"Starlight... are you awake?"
"No," Starlight grumbled, shifting herself so that her forehoof better covered her eyes. Things were brightening. The sun must have been coming up. And aside from the fact that she was bouncing slightly, jostled as the cart she was presumably still on passed over rocks in the road... she very much wanted it to be true.
"More so than Maple, then, at least. Hmm..." Gerardo's voice drew further away, as if he was no longer speaking directly at her. "I promise you, however, this is a sight worth waking up for."
Starlight lifted her exposed ear, and that was the extent of her compliance. She knew she was only sliding further back into consciousness, but her eyes still stung with tiredness, and she didn't feel like making an effort to open them. She did listen, though, and it took her a moment to discern the steady, distant roar for what it was: a mixture of every sound in existence, carried by the breeze over a long distance and mashed into a single, unwavering rush. She cracked an eyelid.
That eyelid was followed by another, and swiftly she raised her head entirely. Below her was a vast sea of green, a pool of trees of every height, interspersed with occasional towers and buildings tall enough to break the canopy. From groundbound crops to cultivated fruit and nut trees... Starlight breathed, and her eyes came alive.
The verdant valley was ringed by stone on all sides but one, a horseshoe-shaped bowl in the mountains that sent its trees and greenscapes crawling like tendrils towards the peaks. But before they could even approach a third of the required elevation, they petered out, and a band of something else strapped its way around the mountainside: terraces. Architecture of dull stone and glinting metal built its way into and out of the sheer, heavily-angled slope, endless switchbacks leading to main streets formed from the rooves of multi-story buildings. The shelf of civilization stretched nearly to the forest, dipping down with roads designed to connect, and didn't stop climbing until it reached a perfectly vertical face of rock that also ringed the crater, stalling further construction. Starlight's eyes wandered higher still... and then the snow began, and soon after the jagged brightness beyond her side of the mountains' shadow. Above that, the peaks just kept going.
"Is this what it looked like?" Gerardo whispered, checking that the Sosans on the cart weren't paying attention. "From... there?"
It wasn't hard for Starlight to guess where he was talking about. "Sort of," she muttered, gaze torn on what to investigate next. "But I could see farther. A lot farther."
"That is saying something," Gerardo murmured back, "seeing as the Earth District, which encompasses every bit of green between these mountains... has a diameter of over ten miles."
Starlight exhaled back, watching. Eventually, Gerardo stretched. "Enjoy it while you can. I imagine we'll be parting ways with this cart in a matter of minutes. And if you could rouse miss Maple, it would be of great use..."
The earth pony was still snuggled against Starlight's back. She didn't doubt that getting up herself would rouse her... but still wasn't convinced that she wanted to get up herself, either. Then again, was there any chance of her getting back to sleep? She'd likely have plenty of time with the view to ponder whatever the heights would make her ponder. It wasn't like Gerardo would be taking them back to the Earth District any time soon.
All in one motion, she stood up. The mountain air was surprisingly warm for their altitude, ruffling at her unbrushed coat and swirling around her muddy legs. Yet, her experience of the forest floor had been at night, and compared to what it would probably be like in the day... she imagined this altitude, or perhaps slightly higher, would be a perfect temperature to live life with open-air windows and never be too hot or too cold. The decision of ponies to settle themselves higher up on the mountain face, where it would take an hour's hard work just to climb up or down to where the food grew, suddenly made a lot more sense in her mind.
Maple stirred behind her. "Starlight...?" she murmured, blinking groggily. "Bed is... where...?"
"Good morning," Starlight hummed back, looking at her reflection in Maple's eyes. Both ponies were muddy wrecks, Starlight's mane having come undone and Maple largely caked in brown due to falling over during the battle. It matched her coat, at least, but the cracked and flaking texture wasn't pretty. Still, she tapped the mare's ear with her muzzle, and said, "Gerardo says we're almost there."
"He does, does he...?" Maple stretched without getting up, legs reaching off the back of the cart as she extended them to their maximum. "Wow, we're up high. How far have we come?"
"I could try to draw a map," Gerardo offered, appearing again on the crates above them. "However, I presently lack the implements to do so, so an explanation shall have to suffice. The semicircular mountain wall you see to the right... err, the cart's right, that is, opens to the northeast. We have traveled due south since meeting up with this group, and are presently rounding the eastern tip of the mountain ring and beginning our trip clockwise around the entire Stone District. Does that help?"
"Err... sort of..." Maple rubbed her head. "One more moment to wake up, please?"
"Take your time," Gerardo answered, straightening up. "But come to the front of the cart when you're done. There's something very interesting ahead which you may like to see."
