Rainbow Dash's Unstoppable Ego

by MagicS

A Mammoth of a Problem XXXVI

The next morning saw Rainbow Dash and Larkon both wake up a bit late after not getting back to Larkon’s house until practically dawn. They had both separated from Abalun in the slums and hoped the best for him but there was nothing they could really do about that. Getting home and preparing for their visit to the senate today was more important. Shibu was awake when they had arrived back, her eyelids heavy but she still greeted them with a smile. After hearing that Samarkon was peacefully asleep and hadn’t caused any problems while they were gone Larkon finally allowed himself to relax, he and Rainbow Dash then happily went to bed. Despite both of them having their minds on the following morning they were able to drift off to sleep easily thanks to being exhausted. Larkon was hopeful as he went to bed. Rainbow Dash was excited.

And now it was the big day. This was something Larkon was waiting for for a long time. Since long before Rainbow Dash even arrived in their city. A way to stop Karkona, to make the senate and all the other mammoths that had turned a blind eye to the problem be forced to see the issue and deal with it. Even after the mess of last night and learning that Samarkon would willingly try to go to Karkona he was unafraid and unwavering. The mass of weapons possibly giving him even more resolve to bring the rest of the city to his side, so he could protect them from what Karkona’s plans were.

There was still worry in his head and worry for his misguided son especially but he couldn’t let that get to him. He needed to appear perfectly strong and confident when going before the senate with Rainbow Dash today to remove the caul from their eyes. No more ignorance. No more illegal misdeeds that Karkona could hide.

“Good luck today, dear,” Shibu said to Larkon and kissed him while he and Rainbow Dash stood in the doorway of his home.

Alykon was out with her friends and Samarkon was holed up in his room. He refused to come out or speak to his family at all but Shibu still needed to stay here and watch him to make sure he didn’t try and run off again. It was something that pained Larkon but at least he knew that after Karkona was dealt with that maybe he could finally begin mending the relationship between himself and his son.

“Don’t worry, we don’t need luck,” Rainbow Dash said to her with a wink, causing Larkon to roll his eyes.

The historian then smiled though. “Well, you may be right. The evidence we saw is completely incontrovertible. Bakol and the others will have to listen to us. I think this is going to be a great day for all of us mammoths.”

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash grinned and hoofbumped his trunk.

Larkon turned and looked off down the street “We should get going. We’re already going to have to interrupt whatever the senate is doing today, and there’s no time to waste.”

“At least we know they’ll let the two of us right in,” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Special privilege of being awesome.”

“Special privilege of being a special once-in-a-lifetime guest,” Larkon playfully knocked her.

“And the awesome historian of the city,” Rainbow Dash said back to him. “Don’t sell yourself short either, dude.”

He scoffed and walked down the steps of his porch while waving goodbye with his trunk to Shibu. “Look after Samarkon! Sorry to keep foisting that duty on you but—you know.”

“I know,” Shibu smiled, sadly.

Rainbow Dash flew down the steps to join Larkon, also waving goodbye to Shibu. The party of two were then off to Tarmok’s Hall in their effort to take down Karkona and bring true peace to the mammoth city. For such an auspicious occasion it was nothing more than an average day outside with a cool late morning breeze and just the barest amounts of snow and frost left on the trees. The kind of day that would’ve been great for Rainbow Dash to fly through the sky in, or for Larkon to take a pleasant stroll around the block, or Alykon to practice Trunkball. When she thought about it, Rainbow Dash realized that Larkon was just trying to make everyday like this. Lackadaisical, carefree, boring even. It did amuse her to think that if he got his wish the mammoth city would become the opposite kind of place from where she wanted to go on her journey. But that’s the peace Larkon wanted.

There were mammoths out that they waved to, smells from cafes and carts along the way that they sniffed, children running by playing around, musicians performing in the streets. What a day to be out and alive.

When they came to the sloping hill and road that Tarmok’s Hall stood on, Rainbow Dash had to suppress a yawn. At least she didn’t have to walk up it or the big steps of the Hall itself. And just like the last times she had come here there were plenty of mammoths traveling in and out of the building, many who waved at and said hello to her and Larkon, and many that came over in an attempt to start up a proper conversation with the pony.

They’d have to wait on that though. The historian and his guest had far more important things to do right now.

