen. He could feel his heart beating faster just picturing her smile; was it wrong to be so utterly enraptured by somepony he didn't even know the name of?

Snap slammed his locker shut with a hoof, turning toward the door and heading out through the staff exit. Had she actually been interested in him or was she just amused by how he had made a fool of himself? She had looked back at him but that didn't mean anything, maybe he should just ask? If she was interested she would make it pretty clear one way or the other.

"Hey Snap, wanna take this order over to the table as you're going?" Swift Hoof slid a tray over the counter to him. Snap gave a quick nod as he balanced the tray on his back.

"Where's it going?" He asked, only getting an eye-roll in response.

"Where do you think? The pony who decided to eat in because you were going on break, duh!" She jabbed a hoof in his direction, looking behind him Quick Snap could see the mare watching him with a smirk.

Quick Snap flushed and moved quickly over, his hooves trembling slightly as he sidled up to the table.

"Hey, got your order." He carefully slid the tray off of his back and smoothly onto the table. The mare slid it in front of her and glanced up at him.

"Thanks, so is your name actually Cassanova or...?" She started unwrapping her hayburger as Quick Snap's fur only turned redder.

"Oh- erm, no. It's Snap, Quick Snap. That's just my boss having a laugh." He raised a hoof to scratch the back of his head awkwardly.

"Nice to meet you, Quick Snap. Are you going to be joining me?" The unicorn gestured toward the seat opposite her, Quick Snap quickly sliding into it.

"Y-yeah, sure! I-" Quick snapped his mouth shut, about to say "If it's alright with you?" before realising she probably wouldn't have offered if it weren't. The lighter blue mare took a bite out of her burger and swallowed.

"So do you always greet every customer like that or was that just for me?" She teased the pony sat across from her, enjoying seeing his blush leave his cheeks and start to spread down his neck.

"N-no, I mean I have uh-" Quick Snap coughed into his hoof to buy himself a moment. "I have social anxiety-"

"Oh, and there was me thinking I was special.." She took another bite of her burger, Quick Snap seeing her smile falter a little.

"Well, I got that under control a few years ago. I can do customer service no problem." He looked down, his brain working overtime to try and carry the conversation and find a way to get it back on track. "It's just when I saw you I got a little flustered." Her smile returned a little brighter than before.

"Just a little?" She smirked, polishing off her burger as Quick Snap laughed nervously.

"Ok, a lot flustered." He smiled as the unicorn reached out for her drink, she swept her hoof across it, nearly knocking it over, only recovering when her other hoof shot out to steady it. Quick Snap reacted too, his hooves catching hers and helping to steady the renegade beverage. It was her turn to blush this time.

"Sorry about that, depth perception isn't really my strong suit." She glanced away from Quick Snap, the other pony tilting his head curiously.

"Oh?" The unspoken question hung in the air as the mare sighed, she turned her head and gave it a sharp jerk, sending her mane away from her face. The sudden motion revealed a large brown patch where her right eye should be. She watched Quick Snap's expression, shifting from comprehension, to awkwardness before settling back on his gentle smile; she blinked before breaking out in a genuine smile.

"Wow, it took you less than a second to get over that..." Quick Snap simply shrugging in response.

"Why should it matter?"

Her expression melted into a heart-felt smile, before gazing down at the table.

"Erm, could I maybe get my drink?"

Quick Snap followed her gaze, seeing both of their hooves still clasped around her soda.

"Oh, sorry!" Releasing her hooves quickly, he let her take possession of her drink.

"My name is Sweet Song." Her warm grin was infectious, she took a hold of her straw in her magic and jabbed it into the lid of the soda, before bringing it up to her lips.

"That's a really pretty name." Quick Snap blushed as his eyes went wide, panic flooding him at how forward he was being, to his relief Sweet Song only giggled.

"Thanks, so who is Quick Snap when he's not getting flustered over pretty mares?"

The pair sat in the booth, Sweet Song having long since finished her meal and Quick Snap having long since lost track of time. The pair were discussing everything that new friends did, their hobbies, favourite music, books, jobs. Sweet Song was a singer who did a little bit of modelling on the side; Quick Snap being an amateur photographer, supplementing his income with a few minimum wage jobs.

"So yeah, it's not really glamorous work, but rent and bills aren't going to pay themselves and new cameras are expensive-"

"Ahem!" Quick Snap and Sweet Song looking up to see Swift Hoof standing over them, the pegasus glancing at him with a knowing smirk.

"Hey Cassanova, your break finished half an hour ago." The supervisor fixed him with a very convincing mock glare.

"Oh shoot, I'm sorry Swift I'll get-" She raised a wing to cut him off.

"Don't worry about it, you wanna take the afternoon off? The staff were having a wager on whether or not you were going to strike out." Quick Snap glared at her as Sweet Song snickered into her hoof.

"You were betting on me?!" The indignant earth pony frowned as Swift Hoof shook her head defensively.

"Take it easy, you just won me a hundred bits! I had faith in you." She gave Quick Snap a wink and a grin, bumping him in the arm with her hoof.

"Get out of here, I'll put it down as a half day's holiday so you still get paid." Without another word she swept back to the kitchens, leaving Quick Snap and Sweet Song alone again.

"Well I was going to go and see a movie in about half-hour, did you want to come with?" Quick Snap nodded quickly, Sweet Song's smile widening in response. They both turned as they heard a loud squeal from the next table over, looking toward it they saw a bright pink unicorn with a very lumpy green hoodie watching them with wide eyes, clapping her hooves together excitedly. The lavender alicorn sat across from her glanced between the exited unicorn and the two ponies sat across from them, she shrugged before using her magic to seize her dining companion's forgotten hayburger in her magic and started wolfing it down.

"Sure, what are we going to go see?" Quick Snap turned back to Sweet Song, casually ignoring the strange unicorn. The two got up, making their way out of the restaurant and trotting down the street, chatting happily.

Author's Note

This narrative was brought to you by the question "How would you portray love at first sight?" Now I know that actual love at first sight isn't really a thing, but it was a fun concept to write/play with. But I wanted to try and actually do something with this story so I made an attempt to write it in the present tense. Boy, was that way more difficult than anticipated. As nice a challenge as it was I believe I'll stick to past tense for the time being.