The Tale of Scale

Chapter 4: Learning Curve

Morning erupted into existence and I launched out of bed. I was still amazed at the fact that I was a dragon, but it was beginning to feel somewhat normal to me. I checked my appearance in the gold mirror. My black scales seemed to shimmer as the glistening sun poured onto them. I even pressed back my blue spines; I thought that it might look more professional in front of the Princess. With that and a handful of gemstones I rushed out of my bedroom door.

It was still very early and most of the palace guests and staff were still asleep, but I wasn’t tired. I had fire breathing to learn! Calling upon my vast powers of memory, I managed to find my way out of the castle with only taking three wrong turns. The palace lawn glistened as the sunshine spread itself over the tiny drops of dew. I blinked away the bright light and made my way over to where I had practiced flying yesterday. Standing where I had stood, and apparently made a small imprint in the dirt from all my jumping, was the glorious Princess Celestia.

“Good morning,” greeted the gracious alicorn with a polite bow of her head.

“Morning,” I croaked. Apparently my voice had still not woken up.

“Are you ready to begin or do you want a few minutes to prepare yourself?”

I cleared my throat before replying. “No. No, I’m fine. I can start right now,” I said a bit too eagerly.

The Princess chuckled ever so lightly. “Very well then. But first let me give you a quick lesson on your stature as a dragon.”

I stomped over to the Princess and raised an eyebrow in question.

“As a dragon you have very strong scales for protection. Not only protection from attacks, but also from the elements. For instance, you can swim in lava and it will feel like only a warm hot spring to you.”

She must have seen the thought behind my widening eyes because she then added, “No. Don’t even think about it. I am not giving you permission to find a lava pool and jump in it. But I will show you something else.”

The Princess’ horn ignited with a bright yellow hue and small tendrils of fire erupted from it. I cringed and jumped backward a few feet. But the yellow fire danced playfully through the air until it made contact with my hard black scales. The fire wrapped around me. It actually felt nice, it was warm and comforting. Not at all the burning sensation I had been suspecting. I stopped cringing and instead let the warm glow do its job. My sore muscles felt soothed and, for the first time since I found myself in Equestria, I felt relaxed. The fire dissipated when Princess Celestia’s horn lost its glow.

“Normal fire will do you no harm,” she stated calmly. “After all, lava itself cannot hurt you. In order to harm a dragon the blaze must be hotter than magma.”

Then her eyes flashed at me with a hard set determination as her horn again blazed to life. Another fire leaped from the solar Princess, this one a bright orange. I allowed the flames to crash into me. At first I didn’t feel anything, but soon the warm sensation in my body started to feel boiling hot. I felt the heat and it hurt, a lot. It was far beyond a simple tingling sensation this time, it was burning me!

“Ah!” I screamed as the orange fire pierced through even my tough armor.

The fire stopped and Celestia pulled in a long puff of air. Her eyes went back to their normal kind appearance. There was some serious power behind this Princess.

“Dragon fire is not normal fire Scale, it IS hotter than magma and it IS magic. Do not forget this fact both when you face dragons in combat and when you breathe fire yourself. Be respectful of how powerful your magic is. If you do not respect it, it WILL hurt you. Are you still sure that you are ready to begin?”

“…Yes?” I answered shakily.

Celestia drew in a long and soothing breath and then slowly exhaled.

“Very well,” she stated calmly. “The first thing you need to understand is proper breathing technique.”

“Breathing technique? You mean like this?” I puffed in as much air as possible and then exhaled it all at once in a powerful roar.

“No,” she stated simply.

My shoulders slumped. Was doing anything even remotely cool going to be difficult?

“First lift up your chest,” she instructed.

I puffed out my chest in response.

“Not quite like that. Don’t puff yourself up like a penguin; instead hold yourself straight and tall. Something like this.”

