//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3: Decreasing Loudness 
// Story: Civil Distinction 
// by SpitFlame 
//------------------------------//

"Very nice to receive some good news for once!" said Corvo with a nod of his head. He had turned round and proceeded to wander out a lateral door. "But like I said, I can walk just fine, and I must see where the Crystal Heart would normally be kept—as soon as possible, of course."

The room was still and mute, save for his heavy, disproportionate foot-steps. He leaned in on the right side of a double door, and with a grunt slid it outwards. A chill push of air greeted his face. Beyond was a dark-blue corridor, painted by dark shadows stretching to an arched opening.

Corvo looked back and said again: "Nothing to add? Well, these are dark times indeed. I need to think, too." He was about to leave, but his movements lagged. He raised an eyebrow, suddenly feeling the weight of his greatcoat; and he noticed Celestia's stone-still expression, as well as Luna's, who was by her sister's side, reading over the scroll.

Corvo waited ten seconds, his gaze fixed upon the two alicorns; but nothing happened. They neither acknowledged him nor said a single word. "I better not ask," he said at length. "Deal with whatever problem you may have there yourself. I ought to be busying myself very soon."

"Corvo," said Celestia monotonously, as if she were half dreaming. She looked towards him, and suddenly her teeth began to show, pressing tightly over one another.

"Oh dear," said Luna, quickly trotting to Corvo. She halted abruptly and creased her brow, and cried: "The plan didn't work! This—this has all been in vain!" She bowed her head and slammed a hoof to the slabbed floor, visibly spreading a web of cracks upon impact. The solid jolt echoed about them.

"Her plan or mine?" he asked, switching his glance between both sisters. "Either one and there would still be a problem."

"Forget about your plan, or your criticism!" snapped Celestia, whipping the paper onto the floor. "This was all my fault. I pushed everything out the door. I needed more time to evaluate how the guards could have handled the situation." She sighed heavily and walked past them both—quickly.

"Celestia," called Luna, chasing after her, "where are you—"

"There's no time to weep over this," said Celestia with reserve. Then, in a distant voice, she said: "There's too much going on. We both have to send off orders immediately. We need to get to Ponyville. That's our first priority!"

"First priority to Ponyville?" said Corvo under his breath. He gaited back to the center of the room with a struggle to look over the long paper. He bent down to pick it up, but a mental resistance told him otherwise. He shook his head and nabbed the scroll without hesitation. He unraveled it and hastily scanned over its words.

"What the hell?" he whispered. Dark magic surrounded Canterlot? Does he mean more of that pernicious black smoke? Wait, if that were true, then that smoke shall arrive faster to Ponyville than I thought. But how would Sombra anticipate such a move?

Corvo's eyes narrowed. His hand twisted the paper in all directions, as if attempting to find some other hidden message. He crumbled the scroll, draped it deep into his pocket, and glanced over to the opened doorway, which cast a shadow that nearly touched his boots.

This paper is familiar, he thought at length. It has the same texture and look of the initial ciphered letter. Given the context, it is even more likely that that message derived from Equestria. That puts me to some comfort; but is it true that King Sombra has been on my neck for the last two years? If so, how would he pull off such a scheme without being noticed? Seems easy on paper, but— he lowered his shoulders, realizing how tensed he'd been. Corvo made his way to the tall door, thinking: but ideas on paper are not the same as its execution in full.

Corvo quietly snorted and burst into a speedy gait towards the door; but he froze with a grunt, feeling sharp bites of pain all over him. Realizing his condition, he hunched his back and slowly walked out of the room.

The air in the hallway was frozen—or, at the very least, it was as still as it could have been. With so much worry lolling about, and the rustling that he heard forth, Corvo had expected several guards to have flown by him. The path he took, so broad it could have counted for a separate room entirely, felt as if it was unused for a long time.

Corvo turned round a corner and spotted the four alicorns forming a circle, pained looks highlighting their faces. Every once in a while Shining Armor would pass by, rather quickly, to enter the adjacent room; and the longer he stared, the more he noticed just how many ponies draped in white coats strode by.

After all that, Corvo called at length, standing against a pillar: "What are you to do, Celestia?"

