Steel's Response

As you open your portal to retrieve your spear, Steel's head turns and the grip on his staff tightens, but it subsides when you do not attack. "You are no King of mine, but proceed."

As you go on to explain at a millennia of repeating battles, fighting against various copies, Steel looks up in a moment of surprise, before bringing it back down more calmly. "I see... Sight foresaw this, even without his ability." He looks at you directly, "Eo-Naxx Claw was forbidden from 'implicitly' mentioning it in any of his notes... but having his data at your disposal, there must be more than enough evidence to draw your conclusion. Impressive, I'll admit." He grips his staff. "I will not deny the truth you speak. This may only be our second meeting, but the two of us, and in fact the whole of your alliance and my Order, have battled a multitude of times, across various iterations of the same events. Repeating over and over again, with slight variations inbetween but ultimately the same result to start anew. And no matter how many it takes to succeed, we will *continue* to fight. For while Eon is the ultimate foe we face, he is not our only one. We are no slaves of Eon: we use its power as a means of ending its existence, for no other force will allow for it."

As you list off the various crimes of the Order, and of the assaults made against you and your kind, and of his hypocrisy in enforcing his 'justice' upon you  Steel turns his head to the side, not looking you in the eyes, "...I uphold Equestrian justice. But my Order occasionally demands more. Whatever the Order does, it does in the interest of perserving our future. Eon is a foe that demands the greatest sacrifices from us all. Every member of the Order has made those sacrifices." He turns it back to you, "And so we must occasionally demand sacrifices from others. You know of our plans: every chunk of Dreamstone is necessary, and your Crystal Heart could have contributed to protecting 'more' than just the frozen North. Your daughter was taken, but not from you: she was taken from a deranged despot who stole your throne and would have killed her, in a *best* case scenario, if left to his own devices. She never knew a moment of harm or danger, and was returned to you once she had fulfilled her purpose." He pauses, looking down.

"...if you want me to admit that the Order is not without sin, you may have it. But I must act in the interest of more than just what I perceive to be just. My Master who gave me everything demands it. The good of the world, all of time, and even the cosmos, demands it." He holds up a hoof. "Let me ask you this: why is it you think we did not come to you for an alliance, or that of any leader of any timeline like the alicorns? What would have happened if we had all succeeded as you suggest we would be, and destroyed Eon together, what would you do next?"