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// Mare in the Moon 
// Story: Courage of Harmony 
// by Byrdhouse Fanfics 
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“BOOM!” Another failed test, another explosion. This pony, named Json and currently coughing and covered in soot, knew the feeling all too well.
“Ugh…well, back to square one…” He was currently performing a duty that he was enlisted for as part of the Summer Sun Celebration. The Celebration was tonight so Json knew that he had to work quickly and diligently. As he was preparing to start again, he heard something.
“Hello?”
“Oh, coming,” he shouted back as he dusted themself off and moved their lab goggles to their forehead. They were mostly soot-free but it was still in some places. As the pony went back up from their basement, they opened the door on the main floor of their home and saw a pony and a dragon.
“Oh, hello.” He gave kind of an awkward wave when saying this.
“Hello there. I’m Twilight Sparkle and this is Spike.” The pony nodded, knowing what their names were. “I was sent here to make sure you were prepared for the Summer Sun Celebration.”
“Oh, really? How did you know?”
“A pony named Rarity told us.” Spike was audibly sighing at that. “She said that you were doing ‘Part 2’ of Decorations?”
“Oh, yes! Come in.” Json allowed Twilight and Spike to come in, happy to have some guests. “Oh, where are my manners? My name is Json. Nice to meet you.”
“You as well. So what exactly are you preparing?”
“Well…” Json noticeably stuttered at this, since he wasn’t used to being asked about his inventions. “...it’s never exactly been done before but-”
“Json?” Twilight interrupted him. “What is this?” She was referring to the saddlebag that was moving on its own. But the main weird thing about this bag was that…it had these…weird extensions on the end.
“Oh, he’s not an it. He’s a he. Twilight, Spike. This is Hoovey Helper. He’s my best friend/partner in creation. He’s…very special to me…”
“I see…”
“H.H.? Can you help our guests real quick?” The saddlebag saluted and went off as he explained what he was doing. “So we were trying to find a way to make a miniature Sun that could light up Town Hall after the Sun goes down. Our solution was to make a device that can take any round surface and make it as bright as the Sun. It’s done through the use of heating water to be super hot and ionizing its components: those components are then transferred onto a round surface, say…this ball.” Hoovey Helper held a ball. Twilight looked as if she understood though Spike looked a little confused.
“Basically,” she said, putting what he said in layman's terms, “You’re gonna make the water super hot, and transfer the energy onto this ball?”
“Yup! Well, not this ball, obviously, but I wanted to use it on a larger one, you know? This ball is just for testing purposes. You know…you’re one of the few ponies that have actually visited me.”
“Oh really?”
“Yeah. It’s typically just me and H.H. in here. Many other ponies kinda…laugh off my ideas, saying they’ll never catch on…” His demeanor turned dour before returning upbeat. “But that just gives me more of a reason to just invent.”
“I see…” Json was about to do another test when a thought came to his mind. “Hey, can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Do you two consider me,” he said in a shy tone, “a friend?”
“Well…” She didn’t know how to tell him and was looking for an opportunity to change the subject…which came pretty soon.
“Okay, Sunmaker 2000. Test #46. H.H.?” Json lowered his lab goggles as H.H. activated the device, heating the water to a high degree, which caused it to quickly boil before it began to evaporate. Evaporating the water allowing it to be converted to gas, which was at the highest temperature.
“And now for the final phase…” Json was hoping that this device would work as he had to go through multiple tests and phases to make sure the machine worked properly. He pressed a button on it and a ray formed shooting the test ball that H.H. placed down. It was working so far with the ball rising and heating up…but then it started to morph a bit, signifying that it wasn’t working. Even Json turning the machine off didn’t work, which could mean only one thing.
“Well, it looks like you’re pretty busy so we’re just gonna head out…”
“Yeah, you better. I know what’s gonna come next…” Twilight and Spike rushed back up the stairs as Json watched the ball morph until…
“BOOM!” He coughed again, covered back in soot.
“Well H.H., looks like we need to really go back to the drawing board…” He patted H.H. on the bag, showing how depressed he felt that he still wasn’t able to fully do it. H.H. patted back, encouraging him to keep going. He was going to get it to work. He just needed to make some changes…


Later that day…


Json and H.H. have been working all day to get the device working. The machines did explode most of the time, but they still kept going. Right now, it was about an hour and a half until the Summer Sun Celebration, and they were about to start another test of their device.
“Alright, Sunmaker 2000 Test #72…” The Sunmaker went through the same sequence as last time, boiling the water into a liquid form, evaporating it. Then Json pressed the button that caused a ray to shoot at the ball. To their surprise, it didn’t morph or blow up. In fact, it started to float. It floated and glowed yellow.
“H.H. You see this, buddy?” He looked just as surprised as Json as the ball floated and glowed, reflecting the qualities of the Sun. “It works! It really works!” Json was so overjoyed that he tightly hugged his friend. Now all they’ve got to do is bring the machine over to Town Hall. It was fairly medium-sized, and the best part is that there was still water available for the machine to use!


