//------------------------------//
// 6) Nulpar Tour: Day 3, Wilderness 
// Story: Climbing the Mountain 2 
// by Talon and Thorn 
//------------------------------//

The next morning swung around too quickly for Fragrant. Life in Neighagra seemed to start with the rise of the sun, and she awoke to see the fleet of small fishing boats making their way out into the lake and a sizable herd of farmers bringing their wares into the town; there was apparently some sort of market due today. Maybe she should visit later. She doubted there would be anything she needed, but it would be nice to walk amongst the common pony for a time. Nopony here would likely recognise her.
 
She splashed some tepid water over herself to make her presentable. She had decided to forgo a full bath, given the effort it took here. Really, it seemed like this whole trip had been wasted effort; she hadn’t been able to bring up the subject of Notebook with Max, and he wasn’t talking but she was sure he had his own problems, which she didn’t want to add her own on to. After getting dressed in a yellow summer dress, she made her way down to the hotel’s dining room where she found that Max and Barrel had already started. It was a shame the other pegasus had invited himself to the meal; she would have preferred to have spent some time with Max along, maybe find out what was bothering him.
 
Still, the meal went pleasantly enough, although Mayor Barrel didn’t stop talking for most of it, even when eating. All too soon the time came for Max to leave.
 
“Hey, Max,” cried Barrel as the baron got up from the table. “I almost forgot. Care for a rematch at horseshoes before you go?”
 
“Can we just say you won by a landslide and call it a day?” asked Max with a sigh.
 
“Now don’t be like that, Max. You’re a good player and I’ve got a touch of arthritis in my playing leg these days. You might win.” Max raised an eyebrow. “Well you might!”
 
“Ok, let’s get this over with then,” said Max, dragging his hooves out of the hotel. Fragrant followed the two stallions, and the three of them came to a stop next to a well maintained grassy area outside the town hall. Not too far away was a sandy square with a stake stuck into it.
 
While Barrel went to get the equipment needed, Max tried to explain the game to Fragrant. She could understand the basic objective, to get the horseshoe around the stake, but finer details of how close a shoe had to be to score and where it was depending relative to the other player’s shoe went over her head. She had never been much of a sportsmare; she had played a little sky hockey and some fencing at school, but had never been that good at it.
 
Barrel returned with an ornate case containing a quad of shiny horseshoes, which he held out to Max for him to choose his weapons. After a bit of thought, Max had selected the pair with red marks on them, and positioned himself at the throwing point. Carefully balancing the shoe on his muzzle, he threw it towards the post with some force; it struck the ground just in front of the stake, maybe two hooves away.
 
“Not bad,” muttered Max, taking up his second shoe and tossing it towards the target. This time it actually hit the post, but bounced away, ending up further away than his first throw.
 
“A good start,” said Barrel, floating over to the starting point. “But let me show you how it should be played.” With a grin, he casually tossed a shoe down the pitch with a wing, hitting the post first time.
 
“Arthritis, right?” said Max dryly.
 
Barrel grinned. “In my playing leg, so I use my wings instead.”
 
Fragrant found the rest of the game rather exciting. A small crowd of locals started to gather around the pitch and most started to cheer for the mayor. Not wanting Max to feel let down, she added her support to his side, maybe being a little more vocal than she’d intended. Max lost, of course – the large horseshoe emblazoned on Barrel’s flank might have had something to do with that – but she thought he still played a good game.
 
“Congratulations,” said Max, shaking Barrel’s hoof when the game came to an end.
 
“Thanks,” said the mayor. “You’re getting better. Want a rematch?”
 
“Sorry, but I better get moving. I’ve got a lot of ground to cover.”
 
“Sure. How about you, duchess? You want a game?”
 
“I am afraid I’ve never played before,” said Fragrance, rather surprised to be invited.
 
“Well, now’s your time to start,” said Barrel. There was a shout of agreement from the crowd, which suddenly seemed much larger than she’d thought it was.
 
She swallowed rather nervously. “I don’t think I’ll be a very good opponent.”
 
“That doesn’t matter, it’s all for fun,” said the stallion with a grin. Fragrant glanced over to Max, who nodded with a smile.
 
“Very well.” She stepped forwards nervously and took one pair of shoes from Max. They were quite bulky and certainly heavier than anything she’d ever worn before.
 
