Civil Distinction: Chapter-by-Chapter Analysis

I promised to do something like this when Civil Distinction was still on its tenth chapter. It's my longest and most ambitious story to date, and it took me roughly 2.5 years to complete it. I've covered a lot in this story, significantly more than I had expected to when I first began writing. Not that I'm trying to make this seem like some mighty accomplishment; there are authors who have written 500,000+ word stories, which is insane to me. So 181,000 words is my personal milestone.

This is a crossover fic, but the only thing you need to read to understand it is the prequel. There's no need to play the game. This is because, with the exception of the main character (who effectively has no personality in the first game à la Gordan Freeman, so I had to make him my own in a sense), every human character is an OC, and all references to the game are either kept to a minimum or explained in simple terms—for example, Corvo's city of residence, Dunwall, is just that, a city; there's nothing else you need to familiarize yourself with.

I included a recap of the first story for those who wish to skip to this one. I don't recommend it since there's a lot of details missed out, but frankly I think Civil Distinction is too important (for me personally) to let it be dragged down by what I consider an inferior prequel. So go ahead and catch up on some past events, then dive right in. I'm generally going to touch upon specific themes, clues, subtleties, foreshadowing, or sections of writing I feel are important.

And that's that. Also, spoiler warning. I'm going to break down every major plot point in ~11,300 words. Let's start.

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Chapter 1: Erroneous Superficiality

1. The narrator is his own character. Yeah, that could be a tad jarring. He's not me. I mean, it's easy to get lost in all the psychological hysteria and excessive details of the plot, but you may have noticed that the narrator will interrupt every once in a while to give out his own opinion on what's going on, and with whom he sides. What you ought to keep in mind is that this narrator has very little confidence in his own abilities. He's constantly falling into seemingly meaningless digressions and apologizing for being such a terrible narrator. He understands the characters quite well, but there are moments when he'll get something wrong, acknowledge it, but continue to get it wrong. He's possibly insecure, but also very spiteful, and you never get his name. You may or may not even feel sorry for him.

My intention with this style of narration—a rare (according to my estimation) first-person omniscience—was to have him just vague enough so you don't pay attention to him in the background when all the drama and action takes center stage; at the same time, he's familiar enough when everyone to be able to speak with the chumminess of a curious gossiper.

2. The first new character we're introduced to is Arbmos. "Arbmos" spells "Sombra" backwards—so literally in the first few lines of dialogue you're given the hint that this guy is Sombra, and that he's been following Corvo for some time now (and you know Sombra is in this story because of the character tags). The opening scene is used to reintroduce Corvo as a famous detective: he's been invited to this grand party, although for exact reasons unclear till chapter 10. We get to know his relationship with several of the other characters. We are also introduced to the figure of the Wandering Stranger, which is Corvo's secret vigilante identity. He goes around killing criminals, with his mask and magical powers (a cross between Batman and Light Yagami from Death Note). This is all established in the first scene, and it'll become very important much later on.

3. We're also introduced to Serath, who is Corvo's equal in many ways. When I made him I wanted to give the sense of a genuine friendship—that is, they have just enough in common so their relationship is plausible, but enough differences so they don't appear to be carbon copies of each other. Serath is mild-mannered, polite, and agreeable; Corvo, while courteous, is often blunt and disagreeable. They both bounce off each other a lot. Both are highly intelligent. In this scene we also learn that Serath suspects Corvo of being the Wandering Stranger. I was planning to have him find out, but unfortunately I never got around to it.

4. The next scene is meant to continue the plot with Celestia and Luna. Celestia immediately comes to the conclusion that Corvo's presence, his unique magic, may have caused a disturbance in Equestria, which it did. It's because of him that Sombra was freed, since his Mark reacted with Sombra's dark magic. This is gone into more detail later on. In truth, the first chapter opens up many questions and answers very few.

5. Corvo receives the cryptic letter; it's from Sombra (that should be obvious). At first this seems impossible, but we know Sombra is in Corvo's world, so it wasn't difficult. Here's a clue in the dialogue which shows Corvo's growing animosity towards his city:

"I do not have time to plan!" Corvo fell down to sit with his legs crossed, and slapped a hand to his forehead. "Every second I take up could perhaps decrease the time I have to..." Corvo hesitated. "To protect this city," he ended stiffly.

and then

His reluctance to go was weighing upon his choice; but an even greater fear of remaining where he was seemed to be overwhelming.

He no longer feels enthused about his position as the Wandering Stranger. Rationally there was no good reason for him to return to Equestria, but he returned because he wanted to. He starts to hate Dunwall, and sees Equestria as a sort of respite for that.

6. Not much else happens. The Outsider brings him back to Equestria, he meets up with Celestia and Luna (the former had been expecting him), but now we know this was all planned out by Sombra. You could ask, "Why drag Corvo into this?" Well, he escaped the glaciers in the Crystal Empire because of him. We learn later on how Sombra managed to cross from Equestria to Corvo's world.

Chapter 2: A Guarded Moment

1. Some might be confused with how the illusion worked. Sombra was trailing behind Corvo and activated it when he entered the library. It was roughly midday when that happened, and the princesses had to raise the moon in due time when they awoke, so they were trapped in there for, in my estimate, at least 6 hours. Then, just before Celestia and Luna wake up, Sombra freezes time for an hour and manipulates Luna (while they are still in the illusion, that is) into joining him. Afterwards Corvo wakes up and the plot continues. There are some changes to Luna's behaviour, although I've only made it apparent around chapter 4 or 5.

2. To add, there's the existence of that grey book. Corvo observes that it only appeared in the illusion, but in reality Sombra placed it there for later use, namely for his communication with Luna. I'm not sure how Luna kept the book without anyone noticing it, so I'll just chalk it up to an inventory system like in any RPG.

3. I'll be honest, chapter 2 is arguably the least exciting chapter, in that very little of importance goes down. But what is important is the Crystal Heart, which becomes the MacGuffin. We learn that the Crystal Heart is missing, as in, it suddenly vanished that day, right when Corvo returned.

4. Corvo's Mark reacted with the Crystal Heart, temporarily disabling it; this gave Sombra enough time to escape and plot his revenge. This is gone into complete detail in chapter 4.

5. There's a fairly pointless fight scene that I don't care much for. I put it there to add some action, but in hindsight a good amount of tension-building dialogue would have been a preferable alternative.

Chapter 3: Decreasing Loudness

1. This is the shortest chapter. It's used for three reasons:

—1) To bring Serath into Equestria. I did this to have a second voice of reason along the journey. As will be later explored, Serath's viewpoints are similar to that of Dostoevsky's, while Corvo's philosophy is that of Nietzsche's. I wanted to have some lighter banter (also the reason I brought the Main Six along) so things didn't get too depressing. Serath is also a doctor, and through him we learn quite a lot about human behaviour and medicine.