Celestia seemed to whisper something to Luna, who gave a nod and went off on her own course. Celestia didn't even look at Corvo, all of her concentration focused solely on a single task. Twilight and Cadence continued to discuss soft words that he couldn't make out. More armored ponies came in, buckets of water carefully balanced in their magical grasps.

"What are you to do?" asked Corvo again.

Celestia, for a very instance, shot him a glassy stare, and swept across from him, stopping in front of a double door. They swung open, revealing six gold-and-black armored unicorns, stoically positioning themselves to form two lines, one on either side of the princess.

"Go," she said to them. "Meet by the locomotive and make mental preparations before I arrive with you in the hour."

They each bowed once and ran to the outside, hastily and almost unprofessionally. Corvo had noticed what came out of the entrance, or the lack thereof: sunlight. It was something he had expected, and he soon knew why.

"I wonder," began Corvo, walking towards Celestia, "do ponies in Equestria lose their customary notion of etiquette when put under stress?"

"Forgive me, Corvo, but I don't have time to digress," said Celestia passively; "but... hmm, I'll make an exception. What is it?"

"I looked over the letter," he said. "If you truly believe that you shall get something more valuable than dirt, be conscious of it. Going to Ponyville is suicidal. At best, you will return alive—alone."

"And what do you know?" said Celestia with hidden vexation. "You hardly have any knowledge in dealing with Sombra and his magic, unless you count the few books you've read. I have had first-hoof experience with it, so whether or not you agree with my strategic capabilities, they are going to happen."

"Debrief me on them."

"Walk with me first," said Celestia, slipping into the outdoors. Corvo quickly followed suit, pushing the burning pain in his ribs to the back of his mind. "I intend to reach Ponyville ahead of what Sombra might have predicted. While it won't stop it completely, a magical force field should slow down the black smoke. In the meantime, I'll try to save as many ponies as possible."

"That is your plan, the whole of it, from start to finish?" said Corvo, underwhelmed. "There is no structure to it, no way for you to save everyone. Have you even decided as to where you will take them, and have you planned in advance for any kind of unpredictability?" As he spoke, Corvo glanced ahead, beyond the low trees they passed by. He spotted a tall locomotive, hot sparks jutting from its engine.

"Those details will get resolved on the trip," said Celestia, "which shouldn't take more than three or four hours. I have instructed Princess Luna, as well as the others, to continue to round up parties for the evacuation of other cities."

"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. "I'm working to the best of my capabilities, Corvo. There's only one way to beat Sombra, and that's to stop his weapon. But my number one priority is the safety of every single pony in Equestria. So for now, they must be taken beyond the borders."

"Then hurry yourself to avoid that very prospect, but be wary of what you have in mind," said Corvo. He stopped in place, sighing heavily. Celestia hesitated, slowing down to look back at Corvo, as if expecting him to come along with her. "I did not talk about this earlier, as to avoid any sort of vain conflict, but I am suspicious, Celestia."

"Of what?" she asked considerately.

"I am always attempting to cover every angle of a situation. Back in the library, when I woke up: I noticed something was off. There was that book, and the way the illusion worked, and Sombra's words. You spoke nothing of it, instead choosing to superficially command me in regards to what you wanted. Well then, shall you tell me?"

Celestia felt a vein in her neck twitch. She felt her wings grow heavy, and the air hot. Right now, though, she was too preoccupied with the current objective. Her throat felt dry; she swallowed and said: "Whatever it is you're going on about, Corvo, stop it. Right now! This isn't a sandbox for your own bemusement." She shifted uneasily, feeling the stone beneath her hooves tremble.

Corvo clicked his tongue, as if disappointed, and crossed his arms. "Alright then," he said. "I will have to discern these contrived events myself." A short silence fell upon them afterwards.

She shook her head, turned round, and headed forth at a faster pace.

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.


* * *


Corvo entered the foyer again. He was greeted by the smell of ash; and he noticed the several torches hanging from the walls, all of which highlighted bright spots of light upon the sable floor below them. He proceeded down the room, his hands deep in his pockets, his head low in thought.

Luna revealed herself from behind one of the many pillars, a view of weary disappointment on her face. She looked back and nodded, followed by a few hoof-falls to fade away. She turned back to Corvo and said: "Did she tell you where she is going?"

"It is what she did not tell that worries me," sighed Corvo.

