//------------------------------//
// 11) Nulpar Tour: Days 8-10, Sharpside 
// Story: Climbing the Mountain 2 
// by Talon and Thorn 
//------------------------------//

Dear Fragrant
 
        It’s been less than two days since I last saw you and I miss you already. It was so much fun to travel with you, to see Nulpar through your eyes. It sometimes takes somepony else to show you how wonderful the world we live in is. I loved spending time with you away from work. Maybe we could make this an annual trip thing, or you could show me around Cloudsdale next year, or would I just fall through the clouds? Even if I did, it would give me a reason to hold on to you all the time. As if I needed one!
 
Anyway, I thought it might help if I wrote to you. I’m not sure if I’ll actually post these, or maybe give them to you in person, or just keep them, but I think it’s a good idea to put my thoughts down.
 
After you left, I spent most of the next day talking with Glacial and her people. She’s put quite a bit of thought into how to construct a railway over here, how they could use the iron and coal they have to make it cheaper to build. I never really considered building in the east of Nulpar. Well, back when I was Mayor of Sadlzburg it wasn’t my territory. I can sort of see her point, it does make sense to export our resources, Rushia needs them, but most of the mines in her area are quite small, maybe run by only a single family. It’s easy to say they’d expand to meet demand but I don’t think it would be that easy. Same with the railway – just building the tracks is one thing, but you’ve got to get a company interested in running actual trains there. Still, it is something to think about.
 
Anyway, I set out mid-afternoon on my way to Sharpside. It’s the second biggest town in Nulpar; about half as big as Sadlzburg, probably a bit smaller than that even. Still, that means it’s much bigger than Herdstone, the next largest town. I had meant to make it to Sharpside by the end of the day, but I stopped off in a village called Welton and the ponies there were so friendly I just had to spend the night. The whole population, a few as that was, gathered outside, and they played music and we danced, it was great fun, it was a shame you couldn’t be there. I set off again the next morning, one of the locals suggested I see her cousin in another village called Westfield a few hours away so off I set and I got chatting there and they suggested I headed north east because there’s a field of really nice wild strawberries there and...
 
Eventually I figured out that I was avoiding going to Sharpside. The fact is, well, I don’t like the place much. There’s nothing all that bad about it, but it just always seems so dull to me. Sadlzburg has a sort of rustic charm to it, all those bright little houses. Sharpside always seems so designed to me, lots of blocks of dull stone buildings, all the same. As for the ponies, well it’s no secret that there’s a rivalry between Sharpside and Sadlzburg, we produce most of the food for the province, they take in raw materials from the surrounding settlements like Snowtown and make them into manufactured goods. I know that’s important, but if they didn’t have food they’d all starve, right? They just seem so proud of what they do, stuck up really.
 
You know, when I first became baron, the mayor of Sharpside, Iron Trotsky, wrote to me asking when I was going to set up my capital in his town! I had to explain to him that I would be staying in the province's largest city when I wasn’t in Canterlot, and Iron sent back a load of numbers and figures which supposedly showed that Sharpside was ‘bigger’ in some way, he just wouldn’t let the issue go.
 
Most of his people are like that as well, there’s a bit of a culture difference between Sadlzburg and Sharpside you see. Sadlzburg was founded by a bunch of settlers from Ambelon, including my great grandmother and we’ve kept their happy go lucky spirit. Sharpside was settled a bit later by ponies from Rushia, and they’ve kept their dour and fatalistic nature, I find it a bit off putting.
 
Still I’m baron of the whole province now, I have to try and put my prejudices aside and do what I can to help them as much as I help Sadlzburg and the rest of Nulpar. I’ve just finished an early lunch (including strawberries, they are very nice) and I can probably make the town in an hour or so, I can chat with Iron, stock up on supplies and probably be away before the end of the day, I can spend the night in a smaller village or even camp out.
 
I better set off now, to make sure I’m not too late. I’ll write to you again later.
 
Yours sincerely
 
Mounty Max.
 