—2) To establish the existence of the mirror. It's in the Crystal Castle, unsurprisingly, and only humans may cross it, as designed by Sombra. Now we know how he linked Equestria to Corvo's world—and he did so when the Crystal Heart was disabled, back in the prequel.

—3) Corvo has panic attacks. I wanted to go more in-depth with this, but it's only brought up once more. I suppose this is the effect that the Wandering Stranger has been having on Corvo. He only continues to kill criminals as an obligation. This serves as yet another reason for his impulsive decision to venture into Equestria once more.

2. When I first began to write Civil Distinction it was without much direction—that is, I had no idea how it was going to end, or even what situations the characters would find themselves in the next few chapters. I think chapter 3 is where I really started to get a grip on some cohesion, and by chapter 4 I had a vague outline of the entire plot planned out. In the first draft there was this sub-plot involving Corvo suspecting that they were only trapped in the illusion for a few minutes rather than six hours, but I quickly dropped it. It'd have gone nowhere and I had no idea on how it related to the current threat.

Chapter 4: The Misty Morning

1. Only thing that's worth noting in the beginning is the additional character building for Corvo and Serath, and the latter learning about the former's magical powers. This needed to be established quickly as to not infer future complications. It's around this time when I also start to introduce more moments of humour. Some lines I find pretty funny, such as this one:

"I wouldn't have it any other way," said Serath. "Some say a soft bed is the second best medicine."

"What is the first?" asked Corvo.

"Actual medicine."

In fact, humour as a whole is used more liberally in this story. Well, I say "liberally" because, in comparison, the prequel was about as dry as a bone. Make no mistake, Civil Distinction is hardly a comedy; the humour is actually very scattered and I only tried to be funny when the time truly called for it. I didn't want to be too depressing.

2. Here's one of the first clues that Luna is working with Sombra:

Princess Luna herself dismissed the guard on lookout from the top of the Crystal Castle and decided to watch the night sky from there, deep in determined reflection. She was largely one of the more careful ponies, still hanging on the edge of paranoia in thought of Corvo and Serath, but strangely enough, not of Sombra, or so that is how I perceived it. She intended to use up all the time available to, if not help right away, pour her ideas into a state of contemplation. What that contemplation was in service of—that I cannot decide on at the moment.

It plainly says that she isn't paranoid about Sombra, and my interpretation is that she used this time to write to Sombra about everything that had transpired up till that point, such as Serath's arrival.

3. To mention this quickly, the scene between Corvo and the Main Six are also, for the most part, filler. Of course, it exists so they can be familiarized with one another again, but the game they play of riddles is only written to stroke Corvo's ego. At that time I wasn't really writing for the philosophy, a fact that drastically changes post-chapter 5.

4. The next scene is to testify Celestia's good judgement and Serath's goodheartedness. She trusts him after one conversation. I was going for a personality similar to Prince Myshkin from Dostoevsky's The Idiot, but less naive and more grounded. Serath has a family, so that establishes some stakes. He's a genuinely good soul looking out for people's best interests. He is meant to be, for all intents and purposes, the likeable type. He garners the good graces of practically every character very quickly, a stark contrast to Corvo's dubious demeanour.

5. This is where things get exposition-heavy, and if you skim through you'll be very lost. Pay close attention, I'll explain Sombra's Xanatos Gambit, and I'll back everything I say with clear quotes:

—1) Sombra could not have stolen the Crystal Heart with Cadence and/or Shining Armor present, so he did so when they were absent.

"Where the Crystal Heart is located, or if not, how to neutralize the black smoke," said Corvo, his eyes still fixated on the map. "What we do know is that Sombra stole the Crystal Heart before we all arrived here."

"But how is that possible?" said Twilight anxiously. "With Princess Celestia's initial warning the guards have been guarding the Crystal Heart. How could he have taken it?"

"He certainly could not have with Shining Armor and Cadence present," said Corvo thoughtfully. "From what I read she possesses mastery over the magic of love, which fuels the Crystal Heart. She is the Crystal Princess, after all. Therefore, Sombra must have stolen the Heart when she was absent."

—2) Sombra invaded the Crystal Empire (after being freed from Corvo's magic, from the very first time he visited) during chapter 3 of the prequel: this was when all the characters were gathered in Canterlot, including Cadence and Shining Armor if you recall.

"Chances are Sombra was following me up until I left, two years ago. In this case, he would need to understand where I come from, who I am, what I tried to do, of which he displayed knowledge.So, at some point or other, he was present during my second visit, and the only instance when Cadence and Shining Armor were away from the Crystal Empire was during that meeting of ours." He sighed in bitter memory. "The one where Luna shot me with her magic."

—3) Sombra stole the real Crystal Heart in the prequel; he created a fake one, a perfect replicant, to replace it so no one would notice; now, during the story, he deactivated his decoy (making it vanish), so everypony thought he somehow managed to steal it. He bypassed the guards by manipulating them, and because he's more powerful, as demonstrated when it's revealed Alloy Spark was a spy.

"It is all about preparation," said Corvo, beginning to gnaw at the edge of his nail. "Sombra made it so all possibilities led to his return. And because he stole it so early on, I suspect a perfect decoy was placed. Now I understand. Because this were his magic, he eliminated this fake Heart, leading us to believe that he somehow performed a heist rather recently."

"Changing or moving something you've created from afar, like a remote control switch,"echoed Celestia in agitation. "It's entirely plausible."

"And that's how he was able to trap me and Spike when we reached the Crystal Heart," [this is in reference to the season 3 premiere] said Twilight sadly, but upon noticing this Spike leaned in closer for comfort. She appreciated this more than ever now.

—4) By the way, the first theory discussed between Twilight and Celestia, in chapter 2, was that Sombra somehow stole the magic from the Crystal Heart, since it was reported that very day that it had stopped working.

"Yesterday I received the grim news that something was wrong with the Crystal Heart. It didn't glow. It didn't spin in place. Nothing, really. I figured out this problem might have happened two years ago, coincidentally when Corvo just left.

but the theory is debunked with

"Something's very wrong, though, Princess Celestia," said Twilight. "King Sombra wouldn't just take away the magic of the Crystal Heart if he had the opportunity to steal it. Unless he's this arrogant in his supposed plan, I have a hard time believing this is just superficial."

—5) In short, if you connect chapter 2 and 4, you can figure out that Sombra only caused his decoy of the Crystal Heart stop working to attract as much attention as possible from the princesses and Corvo, and get them all there.

Phew! That's hella complicated.

Chapter 5: Capital Supposition

1. The longest chapter, which also happens to be accidental. In hindsight I should have split this into two chapters, but now that it's already written, let it stand.

