A trial…

Of all the indignities that Dainn thought he’d ever have to suffer through, he never thought that he would have to go through one of these. Trials were for those who were a menace to society, or had done acts that brought harm to others. He had always been a good, law-abiding citizen in the time before he was the one making them, and of course as the king he never had to worry about breaking his own decrees.

Those were caribou laws though, and he no longer had a reason to believe that they applied, having learned that God was a female pony of all things. Now he had to defend himself, and on her terms. He couldn’t help but believe that this whole thing was rigged against him.

Looking at the alicorn sitting in her elevated position, he had to ask the question that was nagging at him. “How is this fair?”

“Excuse me?” the alicorn replied, honestly surprised with his brashness.

“Don’t assume I haven’t noticed your attitude towards me. Ever since you looked in that scope of yours, you’ve been treating me with resentment. It already appears like you’ve made your opinion about me already, and all this is just for your amusement.”

“Dainn, please do not assume that I run things like your people do.” She said, keeping the gentle tone of her voice. “I do intend to make this as fair as possible, and as I said before, I am not here to judge you.”

“Hard to believe with you in a judge’s seat.” God or no, Dainn didn’t appreciate that he was being looked down upon by a female form, and if this was going to be the end, then he lost nothing from being in a bad mood. Damned if he did, and damned if he didn’t.

“Perhaps, but contrary to what you’re assuming, it's not I who you need to convince. I am here only as an observer. These are the ones you must persuade.” The alicorn’s horn glowed, and she turned her head to the table across from Dainn. From behind it, three figures appeared, each recognizable to the caribou in one way or another.

Of these three figures, the first was the most familiar to the caribou, having been at the end of his leash for little under a year before his death. She was a pure white alicorn with hair the colors of an aurora, the mare who anyone who resided in Equestria would know as the former princess, Celestia. It was nice to see the face of a creature he knew was dedicated to him after so long, and even more so that it was his most thoroughly trained slave. Dainn’s heart nearly skipped a beat at the sight of her, but his excitement died quickly as he started noticing some things that were off. No, not ‘off’. More like terribly wrong.

The stump that adorned her head, the proof that he had defeated her, that he had stripped her of her title of ruler, was no longer there. What was there was a long white horn, the likes of which females of his kingdom were forbidden from having. Somehow, some way, the remnant of her horn had been restored, but that was not the only thing. She also had two large, fully feathered wings poking out from her back, both lacking the typical pegasus wing binders that were as strictly enforced as the dehorning of unicorns.

Those two major discrepancies from how he remembered her had sent up red flags for Dainn, but there was more to the mare than what he had immediately noticed that would have made him aware that something was amiss, such as her lack of a collar of any kind, the fact that she was wearing the garb she had worn the day he took over Canterlot, and the look of resentment she was sending his way. This was not at all how he remembered his living trophy of conquest.

“I see you are giving Celestia some odd looks,” said the alicorn atop the stands, “Allow me to end your confusion by saying she is not the mare you know, at least not entirely. She is in every sense Celestia, but she is a Celestia that had defeated you that day you went to Canterlot.”

“Impossible!” Dainn replied, outraged by the mere notion that Celestia could have bested him in combat.

“Far from it,” Celestia rebutted with fury, “When we fought, our battle was a simple one. You had tried to confront me one on one, as your men and my guards fought one another. I quickly realized that you were at a huge disadvantage, lacking any abilities to fight me when I took the battle to the sky. With you unable to effectively fight back, it was only a matter of time before I overwhelmed the protection your armor gave you, and ended your reign before it started.”

“You lie!” Dainn yelled, slamming his hands down on his table as he rose from his seat. “You did no such thing! You fought me hand to hand, hooves firmly planted on the ground as you tried pitifully to fend off my warhammer with a sword you summoned with your magic! In the end, you had fallen before me, and I was able to slip a ring around your horn, and a collar around your neck.”

“Dainn!” the red headed alicorn spoke, filling the court with her commanding voice, “Do I have to remind you about what I said before? This is a Celestia from a reality where logic was able to prevail, and you lost on the simple merit of being unable to fight Celestia on her terms in her kingdom. Caribou, as creatures stuck to the ground, lack the ability to deal with flying opponents that can fight safely at a range. Sure, you had corrupted some pegasi beforehand to assist in your takeover, but even in your reality, they were too preoccupied with Celestia’s royal guard to help ground her. In a one on one battle, your odds of winning are minimal, and the only reason you defeated her in your reality was because she went against logic, and fought you on the ground in melee combat, where you could have every advantage.”

“But-!” Even with God saying it to him, Dainn couldn’t conceive a world in where Celestia had defeated him. It just wasn’t possible.

“But that has nothing to do as to why she is here,” said the red maned alicorn, “Celestia’s presence is to act as an opposing opinion to your reign. The voice of pure objection to what you have done. Aside from that, it would probably be best that you not inquire too deeply about her.”

“And what of you?” Dainn said, looking to the next one in line, “Surely you can’t be against me.”

The one Dainn spoke to seemed like an odd choice to the king of the caribou, as the second person was a caribou himself. The stag in front of him was slightly overweight, and a bit shorter than Dainn, his face holding the characteristics of a scholarly caribou, and not the gruff features of one of the king's soldiers. As he looked around his new environment . shooting glances at all of the creatures that accompanied him in the nearly pure white courtroom, Dainn noted that he didn't share the default frown that Dainn and so many of his fellow caribou, and instead wore an almost serene smile, creating an uncanny valley effect for Dainn. The caribou king wondered who this caribou was, as even he didn't know all of his caribou subjects of course, but he was fairly sure he had knew all those he considered of 'higher education'. Perhaps this was one of his Magistrates. Most of them had been appointed on Vestri’s or Sindri’s suggestion, all save for Gunne, so it was possible one slipped though his field of acknowledgement.

“I am not against you, King Dainn.” the stag said, reassuring the caribou across from him that he was not some sort of traitor to his race as Dainn feared. It was unthinkable for a caribou to commit such an act, but who knew what tricks could be pulled by a God that could seemingly do anything.

“Well good to finally find a sensible stag like yourself after so long. Could you please tell me your name? I would like to know what I am to call my ally in these proceedings.”

