Curiously, Kruscow had very nice restaurants.
Fukkuteru decided that the ponies needed some time to relax after what had been happening these days, and it would be a nice opportunity for him to have some of his country's food again, so he invited the group to a nice place called Chestnaya Kukhnya, a gourmet restaurant with a variety of Krussian cuisine. It was located in the fancy part of Krussia, and it was quite expensive too, but apparently Fukkuteru's family could afford to pay it if he was taking them there. It was very big, and very popular, so much usually one had to make reservation of two months of anticipation, but in the month before the Devastating Winter only a few families or individuals went to eat there. They were too busy buying their supplies and the food to spend three months stuck in their homes.
A friendly waitress led the group to one of the larger tables. It had a nice atmosphere, the walls were a peachy color, and all the tables were carefully laid, adorned with white mantels, glasses, plates and flower decorations. There were already a few others eating there, enjoying their meals. Due to the fact the menus were in Krussian, Fukkuteru took a while to explain to his friends what each of the meatless dishes consisted of, though curiously Discord and Stormfly were more open to the idea of meats, probably because they weren't ponies.
In the end, the group asked for various dishes to taste. Caviar, medovik, pirozhki, blini and knish for the first course, and as a main course a mimosa salad. Fukkuteru asked for lots of dishes, most of them with meat, like filet mignon with mashed potato, shashlik and many other meat-derived dishes.
"This is simply tasty!" Rarity liked the small acidic touch the lettuce leaves had, probably because of the brining. "Such a subtle acid taste."
Fluttershy winced everytime Fukkuteru sliced a piece of his meat cut and placed it on his mouth. Discord and Stormfly took noticed of this, and so decided to comfort themselves with the salads too to avoid upsetting her any further. Besides, they were a bit nervous with the two guards(who were casually Spike's new friends, Glacial Fire and Rock Dust) posted outside the restaurant, they had been following them for a while ever since Rainbow Dash caught up with them. Twilight was not happy, she glanced nervously at the door where they were posted, and she could tell Glacial Fire wasn't happy at all either. She gave Rainbow Dash a glare.
"Rainbow Dash, I can't believe you challenged the Crown Prince to a race!" Twilight snapped. "Even worse, you insulted him! What would have happened if they had you executed?!"
"Relax, Twi!" Rainbow Dash shrugged as she took a bite from a loaf of bread. "It wasn't that bad, I just called him a small name! Besides, I beat him! You should have seen the look on his face when my sonic rainboom sent him flying!"
"It would have if you hadn't scared all the city into a frenzy thinking a terrorist unleashed a sort of explosive." Fukkuteru stated matter-of-factly, taking another bite from his filet. "It took half-an-hour for the Royal Guards to calm people down. That's why Rock and Glacial are so crossed at you."
"Come on! Why does every pony here act as if I had committed a capital crime? It was just a stunt!"
"What is King Bittercold going to think about us after this? Have you considered that?" Twilight continued, her frown still there. "What if he thinks we're terrorists and has us sent to the dungeon? Or worse, what if he deports us from Krussia and we can never come back?!"
"My dear, I don't think our good friend Bittercold is that exaggerate." Discord assured her. "I mean, if he were Dashie here would be in one of those torture devices the Krussians invented, right? He looks like a nice guy when you look past his grumpy face."
"If we're talking about grumpiness, I seriously think the Commander would defeat Bittercold in it." Shining pointed out. "I don't trust him, did you notice the way he looks at us?"
"When yer half-blind, I think ye'd have to focus yer good eye on people, and sometimes it does look kind of weird." Applejack commented. "Hay, my ol' uncle Apple Cider wore an eyepatch and he was always staring at ponies with his good eye, almost as if he were glaring at 'em."
"And why does he get so angry when he's asked about his eye? I thought we was going to kill Rainbow Dash the other night." Rarity added up. "He seriously should think about seeing a psychiatrist."
Fukkuteru sighed sadly. "I don't know all the details, but he had to see one. The first months after his... scarring event, he suffered PTSD for months. I think he isn't completely over it, but he never shows it. He's very professional and doesn't let personal issues mix up with his work."
"Ambassador Meteoric Sun said he's very hard to befriend."
"The only person he's ever been a softie around is his mate. She means the world to him, if you see them around when he's not on duty you'd take notice."
"Twilight, if you want to befriend him so badly how about you ask the guards?" Rarity suggested, glancing at Glacial Fire and Rock Dust. "If someone knows how to handle him when he's wearing the armor, surely it's them."
