If somepony was asked to describe what the general feel of Ponyville was at this present moment, it would be obvious what word they would choose; loving. And that would be more than appropriate, as this was none other than Hearts and Hooves Day, that special time of year when everypony spends the day with their special someponies, appreciating them all the more. It was a day of love and lovers, and everywhere you went in that town, there could be seen happy couples abound, staring affectionately into each other’s eyes and simply enjoying their company. Even those who were not blessed with somepony special would spend the day attempting to find them, with courtships both successful and not-so-successful being undertaken at every other moment. Indeed, this remarkable day seemed to be the one thing on anypony's mind, and nowhere was that more apparent than in the three fillies that now walked down the main street of the town. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo all looked around, seeing the various couples and dates going on around them. But, rather than be happy for their fellow ponies, such displays actually made them feel all the more down.

"Geez! All these ponies with somepony special...and Miss Cheerilee doesn't have anypony!" Scootaloo commented.

The other fillies nodded at that, with Sweetie Belle speaking up next.

"It makes no sense. She's one of the nicest mares around. She should have somepony special."

Turning to her two friends, Apple Bloom put on an enthusiastic smile.

"An that's exactly what we're gonna do today! We're gonna find her a special somepony!"

The other fillies turned to her, and soon bore smiles as eager as hers. As they continued down the street, they caught sight of a few stallions here and there, many of which appeared to be single. Smiling to each other, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo watched as their unicorn friend hopped onto a nearby empty crate, taking in a deep breath. They knew what was coming next, and so readied themselves to provide a much-needed backup chorus. However, before Sweetie could belt out even the first note of their song, she was interrupted by a sudden yet familiar voice.

"Hi, girls!"

Although initially irritated at being interrupted like that, Sweetie's expression became a genuine smile as she saw that the newcomer was none other than her own special somepony, Spike. Leaping off the crate, she stepped towards him, leaning forward and nuzzling him affectionately. Putting on a fierce blush at that, Spike chuckled nervously, much to the amusement of the other two fillies. Once his fillyfriend finally parted form him, the young dragon looked to the whole group and spoke.

"I've been looking all over for you guys!"

Scootaloo put on a smirk at that.

"Oh yeah? Wanted to get close to your sweetheart on Hearts and Hooves Day?"

Despite the fact that, in the past, Spike would have been too embarrassed to answer, this time, he instead put his hands on his hips and gave a confident nod of his head.

"Eyup!"

Although Sweetie seemed more than a little enamoured with her coltfriend's words, Scootaloo was the opposite, looking rather annoyed at losing her chance to tease Spike as she used to do. Smiling at this small victory, Spike then cleared his throat before continuing.

"But still, I was actually kinda hoping to hang out with all of you today!"

Apple Bloom, after hearing that, raised a hoof and shook her head slightly.

"No can do, Spike. We've got urgent business to deal with."

As expected, the young dragon raised an eyebrow at that, folding his arms before replying.

"Oh? Like what?"

Sweetie stepped up to him, looking very eager to speak to him. She leaned forward and began whispering into his ear, which was a sight that caused a few giggles for her two friends. As Spike listened to what Sweetie had to say, his eyes began to widen with realisation, which was then followed by him simply raising an eyebrow.

"A special somepony for your teacher? Really?"

Sweetie nodded enthusiastically at that, all while Spike looked at her with some confusion. He let out a sigh and opened his mouth to speak, but was stopped from doing so when Scootaloo grabbed the other fillies and pointed them to something across the street. Turning, Spike, along with the other fillies, saw that it was Twilight, who was walking down the road with a book magically hovering in front of her. Looking to each other, the fillies all exchanged knowing looks, before immediately charging forward before Spike could stop them. As he watched them run, he let out another sigh before grabbing the bridge of his nose in a display of exasperation. But, it wasn't long before he was in pursuit of the three, who had now managed to position themselves right in Twilight’s path. Although the young unicorn was oblivious to them at first, that all changed when Scootaloo cleared her throat, gaining her attention. When she finally looked up from her book, she seemed shocked to see them at first, but then composed herself and put on a smile.

"Good morning, girls! Can I help you?"

