• Published 9th Mar 2015
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Climbing the Mountain 2 - Talon and Thorn



Baron Mounty Max may have thought his troubles were over with the recent changes to the Night Court but instead they may have just started as he has to deal with host of new problems during his second session at court

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27) Month 1 - Reconciliation

“I’m sorry Baron,” said Loyal Service, “But the duchess will be in meetings until late, if you wish to make an appointment to see her I can pass on your request, but she will not be free until next week at the earliest.”

“I only need a few minutes,” begged Max.

“I am sorry,” the servant’s tone softened a little, “I will pass on your request, but the duchess is very busy at the moment.”

“Thanks,” muttered Max as he turned on his heels and shuffled away from Fragrant’s mansion. It had been three days since his ill-fated attempt to propose a bill to the night court and in all that time he hadn’t managed to share one word with his fillyfriend. At least he hoped she was still that close to him, she had been furious when they last talked, and so had he. Now that he had calmed down, he understood how foolish he had been, but still Fragrant’s words and her betrayal hurt. He would have thought that, if anypony would have supported him, it would have been her. He’d deliberately avoided her for the first day, almost hoping she’d come crawling back to him begging his forgiveness, but those feelings had quickly melted away by the second evening.

Breakfast had seemed lonely and tasteless without her company. He’d caught a glance of her at court as she made her way to her private box. He’d thought she’d spotted him as well but she looked away and ignored him. By the end of that day he’d been ready to swallow his pride and tried to visit her at her office, only to be informed by her new assistant that she was in meetings for the rest of the day, and the next. He’d tried to explain things as best he could but Saltpeter was adamant his mistress had no time to see him. Now he couldn’t even see her at her own residence. Could she really have just broken things off with him? Had he been that much of a fool, that he’d lost something so precious to him?

With leaden hooves he dragged himself up the stairs to his new office. As he entered Mrs G glanced up over her paper covered desk. “I take it things didn’t go well?”

“I didn’t even get a chance to see her, her butler said she was busy.”

“And you accepted that?” she said raising an eyebrow.

“Well... it was probably true,” mumbled Max.

Mrs G harrumphed. “If you really cared for that filly you’d get out there and do something, not just mope around here all day.”

“It’s not that simple, Mrs G,” exclaimed Max, “Besides it’s not all my fault, she could have given me some support. it wouldn’t have made any real difference, but it would have shown she cared. Maybe she doesn’t.”

“Do you really think that?” said the goat raising her eyebrow.

“I don’t know, I really don’t,” he lowered his head.

“Well you won’t know until you actually do something will you?”

Lost for words Max stumbled past his assistant and started to make his way slowly up the stairs towards his office. At least he had things to distract him from Fragrant: his workload was much larger than last year. After the mess he’d made of the opening of the court he’d been worried that the other nobles might snub him, but the princess’s kind words seemed to have protected him from any recriminations. He’d even gotten an invitation to join two more committees, one relating to road building in the far west of Equestria and one about business tax. If he wasn’t feeling so miserable he’d probably be over the moon about the possible opportunities that had opened up for him.

On top of that he had quite a few meetings organised to talk about future projects and how Nulpar could work with other provinces. It also seemed like almost every department in the government wanted some information about his province now, Mrs G was being rushed off her hooves trying to keep up. On top of that, Fisher Mining had tried to organise a meeting about possible opportunities in the south east of his lands, and he had a bunch of messages from Conn and the rest of the council back at home which he hadn’t had a chance to look into yet.

Finally reaching his office on the third floor Max slumped into the chair. So much work to do and all he wanted to do was to say sorry to Fragrant. For a moment a slight flame of resentment burned again. why should he have to apologize? he’d been trying to help his people, why couldn’t she at least have given him some support? Then it flickered again, she’d tried to warn him, but he hadn’t listened. He reached out and took a report from his desk and with a complete lack of interest tried to force himself to read it. There was a click as the door to the room opened, Max looked up glad of the interruption. Mrs G entered without a word and sat on the chair opposite.

“What’s up?” he asked.

Still not saying anything, the old goat took out her knitting and started to work, the clicking of the needles the only sound. Max frowned but the goat didn’t seem interested in saying anything, she just sat there, staring at him.

“What?” he asked again, “She’s busy, there’s nothing I can do!” He turned back to his report, not really looking at the words.

Click, Click.

“I don’t even know where she is now.”

Click, Click.

“Well, I suppose she’ll be back at her estate later this evening, but that could be really late.”

Click, Click.

“Her staff isn’t going to let me into her home. It’s not like I can just climb into her room or anything!”

Click, Click.

Max paused in thought for a moment. “Well I suppose there is that balcony outside her sitting room. There are those vines just outside, it might not be that hard.”

Click, Click.

Max sat in thought for a moment more before leaping to his hooves, throwing the report aside. “If anyone calls tell them I’ll be busy for the rest of the night,” he said as he rushed out the door.

Click, Click.

Max stuck his head back around the door. “Thanks,” he said sincerely.

Click, Click.