The Princess stood as majestically as ever, but stood with a pose that showed her at her most regal. She was straight and tall. Her back legs were planted firmly on the ground, ready to spring to action at any moment while her head was held up. It was impressive how a simple change of posture made her look even taller and elegant than she already was.

“Now you try,” she commanded as her posture went back into a more relaxed state.

I tried to duplicate her posture as best as I could. I planted my feet smartly on the ground beneath me and slowly stretched out my back. I felt more gentlemanly already. It kind of reminded me of what my choir teacher tried to show my class when I was in elementary school. Oh! That’s exactly what I was doing. Proper breathing technique.

“Better, but you’re still puffing out your chest too much,” Celestia broke into my thoughts.

I corrected.

“If you’re doing this correctly, it should feel a bit strange at first. Perhaps even a little constricting. But you should be able to feel that your lungs are more free than normal and that you can hold more air.”

She was right, I felt a little stiff in this posture but I sucked in a lungful of air anyways. Shockingly, I really could hold more air than before. I guess my elementary choir teacher wasn’t a nut job after all. I exhaled another powerful breath of air.

“That really works!” I smiled.

“Yes it does, but it will take some practice for you to actually be able to use it. I want you to practice holding that stance and breathing in, but this time exhale slowly. Try to lengthen the time your breath comes out.”

I nodded and did as instructed. Celestia watched me perform this task and then spoke once more.

“Good. Good. Now keep practicing as I talk,” she began to pace around as I breathed in and out. “As a dragon, breathing fire should be natural. Even Spike was breathing fire soon after he was hatched. However, you are not a normal dragon. For you it may take some time. Do not lose patience, but stick with what I will teach you. Now listen carefully to me, magic is something that is not easily performed. It takes a great deal of practice, study, and research. Dragon fire IS magic. It will take time for you to learn its secrets. Do you understand this?”

I exhaled slowly and then spoke with a nod, “Yes.”

“Good, now you will actually try to breathe fire. You will most likely not do this correctly the first time,” the Princess stopped pacing and planted herself directly in front of me. “Breathe in.”

I did as told and held my breath.

“Now, try to raise forth fire from within your gut. You should be able to feel it building up in you.”

I placed my focus upon the task. I could feel a rumbling sensation in my belly. Something was building, burning, wanting to escape. It wasn’t quite something tangible, but just something I knew was there. It was something magical.

“When you believe you are ready, release your breath into the sky.”

I raised my head skyward. Now was the time. Now I was a true dragon! I released the full extent of my fury to the heavens, but only a small, pitiful cloud of black smoke belched forth. I began to choke on the fumes and cough. That stuff tasted nasty!

“Ack! Ugh! Uh!” I coughed.

“That’s not quite right,” Celestia stated.

No?! Really?!

“Why don’t you try again, but this time release it slowly. Just like you practiced. Don’t release it all at once. Focus.”

After the puny black cloud dissipated and I finally stopped choking, I growled to myself and took another long breath of air. This should be easy! I concentrated once again on building fire within myself. I could feel its pressure, it wanted to be released, it wanted to burn brightly in the skies above. But this time I released my breath slowly. A long stream of black smoke floated into the sky. But this time the smoke was more focused than the last and didn’t stick close enough to my nostrils to really choke me. There was still no fire though.

“Much better,” Celestia said with an approving smile.

“But there was no fire,” I replied glumly.

“No, and there probably won’t be for a while yet. You still need to learn how to build up the magic inside yourself until it can be effectively released.”

“But I CAN feel it!”

“Yes, but you must learn better control of it. Simply feeling magic is not control of magic. Scale, all of Equestria is saturated with magic. It is in the air, the trees, the creatures who live here, but without proper control and focus you will never be able to utilize it. Now, I must attend to my duties but I want you to keep practicing these basic techniques. We will meet here again tomorrow and then we will practice some more.”

Celestia turned from me with practiced grace and ease of composure. Her ethereal mane was even more magnificent when it flowed around her in the light of the sun. Of course, practicing was not exactly my favorite activity. All I wanted was to breathe fire! Was that really so hard to ask? With a heavy sigh, I turned back to my task.