“It’s Eadgil, and I wasn’t finished with what I had to say.” the stag replied to his king, a stoic look now forming across his muzzle, “I am not here to condemn you Dainn, but I am also not here to speak on your behalf. I will say that unlike Celestia here, I don’t see you as being some demonic entity bent on destroying everything for the sake of what our race considers ‘The natural order’. I acknowledge that without you the caribou would have ceased when Svarndagr completed The Cycle. I’m also not in the best position to condemn you, given that I participated in your rule for far too long, no matter how reluctantly. However, I cannot side with you either, as I’ve seen what destruction you cause when unchecked.”

“What?!” Dainn yelled, having predicted something like this, but still incredibly displeased that it became an actuality.

“It is as I said before. I cannot condemn you without condemning myself. Unlike you though, I am aware of the damage our race has done to others. Having been one of the privileged citizens of your kingdom, I’ve watched as you unwittingly committed countless acts of cruelty against a population that neither wanted nor needed your… no, our brand of leadership.”

“I can’t believe I’m hearing this…” Dainn said, exacerbated at this insanity. Hearing an ignorant pony or a gryphon say something like this was common, but this was not the mindset of a stag who lived in the homelands and knew better than this. That any stag could be so thoroughly indoctrinated into these poor ideals of themselves was infeasible, and yet here one was, spouting off pure nonsense.

“This, Dainn,” said the red-maned alicorn, “Is our neutral perspective in this debate. Having gone through both the rule of your mentor and yourself while coming to an understanding of the potential advantages and flaws of said rules, he will be a viewpoint we will need in this.”

“And where did you happen to pull him from?” Dainn asked, annoyed, “Because he can’t be from my world.”

“He is from a world not too different from the one you came from.” the alicorn stated, “With the only difference being that he and a small band of caribou identified the damage you were doing to Equestria, and did what they could to mitigate that damage done to your own culture over centuries of misguided ideals.”

“How did you-?” Dainn started asking Eadgil, but then backed out of his inquiry. “No, nevermind. I don’t want to know. It will only make me more disgusted with you.”

“I’m sorry you feel that way.” Eadgil replied, “But I assure you that I won’t allow that stance to interfere with my own judgements and arguments during this trial.”

“How reassuring…” Dainn responded, having little faith in this race traitor of a caribou.

With the caribou now having been dismissed, all that was left was to address the third person the alicorn had summoned. However, Dainn really didn’t want to. Given that both the previous people were those who should have been close to him, and loyal to his cause through proper training or common sensibility, he had no reason to expect anything more from any third entry into this group. This wasn’t just any third person though… Dainn had met this one already, and he didn’t really want to have to deal with them again.

Of course, the third person wasn’t going to accept his silence, and shortly after the caribou received an “Exccuussee me, but how much longer do you plan to ignore me?” from a certain crystal mare.

“I was planning to remove you from my life,” Dainn replied, looking away from the avatar of death, who had appeared to have reverted to its previous form. “Especially after you told me we would never meet again.”

“Oh right,” said the alicorn, knowing what Dainn had gone through in his journey after his demise, “You have encountered this visage before. This is not the avatar of death though. This is a mare who in one reality was very close to you.”

“How so exactly?” Dainn asked, tilting his eye just a little more towards the crystal mare’s direction. Now in his peripherals, he could see some things that were actually pleasing to his eyes.

The mare looked exactly as Death did in his recollection, except that she lacked the black, reaper-ish cloak that was draped around her form before. In fact, she lacked any form of coverings, and bore her body bare before him, with a modest B-sized rack on display as her lower body teasingly hid under the horizon of the desk. She also had atop her head a proper horn stump like Celestia should have had, and a red collar tightly looped around her throat. The sight of the formerly annoying and aggravating image put into its proper place should have been greatly appeasing, but her face had that smile on it. The same one that Death wore, the one that seemed to arrogantly hide something behind it.

“Does it even matter?” the crystal mare said, responding to Dainn’s question, “I could be anypony. I could be your personal slave, or your lover, or maybe the person who killed you, but it wouldn’t matter here. We both know that we are from two different worlds, and that once this is done we’ll part on our separate ways, with all memories of this removed. Until then though, I’ll be acting as the voice of... approval I suppose it would be.”

“Voice of approval? I am suppose to rely on a mare in such dire a time as this?”

“Yes, and no.” the unicorn answer, leaning forward till her breast touched the top of the table she was standing behind, her arms placed before her to keep her from outright lying atop it. “While I certainly enjoyed your rule in my world, and saw little wrong with my place in it as my necklace clearly shows, I am here more as a witness than someone to speak on your behalf.”

“A witness to what?” Dainn was beginning to loathe how his responses were all turning into questions.

“Oh I’m sure we’ll find out over the course of this trial. For now, why don’t we just keep it a mystery, sweetie.”

“Don’t patronize me,” Dainn shot back.

“As you wish,” The mare stood herself up, and put her arms to her sides, presenting her front in full display. “I’ll be on my best behavior. The name’s Schorl by the way.”

“I see that introductions are out of the way,” the alicorn said, having patiently waited for all parties to be acquainted, “So let us proceed. You have all been brought here to determine the fate of Dainn. He has come to me in the hopes of being reincarnated immediately, instead of waiting to see if the universe finds some use for him. As such, I have given him a task that he must accomplish to receive that gift; he must prove that his methods were overall beneficial to his world. You three have been brought here to either dispute or confirm any arguments he may have. However, there are a few rules that must be followed when doing so.”

“What kind of rules?” asked Celestia, the others having almost said the same thing themselves.

“Firstly, none of you are allowed to lie in attempt to prove a point,” the red maned alicorn stated, “All arguments must come from either speculation or facts known to you. However, none of you will have to assume that this rule will be attempted to be broken. You might not have noticed, but as of the moment you entered this room, none of you have been capable of even forming a lie in your minds. Therefore, all words you speak are the truth, at least as far as you understand.”

“Awww, but lying is one of the few things I’m good at.” Schorl bemoaned, though doing so in a sarcastic manner that anyone could pick up on.

“Secondly, no one here is to verbally assault Dainn or any other during this process. Whatever petty squabbles you may have will be ignored, and as such this chamber will likewise stifle them for the sake of brevity and creating a neutral environment.”

“That's fine with me,” said Eadgil, “While there is much I could say against Dainn, I would rather not impede things with a random outburst.”

“Thirdly, as we are here to definitively clear up whether Dainn’s actions were beneficial to his world, we will be using a unique method of discern what is to be considered fact, speculation, opinion, or a disproven falsehood.”

