Times in Ponyville

by Cloud_Surfer

Chapter 2

Times in Ponyville
Chapter 2: The Darkest Day

Nightmare Moon continued her diabolical laughter. Her starry mane swirled around, as she summoned lightning for added effect that scared everypony senseless. The proclamation she had just made to keep it night forever was still echoing in most of the ponies’ heads. The very thought of never seeing the sun again had petrified everypony in place. Luckily for Ponyville, the Mayor realized how desperate the situation was, seeing Nightmare Moon as the only source to finding their Princess.

“Seize her! Only she knows where the Princess is!” ordered the Mayor. Cloud Surfer looked above him as he saw Globe Trotter and Copper Hoof flying in to detain this threat, both of them with a determined look in their eyes. They never got close though. Cloud Surfer looked on in horror as Nightmare Moon sent her summoned lightning into his friends’ chests, blasting them down to the ground. She then dissipated in a cloud of swirling starry blue mist and flew out the front door.

Cloud Surfer sat there stunned for a moment. It took a cry from Applejack to get his head back together. “Rainbow Dash! Get back here!” She yelled. Glancing over, all Cloud Surfer could see was an outline of a rainbow flying out the door chasing the mist, but then he noticed his friends stirring on the ground. Cloud Surfer rushed over to them, needing to see if they were alright.

“Globe Trotter! Copper Hoof! You two ok?” Cloud Surfer asked, as he finally made his way through the bustling crowd. He bent down and saw that their armor was cracked in several places, but no blood. “Thank Celestia you guys were wearing that armor, or you’d be goners.”

“True, but I think I may’ve broken a couple ribs. And we let that pony get away,” Globe Trotter berated himself. “First time on Princess duty and we go ahead and screw it up. We’ll probably be sent back to basic training for this one.” His brother just sat there and nodded his head, to upset with himself to add anything of value.

“Come on, let’s get you two to the hospital and check out those ribs,” was Cloud Surfer’s reply. He couldn’t stand to see his friends beat themselves up over this anymore than they already had. As he started lifting Copper Hoof to his feet, Cloud Surfer noticed a light purple blur heading straight for him. With not enough time to move, he just got run over by a very worried looking Twilight Sparkle, overhearing her mutter “I have to fix this, I just have to.” Before he even had time to get back up, four other ponies ran right over the top of him in a rush to get to their new friend.

“Ok, change of plans guys, we should probably attempt to calm everypony down first,” Cloud Surfer grunted over to his friends as he stood back up. Turning around to look, he saw that his friends had already thrown off their ruined armor and were heading over to help the Mayor in the task of calming the madness down. “Never mind. I guess I’ll just keep talking to myself as I wait for them to do their job befo...OOF!” Cloud Surfer was on his back. Looking down at him was a group of not so happy looking ponies.

“What are we going to do Cloud Surfer?!?!” Lyra was screaming down at him. “I can’t handle night time forever! My nightlight isn’t that bright!!” Lyra didn’t get to yell much more at him before having Bon Bon and Carmel drag her off, but before Cloud Surfer could get up, three more faces were in his face.

“OUR GARDENS WILL BE RUINED!!!!” Rose, Daisy, and Lily half sobbed and half yelled at him. Thankfully, Big Macintosh and Doctor Whooves pulled these three fillies off of Could Surfer.

“Thanks for the help Big Mac and Doc, I owe you two,” Cloud Surfer managed to get out, finally hopping back onto his hooves before anyone else decked him tonight. As he looked around, he noticed how most of his friends were right in front of him, staring at him for an answer. “Why is everypony looking at me? I’m the lazy pony remember?” Cloud Surfer told them.

Clearing her throat to get his attention, Bon Bon looked Cloud Surfer in the eye as she said “It’s true, you are normally the laziest pony in this town, but you also are extremely helpful when push comes to shove. Personally, I don’t think there is going to be a much bigger push than this.” Bon Bon said kindly. She normally didn’t like to put someone on the spot like they were doing, but she knew she needed to encourage her friend to do something. This was always her biggest pet-peeve with Cloud Surfer; he had absolutely no motivation on his own. “So what do you think we should do?”