 
Sharpside was, for some unknown reason, perched on the edge of an overhang that sat over deep ravine. Each year, the edge of the cliff would crumble a little more, and every few years it would take one of the town’s buildings with it. All sane ponies avoided that particular edge of town, which was sensibly fenced off, and new buildings were built on the other side of the settlement to replace those lost to gravity. In that way, the whole town slowly crawled away from the abyss. Why they were here in the first place was beyond Max; they just seemed too stubborn to move. Although the fact there wasn’t that much extra flat ground around might explain it.
 
Max approached the settlement through the rather sparse farmland surrounding the town itself; here and there ponies were working the fields. The year’s first harvest had probably already been brought in, its crop’s growth boosted by the magic of the town’s earth ponies, while the second harvest was well on its way to maturity, ready to be picked in a few months once autumn rolled around. Oddly, there seemed to be a few fields left fallow, covered in lines of large boulders rather than crops. Which was odd given the premium on fertile soil in the area. None of the farmers seemed to take much notice of Max as he passed; the few that looked up from their work didn’t make eye contact, quickly returning to their tasks. It seemed a rather poor welcome to Max.
 
The town itself seemed just as unwelcoming as its inhabitants. Unlike Sadlzburg, the majority of the buildings were made of stone, mostly carved out of the nearby mountains and carried into the city. The buildings were set out in regularly shaped blocks of homes, rather than the rather more individualistic style of Max’s town. Off in one corner of the town was a number of larger buildings topped with long chimneys from which thin clouds of smoke emerged; nearby were a few pegasi using clouds to absorb the pollution before taking it away for disposal. Max sighed at the sight. There were more than the last time he’d been here. Iron would certainly be bragging about the increase; he was very proud of his town’s industrialisation.
 
Max’s first stop was at the general store; he needed to buy food for the next leg of his journey. Midnight’s Folly, the next town on his itinerary, was several days travel away and there weren’t that many stops on the way, small villages mostly; they might not have much spare food, so this would be the last chance to stock up. Entering the building, Max noted that the shop was smaller than its equivalent in Sadlzburg. The donkey behind the counter looked up from her paper, but, apparently not finding the baron interesting, quickly returned to her reading.
 
Max glanced around the shelves. There were plenty of canned goods around, which would be good for his travels, but not much in the way of fresh food; the little that was present he recognised as being transported from the farms of Sadlzburg. He felt a little swell of pride that his home fed much of the province. Making his selection from the cans available, Max noticed that most of them were stamped with the symbol of Fisher Agriculture. He supposed it made sense since Rushia was only a few days trot away, but it was a bit disquieting to think of Archduke Fisher’s influence reaching into his own province.
 
Checking over a can as he picked it up from the shelf, Max tutted, noting that the prices were rather steep; from his experiences in Canterlot he’d found out that most food in Nulpar was comparatively cheap, although almost everything else was expensive. Here, even the food seemed quite dear. He’d have to keep an eye on his budget; he hadn’t brought all that much money with him on the trip. Still, he shouldn’t have too much trouble as long as he didn’t go overboard.
 
Glancing around the other goods, he noticed a small gas stove displayed proudly near the middle of the store. He trotted over and prodded it with a hoof. It looked like it would be useful on the road; much quicker than having to collect firewood each night, and probably hotter as well. He glanced at the price tag and flinched. Maybe not. Plus, how would he get new gas canisters for it?
 
“You goin’ to buy anything?” growled the shop's owner in an unfriendly tone.
 
“Oh, right, sorry,” said Max, lowering his ears. He returned to the wall of cans and picked out a few that caught his fancy, as well as some fresh food from the store’s small collection. After a bit of thought, he took a whetstone to keep his knife sharp. He’d probably need to use it to open the cans; they had keys attached, but he’d never had much luck with them in the past. He paused, then grabbed a box of oatcakes as well.
 
He took his choices to the owner and quickly paid for them before starting to pack them into his bags. “Anything happen in town recently?” he asked. He might as well get to know some of the locals while he was here.
 
The donkey seemed to consider for a moment. “You from off west right?” she asked. Max nodded. “Well, you might not have heard about the roads we been building out here, planning to go all the way to Neighvosibirak! Bet you don’t have anything like that out there!” Max frowned. He’d been arranging for roads to be built around Sadlzburg for several years now, but he hadn’t heard of anything being made over here. Neighvosibirak was maybe three days trot from here, much further than anything Max had planned; even Praris was only a day's travel away from Sadlzburg. “Course it’ll take a while,” continued the donkey, “but we’re hard workers. Things slowed down a bit last year, there was an outbreak of Red Lung, lost a few good ponies.” She shook her head. “Bad business.”
 