“And how do we do that?” asked Dainn, expecting more of the divine mare’s magic to intercede any efforts to try and deceive this court.

“This one might be better off show than told,” the alicorn replied, “So why don’t we start off with a bit of a warm up. Dainn, could you please give us an opening argument towards your case.”

An opening argument? So she wanted him to begin the proceedings. That would be simple enough, he assumed, as he didn’t necessarily need to present an unbreakable opinion, just something that could stick.

“Very well, then how about this? As I was informed earlier, there are a grand amount of possible realities. Therefore, if this is true, then it goes to reason that ‘It is possible that a good outcome could come from a villainous act’.”

As Dainn spoke the words, he and the others were shocked to see them appear in front of him, as if being typed out by some unseen typewriter, in the form of giant blue letters that floated in mid air.

“This,” said the red-maned alicorn, “Is a ‘speculation’. When one of you makes one, you will find that the important parts of it will be produced in physical form before you. Dainn, would you like to clarify what you mean by this, to make your speculation stronger?”

Dainn was a bit off put by the physical representations of his own words being presented before him, but he decided to do as he was told, as it only seemed to be useful information. “Well… I have to assume that you all see me as some villain. That by your own words you have deemed me to be the bad guy in all this. If that is the case, then fine. I’ll take that, but you cannot judge me guilty just on that merit.”

“And why not?” Celestia questioned.

“Because this isn’t about if I am good or evil. I could be the most dastardly creature in existence and it wouldn’t matter. What’s important is that ‘I’m on trial to determine if my methods are beneficial to the world’.” His words appeared again, this time in red letters, which stood before the previously made ones like a shield.

“This is what is known as a ‘fact’,” the red-maned alicorn said, continuing her tutorial, “One can use facts to bolster their speculations and opinions, backing them up and making them harder to break. Also, one can tell the difference between a fact and speculation by its color. Note though that for simplicity's sake, strong opinions will be lumped up with your speculations, and will likewise be colored blue.”

“So no matter what we believe, a fact will be red and a speculation and opinions will be blue.” Eadgil concluded, stroking his chin as he pondered what that meant. “So what happens when we present a counterargument?”

“Why don’t you try and find out?” The alicorn said with a smile.

“Then… I think I know what to say to get past your blockade of words Dainn. It is true that the idea that you are either good or evil has no place in this discussion, and I’ll even admit that it is possible that a villain could still raise a mighty kingdom that is overall beneficial for its people. However, this trial is to determine if you could claim this for yourself in your own world. Thus, “It doesn’t matter if other realities can achieve this if yours can’t”.

Just as with Dainn, the words appeared in front of Eadgil, though they did not stay still. Instead, the moment they were formed, they shot forward towards Dainn’s own statements, and barged right through both the fact and the speculation behind it with no resistance.

Dainn ducked for cover, assuming the words were going to ram him, but they came to a fast halt before his desk. As he rose back up, he had to look at them looming dauntingly over him. “What was that?!” he asked the mare in the judge's stand.

“That was your argument being destroyed by his counter-argument.” said the alicorn, “Counter-arguments are green, and are used to attack statements with a use of one’s own. However, if a counter-argument is weak, it will be just as easily smashed against a strong argument.”

“What a shame.” said Schorl nonchalantly, leaning her back against the desk as she observed her finely trimmed fingernails. “That the king was so easily beaten by such a simple argument. He was so close to something useful too.”

“And what would that be?” Eadgil asked, curious about what this mare had to say that could go against his statement.

“Well, it’s as you said before. This trial has nothing to do with whether Dainn is good or evil, because ‘A king who is considered evil is just as capable of both success and failure as one that is considered good’.” The words appeared in red, and blocked the path of the green ones standing before Dainn. “Let’s be honest here, your argument doesn’t even do anything but reiterate what we all should already know, so it’s kinda pointless to bring it up to begin with.”

“That’s a bit harsh…” Eadgil replied, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

“Don’t get me wrong. I get why you had to make it, but overall there was no reason to bring it up. So what if the king’s opening argument would have stood? Even from your end you should see that this case didn’t hinge on one simple statement. Would it really have done anything if you let him have such a small win?”

“If we are to properly judge Dainn for his actions, then I feel it is important that we scrutinize everything he says to see if it holds any water.” replied Eadgil,

“I couldn’t agree more.” said Celestia, backing up the caribou next to her.

“Whatever, but if you’re both going to nitpick every little unimportant detail, then I’m not going to be a part of it. I’ll gladly focus on the more important things.” Saying this, the mare tilted herself back on the table until her back laid flat on it, allowing her to look at Dainn upside-down while he got a decent look at the valley between her breast through the letters obstructing his sight. “That is, if it appeases my lord.”

“That’s… fine with me.” Dainn answered the mare, wanting this to be over with as quickly as possible, and hoping that the less discussion there was would allow for less chances for someone to counter his side of the debate.

“Great!” the crystal mare said, turning over and resting her chin on her hands, “Now can we do something about these fruitless discussions cluttering the courtroom? I’m done looking at them.”

“Very well.” The red-maned alicorn made her horn glow, making both the green words and the red words vanish before the group. “Though if you would have waited, they would have done so on their own.”

“Well I didn’t know that, now did I?” Schorl said, hamming up a mischievous tone in her voice as she played what Dainn felt was a dangerous game with God. “On that note, might I ask why?”

“As one final explanation to this process,” said the alicorn, wanting to wrap up things and start the trial proper, “Any opinions, arguments, or speculations that cannot be refuted by anyone will be considered as fact, and thus will be deemed understood by all parties as such. As you put before, such statements do not need to remain in play, though they can be returned to later if needed. Otherwise, it is recommended that you all move on once a topic has been confirmed, as it serves no purpose to anyone to dwell on a point that has already been agreed on.”

“Good to know.” Picking herself up from the table, the mare once more went upright, “Well I’m ready if you all are.”

“I’m ready.” said Celestia.

“As am I.” said Eadgil.

“And you, Dainn?” asked the creator.

“I… I believe I am ready.” he replied, not really prepared, but not knowing how one could be in this predicament.

The two pairs of ponies and caribou looked over one another as the alicorn representing the creator looked over at them, exchanging expressions of determination, seriousness, and concern over the procedures. Even the crystal mare, who had been up to this point combative and dismissive with her words was showing restraint and acted more respectful now that the case had officially started, but there was no telling how long that would last.

