//------------------------------//
// Konfliksty 
// Story: The Temnokt Empire 
// by ladyanaconda 
//------------------------------//

"You're wearing my patience thin, boy!" 

Mythic Midnight didn't look at his father as he received his daily sermon. As soon as their guests left, Bittercold had flown straight to his son's room to have a 'chat' with him, and he was not happy. He was giving his son a severe glare, tapping his claws on the marble floor. The prince's room was sombre, like the rest of the castle. canopy bed with purple covers, an intricate crystal door that led into a balcony, wide windows with crimson velvet curtains, as well as bedside tables and a few furniture meant to keep the prince's few pieces of clothing, meant for important occasions such as galas, balls and parties hosted at his family's behalf. 

"I was only joking, Father!" Mythic Midnight snapped. 

"Joking?! You offended a delegate from Equestria! I'm doing my best to have them see the best of us and you ruin it with your rudeness?! It's hard enough with the opinion most of the people have of Equestrians and having to keep the delegation safe from any sort of hostility to have YOU of all people to disrespect them like that!"

"Please! It's not like I declared war or something!" 

"How do you know?!" Bittercold hissed, narrowing his eyes. "Not all countries are as benevolent as Equestria! If they had been delegates from Bullspain they would have already declared war on us for such an offense! Have I taught you nothing about manners?!"

"No, you haven't." Mythic muttered bitterly. "Crenshaw did it."

"What was that?"

"Nothing." 

Bittercold's stony expression started to soften and he let out a sigh. "Son, why can't you understand? You will take my place someday, you can't just make those kind of comments in front of foreigners. That's not how Temnokt show hospitality. Sometimes when you don't have anything nice to say about somedragon, or somepony, it's better not to say anything at all. A King-"

"Yes, I know, 'A King should show respect for all of his subjects, whether they are part of their kingdom or come from another country.' I've heard it a hundred times, Dad! You don't stop repeating it!"

"And you still don't listen to it. Midnight, I know it's not easy, I was young too once."

"You said it. You were."

Seeing his son would not listen to him, Bittercold's face stiffened into its familiar stern expression. "Just think about it, my boy. I expect you be more considerate with our guests on the Ball of the Hunt. But for tonight's offense you will not leave the castle grounds until I say otherwise, do you understand?"

Mythic Midnight muttered. "Yes, Dad." As Bittercold walked out of the room, closing the door behind him, the young prince's face changed into one of sadness as he lay down on his bed. "Why don't you ever listen to me...?"

"Are you okay, big brother?" 

Midnight sighed. "Clawrene, I thought we agreed that I wouldn't mess with your dolls if you didn't sneak on private conversations again."

The younger Temnokt crawled from under the bed and hopped unto her brother's bed. "What did you do now that daddy was so mad at you?"

"I made a... nasty comment of one of the Equestria delegates, and he didn't like it a bit." 

"Oh, by the way, guess who I met today?"

He smiled, rolling his eyes. "Let me guess, you found a new critter today and hid it in your room?"

"Nyet!" Clawrene replied, wagging her tail. "He was a small, funny dragon that stood on two legs and had now wings."

Midnight's smile faltered a bit. "Oh, and... was he casually purple with green?" 

"Hey, how did you know?"

"Let's say that was the delegate I commented on. But come on, how can they call him a dragon if he doesn't even have wings?"

"He says he's a baby dragon."

"Well, that information would have been useful, you know! Besides, I thought you were suppose to be asleep at that time!"

"I heard we had visitors, and I wanted to meet them. But I knew daddy would get angry if he saw me out of my room past my bedtime." 

Bittercold had returned to his and the Queen's bedchambers. The room was very big and elegant, much like the Prince's room, but there was a chimney, and above it hung a portrait of the Royal Family in from a few years back. Astral Dusk was already on bed, reading a book, her lamp dimly lit the pages of her writing, before she lifted her gentle gaze to her husband, who was taking off his cape and armor, but she could tell there was something on his mind. "What happened, Bittercold?"

"That boy just-!" Bittercold growled, then letting out a sigh of dismay as he looked down sadly. "I just... I don't know what to do with him anymore." He headed to bed and lay down next to his wife. 

"Why don't you just talk to him?" 

"I do! But he doesn't want to listen!" 

"Perhaps you shouldn't be so hard on him. He's just a teenager, you're putting too much pressure on him."