Luna raised an eyebrow. "What did you ask her?"

For a moment, Corvo remained still with a gleam in his eyes. He then walked to Luna and eyed her down cautiously, as if expecting her to suddenly attack him.

"I remember the initial illusion," he said. "I know King Sombra specializes in fear—"

"Dark magic," corrected Luna. "Fear is something that he finds pleasure in to exploit."

"Dark magic," repeated Corvo in a low voice. "Yes, yes, I remember reading about the different types of magic during my time here." He gazed from the corner of his eyes, shook his head, and continued. "To be perfectly blunt, I am suspicious of Celestia."

Luna blinked at first, piercing him with her gaze. "Do you truly believe that you are in such a position to be calling out suspicions?" she asked. "And besides, why ask me this? Should you not think that whatever shenanigans my sister is going on about, she would inform me on them?"

"Up to this point, she has done a lot without your knowing," said Corvo. He looked into the distance of the room, letting his eyes wander about the black shadows caused by the many-pillared halls, and the yellow beams of light spewing from open doorways. "However, I would like to know what you two were doing during my hallucinatory state."

"We were attempting to figure out the most sound location to head to first," said Luna.

"Why not wake me up first? I noticed that many changes had occurred when you soaked me in that ice water."

"Could you explain?"

"I do not need to," said Corvo. "By the fact itself, you waited until you awoke me; but do any of you ponies learn that the subtlest details are the most vivid ones?—to me, at the very least. Celestia had that original grey book put away into the shelves by the time I came to my senses. For a short time, I thought that that book was just part of the dream, and that your sister was reading into some sort of spell. But whatever it was, she took her time to place it back exactly where she found it. Why is that? Surely, if you were rummaging through such important details, you would not waste a solitary second to put them back where you found them."

"Okay, I will play your little game here," said Luna with an edge of resentment. "Perhaps Princess Celestia did not want other ponies looking through that book."

"But we were hastened. Why waste time?"

"We already wasted enough time. Sombra trapped us into that illusion for hours."

But Corvo was silent with a shadow over his face, either in despair or anxious thought. "If I am wrong, then..." he looked to her and hummed in thought. "Why did you raise the moon by the time the illusion was over? I do mean why go through the trouble first, and all that."

"That's the thing," said Luna curiously. "By the time I awoke, it was upon the east horizon. When we raise are respective celestial bodies, they remain in the skies, moving on their own from east to west. Upon the edge of the latter, we lower ours, and the other raises theirs. By the time we had entered that library, the sun was in the midst of the sky. After many hours, Celestia woke me. She said that she had to quickly raise the moon, for it was nearly too late already."

"That grey book still does not fit in properly with what I see. As I see it, you are denying all the facts just to defend your sister's name. Can you not just assume that, quite possibly, Celestia is planning something much bigger?" But before she could respond, Corvo fell to his knees. He clutched both of his hands, and the corners of his vision began to darken. "Of all the moments..." he breathed.

Luna hurried to his side, sinking a hoof under his arm. "Corvo, are—"

"We will question Celestia when she gets back," he answered, clumsily rising to his feet. "Perhaps my injuries are finally taking their toll on me."

"Stellar observation," deadpanned Luna.

Corvo nearly chuckled at the remark; however, he looked down to view his hands, which were shaking uncontrollably, only fueling his worriment. "I need to—" he began, but his throat tightened. "Somewhere... to... lie down!"

Luna hastily ignited her horn, draped them both in her magic, and teleported to the the medical room. Immediately Corvo went limp, falling down on his back and hitting a fortunate bed. He looked round the room, seeing that there were several rows of low beds, all next to wooden stools with glasses of water. While most were empty, several of the beds there lain wounded guards, all on their sides with white wrappings round their waists.

Corvo let out a sigh of relief, and, without a sense of alarm, said: "Much obliged."

"What happened with you just now?" she asked with profound concern, though directed more to her than him.

"Nothing worth noting," said Corvo calmly, his tone gradually becoming lighter as the strain in his chest dwindled. "But, if you are to insist on knowing, that was an anxiety attack."

"And what would warrant an anxiety attack from you?" she asked

"I hardly understand the reasoning of it myself," he replied, looking straight at her with a sympathetic air. "And I apologize for this."