2. I use one of the scenes to discuss some politics. Now, the topic of politics is a minefield, it can easily push people's buttons depending on what you say. So, I made sure to discuss typical 18th and 19th century issues specific to what Serath believes. It is here that we get to learn he's quite knowledgeable and can offer good advice, something that becomes extremely apparent later on. We then learn an interesting fact about the friendship between Corvo and Serath: they enjoy debating each other. Every so often they'll discuss topics they disagree on and try to learn from each other. I think it's a good message to preach, and I made sure to demonstrate it in chapter 6.

3. By the way, just so I don't have to mention it later, chess is used as a plot device, mostly because it had such a presence in the prequel. What's new is mental (or blindfold) chess. I wanted to express the clarity of mind both Corvo and Serath possessed, much like Celestia, who is, in my opinion, the most intelligent character in this universe. Characters are expressed through their chess decisions, such as when Corvo "won" the argument against Sombra in chapter 8 by checkmating him.

4. When Corvo finally catches up with Sombra again (and later on in chapter 8) they're supposed to be standout moments. I wanted to write Sombra as the scene-stealer character. Sombra is a depraved, sadistic, humorous, rationalizing villain. His entire philosophy is thoroughly explored in chapter 8. He is shameless in his humiliation of other characters; however, he's extremely cunning. I wanted to model his intelligence after Johan Liebert from the anime Monster, who could effectively manipulate people into doing anything, even committing suicide. Just like Johan, Sombra's greatest weapon is his tongue: we see him drive the major of Vanhoover mad, he convinced an entire town of ponies to become a cult and follow him, going as far as to convince them to murder Twilight and her friends; he convinced Luna to join him. The only character Sombra has no effect on, incidentally, is Corvo.

5. When Sombra and Corvo enter into each other's minds for an instance, we are brought back to the illusion from the beginning of chapter 2. You could call this a symbolic gesture. Sombra knows that Corvo hates Dunwall, that he wants to detach himself from the Wandering Stranger life but isn't able to. As Sombra points out, Corvo's greatest fear is the prospect that the world would have been a much better place should he have never been born, after all his attempts to try to make it better:

"Ah, yes... I saw your fear, Corvo, back in Canterlot," continued Sombra thoughtfully, ignoring the regret which came from his voice. Even Corvo lowered his shoulders, and he stared hard at Sombra. "I saw Dunwall, a better version of Dunwall, your city. Economy was booming, nearly no crime, decent weather, a happy empress, better technological advancements in medicine, and you were missing from the picture. What, did reality forget to paint you in?"

Sombra also makes the observation about what we have already mentioned:

"You believe torturing yourself like this is reasonable?" said Sombra again, false pity in his eyes. "What amount of blood do you carry on you, on your hands, I mean? The post-letter, the one with the riddle, the 'awaiting in a castle' version, the 'residence in Equestria' part, how did you possibly come to the conclusion that Princess Celestia was, in any notion, involved? She was the strongest memory you took back from your visit, where your bungled assassination attempt took place, and now look at you, running back for a return at the slightest calling, almost like you missed this place.

As you can see, it is at this moment when the reader is supposed to realize how cunning and far-reaching Sombra really is. He's not someone you'd want to spend even five minutes with in a locked room.

6. Another hint that Luna was working against them: when they were attacked in the basement, Luna teleported every character outside, everyone save herself. There's a pause in which nothing happens, and then the house gets destroyed. But remember, she's in the basement with the attackers, underground, so they're still fine. In this scene Luna is quickly conversing with the townsponies, going over Sombra's plan; in short, Luna was in on it the whole time. She also takes this time while in the basement to write to King Sombra, informing him of their situation, which is why the Crystal Empire was taken over by the black smoke by the time they got back. Only after all that does Luna teleport back up and continues on with the act. If you haven't noticed this you should read that scene again and be surprised by what you missed.

7. Also, the extremely one-sided fight scene between Corvo and the townsponies is by far the most graphic part of this chapter, where Corvo kills off dozens of ponies in the span of a few minutes. This is probably the first action scene that I liked, and it served to show how ridiculously OP Corvo can be when he wants to.

Chapter 6: The Shadows Retreat

1. I tried to be more poetic than usual with the black smoke in the first chapter. I really like this line: "as dark as a bottomless well." I got it from a scene in The Witcher 3 (my favorite game) where Geralt is bargaining with an evil spirit that lives inside a giant tree.

2. When they reverse their tracks to escape the characters' reactions are important. Corvo is the calmest and quickest to take action under pressure; Serath is clearly distraught, and most of the ponies are in a panic. But pay attention to how Celestia and Luna are described. Celestia is written as speaking gravely, being "at the edge of her nerves." So she obviously did not expect this. Luna, however:

Luna mumbled something almost entirely incoherent, shaking her head slowly.

Another hint added to the pile, showing that Luna was told in advance that this would happen, and that she's Sombra's sidekick.

3. I can foresee people criticizing me for pulling a bit of an ex machina. Celestia brings up this abandoned house out of nowhere, conveniently right when they need a place to rest. However, I'll defend this decision by stating that, yes, while the house comes out of nowhere, it hardly makes a difference. Even if it didn't exist, the ponies would still retreat far away due west. The house was there so I could better organize the already-convoluted plot.

4. After they sleep (Luna could've used this opportunity to once again write to Sombra) a tense exchange transpires between Luna and Corvo. This is the vital point when Corvo begins to suspect Luna is working against them. What they actually talk about is irrelevant; what's important is their behaviour. Luna is extremely polite, but too polite, to the point of mockery. Corvo picks up on this and reacts indignantly. He continues to get upset till he just starts to openly act rudely. At first he's confused:

There struck in Corvo a great and powerful, and vexatious, sudden surge of skepticism, the sort of doubt which grapples onto your heart and refuses to let go until you've solved the matter. Whether this was a product of sheer instinct, he did not know. He gave Luna a piercing and menacing gaze, rolling over in his mind what to respond with; but whenever he had an idea, a half-finished conclusion took its place, like he was inconceivably eager to finish a puzzle. But this all burned away quickly. He dropped his eyes, as though he were alone, and a static terror ran up in his veins; hot blood rushed to his face and brought fire to his cheeks.

then a bit later his irritation starts to show itself more plainly

Luna looked at Corvo with an air of candor, but remained silent. This openness Corvo received from her: it seemed so reasonable and yet so infuriating to him—he at last realized that there was the most intense curiosity in him, which would not be satisfied until he conversed with Luna. In such a case, he began to notice the supposed terror in his veins, and while right before he managed to ignore it, now he sensed the sensation intensified when heeding Luna's words of polite encouragement. Something was off, something mysterious, and it lingered in the air, utterly intangible and mockingly. Corvo never truly disliked Luna before, but right now, with the company in the train, right about ready to reach Celestia's desired destination, there was no one else Corvo hated more than Luna.

It was almost like he had to restrain himself from saying anything too damaging, too impulsive, but this particular need for restraint is what, in a sense, put him in a bind.