Rainbow Dash patiently flew along with Larkon as he conquered the steps and when they finally made it up and inside the building she had to take another look around the impressive atrium. Tarmok’s Hall was as imposing of a building as ever with its size and massive scales. Fitting for it after she had learned who it was named after.

The two of them paid no mind to anything or anyone else in it though. Their destination was the senate chamber. And it didn’t matter what was being discussed right now or who was minding the door. The two of them were going to walk in there—and fly in there—and put this matter of Karkona to rest.

Rainbow Dash kind of wished she could’ve done that by fighting but oh well. She had to respect Larkon’s way of doing things too.

The clerk who was standing at the podium right outside the senate’s doors saw the two of them coming. But if he thought they were going to stop and have him tell them what was on the schedule or announce their arrival he was dead wrong. Rainbow Dash and Larkon went right past him before he could even get an “Umm” out. The doors were thrown open in a grandiose display (that made Rainbow Dash think she might have been rubbing off on Larkon a little bit) and the two stood right in the center of the aisle as row upon row of senators turned to look at them.

Bakol sat up straighter in his chair and peered down at them. “Larkon? Rainbow Dash?” He, like the others, was surprised to see the two of them suddenly come into the chamber.

“Greetings, Bakol, senators,” Larkon graciously bowed to them. “Rainbow Dash and I have come here today to discuss something of the absolute utmost importance with you.”

Bakol looked around at the others around him and raised an eyebrow at Larkon and Rainbow Dash. “Well… very well, I trust you’re telling the truth about that. Please come forward, you two.”

“Sorry we had to interrupt whatever it was you were doing,” Larkon apologized.

“But really, this is more important,” Rainbow Dash said.

The two of them went to stand (or hover) right in front of Bakol’s desk after striding down the aisle while the other senators watched and murmured. Now Rainbow and Larkon faced all the senators, with Bakol at their backs, and got ready to drop the bombshell on them. The other times Rainbow had been here the senators seemed a lot happier to see her and eager to hear her speak. Now they seemed apprehensive as some of them had probably realized that she and Larkon had something serious to talk about. This wasn’t just a playful discussion or a trade of cultures and history. The mammoth senators were still friendly and none of them looked upset or angry or anything, since mammoths were just nice like that, but they didn’t exactly show joy to Rainbow Dash and Larkon even though she was still their most honored guest.

“So what is this important issue you’ve brought before us?” Bakol asked from behind them and a number of senators in the front rows leaned in in expectation.

Larkon took a deep breath and stood tall, he slowly gazed over the entire chamber of senators before looking straight ahead. “Karkona.”

Now that name soured the mood in the senate chamber immediately. Rainbow hadn’t seen any upset mammoths before but now she sure did.

A mammoth a few rows back from the front stood up, a worried frown on his face. “Larkon… we’ve been over this before.”

“Yes, Harrak, I know,” Larkon said. “But I’ve never been satisfied with the senate’s decisions.”

Harrak shuffled about nervously. “It’s better to just live and let live.”

A number of mammoths nodded and muttered in agreement with him, making Rainbow Dash frown. Did being pacifists meant you had to be pushovers and let thugs bully you around and do whatever they wanted? She didn’t think so. And if Karkona got what he wished for then their whole peaceful society would come crashing down.

“That’s not an option. You all know much I abhor violence and conflict. But I also know that we can’t just ignore the problem of Karkona, we can no longer sweep it under the rug and hope he wont do anything as you have all wished.” Larkon said to the senate.

“What brought this on, Larkon?” Bakol asked from behind them, suspicion clear in his voice. “Why suddenly come here now with Miss Rainbow Dash?”

Larkon sighed and composed himself. “I have… been spying on Karkona for some time now.”

A lot of the mammoths stood up and began shouting and arguing at Larkon while quite a few more were just shocked and conversed with their friends. Rainbow Dash wouldn’t exactly go as far to say the senate was outraged but they were getting close to it. And the chamber had become so unruly with so many scattered conversations and mammoths trying to shout over each other that Bakol had to bang his gavel down a few times to get things back in order.

“Enough, enough I said!” Bakol shouted as he banged his gavel down again and again. “One at a time!”

Harrak actually stepped from his place at the bench and came to the center aisle. “Larkon, what do you mean by spying? Regardless of what Karkona’s said and threatened he hasn’t actually done anything. What you’re saying just seems like agitation. How do you justify your actions?”

