Instant Teenager

by SeasonTheWiccan

The Kiss

Cumulus waited outside of Sugar Cube Corner the two weeks later, she was waiting for Sparkling Gem whom she was hoping to get some information out of so she could help her. She may have done some cruel things in the past, but that didn't mean she deserved this kind of treatment. No stallion should ever lay a hoof on a mare. What worried Cumulus right was the fact that Gem was already 10 minutes late.

"Cumulus, I'm here," Gem's voice said calmly.

Gem was wearing a pair of sunglasses to hide her black eye from everypony else, because that morning, before she left her house, Bit was on her front porch demanding to know where she was going and why. When she refused to tell him, he started to get physical with Gem, her parents were all the way over in Applewood for a social function and didn't know that this kind of thing was happening. He then started shoving her, spitting on her, calling her vulgar names then he punched in the face. Gem could only lay there and cry, 'why me?' she asked herself, 'why is he doing this?'

"Just tell me where you're going, and I'll go."

"S-Sugar Cube C-Corner..." she sobbed.

"That wasn't so hard now was it?"

Gem then released a few more tears, she just couldn't understand why this was happening.

"Oh shut up, you deserved this, you don't obey me...you get it."

Gem snapped back to the present, "Sorry I'm late Cumulus."

"It's no problem Gem, come on, milkshake's on me."

Gem was smiling at how kind Cumulus was being toward her, but she also couldn't help but feel guilty. She felt that she didn't deserve this from Cumulus after all that she'd done and said to her in the past. They entered the shop and sat down in silence, Pinkie then came over and asked for their orders. Cue ordered a Chocolate Fudge Swirl Milkshake while Cue ordered a small caramel sundae. Pinkie wrote that down and left the two to converse, though keeping a close eye on Sparkling Gem, remembering her history with her niece. When Pinkie left, Cumulus began to wonder why Gem was so late, "Hey, Gem?"

"Hm?"

"Can you explain why you were late?" Cue asked gently. "And Gem...I want the truth."

Gem was taken aback, they were diving into this already?

"Cumulus, please don't make me do this..."

"Gem you can tell me-"

"It's not your business Cue!" Gem snapped.

Cumulus flinched back into her seat as Gem suddenly felt a wash of guilt and put her head in her hooves and began sobbing.

Cumulus heard her and placed a hoof on her arm saying, "It's okay, it's okay, I'm gonna find a way to get you out of this."

"Why do you even care? All I've ever done to you was cause harm to you...why are you being nice to me?"

"You may have done terrible things, but nopony deserves what you're going through with Bit."

Cumulus gave Gem a warm smile and it started to calm Gem down a little, "Okay, okay, I'll tell you...I was late because Bit stopped over and...I didn't want to tell him where I was going and...he may have....hit me."

"He WHAT?!" Cue exclaimed.

"He...punched me in the eye and said some things..."

"This has been pounded into my head by my Mom for as long as I remember Gem: 'A stallion should NEVER hit a mare! I'm gonna pound HIM!"

"Cue, no. I don't want you getting into this!"

"Gem, he's a jerk! You need to at least tell your parents!"

"I tried, but they didn't believe me!"

Cumulus was shocked! What parent outright doesn't believe their child when she says she's having these kinds of problems?

"Why don't they believe you?"

"They say I'm trying to get out of this arranged marriage and that I'm seeing another stallion."

Cumulus facehoofed and immediately felt bad for Gem, "Look, if you ever need somepony who at least believes you and will be there for you if things go bad...me and my friends are here."

"You mean...you, your best friend and your coltfriend?" Gem asked with emphasis on the word 'coltfriend.'

Cumulus smiled and blushed, her first date with Autumn was that night; he wouldn't tell her where he was taking her but she liked it that way, she wanted to be surprised. Cumulus then came back to her senses and continued, "Anyways, yes, we're all going to be here for you...including my family."

Gem smiled as their orders came in, "Thank you."

Cue paced back and forth in her bedroom, Autumn was going to be there any minute and she was freaking out. There were worries that had been polluting her mind since Autumn asked if that night would be a good time for their date. Cumulus said 'yes' because she already agreed to go out with him and didn't want to hurt his feelings, but she was worried that their relationship would end up like Bit and Gem's relationship which led to her second worry, if they broke up, their friendship would be ruined. But it was too late to back out now, Cue's hair was already done and she had a pair of earrings in, she felt that she should be excited, not worrying, but how could she not? She then heard three knock on the door, "Come in," she called.