Max shivered a little. He hadn’t heard of that. “I’m sorry,” he said. Red Lung was a nasty disease, easy enough to treat if you caught it quickly enough and had the right medicine on hoof, but if you didn’t, well, it wasn’t a good way to die. There hadn’t been a serious outbreak in Sadlzburg for years, but he knew it could devastate smaller communities. He was surprised to hear it striking in Sharpside, though.
 
“It happens,” said the donkey fatalistically with a shrug. “Anything interesting happen over in your neck of the woods?” She leant forwards, apparently eager for any more gossip.
 
“Well, the mayor of Sadlzburg got made baron of this province.”
 
“I heard about that. Bad choice if you ask me. I hear he’s a bit woolly, not gotten much done... no offence, but you lot over there don’t know how to make hard decisions. Now if Iron had gotten the job, well, we’d certainly have seen some changes by now.”
 
“None taken,” muttered Max with poor grace. He thought he’d had to make some hard choices in his short career. “Well, I’ll pass that on if I ever meet him. I better be off, I’ve got a meeting with your mayor.”
 
The donkey nodded and turned back to her paper.
 



 
Sighing, Max made his way through the streets of Sharpside towards the town hall situated near the centre of the settlement. He passed a few ponies, donkeys and goats on his way, but they didn’t seem any friendlier than those in the fields or the shop. He finally arrived at the door to the sturdy building and rapped on the door with a hoof. He waited a moment, briefly considering that Iron might not be in and he should just head on to his next stop. But before he could even turn away, the door was opened by a white coated and maned young earth pony mare who peered at him. “Hello? How can I help you?” she asked with a light Rushian accent.
 
“Oh, um, I’m Baron Mounty Max,” said Max. The mare was a little familiar, but he couldn’t put his hoof on where he’d seen her before. “I walked to talk to the mayor, but if he’s busy I can...”
 
“DAD!” she yelled, turning away from the door. “IT’S THE BARON!” She turned back to Max. “He should be with you in a moment,” she said calmly, at a more normal volume.
 
There was a crash from somewhere inside the building. “No need to shout, Paste!” came a more strongly accented cry as Iron came into view. He was a large stallion, maybe a head taller than Max, with a dark yellow coat and a white mane. “Ah,” he growled. “Good to see you, Max.” He said a little icily. “I mean baron!” He gave a deep, and maybe slightly ironic bow.
 
“Uh, there’s really no need for all that, Iron. I’m the same stallion I’ve always been.”
 
Iron straightened up. “I was expecting you a few days ago. Glacial sent a messenger. I did think you might have forgotten about us.” He paused for a moment. “Ready to see Nulpar’s real capital?” he asked.
 
“I got delayed,” explained Max. “And no, Sadlzburg is going to stay Nulpar’s capital,” he continued in an exasperated tone. He didn’t want to have to go over this again.
 
Iron scowled. “Baron, you have to accept that Sharpside is a better location for you to make the seat of your government than Sadlzburg. We have so much more here!”
 
“You have far less people!” exclaimed Max.
 
Iron waved a hoof. “People are easy to come by. We have workshops, resources, connections. I will show you!” He gave a short hacking cough before clearing his throat. “You will see we are much better here!”
 
“People are what make up the province!” exclaimed Max. “Without them everything else is... is just things! Plus who feeds your people? You get most of your food from our farms!”
 
Iron snorted. “Food is not all.” He turned slightly to show his hammer and sickle cutie mark. “You need to diversify!”
 
There were interrupted by the white mare. “Would you like a drink, baron? Dad?” she asked.
 
Max turned to her. “Dad? Paste?” he asked in disbelief. “You’re all grown up!” The last time Max had seen the mare had been maybe a decade ago when Iron’s daughter had only been a foal. Now she was fully grown.
 
“Always, my little filly,” said Iron, reaching over to the young mare and ruffling her mane.
 
