Author's Note

When I saw that the valentines-based Hearts & Hooves Day episode was next on the chopping block for this story, I knew right away what I could do to AU this episode with the current events going on without a whole bunch of people getting pissed off.

Chapter 23 - Hearts & Hooves Day (Hearts & Hooves Day AU)

It was shortly after the Cutie Mark Crusaders of Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo gave Cheerilee a giant hearts & hooves day card for her hoping that she had some special somepony in her life, only to find out their teacher didn't, they left the school only to bump right into White Flame, Button Mash, and Rumble.

"Oh hey. That was pretty nice of you girls to make something for Miss Cheerilee like that." Button Mash said.

"Yeah. But it's kind of sad that she doesn't have a special somepony." Sweetie Belle said.

"Well obviously, she hasn't yet met the right pony for herself. But before you two try and play matchmaker on Hearts & Hooves day, know this: My parents told me that finding that special somepony doesn't happen in a day's time, it can take several months for a pony to realize that whoever they hang out with is their special somepony." White Flame said.

"Funny, bro said the same thing." Rumble said.

"Huh...you know, my mom said that's what happened with dad too." Button Mash said.

"Speaking of your dad, I don't think we've ever seen him before." Sweetie Belle noted.

"My dad's a bit...special. He'll hopefully come around sooner rather than later. Then again, he always gets distracted by pottery." Button Mash said. "Don't ask." He added quickly.

"I wasn't going to." Scootaloo said.

"It's still sad that Miss Cheerilee doesn't have a special somepony in her life." Apple Bloom said.

"Don't. Even. Think of it. Even if you wanted to hook her up with some stallion today, there wouldn't be time for her to give them a proper Hearts & Hooves Day gift. And the day is meant to be spent with the pony you find yourself interested in the most." White Flame said.

"And how do you know that?" Scootaloo asked.

"It's called basic knowledge learnt from actually reading about the holiday with in-depth research." White Flame said. "Twilight even has a couple of books on the holiday. That's how I learnt about it, and gathered my own thoughts about what the holiday should be about." He explained.

"...Of course, Twilight would have a book or two about specific holidays." Scootaloo admitted. That's not super specific. Still, I'm onto you, White Flame. She thought to herself.

"Speaking of Twilight, we just saw her hanging out at Sugarcube corner with that orange pegasus guard. Flash Sentry I believe is his name." Button Mash said.

"WAIT WHAT?!" Scootaloo said, her jaw dropping in response.

"I don't even know the full details, but it's clear they see something in each other, otherwise why spend today of all days together like that?" Rumble asked.

"But it's Twilight Sparkle. You know, the pony whose most known for reading books." Scootaloo said.

"Hey, if you don't believe us, you can go check for yourselves." White Flame said.

"...Funny thing is, I do believe you..." Scootaloo said. Something's fishy here... She thought to herself.

"Well, if this day is about spending time with the pony you care the most about; then White Flame, guess you can hang out with me then." Apple Bloom said.

"Wait what?" White Flame asked.

"C'mon, ah wanna show you something that we can do in the town together." Apple Bloom said.

"Err...sure I suppose we could do--YIKES!" White Flame began to get dragged by Apple Bloom. "OKAY OKAY, I GET THE MESSAGE!" He yelled out.

Scootaloo was stunned by this. Wh-what just happened? It looked to me that White Flame is not used to a filly being so forward with him like Apple Bloom is being.

"In that case...Button Mash, want to hit the arcade?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Uh...sure." Button Mash said, blushing before leaving with Sweetie Belle.

"...Guess it's just the two of us now." Rumble asked.

"Err...yeah..." Scootaloo said, a bit of a blush on her face. What the buck just happened? She thought to herself.

"Want to go flying together? It'll help you stretch your wings a bit more." Rumble said.

"You don't need to tell me twice." Scootaloo said. I can dwell on this whole situation later. Spending time with Rumble is more important right now. She thought to herself. ...Whoa. Where did that come from? The orange pegasus pondered but didn't get to for long as she started to fly off with Rumble.

Each of the CMC ended up having quite the day with each other.

Scootaloo and Rumble ended up spending the entire day flying with each other before Rumble offered to preen Scootaloo's feathers for her. A deeply blushing Scootaloo agreed to this.

Meanwhile, Button Mash and Sweetie Belle pretty much OWNED the arcade as they were pretty evenly matched no matter which game they were playing. They were so good that the arcade owner actually had to ask them to leave an entire three hours ahead of closing time.

And as for Apple Bloom and White Flame? The two ended up actually at the gym.

"Why did we go to a gym?" White Flame asked, confused.

"Because ah wanna get stronger, and ah'm sure you wanna do so as well." Apple Bloom asked.

"I guess that makes sense..." White Flame said. The two would then go on to spend the entire day at the gym working out. Eventually, the two stopped and headed out. "That was actually not a bad time." White Flame admitted once the pair reached the middle of Ponyville. "I wouldn't mind hanging out like that again sometime. Just...don't go dragging me next time." The colt added.

"No promises." Apple Bloom said. "Ah gotta get going if ah'm to make it home before sunset. See ya White Flame." She added before hugging White Flame. The colt was caught completely off guard before Apple Bloom left.

"She...she hugged me...she actually hugged me..." White Flame said. "I...I gotta get home..." He said and ran off.

He didn't know that Scootaloo and Rumble had seen that little exchange. "Huh...I've never seen White Flame like that before. Apple Bloom must have really gotten to him." Rumble said.

Scootaloo had unknowingly taken a picture of the moment when Apple Bloom and White Flame had hugged, labeled the picture "New at romance", before stashing it away for later. "...Yeah...I guess you could say that." Scootaloo admitted.

Meanwhile, White Flame was alone in his room holding a picture of Apple Bloom.

"...Tell me something Apple Bloom: If you knew who I was and what I had created; would you still want to be my special somepony, or would this relationship end up just like the one I had with her?" White Flame asked no pony in particular.