//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Art of the Dragon // by Trinary //------------------------------// When Smolder woke up this morning, she hadn’t expected she’d be playing Dragon Tutor with her own professor. Though given the weirdness that was Ponyville, maybe she should’ve. Still, if this was what was going on, then she was going to be the best dragon tutor ever.  She hopped off the roof of the School and spread her wings, Rainbow following her on a lazy flight to a dusty patch of land on the outskirts of town. “Okay, doesn’t look like there’s anything we have to worry about catching fire here.” She noted, looking around.   “Yeah, we wouldn’t want Rockhoof showing up.”  Smolder glowered at her professor. Rainbow just snickered in response. “Come on, it was a little funny.” “Very little.” Smolder crossed her arms. “Didn’t you say I was your teacher today? You might want to scale back the commentary.” Rainbow smirked. “What, and miss out on doing to you what you do in all your classes? Dream on!”  Smolder sighed, realizing that the next time somecreature asked her to define irony, she’d have it nailed. Unfortunately, Rainbow Dash wasn’t done with her ruminating. “Besides, isn’t being a smart-flank part of being a dragon? Wait, flank?” She turned around to regard her own posterior. “What’d the dragon word for that even be...?” “Blackdread give me strength,” Smolder muttered, rubbing her forehead. “You want to learn fire-breathing or not?” That made Rainbow sit down promptly, tossing Smolder a fine salute. “Yes’m!” “Good. Now, I guess I should tell you what the really old dragons liked telling us when we’re first taught how to control our flames.” She sighed. “It’s really boring though. It’s stuff like how fire isn’t just about destroying stuff—though it’s really good for that—but how fire is energy and energy is life, and we dragons are fire given flesh, blah blah blah. Personally, I think they just liked getting high off sulfur fumes.” Smolder shook her head. “Anyway, we start by practicing your breathing.” Rainbow shot her a wry look. “I’m pretty sure I know how to breathe. I’ve been doing it my whole life, after all.” She held up a claw, pre-empting Smolder. “Okay, okay, I’m just pulling your tail: I know controlling your breathing is important. Especially when you’re really high up and the air gets thin. Pretty sure I got this.” “You think so, huh?” Smolder smirked. She was going to enjoy this. “Hold your breath as long as you can.” Shrugging, Rainbow Dash took a deep breath and did just that, her cheeks bulging out. Smolder waited patiently, watching Rainbow’s eyes slowly widen as she waited to feel the need to draw another breath—only for it to never come. After about a minute, Rainbow blurted out, “What the hay? I’m not breathing?!”   “Nope. Or at least, not in the way you’re used to.” Smolder thumped her chest with her fist. “I mean, we keep fire inside us. The hot air and smoke would make any other kind of lung collapse. That’s why you ponies normally can’t breathe this stuff.” Rainbow poked her chest. “Whoa. Weird. But wait, I’ve seen you guys inhale and exhale.”   “That’s more about regulating our body temperature.” Smolder shrugged her shoulders. “It gets really, really hot in there. If it gets too hot, our scales start to sizzle. I’ve heard of dragons who got so hot they could set things on fire just by touching them, no fire-breath required. But that’s really not something you should want since it makes doing a lot of things, like eating, hard.” Smolder pounded her chest again. “That’s what we have inside of us, all the time. It’s what makes us so strong.”   “Unreal.” Rainbow looked down at herself. “How do you guys even get a fire going inside you?” “Gemstones.” Smolder tried not to grin at the confused look on her Professor’s face. She knew she’d be wearing it a lot today. “What, did you think we just ate them for no reason? Gems, especially igneous ones like diamonds or emeralds, are formed from heat and pressure on magma. Eating them is like reclaiming a bit of that same heat and pressure to keep our inner-fires going. We can eat other stuff, but without gems...”   Once Smolder was sure Rainbow had absorbed that, she jolted her back to attention by smacking her palms together. “Okay, so, dragon fire isn’t like normal, boring fire—it’s way more awesome.” She tilted her head back and huffed out a small plume of bright red-orange flame. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Rainbow watching with rapt attention. Now was the time to really blow the prof’s mind.   