“It has been a few years since you were last here, baron,” said Paste, glowing a little as she tried to straighten her hair again.
 
“Best assistant I’ve ever had,” said Iron, hugging his daughter. “Hopefully she’ll take over from me, after my time. Would be nice if she ran more than a town in the middle of nowhere.” He glared at Max for a moment.
 
Max nodded in understanding. “Look, Iron, I don’t think I’m going to be changing my mind any time soon, but I want to make something of all of Nulpar, not just Sadlzburg, and not just Sharpside. I am here to do what I can, so after we’ve had a drink,” he nodded to Paste, who trotted out of the room, “you can show me what you’ve done with the place.”
 
“Da,” said Iron with a nod.
 



 
Max was a little surprised that Iron started the tour on the outskirts of the town, rather than taking him straight to the workshops he knew were the mayor’s pride and joy. Instead, the two stallions found themselves in one of the fallow fields that Max had spotted on his way into town. Seen up close, the field looked even stranger; neat rows of boulders filled it, each separated by maybe two body lengths. As they watched, teams of ponies were rolling each of the stones a few hooves to the side.
 
“What is this?” asked Max, puzzled.
 
“Is new,” said Iron. “Rock farming! I read about it in magazine, found some experts willing to check out the area. This place is very good for rocks, should produce a good crop in two, maybe three years.”
 
“A crop? Of rocks?” exclaimed Max. Had Iron lost his mind?
 
“Crystals in rocks, good for storing magic, make lights, wands, all sorts of things. Have to keep moving them around to keep them in tune with background magic. Take a long time to charge them, but very valuable when finished. Rock farms more common down south, we the first to try them up here,” said Iron. His chest swelled with pride before he gave another cough.
 
“Are you sure you’re not being conned?” asked Max, trying not to grin. This would certainly be a story to tell back in Sadlzburg, that Sharpside had started to try and grow rocks.
 
“No!” exclaimed Iron, scowling at Max. “You can feel the magic, here, try.” The larger stallion drove his front hooves into the ground and closed his eyes, tilting his head slightly as if listening to something. “Magic!” he announced.
 
Frowning, Max wiggled his hooves into the dirt a little more cautiously. He was surprised to feel a very faint pulse flowing through the ground like a slow heartbeat. Surely there couldn’t be something to this, could there? He had to just be imagining it, right?
 
“You’ll see,” said Iron. “A few years and we’ll be making our own magic items here. Can Sadlzburg do that? Another reason why we should be capital of Nulpar!” he insisted.
 



 
“This is start of our new road,” said Iron, proudly gesturing at the paved area stretching out ahead of them as far as Max could see. “One day this will lead all the way to Neighvosibirak. It will take half the time to get there, maybe even less. Then we can get proper trade going. It will be much easier to deliver our goods, no more dragging carts through the mountains.”
 
“Yes, I know, we’ve got the same sort of thing back home. We’ve connected up a few of the local villages and towns,” said Max proudly. “We haven't made it to Praris yet, but give it a few years. When did you start all this anyway? We’ve been going for what, five years now? We’ve got some real experts after all this time,” said Max, giving a grin. It felt good to be able to one up his rival.
 
“Just last summer,” admitted Iron with a scowl. “You give me idea, but we laid down more road than you did in the first year.” He stamped a hoof on the road, causing one of the stones to shift slightly. “We would have done more but...” He sighed. “There was disease.”
 
“I heard about the Red Lung, how many did you lose?” asked Max gently.
 
“About a dozen,” admitted Iron quietly. “Good mares and stallions.”
 
“There’s medicine for Red Lung, why did you lose so many?” asked Max.
 
“Prescription died the year before last, and we haven't managed to get another doctor since. Who’d want to work here? We sent somepony to Neighvosibirak as soon as we realised what it was, but that was a week's journey there and back. By then it was too late for some.  Soothing Herb does what she can but she’s hardly trained.”
 
“Why didn’t you tell us, we could have done something!”
 
“It’s a week to Sadlzburg and the same back. What could you do, help us dig graves? It is not your fault, is way things are.”
 
