Rainbow Dash's Unstoppable Ego

by MagicS

North Pole XII

It had been an exceedingly nice and restful night of sleep Rainbow Dash had gotten. She had made sure of it since today was the day the tournament began and she was going to be at a hundred and ten percent for it. Preliminary matches, main event matches, she was going to kick butt and take names through the whole thing. As she had told Ark’Nogt the previous night, he was to wake her up as soon as the crystal sun turned on so she had plenty of time to eat and prepare. Then they could go to the stadium together.

So with a knock coming to her door, Rainbow Dash’s head snapped up from out under her pillows and the pegasus slowly sat up. Rubbing her eyes and yawning she flapped her wings and hovered out of bed and onto the floor.

“Time already, huh?” She muttered to herself and walked to the door.

When she opened it the smiling face of Ark’Nogt was there to greet her. Just like it should have been.

“Hello and good morning, Miss Rainbow Dash! It’s a wonderful day today!” He happily said.

“Don’t I already know?” She grinned and rubbed the last bit of sleep out of her eyes before clapping her hooves together. “I’m ready to fight.”

“The actual preliminary rounds will take place in a few hours, so we have plenty of time to get something to eat and for you to check in once we arrive,” Ark’Nogt told her. “After that you’ll be able to enjoy all the fighting you want and more.”

“Then what are we waiting for! I need to eat a big breakfast so I got plenty of energy to fight with!” She started hopping up and down on her back hooves and throwing out punches with her front ones.

“Let us get a meal here and then we can go.”

Rainbow Dash had eaten from the center’s small cafeteria a couple times already during her brief stay in Nogt. She wouldn’t really recommend it to anyone (she still had yet to have food as good as Shibu’s since leaving the mammoth city) but it served its purpose. This morning she scarfed down a big bowl of grain cereal and washed it away with a glass of vegetable juice. Healthy, filling, and full of the kind of vitamins and energy she needed for the tournament. By the time Rainbow Dash finished and she and Ark’Nogt left the center she was practically vibrating with excitement.

“Oh man, oh man, it’s finally the big day!” She grinned widely. “This is gonna be awesome!”

“Big day for you, yes. I unfortunately won’t be able to watch any of the fighting until the individual rounds,” Ark’Nogt said while they walked through Nogt to the stadium.

“Forgot about that. Sorry dude, but I promise I’ll make my matches worth it for you.”

Ark’Nogt smiled. “I’m certain you will.”

Rainbow Dash glanced over to him while they walked and thought about how for all of Ark’Nogt’s help and how much she had talked to him she didn’t really know a ton about him personally. She had told him a ton about her own life and adventure but all she really knew about Ark’Nogt was that he was an Embracer. She had learned much more about Sia’Lorna’s personal life and history than Ark’Nogt’s. He obviously wasn’t intentionally hiding anything, he just didn’t see it as relevant to his job of helping her out. Well Rainbow Dash felt like changing that.

“So Ark’Nogt, you got a family or anything?” She asked.

He turned to her with a surprised look on his face and raised an eyebrow. “Why do you ask?”

“Just curious,” she shrugged.

“Well yes, I do have a family. My wife and three children, all fully grown and all moved away from Nogt,” he told her.

“Kind of surprised you have a wife honestly. Uh, no offense, I just mean cause you must not have seen her like at all the past few days.”

“She’s aware that my job sometimes requires me to spend time away from home helping others. Besides, I was able to briefly hop home and say hi to her while you were exercising one day.”

“That’s good at least. But all three of your kids moved away too? Do you ever even get to see them anymore?”

