Basso Scale

by b00_j3nnn

Chapter III

As the whispers and judgement grew louder, Killjoy's breathing grew faster and more shallow. Ash looked nervously around the whispers then back to Killjoy, "Do you want to leave? We can always go somewhere else, a bit less public."

As much as Killjoy wanted to protest, the mare gave in and nodded. After swiftly paying for the half-eaten meals and speed-trotting out of the restaurant, the pegasus began to calm down., "Sorry about that... Usually, I have Rosella or Blast to back me up but I don't know... I'm so sorry I couldn't even treat you to a full meal-", Killjoy apologised, getting visibly more upset as if she was on the verge of tears.

Ash was unsure about how to reassure the mare, "Uhh… hey, you don't have to be sorry! I managed to sneak the amethysts into my bag before we left. I'd ask if you want one, but I doubt ponies can handle these."

He bit into one, looking a bit disgusted, "Blergh, they're cold... lemme just..."
Ash concentrated, and a small flame appeared in his left hand, heating up the amethyst. Biting into it, he looked a lot more satisfied, "Mmm, amethysts are definitely one of the few gems you want to eat hot. So, you still wanna do something? I've got nothing else to do for the night.”

Killjoy stared in disbelief, "How did you- I didn't know- I mean- HUH???", she blurted out.
"Sorry, I just thought you can only breathe fire, not anything like this!", the pegasus gasped in awe, fluttering to the wyvern's hand to get a better look.

Ash smirked a bit, "It's a family trait. Elemental breath is a pretty standard trait among dragons, some have a more magical fire, and some have ice breath. My family has had more advanced fire abilities for generations. Like the ability to generate fire with our hands and feet, and we can even shape our fire too. Watch."

Ash swallowed another amethyst and expanded the flame in his hands, making the shape of a pegasus similar to Killjoy, "I'm still practising, and it takes a lot out of my internal magic stores to shape the flame. It's why dragons eat gems, we can convert them into magic to fuel our abilities."

Killjoy's jaw dropped lower as she watched intently, "That's... AMAZING!!!! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU CAN CONTROL THE SHAPE TOO??", the mare yelled in excitement while flying in loops to emit her energy. After praising Ash's abilities some more, the pegasus curiously asked, "Say, what does gems taste like to you?"

Ash looked in thought before answering, "Depends on the gem really. Like rubies have a very intense spice flavour, but amethysts tend to be more savoury, diamonds are quite sweet, and emeralds tend to have a minty taste to them, at dragon diners they'll give you an emerald to freshen your breath afterwards. Lower-grade gems like quartz tend to be rather bland though, they're the gem equivalent of bread, it'll fill you up and replenish your magic stores, but they're just kinda bland."

"Woah, that's actually really interesting!! Now I wanna learn more... maybe I'll go and visit Vele sometime..." Killjoy muttered half to herself.

Ash looked curious, "Vele? Who's Vele?"

"Oh, Velebeth’s a friend of mine from waaaay back! Haven't seen her in a while. Pretty sure she's still an alchemist so she's got plenty of gems in her collection!" Killjoy chattered, clearly happy just thinking about her old friend.

Ash drooled slightly thinking about more gems, "I gotta get myself a friend with gems. I never have enough..."

Killjoy put her hoof to her muzzle, thinking about something, before almost blurting out, "Say, how 'bout we go visit her! Think of it as making up for the meal I was supposed to shout!", Killjoy offered, "And it'll be a good opportunity for me to see her again!", she added happily.

Ash's eyes almost sparkle with the thought of all the gems that Killjoy said that her friend had, "Yeah! This day keeps getting better!" Ash tries to fist pump with his right wing but forgets about the cast and sling, and he ends up hurting it, fresh pain coursing through the limb. He clutches at his wrist, "Ow! Oooh..."

Killjoy flinched just thinking about the pain, "Oof, you alright?", reaching her front hooves near his injured wing, not sure how to help.

Ash winced and gritted his teeth as Killjoy carefully inspected his wing, "No it's okay, it's just fresh break pain, it'll pass. That sounds nice though, I'd love to go! And yeah, obviously I can't fly right now, the train sounds like the best option."

Killjoy"But y'know, she lives at the edge of Ponyville, considering the time, if we leave now, we won’t get there until morning…”

Ash was still excited anyway, “It’ll be okay, it’s Friday anyway, I won’t have work to deal with tomorrow.”

Killjoy nodded and led Ash to the nearest train station. As she bought two tickets to Ponyville, their train arrived shortly and the two hopped on, "Manehattan's pretty far from Ponyville even if it's an express train, so make yourself comfortable! If you want any snacks, just tell me and I'll get some for ya!" Killjoy offered happily.