It made sense to have Corvo be the only one to pick up on this. Celestia is too biased, Serath has just met Luna so he has nothing to compare her to, and the others are just too plain trusting of her (she's a princess for goodness' sake!). But Corvo can sense malevolence from a mile away; he's dealt with it his entire adult life. And he's too emotionally detached from the ponies to ignore his gut. From here on out, Corvo treats Luna with almost nothing but covert suspicion.

5. The debate between Corvo and Serath is pure filler, but like I mentioned earlier, it serves a purpose in establishing just what kind of friendship these two share: respectable intellectual disagreement. The debate itself represents the weakening influence of religion as science and industry develops, and whether it's still important. Corvo's idea is that of Nietzsche's: you can't live on rationality alone without a belief system (in all cases, a religion), so we must create our own values. Serath follows Dostoevsky's train of thought: you need religion to act morally. I don't actually use the word "religion," because I don't want to spark anyone's ire unnecessarily (there's a time and place to do so, but not here). I also made a conscious effort to remain unbiased, so I hope I succeeded in that regard.

6. Actually, no, I did not succeed. Right when Twilight implies that you can rely on intelligence alone to live a moral life, Corvo goes on a rant about how stupid that idea is. He was my mouthpiece for my own projections. I admit it in full. Still, I think I made a decent case for what I think to be true.

7. I've been meaning to introduce the concept of White Light and Black Light magic. I got this idea from—believe it or not—Destiny. Yes, the game. More specifically, from its lore. Without going into detail, the role of light (traditionally meaning good) has been reversed, inferring that black/darkness (traditionally meaning evil) is actually the "good" side of magic. That is: light is evil; dark is good. It's an extremely grim prospect, and it's to add another area of grey in what can be considered right or wrong. I go into further detail on this idea in chapter 7, where Corvo realizes that the real dark magic is the one Equestria (Celestia, her ancestors, etc) have been using.Check this video out for the source of my inspiration.

Chapter 7: Contradictions

1. This is likely the second most psychological chapter (the first being chapter 10, the chapter that is literally about the subject of psychology). I started to get more philosophical in chapter 5/6, and in 7 is where I begin to get excessively psychological. I experimented with this style of writing in chapter 3 but quickly dropped it—right until now.

2. I had to find a way to split up these characters. Originally I was going to have Corvo book it alone, but after realizing there'd be no plausible way he could find Sombra on his own, I tagged Discord along. Let me go over both groups:

—1) I was building up to have Celestia and the others navigate their way back via the tunnel system. I alluded to this several times. Check chapter 3:

"And to where shall they be taken, should this smoke engulf all of Equestria?"

"Underground, where there's a tunnel system, most likely, if we have no other option; in fact, there's an entrance leading below, adjacent to the Crystal Castle," said Celestia, though Corvo noticed an edge of fear in her tone.

and

On his way back Corvo took notice of the underground entrance Celestia mentioned, next the Crystal Castle. Seemed like sort of like a trap door, apparently leading off into some tunnel. It looked awfully out-of-place.

—2) I used my system of the ying-yang type of magic so they could track Sombra down. It's been established in the season 4 finale that Discord can sense magical imbalances, so i went with that. This is where the meta-twist reveals itself: that Sombra's magic is White Light, and Equestrian magic is Black Light (dark magic). It's the "crumbling revelation" that gets briefly brought up again in chapters 11 and 12.

3. It was about time to display Serath's medical expertise (considering he's in the process of writing his PhD thesis), which was the purpose of the scene where he diagnoses Twilight. I legitimately did a good amount of research into the effects of increased spinal fluid pressure, including its symptoms, areas of effect, and remedies. It's extremely painful. You can read about it here. Serath also brings up encephalitis (an inflammatory disease relating to the brain). It might be scientifically inaccurate, but you have to remember he's a 19th century doctor. Many things back then have been disproved today. All in all, I needed a reason for both the characters and the audience to fear the black smoke. I think the threat was sufficiently horrifying.

4. There's two reasons this chapter was named "Contradictions." I wanted to take a closer look at human nature in this chapter, and more particular at contradictory behaviour and what that means. Secondly, the true state of magic contradicts their expectations, both morally and logically. Corvo remarks this:

"Discord, why is 'White' Light any good, White Light in particular? Dark or darkness is synonymous with Black Light (sounds familiar with Sombra's powers, doesn't it?), but why would we jump to the conclusion? We are conditioned to expect that the glowing purity at the end of the tunnel is good, 'white' is the lack of evil, symbolically speaking. And yet this all contradicts. What if Sombra is the one who uses White Light? What if Equestrian magic is Black Light? One must know the light to know the darkness, but which is worse? Which one should we fear?"

and this

"Come now, Discord, how am I to compose myself in times like these?" Corvo all but threw his arms up, firmly tightening his fists, accompanied by a weak smile. "I do not even know where to begin on explaining my reasoning for suspecting such an ordeal from Luna, and yet I do. Funny, is it not, the nonsensical nature of the mind? I often assume that all of our struggles in life can be predicated on the fact that we seek contradictory things simultaneously. We truly are 'walking contradictions,' but—enough of that! I have been thinking about this for quite some time now.

5. At last there's the "expected deduction," or as I prefer it, the "delayed deduction." I go into full detail on this idea right in the next chapter, so I won't dwell too long on this. But what I will say is that Corvo managed to deduce Luna's treachery, but he only did so subconsciously, and his reasoning for it is slowly surfacing. This is why, throughout the chapter, he's confident in his conviction that Luna is the bad guy, and yet he can't pin down exactly why. To re-quote from above:

"I do not even know where to begin on explaining my reasoning for suspecting such an ordeal from Luna, and yet I do.

Discord chimes in on his objectionable claim:

"Corvo, first thing's first: what magnificent piece of evidence do you hold to defend such an allegation?"

"Nothing concrete yet."

And then comes the arc words: a fit of passion. I shamelessly took this exact phrase from The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky, where one of the themes of that novel was free will and its struggle against impulsive desires. Because Corvo can't explain quite just yet, he relies on those words. He's being imprecise in his speech, and it ends up costing him slightly in the next chapter.

6. In case anyone's confused, chapter 8 takes place around the same time as the last 30 minutes of Celestia's journey through the tunnels.

Chapter 8: Sombra Debates Corvo—The Expected Deduction

1. Perhaps the title is a little on the pretentious side, but I'm fine with it. My first choice was to go with "Sombra Debates Corvo—The Fit of Passion," but alas, changes occurred.

2. Man, what on Earth can I say about this chapter? It's a 10,000-word conversation with practically no interruptions. It can get you worn down, true. Many things are discussed here. Corvo is present merely to stall for time, since he knows the ponies are racing to bring the Crystal Heart back to the Crystal Empire. I won't comment on everything (that would fill an entire book on its own), but I'll bring up two philosophical problems that Sombra brings up during the chess match.

