//------------------------------// // A Mammoth of a Problem VII // Story: Rainbow Dash's Unstoppable Ego // by MagicS //------------------------------// When it came time to leave Norma’s coffee shop it was past time the rest of the city would’ve woken up all the way. Which was probably intentional on Larkon’s part, now they could go anywhere and do anything without issue. Rainbow Dash had enjoyed her meal and the casual conversation she got to experience with the others but now it was time to see more of the city. Larkon had said his intent was to show her everything if possible so they probably had a lot of ground to cover and all sorts of mammoths and places to see and visit. So it was definitely good they had that hearty breakfast just now. Rainbow Dash was feeling good in other ways too, even if this wasn’t an epic adventure—not yet at least—she was enjoying herself and took a lot of pride in the fact that she could call herself the first pony to be here and the first pony from Equestria to ever see a mammoth at all. She had promised to come back by the coffee shop tomorrow morning too to talk again when she had more time. With all of the others mobbing her she could only talk briefly with each one and answer a couple of questions. The biggest one being what was it like to live somewhere that wasn’t constantly snowing. But now it was just her and Larkon again walking (and flying) down the street to the south side of the city. “We’re fairly close to the eastern wall here on this road but I wanted to go somewhere else first before we actually left the interior of the city,” Larkon said. “Yeah? Where?” “The docks. The lake is our livelihood in a lot of ways. Our biggest source of fresh water, it holds our kelp farms, the water from it is also used for our other farms, we settled here in the first place because of it.” Larkon told her. “I saw that you guys had boats and stuff when I was flying to your city,” Rainbow Dash said. “Yes,” Larkon nodded. “A lot of those boats you would’ve seen are also personally owned, for fun and leisure sailing. But most are still for kelp farming, transport, or trash barges.” “Trash barges?” “Our dump is on the southeast side of the river at the foot of the mountains. All the garbage from the city is loaded up onto barges and taken there. You can imagine the smell,” Larkon curled up his trunk and winced. “Bleh.” “Yeah, sounds nice,” Dash laughed. “Also, most of the docks and shipyards are on the other side of the river from where we are, but the bridge and road to get to those is a little out of the way and I know the captain of one of the kelp boats that’s docked on this side. We’re going to meet him.” Rainbow Dash was happy enough to look around some more after that and wait for Larkon to take her to the right place. With more mammoths out now she saw some kids playing in the snow or running down the streets while others went to work or ran errands, one female mammoth passed them with a number of empty bags hanging off her tusks, politely telling a curious Rainbow Dash that she was going to the market at town’s square. Another building she looked into had a mammoth sitting behind a loom and sewing together an elaborate tapestry of some kind. Rainbow didn’t have the patience to do something like that herself but Rarity probably would’ve been interested in it. A couple of mammoth children passed by her and Larkon, whispering and looking at Rainbow Dash with slightly fearful looks. When she smiled at them to try and alleviate their fears and show she was friendly they just skittered away. Guess things couldn’t be perfect. Down the road the closer and closer they got to the docks the more Rainbow Dash could feel the cool air from the lake blowing in. It was a wonder the whole lake wasn’t frozen over, the water must be the absolute coldest it could be without that happening. She noticed a lot more windows on buildings here that had frost at their edges or were totally crusted over and there were more mammoths out shoveling snow away from their doorsteps. And like Larkon had warned her the smell of the city started to worsen too, there must be a trash barge or two at the docks they were going to. The sogginess and natural smell from the lake might’ve also strengthened the stench in the air. What did a wet mammoth smell like? With all that shaggy fur she couldn’t imagine it was too good. The street they were on soon widened up and turned into a wet cobblestone road that was bordered by long rows of dark wooden buildings and ended in a t-junction when it hit another warehouse sized building at the end. In the distance now Rainbow Dash could hear the sound of water and bobbing boats. “Almost there?” She asked Larkon. “Almost,” he confirmed. Larkon had them make a left at the intersection and then take another quick right around the large building so they were still walking directly towards the docks. Now on this street Rainbow Dash saw mammoths rolling large barrels across the ground and loading them up into big wagons, well muscled mammoths that didn’t just