"Then imagine how much pressure he'll be in when he is crowned." Bittercold sighed again, laying his head down on his pillow. "I just want him to be ready." 

"All he wants is your approval, my love." Astral Dusk rubbed her head against her husband's. "IF you made him feel like you trust him, he wouldn't be so stubborn."

"That's precisely the problem, Astral." Bittercold sighed again. "How can I trust him if he doesn't give me a reason to? He skips his lessons, he sneaks out of the castle and goes heaven-knows-where. That's irresponsible on his part. And he doesn't show any sort of respect to his elders or to foreigners. We nearly went into war with Bullspain because he made a prank on the ambassador!"

"Well, Midnight does have his defects, but he is not a bad drake. You know it."

"I know, my love, but..." 

Astral Dusk smiled and placed a wing over his back. "Everything will be okay, Bittercold. You just need to give him a chance, he'll surprise you if you get to know him better." 

The Temnokt King smiled at his wife and rubbed his snout against her cheek. She sure knew how to make him feel better. 

But he hoped Midnight would behave in the Ball of the Hunt.





"They invited you to the Ball of the Hunt! I can't believe it!"

"SHHH!" Discord growled, rocking the recently-made crib of cotton candy clouds with his foot, while trying to keep the triplets asleep. "We heard you, Fukku! Lower your volume!"

"I'm sorry, it's just...!" Fukkuteru sighed as he paced around the attic, sweating heavily. "It's the most important celebration in all of Krussia! All the High Bloods from the country will attend, it's the elite of the Krussian High Society! One mistake, and finito! It's all over!"

"You should start with telling us what this 'Ball of the Hunt' is about! I mean, judging by the name, it must include some kind of harm to animals, doesn't it?" Rainbow Dash said, patting Fluttershy's trembling shoulder. "We can't have Fluttershy go through that!" 

"Oh, no! It's a normal ball, the reason it's called Ball of the Hunt it's because usually a contest is held to see who catches the largest game. But it's only a catch-and-release contest, after the captured game is measured and weighted, the animals are released." Fukkuteru saw Fluttershy relax in relief that apparently there would be no bloodshed. But it would be best he informed them of everything. "But..." 

Fluttershy tensed up again. "B-But...?"

"Is there something else we should know about?" Applejack frowned when she saw the Temnokt's hesitating gestures. "Something unpleasant?"

"Sometimes, the High Bloods have bear-baiting to entertain themselves." 

"Bear-baiting?" 

"It's a custom around here. A bear is caught, and a few baiters and wolves torment the bear to make it angry." Fukkuteru shielded himself with his wings in case any sort of item was thrown at him.

"What?!" Twilight couldn't believe what she just heard. "That's animal cruelty!"

"Well, it is in your country, but here it's a popular blood sport-"

"Oh, great! It even has a classification!"

Rarity lifted her gaze from the notebook she was sketching in to glance at the others in dismay. "Girls, instead of worrying about silly things such as a bunch of brutes torturing a poor animal, we should be worrying about what we're going to wear! We'll be in the presence of the Krussian high society! We need to look out best!"

"Silly thing?" Fluttershy repeated, trembling, her eyes swelling up with tears. "Is torturing a poor bear just a silly thing to you?" 

"Whoa, there! Let's calm down, every pony!" Applejack intervened before a fight broke out. "Let's not lose our heads here! We're all stressed out from today and some of the... traditions, but have to keep our heads cool!"

"Applejack is right." Cadence said. "We have a week to prepare for the ball, so we must do our best to make a good impression." 

"Good idea, Cadence! Let's get organized!" Twilight levitated a scroll and quill and started to scribble down. "We have to have proper dresses for this occasion, Rarity will be in charge of it."

"Oh, I have so many ideas I don't know where to begin!" Rarity continued to flip the pages of the notebook. 

"Spike, you and I will take a look around the High Class districts to study the behavior of the High Bloods, and observe the etiquette and way to interact with each other." 

"Count me in, Twilight!" Spike laughed. 

"And I'll stay behind with the triplets, don't worry about me!" Discord yelled from the other side of the curtain. 

"Fukkuteru, you and your family will be our guides in the city, and you can lend us a hoof in communicating!"

"Sure, boss." Fukkuteru lifted his wing in an almost military way. "Whatever you say."