—1) When did we ever get the idea that we can sacrifice abstractly?—that is, give something up about yourself (your dignity, your pride, your reputation) so that you can live a better future. It's a fact that throughout much of the course of history we humans sacrificed animals as well as each other to serve the gods. Back then it was common sense. So why the sudden sophistication, and how? I won't answer this question, but it's interesting to speculate. Corvo thinks this dilemma is stupid, and prefers to debunk the logical flaw in Sombra's position (which is a little weak of Corvo, since he's purposely avoiding the main question); Serath would respond with the emergence of religion, although that alone would require a whole nuanced essay to understand, and even then you could likely find faults with it.
—2) Most of what we call morality is simply us being too cowardly to do what we want. This is in reference to Nietzsche's idea of slave morality. Sombra justifies himself with a bit of moral relativism, but he takes a non-conventional approach: he accuses the world of acting unnaturally, and he only, in his quest to be the last being alive when the world ends, acts with reason and rationale. If you had the opportunity to kill an innocent child, get $100,000,000 for doing so, and have a 100% guarantee to never get caught, would you do it? Either you say yes and you're a monster, or you say no and you're the basest coward. That is Sombra's dilemma.

3. This scene plays out on multiple levels simultaneously, kinda like the third act of Inception. First you have the chess match, which represents the battle between good and evil, as well as the imminent victor (which is why Corvo won); second, there's the actual conversation, which, while they go in-depth on all these philosophical points, is rather superficial in the long run; third, there's the internal struggle, the fit of passion, with Corvo finally, by the end, explaining how he planned the whole thing out, and how he came to the idea to ditch the ponies; fourth and last, we have the background struggle with Celestia, and the uncertainty of whether or not they really did make it (why chapter 7 ended on a cliffhanger). Chapter 8 is obviously the most dialogue-heavy and philosophical chapter, and in my opinion it's the most balanced.

4. I've already described Sombra. He's a cross between Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker, Johan Liebert, Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov, and Nietzsche's Ubermensch caricature. I wanted to make him, not tragic or sympathetic, but relatable to the deepest parts of our subconscious. The entire design of his character is modeled after the Jungian shadow: the idea that we store away most of the reprehensible parts of ourselves in the back of our mind, our "shadow," so it follows us around while we ignore it. To be honest, I have no idea if I succeeded in my aim. Hell, there's a chance I failed miserably and you thought Sombra was overly eccentric and distastefully evil. But I'd be very interested to see if Sombra affected anyone to the extent that I intended.

5. Here's a clue indicating Arbmos was Sombra all along. Sombra states:

I'm no scientist, at least not predominantly, but I know a thing or three about neuropsychology and, more practically, neurochemistry.

It was clearly established in chapter 1 that Arbmos is a chemistry professor, and Corvo mentions brain chemistry in particular. Chapter 1:

"Of course... hmm... ah, University of Dunwall, staff of the chemistry department—brain chemistry. I'm quite skeptical of the theories you proposed, if only by my own experience; but what is science if not asking the fundamental questions?

Also, notice how Corvo mentions that he's skeptical of Arbmos' new theory, both here and in this other quote:

"I saw you at the previous lecture," said Corvo. "The lecture in March, two months back, about the mathematical predictability of neurotransmitters.

And in chapter 8:

"You damned fool! Now I remember: you took those exact same words from him, from Professor Edwin Arbmos. He spoke at length about how our brain chemistry is theoretically predictable. What, were you present during his lecture? I already know you snuck into my world for two years, but I think you were following me, too.

This is why Corvo rebutted Sombra's argument at the time.

Chapter 9: Transient Observation

1. Have I ever brought up the estimated IQs of these characters? I don't think I have. Let me make this clear: I seriously doubt the validity of EQ (emotional intelligence), which is based on how observant and receptive a person is to the emotions of others. The theory of multiple intelligences, which is partially derived from EQ, is rubbish as far as I understand it. Howard Gardner, American Harvard graduate of psychology, believed there were eight kinds of intelligence: musical, spacial, mathematical, interpersonal, and so on and so forth. But it's wrong. There's really only two: fluid IQ and crystallized IQ. The former relates to logic receptiveness and your ability to think quickly, such as identifying patterns or solving puzzles; the latter refers to how well you can use and apply knowledge and experiences. Fluid IQ is based on brain chemistry (means you gotta get lucky) but it peaks in your early 20s, then it starts to decline. Crystallized IQ either remains stable or continues to go up as you age.

Why bring this up? I want to take the time to discuss the supposed intelligence of five characters. This isn't entirely specific to chapter 9, but I think it still applies.
—1) Princess Celestia. Seeing as how she's the oldest, she possesses the most experience. But also, my headcanon is that she's the most intelligence IQ-wise. Her IQ ought to be anywhere from 210–250. My interpretation is that she has mastered all or nearly all forms of magic, is knowledgeable in a range of fields, from physics to sociology to geography, and she is fluent in many languages.
—2) Princess Luna. Obviously not as gifted as her older sister, but seeing as she's an alicorn, I think that's the genetic jackpot. She's also lived for thousands of years, so I'd put her in the low 200s. Keep in mind that Celestia had the foresight to use the tunnel system, and to an extent Luna did, too. Both sisters can think very rigorously.
—3) Corvo Attano. I'd say a solid 190. He's in his 30s, but he's naturally very intelligent. What he lacks in sheer brain power (compared to Celestia) he makes up for in intuition. Corvo, by and large, is the single character with the most initiative in the story. He constantly thinks independently and decides to act first. He's unbelievably proactive, more so than Celestia.
—4) Serath Hemsworth. A little under Corvo; his IQ is around 180–185. He's a brilliant doctor; he can diagnose you on the spot, in only a minute. He and Corvo are significantly different, however. Corvo is a detective, his job requires the innate ability to notice patterns, details most would miss, to think both in the short and long term, and to solve puzzles quickly. Serath's work is far more methodical, and he often works at his own pace. Still, it helps that he, too, has an eye for detail.
—5) King Sombra. I really can't say, since what he does isn't necessarily dependent on pure theoretical intelligence but more on dedication, conscientious work, and even practicality. His IQ stands anywhere from 150–250. We don't know how old he really is, so it isn't a stretch to suggest he can he as smart as Celestia.