That morning I kept sucking in huge mouthfuls of air, built up flaming magic within myself, and released pitiful clouds of disgusting black smoke in long puffs. It always left an aftertaste in my mouth, but never really burnt anything. One thing I did notice, however, was that the black clouds were growing slightly hotter as the day moved on. But I could only stand there practicing with limited success for so long. Soon I was bored and my stomach started to growl at me. I agreed with my stomach, it was definitely time for lunch and time for a break. With my mind made up, I waltzed casually back to the castle to find some grub. I felt that I had finally gotten walking down, and there wasn’t anything that gravity could do about it.

I smirked to myself as I pushed the large castle doors open. Take that gravity! New score: Scale- somewhere around 1, Gravity- somewhat less than infinity. I suppose I could accept that, it was better than me having 0.

The large double doors opened easily beneath my strength, I suppose that’s one thing that I got for free. I was strong. I’m guessing it was just how dragons were built. After all, nothing could ever be easy in Equestria. Couldn’t give the human anything that would make him uber powerful or cool, now could we?

My stomach growled again.

“Oh, be quiet. I’m looking for food, ok?” I looked down and spoke at my own belly. I suppose that’s what I got for leaving college and living by myself too long, I can now talk to myself and not feel weird. Maybe that’s what happened to Trixie?

“Scale!” a happy voice called from down the hallway I was plodding through. “What a coincidence! Just the dragon I was lookin’ for!”

It was Chip and yes, he was just a chipper as ever. Ha, ha ha, see what I did there? Chip, chipper…yeah, ok. My mind is a scary place when it’s hungry.

“Looking for me?” I questioned as I pointed to myself.

“Well sure! I’m on my lunch break and I figured that you hadn’t had lunch yet, so why shouldn’t I take you to the kitchen and we can both get some grub. I mean, eating by yourself is boring.”

My stomach rumbled in agreement.

“Count me in,” I replied.

“Great! Follow me!”

Chip rushed down the fancy carpets of Canterlot Castle. I actually had to almost jog to keep up with him, which was impressive because of how much longer my legs were than his. If I had gotten some odd looks from the guards before, now watching a dragon literally chase down another pony I really got some strange bizarre glances. But soon we arrived at the royal Canterlot kitchens and it was a sight to behold for a dragon with an empty stomach.

Dozens of staff, unicorns, earth ponies, and pegasus, were all chopping greens, baking deserts, or simply washing a litany of pots and pans. Loud shouts from various ponies could be heard over the din of the kitchenware being clanked around constantly. Above all other voices though, I heard one that gave me a slight chill.

“Oy! Cinamon Swril, more sugar! Joy, scrub harder! Melody, take those biscuits out before you burn them! Chop! Chop! Chop! Let’s move ponies! Lunch was too be served ten minutes ago!”

That voice was unmistakable. Even if I had only heard it once, the accented shouts of Royal Chef Flour penetrated my eardrums.

“Come on Scale!” Chip motioned for me to enter a side room he was standing in.

I slunk over to the friendly stallion, trying to make myself as inconspicuous to Chef Flour as possible. She was one mare I did not want to run into today. I moved into the small room, well, small by dragon standards, and sat down on the floor next to Chip. The brown colored stallion was picking through a cabinet of some sort. I leaned my head over to see what he was up to.

Chip was rummaging through a food storage pantry. He picked out a bag labeled Hay Fries and placed it on the ground behind him before poking his head back into the pantry. More foodstuffs came out and joined the Hay Fries on the floor. Finally, he pulled out one last item, a small plate filled with sapphires. My claws lurched instinctively at the gemstones, but I was able to stop myself before I accidentally smacked Chip by mistake.

“Easy there buddy. Here ya’ go!” Chip plopped the crystals down in front of me.