She exhaled again—only this time the fire was more greenish. Smolder twisted around, turning it into a spiral that lanced over her head like a mini-tornado. She struck a pose and heard Professor Dash stomping her feet on the ground in applause. It probably would’ve worked better if she still had hooves, but she still made an impressive din. “That was so cool!” Smolder smirked and crossed her arms. “In the Dragon Lands, we’d say that was really hot.” “Yeah yeah.” Rainbow waved a claw. “How’d you get it to change color like that?” Smolder sniffed and tilted her head back a bit, putting on the most exaggerated ‘teacher’ face she could think of. Naturally she used Twilight as a reference. “Dragon fire is tied to our metabolism. You think about different things, different emotions, and you can get your fire to turn different colors and reach different heats.” Rainbow tilted her head and thought it over. “Huh, so I guess that’s how Spike can breathe regular fire sometimes and that special message-to-Celestia fire other times?” “Basically.” Smolder shrugged. “I mean, that’s the result of some pony spell so it’s not like any dragon can do that messaging stuff, but for going back and forth, yep. Getting mad turns your fire redder. When you’re laughing, it turns blue, being really happy gets green, you get the idea. So let’s get you started, alright?” She didn’t need to say anything more. Rainbow pumped a fist in the air. “Yes! Say the word, teach!” That just made this sound so much weirder. Smolder shook her head. “Okay, I want you to stand up straight, feet apart, tail keeping you nice and balanced. Got that? Okay, good. Next, inhale for about four seconds then tilt your head back and breath out for eight.” “In for four, out for eight. Got it.” Rainbow closed her eyes and tilted her head back until it was pointing almost straight up.  Smolder watched her breathe in and then let out a gout of orange-red fire. The plume wasn’t the neatest it could’ve been, choppy and fraying at the edges but for a first attempt, it wasn’t half-bad at all. “There you go. Congrats, you’re breathing fire!” Rainbow squealed as soon as the fire went out. “This is the coolest thing ever!”   “Only if you’re really doing it wrong,” Smolder snarked. “Not bad, Professor.”   “Is there a way to make your fire bigger?” Rainbow asked eagerly. “Maybe eat something special like peppers or spices or beans—”   “No no, let’s not even go there.”  ***     They kept going for a little over an hour before Smolder called them to a halt, spotting just how covered with soot and ash she and Rainbow were. “Ugh, we better wash off before we head back to school.”   Rainbow looked for herself and nodded. “I guess so. Don’t want Starlight or Rarity getting upset because I got the school all dirtied up.”   “My roommates tend not to like it either.” Smolder shrugged as they took to the air, looking for some stray clouds to fly through. “I’m pretty used to it myself, but hey, might as well make it easier for them.” “Look at you, being so considerate of your roomie.” Rainbow’s words were light, but there was something about it that made Smolder uneasy. “Just thinking about some other creature’s needs. Isn’t that the whole point of the school?” She almost winced at the transparent defensiveness of her tone. There was no way Rainbow Dash could miss that. Sure enough, “Hey, I wasn’t criticizing or judging!” Rainbow held up her claws. “I think it’s pretty great how well you and Ocellus get along. I mean, I’ve been buds with Fluttershy since Flight Camp but we still step on each other’s tails now and again.” Somewhat mollified, Smolder forced herself to relax. “Thanks but it’s not like we’ve never argued or anything. In fact, it was her standing up to me and making a point about the whole soot-and-ash smell is a big reason why I brought it up.” “She made that big a deal over it?” Rainbow quirked her brow. “I wouldn’t have thought Ocellus had it in her. Except maybe over a misquoted book or something.” “Hah! I thought the same at first,” Smolder admitted. “But I think she knew that the way to keep a dragon from walking all over her, intentionally or not, was to stand up to them and make them respect her. Or make me, in this case.” A smile crossed her face. “Her legs were shaking the whole time and it was obvious how hard it was for her—but I think that’s why I listened to her. Because no matter how hard it was for her, she still did it. That’s displaying some real toughness, and dragons appreciate that.” Rainbow Dash nodded. “I hear you loud and clear. I’ve felt the same way about Fluttershy. