I had been dragged from my cosy cell by two hulking armoured Thestrals, my fore legs chained with crystalline hobbles. It was insanely difficult to walk and I stumbled several times only to be roughly dragged to my hooves by a none too gentle guard.

Crowds lined the path to the great hall, howling and screeching at me in a manner which left me in no doubt as to my overall status as a ‘guest’ of the Beyond.

Approaching the hall, several of the banners had been placed to delineate the entrance, probably to impress upon any who entered here that they were in seriously deep manure. As I entered, I looked up at an inscription on the archway, written in a language I couldn’t even begin to understand.

“Hey buddy !”, I tried to get the guards attention, “What does that say above the door ?” He simply ignored me. “Probably ‘shriek, click…click, scream’, eh ?”. A vicious blow from the haft of another guard knocked me to my knees, “Silence Equestrian vermin !”. I looked up shaking my mane, “I think that’s ‘honoured guest’, friend”, I smiled back at him. His glare said it all. I muttered under my breath, “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here….”.

Inside was a lot less impressive than I had expected. Limited building materials had meant that most of the walls, ceiling and seating was all variations on the theme of crystal. Beautiful in its own way, but it began to make me wish I’d been able to bring sunglasses.

The local dignitaries were arrayed at the end of a long midnight blue carpet edged in silver. A massive banner with a large white helmet motif was suspended from the roof behind the four thrones. The two largest held Far Sight and his wife, the ‘Lady Maelstrom’, apparently. The other two held, Ember and Shadow. Short Stride, the youngest, sat on a large cushion next to Ember.

Guards, colourfully robed Thestrals and invited guests, many armed I noticed, were liberally sprinkled between the doors and the dais. I was pushed forward by my thoughtful guards into a kneeling position.

The general murmur was drowned out by a small female in a long white gown, banging a long metal staff on the ground. Whatever it signified in their culture, it had the desired effect as silence fell like a lead tombstone.

Clopping hooves announced the arrival of a bulky red-black male in a purple robe with the same white helmet motif. An air of self-perceived superiority surrounded him and he looked derisively down his muzzle at me. I really didn’t like this fellow ! He clicked and screamed at me, but all I could do was stand and wait dumbly. Whether

this was deliberate to try and undermine any slight standing or credibility I might have, I didn’t know, but whatever he said caused some commotion amongst the Thestrals.

“Wait ! Your Ladyship, I beg your indulgence!…buggeration, where did I put the bloody thing…”, Star Beards chirpy voice calling from the back of the hall made the Thestrals turn in consternation. Pushing his way through he trotted over to me, pulling a brass and gemstone helmet from his satchel. He bowed to the Duchess who glared at him, but allowed him to continue.

“Captain, please wear this. It’s Equestrian so it should work for you, whether its still fully functional after all this time…well, I guess we’ll see ! A little something from my army days….”. He plonked the thing on my head and pressed a combination of the crystals and my hearing popped alarmingly.

The furious Thestral in the purple robe glowered at Star Beard as he trotted away, waving a hoof back at me, a smile on his face.

“May we begin now ?” , he asked.
“Sure thing pal, its your show.” I replied with a cheeky smirk. He wasn’t impressed and harrumphed his displeasure before turning to the Duchess. She rose from her chair and stepped forward to tower down over me, hobbled as I was, held down and unable to rise. On the plus side, I could now understand what the Thestrals were saying without my brain trying to expand outside my skull.

“Equestrian, you are an intruder in our lands and a citizen of our ancient enemy. You have stolen my daughter and done your best to ruin an invaluable alliance with the people of The Purple Sands. One of my daughters is also dead, lost to our people forever, killed…because of YOU !”

“Your majesty….”, I began but was beaten across the head with the guards axe haft.

“SILENCE EQUESTRIAN !”, the purple robed Thestral shouted at me before bowing to the Duchess once more.

“You unmannered…HORSE !”, she screamed at me, now that wasn’t very nice !, “You brazenly appear in my kingdom and display your false betrothal to my daughter like a trophy taken in battle ! This is my kingdom and my laws are those of the Goddess herself !”

Far Sight rose and spoke in a low urgent voice with his wife, pointing to the hobbles on my forelegs and stomping a hoof. The Duchess waved him off and took a step forward as her husband snorted his annoyance behind her.

