Rainbow Dash's Unstoppable Ego

by MagicS

A Mammoth of a Problem XVII

To Rainbow Dash, her time in the mammoth city had been nice. Which was the problem. It was too nice. Where was the adventure? There was fun here but it wasn’t the kind of fun and excitement she had come on her journey to find. And now here she was today about to go enjoy a pleasant little festival where everyone would be singing and dancing and having a blast. Which was pretty much proof that what she wanted wasn’t ever going to be found here with the mammoths.

And which is why she was going to tell Larkon shortly after the festival that she would be leaving.

Not immediately or anything. She wasn’t just gonna suddenly fly off and leave him and the rest of the city in the dust. But she was going to let him know that she wouldn’t be staying for much longer, in fact she only planned to stay until that first Trunkball game that Alykon and her team had mentioned. She owed them that. But after that it would be time to head out again and look for more real adventure.

Larkon would be disappointed but as much as Rainbow Dash liked him she had already spent so much time here doing stuff that wasn’t what she really wanted to be doing. It would be different if she thought there was some kind of epic adventure about to unfold but she really doubted that. The mammoths were too peaceful, too… well, boring. And she needed more.

When she had stayed in the Pegasus Empire in their cloud city she knew without a doubt that she had big problems to fix and an evil villain to beat. Along with the fact that serving in their army was keeping her sharp and actually got her involved in some battles. Obviously things were quite different here in the mammoth city.

She knew there was more adventure waiting for her in the True North and she didn’t want to miss it by staying here for too long.

“Dear, have you decided on what hat you’ll be wearing today yet?” The impatient voice of Shibu asked Larkon as he stood in front of a mirror, swapping hat after hat from his rack to see which one fit best on him for the Spring Festival.

Rainbow Dash hovered over by Alykon and Samarkon while she watched, a grin tugging at her face.

She and the family were by the entrance to Larkon’s house, all of them preparing to leave and head out to town’s square where the majority of the festivities would be held. Alykon was wearing a wide brim hat with a pink ribbon around it herself and Shibu had some extra jewelry on her tusks. Samarkon (besides herself) was the only one of them to not dress up at all. He seemed to be in the same foul mood he always was and looked determined to not only not enjoy the spring festival but to also attempt to sour the experience for everyone else as well.

So naturally Rainbow Dash was ignoring him and the ugly looks he was constantly sending her way. He was probably still upset about the prank anyways.

“Come on dad, just pick one!” Alykon impatiently tittered up and down on her feet. “I want to get to the festival already!”

“Calm down it’s not going anywhere,” Larkon said as he put his boater hat on his head and then almost immediately took it off to replace it with his checkered top hat. He frowned at his reflection the entire time, never satisfied. “I just want to look my best you know. As the historian of our city I think it’s important for me to take this festival seriously.”

Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but snicker this time. “Your hats are meant to make you look serious?”

Larkon frowned and glanced at her in the mirror. “Yes.”

“Just ignore that,” Shibu said to Rainbow Dash with a smirk on her face. “He’s always been obsessed with these hats of his. I can practically guarantee you that there’s no one else in our city who wears hats like he does.”

“I haven’t seen any,” Rainbow Dash chuckled.

“Oh the both of you can laugh it up, I’ve narrowed it down at least,” Larkon said as he held up his checkered top hat and the bowler Rainbow Dash had seen him wearing on her first day here. He really seemed to be putting a lot of genuine thought into which one he was going to wear and finally the checkered top hat was put back on the rack and the bowler rested atop his head. “There. Now I look sharp.”

Shibu rolled her eyes at her husband and walked towards the front door. “Come along then.”

“Can’t I just stay here? I don’t want to go to the dumb festival,” Samarkon said and sat back on his butt, folding his front legs over his chest and puffing out his cheeks to look as grouchy as possible.

All it did was make him look more like an upset baby than a rebellious teenager though.

“No, you can not just stay here,” Larkon glared at his son. “This is important, the spring festival has been a big deal to our society practically since the founding of the city and especially since we gave up our warring ways.”

“That’s why it’s dumb...” Samarkon muttered.

Larkon walked over and grabbed the scruff of Samarkon’s neck with his trunk, lifting him up and making him stand. “I have had nearly enough of your attitude, Samarkon. You are coming to the festival with us and you will enjoy yourself. That is final.” The patriarch roughly admonished his son, finishing up with a disappointed glare.

Samarkon almost looked like he was going to cry but instead just walked past his father and mother and out the door, slamming it behind him as he went.

Larkon merely sighed as he went and looked to Alykon and Rainbow Dash. “Don’t let him ruin things for the rest of us, please, there is too much fun to be had at the festival.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Rainbow Dash flew up to eye level with him and went towards the door. “I know how to have fun. Let’s go.”

“Yeah dad, just ignore Samarkon,” Alykon said and walked over to her mom.

Larkon seemed not entirely happy with that but he and Rainbow Dash still went to join them beside the door. Shibu then opened it up and the family prepared to leave together to the festival. Samarkon was standing out on the porch, looking down at the street and refusing to meet the eyes of any of his family members. Rainbow Dash felt kind of bad for him. But she wasn’t about to have a fun day like this spoiled for her either.

Down the street she could hear all sorts of noise already coming from the festival and there were other mammoths, couples, and families walking towards town square too. The day was warmer than average for what she had seen up here and the roads and sidewalks were utterly clear of any snow. A true spring festival. Larkon and his family walked down the steps of his home while Rainbow Dash flew beside them, an excited smile on her face.

“Let’s go!” Larkon said, smiling as well in spite of the spat with his son. Probably trying to keep a pleasant mood for everyone. “Rainbow Dash, I guarantee this day will be the most fun you’ll have up here in our city.”

“Looking forward to it then,” Rainbow said as she flew a little ahead of them, the festival and all the pleasant sounds and smells from it awaited.

Comments

[THERDSTORYWHISPERER]

Great chapter!

Larkin, the Rarity when it comes to hats.

[silvadel]

Rainbow Dash should warn the mammoths about the other pegasus who is chasing after him. No doubt he will be coming through the mammoth city at some point, chasing after the rainbow whale.

[MagicS]

10554574
Yeah, he's still hot on her trail even after being delayed earlier. Just like Dash he doesn't know the meaning of the word quit.