"Oh, I can't wait!" Pinkie Pie was chirping in excitement. "A party in the castle! I can take my party cannon and we can play confetti wars! Or cupcake wars!" she thought for a moment. "Though I'd have to make lots of cupcakes." 

"Uh, Pinkie Pie, how about you leave your... party cannon here on the party?" Fukkuteru managed to speak calmly this time. "I mean, I don't think King Bittercold will find it... funny."

"Why not? Every pony loves my party cannon!"

"Pinkie, they're not ponies, they're big, grumpy dragons." Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "These guys never laugh!"

"I will have to disagree with you on that, Rainbow Dash." Fukkuteru frowned. "Our laughter is different from yours, but we do have our funny moments." 

"Name one." 

"Guys, I think how about we consult the pillow about this?" Discord peeked his head from the curtain, irritated. "Seriously, pillows are good at giving advice." With a snap of his eagle claws, he summoned a sleeping eye coverer. "Good night, everypony!" With that, he returned to bed and turned the lights off the side of the attic on the other side. Fukkuteru wondered how he had done it if the lamps were still lit. 

Shining Armor nodded. "He's right, let's go to sleep, and tomorrow we'll keep talking about this." 

"I second the motion." Fukkuteru commented with a yawn, and turned to leave. "Good night, everypony..." 

As soon as he closed the door behind him, the rest of the ponies went to their 'beds', Twilight Sparkle and Cadence soon joining their husbands and children on the other side of the curtain. Screwball had long fallen asleep, cuddled against her father's body, while Stormfly and Mist Wing chose to sleep on the rafts of the ceiling. Discord snapped the fingers of his lion paw, and soon the rest of the room was shrouded in darkness, except for the little light that filtered through the window. 

They didn't notice the raven perched at the window with glowing red eyes.





Clawblack blinked, breaking the mental link between him and his raven. He had seen enough. Surprisingly, the purple unicorn seemed to be the leader of the group, and the element bearers didn't really argue with any of her decisions. Was it how Equestrian culture was? Females had priority and dominance over males? That was one of the things he'd change once this business was all complete. He had gotten to see the pink alicorn, that Cadence mare Sunset Glare was so obsessed with. He had to admit, he could now say why he was so interested in her, she had a good body and looks, but she had already bore an offspring to another. It was a lost cause. 

There was a knock on the door. A small knock that let him know who was asking to enter. "Come in, Hookbait."

Hookbait peeked his head in, and after he made sure there was no one around, entered the room, closing it behind him silently. "Any new orders, My Lord?"

"Indeed, I have another task for you, dear Hookbait." Clawblack smiled. "As you know, the Ball of the Hunt will be coming in some days, and the High Bloods will be expecting a good entertainment. And you know the drill." 

"Should I hire a proper bear-baiter?"

"Indeed. And..." Clawblack thought for a moment. "These days the High Bloods have been itching for a good spectacle ever since the rule of King Windshear the Second, when he legalized lizard-fighting and made the High Bloods bring their best lizards to fight amongst each other. I want you to hire the best bear-baiters you can find, ones who will torture the animal until it stops breathing."

Hookbait nodded. "I understand, My Lord, but this year the Equestrian delegation will be present, I don't think bringing such a bloody sport will be wise. They could make a scandal-"

"Exactly." Clawblack, rolling his eyes. "As I could see, there's a Pegasus in the delegation who is particularly... disturbed by our customs. Imagine it, if she made a scandal about one of our fair country's oldest traditions, the High Bloods and the Royal Family would feel offended by such criticizing of our customs." 

"I... understand." Hookbait recalled there was something else. "And what about Sunset Glare? I've been keeping an eye on him, like you asked me too, but he doesn't seem like he will be willing to help us."

"He will, eventually." Clawblack retorted, uninterested. "Believe me, his desire for the alicorn princess will bring him to us, begging me to help him. And I will only do so if he helps me in return." 

"And how much time will it take him to see things our way, My Lord?"

"If my calculations are correct... Three days." 





"I do not like this!"

"Come on, Stormfly! You don't look that bad!"

The Changeling had been asked to take the form of a Temnokt while out on town to avoid another misunderstanding like the one he had a few days ago, but since Changelings couldn't invent their own disguises, only copy others' looks, he had taken the shape of a distant relative of Fukkuteru's family. He had to get used a bit to the size difference, and had accidentally  knocked his long tail against other Temnokt, earning growls and snarls in Krussian, which he was glad he couldn't understand. 

