Sweetie Belle trotted downstairs that morning to find her big sister Annika in a very excited flutter.
It was Hearts and Hooves Day again and it looked like the post-pony had been already to deliver a wonderful looking bouquet of flowers and a beautiful card.
"To my dearest, Annika, with love and kisses from your very special somepony!" Annika was reading aloud when Sweetie Belle walked in.
The young girl was gobsmacked.
"You have a special somepony?" Sweetie Belle exclaimed. "Who is it and since when?"
"None of your business, Sweetie Belle, dear!" Annika replied coyly. With a swish of her mane she began to use her magic horn to transfer the flowers, which were red roses, into a crystal vase filled with water and arrange them into a pretty pattern. "I'm going to be popping out, Sweetie Belle, once I've finished this. I've left you some breakfast on the table."
At the mention of food Sweetie Belle momentarily forgot all about Annika's mysterious admirer.
"You made scrambled eggs!" she whinnied happily and instantly set about devouring the freshly cooked breakfast.
Sweetie Belle had almost finished as Annika was getting ready to leave.
"Right, I'll be off then. See you later, dear! Have a good day!"
As Sweetie Belle scarfed down the last of her eggs she found her mind returning to the mystery at hand.
"Wait! What about your special somepony?" she called after her sister, but it was too late – Annika had already left and closed the door behind her.
Sweetie Belle cleared away her plate and then grabbed her school saddle bag, lifting it magically onto her back, and then she too left the Boutique and headed off to walk to school with her fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom.
As she walked alongside her two friends she couldn't keep the juicy new information that she had learned about her sister to herself.
"Annika has a special somepony!" she blurted out excitedly.
"Hey!" Apple Bloom complained. "You went and beat me to it! I was just about to tell you and Scootaloo that Pippi has a special somepony too!"
"Pippi too?!" Scootaloo squeaked in amazement.
"Do you know who it is?" Sweetie Belle wondered. "Annika is keeping tight lipped about hers!"
Apple Bloom shook her head which made her cute pink bow wobble a little.
"Nuh-uh!" she said. "She wouldn't tell me."
Sweetie Belle's brow furrowed in confusion, but then she quickly brightened into a smile.
"Well I guess we know what we're doing after school, don't we girls?"
"Huh, what's that?" Scootaloo shook her head.
Sweetie Belle paused and rubbed her two front hooves together.
"We're gonna follow Annika and Pippi and find out who their special someponies are!"
School passed far too slowly for Sweetie Belle's liking, not that she had learned much that day, she was sure! Most of Miss Tommy's lessons must have flown right over her head, so engrossed was she in the mystery surrounding her big sister's love life.
When the final bell rang to signal the end of classes she embarrassed herself in front of everypony by throwing her front hooves in the air and shouting: "WOO-HOO!"
Tommy had scowled at her with good natured disapproval.
"I think that's the most enthusiasm I've seen you exhibit this entire day, Sweetie Bell!" the boy teased.
Sweetie Belle could only blush in response.
Once the three Crusaders were outside of the school Sweetie Belle's enthusiasm seemed to infect the other two girls as well.
"Right, where are we off to?" Scootaloo bounced up and down excitedly, flapping her tiny wings like a hummingbird.
"I know for a fact that Annika had an appointment for a spa treatment today." Sweetie Belle replied. "She's probably prettying herself up for a date later on tonight. If we go now we can catch her as she's leaving!"
"That works out great cuz Pippi said she was going to the spa today as well! They'll both be there!" Apple Bloom chipped in.
"Sounds good to me!" Scootaloo agreed. "What are we waiting for?"
The three girls took off in the direction of the spa. As their excitement took over them Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle burst into a song:
"Annika and Pippi are sweet and kind,
They're the best sisters we could hope for!
A stallion's identity is what we must find!
That special somepony that's made their hearts soar!"
Sweetie Belle sang: "I hope he's rich!"
Apple Bloom: "I hope he's strong!"
Scootaloo: "Didn't we already do this song?"
Sweetie Belle: "I hope he's handsome!"
Apple Bloom: "And I hope he's nice!"
Scootaloo: "Is there a reason we're singing this same song twice?"
Sweetie Belle: "I hope he's clean!"
Apple Bloom: "And not too smelly!"
Scootaloo: "Let's hope it's not that guy with the tubs of jelly!"
At this last part the three girls looked at each other and broke down in a fit of giggles.
"Eeew!" Sweetie Belle grimaced good-naturedly.
The song was officially over. For now.
Which was a good thing because they had finally reached the spa!
Just in time too as Annika and Pippi were just exiting the building.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders quickly hid behind a nearby hay bale and peeked around it to see what the two older ponies were up to.
Both Annika and Pippi were giggling happily and looking at each other with soppy loved-up looks on their faces as they trotted along.
"Well I don't think it's gonna be too hard to figure out who their special someponies are!" Scootaloo remarked with a knowing smile.