look “big” but strong too. Others were taking crowbars to crates or carrying big bundles of rope up and down the streets. The whole place looked like it was busy with dockworkers. There wasn’t just dock related stuff going on though, a few of the buildings on the side of the street were businesses like candlemakers, carpenters, blacksmiths, and one place that looked like a saloon. This street seemed a bit more rough and tumble than she was used to so far when it came to the amiable and easy-going mammoths. But none of them looked at her rudely or anything, some even smiled, but the rest were too busy to take their minds off work so she and Larkon just walked past them. Now ahead of her at the end of the street she could actually see the pier and docks and the lake beyond. It was a very large lake that extended far into the distance with fog covering up its southern side so she couldn’t see the end of it. Right alongside the docks too there were a number of tied up ships, big clipper ships with three masts of sails on the biggest ones. “My friend’s ship should be tied up right there, he’s probably in the sailor’s lodge right by the pier. Let’s go see,” Larkon said. Rainbow Dash and Larkon went on out to the pier and for a second the blue pegasus just floated there, taking in the full sight of the lake and the cold breeze from it. The ships bobbed in front of her from the long wooden docks while the water crashed slightly against the stone wall that the mammoth city sat behind. Huge wooden pillars went deep into the water to hold up the docks, even here at the edge of the lake the water looked deep. The sound of laughing mammoths to her right drew her attention and she looked with Larkon to an outdoor area with a bunch of tables and mammoths wearing sailor caps all crowding around it. They seemed blithely unaware to her presence as they laughed with one another, the outdoor area they were in bordered off by a flimsy fence that led back towards a large four-story building that looked almost like a hotel. But it couldn’t have been, they had said there wasn’t any place like that in this city. The first floor was open on bottom for the front half so mammoths could walk in and out with ease and lounge around this outdoor part. “What’s this building?” Rainbow Dash asked Larkon. “It’s a lodge for sailors to stay in so they don’t have to go back and forth from their homes everyday after spending all day out on a boat in the middle of the lake. Kelp harvesting and transporting takes a long time and multiple trips need to be made until a forest is picked clean,” he told her while his eyes scanned over the crowd of sailors. “Now where is—ah! There.” Larkon lifted his trunk and let out a high trumpeting over the area. That got the attention of all the sailors and they quieted down, looking over at the two interlopers who interrupted their merrymaking. Some of them clearly quietly recognized Rainbow Dash, others smiled when they saw her, or looked at her in confusion and surprise. “Captain Gollak!” Larkon called out to one of the mammoths. “Larkon,” a mammoth said as he stood up from his chair. He wasn’t wearing a sailor’s cap but instead a white vest with yellow shoulder pauldrons. As he stepped over to them he hopped over the small fence and glanced at Rainbow Dash. “And the pony Rainbow Dash, a pleasure to meet you especially.” “Thanks dude, nice to meet you too,” she smiled. “I read much about you in the paper and forgive me for asking but is it all really true?” He raised an eyebrow at her. “Yep, every last bit of it!” She puffed out her chest in pride. “You’re truly something then, I’m happy I get to meet you in person,” he smiled and looked over again at Larkon. “But um, why are you here in the first place?” “I am giving Rainbow Dash a tour of the city and wanted her to see all kinds of mammoths and experience everything we have to offer. Considering how big a matter these docks and your job is it seemed natural to bring her here. I was hoping too that you could take us out together when you go to harvest kelp today,” Larkon said. “You want her to really see how our job is done then?” Gollak asked. “Of course! It’s one thing to be told about something and another to truly experience it,” Larkon grinned and looked to Dash. “And I think you will find our ships and the tough work done with them quite cool. It seems your speed.” The captain shrugged. “I have no issue with that. Perhaps you two can even participate in our work? We should be heading out to the middle of the lake in just a moment.” Both of the mammoths expectantly looked at Rainbow Dash. She shrugged just like the captain had. “Hey, works for me. If Larkon thinks I’ll have fun I got no reason to not believe him. Things have been going good so far.” “Excellent!” Larkon grinned and looked to Gollak. “Do you want us to head aboard right now? I wouldn’t want us to get in the way when you’re unmooring and getting everyone else on.” “That’s not really an issue for your friend is it? She can just fly up onto the ship whenever,” Gollak