Max slumped. Fatalistic as he was, Iron was right, but there had to be something he could have done. Sadlzburg was lucky to have Doctor House Martin – Max had worked hard to get the old doctor more funding – but should he have actually tried to get doctors for other settlements? He couldn’t do everything, but how could he decide what was best?
“Is in past now, road is the future. We reach Neighvosibirak in a few years. Praris is nowhere town, end of the rail line, Neighvosibirak is important stop!”
 
Max scratched his head. Iron did have a point. Praris, although larger than anywhere in Nulpar, was actually quite a small town by the standards of Equestria. Neighvosibirak was a major metropolis despite being on the edge of Rushia. “Well, Praris won’t be the end of the line for much longer. I’m going to get it extended all the way to Sadlzburg!”
 
Iron looked at him for a moment. “How that going?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
 
“Not as well as I hoped,” admitted Max, “but I’m making some connections.”
 
The larger stallion nodded. “I tried the same. It’s not as easy as you’d think, is it? But not impossible.”
 
Max nodded as well. “Yeah, I know, getting a company to build track and agreeing to run a service. Sounds easy, but just getting someone to listen...”
 
To Max’s surprise, Iron threw a sympathetic leg around him, almost knocking him over. “You baron, you manage it sooner or later, probably later. I’ve got some things sorted out, but I’ll go over them with you later. First I want to show you something...”
 



 
The room was stifling from the heat from the forges at the back. Around him, tables of ponies worked like cogs in a great machine. Iron and other metals dug from the nearby mountains or brought in from Snowtown was smelted and then shaped in any number of devices before being stacked up in carts ready to be taken to wherever they went to. To Max, the whole process seemed soulless; the lines of ponies worked almost without talking or even acknowledging each other presence. It wasn’t like the farming around Sadlzburg where the workponies had to care for the plants they grew – here, the workers seemed indifferent to their tasks.
 
“Impressive, is it not!” cried Iron, struggling to make himself heard over the sound of the hammers.
 
“I suppose so!” agreed Max without much enthusiasm.
 
“We make most of the tools used in Nulpar here, we even export some to Rushia!” He coughed in the smoky atmosphere.
 
“Most of the workers don’t look very happy,” said Max, pointing to them.
 
“They are just concentrating.” Iron scowled. “Unlike you westerners, we don’t feel the need to wear our hearts on our sleeves all the time.”
 
Max frowned. He didn’t think his people were like that; sure, if they were enjoying themselves they smiled, but Iron made it sound like they were over the top about it.
 
“We can ask them!” cried Iron, steering Max towards a side room.
 
Once the door was shut, most of the noise from the factory floor was silenced. Within the break room stood or sat about a half dozen tired-looking ponies. Along one wall was a long troughs of water which several of the workers were guzzling down. “How are things going?” asked Iron. The workers responded with a number of grunts. “The baron would like to ask you about work.”
 
“Hi,” said Max, waving a hoof. “I’d just like to know how things are. The work here looks hard.”
 
“Sure is,” said a large mare, the light green of her coat just about showing through a layer of soot, “but it was harder on the farm I used to work at. The pay's good, its regular hours, and it’s interesting.”
 
“Yeah,” said a younger stallion. “We make a whole lot of stuff here.”
 
“You gonna help this place grow, baron?” said another mare wearing a forepony’s cap. “Iron’s been talking about setting up a railway for years. It’ll make it so much cheaper for us to get stuff down to Neighvosibirak, and faster.”
 
“I’ll certainly do what I can,” said Max. “I’ve got a lot of plans for Nulpar.” Mostly for Sadlzburg, he thought guiltily. It hadn’t occurred to him that there might be other places that would need his help. Still, the route from Sharpside to Neighvosibirak was longer than from Sadlzburg to Praris. It would probably make more sense to concentrate on the latter first.
 
“See,” said Iron, “the workers are all happy, this is a good place. Now you see why you should set up capital here. We have rock farms, roads, factories, soon railways. What does Sadlzburg have? Farms?”
 
“Sadlzburg has ponies, more than here. We’re hardly hicks, you know,” said Max, scowling. “Yes, you’ve done a lot with Sharpside, you should be proud, but it’s my decision where my capital is, and it’s going to be Sadlzburg, where the ponies I know are, where the people seem happier with their lives!”
 
