//------------------------------//
// Dragonshy 
// Story: Courage of Harmony 
// by Byrdhouse Fanfics 
//------------------------------//

Json and H.H. are sitting in the park, looking to try and take a diversion from their normal routine. On most days, they tend to stay within their home, trying to think of new ideas to create. However, with the Grand Galloping Gala coming up, they knew that they had to think hard about what they could show. So, in a change of pace, they decided to accompany their friends at the park, with the hope that they can come up with something that will impress the Canterlot ponies.
“Alright, so we gotta come up with at least one idea to help show off at the Gala.” Json and H.H. are sitting under a large tree. They are watching everypony enjoying this lovely day, hoping to find some inspiration. “Any ideas?” H.H. didn’t and gestured some symbols to indicate so. “Ugh. Well, don’t worry. We’ll think of something…”
“Think of what?” A female voice startles them, sending them up to a branch in the tree like a cat. They slowly climb back down once they see who it was. It was Lyra, the town’s other resident nutjob.
“Oh, hi Lyra,” said Json, as H.H. gave a friendly wave. 
“Hi, Json. Hi, H.H…” She’s known for being a bit of a conspiracy theorist, with her main interest being in bipedal creatures that live a life not unlike the ponies. She always referred to them as “humans”, but everypony in town is always a little skeptical. Her interest in humans is partly why she knows Json and H.H., as the latter had hands, which Lyra claims the humans have. “So, what are you tryna think about…?”
“Just, you know, stuff to invent. Something’s coming up and I need something that can wow other ponies.”
“Well,” said Lyra, remembering a previous event, “you did make that Sun thing. Pretty sure more ponies are gonna view your work in a different light.” The two then began to walk over to a bench as they continued speaking.
“Not if they’ll explode though…”
“Ah,” Lyra then gets on the bench, sitting weirdly. “Well, I wouldn’t sweat about it too much. You’ll do fine. I mean, you did make H.H. there, right?”
“Well, you may have a point…” Lyra then sits down on a bench, lying backwards.
“Wow, you really love those ‘humans’, huh?”
“More than any of my other studies! So much that I try to imitate as much of their mannerisms as possible!”
“Well, good luck with that, I guess…” Json and H.H. do have doubts, but still support her in any way, knowing that she supports their inventive habits.
“Listen up!” The voice of Twilight Sparkle grabs everypony’s attention, particularly Json and H.H. “Smoke is spreading over all of Equestria.” Everypony worries as she tries to keep everypony calm. “But don’t worry, I’ve just received a letter from Princess Celestia informing me that it is not coming from a fire.”
“Okay, I guess that makes it a little better…”
“It’s coming from a dragon.” Everypony gasps as Json and H.H. get the message that they, as well as their friends, are likely going to be needed.




Dragons. Large, scaly, winged creatures who live beyond Ponyville. Ponies and dragons have not had the…best relationship, to say the least. Heck, the only dragon that ponies have good relations with is Spike, and even then, he does sometimes get looks from the more skeptical ponies.
When Princess Celestia got word of a dragon inhabiting a cave not far from Ponyville, she spread the message to Twilight and the town. Right now, she and her friends are at the library discussing the matter.
“What in the name of all things cinnamon swirled is a full-grown dragon doing here in Equestria?” Applejack’s question is answered with one response from Twilight.
“Sleeping.” Her friends are confused at this so she explains the situation further. “According to Princess Celestia, he’s napping. His snoring is what’s causing all this smoke.”
“Wow,” said Json, “I knew snoring can be a little difficult to deal with but this…”
“...is not healthy at all,” said Pinkie. “He should really see a doctor.”
“Well,” said Rarity, “ at least he’s not snoring fire. What are we meant to do about it?”
“I’ll tell you what we’re meant to do,” said Rainbow Dash, as cocky as ever. Give him the boot!” She then throws some kicks that were swiftly caught by H.H. Twilight then continues when she’s done.
“We need to encourage him to take a nap somewhere else. Princess Celestia has given us this mission, and we must not fail. If we do, Equestria will be covered in smoke for the next one hundred years.” Everypony shows shock that a cloud of smoke can last as long as a century. “All right everypony, I need you to gather supplies quickly. We've got a long journey ahead of us. Let's meet back here in less than an hour. Oh and Json? H.H.? I need you two to stay with me.”
“Alrighty.” The two follow her upstairs, leading Json to ask, “Why exactly did you want us to stay with you?”
“Well, I spend most of my time studying various subjects, including lands and creatures. You two spend most of your time working with calculations, if I am not mistaken.”
“That is true…”
“Well, between the three of us, we can come up with an effective plan for the journey to the cave and meeting with the dragon itself.”
“Ah, we see…” Json’s response was met with a thumbs up from H.H. Twilight then gets some paper and prepares to draw a plan.
“So, the dragon lives not far from Ponyville, but it will still take quite some time to reach the cave, since we would be likely traveling upward.”
“Mmhmm…” Json agrees and works with her, with H.H. drawing the path as they talk. “So there IS a path that goes around the mountain, but it would take a longer amount of time. Going up the slope of the mountain would be steep, but would save us some time.”
Twilight is impressed with how observant of the mountain map he is. She’s more impressed with the trail that H.H. drew from their conversation. Json reads it over to get a good idea on the mountain path.
“Yup, this is DEFINITELY the path we need! So, we probably should head back and make sure our lab is, you know, clean and stuff.”
“Oh, sure, go ahead! Just be sure to meet back at the Library in about 30 minutes, okay?”
H.H. gave a thumbs up as the two ran back to their lab to make sure it’s clean…and to find any inventions that they might want to try.