said. “True. Rainbow Dash, Captain Gollak’s ship is the largest one at this harbor right now,” Larkon said and pointed with his trunk at the huge three-masted ship tied to the dock. “What say we check it out?” Rainbow Dash gazed at it, like everything here it was of mammoth-sized proportions so was even larger than a three-masted boat usually would be. The sails, when they were unfurled, looked like they could practically block out the sky themselves and the masts towered high into the air. The body of the ship was wide and the belly of it certainly cavernous so it could hold all of the kelp they would be harvesting. The top deck was raised up at the bow and stern, allowing for easy vision of anything ahead of and behind the ship. “Its name is Mammoth of the Blue,” Gollak said while he noticed her looking at it. “It’s pretty impressive. Pretty sure I’ve never seen a ship that big back home,” Rainbow Dash said. “I’ll tell you all about it, go on, get onboard and me and my crew will be right behind you.” Larkon patted Rainbow Dash’s back with his trunk and made to walk out to the dock. “Come on.” “Wait, wait up! Larkon!” A voice called out from the street they had just earlier walked down. Rainbow Dash, Larkon, and Gollak all looked to see a mammoth running down the wet road towards them. He was a bit short for an adult mammoth with a lighter brown fur coloration than most and beady little eyes. On his back he wore a plain green robe and he looked quite tired and disheveled as if he had been running and looking for Larkon for a while. “Abalun?” Larkon whispered, a worried look on his face that Rainbow Dash hadn’t seen before. Abalun kept struggling towards them, clearly out of breath. “Um… excuse me one second,” Larkon said to Dash and Gollak and began walking towards Abalun to meet him halfway. “He a friend?” Dash asked, but Larkon didn’t answer. She decided to respect his privacy as he conversed with Abalun, the new mammoth throwing a small look her way before he began whispering in Larkon’s ear. Dash herself glanced over at Gollak, silently questioning him as to if he knew what was up, but the captain just shrugged. Whatever Larkon and Abalun were talking about it seemed serious, there was no warmth in Larkon’s eyes and he stood there with a stony frown the more Abalun talked. Abalun for his part looked pale and concerned. What was going on? It smelled like something exciting to her and while normally she would eavesdrop or stick her nose into it she didn’t really have the chance right now and the two of them were doing a good job of keeping their conversation quiet. Finally they finished up with whatever they were speaking about, Larkon patted his friend on the shoulder and Abalun nodded, quickly turning and jogging back down the street. Rainbow Dash immediately flew over to Larkon. “What was that about?” “Sorry, it was just business of a sort,” Larkon said, clearly hiding something but staring evenly at Rainbow Dash in a way that told her he was clamming up about it. “Okay...” she frowned. “And I’m sorry I have to say this but unfortunately I need to go for now. Me giving you a tour of our city will be cut short.” “Wait, what?” Rainbow Dash was surprised. “You were making a big deal out of showing me everything and-” “I know, I’m sorry,” he cut her off. “But I need to go do something. I still wish you to see the rest of our city and I trust you to be able to have an excellent day on your own. You don’t need me around for everything, please enjoy your time with Captain Gollak on his ship and then continue to explore anywhere else that interests you. There are our other farms, the quarry, town square, everywhere I marked for you on the map. Your day needn’t be cut short because of me, just my guiding you will be.” “Well okay...” Rainbow Dash rubbed her leg, still kind of perturbed over this. Larkon laughed to try and set her at ease. “Hahaha, Rainbow Dash, please, you wanted a more genuine experience didn’t you? Well now without me guiding you you should get exactly what you wanted. Have fun out in our city! The whole day is still ahead of you and there’s plenty to see and plenty of kind mammoths to meet. If you get lost or are looking for something in particular don’t hesitate to ask anybody.” She grinned. “Yeah, yeah, fine. Good luck with your job or whatever too, I promise I’ll go and learn about your city and people today just like you wanted me to.” Larkon nodded and smiled. “Thank you.” He turned to leave before stopping. “Oh! I almost forgot! Remember the big surprise I said I had planned for you?” “Yeah?” “That’s still on. Just make sure you’re back at my home an hour or so before dinnertime. I guarantee you’ll have a lot of fun tonight,” he winked. “Alright, I’m looking forward to it,” she brought up a hoof and this time Larkon knew what to do, bringing up his trunk so she could bump it. “I’ll see you later, dude.” “Goodbye for now,” he said and waved to Gollak before departing back down the street. Rainbow Dash turned her head to the captain and raised an eyebrow. “Sailing time?”