Without another second’s hesitation, I dug in, shoving each jewel into my massive jaws. Food at last! I sighed happily. I then looked over at Chip. He was munching through his bag of Hay Fries when, of all ponies, she walked in.

“Ack! You! What are you doing in here?!” Flour pointed an accusing hoof at me. “Trying to steal some extra gems? Get out!”

I lifted my arms in a non-aggressive posture and tried to speak, but she just wouldn’t listen.

“Uh, I let him in here Mam,” Chip spoke up for me.

“You let him in Mr. Coco?” she turned upon Chip.

“Yes Mam, just for a quick bite to eat. He was hungry and I’m on lunch.”

“Oy. Fine!” she threw her hooves up in dismay. “But don’t let me catch either of you trying to sneak anything out of here. This is MY kitchen. As for you Chip, you may enjoy your break in here but do not leave. You’ve been late off your lunch break for far too many days. Ack! Look at the time! Too much to do and too few hooves to get it all done!” The Chef huffed out of the room.

I didn’t dare to say anything until she was out of earshot.

“She’s some boss.”

“Eh,” Chip shrugged as he bit into a flower petal sandwich nonchalantly. “She’s not all that bad. She just takes some getting used to.”

I was glad that Chip was taking everything so calmly. I knew I would be pulling my hair out if I was in his position.

“Oh hey, I caught Stormchaser this morning. She’s really pumped for your lesson this afternoon,” Chip stated after a few more bites. “Speaking of that, you’d better get going or else you’re going to end up pulling off one of my showing up late stunts.”

Holy sea biscuits! He was right! I had totally forgotten about the flight plans I’d made with Stormchaser.

“Yikes! Thanks Chip!” I roared as I nimbly dodged out of the kitchens.

“No problem! Catch ya’ around!”

* * * * * * * * *

A warm afternoon sun met my eyes as I exited the mammoth sized castle. Upon the palace grounds, in the exact spot I’d found Celestia actually, Stormchaser was practicing a quick loop-de-loop in place. This attempt ended in a crash when she tried to throw a corkscrew into the mix.

“Yo Scale! Glad you could make it!” she called from the ground.

“Afternoon Stormchaser,” I greeted her.

I walked up to my teacher and gently picked her up in my large claws and then set her back down on her hooves.

“You saw that?” she asked.

“Yep.”

“So…on a scale of one to awesome, how great would it be if I could actually pull it off?”

She sure bounced back quickly.

“Um…close to awesome?” I responded.

“Eh, if it’s not totally awesome I’m not sure that’s what I’m going for then. But anyway, we’ve got to get you airborne today! Come on! Time to taste that open sky!”

She took a place in front of me and I placed myself back in the tracks I’d made the day before. Stormchaser snapped her wings open. I also pushed my black wings to their fullest, albeit a lot more slowly than my pegasus friend.

“Alright, remember what we did yesterday. We’re going to do a quick review and then move on. So, up and at ‘em big fella. Let me see what you’ve got!”

I nodded and then focused my mind on my wings. I leaped into the sky and flapped with my powerful wings, giving me some extra time in the air, before I landed with both feet firmly on the ground. That’s two for me gravity! You’re off your game today.

“Nice work. Ok, now if you really want to fly we’ve got to get you to a high location.”

“High location? You mean I’m going to just up and jump off?”

“That or I’m gonna push you. Actually, I kind of want to push you off. That sounds like fun.”

I gulped. This pegasus was crazy!

“Uh, well, the Princesses said that I couldn’t leave the palace grounds. So, unless I climb the castle, there’s not a high enough place for me to jump from.”

“Seriously dude? But Canterlot is built on a mountain! That’s weak sauce.”

“I GIVE THOU FULL PERMISSION TO JUMP FROM ATOP THE CASTLE!” a shout echoed across the grounds.

I turned my head and saw a certain blue alicorn leaning out of an upper window. Thank you Luna. Thank you soooo much. /sarcasm

“Sweet! Hear that? Come on, let’s get you up there!”

