The Temnokt Empire

by ladyanaconda

Zagovory

Lightfire managed to calm herself down for the time being as she led Twilight and the others back home for the day. Twilight and Cadence, however, could tell they had opened an old wound she had tried to close, and they couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt as she kept her vision to the front and didn't say a word.

"Man, I knew history lessons were long, but I never thought i'd fill out a whole notebook in three hours!" Spike was staring at the notebook in awe, flipping through the page, and glancing at his claws. "I don't think I'll be able to write in a long time..."

"They didn't mention anything about the 'he who must not be named' guy they keep mentioning like he was the devil." Stormfly commented. "Apparently, he was omitted from all history books."

"Lightfire..." Twilight wasn't certain if it was the right thing to do at the moment, but she was worried that the drady hadn't said anything the whole way. "Are you alright?"

"I'm okay..." Lightfire's voice sounded hoarse, but there was a deep sadness in her expression. "I was just remembering..."

"I know we've just met, but you can tell us." Cadence smiled sympathetically at her. "Sometimes it helps to let things out."

Lightfire seemed to consider it for a while, but before she could say something they were already near the front door, and both Catseye and Lake Wave were rushing out the door. "What's up?" she asked.

"Mom's gone nuts! She made vegetarian dishes!" Catseye cried out.

"So what?"

"No meat! Only green things, and she expects us to sit and eat it!" Lake Wave shuddered. "I swear, I love your mother's cooking, but I simply cannot stand vegetables!"

"Excuse me, but we're here." Stormfly rolled his eyes.

"I thought you had a varied diet." Twilight pointed out.

Catseye groaned. "We do, but it's not even Veggie Monday!"

Velvet's yell from inside the house made both drakes flinch."Catseye! Lake Wave! Get back in here in this instant!"

Cadence and Twilight barely contained a giggle as the two drakes darted back inside. Lightfire spotted something on the roof and allowed them to go first. There was a snowy owl perched on the edge of the roof, looking down at the drady with its golden eyes. Lightfire swore the bird's eyes flashed purple for a brief moment, making her gasp.

"...Cryo?"

The owl instantly flew away, soon disappearing into the wintery rain of snow. Lightfire contained the urge to cry as she went inside, managing to regain her composure in the last minute. As she went inside, she saw most of their guests were already inside, along with her grandfather and Fukkutery, while Catseye and Lake Wave begrudgingly headed over to their seats, though she soon saw why. Today's menu consisted of vegetarian dishes, like Solyanka with sal and pepper, some Syrniki to accompany and the main course, Vareniki. She personally had nothing against vegetables, they were enjoyable every now and then. As she made her way to her seat, she noticed their vegetarian guests thought the same.

"These are the best dumplings I've ever tasted in my life!" Pinkie Pie as stuffing themselves on the Vareniki. "What do they have on the inside?"

Velvet smiled kindly. "Tvorog and potato."

"Tvo-what what?."

"It's Krussian cottage cheese, but its dryer than in most other countries. It's usually made from organic goat milk, and even to this day it's still homemade." Twilight explained.

"Our living encyclopedia, every pony!" Discord pulled his wife into another hug.

"Mom, couldn't you have at least made something actually edible for us?" Catseye muttered, glaring at the vegetables, but quieted after his mother shot him a glare.

"Don't be like that, it'll do good for you, bro." Fukkuteru chuckled while he enjoyed a piece of syrniki with jam. How he had missed his mother's cooking!

"Little brother, maybe you got used to eating apples in Equestria, but you're back in Krussia. Meat is what we live for!"

Rarity noticed Fluttershy wincing at the word 'meat'. "Excuse me, would you be so kind as to mind your words regarding your... particular diet with Fluttershy?"

"I know it's silly to ask this, but you don't eat meat, do you?"

"Catseye..." Lake Wave growled warningly at his eldest son.

"Hmm, this is quite good!" Cadence had taken a small bite of solyanka. "But it feels a bit sour."