“I am aware that you ‘saved’ my errant daughter from a river demon, however I cannot ignore the fact that my beloved Wind Sheer would still be with us if you had not kidnapped the Lady Shadow.

Far Sight neighed behind her to be stopped by Ember who shook her head at him.

“The Duke speaks highly of you, he tells me of your fight to save the Lady Shadow from the lake serpent and how you defeated the creature. A feat, I will say, that is laughably improbable for a slab toothed pony !”

There was a general ripple of laughter from the assembly. The white robed pony banged the metal rod into the floor, bringing all attention back to the Duchess.

“Your culpability in the loss of my daughter and the kidnapping of another is irrefutable. I further understand that not only do you belong to our eternal enemy, but you are an officer in their army !”

Shouts of anger and insults filled the hall, and I noticed, to my dismay, that Duchess Maelstrom had a sly grin on her face. The bitch was enjoying this, and my seconds on this plane looked to be rapidly running out.

The Duchess nodded to the Thestral in purple who reared on his hind legs, addressing the assembly, “Noble Thestrals of the Beyond, your Duchess has spoken and the charges have been laid. Do any of you wish to speak before sentence is passed ?”

I closed my eyes, this was it. I felt numb to it all. I wondered what would happen next ? Could I die twice ? Would I simply end up back in the Withers, trudging black sand for the rest of my days. The thought was terrifying. Worse, what was going to
happen to Shadow ? I tried looking up to see her, but was pushed down by the burly guards and my view was now severely restricted to the Duchesses hooves and that bloody fancy carpet.

General shouts and cries of “Horse !”, “Murderer !” and general other niceties where thrown at me. The matter of my guilt had been decided before I’d even said a word in my defence.

A light in my darkness came from Far Sight. He stormed forward and stood facing an incensed Duchess, I managed to glance up as the guards stood back in their surprise. “Wife ! I understand your grief, no one loves their daughters more than you, and I shared the pain of the loss of Wind Sheer. But she died trying to save this pony, she believed in him and honoured his battle to save our Shadow from the river demon. I saw him fight with my own eyes ! He is not what you think, he is a friend, not an enemy.”

“Nonsense ! What is this ?” Maelstrom snapped back at him, “An ally ? Defeated a river demon ? Look at him ! He’s a horse with no teeth ! What did he do, chew the beast to death ?”

“He has magic !”, Far Sight shouted at her angrily, “He saved our daughter from death and you thank him like….like this ?! He is a brother to the Thestrals and a Son to us !”.

In a blind fury, The Duchess snatched a spear from a guard and swung it at her husband, smashing him across the jaw. He staggered back, Ember and Shadow rushing to his side to aid him.

“Shut UP !”, the Duchess shrieked, smoke pouring from her mouth. Droplets of saliva leaked from her maw sending burning rivulets of it onto the purple rug. The smell of burning carpet material was eye watering.

“You DARE to question me ? I am the ruler, husband, my rule is law !”

She advanced on me shaking her mane and snapping her wings out in a display of outright aggression, “See the discord you have sown within my land and my own home !”.

I knew what was coming next, I could have written the script myself, “GUARDS ! Kill him ! Here…now !”. Shadow screamed but was held down by the white robed female. I hoped she would see my smile and know that I would go to whatever end, with her love for me in my heart.

I was surrounded by armoured Thestrals, positively dripping aggression and pent up anger. “All that creaking leather and spikes…’, I said sarcastically, “probably whooping it up every night in the guard house eh ?”. The guards eyes blazed in abject fury, “Damned Equestrian ! I’ll make this slow for you !”, he growled at me.

I managed a side long smile, “Not as slow as I took it with your wife…..”. The axe blade rose, light glinting off its honed crystal edge. My powers wouldn’t help me now, besides, any battle here would likely injure or kill members of Shadows family. As reprehensible as some of them were, I wouldn’t want her to see that.

Far Sight shouted out in protest, his words lost in the shouts of anger from the crowded Thestrals in the hall.

I could just see the axe reaching its zenith, the guards holding me down, the cylinder rolling towards me, splitting open, the outraged squeak from within……