Ash made himself comfortable on the train, taking off his sling and resting his broken wing on a cushion, getting a few strange looks from the travellers not used to dragons, "They're staring at me..."

Although Killjoy would cower at the thought of standing up for herself, she clearly had no trouble with defending others when she glared at the onlooking passengers.

"What are YOU lookin' at??!!", she hissed, making the ponies turn the other way.

Ash smiled at Killjoy, "Thank you, you didn't have to, it's just a few curious passengers, many ponies still aren't very used to non-pony species living among them... especially dragons, I know we don't exactly have the best reputation."

Before Killjoy could reply to Ash, the flash of a camera lit the two up. Killjoy’s wings fluffed up, Ash reactively moved his right wing in front of his face to block the light flash, causing it to flare up in pain, and he gasped, grabbing at his wrist while groaning in agony. The photographer, an earth pony stallion, looked at the photo printing out of the camera, oblivious to anything else near him.

The stallion laughed as he saw the photo "Oh man, that was the fan that Killjoy hurt at her concert earlier, the Manehattan Telegraph is gonna pay me shit loads for this!"

Killjoy was torn between checking if her friend was alright and yelling at the oblivious stallion which was a tad too out of her comfort zone. "I- I-" Killjoy froze.

The stallion approached Killjoy, a smug look on his face, ignoring the wyvern clearly in agony, "Come on, everyone knew you did some stupid stage dive and got some fan messed up earlier, never knew it was a dragon though, now that I think about it, that newspaper in the Dragon Town in Fillydelphia would love this!"

As Killjoy's gaze gravitated back to Ash's cries of pain, anger boiled underneath her fur. Although the pegasus may have had a small build, she pushed the stallion away, grabbing the photo and tearing it up. The photographer’s camera also smashed on the floor as he fell backwards.
"Y-You better piss off before I rip you a new one!" Killjoy managed to muster, even if she had stuttered from anxiety.

The stallion snorted in anger, "Fucking psycho bitch! You sure love breaking things don't you, first that guy's wing, now my camera! I'm sending your manager a bill for this!"
The stallion walked away angrily, leaving the pair alone finally.

Killjoy, clearly distraught, began to breathe faster again. Through the stress of the situation, she still managed to check up on Ash, "Your wing alright? Sorry 'bout all that, you just can't catch a break today huh?", she said light-heartedly, in hopes of cheering him up.

Ash tried to cheer up, but the ordeal had left his wing feeling very sore, "It's fine, it's just really sensitive right now, I must have moved it too fast when I was trying to block the light flash. I'll just rest it for now. That guy was a handful wasn't he? Is that common for you, ponies just taking photos of you?"

Killjoy sighed, "Sadly yeah, I try to not let it get under my skin but sometimes they just take it too far y'know… but that's the least of my worries right now, all the bits for the hospital fees and now the camera and not to mention the presses waiting for me... my manager's gonna be pissed..."

"I mean... surely those things are only a tiny fraction of what you make? You're one of the biggest stars in Equestria, surely you can easily afford those?"

Killjoy continued, "Sure but keep in mind, all the bits put into maintaining and buying instruments, acommodation, merchandise... Using up more bits than necessary isn't gonna be good for the band's wallet. And with what happened today, it's not lookin' too good for the band's image either."

Trying to lighten the mood, she offered to go fetch some food for the two of them, leaving Ash alone. Ash was enjoying the view out of the window from the train, his day turning from bad with his injury at the concert to rather good. He was excited to have a superstar as a friend too! She was really nice, considering what she did to him, even though it was an accident, and she did seem genuinely remorseful.

From behind, a unicorn mare walked up to him, looking at him in a rather hostile way.
"Excuse me, how did someone like you end up travelling in the company of a pony like Killjoy?"
Ash raised his brow and replied to the snooty mare,
"What do you mean, 'someone like me?', you mean just a regular creature?"
The unicorn smirked back,
"Someone with her status shouldn't be lowering herself by associating with lizards and cripples."

Ash looked very angry at that statement, smoke starting to leak from his nostrils.
"I'm not crippled, it's just a broken wing. I'll be fine in like a month tops. And I'd be careful about calling me ‘lizard’. Isn't Princess Twilight's oldest friend and personal advisor a dragon? She's done much for species integration, I have just as much right to be here as anyone else."

The unicorn's face turned from smirk to anger. Ash looked defiant but still felt nervous, wondering when Killjoy would return. Despite his dragon physiology making him very tough, his broken wing still made him feel vulnerable. As Killjoy scoured the train for food, she came across a cart with snacks catering to creatures other than ponies, including a small selection of gems for dragons to snack on.
"What were the flavours Ash liked again...? Hm let's see... He looked like he enjoyed his amethysts back at the restaurant, I'll get some of that... Oooo maybe some sapphire as well? Not sure what they taste like but hopefully good... Oh and some diamonds while I'm at it!" as the mare paid for the gems and began heading back to her carriage, ponies began blocking her way.