For a while, the four stood in silence, not knowing who should make the first move, and start the first of what probably would be many debates on Dainn’s leadership and personal motivations. This lasted until finally the alicorn sitting above them said, “Is there none of you who would wish to start us off properly?”

“I would.” Of the four, it was Eadgil who responded first, as if he had been wanting to say something from the start, but was waiting for the proper permission to begin. “Dainn, let me start off by saying that it is a pleasure to see you again in such circumstances, as in the world I came from, you had died before I ever got the chance to confront you for your crimes.”

“Of which I assume you have a large list.” Dainn retorted, assuming that Eadgil would make similar accusations as those he had heard endless times from self-righteous mares who believed themselves to be equal to men, cried out from their blithering mouths right before they were shown the proper use for those orifices. Thus, he did believe he had a certain degree of preparation for those kinds of accusations.

“Yes, I do.” Eadgil replied, “And I’m certain that you know exactly what I am talking about, because I personally don’t feel that someone can do things as cruel as you and I have without understanding their implications. From where I stand, you knew exactly what you were doing, but you just didn’t care.”

“Then go on and start your argument.” Dainn said, finally relaxing a little in his provided seat. “And I’ll prove to you that what I did had only the best of intentions.”

“Perhaps for the caribou,” Eadgil remarked, “I will not try to deny that you tried to do well for all of us. You did what you had to in order to save our race from the brink of disaster, and at the same time you created a kingdom where we would be able to continue our ways and traditions without interference, but at the cost of the livelihoods of so many others.”

“So is that what you are getting at? That I treated the ponies unfairly in all this?”

“As much as you may assume otherwise, that is the case. No matter how one looks at it, what you did to them was horrific.”

“Oh yes,” Dainn started sarcastically, “It was so horrible that I gave those stallions the ability to lead their own lives without the need for some incompetent princess leading them into ruin.” Dainn shifted his glare to Celestia, and continued with, “I may have learned that you were indeed the thing that controlled the sun’s movement, but even with that important role, ‘Your status as a leader was undeserved’. How many times have you failed to defend your kingdom from threats? How many times did you suffer defeat at the hands of creatures who wished to use your kingdom towards an evil end. Chrysalis wanted to turn your people into food from what I heard, and even your own sister was a threat who wanted to cast the world into eternal darkness. Do you deny all this, or will you tell me that those are some more convenient changes of your world from mine?”

“No,” Celestia stated, “‘We both come from very similar worlds, and the only important change was that I prevented your attempt to cease my kingdom’. I was defeated by both my sister and Chrysalis as you had heard in your world, and I will make no excuses to either incident. I was beaten, and it shames me to say that I wasn’t able to protect my people.”

“Such an incompetent leader,” Dainn accused, “Every time you had even the most basic of threats come your way, you folded like a piece of paper. Where would your kingdom be if not having been saved by some external force time and again?”

“Way to go my lord!” Schorl exclaimed in support of the caribou king, “One could certainly use the fact that the princess can’t properly defend her kingdom as an example of poor leadership.”

“Perhaps,” Eadgil added, “But Celestia isn’t the one on trial here, and this is leading away from the topic I wanted to address.”

“Oh sure, try to sidestep the point I’m trying to make.” Dainn said, feeling he gained some ground here, "That despite my mistakes, ‘I was a better leader than Celestia’. Her own facts of the matter support this truth.”

“You’ll have your time to dispute that later,” said Celestia, “But for now I think it would be best to respect your former ally’s turn.”

“Ally is a strong word,” said Eadgil, “But I thank you for allowing me to speak.”

Dainn could see what Celestia was going for. She was stalling for time so she could think up a proper counter-argument. It was a tactic that showed how pathetic she truly was, unable to face this simple challenge head on. Still, it was an effective one in the right hands, but knowing Celestia as he did, and how incapable she was for anything useful, he felt allowing this small delay wouldn’t hurt him as long as he steered it more to his favor.

“Fine, I’ll be happy to table this for now, but only if when we return to it that Eadgil stays out of the debate. After all, if she cannot defend against my argument that she is a poor leader, then that proves my point in itself.”

“There is no way-” Eadgil started, but as he did Celestia lifted her hand to stop the stag.

“It’s fine,” she said, “I am willing to face you on your terms this time, and still come out on top.”

Dainn grinned. This Celestia wasn’t too different from the one he made his personal pet, and the female’s pride was going to be her downfall. If she was going to face him alone, on his terms, then no doubt she would fall as she did in his world. He could almost feel the tide shifting into his favor with this one impetuous act.

“And what about me, my lord?” Schorl asked, “Am I not allowed to join in when that happens either?”

All this time, the crystal red collar had appeared to be fairly helpful, protecting him once from Eadgil and cheering on his own attack. She really didn’t appear to be a threat, and if that were to change she was still just a mare. Regardless of what he had learned about the supposed usefulness of Celestia and Luna, he still didn’t see any reason to assume that was the norm, and instead the exception.

Even the notion that God was a female no longer made a reasonable argument to the usefulness of females on the whole, as by this time he rationalized that the apparent gender of the entity was moot. The alicorn was a concept, and a concept couldn’t have gender. It could be considered female, treated as female, but that didn’t make it any more a female than a cart that was called a ‘her’ by it’s owner.

Because of this logic, Dainn had no fear the possibility that the two mares might speak against him, as should they join together, he would no doubt beat them with his superior mental abilities. “I have no problem with that, mare.”

“Thank you my lord, I’ll do my best.” the crystal mare answered to the stag, obviously delighted that she received her king’s permission to participate.

“And how is it fair to let her join in?” asked Eadgil, “The red collar has been on your side from the very beginning, and no doubt she would only team up with you against Celestia. I find it odd that you would be so cowardly as to resort to the help of a female.”

“It’s ok Eadgil,” Celestia said, cutting in on the caribou’s protest once more, “As much of a danger as she might be, I fear I’m not as familiar with Dainn’s version of reality as she is. Without you to confirm facts, I’ll need her testimony to back up my thoughts on Dainn’s leadership.”

Eadgil still didn’t like the idea of this mare, who had obviously been indoctrinated to Dainn’s ways being about to talk against Celestia when he couldn’t speak for her, but he appeared to be out voted in this matter. “Fine…” he said reluctantly, “Then if that has all been decided, I think it’s about time we got back to the point that I was trying to make before.”

