Cumulus lay in the gentle warmth of the evening sunlight. At least, she thought it was evening. The sun only shines on the couch as it is setting and she could hear her mother in the kitchen. Her ears twitched at the sound of clanging of pots and pans as the smell of roasting carrots wafted by her nose. She smiled as her stomach rumbled.
Carefully, she slid a hoof out over the plush surface. When it reached the edge she paused before pulling herself back into a tight ball, pressed up against the protective grove at the back of the couch.

"M-Mom?" she called "I need your help."

Yes Cumulus, what is it? Rainbow asked as she put the Pizza in the oven.

"Mom what's for dinner?" The filly asked her mother.

"Well Cumulus I was going to make you your favorite, pizza" Rainbow Dash called from the kitchen.

"Yay!" Cumulus exclaimed, with a grin.

10 minutes later.

"Cumulus sweetie dinner is served" Rainbow Dash called.

Cumulus looked sad. "Cue what's wrong?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"The other kids don't like me because I am blind" Cumulus sighed

By now Cumulus was crying.

"Cue do you remember when I told you that nobody should compare you to me ever again?" Rainbow Dash asked her daughter with a smile.

"Yes I do remember you saying that to me" the filly replied with a smile.

"Cumulus tomorrow morning you are going to Twilight's house to get lessons on how to read Braille books" Rainbow Dash said, to Cumulus.

"Awesome" Cumulus said, excitedly.

"Well it's bedtime for you Cumulus" Rainbow Dash said, with a smile at her daughter.

Cumulus rolled her eyes. "Goodnight sweetie" Rainbow Dash said, to Cumulus.

Cumulus went to her room and got into bed, since she is blind Cumulus has a hard time telling if it is day or night.

The next day: Cumulus was getting ready to go to Twilight's house.

"Bye mom I'll see you this evening" Cumulus said, with a smile.

"Cue do you remember the way to Twilight's house?" Rainbow Dash asked her daughter.

"Yeah mom you don't have to worry about me" Cumulus replied with a grin.

"Okay if you say so" Rainbow Dash said, to Cumulus.

Cumulus was walking to the door but then there was a loud crash Cumulus walked into a table head first.

"Cue are you okay?" Rainbow Dash asked Cumulus.

"Yeah I am ok" Cumulus replied with a smile.

Cumulus is 11 years old.

Cumulus dropped out of school because the other kids were making fun of her eyes. So now Twilight is teaching Cumulus 7 times a week.

10 minutes later at Twilight's house:
Cumulus knocked on the door. The door opened and Twilight's voice could be heard from inside.

"Cue you can come in if you want" Twilight said, to Cumulus.

"Who's talking to me?" Cumulus asked.

"Cumulus this is Twilight" Twilight said, to Cumulus.

Once inside Twilight's house.

"Cumulus you may take a seat in one of the chairs to your left" Twilight said, to Cumulus.

To be honest Twilight knew a lot about blind ponies from books she had read. Cumulus knew Twilight's voice but Twilight still had to say her name every once in a while.

"Now Cue are you ready to learn how to read braille books?" Twilight asked Cumulus.

"Yes I am ready to learn how to read braille books" Cumulus replied with a grin.

Twilight took Cumulus by the hoof and led Cumulus to a bookshelf that was full of braille books.

"Cue these are braille books "Twilight said, to Cumulus.

Twilight put Cumulus's hoof on the cover of this book and said, this is a book by daring do.

"Awesome" Cumulus said, to Twilight.

"Your mom would be proud of you" Twilight said, to Cumulus.

Then there was a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" Twilight asked.

"it's Pinkie Pie"a voice called from outside the door.

"You can come in "Twilight called from inside the house.

"Okey-dokey" Pinkie Pie said, to Twilight from outside the door.

Pinkie Pie came in to the house.

"Hey Cumulus it's Pinkie Pie" Pinkie Pie said, to Cumulus.

"Do you want to have a party now?" Pinkie Pie asked Cumulus.

"Well I am learning how to read braille books so I don't think that is a good idea" Cumulus said, to Pinkie Pie with a smile.

Pinkie Pie looked down at the floor and said, "I understand how important that Is to you."

3 weeks later:
"Cue will you read us your first-ever story book?" Twilight asked Cumulus.

The ponies were all sitting in Twilight's house.

"Yes I am going to read you a book called when the wolf hunts" Cumulus replied with a smile.

Cumulus cleared her throat and began reading. Many moons ago before the princesses were born, there were no big citys or small towns throughout the land there was only so much to eat that the natives of the land needed to rely on the great wolves to hunt for food for them.