Cloud Surfer just looked down to the ground. He hated being forced to do something; it went against every aspect of his life’s philosophy. This is not how he worked, and he started resenting his friends for forcing him into this corner. I’m not some big hero, I came here to get away from everything, he thought to himself. “Uh, I don’t know. How about we sleep for a while, we were up all night before it became night forever right?” Cloud Surfer suggested sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head. The deadpan look he received from his friends answered his question without words. “What do you expect from me? I’m not some super smart pony. I’m lazy, I nap all of the time, I procrastinate, and I don’t really listen to anypony,” Cloud Surfer half yelled at them. He could feel himself breaking down, so before that happened he decided to get out of there. “I need some air,” Cloud Surfer mumbled as he pushed past his friends, grabbed his longboard that was sitting by the door, and left.

“I think we forced a little much onto his plate, didn’t we?” Rose murmured to everypony present after a few stunned moments. The night air made their surroundings very cold, bringing their spirits down even more. They had never seen Cloud Surfer so angry and upset before; they didn’t even know that he could lose his cool like that.

“Eeyup,” Big Mac stated. “Ah reckon we should go let ‘im cool down a bit before going to apologize.” The others nodded in agreement.

“So what should we do now though? Seriously, my nightlight is not going to stay on all the time,” Lyra stated bluntly. When she noticed everypony just staring at her, she simply shrugged. “I guess I could practice my lyre, but I can’t read music in the dark.”

“Why don’t we go stargazing? I don’t think I have done that since I was a kid in school,” Carmel suggested. As he looked around, he saw a few nods, “We can think of a plan as we do it. And come on not like we can’t enjoy the night? Maybe we can even see a shooting star.” The others murmured in agreement. All, that is, except Big Macintosh.

“Ah gotta go an’ fetch my lil sis. Ah’ll meet up wit’ ya’ll when I get her,” Big Mac explained. “She should be somewhere in here. Ah shouldn’t be too long.” With that, Big Macintosh turned and started looking for his little filly sister, and the rest of the group went to look at the stars. They were so intent on seeing the twinkling lights; they didn’t notice one of their numbers missing.

“Sorry everypony, but I gotta go talk to Cloud Surfer and make sure he’s alright,” Bon Bon whispered as she started trotting towards the heart of Ponyville, following the skid marks left by an upset pegasus.

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Cloud Surfer was speeding so fast through town that he almost didn’t stop in time to avoid colliding into a group of 6 ponies walking towards the edge of it. Luckily, he managed to jump over them before they crashed. Turning around afterwards, he noticed who it all was. “What’s the rush? Where are you off to on this most lovely and endless night?” Cloud Surfer questioned them rather harshly, not that he cared at this point. Before him were Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and the newest resident, Twilight Sparkle.

“Well howdy there Cloud Surfer, nice to see ya too,” Applejack answered in her farmpony accent. “While Ah’m sure we’d all love to stay and chat a lil more, we gotta git going to the Everfree forest ta try an’ stop Nightmare Moon.” The other ponies behind her just nodded in agreement, all except Fluttershy that is, who was still shaking at the thought of going into the woods.

Cloud Surfer just stood still and stared at them for a good minute or so. He’d done some crazy and stupid stuff before, but going into the Everfree at night was just as likely to get you killed as jumping off a cloud and refusing to open your wings. “Are you bucking kidding me?” was all he could stutter out. “That’s way too dangerous, and I’m not even including the Alicorn that is currently trying to snuff out the sun. I mean…” before he could continue, Twilight Sparkle had cleared her throat to cut him off.

“I’m sorry to cut you off, but time is of the essence here. I’m Twilight Sparkle by the way,” Twilight stated rather curtly. “So if you wouldn’t mind, I must be on my way.” Twilight spun around, and was about to gallop off before Applejack grabbed her from behind. “What now?”

“Well Twilight, Ah reckon we oughta have a back-up plan of sorts. Why not tell Cloud Surfer here what we plan on a doing before we leave. That way if we don’t get there, somepony else can give it a try,” Applejack reasoned with her. After looking into her eyes long enough, Twilight nodded in agreement, if for no other reason than to let her leave faster.

“We are going to look for the Elements of Harmony in the Everfree forest. They should be at the ruins of the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. I guess if we don’t make it back by tomorrow, then you should try and find them,” Twilight said, almost as if she was giving a lecture, and to top that off “Any questions?”

“How am I supposed to know when it’s tomorrow when the sun doesn’t rise?” Cloud Surfer asked plainly. His head was spinning right now with everything they just dumped on him, not helping to improve his mood at all. “And why do I have to be the one to go? Can’t I just send somepony else?”