"For what? These guards here that you nearly killed?"

"Yes—for the guards who nearly killed me."

"I'm still a bit hazy on what you were trying to accomplish," pressed on Luna with curious annoyance. "A clever one would not attempt the same approach as your second arrival, with you trying to gain our trust by telling us that you meant no harm, which would only heighten our paranoia."

"Which was the intention from the beginning," said Corvo. "At a different angle, that would be the repetition of trying a different balance: to come at you ponies, yet again, but differently. I suspected that such an idea, as was Celestia's initial suggestion, would be thought around. Therefore, by going through the same plan as last time—"

"I understand your reasoning," said Luna, almost without meaning to interrupt, but more out of oblivious persistence; "however, did you not foresee that such events could have turned out to be a little more than non-violent?"

With a glimmer of defeat in his eyes, Corvo replied: "Yes... yes, I am not the best person to consult should you desire a quick-thought plan that is fully functional."

"Whatever you may say," said Luna, tossing the debate aside. "Either you knew that we knew, or even further upon, is anypony's guess. At least no pony was killed and we are all here—will be here eventually, anyway." She took a moment to glance sideways, looking over the unconscious guards, and finally looked back to Corvo. "What about those anxiety attacks you so mentioned? You spoke as if they were nothing new under the sun."

"Nor moon," he said. "Like I have said: I do not understand the logic of it. These 'panics' have started only a month ago; they reoccurred twice before, and now it was the third." He stared gloomily at his Mark and clenched his fist. There was a brief pause where none said a word. "That is the trouble they bring," he started again, looking back at Luna for subconscious comfort: "they leave me feeling vulnerable, almost like an attack done by an opponent, on my heart and from afar, where I am unable to see."

"Did you at least talk to a doctor?"

"Of course. They correlate with, perhaps, some traumatic experience as a child, or thoughts of depression, or worriment. Generally speaking, that is all true, whichever way you wish to look at it. Despite the facts, and me telling you now, twice, that I have no exact understanding as to why they physically occur, I have been feeling somewhat..." He breathed in a moment to search for the right word. "I have been feeling a little bit—maybe, maybe not—detached."

"Detached," echoed Luna. She arched an eyebrow and processed the word with quick results. "I hope this doesn't dampen your usefulness."

"Not at all," said Corvo. He reached over at his side to grab the glass of water, but it was met halfway to him by Luna's magic. He took it and drank quickly, and let out a heavy sigh afterwards. "Most of the time, if I am to say the full truth."

"Did it affect your physical skills? Your combat?"

"No, not that. Although, do not completely judge me based on that fight alone with the guards. The anatomy of you ponies is extraordinarily different than that of mine own."

"Anatomy?"

Corvo set the glass down onto the floor and hunched his shoulders, his face now pale with the profound sensation of the premonition that something were to happen to him, something unexpected. He cast a glance down the hallway, but he wasn't sure why. "That is correct," he continued with extreme readiness. "In terms of bone mass and muscle tissue, yours is far more durable than my own. I felt it against the guards, it was like fighting statues, very difficult to move."

Luna took in that information with a certain curiosity, and concluded: "Well, small talk has been interesting, but not much achieved. I will be on my way, Corvo. By morning my sister should be back, and I hope you will be well on your boots."


* * *


No, something indeed was wrong, but not negatively, not in the way you'd attempt to avoid for the sake of your own well being; something was neutrally wrong, out of place than what was expected. The greatest fear is the fear of the unknown, and Corvo himself took that statement to a careful analysis. When a particular detail was off its mark, yet subtle enough so you wouldn't notice it directly, just be aware, he always sought to discover it. That was, when his premonition of a force calling to himself could not be ignored, Corvo, in the middle of the night, rose from his bed in a cautious state of intrigue.

The Mark on his left hand buzzed irritably, which is what awoke him in the first place.

That does it, he thought, now wandering out of the room and into the hallway. I need to know more about this... this thing, in this very castle. Hmm, where is that magic coming from... here? No. Ah, I sense its presence from downstairs. I still have my coat on, so here I come.

It should also be noted that Corvo had indeed come to the conclusion that it would be impossible for either Celestia or Luna to have raised the moon early, as if this were true, other ponies would have seen this and surely commented on the strange occurrence. This was not the case.