In their given tour around the High Blood district by Lightfire, Twilight, Cadence, Spike and Stormfly had to wear thick coats, scarves and hats to protect themselves against the harsh cold, but much to their confusion, the rest of the citizens-all clad with jewelry, bracers, collars and other accessories that branded them as high-class-used simple outdoor cloaks, Lightfire included, and acted as if this was a minor snowstorm. However, every now and then, Lightfire would glance at the hatchlings playing outside sadly and sigh, though it seemed she wasn't aware of it. 

The first place Twilight had wanted to take a look at, naturally, was a library to see if they could learn a bit about the Empire's history. The nearest was the Winghook Library, named in honor of a General that had served during the time of the Equestrian-Krussian war (Twilight made a mental note to take a note of that detail), and apparently it was the largest library in Kruscow. It had an intimidating air to it from the outside, with gray and black walls, some parts made of obsidian, with Krussian nobles or middle-classers going it and coming out, either borrowing or returning books, or just going inside to have a good read. 

Twilight squealed in delight when she saw the apparently endless bookshelves, all filled with books, and the librarians flying around accommodating them in alphabetical order, category and numbering. Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, giving the great library an elegant look and contrasting with the purplish blue walls, reflecting on the obsidian tables and chairs, some occupied by silent lectors. Lightfire got them a table near the staircase that led up to the entry desk and entrance doors, and used her 'feminine charms' to convince a librarian to bring the Equestrians books about their Empire's history in Equestrian language, if there were any. Twilight was examining the nearby books in wonder. 

"So... many..." she whispered, running a hoof down one of the book's leather cover. "I wish I could read Krussian..." 

"I'm worried about Shining Armor, I'm worried that Kiss Blade might throw a tantrum when he wakes up and finds me gone." Cadence sighed. "I don't want to trouble Fukkuteru's family again..." 

Lightfire offered the alicorn a smile. "Don't worry, Mother and Father know what's to deal with hatchlings, I think they will be able to help your mate if things do get out of control again." Though she knew her father had limited patience. 

When the librarian brought a single black book with the Emblem of the Krussian Empire (a black dragon with spread out wings, the glowing green eyes and obsidian growing at his talons) and walked away with a blush when Lightfire waved him a kiss as thanks, the ponies headed to the table it had been placed on. "Holy tails!" Stormfly cried out in dismay. "This book is thicker than a dictionary! It'll take us decades to finish reading it!"

"It's actually a resumed version for light reading." Lightfire stated.

"This is light?" Spike inquired, and gave a gulp at the positive nod. "Man, If this is light, I don't want to imagine the heavy lecture ones." 

"I think it's the size that makes it look that thick." Cadence pointed out. "I mean, our books are comics for them, so it's natural their books look like extended versions of Equestria's History books to us." She had to admit, though, the idea of having to read all of this thing made her feel indimidated. 

"We won't read all of it, only the vital parts." Twilight said, her horn glowing as she attempted to open the book, but it felt much heavier than usual. After a while, Lightfire's horns glowed and she opened the book for Twilight. "Thanks." She smiled, before glancing at Spike. "Remember, Spike, write down important dates, events and characters." 

Spike smiled and readied paper and quill. "On my marks!" 

Twilight started to read in low voice, but loud enough for Spike to hear. "After the First King, Burning Moonlight, and all the dragons who had learned black magic, thereby turning themselves into Temnokt, were driven out of Equestria, they crossed the Great Ocean and came to a part of Wildurope devastated by winter, it was a large unoccupied territory consisting of tundra forests and snowy mountains. Since the rest of the surrounding territories were long-occupied by other species, Burning Moonlight and his people had no other choice but to settle there. The first few months, many perished of hunger and exposure to the harsh elements, until one of the younger Temnokt, Shadowfang, discovered that their magic could be used to harvest obsidian, a dark crystal which could withstand the harshness of the constant blizzards." 

"That's why almost everything here is made of obsidian." Cadence pointed out. 

"Well, don't take me badly, but I'm going to take a look around." Stormfly sighed, leaving his seat and walking down the rows to do a little exploring. 