“Sure, send anypony in, let’s say 48 hours ok, now can I get going yet?” Twilight said exasperated. With a quick nod, Applejack turned around and continued to guide Twilight to the Everfree forest with the rest of her friends.

“What in the sweet name of Celestia just happened,” Cloud Surfer muttered to himself. With that he turned around, hopped back on his board and skated off towards Ponyville Park. It barely took him any time to get to the park, hopping over the gate to get in since the park closed at sunset. That’s a laugh, Cloud Surfer thought; the park will never be open again. It took him a few minutes to reach his favorite spot in all of Ponyville, a great big oak tree in the center of the park, sitting on top of a hill. Stretching his wings, he flew up to one of the thicker branches and lied down, shutting his eyes to nap and clear his thoughts.

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Big Macintosh was just making it up the hill with his little sister Apple Bloom draped over his back. He couldn’t help but to feel a small sense of dread over what this constant night may do to his baby sister, but he decided to let that thought go. “Ello everypony,” Big Mac whispered to his friends up a head of them. Glancing about, he saw that his friends had stopped and gotten things for their star gazing meet-up.

“Hiya Big Mac, any requests??” Lyra asked as she strummed her lyre. She may not be up to a Canterlotian performer’s level, but there was no doubt she had the potential.

“Nnope, don’t wanta wake the lil one,” Macintosh replied, gesturing to the sleeping filly on his back. Gently, he placed Apple Bloom down on one of the blankets and wrapped her up in the rest of it so she’d stay warm. “How are them stars alooking?”

“Quite beautiful if I say so myself,” chimed in Doctor Whooves. “I’ve counted probably a half dozen shooting stars already. Who knew the night was this wonderful?” Doctor Whooves stretched out on a separate blanket that he brought, taking out a few notebooks, and started to scribble all of his findings down into it.

“So what big science discovery are you going to attempt to make now Doc? How to time travel using stars?” Carmel joked with his friend. Several laughs followed after one. “Seriously man, just put the books away for once and enjoy the moment,” Carmel said to his friend. Doctor Whooves, being a respected science pony that he was, never did seem to relax at all. Well, Carmel thought to himself, at least he relaxes when Cloud Surfer is around.

“Hey, where’d Bon Bon go?” Lyra gasped looking around. “I thought she went to her house to get some things, but she hasn’t gotten here yet.”

“Ah’m sure she is fine Lyra,” Big Mac reassured her. “She’s an adult anyway, so no reason to fret. She probably just got a lil distracted is all.”

“I hope so. I mean sure, the night sky is pretty and all, but it’s just not right for us ponies to be in the dark,” Lyra stated. With this statement, she shivered. Trying to enjoy the night was a great idea to keep everyone calm, but there is only so long it can distract a pony for so long. Now with her friend missing in the dark, all she could do was attempt not to panic. So this is what the night does to ponies, Lyra thought, a fleeting sign of beauty and then nothingness. It could scare a dragon. As she glanced around her circled friends, she could see the same effects of the night draining on them as well. Big Mac just lied there next to his little sister, keeping a protecting watch over the area. Rose, Daisy and Lily were mumbling about how destroyed their gardens will be without the sun, and what they would do without gardening. Even Doctor Whooves had given up on recording data to just sit there and mope.

The group of friends sat there in silence for a few hours before finally deciding to call it quits. Even the company of friends could only hold of the darkness of the night for so long. They all parted ways, heading towards their respective homes. All except Lyra, who decided she needed to find her best friend before something horrible happened to her.

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“OWW!!” yelped Cloud Surfer as he started rubbing his sore head. Something had just flown up there and hit him, waking him from his nap. Looking around he saw a certain earth pony with a pink and blue mane glaring at him rather angrily.

“So now you’re finally awake. It’s about time, I’ve been trying to wake you up for almost an hour now,” Bon Bon huffed, while sitting down and crossing her fore hooves. “Now get down here so we can talk,” she barked. Cloud Surfer mumbled a reply, still rubbing head. After cracking his back, and doing his waking from a nap ritual, he glided down to the ground to find out what Bon Bon wanted.

“What do you want Bon Bon?” Cloud Surfer grumbled. He still wasn’t in a good mood from his friends demanding of him earlier. Glancing at her though, he noticed how tired she seemed, “And why do you look like you just ran the Running of the Leaves?”