He descended to what looked to be a basement, a small one, with boxes, stools, and pieces of furniture stacked against the walls, either on top one another or in rows. At the far end of this room was a tall mirror, one where you could view your entire body.

Corvo stood in front of his own reflection and suddenly began to survey the mirror up and down, unsure of where else to be. It was as if her were there out of spite, besides himself. Eventually he grew confused.

"Why did I even come down here?" he said. The buzzing from his hand had already vanished. "Perhaps something here was of magical properties, which caused some form of reaction. Either way, maybe this whole little trip was pointless. Ah, since it should take another three minutes to get back to my bed, I should contemplate on what to do, or what to consider true. Moving your legs does some good for contemplating, after all."

He was about to leave, if not for a glimmer, one that beamed in a fraction of a second, swept along the mirror's surface. Fortunately he caught hold of it, and now with more interest than ever before stood face-to-face with his reflection. At once, as if on instinct, he tapped the mirror; the point where his finger hit there was a distortion, and what followed were wavering rings of light expanding, one by one, covering the entire silver surface. It was a strange ripple effect that went on for several seconds, then calmed to a quietness.

"So this is a magic mirror," said Corvo in a flat voice, as if knowing it all along. "Actually, that explains nothing at all." He went searching for a small object to pick up, and settled on a roll of duck tape that he found on a table. The Crystal Heart was here before my arrival; however, by the time Celestia and I hopped off the train, the Heart was missing. That means Sombra used this opportunity to steal it, the opportunity where every other pony was distracted. So his entire plan was set forth by making us realize that this Crystal Heart was taken, spreading our numbers thin in the hope to go looking for it, or that is what I get from it. In all this thinking Corvo had wandered to the mirror, holding the roll of duck tape before him. It was convenient that he had read about magic mirrors two years ago.

He threw the tape in, which itself spread another ripple of light. The surprise came almost instantly: he heard a thud on what seemed to be a carpet.

"So there is another side to things," he said. Wait, what I just said is impossible. Sombra would never be able to steal the Crystal Heart recently, since there were far too many ponies here by this time. When was it that the Crystal Empire was at its most vulnerable? Ah, yes, back at my second arrival, where we all met for that talk in Canterlot: that time was perfect to steal the Heart. It is the only realistic juncture. Though, to not cause any disbelief, he could have created a substitute, which is why none of them noticed. But now we know that it was stolen, so if what I say is true, did he take the fake one, leading us astray from the real Heart? This is all very possible. Oh, yes, this mirror: I should not be looking through, but for the sake of it... I guess this will take me to another room.

Corvo was almost entirely convinced at the effectiveness of this mirror, and he was right: he stuck his head in, and nearly tripped from the dumbfound air of shock that washed over him. He was looking into his own home!

He pulled back and now examined the mirror as meticulously as he could, every once in a while drifting off in thought at the implausible implications this carried. "How does this lead back to my world!" he said in a loud undertone. "Was it... was this... did it..." He was interrupted by incredibly faint knocks, coming from the mirror itself.

Is someone knocking on my door? he thought. It was brief in his mental process, but he decided to question it later and step through, if only to be back in his house.

Once there, he looked back and viewed an identical mirror leaning in his wall. It was never a decoration he remembered applying.

"Back so soon, Corvo?" said the Outsider, rapidly materializing through the adjacent wall; he smiled an ironic smile, now in intense wonder. "Well, I suppose there is a relationship between experience and competence."

"You said Equestria had yet to find a way into this world, that multi-dimensional magic was not discovered," reproached Corvo in complete vexation, and with a determined thought, as is when you are too sensible to gaze at a particular person in order to manage time, he walked by, yet still awaited a response.

The Outsider's thin smirk contorted into a frown, and his black eyes lowered into a rare confusion. "Pardon?" he said, now following Corvo from behind. "I gave you the idea because that is what I saw."

"Then bring the handkerchief to dry your tears, because you were wrong. Well, it hardly makes a difference, whether or not this was possible would not affect the need to kill those alicorns." He held a palm over his eye. "Still, how could you have an oversight this glaring?"

"Corvo," sighed the Outsider, crossing his arms, "this is exactly what I got from my look into the future. This is what they were doing for a first. There is absolutely no way anyone can cross into Dunwall from Equestrian soil."