“I know that what I did was done without the permission or blessing of the senate but I truly believed in my heart that it had to be done. Karkona is dangerous,” Larkon firmly stated. He then reached his trunk over and briefly patted Rainbow Dash on the back. “And the two of us have proof. You see, I’ve had a friend living in the slums for some time now who’s told me what Karkona is doing to the best of his knowledge. For the most part we were never able to learn or find out anything especially important. Karkona was good about making sure only his most loyal supporters knew about his misdeeds and plans.”

“His misdeeds and plans?” Another senator interrupted, skeptical.

“Correct,” Larkon nodded. “Karkona is not just talk. Last night, Rainbow Dash, my friend, and I, all went on a mission in the slums to truly find out what Karkona was doing and bring him to justice. We specifically planned to take down Karkona by making his crimes evident to all of you so you and the rest of the city must act.”

“Did something happen that caused this late night venture or were you planning this for a while?” The ever perceptive Bakol asked.

Larkon frowned and bit his lip as he looked back at Bakol. “It came about due to the result of personal issues I would like to keep private.”

“That’s not important right now,” Rainbow Dash rushed in to back up Larkon. “What’s important is what we found in the slums.”

“Proof of criminal activity by Karkona I presume?” Harrak said, just as skeptical as the other mammoth.

“Yes,” Larkon stated simply.

“Seriously!” Rainbow shouted. “Believe it, you guys’ll be shocked at what we found!”

“What did you find out about Karkona in the slums?” Bakol asked the two of them.

Larkon cleared his throat. “My friend was already aware of three large warehouses that existed in the slums. They were directly used by Karkona and his cronies but until last night he didn’t know for what as they were always guarded and locked up. However, the three of us snuck into these warehouses because we believed they would be a good start to finding out just what kinds of things Karkona was up to. And we were shocked by what we found. Even I couldn’t have imagined it.”

The crowd of senators was now quiet, hanging off of Larkon’s words as they waited for him to continue and fill them in on what they found in the slums. Rainbow Dash had a smirk on her face as she let Larkon make his speech. He was doing a good job.

“At first the only thing we found in the warehouses was food,” Larkon continued. “Large amounts of stockpiled food that was certainly suspicious but nothing truly illegal or worrying, as I’m sure you’d all like to say. But soon after we discovered that there was so much more to these warehouses. Karkona had secretly dug out the bottom of one, he had created a large basement that went deep underground and built mine tunnels underneath that. Unfortunately we couldn’t explore the mines themselves but they must have stretched deep and Karkona used them to mine precious ores and metals under the slums. You see, what Karkona had in these warehouses was an entire industry, a workshop.”

“But what was he doing with all of that in the first place? Why bother making his own mine and doing all of this in secret?” Harrak asked. He sounded more confused than outright skeptical now.

“There were dozens of mammoths down there all working for Karkona and they were all making one thing with the materials taken up from the mine—weapons.” Larkon announced to the senate.

All of the senators reacted at once with pure unbridled shock and disbelief, even Bakol was too startled by what Larkon had said to reign in order with his gavel. The senate chamber became a madhouse of mammoths yelling—at Larkon, at each other—and Rainbow Dash and Larkon just had to stand up there and take it now until things calmed down. Rainbow Dash knew weapons were illegal here, and for them to hear that Karkona practically had a factory producing them, it’s no surprise they reacted like this.

Bakol eventually managed to get himself back into gear and he had to again smack his gavel down on the table. “E-Enough!” He shouted. “Enough, quiet down this instant!”

It took more than an instant but the senate was reduced to only a few murmurs and hushed conversations. And a lot of suspicious and disbelieving glares.

But even more just plain scared faces.

“I can understand why you might be afraid or not believe me. But it’s true. Karkona had already made and stored hundreds, maybe even thousands, of weapons in his warehouses and he was still making more,” Larkon said, a pleading look on his face as he stared out across the sea of mammoths. “My senators, my fellow mammoths, we cannot let this continue! We must put a stop to Karkona, you know what he will do if we do nothing! He has already stated he wishes to find the Sacred Spring and with these weapons the only possible goal he can have is war.”

“A-And you have proof of this?” Harrak asked.

“We did… we had gathered some of the weapons and were going to bring them here but unfortunately we were caught and had to run without them,” Larkon said, a sad look appearing on his face. “But Rainbow Dash and I give you our word that it is the truth. Now please, what will we do about Karkona?”