“Go ahead,” said Dainn, “Express your feeble point about… What was it you were trying to prove again?”

Eadgil rolled his eyes, but went on despite the dismissive behavior of the king. “To put it frankly, ‘Your policies as king were detrimental to all but your caribou citizens’. I’d even go as far as to say that ‘Your only concern was the well being of yourself, and those most loyal to you’. Namely the caribou council that you created after King Svarndagr’s demise.”

“You might say that, boy, but the color of your words alone prove that to merely be your opinion. While my rule was perhaps heavy handed, but ‘My rule was clearly beneficial for everyone within it’.”

Eadgi smirked, crossing his arms at the king. “Seems your assumptions are just as much opinion as mine. Why don’t we try to settle this with some facts instead? As we both know, ‘You expressed heavily that your intent for the ponies was to liberate them from the incompetent rule of their princesses’.”

“Which I did.” Dainn said reactively.

“That you did, but I don’t believe that you liberated them, so much as dragged them into something they didn’t want to begin with. This is evident in the fact that ‘Black collars exist’. As we all should well know, a black collared mare is one that is unwilling to cooperate with the caribou way of living. One who has to be forced into it, and is raped and tortured frequently because of their lack of participation. I find it difficult to see how this can be seen as beneficial for ponies such as them.”

“That is simple enough to explain,” replied Dainn, “Though I’m surprised I have to do so for a caribou. I suppose it can’t be helped though, seeing how your world view has been skewed so badly. You see, boy, ‘It is easy to determine that these black collars are, like all females, nothing but a bunch of animals that need the guidance of males to exist’. As such, there is little difference between a black collar and an untrained beast. As for the torture and rape they receive, ‘There is little difference between the treatment of a black collar and a red collar in that regard’. Few things differ from what a male will do to a black collar that they wouldn’t likewise do to a red. Just like with our own caribou cows, things like belittlement, embarrassment, whipping, branding, and bondage are all things that a red collar can experience in their lifetime, and as you should know it is something that females enjoy having done to them. Though black collars may complain about these things, even they show arousal when put under these circumstances.”

“If that were true, then why do we have a black collar to begin with? Why not have given all the mares red collars, and removed all preconceptions of a difference?”

“Why does one put a muzzle on a dog?” Dainn replied, “Because in its lack of understanding, it can be a danger to itself and others. ‘The black collars exist to prevent possible problems in a master being too lenient or too trusting with their slaves’, for as much affection and attention one can show a beast, it can still be unruly and harmful to things around it.”

Eadgil grimaced, “I take it that this is the same philosophy that you take when it comes to dehorning or defeathering mares.”

“Of course it is. It is the equivalent of declawing a cat. If a female is to be domesticated, it needs to understand that it has no options other than to submit. In order to enforce that idea, they must be relinquished of the things that made them believe they were equals to their male counterparts, which are likewise the same things that put them in constant harm by giving them a false belief that they are in any way capable.”

“You could have found a better way of dealing with them if that was your belief. You could have trained the mares to better utilize their abilities for the betterment of your newly established kingdom. Taught them how to use their magic properly if you felt they were doing so in a harmful manner.”

“Heh,” Dainn scoffed, “‘Better’ is such a vague term. One used by those who believe they have a point to present, but are incapable of expressing it. Surely there was a ‘better’ way for me to go about things, but not without the hazards that come from approaching these stupid mares with a light hand. For all we know, ‘They could have brought Equestria itself to ruin should they have had magic to aid them in their misguided attempts of rebellion’. ‘I certainly can attest to the damage they caused without having access to spells or flight, with my own death to act as proof of that’. ‘With those abilities, they probably would have made the caribou extinct’. ‘The removal of their horns and wings was something necessary for us caribou in order to protect the caribou way of life’. ‘That conclusion was something I came to when I learned what mares possessed the abilities they had’.”

A flood of words filled the courtroom, joining with the other statements Eadgil and Dainn had been making up till this point. This sudden increase gave Dainn a huge advantage though, on both the fronts of facts and opinions. It pleased the caribou king to have gained such a lead, and to watch as the lesser caribou across from him begun to ponder about his current predicament. Surely he was at a loss to go from here, having hit most of the common disputes made towards caribou about their supposed mistreatment of women.

“I’m finding something odd about all this.” said Eadgil, hand on his chin as he thought aloud. “So what you are saying is that you removed the horns and wings from mares because they were dangerous?”

“Why take my word for it? We could simply ask the witness that has been provided for us.” Dainn shot a glance over to the crystal mare next to Eadgil, and said to her, “Would you not agree that you were more dangerous with your magic than you are without it?”

Both caribou looked to the red collar as she worked out that question in her head, taking a few moments to really think through what it meant. “Well… yes. ‘I was certainly a bigger threat to others with my magic than without it’.”

“See,” Dainn said, “Even the mare admits it. As if she could not in this room that won’t let us lie.”

“I see…” said Eadgil, still wearing a bit of concern. He stood there pondering for a moment, looking over all the words floating in the air around him, and then looked over to red-maned alicorn. “Could I possibly add one more rule to help clarify these proceedings a little?”

“Trying to change up things to make them go in your favor?” Dainn asked, both pleased that the other caribou had to resort to some sort of trickery, and miffed that he was attempting it.

“I promise that it doesn’t go against anything we have done before, and that Dainn had already done this himself just a moment ago.”

“Very well,” said the alicorn, “What would you like to add?”

“Just make my next words appear in a different color than the ones presented before, and I’ll explain from there.”

The alicorn responded by making her horn glow, and telling Eadgil “You may proceed”.

The caribou turned his gaze back to Dainn, looking directly into his eyes as he spoke his next sentence. “‘Do you really believe that the mares posed any threat to your kingdom’?” The words appeared in purple, and made Dainn wonder what Eadgil was getting at with this. Eadgil noted the somewhat confused look on the king’s face, and begun to explain what his new addition was. “This is a direct question to you, Dainn, one that I feel needs to be answered to clarify your position on the matters at hand.”

“And why does it matter so much that you have to have it literally spelled out before the court?” Dainn replied.

“Because I feel that despite the limitations given to us, you are a true politician at heart, and able to weave a web of lies without actually saying them. Answering this question will allow us to see what you really think, and further prove that you didn’t have the well being of your citizens in mind when making decisions. Of course, if you feel intimidated by this question, you are by no means forced to answer it, but I think that you understand that refusal to answer is implicating in its own way.”