“I have been spending the last 4 hours running around all of Ponyville looking for you. I just about gave up when I saw your longboard leaning against the tree over here. The only luck I had was that Rainbow cleared the skies earlier from the clouds,” Bon Bon huffed. Looking Cloud Surfer over, she noticed that he still seemed a little annoyed about earlier. “Anyway the reason I wanted to find you was to say I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have tried to make you come up with a plan like that. It wasn’t fair to you. Can you forgive me?”

Cloud Surfer just looked at Bon Bon for a bit. He could see how tired she was from running around, and the look in her eyes proved how sorry she felt about the whole thing. Cloud Surfer closed his eyes, took a deep breath to figure out how he was going to respond. After what felt like an eternity for Bon Bon, he spoke up. “Thank you for apologizing, it means a lot to me. I guess I’m just not exactly one to grasp the bull by the horns, and that’s what you all were expecting of me. I’m sorry for over reacting to it though. I should’ve been more level headed.” Cloud Surfer kicked at the dirt in front of him, as he avoided Bon Bon’s gaze.

Bon Bon responded quite differently than Cloud Surfer was expecting. She leapt across the ground that separated them, and tackled him into a big hug. “I’m so glad I got that off my chest, thanks for accepting. And I promise I’ll never try and force you into something again,” Bon Bon happily said. She held him in a tight hug for a while, and then finally decided it was time to break off the contact. “So what do you want to do with the rest of our lovely night?” she joked.

Cloud Surfer was about to mention how he was tasked to head into the Everfree Forest when a blinding light appeared. A second or two went by as his eyes readjusted to the darkness to see Lyra standing in the middle of a charred circle, slightly wobbling on her feet. “Wow, teleporting takes a lot more out of you then I thought it would,” she managed to say in between her panting. After catching her breath, Lyra turned around to face Bon Bon. “So this is where you’ve been. You could’ve at least told me you were going to watch the stars from the park! I was worried sick about you!” Lyra exclaimed.

A quick clearing of his throat alerted Lyra to his presence, Cloud Surfer just waved at the unicorn. “Cloud Surfer, why are you here? And what is all the… OHHH,” Lyra suddenly put two and two together. Returning her eyes to Bon Bon, she continued “Why didn’t you tell me you were going to apologize? I’m sure everypony would’ve wanted to come. And why are you blushing so much?”

Bon Bon just looked over the unicorn’s shoulder, winked at Cloud Surfer and said “I think I’m going back home to shower and sleep. Running around town is quite the chore. I’ll catch you two later. Oh, and Cloud Surfer, how about breakfast when we wake up? I’ll see you then,” With that, she turned and trotted back towards her house.

“That sounds like a great idea! Lyra, could you also do me a favor, and in let’s say 40 hours remind me to go venture into the Everfree Forest to search for the Elements of Harmony. Thanks for that” Cloud Surfer told a stunned Lyra. “Well, I best be off, have a pleasant evening!” With a wave, he hopped on his longboard and skated off, leaving Lyra in the dust with the most confused face a pony could ever have.

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A bright light had woken Cloud Surfer up. That confused him almost as much as the sounds coming from outside of his window. Yawning, he staggered out of his bed to his window where he saw the sun sitting high in the sky. Wait a second, we don’t have a sun anymore do we? he thought to himself. At that very moment, somepony started to knock on his door. Once he opened it, low and behold was Pinkie Pie standing there.

“Come on sleepy head, you’re missing out on the fun!! There’s a PARTY!!!” Pinkie exclaimed. With that, she galloped over to the next door and repeated the process. As Cloud Surfer made his way through the crowd, he noticed Princess Celestia in all her glory accompanied by a little blue alicorn, with the moon as her cutie mark. He could only assume it was the fabled Princess Luna, the Pony Princess that turned into Nightmare Moon in the book.

“Looks like those girls managed to save the day after all,” Cloud Surfer muttered to nopony in particular. Looking about him, he saw all of his friends as happy as could be, including Lyra excitingly hopping up and down with a huge grin on her face. He wasn’t paying too much attention to the proceedings, but after a dog piled formed on top of Twilight Sparkle, he could only assume she was there to stay. Oh well. It’s not like this town could get any crazier than it already is, thought a grinning Cloud Surfer as he trotted off to find Bon Bon for breakfast.

Comments

[Themaskedferret]

Very cute! I hope we get to see lots more! you need to get a proofreader for your grammar though you kee mixing up "laid" and "lied" ><

[Silver Cloud Drifter]

"It's not like this town could get any crazier than it already is."
Cloud Surfer, you're in for a rude awakening.
Looking forward to more from you! Keep on writing!