Iron scowled deeply, staring at Max. “If you want to see ponies enjoying themselves, come with me...” he said.
 



 
To Max, the final building he was shown around seemed incongruous to the rest of the town. From the outside, it didn’t look much different from the rest of the settlement – a squat stone building, maybe bigger than most, but not really outstanding – but from the inside its purpose became clear. It was a dance hall, the floor covered in sturdy wooden boards. At one end was a raised area for a band to perform from and around the walls were a number of trestle tables for a range of refreshments. At the moment the room was largely bare, but a small number of ponies were moving around, putting up decorations and generally cleaning the place. They were quietly chatting to each other; if Max didn’t know he was on the opposite side of the province, he would swear he had been transported back to Sadlzburg.
 
“We hold dances here at least once a week,” explained Iron proudly. “We work hard but we play hard, baron. It is good to keep up morale, and let ponies let off some steam.”
 
“It’s very impressive,” said Max, looking around.
 
“If you can stay until the day after tomorrow, you can see we aren't so emotionless as you might think.”
 
“I don’t think that,” said Max, sounding a little embarrassed. That was just what he had thought. “But I’m afraid I’ll probably have to leave tomorrow. I’ve still got a lot of places to visit.”
 
“That is too bad. I bet Sadlzburg does not have a place like this.”
 
“Well, we hold most of our dances outside,” explained Max, feeling he should stand up for his town's honour. “And during the winter we can normally clear out a barn.”
 
“A bit primitive, but I’m sure you do the best you can,” said Iron, waving a hoof dismissively.
 
“We’re very good dancers!” exclaimed Max. “We won a contest against Praris last year!” he continued with some pride; they’d already split up by then, but Zephyr had been part of the team. “We just don’t need a place like this to practise.”
 
“Maybe we should have competition,” suggested Iron with a grin. “Sharpside against Sadlzburg, see who is best. We try not to beat you too badly.”
 
“Maybe we should!” said Max, turning to face Iron.
 
“Good! How about at harvest festival? There should be enough outsiders there to judge.”
 
“You’re on!” said Max.
 
“Good, I’ll bring our best team, we’ve been practicing.”
 
Max opened his mouth, then paused. “Have you been planning this?” he asked.
 
“Maybe,” said Iron with a smile. “Now, it is getting late. I insist you eat at my place, you will like it.” It sounded almost like a threat coming from the big pony’s mouth. “I am a good host.”
 
Max opened his mouth to say that he had to leave, but it was already later than he’d planned; the tour had taken most of the afternoon. He would almost certainly have to spend the night here now.
 
“I have spare room for you at town hall,” said Iron as if he could read Max’s mind. “And wagon train leave tomorrow heading up river, you can join them, better than having to be alone.”
 
Max sighed and gave a nod. It made sense.
 



 
The sun was setting by the time the two stallions got back to the town hall, and Iron rushed off to prepare a meal for his guest, leaving Max to talk to his daughter. The young mare seemed a little intimidated by him. He’d only seen her a few times before; he assumed her mother had passed when she was young as he’d never met her.  
 
“Your father gave me a tour a tour of the town. He’s certainly done a lot with the place over the past few years,” said Max, trying to break the ice.
 
“Yes, he’s had so many ideas, the rock farming, roads, more workshops, he’s always so busy,” said Paste looking down at the ground. “I... I wish he’d slow down sometimes.”
 
“It’s a big responsibility running a town,” said Max. “Doesn’t he have some locals to help him?”
 
“Some,” she admitted. “But he does a lot by himself. I help with what I can. He wants me to take over from him one day, and I think I’d like that, but I wish he’d try to do just one thing at a time, rather than all at once. His idea for the railroad is great but... it’s just another thing on his plate.”
 
Max nodded. “I’ll do what I can to help out, but I’ve got the whole province to look after.”
 
“I know that, but this place is dad’s life. I don’t think he sees it that way.”
 
It’s easy to just see your own part of the big picture, thought Max. He had the same problem, and Iron’s tour had opened his eyes to what was happening over here. It was hard. He knew Sadlzburg; he knew what it needed, he knew the ponies, he wanted to help them. But then there was here as well. Sharpside needed help as well, as did the Eyrie, Snowtown, Innesbuck, and other places as well. How could he choose between them?
 