“Just aim at the post and throw it,” suggested Max. “Try using your hoof to start, it’s the easiest way. Just get an idea of how far they go.” She nodded and readied one of the shoes. Concentrating fiercely, she tossed it towards the other end of the pitch. The metal semicircle flew from her hoof and thudded to the ground about two body lengths away. A chuckle went up from the crowd and Fragrant blushed in embarrassment.
 
“You want to spin it as it goes, not just throw it underleg,” said Max. “Like this.” He positioned himself alongside the mare and held her leg with his own, gently positioning it. Fragrant tried, unsuccessfully, to ignore the feeling of Max’s body pressed against her own, and to instead concentrate on what he was trying to teach her. She stared at the post and, biting her tongue, threw the projectile as Max had told her. This time it flew much farther, reaching the post but landing almost a whole body length off to one side.
 
“Not bad, for a first try,” said Barrel, taking up his position and beginning to throw his own shoes.
 
Fragrant lost of course, but that didn’t really seem to matter much; a good portion of the crowd – led by Max – seemed to have taken her side, and to her surprise cheered her on. As the game progressed, she got better. It only took a few rounds for her to start to get near to and eventually hit the stake, and she gave a little unladylike squeal when she finally managed a ‘ringer’. She was surprised how much she actually enjoyed the game, and nopony seemed to care that she was a duchess. It was nice to be able to spend half an hour just enjoying herself, spending time with Max; she wished it could last longer. Then a crazy thought hit her. Maybe it didn’t have to end, at least not now. He couldn’t stay, he had his duty to his people, but maybe she could go with him? For a while anyway? No, it was a crazy idea, spontaneous, not thought through, so unlike her! But did she really want to be herself at the moment?
 
“Max,” she said before she could talk herself out of her idea. “Could I talk to you for a moment?”
 
“Huh?” he said, having just started to strap his bags on. “Of course. What do you want to say?”
 
“Well, I’m here to investigate the weather services in your province. My teams will be spreading out through the countryside over the next few months, but they will probably only see the larger settlements. I wonder if it would be possible to accompany you on your tour? It would be a chance to visit the smaller settlements.”
 
Max’s mouth dropped. “You want to come with me?”
 
“Well yes, I would like to spend the time with you. Don’t you want to?” she asked, a little forlornly.
 
“I would love to,” said Max with a wide grin. “But I didn’t think you’d be interested in seeing the wilds of Nulpar.”
 
“I think I will enjoy it, though it will not be for very long. I must return to Cloudsdale within the week, but I think a holiday would do me good.”
 
“Well, if you want to come, I’d be happy to have you along. There’s so many things I can show you.” He grinned happily, seeming for a moment like an excited puppy. “But what about your servants?” He frowned.
 
“Oh.” She really should bring them with her, but that would spoil the whole idea of spending some time with Max. She saw her chauffeurs and personal assistant amongst the crowd that had been watching the game. One of them was kissing one of the local mares; from their conversations while they thought she was not listening, she knew that Hot Rolls claimed to have quite a reputation with the fillies, and it seemed to wasn’t entirely false. “Hot Rolls, Royston, Saltpeter,” she barked. The three servants jumped in surprise and Hot regretfully disengaged himself from his admirer before they trotted over to her.
 
“Madam,” said Saltpeter with a bow. He was recently promoted from regional weather management to her personal office. He was taking some time to settle in, but she was sure he could handle a little more responsibility.
 
“I will be surveying the local area with the Baron for a few days. Please return to Sadlzburg and take over the work there.” The grey stallion looked rather intimidated and for a moment she wished Notebook was present – he would be able to deal with this. “I am sure you will not find it too difficult. The survey teams are well trained; you will only need to collate their findings. It should not be much different from your previous job.” The stallion nodded.
 
“Rolls, Royston, if you could pick me up in four days, the Baron and myself should have reached...” She turned to Max who had begun to unfold a map.
 
“Um, Snowtown,” he said, drawing a hoof across the map.
 
The two chauffeurs drew close and noted the location.
 
“Shouldn’t be a problem madam,” noted Royston.
 
“I’m sure the Baron will take good care of you in the meantime,” said Rolls, waggling his eyebrows. Then he winced as his partner kicked him with one of his hind legs.
 
Fragrant blushed. She assumed one of her maids had talked about her dream. It was probably all over the estate by now. Maybe she should change her mind? No! She was going to be spontaneous for once and she had made her mind up. “Good,” she said with a nod. “I will see you in a few days then. Baron Max, if you would lead on? I am eager to start our journey... no, our adventure.” She smiled.
 