"They don't like to talk about him, or they are now allowed to. They were pretty secretive when I tried to ask them." Spike added.
She giggled. "Oh, Spike, perhaps you didn't ask them the right way."
Outside, Rock Dust did his best not to snicker every time he caught a glance of his friend's bandaged tail, just where one of the foals had bitten him. He quickly glanced away whenever Glacial glared at him, and snorted. He decided to distract him with something else. "So, what did you think of that stunt Lady Rainbow performed yesterday?"
"Are you kidding me?! I thought the Eaglelish had dropped a nuclear bomb on us!" Glacial snapped. "I can't believe they didn't punish her for it! I had to deal with frightened old drakes and dradies for an hour I'll never take back!"
"What do you complain about? I had to calm down a drady who wanted to hang herself!"
"I don't understand why Commander Whiptail didn't have Needlemouth and Stormchaser keep an eye on that mare!"
"Maybe he knows we're more acquainted with one of the delegates and wants them to feel more comfortable."
"We have only talked with the baby dragon twice! That doesn't classify as becoming an acquaintance!"
"Excuse me, gentledrakes."
Both Glacial Fire and Rock Dust turned to the doors to see the pink alicorn and the lovely white unicorn standing there levitating cups of glorious warm coffee and with friendly expressions. The pleasant smell of the hot drink sent pleasant shivers down their spines.
"How can we help you, baryshnya?" Rock Dust said politely.
"We thought you would like something to drink." Rarity said, offering the cups to the two guards. "What kind of friends would we be if we let you stay out here in this cold climate?"
Glacial Fire hesitated, but Rock Dust didn't think it twice and took the cup in his own levitation spell. Sighing in dismay, Glacial Fire accepted the other cup, though he was thankful for the sensation of the hot drink going down his throat. "Thank you."
"Wouldn't you like to step inside? It is very cold out here." Cadence inquired.
"That would be nice, but unfortunately, it's impolite to be present in the same room with the people we're supposed to be guarding, with armor and and all."
Rarity knew it was time to use her charm, remembering Lightfire's advice. They wouldn't have the same reaction with her since they were of a different species, but at last she could get them to soften up a bit. "Oh my, your job must be so hard. Just standing outside in the cold and I can guess you don't get enough appreciation for it." As she spoke, she leaned against one of the walls and make a small dramatic gesture.
"Well, at last somepony understands!" Rock Dust sighed in dismay. "They could at least give us a free night for every time they make us stand guard! Or at least a rise!"
"Knock it off, Dust!" Glacial snapped, taking another sip of coffee. "We're not supposed to complain, we're supposed to do our job! And our job is to obey orders!"
"Oh, but your opinion must count! You are a vital part in the Krussian Army, if it weren't for you there would be chaos and crime. Surely there must be somepony, or sometemnokt, who understands that!" Cadence added up, though she omitted the dramatic gesture part. She did place a hoof on Glacial Fire's arm to assure him, though. Much to her surprise, Glacial glanced at her in alarm and pulled his arm away from her, though he did glance down at the ground in thought.
"Well... Now that you mention it, there are temnokt who bake us pies as thanks sometimes. And we do get our free days..."
"How about the... Commander?"
"Commander Whiptail? Are you serious?" Rock Dust snickered. "If he actually does, then he's pretty good making it seem like the opposite! Sometimes I think he enjoys barking orders at us!"
"Mind your tongue, Dust!" Glacial Fire growled at him, baring his teeth. "If he's strict, it's a good thing! Don't put the blame of your laziness and indulgence on him! And in case you forgot, his methods have worked pretty well!"
"Will he go to the Ball of the Hunt?" Cadence asked curiously.
"He has to go even if he doesn't want to." Glacial explained. "But be prepared to see him without his armor, it's the few times he's ever without it."
Rarity smiled. "Oh, he will be off-duty that night then?"
"Yeah. But don't expect him to get all friendly, he's even grumpier without the armor on, though he dissimulates it pretty fine."
"And what about you? Will you be there?"
"Not as guests, unfortunately. We're on duty that night, we will be probably patrolling around the castle grounds."
"Well, ladies, it was nice talking to you. But we are supposed to be keeping an eye on Lady Dash." Glacial finished the conversation, taking another sip of coffee.
Rock Dust rolled his eyes at his friends' rather rude attitude. Nevertheless, he glanced at the two ponies apologetically. "Please forgive my friend, sometimes he mistakes professionalism with being an idiot."
Glacial merely snorted in reply.