“I’m worried about his health,” continued Paste, breaking Max from his thoughts. “He works too hard. Last year he...”
 
“Dinner is served!” announced Iron grandly, entering with several plates of food resting on his back.
 
The first course was some sort of cold pickled cabbage soup, which Max found very tangy. The main course was a mixture of diced boiled vegetables, which Max had tried the last time he was in town; he found it a little bland compared to the first course, but kept quiet rather than insult his host. The final course was a sort of ring of dough with soft cheese in the centre, which Max found delicious, and very filling. They made some small talk over the meal, mostly about Canterlot and the rest of Equestria. In his own home, Iron seemed rather less combative than he had been earlier.
 
“Thanks Iron,” said Max politely. “That was great.”
 
“See, Sharpside isn’t all work, we have food and drink as well.” He held up a half bottle of a clear liquid. “We drink, and I talk about train tracks, you see my plan is best!”
 
“I think I’ll leave the two of you alone,” said Paste, heading to the door. “I agreed to meet some friends.”
 
“Don’t stay out too late!” he cried as she shut the door behind her. He turned back to Max. “She has a coltfriend,” he confided surprisingly genially. “Burning Heat, he is a good colt, we have talked and he treats her right. I have forbidden her from seeing him!”
 
“What?!” exclaimed Max.
 
“Ah, baron.” Iron threw a hoof over his guest’s back while pouring a glass of vodka. “You obviously do not have any children. I tell her I like him, he becomes like nothing to her, she looks for a ‘bad colt’ tries to shock me. I disapprove of colt and that puts spark in the relationship.” Max wasn’t entirely sure on that reasoning, but he guessed it worked for the mayor and his daughter. “You should think of this thing. Now you are baron you need an heir.” He grinned. “You and Zephyr working on that?”
 
“Um, me and Zephyr aren't together anymore, we haven't been for a while,” explained Max.
 
“Apologies,” said Iron, lifting his glass.
 
“An heir isn’t really something I’ve thought about recently.” He supposed it was important, but it seemed a bit early to discuss anything like that with Fragrant. From what she’d told him, she hadn’t had a lover in almost twenty years. Maybe she didn’t want to have foals, and he... he wasn’t sure how he felt about that. He liked the idea of children, in theory, but he didn’t know if he had the time. It was one of the reasons Zephyr had left him. Still, with Fragrant... it was something to think about at another time. He took a mouthful of his drink and tried to avoid grimacing as the presumably homemade drink burnt his throat. “Now you wanted to show me something about trains?”
 



 
Iron’s plans for linking Sharpside up to the rest of Equestria via rail turned out to be very detailed; more than Max had planned for Sadlzburg, really. He had to admit that connecting to the line at Neighvosibirak did make a lot of sense; it was already quite a hub of travel, and from there it was easy to get to most of the rest of Equestria whereas Praris was at the end of the line. Still, the distance between Sharpside and the larger city was greater and required passing over, under or around several small mountains, whereas the Sadlzburg link would be over fairly clear ground. He could see advantages and disadvantages to both routes.
 
“It’s not just being able to build a line,” argued Max. “It’s getting a company to want to run the rolling stock. I’m planning something at court to make it cheaper but it could be a while before it comes through. But even when it does, you still need a company willing to invest in the line.”
 
“Da, and I have that,” said Iron, slamming down a hoofful of papers onto the table. Max picked them up and started to flip through them.
 
“Iron Horse trains?” asked Max. He’d tried to get an interview with the company a few years ago, but hadn’t been successful at the time.
 
“Da, I had to work until my hooves bled to talk to them, but when I did they like the idea. They want to build, but...”
 
“But?” said Max. He guessed it would be a big but.
 
“But, they want us to put up a third of the cost.”
 
“How much is that?” asked Max, not really wanting to hear the answer. Iron poked a hoof at a number on the papers. “That’s... that’s a lot,” said Max.
 
“We could make it back in few years, decade at most. We have iron, coal, other things the rest of Equestria needs, if we can get it to them. Once line started, is easy to expand to Snowtown and beyond. Lots of ore in the mountains.”
 