Dainn could see what the other caribou was saying, as refusal to answer the question was essentially an admittance of some form of guilt. So one way or another, the question would be answered, even if it were by silence. “Then I suppose what-”

“What I want to hear is you answering the question directly,” Eadgil cut in, “Not you stepping around it with a well crafted sentence.”

“Fine then, no. I would never honestly say that I had ever seen any of the females as threats to my domain. Me and my army where stronger, smarter, and more cunning than the whole of Equestria’s females combined, and had nothing to fear from those few that had the power to forge a feeble attempt of resistance against our might.”

With Dainn’s answer, the question faded from existence, having served its purpose, and giving Eadgil the answer he was looking for. “Thank you Dainn. You’ve given me exactly what I needed to cut your words down to size. You see, if you don’t believe that the mares were a threat, whether horned, winged, or what have you, then you really didn’t need to remove them for the reasons you stated before. Or in other words ‘You had no ethical reason to remove them from the mares, because they posed no threat to your empire’!”

Once more a line of green words shot from the side of the opposition, and easily smashed through several of Dainn’s statements before impacting with one of Dainn’s facts and shattering itself. This relieved Dainn, as his wall of text was able to hold against the stag, as he had hoped it would.

However, Eadgil looked pleased with the results of his attack as well, despite it not making its way completely to Dainn. “‘There is little difference between the treatment of a black collar and a red collar in that regard’, ‘The black collars exist to prevent possible problems in a master being too lenient or too trusting with their slaves’, ‘That conclusion was something I came to when I learned what mares possessed the abilities they had’.” he said, reading aloud the remaining statements.

“Is there a point to this?” Dainn asked the other caribou, starting to feel a little unnerved in the aftermath of the attack.

“You have set up quite the wall, Dainn, which is something I’ve come to expect from you.” Eadgil said sternly, “You never attacked unless you were surrounded by wards and soldiers to back you up, and once you took over Equestria, you hardly ever left Canterlot Castle unless your protection was guaranteed. It appears that your approach to debate is the same, or perhaps this is your first real experience with a person you can’t have dragged away to the dungeons.”

“The point, boy!” Dainn yelled, Eadgil’s attitude becoming grating to his nerves.

“The point is that with all the fluff you added now gone, we can see the facts of the matter, and deduce a logical conclusions from them. There was a reason all your speculations vanished in the blink of an eye, and that can be deduced by looking at what remained… and by what else left. Have you noticed that your statement attesting to the power mares had ‘whether horned, winged, or not’ has left the field, despite being a fact?”

Dainn had not noticed that. He had only been focused on his barrier holding the brunt of Eadgil’s attack, and not what damage it had done.

“It was the only fact you gave that actually supported the notion that pony mares could be potentially dangerous, and was depicted as being fact, but it wasn’t something you actually believed in. Having it removed along with a few of your other statements makes what remains have a slightly different meaning. For example, the idea that you came to the conclusion that horns and wings had to be removed as soon as you were made aware of their existence, even though they couldn’t harm your regime. Without everything else muddling the issue, it seems to me that you only wished to do this to prevent them from having ways that proved them to be equal to males or, to press a bit further, made them superior to the average caribou male.”

“You speak nonsense.” Dainn rebutted.

“Do I?” Eadgil replied, “While I’ll admit myself that I don’t see ponies as superior to us, I believe we both know that they possess abilities that have certain utility that we do not. The unicorns alone can cast spells freely, while we are limited to making symbols to do anything more complicated than levitating objects. This spontaneous ability to weave spells gives them an advantage of speed when it comes to magic. Then there's the vast array of magics they have access too, with ponies seemingly having thousands of magics to aid them based on their special talents, while our spells only focus on sexuality and simple manipulations of elements.”

“That means nothing. Mares were still incompetent when it came to said magics, not knowing how to use it in ways that benefited Equestria.”

“Can you really say that?” Eadgil questioned, placing his balled up hands on his hips as he gave Dainn a somewhat smug smirk, “Before you became king, you had to have heard of the feats the mares had done to save their lands from imposing threats. You even referenced the negative parts of these events earlier, of how time and again Celestia failed to protect her kingdom. It’s amazing that there was even a kingdom for you to claim, or it would be, if not for the Elements of Harmony. Where Celestia might have failed, those six mares succeeded in maintaining Equestia’s peace.”

“That is undeniably true,” Schorl piped in, “Those six mares did do a lot before your arrival, my lord. Well, them, Princess Cadence, and Prince Shining Armor. Then again, this is just more common knowledge Eadgil is spouting off, as the king surely knew this. ‘Dainn did make a point to present those six as false heroes after all’.”

“Common knowledge as it may be, Dainn cannot acknowledge the negatives without likewise accepting the positives.” said Celestia.

“Exactly,” Eadgil agreed, “And this is what brings me to his other two statements, of how black collars are to prevent owners from being too lenient, and that there is little difference between the treatment of red collars and black collars. Knowing what I know of the treatment of mares, or any other non-caribou females, I can agree with both these notions, but not in the way you wish to present them. Or, to make a better correlation to these two statements, you invented the black collars to assure that those against your regime would be treated poorly, but then that poor treatment was just made universal among all females. Not that it mattered to you, as their well-being was never a priority if it meant they would no longer defy your will.”

“And where is your proof to that?” Dainn asked, trying to block Eadgil’s attempt to make him out to be a monster towards his citizens, even those as lowly as the females, “All that you said thus far is still easily explained as our people doing what we knew was right in order to correct the behavior of mares to be more suitable for the new kingdom they would live in.”

“Oh!” squealed out the crystal mare at Dainn’s words, “That is a wonderful way of approaching this.” Schorl then turned her head to the two next to her, “Let’s assume that the caribou’s rule was unavoidable. That Dainn was undoubtedly going to rule Equestria, and caribou values of male superiority were going to be the norm. ‘Would you say that Dainn’s methods took things too far’? One could argue that for females who were not not going to just conform to this new order, this level of discipline would be needed to make it stick, and in the end any harm done was negligible when compared to the benefits it would garner further down the road. Looking at it that way, the mistreatment of mares could be seen as simply ensuring they understood what would be expected of them in the future.”

“You’re treating the subject of torture like it’s relative to spanking a child.” Eadgil responded to the unicorn.

“Well I can say that there was plenty of spanking involved.” Schorl replied, sticking out her tongue at the caribou, “So as for my question.”