“It’s very normal for Reindeer to leave home when they grow up. We like to travel all over and Nogt had simply become boring for them, they wanted to see more of the world. My eldest daughter, Vias’Nogt, eventually made it all the way down to Ice Valley. She fell in love with a buck and has recently started a family of her own. My eldest son, Sulan’Nogt, decided he wanted to visit every Reindeer city at least once in his life. Thanks to our scattered nature he’s still working on that but I’ve never received a letter or word from him where he was complaining, he loves his journey. And my second daughter and youngest child, Tek’Nogt, loved to perform and entertain for others. But she also wanted to create something of her own so she went to Lorna and started her own theater. It’s not as easy or comfortable as joining a group here would’ve been but she’s happy. I’m proud of her and all my children. Even if my wife and I get a little lonely sometimes.”

Rainbow Dash reached over and patted his shoulder. “Sounds like you got a pretty nice and awesome family at least. Maybe you’ll be able to have some reunion some time and see everyone again too?”

Ark’Nogt smiled. “That would be a rather “awesome” occasion if it happened.”

“Hay yeah it would!” She cheered and briefly looked back at the approaching stadium. They were getting closer and she could see more Reindeer milling and walking around outside it than last time. “So what about you though? Why’d you decide to become an Embracer?”

“I enjoyed meeting and helping others who visited Nogt. Also I love Nogt and teaching outsiders about it, especially ones like you who were completely ignorant to our holy city’s importance and existence. I think the main reason though is I like learning about other places and peoples from those who come to Nogt. Whether it be Reindeer from one of our far away cities or ponies like you. Well, pardon, there are no other ponies I’ve met like you.”

“Sorry I’ve kind of spoiled visitors for you for the rest of your life. I’m just the most awesome you’re ever going to see.”

“Well I don’t regret your visit one bit. These past few days have been wonderfully entertaining and I expect the entire tournament will be as well.”

“Promise it will be,” a thought suddenly occurred to Rainbow Dash and her eyebrows perked up. “Hey! Why don’t you bring your wife once the fight’s start? What’s stopping you? It’ll be totally cool if you’re there to watch me kick butt with her.”

Ark’Nogt thought for a second, rubbing a hoof to his chin. “I think she would love that, actually...”

“Then do it! Come on, it’ll be so cool! You said there probably aren’t going to be as many Reindeer watching as normal cause this is a smaller tournament, right? Well I want as many watching as possible!”

“Very well, I’ll go and talk to her as soon as I know you’ve checked in at the stadium and are getting ready for the preliminary fights,” Ark’Nogt smiled. “I suppose now the next few days will be even more fun than I expected.”

“That’s what I’m all about, dude. Never underestimate the fun while I’m around. So—uh, what’s your wife’s name anyways? I’ll probably meet her at some point now too.”

“Her name is Mera’Nogt. We first met when I was at the castle back when I worked as a cleaner. It was my first job actually, I was quite young. She was relaxing in a courtyard while I was cleaning the stone paths and I, er, spilled a bucket of water on her and the book she was reading—utterly ruining it. She was very, very, cross with me after that. We kept bumping into each other for a while after that and while she was initially upset to see me, time changes things. We got to know each other and eventually...” he blushed and shrugged, trailing off.

“Heh, nice. So what’s your wife do?” Rainbow asked.

“She’s a researcher. She researches the oddities of Nogt, the history of us Reindeer and our relationship to the city, as well as where we came from and what’s on the other side of the barrier.”

That piqued Rainbow’s interest a little. “Oh yeah? So what is past the tornado? More cold mountains and snow and stuff?”

“More or less but… well, it’s not exactly a very positive thing to talk about, especially right before your fights. Suffice to say that my wife’s research, like the research of our forefathers, hasn’t always produced results.”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow at him. “I get it but I’m a really curious pony too so I’ll probably ask about it again. But yeah, today’s the day for fighting.”

Ark’Nogt smiled. “Indeed it is, and now we’ve arrived.”

Comments

[redmar]

I wonder what is on the other side of the tornado that gets such a response. Anyway I'm looking forward to the tournament.

[THERDSTORYWHISPERER]

Great chapter!

Is the barrier going to be Rainbow’s next destination or is the story going to wrap up?

[StarzGecko]

It’s almost over isn’t it?