“A line from Sadlzburg would cost half as much, maybe less, and I’ll have enough difficulty getting the money together to try that.”
 
“But what would a line to your city actually do?” asked Iron, getting exasperated. “What would it carry?”
 
“Ponies! It would let my people get out into Equestria! And food, the fields of Sadlzburg produce a lot!”
 
“How many of your people actually leave Nulpar? A few a week! And food, who eats your food? We do!” Iron slammed his hoof on the table. “Sadlzburg’s food feeds Nulpar! If it goes out of the province we’ll just have to bring more in! But iron, coal, stone, tools, we don’t need this! This we can send away! Make profit!” Iron was panting hard. “Make something for my daughter to be proud of!” He began to cough, a great hacking sound. Max looked on worriedly.
 
“Iron, are you...” he began. The larger stallion held up a hoof as he slowly got his breathing back under control. “You’re not well!”
 
“Not well,” said Iron with a grin. “Baron, I am dying.”
 
“Dying?” asked Max, astonished.
 
“Maybe not today, or tomorrow, but eventually. Red Lung,” he explained, sinking into a nearby chair. “I thought I was lucky at time, but got checked out in Neighvosibirak when I was talking to Iron Horse. Disease tore me up inside, Max. I’ve got five, maybe ten years if lucky.”
 
“I’m sorry, I... I didn’t know,” said Max, sitting opposite the mayor. This... he didn’t know what to do about this. It wasn’t what he was expecting. Iron seemed so strong, so larger than life.
 
“Nopony knows. I don’t want to burden Paste, but I want to leave her as much as I can, more than just a small town in the middle of nowhere! You need to help me, baron!” He gasped again, fighting back another coughing fit. “You’ve seen the numbers, is good deal to build track from here, make more money than line to Sadlzburg.”
 
“But I’ve made promises to my people in Sadlzburg. I’ve told them for so long I’ll build them a railway.”
 
“We are all your people, baron. As for promises, well, you can build one later, or never.” He shrugged. “You have to make hard decisions.”
 
“I don’t know...” agonised Max. “I don’t want to break my word. I don’t want to upset anypony.”
 
“Bah,” scoffed Iron. “Are you baron or baby? If I was baron I would already have trains running through here!”
 
“Hey! It’s not that easy,” complained Max, standing up.
 
“Is as easy as you make it. You worry about what others say rather than what’s best for Nulpar. It is clear Sharpside would do better with the railway than Sadlzburg. But no, you worried that you might hurt your people’s feelings! That you might make them cry!” snorted the larger stallion. “Is pathetic. If you don’t have the guts to make the decision, then stand down and I will!” He took a step towards Max.
 
“No!” cried Max, stamping a hoof in anger. “I am the baron, it is my responsibility. I will do what is the best for my province, and I will decide, nopony else! If I have to hurt my friends I will, but I won’t let you intimidate me into making a bad decision!”
 
Iron glared at Max for a moment and then a smile broke over his face. “Good. For first time you sound like baron, like somepony I could actually follow.” He leaned forwards. “I have connections, I know some ponies in Canterlot. They showed me list of ponies that could have been baron. I was on that list, but then you had to be big hero and get job. I wonder if I would be better.” He sat back again. “Maybe now I wonder little less.”
 
“Look, Iron,” said Max, trying to reign in his temper. “You’ve put forward some very good points for building the railway here, but Sadlzburg has some advantages as well. I don’t even know if I’m going to be able to raise the funds for either yet. I’ll take on board what you’ve said, but as I said it will be my decision. But you’ll probably right, I need to think about the whole province, not just my people. That’s what my whole tour’s about.”
 
“Good,” said Iron, nodding. “You think about it, then you see my plan is the best, but...” He sighed. “If you do take another decision I... I will follow you. Just make sure my daughter, my people, are looked after once I am gone.”
 
“I will,” said Max grimly. “But you’ve got years left you can look after them, years with Paste.”
 
“Yes, you are right,” said Iron, taking another sip of his drink. “No more arguing now. Let us talk of better things.” He held up his glass. “To Nulpar,” he toasted.
 
“To Nulpar,” agreed Max.