Reluctantly, I followed the excitable pegasus through the castle and to an upper balcony. Princess Luna was waiting there, like she was expecting us.

“I thought you slept during the day,” I grumped at the alicorn.

“I decided to awaken early today. Now, thou hast a leap to perform.”

I moved close to the edge of the balcony and looked down. It was a really far distance to the ground and I saw a few curious heads looking out of other windows and up at me. Well, at least somepony could get some entertainment out of this at least. I took in a deep breath and promptly scooted away from the edge.

“Do I have to do this? I mean, couldn’t I just fly from the ground?” I pleaded with Stormchaser.

“Chillax dude. It’s like what birds do. You have to start high up so that you have time to get your wings working. It’s either fly or keep trying until you do.”

I gulped again. I was never all that scared of heights, but jumping off of a castle and down to the hard ground below wasn’t exactly my idea of fun. I tried to jump off, but I never could bring myself to do it. Then I felt something hit me hard from behind.

“Stormchaser!” I roared as my body careened off the edge.

“You’re welcome bro!”

“Ahhh!!!!”

I felt myself twirling and falling out of control as I plummeted to my imminent demise. I closed my eyes and pressed with all of my might, trying to open my wings. They flapped open and I could feel an incredible pressure pushing against them. My fall began to slow and I even took some control over my freefalling body so that I was no longer tumbling wildly though the air. Then something just clicked.

My wings were fully outstretched and they caught the wind. I began to glide around, it was like the time I went parasailing during my Spring Break one year. I still don’t know how my friends convinced me to do that, but now I was gliding again. The excitement, the thrill, the rush of being in the sky was overwhelming. It was exhilarating. It was freeing. It was me finally being a dragon.

And that’s when my eyes went wide a split second before my face met the grass. Curse you gravity! I was actually enjoying that!

“Whoa! Sweet moves for your first time out big guy!” Stormchaser landed right next to me and tried to help me to my feet.

I got up with a really stupid grin on my face and dirt stuck between my teeth.

“Let’s do that again!” I said.

I swear I heard Princess Luna laugh, but she denied it.

The rest of my afternoon was taken up with learning the basics of gliding and flying. I learned about updrafts and thermal-whatchamacallits, and other cool stuff like that that help to keep you in the air without having to push with your wings. And then I worked on actually using my wings to keep myself in the sky. My best time that day: close to 3 minutes. I was proud of myself and more than ready to crash in my bed that night. I had done a lot, seen a lot, and learned a lot. That day was a good day.

* * * * * * * * *

The next few days passed in much the same manner. I would wake up early to practice fire breathing, something I still couldn’t get down. It was incredibly frustrating just breathing out clouds of black smoke. The only good news from the entire experience was that I started getting used to the aftertaste.

After fire breathing lessons would fail, Chip and I would meet up in the kitchen for lunch. I don’t really know why I started doing that, but it was nice to talk with somepony I knew. Always Chef Flour would give me a suspicious look when I came in to eat. Chip and I started to joke about how she had a magical third eye. You couldn’t so much as touch a stove without her knowing it. Trust me, I tried. That day was interesting to say the least.

Then, I’d meet Stormchaser after lunch to work on my flying. I showed the most improvement in this department. I could now stay in the air for around 10 minutes and I learned a lot about my teacher. Apparently she helped take care of the weather in Canterlot. Sometimes Chip would come out to meet us either on break or after his shift ended. The three of us would talk and joke. I think by the end of those few days, I finally had somepony I could call my friends.

Finally, evening would come. Being stuck on the palace grounds meant that I couldn’t leave to do anything with Stormchaser when she left. I found out that Chip actually lived in the castle. One night he showed me around his place, but it was much too small for me to do more than admire it from the doorway. He would go to bed early as he always had the breakfast shift which left me to trundle back to my room and sleep as well.

And then a very special night came. I had spent six full days in Equestria. After this night, it would be one week. One entire week in Equestria and it felt good.