“It is easy to see that Dainn went too far, and not only from the point of view of someone against the regime.” Eadgil answered, before turning back to Dainn. “But I suppose you see things differently.”

“Of course. No matter what you might believe, and despite what was done in my kingdom, ‘There were limits in place to assure that females stayed healthy and functional’. The result was always to get the females to serve obediently, and despite the pain and restrictions put upon them through the removal of unneeded extensions from what was considered the normal pony form, no debilitating harm was done to them. A unicorn can pick up things or perform a task without magic, and a pegasus doesn’t need to fly to get from one place to another.”

“I thought you might say that…” said Eadgil, the tone of his voice growing darker, “So I have to wonder if you have forgotten or simply wish to ignore the purple collars.”

“Purple… collars?” Dainn said hesitantly, immediately seeing where this conversation was heading.

“Yes, the purple collars. Living proof of how far beyond your own rules you are willing to go.”

“Now wait just a moment.” Dainn said, wanting to give his side of this before Eadgil started spouting off his points. “I-”

Eadgil wasn’t going to allow it though, as he had heard quite enough of the king’s excuses, and was pretty sure there would be no legitimate explanation to this particular topic.

“You should know well that ‘A purple collar is used to indicate mental illness in a female’.”

“Yes, but-”

“And that this wasn’t usually done on accident, but frequently done with intent in a practice known as ‘purpling’, wherein an owner of a mare would go out of their way to break the mind of a mare through use of torture and sexual abuse.”

“That’s true but-”

“And unless you’re drastically different from the Dainn of my world, this is a process that you cannot feign ignorance or disapproval of, as you had this done to one of your personal slaves.” Eadgil’s eyes shifted to the alicorn next to him, “Forgive me for saying this, Celestia, but in my experience of reality you had been captured and made Dainn’s slave. For a while, you resisted him, and were a black collar, but shortly afterwards you started wearing a red collar.”

Celestia eyes widened in shock at this revelation, which Dainn took great enjoyment in seeing. “That’s a good look on you Celestia. Reminds me of how you looked when I tore the dress from your body at the same time I tore away your title of princess. The boy speaks the truth though, I did break you. Made you my willing pet. To see the look on your face as you lovingly licked my cock.”

Hearing Dainn, the white alicorn recovered her composure, but said nothing to Dainn in rebuttal. Instead, said to Eadgil. “I suppose there is more to this than just that, isn’t there?”

“Yes,” Eadgil answered, “For some reason, Dainn didn’t stop at making you a red collar. Whatever he did, he pushed and pushed at it until he felt that you deserved a purple collar around your neck.”

“I see…” Celestia said, retreating into thought.

“I know that news must be distressing, but it proves that Dainn didn’t care at all for the mental health of females, even though he recognized purpling as brain damage. Seeing how purples mostly behave as sex-crazed, it would have been easy to claim they were just incredibly eager red collars, but he wanted others to know what he had done. He used purple collars as examples to others, to instill fear into femaless, let everyone know that he could destroy their brains if they didn’t fall in line, and that no one, not even a princess, was safe.”

Dainn stood there, taking in what Eadgil said, and having trouble arguing the logic. Everything that was said was rational, and Dainn found it difficult to disagree. After all, everything he said about purple collars was true when it came to what status they defined a mare as. Not only that, but he couldn’t honestly say that he cared that mares had their minds broken, or that he didn’t feel some sort of pride in breaking Celestia. That put him in a bad spot however, as this was very credible evidence that he didn’t put the well-being of the female half of his kingdom as a priority.

“So, Dainn…” Eadgil said, certain he had cornered the dead monarch. “Do you have anything to say on this matter?”

He really didn’t. Had he not been in this court room, he could have denied his participation in all this, or said something to the degree of how this was helpful to the mares, but with the circumstances he couldn’t say things he knew were lies. As much as he hated it, Eagil had formed a very convincing argument against him.

“Perhaps I do,” Celestia said, surprising Eadgil with her interruption, “I’m finding it very difficult to believe that I was broken by a tyrant such as Dainn.”

“Of course you do,” Dainn told her, “You lack the first-hand experience of being at my mercy, and as an uneducated mare, you still have that revolting pride about you.”

“This has nothing to do with pride,” Celestia replied, “But my duty to my kingdom. I would never submit to you when my kingdom’s future was at stake, and my people were suffering. However, I may make you believe I had been in order to bring your guard down, or pretend to have done so in order to protect my people. So I’m giving you an out here, at least with me, by saying that ‘You didn’t break my mind like you assumed’. Can you agree with that opinion?”

“No,” Dainn didn’t have to think about the question, or the implications of refuting it. He would not suffer the thought that Celestia could not only resist him, but trick him as well. “I will not agree with that. ‘I know I tamed you’, and nothing will convince me otherwise.”

For the first time, Dainn launched his own counter to the group, and with it smashed Celestia’s claim without issue, a personal theory as it was.

Celestia watched her statement shatter, but did so unflinching. She had expected this from Dainn, and suffered nothing from his refusal to accept the possibility. “Then I’ll retract the opinion, for now at least, and leave you in the same position you were in before. Eadgil, you may continue.”

Eadgil didn’t feel he really had to, believing that he had ended this here and now. With this one section of debate, he had irrefutably shown Dainn that his kingdom was built on a mountain of ruined lives. He might not even have to move on to how similar arguments could be made for the treatment of stallions, who Dainn had willfully brainwashed in order to get them to act like the average caribou male, and by doing so stealing any of the freedom Dainn promised them with his ’liberation’.

Just as Eadgil thought he had won though, with Dainn’s only reply being silence, he heard something that interrupted his assumed victory. The sound of clapping emanating from aside him, making a sarcastic applause. He didn’t have to guess where the sound was coming from, as he knew that it had to be the red collar among his trio that was making it.

“Bravo,” said Schorl, not ceasing her claps as she spoke, “You have proven without a doubt that our lord didn’t have the slightest concern about whether or not any females under his rule were treated even remotely ‘fair’. Bra… vo…” There was something in the crystal mare’s sly demeanor that Eadgil didn’t like, the way she so easily agreed with his side after siding with Dainn since the start. And what had she said? ‘I would have been a bigger threat to others with my magic?’ He might have been overthinking it, but that implied that she was a threat to others. She was up to something, but what it was, he could only wait and see at the moment.