2. Chapter 9 has this really mysterious dichotomy between reason and emotion. I haven't give it much thought, but in hindsight, that's what I wanted to show. The conversation between Corvo and Celestia is anchored down by a lot of subtext: for the longest time things don't seem to be able to kick off. It's the first time these two are being completely honest with each other. It sounds cheesy to write it out just like that, but I vehemently wanted to reconcile these two in whatever way possible. They're so different in terms of personality, moral character, and life purpose. Throughout their dialogue it's like Corvo is stalling for something. They mention the potential casualties in Canterlot, and Luna's current mental state, but Corvo is still unsatisfied. It's only nearing the end that he brings up his redemption, that he did all he could to save Equestria but is still feels like he is in her debt, that he feels unworthy. I wished to change Corvo, to give him the proper character development he needed—not abruptly and impatiently, as I realized—I needed to wait till the time was right. I wanted to be gradual; I guess too gradual. In the prequel he was this self-disillusioned sociopath, but I wanted for him to be better. Don't mistaken me, I by no means intend to have you believe Corvo is some role model figure; he's still very much in the grey. Even Serath is tinged with grey:

"I listened to what you told Celestia," said Serath in a low, penetrating voice, but he nevertheless smiled.

"So you did," pronounced Corvo, almost inaudibly.

"Ha, ha, I think you did the right thing, Corvo. True redemption is when guilt leads to the wellbeing of others. Every saint has a past, and every miscreant has a future."

"Sounds like you speak from experience."

"More than I would like to admit."

I wanted the forever-valued character depth every writer aims towards, and this was my very obvious attempt at reaching that goal. His conversation with Celestia lasts for quite some time, but by the end something was achieved. And from that point on, they treat each other with newfound respect, something that was missing in their subsequent interactions.

3. Speaking of interactions, and the struggle between the heart and the brain, I quite liked Celestia's encounter with Luna right in the next scene. As you should know, Luna is racked by guilt for helping Sombra, and this takes place right after his defeat. Luna does a stellar job at hiding these feelings, which makes the "I love you" more poignant. But being the person that I am, I wanted to hint at this even a little; it was here:

Celestia stood there, unmoving for an entire minute, contemplating over the entire day. She was well aware of Luna's considerable abilities, but right then and there doubt stung her, namely, she got the impression that her sister was exaggerating them in some strange and unordinary self-conceit. That is, Luna took off very eagerly, assured that she would save as many ponies as possible, and it did not look like she had planned to go to Canterlot immediately, not until Celestia had brought it up. But neither she nor Corvo could have influenced Luna in that, even if this behaviour was vaguely reminiscent of the impression Corvo had made on her.

3. At first I was going to be a cruel bastard and really kill off the entirety of Canterlot's population. I was also planning to keep Discord dead, and earlier than that I wanted at least half of the main characters to meet their end. But no, I didn't do that. I was getting too carried away with wanting to be dark and sadistic that I lost sight of what was really important: the message. Namely, the message that you ought to live your life truthfully, and to confront your worst demons rather than hide and let it consume you. Very few ponies actually died in Canterlot (can't say the same for Vanhoover, though). Discord recovered, because he also lived an honest life. Except Serath. He died miserably at the very end. That was a showcase of my cruelty.

4. Just as the narrator notes in the last few paragraphs, this chapter truly marks the "conclusion" of the story. Civil Distinction, throughout the whole Sombra arc, takes place within the time frame of three days, more or less. It stops here, at chapter 9. Chapters 10–12 are a whole new arc, taking place 7 months later. I really could have ended the story here, and the ending would have been satisfying and goodhearted. But the Luna plot thread was still hanging, and there were several ideas still in the burner that I wanted to take out. Hell, chapters 10–12 could have been a separate fic altogether, a sequel to conclude the trilogy of this crossover. However, I'm not a fan of sequels unless absolutely necessary, and I couldn't just cut it off here without reaching the conclusion to Corvo's story. He is the main character after all, the protagonist. If I just left him to wander around post-plot I'd be tormented by the inevitability of yet another sequel, and I didn't want that. The actual ending may seem a tad ambiguous, but just like the narrator, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Chapter 10: At Full Steam

1. Now then! Let's bring on the mind-numbing complexity of analytical psychology! This chapter is chalk full of connections, allusions, inspirations, and references to all sorts of great writers: Solzhenitsyn, Dostoevsky, Jung—just to name a few. Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm no expert. I've never written two lines of a psychology paper in my whole life. What I have done is taken an immense interest in Dostoevskian psychology. (check out The Brothers Karamazov, Pevear and Volokhonsky translation, for more information)

2. Apollinov may just be my favorite character, as well as the most clever. Celestia still has the highest IQ, but Apollinov is superior in practical intelligence—much like Corvo, except he's smarter than Corvo. I wanted a true "antagonist" for Corvo, although judging on your perspective you may have been rooting for him. My goal was to write a character who Corvo would really fear (he never exactly feared Sombra). Apollinov is a mastermind of human behaviour. He can read anyone like a book. From the beginning of the chapter (post time-skip) he was 100% sure Corvo was the Wandering Stranger. The soirée was just a set-up to attract Corvo.

The main (and most apparent) connection Corvo and Apollinov share is their profession—detectives, and famed ones at that. Through this method both men share enough common ground so their dialogue won't become too sidelined. During their first conversation Corvo is running hypothetical scenarios in his head, mapping out scenarios, and considering every possibility to whatever comes next; meanwhile Apollinov is here, practically giving him an entire semester's worth of college lectures on criminality, utterly confident in his approach. Apollinov actually discovers Corvo's mask and links it back to the latter well before the soirée, but he did not keep it with him to avoid detection. I was going to write this detail into the story but never got to it. That said, Apollinov is a fairly compassionate and selfless individual, he's by no means a bad person. There's a reason why he's the greatest detective in the world.

3. We really get into Corvo's head in this chapter. I dedicated several sections of prose to describe his mental state, his perturbation, his anxiety, and so on. As the chapter advances, he becomes more and more paranoid. In the beginning he's fairly self-contained and calm. By the end:

How long was he in there for? Hopefully not too long. But why did it matter? Corvo's head was spinning.

When he left Arbmos' house he walked on intrepidly, but after a minute he stumbled, and nearly fell over. He felt his determination bound by some sort of new sensation in his heart, but one he could not make any sense of.

He was overcome by insufferable depression, which grew greater at every step he took. Corvo had been depressed before, he had been in situations which would even give one depression and he made it out perfectly sane; but this he could not reflect on properly. Very little made sense. Where was he going? To his house? No, definitely not, or rather not immediately.

We get to see Corvo as someone who's no longer in control of the situation. Even during the Sombra arc he still kept his cool and managed to plan out his actions ahead of time. Now, not so much.

4. There was going to be three visits in total to Arbmos' house, but overall I think two sufficed. There are a few details I will bring to the spotlight.