 
“Well, I certainly didn’t vote for you!” said the donkey glaring down at Max. “And I certainly don’t want anything you’re sellin’!”
 
“No, I don’t think you understand...” began Max. He and Fragrant had spent what remained of the morning walking through the hilly area to the east of Neighagra and had come across several small farms, mostly subsistence farming with some sheep on the side for wool. Rather embarrassingly, most didn’t seem to know that the province of Nulpar had been formed or that he had been appointed as baron. Several hadn’t heard of him at all and one claimed to not even have heard of Sadlzburg.
 
“No, you don’t understand,” interrupted the farmer. “We’re honest folk up here, we don’t need any hucksters claiming to be something they're not! You don’t even look like nobility! You could have put some effort into a costume, you look like a scruffy nerf herder! At least your lady friend here looks the part.” He nodded to Fragrant, who gave a polite curtsey while trying not to laugh at Max’s expression. “Ma’am.”
 
“Who you talking to, Ornery?” asked a middle aged unicorn mare as she cantered over to the group.
 
“Just a wandering bunch of lunatics, dear,” said the donkey.
 
“I’ve been trying to explain to your, um, husband here that I am Mounty Max and I’ve been made baron of this province by the Princess. I’ve just, well, popped by to see how I can help you people.”
 
“You don’t look much like nobility,” said the unicorn, sounding like her husband.
 
“That’s what I said,” agreed Ornery.
 
Fragrant stepped forwards. “I assure you that my companion is telling you the truth,” she said. “I am Duchess Fragrant Posey of Cloudsdale, I am here to survey the weather situation of this province. I see you are trying to cultivate Fagopyrum esculentum, um, Buckwheat.” She gestured to a field of rather shrivelled-looking plants nearby.
 
“Yes,” said the Donkey cautiously.
 
“They do seem rather under-watered and maybe not well suited for this soil type, although they normally do well in rocky soil.”
 
“We get most of our rain from them down in Neighagra,” said the unicorn a bit defensively. “They’re late this week.”
 
“I understand. My people will be doing their best to try and provide a better service. There are several breeds of Buckwheat that may perform better in this type of environment, you know.”
 
“Well, it’s not like we can get fancy seeds easily up here.”
 
“Yes, although Baron Max’s plan for road building will make it easier, and once this market is opened up I am sure companies such as Fisher Agriculture and Sunshine Seeds will be expanding into the area.”
 
“That sounds very interesting, um, duchess.” The unicorn smiled. “Why don’t you and the baron come back to the house and we can talk about it? My oldest, Mark, has some book learning about that sort of thing, I’m sure he’d be interested.” She turned to her husband. “Ornery, make yourself useful and head off back to the house and start heating the water for drinks.”
 
He looked like he was going to argue for a moment, then seemed to give up. “Yes, dear,” he said before galloping off.
 
With a smile Fragrant turned to Max who stood there, mouth open. “How did you do that?” he asked.
 
“It only takes the right words to turn any situation around. Maybe I will teach you someday.”
 
“And the plant stuff?”
 
“My talent is for hydroponics; I hold a degree in botany as well as weather management. I do not get to use it as often as I would like, but I try to keep up to date with farming practices when I can. Now we should join our hosts.” She carefully floated into the air to prevent her dress getting too muddy and started towards the distant farm house.
 
“Yes, dear,” muttered Max.
 



        
Fragrant glanced up at the sky. The sun was near the horizon; it would not be long until the Princess put it away for the night and brought the moon out in its place. Boosting herself a short distance into the sky, she ran her gaze over the surrounding area. They had reached a rocky plateau in the foothills. Many miles ahead a mountain range rose into the sky, but there were no sign of habitation in the immediate vicinity. It had been several hours since they had passed the last farm. She frowned and returned to ground level. “Is there a village nearby where we will be spending the night? I can’t see anything.” She asked Max.
 
“Oh no, our next stop is the Eyrie, it’s still most of a day’s travel away. We’ll be spending the night in the wild,” said Max cheerfully.
 
“In the wild?” she asked, trying to keep the trepidation out of her voice. She should have guessed that Max would have planned to camp for some of the trip.
 
“It’s not that bad. There aren't really any dangerous animals and it’s quite warm this time of year, so a tent provides plenty...” He paused. “You did bring a tent, didn’t you?”
 
Fragrant smiled awkwardly. “I didn’t really think one would be needed.”
 
“Don’t you have anything useful in those bottomless bags of yours?”
 