Later…

Luckily for them, there IS an item that they recently invented: it’s a device that is similar to their Sunmaker device in that it uses water. But the key difference here is that it heats it up, converting it to steam, which he can then use to blast out a cloud of the stuff. Another unique thing about this invention was that it was completely portable, as it fits into H.H.’s bag, making it easy for him to pull out for Json to use at a moment’s notice.
After they get what they need, they make their way back to the Library, where Twilight was relaying the mission plans to her friends.
“Me, Json, and H.H. mapped out the fastest route, but we've all got to keep a good pace if we expect to make it up the mountain by nightfall.” Fluttershy murmurs a bit, going unnoticed by everypony else, including Twilight. “The dragon is in that cave at the very top.”
“Looks pretty cold up there,” says Applejack, with the other ponies in agreeance.
“You bet it is,” said Rainbow Dash. “The higher you go, the chillier it gets.”
“Good thing I brought my scarf.” Rarity pulls out said scarf, which Pinkie Pie admired with Rainbow Dash snarking.
“Oh yeah. That’ll keep you nice and cozy.”
While all of this is going on, Fluttershy is trying to convince the other three, who are currently looking over their map and making sure everything’s right, that she doesn’t have to go.
“Um, excuse me, Twilight? Json? H.H.? I know you're all busy, but…”
“Uh-huh.” They kept discussing the map, not initially noticing Fluttershy.
“But if I could just have a second…”
“Uh-huh.”
“So, um, I was thinking that, um, maybe I should just stay here in Ponyville.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Oh! Good, I’ll stay here and-”
“Wait, what?!” Json finally snapped out and comprehended what she said. “But you have to come! You have a gift with animals, and the dragon happens to be an animal, so…”
“I don’t think I-”
“Oh, and don’t worry about your friends in the meadow. Spike’s got it covered while you’re gone.” Twilight points at Spike, who’s carrying some of said animals...who quickly scatter after Angel thumps on his head. Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash pulled the three aside.
“Are you sure you want Fluttershy to come along? I mean, that pony's afraid of her own shadow. She's just going to slow us down.”
“Oh come on. I mean, sure she’s a little afraid...but once we get going, she should loosen up a little.” Json says this as Fluttershy demonstrates being scared of her own shadow. “Anyways...everypony...move out!” Everypony dashes towards the mountain, carrying Fluttershy as she screams.



