Sweetie smiled a little as Scootaloo and Apple Bloom released the hug. She couldn't believe how silly she had been acting just because she thought that maybe she had a secret admirer, it had been nothing more than just a misunderstanding of course so it was just fine.
"Ah should get back home, Ah need ta get some stuff done before bed," Apple Bloom said as she gave her friends a smile. "Ah'll see ya'll tomorrow."
"Bye Apple Bloom, have a good night," Sweetie said as she gave her Earth Pony friend one more hug before she ran off and she looked back at Scootaloo. "I was acting kind of silly today wasn't I? I mean, running around trying to find out who my secret admirer is... I probably should've just thought it through better and realized it wasn't for me."
"Don't worry about it, you were just caught up in the excitement of the moment," Scootaloo said as she rubbed the back of her head a little. "Sweetie, you're going to find a special somepony someday, I just know it."
"You really think so?" Sweetie asked as she smiled at Scootaloo. "I mean, I'm glad I have you and Apple Bloom as friends, I'm lucky that I have such wonderful friends. Still, it would be nice to know if I had a secret admirer out there somewhere, I just wish that I knew."
Scootaloo smiled and looked away for a long moment as she tried not to blush at that. Sweetie Belle was a nice pony, she had no doubt that she'd be able to find somepony. She had to admit that she had been a little jealous when Sweetie thought she had a secret admirer.
She blushed a little and shook her head as she looked back at Sweetie Belle. Even if she had felt a little jealous, she just wanted her friend to be happy. At least everything had turned out to be okay since it was just a misunderstanding, it was too bad that she had missed the chance to do something for Hearts and Hooves Day.
"What about you Scootaloo?" Sweetie asked as Scootaloo blinked and looked at her.
"What's that?"
"I was wondering if you ever wanted to have a special somepony," Sweetie said. "I mean, you've never really seemed into the whole romance thing. So, what do you think about maybe having a secret admirer or a special somepony? I know its kind of silly to ask."
"No, no, its not silly at all," Scootaloo said quickly. She didn't want to admit it to Sweetie Belle just yet. "Eh, I never really thought about it to be honest. I mean, colts don't really seem that interested in me, I think I intimidate them or something."
"Too bad, you're pretty cute, I think anypony would be lucky to have you as their special somepony," Sweetie said and gave the Pegasus a smile. "I'll bet you'll have ponies fawning over you in no time."
"Yeah, I guess," Scootaloo said with a shake of her head and smiled a little. "For now, I'm just happy to be with my friends, so don't worry about it..."
She hated lying to herself and Sweetie, but after today she was just happy to have her friends. She wanted to give Sweetie a night to calm down and then maybe she'd give it a try. She sighed a little, maybe it would help Sweetie to know she did have somepony out there that felt that way about her.
If only she could figure out how to put it into words.
"Thank you Scootaloo," Sweetie said with a soft sigh.
"For what?"
"For being my friend," she said and hugged Scootaloo one more time. "I'm so lucky to have you and Apple Bloom, you're the best friends I could ask for."
Scootaloo paused a moment and smiled as she hugged Sweetie back. "You're welcome Sweetie, I feel the same about you too."
"Alright, so see you tomorrow?" Sweetie asked.
"I wouldn't miss it for the world," Scootaloo replied with a smile as they parted ways and headed off towards their homes.
00000
"Hey slugger, how was Hearts and Hooves Day?" A stocky blue Pegasus mare with a purple mane and tail asked as Scootaloo headed into her house in Ponyville. "Did you help Big Mac and Sugar Belle?"
"Well, we did, though Sweetie got Big Mac's gift for Sugar Belle by mistake and we spent part of the day looking for her secret admirer," Scootaloo said with a shrug. "Sorry Aunt Holiday was away for the day Auntie Lofty."
"Its okay, every day I get to spend with her is special," Lofty said with a smile. "You don't really need a special day to be with your special somepony. You'll understand when you get older, I promise."