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes it’s irritating how worried she can get about really minor things that aren’t a big deal—but when the chips are down, she always tries so damn hard and she’s clearly giving it her all. It takes her a lot more effort than it does for the rest of us, but that’s kind of impressive in its own way.” Smolder nodded. “Yeah. Back before I came to school I wouldn’t have seen what Ocellus or Professor Fluttershy do as brave. Even now, most dragons would see them as big scaredy-scales and dismiss them.” She smiled but even she knew it felt crooked. “I guess that just brings it back to me not being a normal dragon, huh?” “Normal is boring,” Rainbow commented before diving through a cloud, letting the moisture brush away with the ash and soot.  Smolder wished she could shrug it all off as easily as that. Rainbow Dash emerged from her impromptu cloud shower feeling nice and refreshed. She did a little mid-air twirl as she did. Partially to dry herself off, but also because she was still coming down from her high of having actually breathing fire! She was eventually stirred from her reverie when she noticed Smolder looking so dour she might’ve been an excited Maud Pie. “Hey, what’s up? You’ve been doing a great job as my dragon tutor.” “Oh, yeah, thanks.” Smolder shrugged. “Just thinking about the exhibition again and all that. I still have no idea what I’m going to do about it.” Rainbow thought it over some more and sighed. She was going to have to get personal here. “Okay, look, you don’t think other dragons can relate to you because you like cute things?” She waited for Smolder to nod. “Remember how you said earlier that I was able to explain things in a way a dragon would get? Well, sometimes … I don’t know. Sometimes I feel like I don’t think the way ponies are expected to. There’ve been times I’ve found it really hard to relate to other ponies because they like cute things.” She scrunched up her snout. “Okay, I take that back, I don’t mind cute, adorable stuff but unrelenting, unbearable cutesy-wootsiness is my limit.”  Rainbow shuddered. Stupid flowers.  “The point is, there’ve been a lot of times when it felt like I didn’t fit in with other ponies.” She looked down towards the School for a moment then turned back to Smolder. “Can you keep this between you and me?”   “I’m a dragon.” Smolder mimed sealing her snout. “We can hoard secrets as well as we do gems.”   “Wouldn’t that mean that you eat—wait, no, nevermind.” Rainbow shook her head. “Anyway, you’ve been in Equestria long enough to know how much friendship and Harmony matters to us. It matters to me too, but…” she hesitated. “Sometimes I show it differently and even my friends don’t get it, which gets under my feathers.” She looked briefly at her now featherless-wings. “You know what I mean.” When she looked back, she saw she had Smolder’s undivided attention. “Really?”   Rainbow nodded. “Let me put it this way, my Element is Loyalty.” She tapped her own chest. “Now, you can basically be Kind or Generous or Honest to everycreature. But can you be loyal to every single creature you meet?” She gave Smolder a look. “Think about yesterday with Ocellus. She had to choose between being loyal to you, her friend, and to me, her totally awesome teacher. How fun do you think that was for her?”   Smolder shuffled uncomfortably. Then her eyes widened in realization and she facepalmed. “Oh, fewmets.”   “Pretty much.” Rainbow tossed her head. “When you run into a problem where you have to choose between two sides you’re both loyal to—well, you get stuck pretty quick. Or at least, I do.” She groaned. “Discord was able to use his powers to mess with me when we first met because he was able to play on that. Plus, remember that time I told you about the Wonderbolts and the qualifying rounds for the Equestria Games? Both times I was being forced to choose between Cloudsdale and Ponyville and it just shut me down.”   Smolder nodded. “I think I get it: divided loyalties suck, and the more creatures you’re loyal to, the more likely it is you’ll have split loyalties.”   “Right!” Rainbow Dash nodded vigorously. “That’s it exactly! Loyalty is … it’s...” She grasped for the word. “It’s selective. You can be loyal to some creatures all the time, or all creatures some of the time—but you can’t be loyal to all creatures all the time. It’s just not possible. You have to prioritize some over others—and part of that is being prepared to defend the creatures or places you’re loyal to against the ones you don’t feel that way about. That’s where my friends and I butt heads sometimes.”   “I thought that was just a contest you were having with Professor Applejack.”   