//------------------------------//
// CMC Short: Cutie Mark Crusaders: Date Finders! YAY! 
// Story: Hearts, Hooves, and a Colt Who Loves Pie 
// by GuyInTheCorner 
//------------------------------//

	Inside the Cutie Mark Crusader Tree House late at night, three young fillies who probably should have been sleeping were wide awake, examining four letters they were now confronted with. The extra letter was for the yellow earth pony filly, Apple Bloom, and it served as a invitation for her family. It was in a pink envelope, but the other three were all in dark blue envelopes. 

They were from Luna. 

Luna had invited a whole class of fillies to a Gala in Canterlot. Of course, she made sure they would be chaperoned. You may ask why Luna would do that, and the answer is simple. The foals in the Ponyville School were her friends. She had sent enough invitations to her best friend in Ponyville, Pipsqueak, for him to hand out to any child in his class that would want to go. 

The Cutie Mark Crusaders, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom, looked over their letters one last time. "So, ah reckon we gotta bring 'dates'?" Apple Bloom asked, looking up from the letter. 

Scootaloo put a hoof to her chin and thought. "I don't know. Princess Luna didn't mention anything about them here." 

Sweetie Belle looked up from her letter, too. "I heard Rarity saying something about 'required dates' before she left. Does that apply to us?" 

The Crusaders sighed together. "Maybe," Apple Bloom said. 

Scootaloo's face brightened up. "Hey! You guys know what? We could get our Cutie Marks for finding dates!" 

"Or findin' dates fer other ponies!" Apple Bloom added.

"Like matchmakers! Wait," Sweetie Belle said, a little sadness in her voice. "We tried that last year with Miss Cheerilee. Remember how well that turned out?" 

"We won't use Love Poison this time," Scootaloo said with an eye roll. 

"Even so," Sweetie Belle said, "we should stick to just trying to find dates for each other." 

The other two nodded in agreement. "We need to find ourselves the perfect dates!" Scootaloo declared zealously. "They'll have to be cool!"

"And kind!" Apple Bloom added. 

"And cute!" Sweetie Belle said, giggling a bit. Her comment received a giggle from her friends, too. 

"So we each need somepony cool, kind, and cute," Scootaloo said with a nod. 

"Ya'll got anypony in mind?" the young cowpony asked. Her friends stared back blankly. 

"Not really..." 

"No. Not at all." 

Apple Bloom facehoofed. "Well, neither do ah. Ah guess we'll have to work pretty hard to find' our dates, then." 

Her friends nodded in agreement. "Right," Sweetie Belle said, "but hard work never stopped us before!" 

The group was interrupted by a loud crash of thunder and a flash of lightning. The three shrieked, and gale force winds blew one of their windows open. Rainwater was blasted into the tree house, soaking Scootaloo, who shrieked again. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Bell rushed over to the window and closed it. 

"At least I'm not covered in tree sap and feathers," Scootaloo groaned. Her friends laughed.