"Yeah, I think I understand," Scootaloo said with a soft smile. "I admit that I may kind of, you know... like, like somepony. I just don't know how I'm going to tell them."
"Really?" Lofty asked and looked at her niece curiously. "Well, don't keep me in suspense, who is it?"
"Sweetie Belle..." Scootaloo said softly as she looked down at her hooves.
"What was that?" Lofty asked as she looked at her niece curiously. "I couldn't make that out."
"Its Sweetie Belle, okay?" Scootaloo finally said. "All day I was half afraid that we'd find her secret admirer. I do want her to be happy, and I don't want to do anything to ruin our friendship. What am I supposed to do? What if she doesn't feel the same about me?"
"Scootaloo, calm down," Lofty said as she hugged the smaller Pegasus gently. "Sweetie is your friend, even if she doesn't feel the same way I'm sure it won't do anything to change your friendship. You should at least try and tell her, do you know what you want to do to tell her?"
"Honestly, I don't know," Scootaloo admitted with a shake of her head. "I'm not very good at this kind of thing, I'm not really that much of a romantic you know. I'm worried that I'll mess it all up somehow and ruin any chance I have at it."
"Scootaloo, do you know how Holiday asked me out?" Lofty asked. "I don't think we've ever told you that story."
"No, you didn't," Scootaloo said as she looked at her aunt curiously. "What happened?"
"Well, she tried to make it this big thing," Lofty said with a chuckle. "We had known each other for a few years at this point, and she wanted to ask me out in a big way. So she got her friend who's a musician to help her write a song to ask me out, and she walked right up to me in town."
"How'd that go?" Scootaloo asked, she was suddenly more curious.
"Well the music started and she stumbled, and then she completely forgot what she was trying to sing," Lofty said with a chuckle. "She was nervous and completely messed everything up, so she ran off crying. Her friend told me what had happened, and I ran off after her. She was nervous, but, well I had felt the same way about her for awhile so I told her that, and we started dating. You know the rest of the story of course."
"Yeah, I do," Scootaloo said and chuckled a little. "So, what do you think I should do?"
"Just tell her how you feel," Lofty said with a smile and ruffled Scootaloo's mane a little. "If you want to do anything special, keep it simple. Sweetie is your friend and if you two are as close as you are, then you don't have to worry about ruining your friendship."
"Thanks," Scootaloo said with a smile as she hugged Lofty. "I'm glad you're my aunt."
"Me too kiddo, you're my favorite niece," Lofty said with a chuckle as she ruffled the filly's mane.
"I'm your only niece!" Scootaloo said with a laugh.
"Good, you're enough trouble on your own," Lofty said with a laugh. "Come on, lets get something to eat, your aunt Holiday will be home tomorrow so lets enjoy the last night we can just have pizza for dinner."
Scootaloo smiled as they headed out to pick up dinner at the local place. She smiled up at Lofty, she was only her aunt by marriage but she had always felt as close to her as she did to Holiday. Though she wished her parents were around more, her aunts were still great.
She just hoped that Lofty's advice would help.
00000
The next day dawned and Sweetie yawned a little as she got out of bed and headed downstairs where Rarity was working on a dress for one of her regular customers. Rarity smiled a little as she looked at Sweetie and levitated an envelope over to her.
"What's this?" The younger unicorn asked as she looked at it, it had Sweetie's name and cutie mark on it.
"Oh, one of your little friends brought it by a little while ago," Rarity said with a smile as she looked at Sweetie with a smile before speaking in a sing-song voice. "It looks like you have a secret admirer, my little sister is growing up, its so cute!"
"Did you see who it was?"
"Maaaaybe," Rarity said with a giggle as she went back to working on her dress. "What do you think Sweetie? I wouldn't let just anypony leave you a letter like that, don't worry about it."
Sweetie shrugged a little as she opened up the envelope and took out the letter. The hoofwriting was a little messy, and kind of looked familiar, but she could make out what it said.