Rainbow was half-certain Smolder was just playing her. “Figure of speech. I want to protect my friends from anyone who’d try to hurt them—but they tend to act like I’m being unreasonable or mean because I don’t greet every weirdo we meet with a hug and hot cocoa.” She felt some frustration bleed into her tone and tried to throttle it back. “Sometimes I come on too strong and I’m way off base: like when I thought Twilight was a spy for Nightmare Moon. But other times...” She paused, suddenly unsure. Talking about her issues with her friends to a student made her feel like she was airing dirty laundry in public, as Rarity would say. But she was trying to help Smolder and to do that she needed to connect with her. “Other times it feels like other ponies aren’t willing to speak up or admit when something is really off. Maybe they think if they just ignore the problem it’ll solve itself without anypony having to get uncomfortable. And when I don’t play along, they act like I’m being rude for pointing out the obvious issue they’re trying to ignore or tip-toe around.” She began to tick points off with her new finger-claws. “There was the time I brought up whether or not Fluttershy would be up for a trip up a mountain to confront a dragon she’s clearly terrified of and didn’t even want to go. Or the time Applejack was clearly trying to give us the run around at Dodge Junction or when I was the one to ask Rarity about why she had a croquet mallet in her mouth at Twilight’s birthday party.”   “These are the deep questions that pony philosophers lie awake at night wondering about,” Smolder deadpanned.   Rainbow idly wondered how much paperwork she would have to fill out if she tied a student’s tail in a knot. Too much to make it worthwhile, probably. She nudged Smolder with a wing. “The main thing is that it usually ends up being me who has to point stuff like that out; the stuff they don’t want to address. So instead they react to me and go on like I’m the one with the problem for pointing it out. They try to make me feel like I’m being rude or closed-minded because, oh no, I didn’t instantly believe Discord or Dr. Caballeron when they were clearly spouting horseapples.” She drooped slightly in mid-air, groaning. “It stinks sometimes. Even my friends treat me like I’m being an insensitive jerk whenever I’m skeptical about somecreature who is acting really sketchy. Or they go behind my back to set up some ‘lesson’ they think I need to learn. It bugs me that they do that and that they make me feel like I’m not being a good pony because I don’t instantly buy everything somecreature’s trying to sell me, you know?” “Yeah,” Smolder growled. “I do. Cozy Glow pulled that same move on me. When I pointed out how little sense her ‘explanation’ for what happened to Counselor Starlight made, she tried to make me look like I was just being a ‘scheming dragon’ in front of the entire School.” She flexed her claws before clenching them so hard her knuckles changed color. “Yeesh, what a little—” Rainbow made a strangled noise and refrained from finishing her original thought “—bad pony.”   Smolder smirked, unclenching. “Nice save.”   “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Rainbow breezily lied in a way that would’ve made Applejack keel over. “A-huh.” Smolder leaned forward. “So what do you think of this idea of me and my friends changing Cozy Glow, or whatever?”  Rainbow had wished she wouldn’t ask that. “I … wasn’t exactly a fan when Twilight and Starlight suggested it,” she admitted. “I care more about my friends and my students than somepony who’s totally manipulative and—y’know, evil and stuff. I’m not gonna apologize for that.” She held up a hoof to keep Smolder from interrupting. “But just like you have to take chances in order to win, you need to give creatures a chance to improve themselves or else they definitely never will. If my friends never gave ponies like Luna or Tempest or Starlight another chance—well, we’d have a lot fewer friends than we do now. And considering that quite a few of them helped save Equestria themselves, not having them be our friends would’ve been really bad. Cozy might not want to change now, but leaving that door open at least gives her a reason to consider it.” Smolder sighed. “Okay, yeah, I get it. I still don’t like having her around. Maybe that makes me a bad student of friendship but that’s just how I feel and I don’t think I can change that.” “Feeling that way doesn’t make you a bad student,” Rainbow insisted. “I still feel that way about Cozy and about a lot of shady characters I see folks bending over backwards for. I get where you’re coming from, Smolder, I really do. It sucks when you’re made to feel like there’s something wrong with you for not thinking the same way as other ponies. Sometimes—” she stopped herself, making Smolder regard her curiously. Reluctantly, she continued her thought. “Sometimes I stopped and wondered what it said about me that I’ve had an easier time making friends with non-ponies.”   