Climbing onto Fragrant’s balcony proved to be as easy as Max had thought it might be. He’d crawled part of the way round to the side of the building in case somepony saw him, but once he reached the appropriate wall it was easy enough to scale. It was helped by the fact that the building was designed with pegasi in mind, which meant that there were numerous balconies and ledges that the owners could use to come and go. although harder for a ground bound pony to reach, they were not inaccessible to a skilled climber such as himself. It only took a few minutes for him to clamber up to the window outside of the sitting room that they had used to watch the sun rise only a few nights ago.

It was only at this point that Max realised a flaw in his plan, how was he going to get into the building? It wasn’t like Fragrant was going to leave her window unlocked where anyone could get in. Sighing, Max tried the latch and was very surprised to find that it easily opened. He really needed to talk to Fragrant about her security, once he’d talked to her about everything else. He glanced around the room, there was no sign of its owner and he had no idea how long it would be until she got here. From experience he knew she usually came here upon returning home to relax, and maybe complete some less important work, but it wasn’t guaranteed; she might go straight to bed if she was tired. He considered sneaking to her room, but despite the fact he’d just broken into her house that seemed too much of an invasion of her privacy. It was only now that it hit him how much trouble he might be in if he was found here. for a moment he considered turning and leaving again, but no, now that he’d come this far he wasn’t going to give up.

It was about half an hour before Max heard the sound of hooves approaching the room. For a moment he started to head towards the door, but then he realised that it might not be Fragrant but one of her servants. He quickly ducked behind one of the billowing curtains covering most of the windows and tried his best to hide. There was a click as the door opened and what sounded like more than one pony entered.

“Tell Feast that his services will not be required tonight,” came Fragrant’s voice, sounding tired. “I ate at the castle.”

“Yes Ma’am,” came another female voice.

“Have there been any messages while I have been out?” asked Fragrant.

There was a rustle of paper. “Here Ma’am, Baron Max has asked about you several times.”

Fragrant sighed. “I know, I’m really not in the mood to see him at the moment,” she mumbled, making Max’s heart drop.

“I did seem urgent, maybe you should talk to him Ma’am.”

“That’s not your problem Loyal,” said Fragrant sharply, “I have some papers to read and then I think I will turn in for the night. Make sure my chambers are prepared.”

“Yes Ma’am.” There was a clunk as the door shut again, followed by another sign from Fragrant before a light thud which Max took to be his marefriend sitting down. Now that he’d heard the short conversation, Max had begun to doubt his mission. It didn’t seem like Fragrant wanted to talk right now, maybe he should try to leave before she noticed him?

There was a gasp from the opposite side of the curtain. “You!” came a cry from Fragrant, “behind the curtain, who are you? Are you here to get an interview? Pictures?” she growled, “Come out now, don’t get any ideas, with one cry I can have guards here in seconds.”

Busted, thought Max as he pushed through the curtain to see Fragrant standing at the opposite side of the room, one hoof wrapped around the bell pull used to summon servants. “Max!” she cried in astonishment.

“Um, hi,” he replied gingerly waving a hoof.

“What are you..? how did you..?” asked Fragrant in astonishment.

“Um, well, I really wanted to talk to you. to, you know, apologize, and I couldn’t get to you so I, well, took matters into my own hooves. I’m sorry,” he said lowering his ears and head. “I thought you might, well, still be angry with me, want to break things off even.”

“I am still angry with you! And breaking into my home is not going to help that!” she glared at him for a moment before sitting heavily on a settee. Her face softened a little and she patted the seat next to her. “But I should have talked to you.”

Max slowly made his way across the room before carefully sitting on the offered seat. “I’m sorry,” he said again, his ears flattening against his head.

“I know you are,” said Fragrant with a weary sigh, “but what you did was incredibly stupid. proposing that bill was borderline illegal, if the princess hadn’t chosen to support you...” her voice trailed off. “We have to put that sort of thing behind us, have to follow the rules.”

“I know, but my people really need the help, they have so little compared to the rest of Equestria,” complained Max desperately.

“I know Max, I know, and if there was something I could do, I would, but you have to be patient.” She rested a gentle hoof on his chest. “You have a big heart,” she moved the hoof to his head and tapped him sharply, “But you have a hard head. I told you not to do anything stupid and you just ignored me!” She waved a hoof at him. “That hurt,” she mumbled, looking away.

“But you didn’t support me either, it wouldn’t have made a difference but you voted against me!” a little anger welling up in Max’s tone. “I know I shouldn’t have tried to rush through my bill but couldn’t I at least have your support!”

“Max...” for a moment Fragrant leaned against her stallion. “I do support you, I do think your bill, put through correctly, would be of benefit to your people, too much of Equestria, but,” she took a deep breath, “even if you did submit it properly I’d probably vote against it.”

“What!” exclaimed Max in astonishment, “But how can you say that?!”

“It benefits Equestria, but it won’t benefit Cloudsdale, we don’t need roads and at present we don’t need extra imports either.”

“But... but it won’t harm you either, why vote against!”