The door opened as Soarin's voice asked, "You ready Cutie Pie? Your Aunt Twilight gave Autumn a Cloud Walking Spell and he's downstairs."

"He is?!" Cumulus panicked, "I can't do this! What if he finds that he doesn't really like me and dumps me?! What if I find I don't really like him and I have to be the dumper instead of the dumpee?!"

Soarin grinned and shook his head as she continued rambling, he let her go on for another minute before he stopped her.

"How do you know all these things will happen?" he asked.

"I don't know....I honestly don't...."

"Cue, you're jumping to the worst because you're nervous...look, I want you to think of this about him for a second: How well do you know him?"

Cumulus pondered for a moment, she's known him ever since the very first day of school, he's very supportive, kind, protective, fun, funny, he loved music and showed through it that he was thoughtful, sensitive and sweet. Thinking of all this calmed Cumulus down, she took a deep breath as all the worry came out of her. Soarin wrapped his wing around her as gently as a leaf; he then pulled her into a warm hug.

"If he lays a hoof on you, let me know," Soarin whispered before kissing her forehead.

"I will Soarin."

Soarin smiled and nuzzled the top of her head.

Meanwhile, downstairs, Autumn was waiting on the couch with Rainbow Dash in a chair across from him and she was giving him death glares that would burn holes in his forehead. He was certainly getting nervous, he could feel his hooves sweating and not just from Cumulus' Mom glaring at him, but what if this didn't work out like he'd hoped? And why was Cue taking so long? Did she change her mind? He then heard Soarin coming down the stairs, once he was in view, Rainbow asked, "Is she okay?"

"She's fine, just a little nervous is all."

'She's nervous too? Oh sweet Celestia, what have I gotten myself into? Why am I even here?

His question was answered when he turned around at the sound of hoofsteps, what he saw was Cumulus, only a more dressed up Cumulus, she wasn't too formal but still casual. She was-pretty! Her appearance took his breath away as his legs started to wobble, and he saw only her, Rainbow and Soarin didn't even exist. He was then wondering what it would be like to kiss her, but held back, he didn't want to rush things.

"So...you ready Cue?"

"Yeah."

Cue walked out to the front porch and flew down to the ground as Autumn climbed the stairs down. Once they were both on solid ground, Autumn then took Cue by the hoof and led her to their destination, which was a lake around sunset and waiting for them on the shore was a wooden boat. Cumulus heard the water and got curious, "Where are you taking me?"

"I may be doing something a tad cheesy for our first date, but I also wanted to be romantic."

Cumulus giggled as Autumn let go of her hoof and stepped in the boat, he reached out to Cue, "Give me your hoof, I'll help you."

Cue took his hoof and followed his instructions to get into the boat and sat down, Autumn climbed to her side and pushed the boat away from the shore. He used the oars to steer them to the center of the lake and weighed the anchor once they were there. He then unpacked their dinner which was a couple of peanut butter and zapapple jam sandwiches and two bottles of apple juice with chocolate cake for dessert. While eating, they laughed and talked and felt the worries about their relationship rise into the clouds and disappear. They cared for each other, and they both decided silently to give this a chance, whether or not it worked out would be decided later.

"I umm...I have something for you..."

Cumulus then heard the sound of him pulling out his acoustic guitar, Cue knew what he was about to do.

"Autumn...just...how many songs have you written for me?"

Autumn thought for a moment, "Around 15, it sounds creepy, I know....but it was my only way of...you know...getting over the fact that you only saw me as a friend."

Cumulus smiled, he really did care for her like that; she felt guilty for never seeing it and possibly hurting his feelings in the process.

Autumn then began to strum his guitar and began singing:

He finished to see tears in Cue's eyes, he let his emotions take over as he leaned in to her and pressed his lips against hers. The kiss lasted for who knows how long! Seconds, minutes, hours, but Cumulus didn't care, she was in heaven right now as her heart beat faster for this stallion who she never saw as a potential lover, but now, she wanted to spend all her time with. Their lips parted as they saw each other anew and they leaned in again for another moment of bliss.