"My apologies, those cabagges were brined for months, so you might feel its taste a bit off."

"Brined?" Shining Armor inquired.

"Since it's winter most of the time, in the few warm months we can get our vegetables we put them in vinegar, salt and aromatic herbs to conserve them for winter." Lightfire explained. " It's called brining."

As Twilight, Cadence and Stormfly took a seat in the already-crowded table, Twilight noticed something. "Where are Applejack and Rainbow Dash?"

"Applejack's in the kitchen making some apple cider." Fukkuteru stated. "Rainbow Dash hasn't arrived."

The door of the kitchen opened and Applejack walked out with some pints of cider, helped by Vasilisa and Tinder.
"Alright, here I bring some of the Apple Family's famous apple cider made from fresh apples! I hope you all like it!" The trays were placed in the empty part of the table, and soon they all took a pint. Twilight and the others were happy to taste something familiar, though their hosts had somewhat wistful looks on their faces as they tasted the foreign drink.

"It tastes a bit like a sort of juice... though a bit more acidic." Bagaesh pointed out as he drank more of the cider.

"I'd say it tastes almost like that beer the guards often drink... I don't recall the brand." Lake Wave was more thoughtful as he drank it sip by sip to taste it more thoroughly.

"And I can drink it!" Tinder was crying out happily as she drank her pint whole.

"I'm glad ya liked it!" Applejack felt complimented at the Temnokt's delightful expressions as they tasted it. "Ol' family recipe!"

"No wonder it's so tasty!"

"Now that we're on it, how come you explain to us what the Ball of the Hunt consists about exactly?" Shining Armor inquired. "I mean, you said it's a sort of 'catching the largest prey' contest, but is it only about that?."

"Oh, it's actually held every year before Razrushizima comes. It's the last party of the year and our last chance to hunt for supplies before we have to shut our homes in to protect ourselves from all the snow. It's a way to say goodbye to Nezhnazima."

"Nezhi-what?" Pinkie Pie inquired. "Nezhani? No, wait, Nazizima!"

"You may call it Gentle Winter." Fukkuteru said. "Some think the spirits of the Cryos are the cause of the constant winter."

"The what?" Discord summoned a Krussian dictionary and started flipping pages. "Is that the pronunciation of something?"

"They were a native species who lived here long before us." Bagaesh sighed sadly.

"And what do you mean with spirits? Are they dead?"

"There was a sort of... massive genocide." Twilight hesitatingly said.

"Courtesy of King Deathkiller." Lake Wave continued. "He thought that by killing them off he'd get rid of the problem, but he only made it worse."

"Ever since, it's said the restless spirits of the slain Cryos became Zimadeniya. They bring the winter upon us to take our lives with the one thing that we could never learn to control: the force of nature itself."

"Remind me not to piss those icy guys." Stormfly gulped.

Twilight realized there was one missing member of the group. "Hey, where's Rainbow Dash?"

"She went out a while ago to try and to something about those clouds, as she said." Rarity commented as she sipped a bit of apple cider from her pint. "She should be back at anytime."

---

Rainbow Dash had to give credit to the Krussian Prince. He hadn't been kidding when he said the winds were freezing and very strong, worse than that of the Windigos themselves, and that was something. She flapped her wings furiously, but ice was starting to accumulate in her feathers, which made it even more difficult. Midnight, on the other hand, didn't seem to have any trouble with the wind, already being accustomed to it. He glanced back at Rainbow Dash smugly, grinning.

"What? Is that all you have?"

Rainbow Dash snapped at him. "I''m just warming up to make you eat snow, you airhead!"

"And that's another insult to your list of transgressions!"

Rainbow Dash wanted to punch his 'so-handsome' face as he mocked at her, but she'd be content with making him eat snow. Her feathers felt heavy form the ice and snow accumulating in them, but she didn't give up. Midnight would glance back to make sure she hadn't gotten too close, and when she did he flapped his wings to gain more speed. If she could go fast enough to make a sonic rainboom she'd send this airhead flying literally, but the wind was making it difficult to her. Flying against a current of wind was a foolish thing to do, it would only tire her out and she wouldn't even get close to him. But if she flew in the same direction of the wind, it would increment her speed, perhaps enough to go into a Sonic Rainboom.