Larkon was near pleading at this point, both he and Rainbow Dash ready to hear the senate open up their eyes and proclaim their support for Larkon.

One of the other senators stood up, with his eyes darting around and sweat coalescing on his forehead, he lifted up his trunk in an attempt to wipe away the sweat and appear less nervous. “So what you’re saying is… you don’t actually have proof that any of this is happening?”

Larkon felt a cold pit grow in his stomach while Rainbow Dash’s jaw dropped.

No, please tell me it’s not going this way. They’re not. The pegasus thought.

“My mammoths, please.” Larkon said with evident desperation. “We saw these things with our own eyes. The threat of Karkona is real!”

“But what you’re saying is so serious,” Harrak said. “We can’t just believe you without any proof… it’s dangerous. What if we agitate Karkona by unfairly doing something...”

Scared murmurs of consent rippled through the rest of the senators as both Dash and Larkon watched in horror.

“You guys can’t be serious?!” Rainbow Dash pulled at her mane. “Karkona is the one agitating mammoths! He’s the one making weapons and threatening you guys! Why would Larkon lie about this?”

“Larkon’s always been consumed with trying to get us to do something about Karkona,” an older senator with gray fur said. “It’s not any less believable than what you’re telling us Karkona is doing.”

Rainbow Dash felt a surge of anger and she had to bite her lip from doing anything stupid. Because the look in that senator’s eyes told her that he was really just afraid. Same with all the others. They were afraid to believe Larkon and afraid to even consider accepting the reality of the situation. The reality where they would have to make the choice to act against the dangerous young firebrand.

“Then we’ll go back! Or you can get a group together and go into the slums yourselves to see what he’s been doing! We’ll get hard proof this time!” Rainbow Dash yelled at the senate.

“I think that would only make things worse than they already are,” Harrak said.

“No—please—you can’t… you can’t just keep playing ignorant...” Larkon tried to reason with them.

But more and more senators began to sit down or turn away. Rainbow Dash was shocked now, she had no idea it would be this bad. Larkon’s pacifism was on a level that it almost hurt him but it didn’t stop him from being aware of reality or his own faults and problems with his beliefs. But these mammoths were so weak-willed that they were letting themselves be destroyed practically. There were limits to putting your head in the sand. And what could she do about it? This kind of reaction and attitude was so alien to her.

Larkon was getting woozy, his hopes falling apart all around him, and he turned to Bakol. “Bakol, please, do something. You have to believe us, you can’t just let the senate hide this and pretend the problem doesn’t exist! Make a pronouncement to the city if you have to!”

The speaker of the senate looked up at Larkon with a pitying and apologetic gaze. He slowly raised his gavel and banged it down one time. “I… on the issue that Larkon has brought before us, due to the lack of evidence and the grievously serious nature of what has been put forth, I can only say that we do nothing.”

“Noo...” Rainbow Dash complained as she flew right in front of Bakol’s face. “You guys can’t do this. Do you have any idea-”

“Rainbow Dash,” Larkon said and placed his trunk on her back. “There’s no point.”

She looked back up at his face, it was stony and expressionless but behind those eyes of his was an ocean of sorrow. “Larkon...”

Another senator from back in the rows coughed. “Ahem, I-I suggest we get back to what we were talking about before Larkon and Miss Rainbow Dash arrived.”

Bakol paused, briefly looking at Rainbow Dash and Larkon, before nodding. “Agreed. Resume the discussion.”

Rainbow Dash didn’t know what else to do except follow Larkon down the center aisle to the doors leading back out of the chamber. Both their heads were hung low and on the inside Rainbow Dash was a storming mixture of anger at these mammoths and hurt for her friend. Larkon just looked… defeated. Empty. It was like his life’s work had been torn down and destroyed right in front of him. They didn’t speak at all as they left the chamber, and then Tarmok’s Hall entirely. Neither of them knew what they should say. Or what was going to happen now.

---

Meanwhile in the slums a gathering of a far different nature was commencing.

Karkona was notified late last night about what had happened as well, but he was unconcerned. Annoyed that so much had been damaged but not worried at all about the consequences. He had decided that a rally would be held outside his home where he could rile up his followers and inform them of what had happened. Now he stood inside his slapped together sanctum above the snowy ground of the slums. In a moment he would step outside onto the metal roof of the building his house sat atop and address the mammoth forces that already saw him as their King.