—1) There's a significant reason for Arbmos' deteriorating health. As was revealed in chapter 11, Arbmos assumed human form, but because his plan failed, he was forced back into it, which wasn't tenable since it could only last for so long. From chapter 11:

"Read here: 'Luna, everything has gone wrong. Everything, everything. I'm back in my human form.' Then: 'Answer me, you stupid pony!' 'I never wanted this.' 'I did.' 'But I didn't. Is there anything I can do? Perhaps it is not too late?' 'No, everything is ruined. Luna? Answer me. Answer! Answer! My human body will surely decay, it wasn't meant to last this long.' 'Corvo is returning to Canterlot.' 'What! Is he? Are you sure?' 'Please forget what I wrote, I happened to have been mistaken.' 'Luna! Answer!' 'Leave me be. I will burn this book! You have tormented me. I can't handle anything!' 'Luna, answer! Corvo won't return, you hear, you wench? I'll ruin his life. I don't care. I don't—' It breaks off here into something quite incomprehensible. After that, it goes on for longer, he was plotting for quite some time, at least a number of months."

As you can see, his human form was not "meant to last this long," saying it "will surely decay." This is why he was in perfect health in chapter 1, but now he's close to dying. This is also the reason why Arbmos (Sombra) said this:

"You truly think I do this out of some conventional justice? I don't care if you kill criminals in your spare time. Go right ahead, don your mask, raise your sword."

Because he wanted to "ruin his [Corov's] life" for foiling his plans.

—2) Second, here's an extremely subtle hint that Arbmos is Sombra:

"A mirror reflects all, Corvo, even the most insignificant details. Look into a mirror and you will see yourself in reverse, but everything else in the background will be in reverse, too. You would not notice that, would you, because you only spend time looking at your own face in the mirror. That is superficial. A mirror reflects all, everything, everything, even the abstract. And the reflection of malevolence is... malevolence."

The reflection of malevolence is malevolence: the reflection of the name Arbmos spells out Sombra, and because they're one and the same, both are equally malevolent.

5. I think I'll have to mention that peasant child who attacked Corvo. It's never brought up again—or so that's how it seems. Arbmos straight-up tells Corvo that he was behind the missing families from the lower districts (as a means to draw attention to the Wandering Stranger, so Apollinov could latch onto it), and that he's been manipulating people to do his dirty work. In my mind, Arbmos manipulated that child to find and attack Corvo, and he later got someone else to pick him up at the police station under the pretense of the boy's father, to dispose of him so Corvo couldn't come back to interrogate him. Remember: this is still the same silver-tongued Sombra who can drive people insane.

6. By this point I had set up Serath as a family man, but I has also decided on his inevitable death a long time ago. So what better way to go about resolving his arc than introducing the reader to his loving wife, who mentions that their kids are asleep? You're not meant to be apathetic about Serath's death. I wanted you, the reader, to care. Did I succeed? Was pulling the family card a cheap shot? Maybe, maybe.

7. Lastly, the title "At Full Steam" is an allusion to the court room scene from The Brothers Karamazov, book 12, chapter 9, titled "Psychology at Full Steam. The Galloping Troika. The Finale of the Prosecutor's Speech."

Chapter 11: The Grey Book

1. The grey book has been a much confounded mystery ever since its appearance in chapter 2. That mystery is broken in chapter 8, when Sombra confesses:

"And you want to know how?" cried Sombra, terribly pleased with himself and the whole situation. "You want to know how Luna and I have been keeping in touch all this time, for the past few days? There's this grey book, a grey book with a black numerical plastered right on it. You must've seen it, you had to. I specifically made sure to leave it out during the illusion I trapped you all in, I wanted you to get a good look, to set your eye on the thing as a distraction. You see, my dear Corvo, there's actually two grey books, the second one's in my possession. It works as a two-way system: write something in one and it'll appear on the other, and vice versa. A perfect match! Ha, ha, ha, ha!"

As you can quite easily guess, I took this idea from EqG, where Sunset and Twilight kept in touch via that magical notebook. But even so, the book Corvo saw was in his illusion, and Sombra told him he left it out in the open on purpose, as if to taunt him. So up until this point we weren't sure whether that particular book from chapter 2 was even real. Judging by the title, this whole chapter was building up to answer that very question.

2. This chapter is full of lessons to learn, although some lessons are better than others, and even still some "lessons" you probably shouldn't be learning. Admittedly this is my most disorganized and rushed chapter, where not many scenes seem connected to one another. Chapter 11 was meant to be the longest chapter; hell, I was picturing it ending somewhere around 30,000–40,000 words. Instead I hit more or less half of that, and much of what transpired I glossed over. There was even going to be a whole small adventure-mystery where somepony stole a valuable piece of jewelry, and Corvo tracks them down throughout the night and recovers it. There was also going to be more scenes with Serath. This was all going to take place before the scheduled dinner, by the way. Instead we get one very confusing scene with Serath at the bakery (I'll get to that soon), one scene with Corvo sitting on a bench (a far-cry from the adventure-mystery I had planned out from him) where at the end he shares a somber and unproductive dialogue with Luna, and then there's the dinner. Even the dinner scene was going to be longer, but what you got were two small speeches from Corvo and Serath, and that's it. I don't know how sudden this is, but I feel the need to apologize. This chapter was such a letdown for me in several ways. The first two and last two scenes I'm perfectly satisfied with, but everything else is just not what I had envisioned. I guess I got lazy, or I scared myself from such a big workload, so I lowered the word count, or whatever.

However, it wasn't all bad. My original plan for chapter 11 was a much more lighthearted, laid-back chapter that only gets serious at the very end. But there have been lighthearted moments scattered throughout this story. And I think the more serious tone I stuck to in chapter 11 was more thematically appropriate. And Corvo's conversation with Luna hit an unintentional chord with me. That said, would I go back and change chapter 11 to what I had originally planned? Most likely, yes.

3. As for the bakery scene, this is a good example of the importance of precise speech, and if your words are too vague or obscure, they can easily be misconstrued. I personally think Serath was accurate in what he talked about in chapters 6–9, but then again, his words were more or less described by the ponies when revealing him and Corvo to the rest of Equestria, so the impressions aren't exactly spot on. In this scene Serath has a lot of surprise fans (meaning his message about confronting the evil within you has gotten their attention in a good way) but they take everything he said out of context. They treat him more as a celebrity than a proper intellectual. In the end, Serath's reaction was not to resist (as Twilight did), but to confront this challenge with a smile. I think that fit his character very well. He is not one who is quick to anger.

4. Corvo's interactions with Apple Bloom and Fancy Pants are, I'll admit, mostly pointless, in that they go against the Chekhov's Gun trope. Like I said, I was largely disappointed with this chapter. But despite this obvious filler, I enjoyed writing their dialogue. Especially when the topic of business is brought up, and you learn that Corvo is pro-capitalism. I couldn't help but inject him with my own pro-capitalist opinions, seeing how I'm a libertarian conservative. But I think I balanced that out by having Corvo say things that I vehemently disagree with, such as the idea that we can create our own values.