“They are not bottomless, merely larger than they seem. And no, I mostly have clothes and some toiletries...” Her voice trailed off. “I take it there will be no toilet facilities out here?” She looked around as if an outhouse might appear from nowhere.
 
Max tried to keep a straight face as he pointed a hoof towards a nearby scrubby bush. Fragrant did not seem impressed. “I’m afraid most of the settlements won’t provide much more.”
 
Fragrant shuddered a bit and then tried to put a brave face on it. “Well, I suppose I should find out how the common pony lives. It will be good for me.” Her ears drooped a little.
 
“At least you can use my tent,” offered Max. “As I said, it’s not that cold and it won’t be the first time I’ve slept out under the stars.”
 
“That will not be necessary, pegasi are quite resistant to the cold. I will be fine.” She glanced about and was glad to see one or two wild clouds dotted about. “A little work and I should be able to fashion a bed for myself. I dare say I might spend the night more comfortably than you.” She hoped. It had been a long time since she had last had to fashion something from clouds for herself. Still, she assumed it was something that you didn’t forget. “Now, what will we be eating? Will we have to graze?” She glanced down at the scrubby grass below her. It didn’t seem too appetising. Still, she felt her stomach rumble a bit; she supposed it would be better than nothing.  
 
“No, I’ve brought rations, dried fruit, mint cake, packed hay, plus I think given a bit of effort I might be able to find some berries and stuff. Not a feast, but enough to keep us going. Grazing doesn’t get you far, anyway. You use up more energy than you get.”
 
“Well, excuse me for not knowing how to survive in the wild. My tutors must have forgotten to cover that part of the syllabus,” said Fragrant huffily.
 
“Sorry!” said Max, walking over to the pegasus. “I know this isn’t much of a holiday for you. You’re doing a lot better out here than I thought you would. Imagine what Mellow or Blueblood would be like out here.”
 
Fragrant smiled and leaned gently against Max. “I’m sure he’d be complaining that the dirt needed to be cleaned before he would step on it.”
 
“Yep. Now, you get started on your cloud and I’ll have a look around for food, then get a fire started. You haven't lived until you’ve eaten at chateau Max.” He gave her a quick nuzzle, then set off towards a nearby copse of trees and bushes. Fragrant watched him go for a moment before turning with a grimace towards the bush he had indicated earlier. Before she started working on the cloud, she had some urgent business to take care of.
 



 
It took some time for Fragrant to get her cloud bed to her satisfaction. Once she got into the work she found it quite enjoyable, as she hadn’t done anything like this since her school days. Her first few attempts were rather poor, but she eventually managed to gather enough of the wispy wild cloud that covered this area to make a usable perch. She even spent a little time personalising it by carving a few pillows and even forming a canopy over it just for show. While she worked, Max put up his own sleeping arrangement; she was surprised how quickly a collection of sheets and sticks were converted into a small tent.
 
Once he had finished, Max made the food he had foraged for into their dinner. He had managed to obtain a small pile of berries and some flowers he had identified as not poisonous. Put together with the supplies he had with him, it produced an edible if not particularly large feast. The condensed hay was rather crunchy, but the flowers made it edible and the mint cake and berries made a pleasing sweet. Once they had finished, he offered her a drink from a bottle of mead he had brought with him; she accepted and found the sweet drink palatable but not really to her tastes. It was a shame she hadn’t thought to bring any wine.
 
After their meal Max quickly put together a small fire to keep out the night's chill. Fragrant lowered her cloud almost to the ground to allow her to lie next to Max, while keeping it far enough away from the fire to prevent it evaporating. They talked quietly about Max’s plans for Nulpar for some time as they watched the moon rise in the sky.
 
“There was one pony in Sadlzburg who kept looking at me quite strangely. She seemed to be the mayor's assistant as best I could tell, although I do wonder if they might not be more than that... she seemed quite familiar with him.” The mare had been staring at her when she didn’t think she was looking, and several times it seemed she had wanted to ask something but didn’t get around to it.
 
“Assistant?” asked Max in surprise. Then he lowered his gaze. “That would be Zephyr,” he mumbled.
 
“Your ex-marefriend?” asked Fragrant in surprise. That might explain some things. “Does she know about us?” She gestured back and forth with a hoof.
 
“Um, yes... I know you want us to be a secret, but I had to tell Piste, he’s my best friend, and it just sort of got out from there.”
 
“I see... well, I guess there won't be many reporters out here,” said Fragrant a little icily. “But you will need to be more careful when we return to Canterlot.”
 