“So Larkon and that pony went to talk to the senate? I wonder how that went,” Karkona said to Murrank, who was standing there with him.

“Yes, one of our sympathizers saw them go to Tarmok’s Hall. I assumed the rest,” Murrank said.

“Nothing else that historian would do,” Karkona snorted. “Old fool. I hope he succeeds though.” A dangerous smile spread on Karkona’s face. “I would welcome them trying to stop me, not like the cowards have it in them though.”

“We’ve got most of the warehouse cleaned up too, work should get back on schedule soon.”

“Good. We don’t exactly need it for the Sacred Spring but I wanted us to be prepared for our future wars. And it gave my loyal followers something to do.”

“The only issue I can think of is that we still don’t know who that other mammoth that was with them was,” Murrank said. “I believe it’s likely they’re still here in the slums, spying on us for Larkon.”

Karkona shrugged. “Who cares? What are they going to do? In fact, let him spy on us. It’s not like he could know anything important or could stop us. No one but you, me, and a few others know my plans for finding the Sacred Spring and by the time I put it into motion it will be too late to stop.” He grinned. “But first, it is time for a speech. You know how fired up I can get when giving a speech.”

“Yes,” Murrank grinned.

“My mammoths must be reminded of why we’re doing this. So they can fight just as hard as me,” Karkona said and pushed open the door to his home, walking out right in front of the steps that led to the ground but staying up high.

The mammoths who had gathered out here cheered when they saw him, trumpeting with their trunks in admiration and loyalty. Hundreds of them. Most on the ground but some stood on roofs across from Karkona’s home and some stayed inside their homes but watched from the doorways and windows. They were a grungy and thuggish looking lot that was just as predisposed to violence and fighting as their leader.

Except for one.

Abalun stayed at the back of the crowd, not wearing his cloak at the moment in case it was recognized, taking a risk but knowing it was important to come to any big speech given by Karkona. His eyes stayed locked on Karkona, his mouth pulled taut in a tight-lipped frown. He had hoped that Karkona would fly into a rage and do something stupid after learning what had happened. But Karkona looked fine, better than fine.

“My mammoths!” Karkona projected his voice out across the entire crowd. “We have almost arrived at the dawn of a new age! An age where we can fight and conquer and become all that mammoths were meant to be again!”

The crowd cheered even louder and Karkona basked in it, a huge grin splitting his cheeks.

He let the cheering die down a bit and continued. “You may already know that last night some pathetic fools from the city invaded our slums and tried to sabotage my warehouses and everything inside. But does that matter? No! We fear no one, and no matter what happens or what is done to us we will keep fighting! Even if the warehouses were demolished or the pitiful senate decides to move against us we would never lose. They are the ones who fear us, and they prove it by trying to sabotage me. But even in that they fail because they’ve lost the strength and willpower of mammoths like us!”

“Larkon and that pony from the outside world are nothing! They can’t stop us! They have no right to!” Karkona thundered. “This disgusting way the rest of the city has welcomed that pony is a symbol of how far we’ve fallen, and once I rule over this city and all mammoths we will go back to subjugating and destroying all the other creatures like her!”

Abalun’s expression darkened and he began to sweat. His heart was beating inside his chest as he looked side to side at the ecstatic and nearly bloodthirsty mammoths around him. This wasn’t looking good. And there was something different about this speech, something important was coming soon, Abalun could tell.

“Soon, my mammoths, this city and everything in it will be ours and we can begin the crusade to recover what was lost!” Karkona raised his head high, pointing his trunk and tusks upward as a frenzied look came to his eyes. “The Sacred Spring will soon be reclaimed and after that, our empire! This, I promise you. The mammoths will rise again, AND WE’LL BRING THIS WORLD TO ITS KNEES!”

Author's Note:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puPc2F9ysfE

Comments

[superfun]

Rainbow Dash kind of wished she could’ve done that by fighting but oh well. She had to respect Larkon’s way of doing things too.

Oh there's definitely going to be fighting

[THERDSTORYWHISPERER]

Great chapter!

What will Rainbow do now?

Does Larkin know the location of the Sacred Spring? Does Karkona know about it and hopes to use his son to tell him of the location?

[redmar]

Something needs to be done about the senate since it's clearly dysfunctional.