That certainly got Smolder’s attention, with her leaning forward. “What do you mean?”   Rainbow rolled her shoulders. “I didn’t get along too well with a lot of the other pegasi foals. Maybe that’s on them for being bullying jerks or maybe that’s on me for not tolerating bullying jerks. Whatever. Sure, I had fans, but my first real friend at junior flight camp, besides Fluttershy, was Gilda. We just clicked right off the bat, no problem, like you and your friends.” “Probably not exactly the same,” Smolder offered. “Details.” Rainbow dove back into her point. “Then when me and the girls were going to Appleloosa for the first time, I had the same thing happen with Little Strongheart. Even though she’d attacked the train and all, I really respected her skills and I just found myself bonding with her and siding with her over the ponies of Appleloosa. I bet it would’ve been like that with Ember too, if Twilight and Rarity had thought to invite me to go with them to the Gauntlet of Fire.” She pouted in an over-the-top manner that wasn’t entirely a put on. Smolder thought it over and nodded. “Hm, yeah, I can see Ember connecting with you more than with Rarity. Most dragons think ponies are soft and you’re really not that.” Rainbow shrugged. “I don’t know what it means, exactly. Maybe I just naturally lean towards friends who were a bit rougher around the edges than what’s usually considered acceptable among most ponies.” She grimaced. “I also got along really well with Lightning Dust when we were at the academy and she was pretty way out there herself. What matters is that I do get what it’s like to do things that other members of your species don’t appreciate.” “That … that actually helps.” Smolder rubbed her arms. “But lots of ponies look up to you. I mean, you have an actual fanclub and everything.” “Heh, yep, all true.” Rainbow grinned. “See, the way I look at it, there’s two ways to be a role model.” She paused, thinking it over. “Actually, there’s probably a ton of different ways, but for the sake of argument I’m gonna say there’s two. One is what you were talking about: being so relatable that any other creature hearing about what you did will think they can do it too if you could.”  Smolder nodded glumly. “But, there is another way,” Rainbow stressed. “The other way to be a role model is to do something completely out of the ordinary, something so awesomely amazing that no creature ever even thought it was possible in the first place. Something to shake them up and inspire them to rethink what is and isn’t possible.” “Why do I get the feeling,” Smolder asked dryly, “that you’re talking about yourself here?” Rainbow leaned over and flicked Smolder with her tail. “Hey, I’m being serious. Yeah, okay, I’m not gonna surprise anycreature when I say that’s the option I go for. One of Spike’s comic books has a hero explain that creatures need big, larger than life, dramatic examples to shake them up.” “You mean that batpony guy Spike likes going on about?” Smolder scratched her head. “I never got why bad guys are supposed to be afraid of bats.” “I’ve known dumber concepts for superheroes,” Rainbow said flatly. “Anyway, it’s still a good point. It’s way too easy to look around, see the way things are and just assume that they can’t be any different, or that creatures can’t be any different. They tell themselves this is the way it’s always been and this is how it’ll always be.” She smacked her claws together. “But then comes something big to shake them out of it, to remind them that impossible things can be possible, if you’re awesome. It challenges their assumptions and it excites them, makes them want to get out there and try new things for themselves.” She shrugged. “It doesn’t always work for everycreature and some respond better to whole relatability thing, but the point is there’s no one-size-fits-all way to be a role model.” She saw that Smolder still didn’t look convinced. Then Rainbow got an idea that was nearly as inspired as her decision to turn into a dragon. “Tell you what, how about if you take a break for lunch and then meet me by the Crystal Treehouse. Sounds good?”  Smolder opened her mouth, but Rainbow was too excited to wait for her answer. “Great, I’ll see you real soon!” She zoomed off, her newly scaled face peeled back in a grin.  This was going to be so amazing...