"You betcha!" Apple Bloom agreed. "All we gotta do now is follow them both and see who they lead us to!"
Sweetie Belle nodded her head emphatically.
Scootaloo just looked at them both.
"Seriously?" she exclaimed in astonishment, but then she shook her head and allowed herself a sly grin. "Okay, have it your way!"
And so the Cutie Mark Crusaders began to tail Annika and Pippi through Ponyville as discreetly as possible. They scampered from building to building, always doing their utmost best to remain out of sight.
First of all they followed the two ponies to one of Ponyville's finest posh restaurants.
Annika and Pippi sat at an outdoor table opposite each other and a smart looking stallion in a tuxedo approached them and gave them a couple of menus before retreating to let them decide.
"Great!" Sweetie Belle complained. "Now we gotta wait for them to eat!"
Scootaloo just rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated snort.
As Annika and Pippi perused their menus they occasionally allowed themselves subtle, but meaningful glances at each other.
"What are you gonna order, sugarcube?" Pippi asked huskily.
Annika peered bashfully over the top of her menu.
"I was thinking we might order one of the platters so that we could share, darling." She replied.
"Sounds good to me!" Pippi agreed and both ponies blushed furiously.
"Oh, waiter!" Annika called. "I think we're ready to order now!"
The tuxedoed stallion cantered over and proceeded to take their order.
Once that was done the stallion took their menus and disappeared into the restaurant, leaving the two girls alone again. The two of them chatted animatedly. Not once did they break eye contact and there was an awful lot of hoof touching too.
Sweetie Belle tugged at her eyelids in frustration.
"Gahhh!" she exclaimed. "I didn't realise how boring this was going to be!" She rolled onto her back and kicked her hooves into the air.
"What's worse is that now I kinda feel hungry too!" Apple Bloom grumbled and her stomach rumbled in agreement.
"Why don't you girls go and get us something to eat from the hayburger café?" Scootaloo suggested. "I'll stay here and keep an eye on them until you get back."
Apple Bloom brightened and Sweetie Belle jumped back onto her hooves.
"Okay!" they chorused in unison, and off they went.
Scootaloo watched them go and giggled. She turned back to Annika and Pippi just in time to see them both lean across their table and nuzzle each other affectionately.
"I wonder how long it will take those two goofs to figure out what's really going on here?" the little pegasus asked herself wistfully.
By the time Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle came back with the hayburgers the food platter had also been brought out to Pippi and Annika.
The two girls had their noses buried into the platter and were enjoying their shared meal of hay, oats and salad vegetables.
Confident that their sisters weren't going to get up and leave just yet, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle made no bones about tucking into their own food and Scootaloo happily joined them.
So engrossed were they in their hayburgers that they did not see the moment when Annika and Pippi found themselves both chewing on the same strand of hay and before they knew it their muzzles had come together in a sweet and tender kiss.
Both ponies flushed as red as the beetroots in their salad, but allowed the kiss to linger before they returned to eating.
By the time that Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were paying attention again their elder sisters were just eating normally without any hint at all of the underlying love and affection that they held for each other.
Soon enough their meal was done, but neither pony seemed in a hurry to pay the bill and leave.
They just sat at their table, tellingly their stools had crept from opposite sides and they now sat close together, practically in each other's laps, and they chatted idly about everything and nothing, each just enjoying being close to the other.
"Oh come on!" Sweetie Belle griped.
Eventually Annika and Pippi did pay the bill and then they did get up and walk off… still together, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders began to follow them once again.
"I wonder where they're headed now?" Apple Bloom wondered.
The answer came soon enough as the two older girls finally came to stand outside Annika's Carousel Boutique.
"Annika's going home already?" Sweetie Belle exclaimed in astonishment. "But what about her special somepony?"
"Maybe he's gonna come and visit her?" Apple Bloom suggested.
Scootaloo raised a hoof to her forehead and sighed.
"Wait for it!" she mumbled to herself.
The three young girls watched from their hiding place as Annika and Pippi said their goodbyes to one another. At first there didn't seem anything untoward about it but as the trio observed, the following exchange occurred:
"You do realise that our sisters and Scootaloo have been following us ever since we left the spa earlier?" Pippi said with a wink.
"Ooh yes, I know, darling!" Annika replied. "I might have known that Sweetie Belle wouldn't be able to resist following me to find out who my special somepony is!"
"Do you think they've figured it out yet?" Pippi chuckled.
"Let's not leave them with any doubts, shall we, dear?" Annika answered her coyly.
She raised her hoof to Pippi's face and pulled her in for a goodnight kiss. As their lips pressed together tenderly Annika used her magic to lift Pippi's hat so that she could tousle her hoof through her girlfriend's golden mane.
Apple Bloom's and Sweetie Belle's jaws dropped in total astonishment and then in practically the same instant their hearts melted.
"Awwwwwwwww!" they cooed. "Don't they look adorable together!"
Scootaloo just shook her head and smiled.