“However~… What’s your point?” The mare said, singing the first part mockingly, while ending her sentence with a dull tone.

“My point is-”

“Moot,” she interrupted, “As what does it matter if Dainn brainwashed and tortured his way to the top.”

“It shows that Dainn did not have the best intentions towards his subjects.” Eadgil argued.

“Perhaps that would matter if we were trying to find out if Dainn was an Equinitarian, but we aren’t. Must I remind you again. ‘The topic of our discussion is if Dainn’s methods are beneficial to the world’.” The mare’s words were confusing to everyone involved in this debate but herself, receiving odd looks from all but the creator. She noticed this, and sighed, “I guess I’ll have to explain. Tell me, what do you believe is more important? Personal freedoms or public safety?”

Eadgil thought for a few seconds. “To be honest, I think the question is meaningless. A situation in which these two are even at odds with each other is already a sign that something is going wrong in society on a fundamental level. The very fact that mares are inclined to rebel against Dainn’s regime to begin with proves that it isn’t in their interest. The rebellion is not just an accidental fact, it’s a symptom.”

“I suppose that’s what I should have expected from the neutral voice in this. And what about you, princess?”

“I believe the freedoms of the people are more important.” said Celestia, “I’ll admit, I wish my kingdom was more secure, but it would all be for naught if it came at the suffering of my citizens.”

“And what about you, my lord? What about your opinion?”

“Of course the safety of one’s kingdom is more important,” stated the caribou king, “What good are all the liberties in the world if one does not have the power to protect them?”

“And there you have it.” said Schorl, “Three different view points, each equally valid. So in this case…”

“If Dainn can prove that he can benefit his citizens with safety, then it doesn’t matter what he does to those he lords over.” Celestia said, reasoning that that was the topic the crystal mare was trying to lead them into. “Then… what we have to do is prove that he doesn’t have a hoof to stand on for either position.”

“You are surely welcome to try,” Schorl announced, “And I have a brilliant idea. Why don’t we use this as a segway into what you and the king discussed earlier. You know, that whole thing about ‘who’s the better leader’.”

“That… is a wonderful idea.” Dainn agreed, feeling as this was his chance at a second wind. Surely he could prove that his leadership kept the kingdom much safer than what Celestia ever had. “So how about it Celestia? Are you ready to challenge me one more time?”

“Yes, I’m ready,” Celestia said without fear, understanding the terms mentioned earlier would be set into motion, but also seeing this as the best opportunity to defeat Dainn in this battle of wits.

Author's Notes:

So once again I got a bit more delayed than I thought I would with a chapter. Took a week off, then experienced bouts of writer's block, distractions, and bouts of frustration with one of my colleagues when dealing with certain parts of this one that turned what was suppose to be a two week thing into a three week thing. Not only that, but then I started to notice the size of the chapter, and how I was hardly halfway through with what I wanted done with Acceptance to consider it finished. I had to break it up into parts, else I'd be gone for months.

Then again, perhaps this gives me a few extra times to do some of my "after story" anecdotes, and you to delve deeper into my own mind. So instead of my views on "acceptance", which I will get to, why don't I talk a little about my current issue, a misunderstanding of "scope".

It seems to be an issue I deal with quite often with my stories, where in I will come up with an idea in my head, map out the basic details, and then get to work without truly understanding what I had gotten myself into. For an easy example of this, I point myself back to Bruised Apples. My original concept for it was roughly seven chapters featuring AJ going through her journey of becoming a red collar, and sequentially losing that status, with the help of her brother. Over time though, I extended that simple concept to 21 chapters (22 if you count the alternate ending), with bits and pieces added all over the place. There was a point where I had the two Appleoosa chapters as one, and was foolish enough to believe that the gala chapters would likewise be a single one.

This is an issue that goes even further back though, as one can see it with my non-FoE related work too. For instance, my original story was suppose to be maybe 3 chapters long, but I stretched it out to about 5 because people were actually interested in my screwed up little world. Not that I care about popularity, but I must admit that feedback did keep me going on this far past the point that I originally assumed (*wink, wink, nudge, nudge*). However, there was a bit of a difference back then compared to now. Back when I started, I just jotted down whatever came to mind with little care of what I was typing. Kinda just getting some wonderful ideas out of my system as they came. I plotted out some stuff, sure, and that lead to me creating internally a few timelines for both FoE and my other story (with basic plots mapped out for... 6+ extra story arcs each), but when I did write my stuff was so littered with errors because I had a hard time stopping and looking at my stuff.

Nowadays, I seem compelled to plot out my every word till to make sure everything is perfect, as I'm a bit more invested in my work and presenting a little more than the kinky, sadistic stuff in my head, though I do sometimes wish I could set that aside and return to my playground of suffering without all the platitudes attached. If fact, I plan to go back to something that looks more at those aspects after this one, putting my other projects on hold for that.

Now, to relate this a bit more with FoE... I know I've made complaints to this subject before... but I feel that my issue of "lack of perception of scope" is something that is shared among my former colleges in the contributors' group, backed up by the number of abandoned story arcs there are. Now I know that they all have their own supposed reasons, some probably more legitimate than others, but what I see here are a bunch of people who had their own ideas for stories, wanted badly to write them out and have them be a part of something they enjoyed (FoE canon in this instance), and then started to realize what that entailed.

Over time, they started to lose momentum, or started having other interests, or simply took a step back and realized that what they were writing wasn't as interesting or exciting as they thought and then... stopped. They never wanted to write out long, drawn out story arcs, or things that had extended plots. They just wanted to make stories about ponies getting plowed. Nothing wrong with that, but they had put themselves into a position where they had promised more, and never delivered. So they quit; some doing so in a profession manner, some stopping all together to go back to their own thing, and one particular person coming back only to pick up small scraps of praise from stragglers seeing their story for the first time after years, only to have them make more promises they never intended to deliver on.

In the end, it probably would have been better if FoE's story was simply a bunch of fan made one shots, but I know at this point that would have never worked on my end. I always inflate things to beyond my original scope, because words keep popping into my head. Sure I could try to trim it down, but then that would be taking away part of what I was trying to convey, and lose part of the meaning I was trying to present, even if that meaning is something as obvious as "Dainn treated non-caribou like shit".

BTW, Eadgil is a cameo from another FoE related story, and if you are interested in him, I suggest you check out Freeville Chronicles. I'm sure the author for that would enjoy your feedback too.