5. Since I've brought up philosophy, Corvo's conversation with Luna is an interesting case. I suppose you are meant to reflect on their arguments, and decide on whether or not you agree with Luna's position that we're all self-loathing and pathetic creatures who love to punish ourselves. Of course, this is a reflection of Luna's immense guilt for joining Sombra. Her situation is the ultimate example of existential regret. And I mean real regret, the type of regret most people can't live with for more than a week before deciding to kill themselves. But, despite all that, Luna is being a hypocrite. Worse still, she very well knows she's being a hypocrite, and that itself adds to her depression. This is worse than Nightmare Moon even. There's this great feeling of emptiness once they depart, or at least that's how I felt about it.

6. Hey, remember that paradox of dark magic being switched over for light magic, as discovered in chapter 6 and 7? It's brought up again (finally), where Corvo poses it within a hypothetical scenario directed at Celestia. Her response is as expected, but it leaves a lasting impression. It doesn't go anywhere important (how could it with one chapter left?), but I intended for it to be open to audience interpretation.

7. The drunk scene was my attempt at humour (among another reason I shall get to soon enough). Not quick bouts of humour like before, but a whole scene of it. After all, Corvo loves whiskey. I thought it was funny, but in the end you'll be the judge of that.

Chapter 12: The Final Plan—Price of a Soul

1. Here we are, at the very end of this grand journey. The first three-quarters is basically one long scene, and the last quarter is a compilation of the aftermath from different perspectives. In the same vein as chapter 11, I think both epilogue scenes were rushed (especially the last one), but I'm much more content with this one. Going back, the only thing I'd change would be the last scene with Corvo and the Outsider; I'd probably make that scene twice as long, but eh, it's nothing terrible. The actual end end itself—with the Outsider leaving and Corvo saying "farewell" with a gun in his hand—that was my intention. I wouldn't change that.

2. The beans have been spilled, every single one. If Luna did not stop them then Celestia would have found out, which would spell the end of the world for them. Really, the only logical solution to this—to make sure Celestia never finds out—would be to kill them both. Think about it: Corvo and Serath were already set to leave, and there would be no way of contacting them again unless they decided to return. Perhaps Celestia was going to invite them back some other time, but that's negated by the fact that Corvo irresponsibly missed his meet-up time with Celestia (to deliver her the gift) when he got drunk, so she assumed he had left; well, that's what Luna was hoping for anyway. They would never come back ('cause they'd be dead). Problem solved. Of course, Luna failed to anticipate Corvo's gift, much to his extreme luck.

3. I can see a plot hole here: wouldn't anypony hear the loud crash created by Luna's magic, the broken windows included, and rush over to investigate? I say no. Luna locked the door, and I implied that she cast a sound-proof spell around the room:

"Give up," said Luna imperiously. "You cannot hope to kill me. Once I deal with you no pony will have heard of this."

Corvo survives through sheer luck. This was why I established the gifts in chapter 10, and them getting drunk in chapter 11 to miss the window of time to deliver the gifts—all so Celestia could walk in, looking for him. I never revealed to whom Serath was going to deliver his gift, but I think that's best kept a secret. That, and it's kinda superfluous.

4. After Corvo gives his whole "The Reason You Suck" Speech, and Serath dies, he leaves only to find his house ransacked (most likely by Apollinov's men), and then he runs away, and meanwhile Celestia banishes Luna to the moon as sufficient punishment, to avoid her foreseen execution as a consequence of public outrage.

Look, if you're a big Luna fan I can already feel your seething wrath. Not only did I morally denigrate your favorite pony, but I also ended it with her being banished to the moon (and unlike season 1, this is probably forever). So the only question is: why did Luna join Sombra? After all, Corvo and Serath themselves stress the importance of this question, seemingly unable to wrap their minds around her decision. Even Luna doesn't know why; she says so repeatedly, and she isn't lying. Let me ask you something: have you ever done something in your past life, something you were so sure was going to benefit you, but in hindsight you absolutely hate yourself for doing it? That situation is universal to the human experience. It's even a trope: My God, What Have I Done? You may object: "Luna would never do that!" You sure? Celestia has known Luna for thousands of years, and yet she didn't know Luna well enough to know about the Tantibus. And she also didn't predict Nightmare Moon pre-season 1. It all comes back to what Serath said all these chapters, summarized in chapter 10:

"If only it were so simple," is what Serath told him. "If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?"

Luna, from what I've seen in the show, is the most susceptible to evil, the most inclined to experience a "My God, what have I done?!" moment. That was the twofold twist this entire time. It's also the message of this story: recognize that you possess an overwhelming capacity for evil, and if you ignore it and let it sit in the corners of your mind, it can easily lead you down an unspeakably dark path of resentment and misery. That is what happened to Luna. So don't let it happen to you.

5. Anyway, to finish off my analysis, let me say that the ending is purposefully ambiguous. It is heavily implied that Corvo committed suicide: he's holding a gun, the Outsider leaves him be, and Corvo is described in such a way:

He had the look of a man who was ready dismiss anything, even a thief who stole from him right to his face. He no longer seemed to care about anything.

There's always the slim chance that he still lives on, and you can argue for that, but I don't think I'd agree. There will be no sequel to Civil Distinction. This is the end. I made sure to keep it that way.

Miscellaneous details

1. Corvo rarely, if ever, refers to Celestia or Luna as "princess." While the other characters always address them as Princess Celestia/Luna/Cadence, Corvo only calls them by their single names. This is a product of apathy, not disrespect.

2. Whenever Corvo is nervous and/or deep in thought, he starts biting his nail. Haven't noticed? Re-read the story and you will now.

3. Serath, unlike Corvo, is more formal in his speech, which is to say he never swears (e.g. hell, damn, devil, et cetera). This is due to his more agreeable personality. There was the one exception, however.

4. Corvo says the phrase "echo of influence" at least twice. This is because characters end up echoing each other, stating things the other has said long ago, as though incorporating their ideas as if they were their own. The most direct example of this is when Celestia brings up the dark/light magic dilemma in the prologue. A more subtle example is when Serath tells Luna that treachery is the worst thing you can do, and then later she talks about how we deserve to be punished for doing horrible things to one another.

5. Whenever a character lies, something bad happens.

6. Corvo's favorite drink is whiskey. Although, he has a hard time getting drunk due to his abnormal metabolism (Outsider's powers and all), which sucks for him.

7. The grey book in the illusion had its last page torn off, a reference to the season 3 premiere where Twilight was trying to decipher the Crystal Heart's location.

8. There are probably some more details—like specific mannerisms in certain characters—that I'm forgetting. Still, these were some of them

* * *

Right now I'm working on two other projects. One will involve time loops and a certain character from the show trying to break out of them, and the other an OC-only fic that I aim to have surpass 200,000 words. The former I've had planned since 2015, and as for the latter—I want to get as ambitious with it as possible.

Until then, stay alive.

Comments

[TheMysteryMuffin]

Cool.