"Then how did I get here?"

With blunt force the whole of the situation came into view for the Outsider. He looked back, hummed in thought, and shrugged his shoulders; but now, on the verge of indignation, he inquired: "How did you get back?"

"There was a magic mirror," said Corvo. But before he could add any more explanation, three resounding knocks pounded on his front door. "Perhaps I can explain later, and you need to go, but not for long, we need to have a serious discussion about this. For now, I need to see who wants what at... er, what is the time exactly?"

"It is five in the morning, on the dot... and please do not talk to me like that, Corvo; you never can be sure what is awaiting for you round a dark corner," said the Outsider, but he spoke with an odd lack of enthusiasm, the type that normally hung in his voice, in the cynical sort of way, and as he announced all this his figure turned into black smoke, and that itself quickly vanished from sight.

Corvo rolled his eyes and opened the door, and standing at entrance mat was none other than Serath himself. The latter was tucked in a grey overcoat and a purple scarf, which gave him a hard look, yet his eyes were intent and certainly welcoming.

"Oh, Serath, mate," said Corvo. "Why are you out on a time like this, and at my house of all places?"

"You hardly look exhausted," said Serath, "if not a little alert. As a matter of fact, I just noticed that your right arm clutches closer to your ribs than your left. Are you in some sort of pa—"

"No," interrupted Corvo in an almost impatient demeanor, but for the sake of it, he added a second time: "No."

Serath rubbed the back of his head and laughed. "Ah, yes, here I am getting all worked up like I usually do. Sorry. Really, I do have a reason for being here: there was an... accident at the local library, and because of this unfortunate accident, many of the residents within the area were evacuated for safety purposes. You see, we believe that a man's cigarette fell onto some spilled alcohol, which latched onto several books, and that escalated—that is to say, the library burned down."

"Oh, I see."

"You sound reasonably nonchalant!"

"Apologies for that, Serath, but in the past day or two I have been down in the dumps, relatively speaking, which is why you haven't seen me as of late. I have not even left the house for a while now."

"Is work catching up with you?"

"Not entirely. Is that all you came here for?"

"Did you forget?"

"Right, right! We always did meet up over to that specific table in the library for some whiskey. Hmm, I guess that's over."

"I only meant to come over at this time since, as it goes, you hardly ever sleep. Folk can mistaken you for an owl, a black owl. Maybe that is where you got your name!" he ended with a laugh.

"Corvo translates to crow, so close enough." But a habitual instinct rushed into Corvo, and despite all of what had happened, he still valued good manners over most things. "Would you like to come in?"

"Well, thank you for the invitation. I was going to head off back home, but my kids should still be sleeping, or I hope so. It is the weekend after all. In other words, of course!"

Their conversation proceeded indoors. Corvo was now setting a fire at the hearth, carefully placing the logs where he liked, and Serath himself seemed more comfortable standing up.

"Winter is lasting longer than I had hoped for," said Corvo in a low voice, igniting the spark which illuminated the room. He glanced back and inquired: "Cold?"

"Not more than I can handle," said Serath readily. "The news of the library came at quite a shock; cleaning up should take up a month, or more."

"You know, with enough persuasion, we ourselves could scavenge the library's ashes. We can even place bets on what we find."

"I am sure the authorities are doing that."

"Which is why I mentioned the 'persuasion' part," said Corvo, waving off the excuse. "What sounds more fun?"

"You, uh, you are certainly acting a lot more different than usual," exclaimed Serath with a smile. "I say it's for the better; you always did come off as a little safe."

"Three years ago and my job was a royal bodyguard," said Corvo, "which nearly killed me, even then, persecuted. Excuse me for the shift on my outlook." They both shared a laugh. "Okay, okay, how about some tea? It would only take a moment to make."

"Sure, but after this I really do need to get going."

Corvo stopped, stared in puzzlement, and said: "You need to go? Serath, if you were in a rush, why accept my invitation?"

Serath blushed, now finding his position to be rather inconsequential. He chuckled with a hand behind his head, though perhaps he just realized how comical this situation turned out to be. "Ah, yes, but I did not want to be rude, so I accepted to come in."