"More interesting than this, huh?" Maple said to Starlight, just beginning her survey of the Ironridge valley. "All right, I think I'm awake... urgh. I need a bath. Want to go see?"
Starlight nodded as Maple produced a canteen and emptied part of it on her face, then took a long drink. Once she finished, they climbed the crate stack and went forward, looking for Gerardo.
The cart was small, and he was easy to find. Seated at the front next to Shinespark and away from Nimwick, the griffon stared forward... and at what was instantly apparent.
The road, immediately where they were, was a gravelly affair, sloping sharply up to their left and dropping just as sharply off to their right. Small, rusted metal barricades were all that stood in the way of rockslides and careless stepping, though the road was wide enough that two carts could pass each other without that even being an issue. Ahead, though, the ground fused into cement... and then left the mountain entirely, rising into an elevated bridge. And ahead of that, the mountain ceased, replaced by an unnaturally smooth wall of concrete and iron, curved such that the bridge was fixed to the inside. It towered upwards so far that Maple and Starlight had to crane their necks vertically to see the top, and even that was obscured by distance and a line of blinking, technological lights.
Their brows furrowed, half from the contrast of shadowed wall against brightening sky, and half from the otherworldliness of the structure. "What is...?" Maple began, and didn't finish.
"It's a dam," Shinespark answered, taking their confusion perfectly in stride. "There's another like it on the opposite side of this mountain. Together, they form a deep lake filled by meltwater from the Sky District. It's the reservoir that provides all of Ironridge's fresh water... and coolant for the machines in the mines. In return, steam from the mines is piped to the Sky District, and used through exhaust vents to melt snow and provide more water for the reservoir. We call it the Water District."
"The Water District?" Gerardo raised an eyebrow as the cart passed onto the bridge. "I was under the impression that Ironridge only had four districts: Steel, Earth, Stone and Sky."
Shinespark shook her head. "It has six, though the last two aren't really official. The Water District is one... and the other is the Flame District. That's what we call the mines. Though I doubt you'll need to go there any time soon, and good luck getting in if you do. They're dangerous, and not for tourists. Staying aboveground is a good rule in general."
Maple and Gerardo hummed their acknowledgement. Starlight was silent, looking up at the heights of the dam... and also down. They appeared to be fairly close to the base, which curved outward at a greater and greater angle until it melded seamlessly into the mountainside below. But they were still gaining altitude, and ahead, where the bridge met the end of the dam... there was a gate. A sleek, polished white stone gate, doing a much better job of being ornamental than the one Valey and her goons had commandeered, the pony standing watch looking perfectly well suited for the job.
They rolled to a stop just outside of the gate's arch, and the pony leaned down. "Sosans, eh?" he asked, pulling out a clipboard. "I remember the days when we'd get three, four of your carts per day, and those weren't even the good old days. Heh... Got any papers, or anything to declare?"
Dorable levitated a thick folder in his lime-green telekinesis, open to a particular page. The stallion took one look, made a mark on his clipboard, and grinned. "Well, you're definitely set! Have a nice day, Chief!"
He waved, and the gate rolled open. The Sosan cart passed through without fanfare, and soon, they had properly entered the Stone District.
Starlight wanted to stop and stare at the architecture, now that she could see it up close. Everything was made of some form of rock, bar occasional instances of iron and wood evidently imported from the other districts. But the cart quickly stopped again, and it was time for business.
"...So." Shinespark met Gerardo's gaze for a moment longer than necessary, and he got the hint, moving to disembark. "Your sword," she continued. "I can try to get it back, but I can't make promises. Sosa isn't poor, no matter what the other districts say. Money won't be an object. I'll most likely want some favor from you in return for my trouble... but what I need right now is a promise." Her eyes hardened, fully serious. "If I go to the trouble of helping you, will you come back to get it?"
Gerardo looked to Maple and Starlight, and neither had immediate objection to give. "Very well," he agreed. "I'll need to finish my present delivery before I can do anything else. But after that, and before I leave, I shall return to Sosa and seek you out. Tell me, how shall I know where to find you?"
"It won't be hard," Shinespark said, horn lit, unloading Gerardo's crates without even turning to look at them. "Almost every pony in Ironridge knows who I am, and at least how to find a pony who can find a pony who can point you to me. Or, if you're lost, you can just go to the alpha factory, on the northern bank of the river. I'm often there. But you'll do fine."
"I shall... keep it in mind." Bowing, Gerardo stepped away from the cart, extending a wing as if to ward Maple and Starlight back from it. Shinespark's only reply was a nod, before she turned forward, and the cart set off once again.
"...Well." Gerardo looked around the plaza where they had been deposited, the gate at one end and two roads at the other, one up and one down. "We have arrived, with our bodies and luggage intact. It seems it's time to plan our next move."