When ever the wolves went out hunting, the natives would pray to the wolf god for more food for the next 200 years and still to this day whenever the wolves go out to hunt for food we pray to the wolf god for food and drink and that holiday is called Christmas.

"The end" Cumulus finished with a smile at her mom.

Rainbow Dash's eyes were filled with tears.

"Cue I am so proud of you" Rainbow Dash said, to Cumulus.

"Let's have a big party for Cumulus" Pinkie Pie said, with a grin at Rainbow Dash.

"Oh yeah that would be awesome" Rainbow Dash said, with a grin.

"Cue this is Fluttershy" Fluttershy said, to Cumulus.

"Twilight has taught you well" Fluttershy remarked.

"Cue after this party we are going to have dinner with Fluttershy's parents" Rainbow Dash said, to Cumulus.

After the party. At Fluttershy's parent's house Cumulus was playing with Pinkie Pie.

"Cue sweetie dinner is ready" Fluttershy called.

Pinkie Pie guided Cumulus to the table.

"Cumulus sit down" Fluttershy said, to Cumulus.

Cumulus did as she was told.

"Well what's for dinner tonight?" Cumulus asked.

"Cue my mom was going to make a big pot of soup for dinner" Fluttershy said, to Cumulus.

"Is that okay with you dear?" Fluttershy's mom asked Cumulus.

"Yeah it's okay with me" Cumulus replied with a grin at Fluttershy's mom.

Fluttershy's mom came out of the kitchen with a big pot of soup she set it on the table.

"Let's eat" Pinkie Pie pipeed

After they had finished eating.

"Mom can I have some cookies please" Cumulus asked her mom with a smile.

"Yeah you can have some cookies when we get home" Rainbow Dash said, to her daughter.

"Awesome" Cumulus replied with a smile.

"That's my little Cue for ya" Rainbow Dash said, to Fluttershy's mom and dad.

"Cue didn't you want to tell your mom what you learned today?" Twilight asked her niece.

"Oh yeah I almost forgot that I wanted to tell mom what I learned today" Cumulus said, with a smile.

"Thank you for reminding me Twilight" Cumulus said, with a smile at Twilight.

"Your welcom" Twilight replied with a smile at Cumulus.

Cumulus heard her mom crying.

"Mom what's wrong?" Cumulus asked her mom.

Rainbow Dash didn't want to admit that she was sad that her little Cue was growing up.

"Nothing....it's okay" Rainbow Dash said, to her daughter.

"Mom do you want to know what I learned about today?" Cue asked her mom.

"Yeah I would like to know what you learned today" Rainbow answered.

"Well I learned to read my first ever story book in braille" Cue said, to her mother.

"You were there right?" Cue asked her mother.

"Yes I was there and so were your aunts" Rainbow answered with tears in her eyes as she remembered how beautiful the story had been.

Cumulus took notice of this.

"Mom why are you crying?" Cumulus asked her mom.

"I'm sorry Cue it's just that I'm afraid of you leaving me" Rainbow said, with a sigh.

Twilight walked over to Rainbow and put a hoof on Rainbow's shoulder and asked Rainbow if she should take care of Cue for a while until Rainbow was feeling better Rainbow nodded.

"Ok I will take Cumulus back to my place for a while" Twilight whispered so Cue couldn't hear her talk to Rainbow.

"Twilight where are we going?" Cue asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Cue I am going to take you back to my place" Twilight replied with a smile at Cue.

"Is Mom coming with us?" Cue asked Twilight.

Twilight hesitated before replying.

"Cue your Mom needs some alone time" Twilight said, to Cumulus.

10 minutes later back at Twilight's house:
"Well Cue here we are again" Twilight said, with a grin at her niece.

Meanwhile back at Fluttershy's parent's house:

"Rainbow are ya alright?" Applejack asked.

"I'm ok" Rainbow replied with a smile.

"Rainbow do ya miss her?" Applejack asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah I do" Rainbow answered with tears in her eyes.

"Applejack I am afraid of Cue growing up and leaving me" Rainbow said, to Applejack.

"Rainbow let me tell ya something" Applejack said, to Rainbow. Rainbow looked at Applejack.

Applejack took Rainbow's hoof.

"Rainbow Cue will always love ya and never forget that ya are the most important pony in her life" Applejack said, to Rainbow Dash with a smile.

"Thanks for the advice Applejack" Rainbow said, with a smile at Applejack.

"Ya welcome" Applejack chuckled.