“The cost would come from the budget, you getting roads means that there’s less somewhere else that might affect Cloudsdale, unless you can offer me something in return I can’t support you.”

“But we’re... not even for me?” he asked quietly.

Fragrant leaned forwards resting her head against Max’s. “Especially for you, I can’t let how, how I feel about you come before my people, my duty. It’s wrong. I can’t put us before my province.”

“But... but...” stuttered Max, a feeling of resentment growing in him. “But no one even knows there is an us!”

“And I know how much that hurts you, I’m sorry, but I know the press, I know what they’re like. They attack you when you’re at your lowest,” her voice became shrill, “They make up lies, horrible horrible lies,” she sniffed, “No just about me, but about my-my family as well.”

Max realised how close Fragrant was to coming to tears and put an arm around her, pulling her close. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you. It’s frustrating but I know you’re right. I shouldn’t have tried to rush through my bill, and of course you have to put your people first.”

“I should have talked to you about what I had to do, and made it clear why you shouldn’t try to use the early members loophole.” Max felt her relax a little in his arms. They lay there for a few moments just enjoying the feel of their bodies touching.

Max broke the silence. “I wish you hadn’t avoided me, I think we would have both felt better if we’d sorted things out a few days ago.” He winced a little, that sounded a little accusatory, but what was said was said. Fragrant pulled away leaving him feeling chilly.

“I wasn’t avoiding you, I have been busy for the last few days.”

“But you always had time for our breakfasts and evenings before.”

“Back then I still had much of my diary set out for my trial, this is how busy I normally am.”

Max’s heart dropped. “But surely you’ve got some free time?”

“Occasionally, but not as much as I did, my new assistant is taking a while to get used to his role. Plus, I have had some extra draws on my time.”

“What?”

Fragrant looked aside, apparently embarrassed. “I’ve been talking to some of the other courtiers about you, making sure that none of them think they can score points with the princess by acting against you.”

“Oh,” exclaimed Max, stunned. “You didn’t...” Even when she was angry with him she still tried to protect him, even from himself.

“I may not have needed to, most understood your error, but I wanted to make sure you were alright.” She stared over at him for a moment, then blinked. “Even once the immediate crisis blows over we may not be able to spend as much time together as we did.”

“Oh,” muttered Max again, he thought about his increased workload, he’d probably have difficulty seeing Fragrant every day as well. Things looked bleak to him, he didn’t want to have to go through days without seeing his marefriend.

“I’ll try to give you what time I have, we can probably still share breakfast some mornings and maybe the occasional evening if I finish my work early. It might even be for the best, I think we might be taking things too quickly. It’s been, well it’s been a long time since I was last in a relationship. The last time we were together things got rather heated, we’d been away for a while and I’m sure we missed each other, but if we hadn’t been interrupted, well I don’t know what we would have ended up doing.” She blushed.

“Oh, I thought you were enjoying yourself...”

“I was, believe me, I very much was, but we’ve known each other for less than half a year. We’ve only been a couple for a few months, and we were apart for most of that. When we end up together things tend to get, heated. You’re a dangerously attractive stallion, Baron Bow Wow,” she said using his pet name.

“And you’re a stunning mare, Duchess Kitty Cat,” he replied nuzzling against her, “You bring the animal out in me.”

“See,” said Fragrant pulling away a little but still remaining in contact with Max, “This is what I’m talking about, maybe we should get to know each other a little more, in a more formal setting, before things progress further?”

Max considered for a moment. “How about we agree to set aside some time together each week, like a date night?”

Fragrant bit her tongue, she liked the idea, something to actually make it feel like they were courting, but the logistics would not be easy. “I may not be able to manage once a week, maybe once a month?” she suggested.

“Once a fortnight,” countered Max, “Surely we’re worth that? And all work and no play makes Fragrant a dull mare,” he leaned forwards and gently kissed her on the lips.

Fragrant returned the kiss. “Very well,” she agreed once they separated. She might have to try and push Saltpeter to learn his new role more quickly, but it would be possible.

“Good, we alternate who chooses where we go,” he paused for a moment, “I think I know where I’ll take us first.”

“Very well Max,” she seemed to consider things for a moment, “I am sponsoring an opera in a few months, I would need an escort, that would be a good opportunity.” She leant back against him. “But do try to keep things secret, or at least low key.”

“Of course,” replied Max, wrapping his forelegs around her in a hug. “I suppose I should leave you to your work?”

Fragrant glanced at the papers on the table. “In a while,” she admitted. Max started to release his grip. “But not right now,” she added, snuggling closer to him, “I think we have time for us now.”

Author's Note:

Thanks to Grass and Clouds 2 and Rainbow Double Dash for their suggestions and to Do Contra for editing.

This is the end of the prewritten chapters for a month or two when I move on to month 2 of the second year at court.

I did wonder if Max and Fragrant getting back together was a bit fast but I didn't want to stretch out a will they / wont they issue any further and considered that once the original anger had cooled they'd get back together.

I have a few dates in mind for the two of them, but does anyone have any suggestions?

Comments are always welcome.

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