Sweetie Belle,
I've had feelings for you for awhile, and I wanted to do something special for you yesterday but it didn't work out. But I made us a little picnic in Sweet Apple Acres by the CMC clubhouse for lunch at noon. I hope to see you there, I'd love a chance to talk to you.
Sincerely,
Your Secret Admirer.
Sweetie blinked as she looked at the letter, her secret admirer? She actually had a secret admirer? This felt almost like a joke after everything that had happened the day before, but what if it was true? She looked over at Rarity who just gave her a knowing smile.
"Well, what are you going to do Sweetie?" Rarity asked.
"Well, umm... what do you think I should do?" Sweetie asked, she had to admit she was nervous, what if this was real? Did she really want to maybe have a special somepony after everything? Why didn't they come forward yesterday?
"I think you should go," Rarity said.
"What if its just somepony playing a mean joke on me? What if I don't feel the same way about them? I'm so nervous, I don't know what to do..." Sweetie said and shook her head.
"Sweetie, I could tell that the pony was deeply in love with you," Rarity said with a smile. "I think you should at least give them a chance. Who knows, maybe you'll find out that you feel the same way about them after all."
"Okay, I'll at least go," Sweetie said with a smile. "Do I at least get a hint? Who is it?"
"Sweetie, there's no fun in finding out who a secret admirer is before they're ready to tell you," Rarity said with a laugh. "Don't worry darling, you'll be just fine, perhaps you'll be pleasantly surprised."
"Okay, I'll give it a try," Sweetie said and smiled. "This is kind of exciting."
"Yes, yes it is, now go get ready," Rarity said with a smile as she got back to work and Sweetie nodded and headed back upstairs.
00000
"Hello? I'm here when you asked me to be," Sweetie said as she looked around for her secret admirer. "This better not be a joke!"
After a moment the door to the clubhouse opened up and Sweetie looked up to see the familiar Pegasus filly walking out of the clubhouse and down the steps carrying a picnic basket in her mouth. She gave Sweetie a smile as she came to a stop and set it down.
"Hey Sweetie," Scootaloo said with a smile.
"Scootaloo?" Sweetie asked and blinked in surprise. "Sorry, I wasn't expecting to see you here, I got a letter from a secret admirer today."
"Yeah, I know," Scootaloo said with a smile and looked at Sweetie, trying not to be nervous. "Sweetie, I... I'm sorry, I should've told you this yesterday when you were looking for your secret admirer, but I just wanted you to be happy. I'm your real secret admirer, I was just too nervous to tell you how I felt about you yesterday."
"Really?" Sweetie asked and blinked a little as she looked at Scootaloo surprised. "You, really feel that way about me?"
"Yeah," Scootaloo said softly. "I've felt this way about you for awhile, you're so smart and kind and cute and wonderful! I understand if you don't feel the same way, but I wanted to tell you."
Sweetie blinked a little as she looked at Scootaloo for a long moment as she tried to figure out exactly what to think about that. She had been friends with Scootaloo for awhile, and she hadn't really thought about the possibility that she might be attracted to mares.
But, she still felt a feeling growing in her heart. Scootaloo wasn't the kind of pony she had ever considered being attracted to, was she? She was brave, charming, and above all else kind, she was in some ways the pony of her dreams, she just hadn't ever expected it to be a filly, let alone her best friend.
Maybe those feelings had always been there, she just hadn't figured out what they meant.
She smiled and looked at Scootaloo's purple eyes, the Pegasus was looking away as she was a bit nervous. She felt that feeling growing again, and she knew that there was only one thing she could say.
"Scootaloo..."
"Yes?" Scootaloo said softly as she looked up into the Unicorn's eyes.
"I feel the same about you," she said and leaned in and kissed her friend gently on the lips, breaking it after a moment. "Happy Hearts and Hooves Day Scootaloo."
"Happy Hearts and Hooves Day Sweetie," Scootaloo said softly as she wrapped her wings around Sweetie gently and nuzzled her.
They both couldn't be happier than they were at this very moment, and they wanted it to never end.
