"Oooh! My little boy is becoming a man!" Ma squealed while looking me over, making sure I was ready for tonight. "My precious baby." She kissed my cheek before looking me in the eye. "You look so handsome."

"Ma. You're embarrassing me," I told her while trying to avoid her thumb from rubbing my cheek.

"Now hon. Leave the poor boy alone. He's going on a date, not getting married," Pa chuckled while making Ma stand up. He then gives me a small noogie. "Ready for your date, son?"

"As I'll ever be, Pa." I fidgeted a little while fixing my shirt. "It's odd. I faced three Diamond dogs without flinching, and this is what scares me?"

"Hehe. You should've seen your father when we were dating. He was scared that your Granny would catch us," Ma teased Pa before hugging me. "You'll do fine, baby. Just be yourself."

"Yes, Ma."

Knock Knock

"That must be her," Pa said as I answered the door and for a second and for a second I thought I was staring at an angel.

"Hi, John, ready for our date?" Cherilee asked me as she appeared in an amazing outfit.

She wore a simple white dress with yellow trim and had her hair in a ponytail. But to me, she was the angel I had first seen on our first day of school. Shaking myself out of my daze, I greeted her. "Y-y-you l-l-look lovely, Cheerilee."

"Thanks." She gave a little twirl before smiling at me. "You look very handsome."

"Thanks." I met her outside and held out my arm. "To Sugarcube Corner?"

"You read my mind," Cheery said while taking my arm.

As we made to leave, Pa stopped us. "Now just hold on a minute there." Pa reached behind him and brought out a small bag of bits and gave it to me. "Figured you two could catch a show as well."

"Wow!" I shook the bag and felt what had to be at least fifty bits in there. "Thanks, Pa."

"You're welcome. Now have a good time you two," He told us.

"We will. Thank you, Mister Apple," Cheery told Pa as we walked into town.

As usual, the streets of Ponyville were packed for the weekend with almost every pony in town running about to get to their destinations but no place was busier than Sugarcube Corner. The bakers; Mister and Misses Cake were good friends of my parents and had helped me plan for our date by reserving a table for us but I could hardly think straight with Cherilee linked to my arm dressed the way she was.

I was in heaven.

"Welcome, dearies!" Misses Cake said as we entered her shop.

"Hi, Misses. Cake." I greeted her with a hug while she led us to a booth.

"Alright." Misses Cake took out her pencil and pad. "What will it be?"

"Cherry oatmeal cookies with rainbow sprinkles," Cheery ordered first.

I ordered next. "I'll take an order of Macadamia nut cookies."

"Alright. I'll be back as quick as I can." Misses Cake wrote down our order and went into the kitchen.

"And here's a little something for the two lovebirds." Mister Cake smiled as he gave us a milkshake with a straw for each of us. "On the house."

"Thank you, Mister Cake," Cheery thanked before we stared at the frozen treat. "So... do we... um."

"I guess so," I said nervously before we each took a straw and drank the vanilla shake. Both of us saw that our lips were very close to each other and our cheeks both turned red.

Luckily, Misses Cake came with our order. Though I saw her smirk at how close we were. "Here you are, you two."

Once our orders were placed on the table, we immediately got to enjoy our treats and enjoyed the atmosphere of the bakery but I couldn't help but notice some of the other customers were staring at us like they were watching a romantic scene out of a movie.

"Everyone's staring..." I mumbled when Cherilee held my hand.

"Don't mind them, let's just enjoy ourselves." She said before offering me a piece of her pastry. "Say ah."

I smirked at her antics before opening my mouth and letting her place one of her cookies on my tongue. As I chewed the treat, I saw her open her mouth, waiting for me to do the same. Chuckling, I took one of my cookies and placed it on her tongue. She chewed and we both laughed at how ridiculous we were acting. Though, we both did like where it was going.

With our cookies devoured and our shake drunk, there was only one thing left. The cherry. "Here. You can have it," I offered while taking the stem off.

"Such a gentleman," She told me while taking the fruit and I popped the stem in my mouth. Cheery looked at me curiously, no doubt wondering why I did that. After sticking my tongue out, the stem was in a knot. "Wow. That's so cool."