The fillies gave each other a knowing look before turning back to Twilight with smiles on their faces, with Apple Bloom taking a step forward and speaking up first.

"Um, Twilight? We were wonderin...do y'all have any idea on how to get somepony a...ya know...special somepony?"

Twilight looked at them after hearing that, and soon appeared to be deep in thought over something. It was not the kind of expression the fillies expected her to have, given the kind of question they'd asked. Even so, they waited, not noticing that Spike had caught up to them and was now waiting silently behind them. But, it was here that Twilight spoke, her face plastered in a look that made it clear that she didn't have happy news.

"I'm sorry girls, but I'm not exactly an expert in relationships. I'm afraid I can't help you."

As expected after getting an answer like that, the ears of the fillies all collectively dropped. However, while this was a sad sight, Twilight was then taken aback when Scootaloo popped back up, actually managing to look more excited than before.

"Ooh! Then maybe you have some super-special magic stuff that can help?"

For a brief moment, Twilight's eyes darted to the book she was carrying, before looking back to the fillies and shaking her head.

"I'm sorry...but magic shouldn't be used to force love. It just...isn't right."

Yet again, the fillies looked disappointed at hearing that, prompting Twilight to place her hoof upon Apple Bloom's shoulder. The filly looked up to her, seeing that Twilight was somewhat upset at not being able to help them, and put on a small smile, which let the unicorn mare know that it wasn't that big a problem. Smiling back, Twilight resumed her travels, giving a silent nod to her adopted son as she passed him by. With Twilight now gone, Spike looked to the fillies, who were still looking rather down about all this. He raised a clawed hand and began scratching his chin, clearly thinking about a way to cheer them up. After a few moments of silence, he looked to them and took a step forward.

"You know...maybe you don't have to help Cheerilee find a special somepony?"

The fillies all looked to him, seeming incredulous at that idea.

"What? But...but she's so great! She deserves to be happy!” Sweetie Belle answered.

Spike nodded.

"I know you want to help her, but...is she unhappy? I mean...did she actually say anything or act as if being single bothered her?"

The fillies, after hearing that, all looked to each other, looking slightly embarrassed about something. However, Spike didn't really know what it was until Scootaloo spoke next.

"Well...I guess...she did kinda say she was fine with it."

Hearing that, Spike nodded, and shortly afterwards, turned to Sweetie Belle.

"Sweetie...at the risk of saying something incredibly stupid on my part...were you or I unhappy, back before we got together?"

The unicorn filly looked quite taken aback by that, opening her mouth and ready to give some kind of answer. But, as Spike's words began to sink in, she stopped, looking away from him and thinking the matter over for a few moments of silence. Then, she gained a look that seemed to suggest that she'd just been told something obvious for the first time in her entire life. Looking back to him, she slowly shook her head, silently giving him his answer. The young dragon put on a warm smile for her after seeing that, at which point he then turned to the other fillies.

"And you two... are you unhappy with not having special someponies?"

Much like with Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo turned to each other, thinking the matter over for a few moments. And, also like Sweetie Belle, realisation dawned on their faces as they too shook their heads in response to Spike's question. Seeing all this, Spike gave a single nod before finally speaking up again.

"Look...I'm sure Miss Cheerilee would really appreciate that you girls are going to so much trouble for her. But...if she's happy with the way things are right now...maybe you should learn to do the same."

There was silence between the four youths, with the Crusaders all looking to one another after taking in their friend's words. Spike looked to each of them in turn, silently worrying that he might have, perhaps, offended them in saying what he'd said. However, in time, he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw them all put on small smiles, looking to him and giving nods of agreement. Letting out a brief bout of nervous laughter, Spike scratched the back of his head, after which he watched as Sweetie Belle walked to stand beside him. As the two youngsters looked into each other’s eyes, Spike was slightly taken aback when Sweetie leaned forward and gave him a brief kiss on the cheek, and while the other two giggled at this as usual, he didn't care. He was simply happy that she'd done it. It was not long after that, however, that Sweetie spoke up to him.

"You know...with all that talk of ponies being happy being single...I hope that doesn’t mean you don't want to spend the day with me."

Hearing that, Spike let out a hearty chuckle.

"Are you kidding? I’m not an idiot!"