Sometime
 later…
The ponies make it to the side of the mountain that they now have to scale up on. This mountain is where the dragon made his domain, evidenced by his snoring. And of course, Fluttershy was the most nervous about this.
“It’s so…high.”
“Well, it is a mountain,” said Rainbow Dash, preparing to fly up. “I’m gonna fly up there and check it out.” Applejack pulls her by the tail just as she was planning to fly up.
“Hold on now. I think we should all go up together. Safety in numbers and all.” The athlete relented as almost everypony began to scale, with H.H. keeping himself and Json from falling backward as they climbed up.
“I hear the only thing that sparkles more than a dragon's scales are the jewels they use to build their nests.” Rarity decided to spout some dragon facts. “Ooo, if I play my cards right, I might be able to convince him to part with a few!”
Pinkie Pie, then demonstrating her Element, did a little skit.
“‘Welcome to my cave, Rarity. Care for a diamond?” She then roars, making everypony chuckle. Except for Twilight.
“Girls! This is no laughing matter!”
“Eh,” said Json, “it was a little funny, gotta admit.” He’s greeted with a glare from Twilight, making him try to change the subject. “So, Fluttershy, you’re the animal expert. Any ideas on what the dragon will be like?” He’s met with silence, making him look back. “Fluttershy?” He spies her hiding in the bushes as everypony then looks back at her.
“Hey,” said an annoyed Rainbow Dash. “What are you waiting for? An invitation?”
“Oooh, I think I have one in my bag!” Pinkie Pie’s brief moment of randomness is almost passed over as Fluttershy shows her fear…
“It’s so...so...steep.”
“Well it is a cliff. You could just, oh I don’t know, fly up there?”
Rainbow Dash’s comment reminds Fluttershy that she’s a pegasus as she tries to flap up to the group with Pinkie Pie cheering her on. However, one snore from the dragon makes her wings snap back down. Json just feels sorry for her, as he could guess why Fluttershy is so scared, and also because he also has a small fear that he’s not gonna disclose yet.
“Ugh,” said Twilight, a little annoyed. “We don’t have time for this!”
“Hey,” said Applejack, getting an idea, “on that map, do you find another path? Like, around the mountain?”
“We did but that would take a little longer why?”
“I’m gonna take her on the ‘around’ path.” Applejack takes the map from Twilight and jumps down to Fluttershy as Rainbow Dash was just as annoyed as Twilight.
“Around the mountain! That’s gonna take them forever.” Her complaints go unheard as Applejack carries a scared Fluttershy through the around path.



A little while later…

Everypony is still waiting for Applejack and Fluttershy to get back as they’re doing their own things. Pinkie Pie is consecutively beating Rarity at Tic-Tac-Toe while Json and H.H. are showing Twilight their steam invention.
“Then the water boils and evaporates into a gas form, which can then be shooted out.”
“And how would that help us with the dragon?”
Json lifted a hoof and then put it back down. “I...actually don’t have that big of a clue. We mean, the best we could think of is a form of distraction, you know?”
“I mean, I guess if we need to escape or…” Twilight stops and sees Applejack carrying Fluttershy, panting.
“We made it…”
“Told you it was gonna take them forever.” Rainbow Dash’s comment aside, everypony keeps moving, trying to make up for lost times.



Everypony
 comes up to a ledge, noticing the other side that they would have to jump to. While the rest of the group found it simple to jump to the other side, one did not.
“Why does it have to be so wide,” said Fluttershy.
“Come on Fluttershy,” said Twilight. “We should be much farther along by now.”
“You could just make a quick little leap,” said Json, trying to be supportive. However, a dragon snore keeps her from trying to leap.
“I don’t know…”
“There’s nothing to be afraid of,” said Pinkie Pie. “It’s just a hop, skip, and a jump. See?” She makes a hop, skip and a jump to demonstrate...and does it several more times.
It's not very far
Just move your little rump
You can make it if you try with a hop, skip and jump!
A hop, skip and jump,
Just move your little rump,
A hop, skip and jump,
A hop, skip and jump,
A hop, skip and jump,
A hop skip and jump,
A hop skip and jump!
Fluttershy seems to get the message as she prepares to make the jump.
“Okay. Here I go. A hop…”
“Yes, yes,” said Json, encouraging her. “You’ve got it.”
“A skip…”
“Just be sure not to look down.” Json facehoofs after saying that, just as Fluttershy looks down and holds onto the edges...as it turns out that the gap wasn’t even that big.
“I guess I forgot to jump.”