They managed to bring the machine into Town Hall and talk with the Mayor over the recent success.
“And you’re certain it works perfectly?”
“We can assure you, Mayor, that this will work perfectly! So you do have a large ball, right?”
“Yes. Rarity made sure to hang it up and everything. Oh, by the way, Pinkie Pie stopped by, earlier.”
“Oh, did she?”
“Yeah, she said she’s throwing a party for the new mare and her dragon friend. Twilight Sparkle and Spike, I believe.”
“Oh, we know them! They came to our house earlier. They were checking on how we were doing. Still exploding at the time…”
“Oh, well, Pinkie told me to tell you to meet her at the Golden Oak Library ASAP.”
“Oh. Wait, did you say party?”
“Yes…? It’s Pinkie Pie.”
“Yes, of course…” Json twiddled his hoof a bit, falling back into his uncertainty again. At that moment, H.H. patted him on the back, giving him reassurance. “You’re right. I did promise myself I would try to get out more…”


After that moment of reassurance, Json and H.H., now back in his saddlebag, made a beeline for the library. It didn’t seem like Twilight or Spike were there so they were able to sneak in without anyone noticing. And surprise, surprise, Pinkie was there.
“Json! So glad you made it! Are you excited? Huh? Huh?”
“Hello, Pinkie. Nice to see you…still very hyper…”
“Great to see you too! Normally, you’re still in your house trying to invent things.”
“Well, I heard Twilight and Spike are going to be here and I did promise myself that I would try to get out more so…”
“Shh! They’re coming!” Pinkie shushed everypony as she grabbed Json and took them upstairs to hide from them. There were four other ponies upstairs aside from them, all of which he knew. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy were up there with him, making sure to keep quiet,  as the door opened, revealing Twilight shoving Spike inside and slamming the door.
“Huh. Rude much?”
“Sorry, Spike, but I have to convince the Princess that Nightmare Moon is coming, and we're running out of time! I just need to be alone so I can study without a bunch of crazy ponies trying to make friends all the time. Now, where's the light?”
She turned the lights on, revealing the crowd of ponies waiting.
“Surprise!” Pinkie was the first to greet her, showing off her trademark hyperness. “Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie, and I threw this party just for you! Were you surprised? Were ya? Were ya? Huh huh huh?”
“Very surprised. Libraries are supposed to be quiet.”
“Well, that's silly! What kind of welcome party would this be if it were quiet? I mean, duh, bo-ring! Y'see, I saw you when you first got here, remember? You were all "Hello" and I was all *GASP*, remember? Y'see I've never saw you before and if I've never saw you before that means you're new, 'cause I know everypony, and I mean everypony in Ponyville!” Twilight was pouring herself a drink in the midst of all of this. “And if you're new, that meant you haven't met anyone yet, and if you haven't met anyone yet, you must not have any friends, and if you don't have any friends then you must be lonely, and that made me so sad, then I had an idea, and that's why I went [deep gasp]! I must throw a great big ginormous super-duper spectacular welcome party and invite everyone in Ponyville! See? And now you have lots and lots of friends!”
She showed Twilight the rest of the group, which included Json and H.H., who rushed right beside her. She looked shocked for a moment, turning to the group to reveal her looking like she just drank hot sauce.
“Are you all right, sugarcube?” Applejack’s question would be answered by her whistling and rushing up the stairs.
“Aww, she's so happy she's crying!” Json took a closer look at what she drank, revealing why she rushed.
“‘Hot sauce’.” Pinkie then proceeded to drink from the bottle, to the relative shock of most of the other ponies.
“What? It’s good!”


After the party…


After Twilight’s welcome party, it was time for the main event: the Summer Sun Celebration. The Sun has set, and Princess Celestia is preparing to bring forth a special sunrise to commemorate this special celebration. Json and H.H. themselves were prepared to use their Sunmaker 2000 to help light up Town Hall when the Sun rises, which is why they were off to the side, ready to fire the machine right when Princess Celestia is introduced. They began to start up the machine when Mayor Mare took center stage.
“Fillies and gentlecolts, as mayor of Ponyville, it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration!” A couple of cheers aside, she continued. “In just a few moments, our town will witness the magic of the sunrise, and celebrate this, the longest day of the year! And now, it is my great honor to introduce to you the ruler of our land, the very pony who gives us the sun and the moon each and every day, the good, the wise, the bringer of harmony to all of Equestria…” The ball on the ceiling was in position and Json and H.H. prepared to work their magic. “...Princess Celestia!” At that moment, he activated the machine, sending a beam onto the ceiling ball. It glowed as bright as the Sun, meaning that it worked, but Json’s attention was fixated on the other piece of important detail…Princess Celestia was not there.
“Remain calm, everypony, there must be a reasonable explanation!” Rarity went backstage to find out where she was, but to her surprise, she was gone. And everypony’s shock grew at the arrival of blue smoke. This smoke would then form a guest that was really quite distressed at not receiving an invitation.
“Well, this turned into quite the awkward moment…” Json made sure to stay near the machine as the smoke formed…Nightmare Moon…the corrupted form of Princess Luna.
“Oh, my beloved subjects. It's been so long since I've seen your precious little sun-loving faces.” Rainbow Dash, dashing up to her face, showed that she wasn’t gonna take anything from her.
“What did you do with our Princess?!” Applejack held her back some as Moon continued.
“Why, am I not royal enough for you? Don't you know who I am?”
“Ooh, ooh, more guessing games!” Pinkie was still chippy despite the situation, catching the attention of everypony. “Um, Hokey Smokes! How about... Queen Meanie! No! Black Snooty, Black Snooty-” Applejack shushed her with some food as Moon started invading Fluttershy and Rarity’s personal spaces.
“Does my crown no longer count now that I have been imprisoned for a thousand years? Did you not recall the legend? Did you not see the signs?”
“I did,” said Twilight, standing up to her, somehow without fear. “And I know who you are. You're the Mare in the Moon – Nightmare Moon!” Everypony gasped, wondering how she knew of her return.
“Well well well, somepony who remembers me. Then you also know why I'm here.” Twilight gulped, as if she was remembering something… “Remember this day, little ponies, for it was your last. From this moment forth, the night will last forever!” Insert traditional maniacal laugh here.



To be continued…