"E-excuse me", Killjoy said meekly.

"Hey! Aren't you that frontpony who stacked it on a dragon or somethin'?!"
"What're you doin'? Fleein' Manehattan outta shame?", the growing crowd jeered

"W-what? It's not like that..." Before Killjoy could explain herself, another pony chimed in.

"What are all those gems for? Oh Celestia, don't tell me they're for that dragon you crushed... I'm a fan of yours so don't get me wrong but honestly I would've just left them, I'd understand if they were a pony...", the pony scoffed.

"What?! He's a wyvern mind you! And so what if he's not a pony?! Doesn't mean he's any different from us! And don't you DARE call yourself my fan if you don't even have any basic respect." Killjoy retaliated, flicking her tail at their face. As she trotted back to her carriage, she was met with a unicorn with her back towards her, talking to Ash. Not sure if the two knew each other, she meekly tilted her head behind the unicorn just enough for only Ash to see her. Ash was starting to feel very small as the unicorn continued her derogatory remarks. It wasn't anything he hadn't encountered before but it was still frustrating. Eventually, he saw Killjoy's head pop up behind the unicorn.

"It seems like your problem is more with Killjoy associating with me rather than with me as a creature, seeing as you actually don't know me in the slightest." Ash addressed the unicorn. Killjoy's ears perked up, almost understanding the situation.

"Hey, what's goin' on here?" the pegasus intervened, bumping the unicorn on the side.

Ash felt relieved at the presence of Killjoy, knowing that at least someone around here had his back, "This mare is bothering me."

The unicorn looked enraged, "I was just saying, Miss Killjoy, how it's unbefitting of you to associate with these creature types.”

"Excuse me? I'm sorry, but I don't need a lowlife like you calling themself my fan while terrorising my FRIEND." Killjoy hissed. "Now GET LOST BEFORE I'LL MAKE YOU REGRET BEING BORN.” As small of a frame as the pegasus was, her now puffed fur and wings made her almost intimidating.

The unicorn looked down on Killjoy with contempt, "You better watch yourself. You're only digging yourself into a deeper hole here. I saw what you did with that photographer, your reputation is already taking a hit. And reputation is everything. Good day miss." The unicorn turned up her nose and walked back to her seat, no doubt in first class along with the other snooty ponies.

The pegasus' 'intimidation' persona dropped and she trotted back to Ash in defeat, "I'm so sorry, today must've been horrible... I just can't believe so many of my 'fans' can be so cruel..." Killjoy continued, "But y'know, even if word gets out about that photographer or whatever and my career ends because of it even if I've shared my side... then it wasn't a career worth having. I believe that all creatures should be equal so if my company and my fans disagree, I don't want anything to do with them."

Sensing the mood growing damper, Killjoy switched the topic. "Oh but who cares! I fetched you some gems, go wild", the pegasus smiled warmly as she heaved the pile of bright gems onto the table.

Ash’s eyes widened as he saw the small bag of gems on the table in front of him, "Wow, thank you, Killjoy! This is too much, really! But... I can't say no to gems. I've actually never had sapphire before, every time I go to the gem store back home they're always out. I've always wanted to try one, but my parents wouldn't let me as a hatchling, they insisted I wouldn't like them."

"Phew, thank Celestia. I didn't know which ones to pick…", the mare loosened up, "Go try the sapphire! Now you got me curious what it'd taste like!"

Ash gave the sapphire a cautious sniff. He eventually bit into it. A few crunches later, he smiled.
"This tastes great! It's like a sweet berry flavour!"

Killjoy's smile beamed as she flicked her tail in delight. "That's so cool!! Lucky thing I chose it huh", the mare giggled.

Ash continued to savour the taste of the sapphires along with the other gems, still getting a few strange stares from ponies unaccustomed to seeing someone eat gems, but he didn't particularly care.
"Thank you, Killjoy, really, this is nice."

At last, Killjoy finally let out a sigh of relief seeing her friend happy. "Better not eat too much though, gotta save your stomach for when we get to Vele's”, Killjoy joked, "Last time I was there, there were barrels of gems... wouldn't be surprised if she was actually a dragon this entire time with the amount she has.”

Ash nodded in agreement.
"I'm gonna go to sleep for a bit until we get there."

Killjoy smiled, and as Ash began to get comfortable for a nap, she grabbed a spare pen and her notebook from her bag. As the wyvern drifted off to sleep, the pegasus started to write down lyrics, only stopping ever so often to glance out the window to take in the beautiful scenery of the countryside of Equestria.