Further down the path…

“Let’s keep it down,” said Twilight to her friends. “According to the map, we’re entering an avalanche zone.” Json then took over for her.
“See, the thing about these types of zones is that the smallest peep could cause a huge rock slide. So ssshhhhh.” H.H. puts a finger up to Json’s nose to signify that they need to stay quiet, particularly Fluttershy, who tries to move along with the group, not making a sound...until Rainbow Dash unknowingly pushes past some leaves, causing a few to land right on Fluttershy’s flank.
“AVALA-” H.H. quickly got up from on top of Json and covered her mouth. The sound echoes through the territory, leading the other ponies to think that everything is fine...until they hear a rock slide coming down. It’s an avalanche, and everypony gets caught up in making sure they’re alright. Json and H.H. fall back and make sure everypony does the same, which they did, leading them to see that the path was now a mountain of dirt.
“Ugh,” said Json, rubbing his head a bit. “Is everypony okay?” Some, like Applejack and Twilight, were fine, but others, like Fluttershy and Rarity, were covered in dirt.
“Ugh,” said Rarity, shaking off the dust to an unfazed Pinkie. “This is why a girl always packs extra accessories.” As she begins to search through her belongings and Rainbow Dash begins to criticize her for it, Fluttershy makes a quiet apology.
“Aw,” said Applejack, “no big whoop, sugarcube.”
“Yeah,” said Twilight, “we’ll just have to…climb over.”



One rock climb later…

They made it. After a long and a little difficult journey and really lengthy paragraphs, they have finally reached the dragon’s cave, as the group was now standing before a large cave where the giant made his domain. Twilight lays out the plan to the rest of the group.
She, Json, and Fluttershy will go in to persuade the dragon.
Rainbow Dash will use her wings to clear the smoke in case he snores some more.
Rarity and Pinkie Pie will be the distraction in case things spiral.
Applejack will go on the offense in case he does try to attack, along with Json and H.H. if their steam blaster works properly. Although, as long as Fluttershy does her thing and wakes him up, they shouldn’t have a real problem.
“So between the three of us, we should be able to get him to understand why he needs to go. Is everypony ready?” They gave their signals in agreement. She then started to head in. Json and H.H. were following behind her until they noticed Fluttershy covering her head in the ground.
“Fluttershy?” They went back and tried to get her out, but she wasn’t budging. “Come on!” He tried pushing her forward to get her out. “We. Have. To go! Inside!” Each of the group join in trying to push her inside, but she wouldn’t budge.
“I…I can’t go in the cave.”
“Oh great. She’s scared of caves now, too.” Rainbow Dash receives a light jab from H.H. for that.
“I’m not scared of caves. I’m scared of…”
“What’s that, sugarcube?”
“I’m scared of…”
“What?”
“...I’m scared of dragons!” A dragon’s roar went with this internal reveal from Fluttershy: dragons are, so far, the only animals she doesn’t like to identify with.
“But Fluttershy,” said Twilight. “You have a wonderful talent dealing with all kinds of animals.”
“Yes, because they’re not dragons.”
“Oh come on,” said Rainbow Dash, incredulous. “We’ve seen you walked up to a horrible manticore like it was nothing.”
“Yes, because he wasn’t a dragon.”
“Spike’s a dragon,” said Pinkie. “You’re not scared of him.”
“Yes, because he's not a huge, gigantic, terrifying, enormous, teeth-gnashing, sharp-scale having, horn-wearing, smoke-snoring, could eat a pony in one bite, totally all grown-up dragon!”
As the dragon snored, Applejack spoke up, wanting to know something.
“But sugarcube. If you’re so afraid of dragons, why didn’t you tell us?”
“I was afraid to.”
“Aw, come on. All of us are scared of that dragon.”
“I’m not!” Rainbow Dash’s claims aside…
“Well, almost all of us, but we’ve got a job to do. So, get in there with Twilight and Json and show em what you’re made of.”
“I-I...I… I just…  can’t.” Fluttershy wasn’t going in, which just disappointed the others.
“Oh, Fluttershy…”
“Hey,” said Json, as H.H. put a hand on Twilight’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. We’re sure she’ll come around.”
“Well, if you’re sure.”
“Now come on. The dragon probably doesn’t realize what he is doing and just needs to be talked to.” He gulped a bit, knowing there’s a chance he won’t budge. But the three of them went in, ready to talk to him.