Rarity smiled generously. "Oh, don't worry, darling. I can actually understand why you would be... picky right now. But we were wondering, if you wanted to buy a present for Commander Whiptail, what would you get?"
Now it was Glacial Fire's turn to scoff. "Good luck with that, he doesn't like presents from strangers. Whenever somebody gets him one, he thinks it's because they ask going to ask for something..." he muttered the following words. "...And he isn't completely wrong."
Rock Dust thought for a moment. "But if you want to give him a gift without giving it to him, you could get something for his mate."
"Mate?" Cadence inquired curiously.
"Cinnamon sugar. If you saw them together, you'd wonder what she saw in him to actually consider having him for a mate, but then again, our parents choose our mates so they wouldn't be to blame. She's his polar opposite, she's warm, attentive and very kind, in fact, you could say she's the only one who can get ol' Whiptail to open up! Anyway, if you want to get to Whiptail, she's a good start!"
Rarity and Cadence smiled while exchanging glances.
She would have never dreamed of ever stepping into the Imperial Castle ever again. The last time she was here was during the ball held when Bittercold was old enough to be found a mate, and she hoped he would fix his eyes on her, the 'most beautiful drady in all of Krussia', but much to her shock and anger he chose her younger sister instead. It was her younger sister he danced with, her younger sister he presented to his parents the King and Queen as his choice, while he never acknowledged she was there.
So naturally, Fyzsal almost felt like she didn't belong when she was led by Hookbait through the corridors towards Clawblack's study, her hair and underbelly dyed a vivid green, her age marks camouflaged with make-up. Even though most of the guards and staff in the castle didn't know her, the Queen did, and the last thing they needed was to be seen by her of all people. Thankfully, the King and Queen were making preparations for the Ball of the Last Hunt, so the chances to be caught were scarce.
Hookbait coughed loudly to catch her attention and then opened the door for her. Fyszal stepped into the room, where Clawblack was enjoying a cup of warm tea in his desk, his expression content. What was he so happy about? He wasn't King yet. When Hookbait closed the door behind him, he stepped forward and spread out his wing towards Fyszal in a introductory way. "My Lord, may I present to you Lady Veeklaw."
Clawblack nodded approvingly. "You really outdid yourself this time, Hookbait. You found quite a lovely date for the ball."
Fyzsal blinked in confusion. "Date?"
"Fear not, my dear, it's just to keep appearances. No one would suspect of a random drady my drakeservant invited to the Ball of the Hunt. Besides, perhaps it would be a good chance for you to be close to the King without his knowledge."
"You said you had a way to kill my sister while pinning the blame on Equestria. And you say it's from an Equestrian poisonous plant?"
"Easy, my dear." Clawblack motioned to Hookbait, who levitated a small vial out of the satchel he was carrying, it was filled with a strange black substance.
"Is that it?" Fyzsal asked.
"It's a small dose of poison made from a plant that is only found in Equestria." Hookbait stated. "Since it's not found here we don't have a name in our language for it, but ponies know it as Blue Dragonbane."
"Dragonbane?"
"Curious fact: most of our people do not accept it, but despite our changes in culture and physiology among other things, we're still closely related to the Equestrian Dragons. As such, we still retain a few things from our draconic heritage, vulnerability to this family of plants being one of them. My contact said this plant in particular provokes severe poisoning on dragons."
Clawblack. "Imagine what such a plant would do to our frail Queen."
Fyzsal started to connect the dots. "...If they did find traces of poison, they would realize the plant it was made from is only found in Equestria..."
"...And naturally, the only people who could have brought it are the recently-arriving delegates in an attempt to weaken our government." Clawblack smirked. "King Bittercold would never let such a crime go unpunished, but even he knows he can't just have the delegates executed without risking war with Equestria, so it will take a while for him to reach an actual verdict."
"And what part do those... Elements of Harmony play in this?"
"Why, Fyzsal, let's not get impatient. I'll get there eventually." Clawblack glanced at Hookbait. "Speaking of which, any word from the Sunset boy?"
"Not yet, my lord. Are you sure I shouldn't look for another option...?"
"Trust me, soon he will come begging us to help him win the heart of his love in exchange of aiding us..."
"Wait, sunset...?" Fyzsal was sure she had heard that name somewhere. "...Isn't that the son of Meteoric Sun, the ambassador who has been begging Whiptail for an audience with Bittercold?"
"Yes." Said Clawblack with another sip of his tea. "That boy is not as bad once you get to know him."