Cumulus pulled the covers over her head and cried.

The door opened and Twilight came in to the room. Cumulus heard Twilight coming into the room.

"Cue are you ok?" Twilight asked Cumulus.

"Mom doesn't love me" Cumulus sobbed.

"Cue what makes you think that?" Twilight asked gently.

Cumulus began crying again.

Twilight pulled Cumulus in to a hug.

"It will be alright" Twilight said, gently.

Cumulus stopped crying and looked at Twilight.

"Are you sure that it's going to be fine?" Cue asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Cumulus I am pretty sure that everything is going to be ok between you and your Mom" Twilight reassured her niece.

By now it was raining outside.

Cumulus could hear the rain on the roof of the house.

The weather team did a damn good job today.

"Cue do you want to stay here tonight?" Twilight asked her niece.

"Yeah if it's no trouble for you" Cue said, to her auntie.

"It's no problem as long as you follow the rules I made for you" Twilight said, with a smile at her niece.

Cumulus knew that was the end of the matter.

And with that Twilight poofed up a bed next to her own for little Cue.

"Well here ya are this is your very own bed" Twilight said to Cue.

"Awesome thank you auntie Twilight you are the best auntie I could ask for" Cue said, to her auntie.

That brought tears to Twilight's eyes.

The next day:
Cumulus woke up to the sound of birds chirping outside her bedroom window.

She smiled as she got up and walked down stairs. Twilight was making breakfast.

"Hey Cue" Twilight greeted her niece with a smile.

"What ya makin'?" Cumulus asked with a grin.

Well Cue "I'm making you your favorite" Twilight replied with a smile at her niece.

Cumulus knew what It was. It was Oatmeal with dried fruit in it.

Cumulus licked her lips. There was a knock on the door.

"I'll get it" Twilight said, to Cue.

Twilight went to open the door.

Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie Pie were standing in the doorway with big smiles on their faces.

"Hi guys what are you doing here so early?" Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow.

Applejack raised an eyebrow slightly.

"We just came to see Cue" Applejack chuckled

Cumulus walked over to where her aunts were standing.

"Cue I love you and never forget that" Rainbow said through tears of happiness.

Cumulus rolled her eyes at her mom.

"Yeah right sure ya do" Cumulus said, with a frown.

"Shouldn't this be a happy moment?" Fluttershy asked.

Rainbow looked at Fluttershy as though she was going to kill somepony right then and there.

"Come on Cumulus we're leaving" Rainbow said, through gritted teeth.

Twilight followed Rainbow outside.

"Rainbow can't we just talk about this?" Twilight asked her friend with a smile.

Rainbow turned to look at Twilight. Rainbow's face was red with anger.

"NO WE CAN'T "Rainbow yelled at Twilight.

"Cue go inside" Twilight said to Cue.

Cumulus went inside.

"Rainbow what is going on?" Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh Twilight I am afraid of Cue growing up and leaving me" Rainbow said, to Twilight.

"Rainbow she isn't going to leave for another 18 years so don't worry about it" Twilight said, gently.

"Well if your sure then ok" Rainbow said, with a smile at Twilight.

"Let's go inside" Rainbow said, to Twilight with a smile.

Rainbow and Twilight went back inside to find Cumulus playing with Pinkie Pie.

"Cue we are not going to go home right now" Rainbow said, to her daughter with a smile.

"Cumulus we need to talk about what you are learning here" Rainbow said, with a grin at Cue.

"Ok what are we going to talk about?" Cue asked her mom with a smile.

"We are going to talk about how much better your writing and reading are getting" Rainbow said, to Cumulus.

"Mom do you really think my writing and reading are getting better?" Cumulus asked her mom.

"Yes I do think your writing and reading are getting better" Rainbow replied with a smile.

That afternoon:
"Cumulus we are going to spend the afternoon at my favorite restaurant in downtown ponyville the gilded horseshoe" Rarity said, with a smile.

Twilight looked skeptical.

Rarity took notice of this.

"Twilight nothing bad is going to happen they left remember?" Rarity asked with a grin.

"Yeah I remember what happened" Twilight replied with a smirk.

Twilight clearly was not emotionally and mentally ready for this afternoon but she couldn't tell Rarity that so she just remained silent.

"Cue the gilded horseshoe has some of the best food you've ever eaten you are going to love it" Rarity said, to her niece.

"Is auntie Fluttershy coming with us?" Cumulus asked with a smile.

Rarity glanced around the room she couldn't find Fluttershy.