A large red dragon is seen napping on top of a large pile of gold, jewels, and other shiny treasures.
“Wow,” whispered Twilight. “It’s true. Dragons do hoard a lot of treasures.”
“You tell me…remember that I have my steam blaster in case things go south.”
They quietly walk up to the snoring dragon, Json first. H.H. pokes him as Json tries to get him to wake up. After a couple of pokes and quiet whispers, the dragon manages to wake up.
“Phew, you’re awake. Okay, so allow us to introduce ourselves, Mr. Dragon. My name is Json, and this is Twilight Sparkle and-” He yawns a bit, making Json cover his snout a bit. “-and we, along with our friends, are residents here in Equestria. Ponyville to be exact. In fact, this is exactly what we came here to talk about, right?”
“Oh, yes. We have come to ask if you could find another spot to take your nap. See, your snoring is sending out a terrible cloud of smoke and…and our town would be covered in a dark haze. You understand, don’t you?” The dragon gets up as if he understands, not knowing that he was eying something.
“Oh great! So you’ll find another place to sleep?” Json’s question went unanswered as the dragon reaches into his saddlebag and pulls out his steam blaster, seeing how shiny it is. “Uh, I don’t think you would want to hold it like that. Stuff I make does tend to-” BOOM! “...explode.” Json nervously chuckles as he sees the dragon’s face covered in soot, glaring right at him. Then, he lays back down and snores another cloud of smoke at him and Twilight.


The two walk out, covered in soot.
“Okay, so I never even got to use it and it still blew up. I don’t think that’s ever happened before, has it H.H.?” He simply shrugs.
“Well, so much for persuasion.” Rainbow Dash is getting a little anxious and feeling like doing things her way. “So now what?” Rarity then steps up, forming an idea of her own.
“Obviously, this situation calls for a little pony charm.” She trots in. “Allow me, girls.” The group couldn’t exactly hear everything that’s going on in there, but judging from a roar and Rarity making a quick dash out and on a rock, they assumed she failed.
“I was this close to getting that diamond.”
“You mean getting rid of that dragon?”
“Oh, yeah…sure.”
Everypony hears a horn, looking to see Pinkie Pie…being Pinkie Pie.
“What the-?”
“Darling, you look ridiculous.”
“Exactly! Sharing a laugh is a surefire way to get somepony on your side!” She walks in. “Hi!” The group hears a pop and a roar, accompanied by Pinkie Pie walking out, also failed. “Apparently he doesn’t like laughing...or sharing.”
“All right, that's it. We tried persuasion, charm, whatever it is Pinkie Pie does.” She gives a raspberry horn at that. “It’s time to stop wasting time! I’m going in!”
“Rainbow, no!” Twilight’s pleas went unheard as she flew right in. Again, the group can’t see exactly what’s going on in there, but they only heard a buck kick. They all fear what is happening in there...and are promptly bowled over as she crashes out. And then they all see him awake and not happy at whatever happened in his domain. He huffs...and puffs...and BLOWS the ponies onto a rock, dazing them all. What they didn’t know is that behind this rock was a familiar pegasus...and when she looked at how her friends were treated, she was not happy.


“How dare you…” Fluttershy then raised her voice and actually flew up right to the dragon. “How are you! Listen here, mister. Just because you're big doesn't mean you get to be a bully! You may have huge teeth, and sharp scales, and snore smoke, and breathe fire. But you do not—I repeat—you do not! Hurt! My! Friends! You got that?” At that point, the dragon can only whimper...and Json couldn’t be prouder. “Well?”
“But that rainbow one kicked me.” Rainbow Dash was obviously proud about that.
“And I am very sorry about that. But you're bigger than she is, and you should know better. You should also know better than to take a nap where your snoring can become a health hazard to other creatures.”
“But 1-”
“Don’t you ‘but I’ me, mister! Now what do you have to say for yourself? I said, what do you have to say for yourself?” The dragon is left crying after that, which did leave most of the friends’ manes (aside from Pinkie, obviously) a little damped. Fluttershy then uses her element to console him.
“There, there. No need to cry. You're not a bad dragon, you just made a bad decision. Now go pack your things. You just need to find a new place to sleep. That's all.” Everypony cheers for Fluttershy when she lands, with Json glomming her a bit.
“You did it! I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!” They all look as the dragon leaves the cave, setting out for a new place to nap.
Later that day…


Needless to say, Json and H.H. had a pretty long day. A long trek, a climb up a mountain, a dragon encounter, an invention exploding...though that last one was expected. They decided to head back to their home and just rest, needing to think up something good to introduce at the Gala. Json remembered what Lyra told him and yet, he still feels conflicted. Hopefully, though, he’ll be able to think of SOMETHING unique to show off…