“You know, I don’t know why we should be secretive. Why can’t we tell the world that we’re together?”
 
“It is not as simple as that, Max.” She reached out a hoof and laid it on his shoulder. “The press can be very invasive. We would not get a moment’s privacy.”
 
“I suppose you’re right,” said Max.
 
“I am. Besides, think of it as giving us more time together, just the two of us.” She frowned for a moment. “So this Zephyr, is she with Piste?”
 
“Yes, they became a couple not long after I left.”
 
“Oh, how do you feel about that? It seems rather insensitive of them.” A moment of panic passed through Fragrant. What if Max still felt something for his ex? He would certainly have more in common with Zephyr than herself.
 
“They can do what they want, but it’s awkward,” he grunted, staring into the fire.
 
“What other surprises will I find around here?” she asked, trying to lighten the mood. “Will I constantly be bumping into your cast-offs? A mare in every town?”
 
“No, well, a few, one or two,” he mumbled blushing a little.
 
“One or two?” she asked. She had meant this as a joke but she was actually quite curious now. How many lovers had Max had? She was certain he was more experienced than she was in these matters.
 
“Well, um, four I guess, here in Nulpar.”
 
“Four? As I understand it, that is not that many. Have I met any of your others?”
 
“Well, maybe... my first was Whitefeather, she’s a hippogriff, we were both young, it didn’t last that long I just wanted to get mum angry I guess, it was a bad time for me. We’ve stayed friends. Then there was Piste, we both decided to try the other half of the population as it were, didn’t work out, we found out we preferred mares.” Fragrant nodded; she’d experimented with her own gender as well but had found she preferred stallions, or a stallion anyway. “It was about then I dated Zephyr for the first time – well, the second, maybe, we’d met at school and dated once or twice but it wasn’t that serious. We were on and off for a while and while we were off Mum set me up with Celery Stalk, she thought I should try out an earth mare, she was a nice enough girl but there never really seemed to be a connection, you know? She eventually moved to Praris and I stayed here. Then I made up with Zephyr again and, well, we were together for five, no, six years.” He wrung his hooves for a moment. “She wanted me to give up being mayor, settle down, have foals. I did want to, but, well, Sadlzburg seemed to need me so I kept putting it off. In the end she gave me an ultimatum, her or Sadlzburg, and the city won out.” Fragrant dropped off her cloud for a moment and gave him a nuzzle.
 
“I know how important our work can be, how many ponies we help. I wouldn’t ask you to choose.”
 
“Thanks. I just hope we have enough time for the two of us.”
 
She smiled gently. “We can make the time we need.”
 
Max hugged her back. “So what about you? Is there a pile of heart-broken stallions around Cloudsdale? Will I have to fight a bunch of evil exes for your hoof?”
 
“Hardly! I have only had two lovers in my life.” She did not like the direction this conversation was taking; it led to a part of her life she didn’t like to talk about. Still, Max had been open with her. He deserved the same from her, even if it hurt. “You have met the first, Holly Bush.”
 
“Wallflower’s wife?” asked Max in surprise.
 
“We were roommates at university and, well, we were very close for a while, but eventually I decided I preferred stallions to mares and we split up. We stayed friends and I introduced her to Wallflower after I went to court.”
 
Max nodded. “And your stallionfriend?”
 
Fragrant took a deep breath to try and steady herself. “His name was Greenhorn. I also met him at university while I was working on my master’s degree. Like me, he had some talent with hydroponics. We... we were very close for quite some time.” She squeezed her eyes closed to stop the tears falling. “We were betrothed but then... then...” She turned away from Max and staggered back into her cloud. With a flap of her wings, she raised it into the sky. “I... I am sorry, I do not... I cannot talk about that time in my life... it hurts.”
 
Max looked up in surprise, reaching out to hold Fragrant as she floated out of reach. “Fragrant!” he cried.
 
“I... I’m sorry, that relationship did not end well. I would rather put it behind me.”
 
“No, I’m sorry, I didn’t want to bring back bad memories for you.” Max peered up at the cloud above him.
 
Fragrant wiped her eyes and concentrated on breathing for a moment. Then she looked down at the grey stallion below her. “It was a long time ago, and you did not know. I... I am tired. Maybe we should call it a night. I am sure we have a long journey ahead of us tomorrow?”
 
“Yes, if you’re sure you’re alright?”
 
“I will be fine,” she said, doing her best to burrow into her cloud.
 
“Good night, then,” said Max, still looking up.
 
“Good night Max.”