"Cue I am sure that your auntie Fluttershy would be happy to join us but she's busy taking care of her animals" Rarity said, to Cue.

Cumulus looked down at the floor or where she thought the floor was.

Cumulus needs to have everything described to her in full detail because she is blind Cumulus always needs somepony to help her and that could sometimes create a little bit of tension between Cumulus and her mother and that wasn't always great.

"Let's go to the gilded horseshoe" Rarity said, to Cumulus and Twilight.

Twilight opened the door as they went outside she closed the door.

The cool afternoon air greeted the three ponies.

They were walking into downtown ponyville.

"Well here we are at last" Rarity said,with a grin.

Twilight described the scene to Cue.

The outside of the restaurant was very elegantly decorated with flowers and trees on both sides of the entryway and the inside also was very nicely decorated with a variety of decorative items throughout the restaurant.

"Let's go inside shall we?" Rarity asked.

"Yeah let's" Cue laughed.

The three ponies entered the restaurant.

A very elegantly dressed waiter showed them to a table on the second floor balcony overlooking the town.

"Can I get you started with anything to drink?" the waiter asked Rarity.

Twilight looked at the drinks menu.

"I'll have a apple cider" Twilight said, to the waiter.

"Ok and for the child?"the waiter asked with a smile.

"Water for her please" Twilight said, with a smile.

The waiter turned to Rarity "and for the lady?" the waiter asked with a smile.

"I'll have a glass of your finest red wine" Rarity said,with a smile at the waiter.

The waiter nodded and left. A short time later the waiter returned with their drinks.

"Here you go ladies" the waiter chuckled.

Twilight picked up the food menu and looked at all of the choices.

"What's this?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

The waiter peered over her shoulder and said, a pasta dish with your choice of Soup or Salad to start.

"I'll have that with your soup of the day" she giggled.

"Good choice madame I can assure you that you will not be disappointed with your choice" the waiter said, to Twilight before leaving to get their meals.

"So Rarity what did you order?" Twilight asked with a smile.

"Well I ordered a salad with chicken and eggs benedict on the side" Rarity replied with a grin.

"Cumulus what did you order?" Rarity asked her niece.

"I ordered salmon with fresh dill and lemon on the side" Cumulus replied.

A short time later the waiter returned with their meals.

The food looked delicious.

Twilight smiled as the plate was placed between her hoofs.

"Have a nice meal" the waiter said, with a smile at Cumulus.

But Cumulus didn't notice the waiter smile at her.

The waiter looked from Cumulus to Twilight and walked away with a confused look on his face.

"What was that all about?"Rarity asked Twilight.

Twilight shrugged and took a bite of her food.

"Honestly I don't know why he looked at us like that" Twilight said, to Rarity.

"Maybe he thought I was weird because of my eyes" Cumulus said, to Twilight.

"Cue I am sure he didn't think that" Twilight said, to Cumulus.

"Cumulus you've hardly eaten anything" Twilight said, to Cumulus.

"Are you not hungry?" Twilight asked her niece.

"Why did he have to look at me like that?" Cumulus asked her auntie.

"I don't know why he did what he did" Twilight replied flatly.

As the evening came to an end the ponies left the restaurant with smiles on their faces.

"Rarity you've really outdone yourself" Twilight said, to Rarity as they were walking into town.

"Thank you Twilight that means a lot to me" Rarity replied with a smile.

The town was quiet for this time of night.

The only sounds that could be heard were the sounds of hoofs clacking on the ground.

At the library.

"Here we are" Twilight said, to Cumulus.

The inside of the library was dark. Twilight turned on the lights and led Cumulus inside.

Cumulus didn't eat all of her food from the restaurant so Twilight asked if they could take it home and that's exactly what they did.

"Cumulus do you want to eat your food for a late night snack?" Twilight asked her niece.

"Yeah I want to eat it now" Cumulus replied with a smile. "Ok here you go" Twilight said, to Cumulus.

Twilight put the food on a plate for Cumulus and placed the plate between Cumulus's hoofs.

"Eat now" Twilight said, to Cumulus. Cumulus did as she was told.

After she had eaten everything on her plate Cumulus went upstairs to Twilight's room.

"Goodnight Twilight" Cumulus said, while going up the stairs.

Twilight was so wrapped up in a new book she had gotten that she didn't notice Cumulus was talking to her.

Cumulus shrugged and went to bed.

The end.

Author's Note

This fanfiction is based on a My Little Pony Audio Drama called Instant Mom by brushstroke Productions.

I hope you like it.