"Hey, lizard face! Watch this!" Rainbow Dash turned around and flew with the wind, flapping her wings furiously, without as much effort this time. Midnight braked and looked back in confusion, wondering if she as abandoning the race. However, he realized she was flying faster than before, and she was reaching a speed he couldn't even imagine.

Rainbow Dash grinned when she felt the familiar spark upon reaching the appropriate speed, and soon the adrenaline overcame her as the massive boost of speed came, creating the rainbow-colored ring which expanded with the familiar shockwave, and the rainbow trail flowing form her mane as she flew around the city. Midnight stared at the scene in shock before the strength of the shockwave sent him plummeting against the ground.

In the streets, the citizens yelled in terror and ran inside their homes at the sight of the explosion, and a few called the Royal Guards. Commander Whiptail had gone out to solve an issue with a shopkeeper and a supposed thief, but immediately after the ring of color extended across the sky, he yelled at the guards accompanying him to take flight, and they flew after the trail of color that was the most probable cause. Midnight was just recovering from the spinout when he saw Commander Whiptail and some guards going after Rainbow Dash. He knew this wouldn't end good, he had to help the tomboyish mare before she got thrown into the dungeons for 'terrorism'.

Rainbow Dash landed on a snowy clearing just outside the Western Gates or Kruscow, creating a small shockwave of snow. "Ha! How did you take that, lizard face?! Who's the weakling now?" She jumped around, laughing triumphantly at her victory, but she froze when suddenly a group of guards landed around her, spreading out their wings and snapping their teeth. "What the hell-?!"

"Lady Rainbow Dash." Commander Whiptail landed just in front of her with a stern glare. "I would have never expected a delegate from Equestria to cause such a ruckus."

"My Sonic Rainboom? I know, it's amazing!" Rainbow Dash was still oblivious to the scolding. "I can imagine the look on Prince Airhead's face!"

Whiptail narrowed his eyes. "Choose your words more carefully, Miss. You are insulting a member of the Royal Family, that's lèsse majesté. My obligation is to report to King Bittercold to ask for permission to carry out your execution."

Rainbow Dash's smirk disappeared and she went pale. Midnight wasn't joking when he said that?! "W-Wait, I...! I wasn't serious! Man, you guys can't take a joke?!"

"Joke or not, I still have to place you under arrest for creating mass panic, triggering a rather strange explosive without any kind of previous authorization and disorderly conduct, plus charge of Lèsse Majesté."

"You can't send me to jail for performing a Sonic Rainboom!" Before Rainbow Dash could do anything, she was lifted off the ground with magic by one of the guards. "Hey! Put me down!"

"You can explain it to King Bittercold, Miss."

"Shouldn't I have a lawyer at least?!"

"Wait, wait, wait!" Suddenly, Mythic Midnight had broken through the circle of guards and hurriedly landed between Rainbow Dash and Commander Whiptail. "Commander, this is unnecessary!"

"Your Highness, she committed Lèsse Majesté and disorderly conduct, I cannot overlook it." Whiptail said, his resolve firm.

"Nonono! You don't understand, this is my fault! I challenged her to a race and things got out of control."

"With all due respect, My Prince, you shouldn't be here either. Your father told me you had no permission to leave the castle grounds until he said otherwise."

Way to go, dad. "I know, but I was just taking a small flight around! Then I encountered Miss Rainbow Dash and I challenged her to a race!"

Rainbow Dash didn't understand why he was defending her after acting like a jerk, but she guessed it had to do with Krussian customs.

"You expect me to neglect my duty?" Whiptail wasn't convinced.

"Nono, just don't be as hard on her! She didn't really hurt anytemnokt!