I took the stem from my tongue and put it on the table. "Thanks. Pa told me that it shows you're a good kisser if you can tie a cherry stem into a knot." The second I said that I realized who I was talking to and my cheeks went as red as the cherry.

"My my John you're so forward." Cherilee teased as I panicked while some of the older mares in the shop began to tease me as well.

"Oh my, quite the charmer isn't he?"

"Reminds me of my husband when we were young."

"You got yourself a keeper there Cherilee!"

We both smiled nervously at the compliments and catcalls from the mares. Unfortunately, our moment was ruined by what I've come to call a Pine in my butt. "Aww, look at this. The freak and the loser." Cedar Pine walked up to our booth, alone this time, and was eating a bar of chocolate. "You know, you two make the perfect couple. Gives us normal ponies the chance to be with each other."

I was about to tell him off, and maybe give him a fat lip, but stopped when Mister Cake came up behind Cedar and pinched his ear. "I'll thank you not to bother the other customers. And I don't believe you paid for that." Cedar was dragged outside, and we could only imagine what Mister Cake was doing.

"He just never learns." Cherilee huffed as we finished our snack and bought a few pastries before we left.

"So what do you wanna do now?" I asked as we linked arms again.

"There's a movie we can go and see." She suggested as we walked toward the theatre.

"That sounds good. Wonder what's playing?" I asked mainly myself.

(Two hours later)

We both walked out of the theatre, laughing at the comedy we'd just seen while making our way to the park. It was getting late, and the sun was beginning to set. "That had to be the funniest movie I've ever seen," Cheery laughed while holding my arm.

"W-when the pony with the spittoon haircut made it look like he was sawing the top of the bald pony's head, I nearly lost it!" I laughed with her, almost spilling the rest of our popcorn.

As we walked through the park, we reached the small pond and sat on the bench overlooking it. For the longest time, we sat on that bench, eating and feeding the rest of our popcorn to the fish and ducks. While we sat there, Cheery leaned on me and I held her close. "John."

"Yes, Cheery?" I asked, only to be met with her eyes.

"I think we can safely say that we're more than just friends, right?" She asked with a serious yet loving tone.

"Yes. I think I can say that," I told her while leaning closer to her.

She smiled at me before standing on her knees. "Then... would it be alright if... if we could be... special some ponies?"

The question caught me off guard and made my mouth dry. When I found my saliva, I answered. "I-I-I'd like that very much, Cheery," I told her while taking her hand. "I'd love to be your boyfriend."

Her smile got bigger before she said, "Then that'll make me your marefriend." We both hugged before sitting back down and watching the sunset. "So. Your Pa said that tying a cherry stem with your tongue makes you a good kisser?"

"Mhmm. That's what he told me," I told her before she sat up and looked down at me with a smirk.

"Prove it." That was the last thing she said before she locked her lips with mine.

It caught me off guard, but I soon melted into the feeling and kissed back, holding her gently.

I ran into the living room, jumping and cheering at the best date of my life. The only date so far, but still. Granny saw me come in and chuckled. "I take it went well, Johnny boy?"

"The best, Granny! I have a Marefriend!" I shouted before hugging her.

"Icky!" My little bro said as he and ma showed up to greet me.

"So how'd it go?" Ma asked.

"Great ma! Better than great!" I told her.

"Seems your son has himself a marefriend," Granny told Ma, making her smile, and Mac was gagging.

"Haha! That's my boy," Pa said before picking me up and putting me on his shoulder. "Only eight years old and he's already got the ladies chasing after him."

"Alright, hon, put him down. He's still our little boy, not a stud," Ma told Pa before sitting down.

"Not yet anyway," Pa told Ma before letting me down. "Good job son. I hope you and Cheerilee stay happy."

"Thanks-Yawn-Pa." I started to feel sleepy while rubbing my eyes.

"Alright, youngin'. You had a long day and had a lot of excitement. Time fer bed," Granny told me before sitting in her rocker.

"Yes, granny." I gave everyone a hug before going upstairs and plopping o the bed. "Best. Day. Ever."

Author's Note

Aww, young love. And an annoying prick that keeps coming back.

Next, we'll have Johnny welcome a new addition to the family.

Want to give a shout-out to Valiant Charge. He's been the biggest help with this story and if you're not following him, you should.