"You mean half of your 'brilliant plan' depends on him wanting to help you?"
The Temnokt chuckled humorlessly. "Rather, it depends on him asking for my help, my dear."
He thought of taking her flowers, but realized it would be too obvious if she was accompanied by her husband, not to mention there were no flower shops open at this time of the year. Chocolates were the second option, before he recalled Temnokt added little to no sugar to their sweets. And he had to discard jewelry, it was very expensive and he didn't have enough money to buy it. But then again, taking Caddy a gift in presence of her husband wouldn't be smart.
Finally he saw her. Even in this dark and cold climate, her beauty was unparalleled. She was only accompanied by the lavender mare, Twilight Sparkle, the filly she used to foalsit. Good, maybe now would be a good time to talk to her. Sunset Glare quickly fixed his messy mane and made his friendliest expression as he walked towards the mares.
"It's pretty nice on his part to give us a tour around." Cadence commented, sighing. "With all that has been happening these days." Sadly, they had to go home and check on the foals to prevent them from turning the house upside down while Fukkuteru took the rest to see the Kremlik.
"Kremliks are fortified citadels located in various cities, but the one located here is the most famous." Twilight said, chirping in delight. "It contains five palaces, four temples and the Kremlik Wall and towers. According to Fukkuteru, it used to be the residence of the Tzars before their decline."
A new voice joined it. "Actually, nowadays one of the palaces still houses the Ruling Imperial Family, it serves as a sort of summer house for them."
Both Twilight and Cadence turned to see the young stallion approaching. Cadence smiled at him. "Sunset! How nice to see you!" she stepped forward to share a friendly hug with her old friend.
"It's nice seeing you too, Caddy!" He laughed, before pulling back to glance at Twilight, who was staring at him in surprise. "And you must be Twilight Sparkle! Cadence has told me about you! Princess Celestia's pupil, right? That's a great honor!"
Twilight smiled politely, but she had a feeling in her gut. She didn't know why she had the feeling there was something... off about him, but she couldn't tell what. And she didn't like the way he was looking at Cadence. "Thank you."
"So, where are you ladies going?"
"We were heading back to Fukkuteru's house to check on our foals." Cadence explained.
"Wandering around Kruscow by yourself isn't wise, young ladies, especially when everydrake is tense about your presence here."
"I guess you know about the reason they are... wary of us, right?"
"Sort of. They fear you'll go mad and kill King Bittercold, but that guy is so well-guarded I doubt any pony with such idea would get close to him. Would you mind if I accompanied you home? Just to make sure you get there safe and sound."
Twilight wanted to protest, but Cadence spoke before she could do so. "That's very thoughtful of you, Sunset!"
"Anything for you, Caddie!"
Twilight decided not to say anything else for the time being, the house was only a few more doors ahead, anyway. Still, she intently listened all of Sunset's words and his tone of voice. She could tell he really was happy to see Cadence after so much years, but... she couldn't tell why, but she had the feeling it wasn't just to catch up as friends.
A while later, they finally arrived at the door, and judging by the lack of a ruckus inside, it appeared the children weren't giving any trouble. At last, she spoke up to call their attention. "Well, here we are! Thanks for accompanying us, mister Sunset Glare!"
"Oh, it was no problem at all." said Sunset, smiling kindly as he courteously bowed to Twilight, but when it came to Cadence, he gently lifted hoof and planted a kiss on it. "It was a pleasure to catch up, Caddy."
Cadence blushed. "Oh, stop! We might see each other again at the ball, right?"
Twilight swore she saw the corners of Sunset Glare's smile twitch for a millisecond. "Certainly, I do hope to meet you there."
After they waved one more time and Twilight was certain he was out of earshot, she commented. "Well, I have to say he's pretty... charming."
"Right, isn't he?" Cadence said, still blushing. "He was always so sweet when we were foals! And I can see he hasn't changed much ever since!"
"Yeah..." Twilight wasn't sure if she should tell her what Ambassador Meteoric told her, the thing about Sunset Glare being locked in the dungeons various times for disorderly conduct. But she guessed she could let it slip, she might as well be imagining things. She couldn't really judge the stallion if she didn't know him all. "Think he will be allowed into the ball?"
"Why do you say that?"
"I mean, we're not sure if King Bittercold invited ambassador Meteoric Sun and Sunset Glare too. The ambassador made it sound like His Majesty doesn't want to see either's pictures."
"If that's the case, maybe they could come with us. I don't think the King will mind if we invite them over, don't you think?"
"Yeah... Maybe he won't."