Whiptail muttered under his breath, glancing at Rainbow Dash, then at Midnight. "What I can do is to put miss Rainbow Dash under surveillance for the next forty eight hours to make sure she won't try her... stunt again, but I will inform King Bittercold of what happened. And I will have to escort you back to the palace, Your Highness."

"Okay, okay." Midnight sighed in dismay, knowing his father would give him a whole lecture. "Can I at least speak with Miss Rainbow Dash before we go?"

Whiptail narrowed his eyes. "Very well, but I'll only give you one minute. No more." He stretched out his wings, signaling most of the other guards to take off, but they were still hovering around, watching at the scene apprehensively as Whiptail joined them in the air.

"What's his problem?!" Rainbow Dash cried out pointing at Commander Whiptail. "That Temnokt has serious problems!"

"Don't worry about him, when he's on duty he is always professional, he and dad are actually good friends."

"So he's not a jerk the whole time?"

"Well... He's a bit less jerky, but he's still serious."

Rainbow Dash was still confused at the Crown Prince's rather benevolent action. "Say... Thanks for sticking out for me... Twilight would have gotten a heart attack if she learned I was taken to the dungeons..."

"Well, you did beat me.. You went the opposite way and used that stunt to beat me, but you won. And dad says we ought to keep our promises." He whispered to her. "You have to teach me that thing!"

Rainbow Dash smirked and crossed her hooves. "Tell you what. If you teach me some Krussian maneuvers I will try and teach you my Sonic Rainboom."

"Your Highness!" Whiptail called out impatiently. "Let's go!"

"I'm coming!" Midnight cried out in frustration, but he managed to whisper a 'we have a deal' to the pegasus as he took off and followed Whiptail through the sky, followed closely by the guards. Rainbow Dash watched him go before she started to make her way back to the city, a satisfied grin on her face.

---

The House of Drakkon was an impressive mansion in the nicest part of the city. However, despite its size and elegance, there was a grim air to it that made some temnoktfolk think the place was a haunted building. It would look like it if the trees and bushes weren't perfectly trimmed, the pathway salted and clear of snow, and all the lamps and torches well-lit, with servants going around the place to remove snow or the maids coming go and fro to buy food or do any tasks their Master had ordered them to tend to.

The servitude was especially alert when Lord Clawblack was home. He liked his house perfectly clean and organized, there was not a single thing out of place nor a single speck of dust. The surprisingly golden light coming from the chandelier in the main hall where a beautiful and wide staircase led into the upper rooms gave the mansion a warm feeling to it, opposite with its owner's nature. There was an entryway on the right side of the main hall that led into a fine, elegant dining room whose chandelier gave equally golden light. There were portraits of various members of the Drakkon house on the walls, plants decorating the corners and a red velvet carpet on the floor.

Fyszal hadn't been in such an ambient ever since she lived at her parents' house before they left her on her own, so surprisingly there was a homely air to this place. Hookbait led her to the Dining Room, where the table was neatly prepared for a dinner, with silver utensils, plates and crystal glasses laid out carefully. They were of the fancy class, she could name each fork, spoon and knife perfectly and use them with as much grace, having been taught Etiquette since a young age. This was the only reason she felt obliged to give a curtsy to the Owner of this place.

"Lord Clawblack." she said politely.

Clawblack was sitting on the other end of the table, smiling in an almost welcoming way. "Welcome to my humble abode, baryshnya." he said. "My apologies if my servant made you feel uncomfortable."

"He was okay..." Fyszal replied, not looking at Hookbait as he pulled back the chair on her end of the table for her to sit. "Spasibo."

Clawblack snapped his fingers, and a few maids came in, serving some water into Fyszal's glass-it was customary in all the High Blood Houses to serve guests first- before serving their master. Then came a small bowl of fancy-looking soup with a pleasant smell coming from it.

"Your... servant said you had a proposal." Fyszal decided to bring it out at once.

"Indeed I do." Clawblack took a sip from his spoonful of soup, signaling subtly to his guest that she could start eating. "As you know, the Ball of the Hunt will take place in a few days, and I'm afraid I don't have a partner to take."