Twilight rolled her eyes and continued. "With Shadowfang's discovery, the Temnokt made their houses out of obsidians, settling in the heart of the unclaimed and then nameless territory, naming their little town Obsidiask. A few years later, as Obsidiask kept growing and developing, a group of the populace, led by Liutenant Clawshka in a reconnaissance mission to find more resources to trade with other countries, left the city and headed further east, settling in a forest filled with animals never seen before by other tribes, including white deer, hares and snowy owls, all fit to survive in this climate. They built a small town and it was named Clawshka in honor of its founder, today known as the best hunting grounds in Krussia."

"Back at Obsidiask, Burning Moonlight negotiated a commercial trade with the Zebras, who heard of their obsidian harvesting and were in desperate need for materials for their civil war against the Eaglelish at the time. In exchange, Krussia received cattle in the form of water buffalos and wild sheep, materials such as wood, coal and salt, and silver, fur and silk from the Bengarians."

"The Bengal tigers?" Spike gulped. 

"Well, we were not known to be picky about who we traded with at that time." Lightfire sighed. "We were desperate for resources.

As Twilight continued to read, Spike kept writing all the events, names and dates as quickly as he could, Including the founding of the other major cities, The passing of Burning Moonlight and the war for the throne between his three sons Warfang, Windshear and Spinewick, of which the second was the winner, the designs of the Krussian Flag and the naming of the country, the brief skirmish with Bullspain and Eagleland to keep their territory when they tried to claim it themselves, Obsidiask's renaming to Kruscow when it had grown into a city, spanning years and centuries of top of golden ages to civil wars and revolutions, brave warriors who died serving their country and traitors who were executed in public. However, Twilight and Cadence took notice of something. 

"Hey, Lightfire, has the climate always been like this?" Cadence inquired. "The whole book never mentions a thing about developing a way to control the winter." 

"We cannot  control it because it's not..." Lightfire took a deep breath, not certain if she should tell them about it, but finally let out a sigh of defeat. "...a natural kind of winter." 

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked. 

Lightfire's horns glowed again as she skipped pages and stopped at certain chapter. "Read that passage." 

The Cryokinetic War

Twilight thought that was a weird name for a war, but nevertheless started to read. "When King Deathkiller sent an exploration team further north to the mountains in search of minerals, they only one of the ten soldiers sent returned, and he was frozen to the bone, barely surviving; he told the king they had been attacked by a group of white dragons with power over the snow and ice, and his companions were frozen to death by these strangers. He described them as having 'scales like ice, a blinding white that blended with the snow around them, and icy cold breaths that could freeze blood if possible'. Believing those strangers, who were named Cryos due to their cryokinetic abilities, were responsible for the horrible weather that had been striking them since their arrival, Deathkiller gathered his army, all clad in obsidian armor that would protect them against the ice magic, and left to the mountains of the north to eradicate the source of the blizzards. The Cryos." Twilight had a bad feeling about this, but nevertheless continued reading. 

"The battle lasted three days, but eventually, King Deathkiller and his army emerged victorious, in eradicating the Cryos, until there was none left. But with the Cryos gone, the blizzards only worsened and became more constant, until there were only three months of the year that were free of the winter's wrath so the earth could rejuvenate, only for the cycle to repeat again the rest of the year."

"These guys sound a lot like the windigos..." Spike muttered. 

"No, the Windigos bring winter, but they don't control it..." Twilight commented. "...And these... Cryos don't seem to feed on emotions. And the climate only worsened when they were all dead, it could mean that they were indeed behind the constant blizzards, but I don't think they were trying to harm the Temnokt on purpose..."

Lightfire's eyes were swelling up with tears. 

"Maybe they needed the cold to survive, but they didn't know the Temnokt had arrived to the region." Cadence suggested. 

"That makes sense. And without the Cryos to control it, the winter got out of control to the point it would be practically impossible to remove it, even if the best weather managers in Cloudsdale tried... Maybe if they had spared at least one of them, he would have figured out a way to-"

"There is one left..." 

The ponies looked up at Lightfire, and noticed she was almost weeping, a few tears rolled down her cheeks. 

"What do you mean?" Spike couldn't help to ask.

"He was... We were good friends e-ever since we were h-hatchlings... but t-then... I-It happened..." She couldn't bear it any longer. "I'm s-sorry, I c-can't..." 

Without any other words, Lightfire flew off with teary eyes, going past Stormfly, who was just returning from his 'exploration', and turned to the others, who remained stunned in their seats. 

"Did I miss something?"