"Wait, you simply made me come all the way here to invite me to the ball?"

"No, my dear. I would never waste your time just for an invitation, if that was the case I would have sent you a postcard with my little present. There's more to my proposal."

Fyszal placed her glass delicately back on the table. "What is it?"

"First of all, I'm so sorry about your situation. The last time we saw each other you were the favored child of the Forestsilk Clan, and what happened? Now you have to sell your... services to drunkards to put the bread of the table, all for a past mistake..."

Fyszal was doing her best not to snap as she stiffened. "My Lord, with all due respect, I don't want to talk about it."

"My apologies. I just wanted to see if you were okay before I tell you my proposal." Clawblack took more spoonfuls of soup. "how far would you go to become Queen?"

At that, the drady's talon froze as she was about to take another spoonful of the warm soup. "What?"

"I'm afraid our current Queen is weak and feverish, as you must already know. She has had so many illnesses that some of the other houses think Death will come and claim her soon enough. That would be such a pity, especially for the little drady and the young drake..."

"Where are you going with this?"

"Oh, and King Bittercold. He would be so devastated with the loss of his beloved wife. But Krussian law requires that the King be married, and we know he won't have the emotional state to think about a new wife. He would need someone to console him, support him and let him he's not alone..." as he spoke, his smirk was turning malicious.

"Wait, you want to commit... regicide?"

"Nothing gruesome, my dear. I just want to put the beloved Queen out of her misery. And you want to become Bittercold's wife, don't you? That's what you have always wanted, but sadly he fell for Astral Dusk, the younger sister. I can tell you've been wanting to get back at her for a long time ever since you fell out of grace with your parents and society..."

"So what's your plan?"

"In a way, it involves our visitors from Equestria. They have something I desire, but before I can make a move to obtain it I have to make sure King bittercold doesn't trust them fully. As you know, his father was murdered by he who must not me named, so he is already wary about the representatives. A scandal involving the Equestrians would give me the chance to obtain what I need from them."

"And what does it have to do with me specifically?"

"I obtained a particularly dangerous substance made from Equestrian poisonous plants. As you know, such substances cannot be obtained from our neighboring countries, and only an Equestrian would have knowledge of how to fabricate the poison, anyway. The lavender unicorn has a great knowledge, so she fits that role perfectly. They would be retained from leaving the country until the investigations carry out. However, it won't be the lavender unicorn who poisons the Queen." Clawblack glanced at Fyszal quizzically. "It will be you."

"Me?" Fyszal repeated in surprise, but there was a malicious glint in her gaze. This was the chance she had been waiting for. "At the Ball, I guess."

"Yes. Go to the ball disguised so you won't be recognized. I will grant you one vial of poison, when no one is watching, pour it in a drink while making it look like any of the ponies offered it to her. I will do the rest." Clawblack smiled at her. "What do you say? If we succeed, you will have a chance with Bittercold..."

Fyszal was considering the idea. He was offering her heart's desire in a silver tray if she did things right, it would be like killing two birds with one stone. She'd win Bittercold's heart and take back her rightful place as Queen, and she'd have her sweet revenge on her sister for disgracing her life. She wasn't sure what Clawback hoped to win, but as long as he gave her what was promised, she didn't care. Fyszal placed her cup on the table, smiling.

"You may count on me, milord."

Author's Note:

Solyanka: cabbage fried in oil with pepper, salt and spice.
Syrniki: cakes made from tovorog (a very dry cottage cheese) fried and served with sour cream and jam.
Vareniki: small dumplings filled and then boiled.
Razrushizima: Devastating Winter
Nezhnazima: Gentle Winter
Zimadeniya: Winter Wraiths. In Krussian culture, these spirits are said to be the spirits of the slaughtered Cryos, who became consumed by anger and hate towards their murderers and now cause the almost eternal winter as a way to avenge their deaths and torment those who took their lives away.
Baryshnya: 'Young Lady'
Spasibo: 'Thank You'