Corvo sighed, hardly able to keep himself from laughing, and suddenly rolled his eyes with relief. "Well then, if you must know, I asked for you to come in so I did not come off as rude."

"I thought moments like these only existed in novels!" laughed Serath. "Heh, then we should not delay this any further. Regardless, at least you know about the library, which is what matters. Goodbye. Oh, and will I ever see you again tomorrow? My wife and her friends were going to go bowling, so if you wish to join..."

Corvo now attempted to make the unconventional statement that he could not, for all the reasons, bowl, to come off reasonable as possible: "I would love to, really, but these feelings I've had about work—like I confirmed—has been getting particularly serious. There is this one case far up north that I cannot for the life of me solve! I should be indoors, at the shortest, all week. I do hope you understand." And I also hope that the rest of this week is enough time for the ponies to get rid of Sombra.

"Hmm, that all makes sense," said Serath. "Just remember what I recommended in regards to your anxiety. Balance your consumption of sugar and salt, and do keep busy with something that is worthy of a person's time."

"I will," replied Corvo with a nod of his head. "Thank you."

Now this is the part in the story where events, for all intents and purposes, take an unbelievably unexpected turn. At first this "turn," if we can call it that, when put in place with earlier context, appears to be extremely arbitrary, but the timing was so precise, and what happened after so consequential, that this argument simply isn't possible.

Serath had opened the door, and he was about to head off, if not for the black aurora that enveloped both men. There was no build up to it, hardly a warning: like a hand this sudden magic began to pull the two into the house, out of the room with the mantle and in the corridor. And this didn't act like a single rope pulling on a rag doll, this was more of off-distance levitation spell carrying them.

Serath was too surprised to say anything directly, merely looking round with wide eyes and a pale face; he wasn't sure whether to look at Corvo or the mirror they were approaching. He even kept muttering words in disbelief, trying to make sense of it all, but his rationality kept interrupting him, causing an overlap in what he meant: whenever he got three or four words into a sentence, he would start another.

Yet Corvo, like he hadn't noticed at all, and with all the annoyance in the world, said out loud: "Damn, of all things that could happen..."

The two were thrown into the mirror by the magic, leaving a trail of rippling light, which then disappeared and settled to a normal-looking mirror with incredible rapidity.

Serath was still dumbfounded as ever, looking round with an unfocused gaze; Corvo himself sprang to his feet, swept a hand over the mirror, only for the disappointment of absolutely nothing happening. He too was in a state of agitation, more so even.

"Is this what you meant by that 'work,' if you can call it that?" asked Serath in surprise, though his voice was that of genuine curiosity. "Where are we?"

Corvo stared back at his friend in extreme awkwardness, sweat dripping off his pale face. He inhaled once, swiveled his wrist round a bit as to start up the conversation, but was notably at a lost.

"Promise me to not be alarmed," he began at length, coming off as far more saddened than what he actually was, "but I need to tell you a truth, the most outlandish truth you will ever hear."

"Nothing can be more outlandish than Holly Whistle's hatred towards you."

"Okay, the second most outlandish truth you will ever hear."

"Or what about our last chess game where you accidentally mistook the king for the bishop?"

"The third most outlandish—the point is," Corvo now spoke in feverish haste, "the point is, we are in another world, if you can believe it."

There was a tense silence that hung in the air. Serath himself, while alarmed, smiled inappropriately; a triumphant acceptance of the whole situation became clear in his glittering eyes, like he absolutely believed his friend without a second thought. He nodded his head and proclaimed: "I am sort of aware that magic exists, according to my studies, but this, of all the ideas I could have contrived, is very out there."

"I know."

"I mean, that is to say, I believe you, but you'll need to elaborate." He took off his scarf and wrapped it round his waist, mostly out of habit. "But don't you think that calling this a whole separate world is an overstatement? We certainly did get swept away into a mirror, which is physically impossible, but this room looks rather ordinary. It doesn't necessarily inspire any creativity, if you get my meaning."

"Serath," said Corvo in the utmost deliberation to put the focus solely on what he said, "this was honestly a complete mistake, but just as important, I never expected for some magical force to take us away, you especially. This world is known as Equestria, and they face a threat that has the potential to destroy everything here. You really didn't need to find out."

"Then what does this have to do with you?"

"Well, you see... I, uh... complications may arise from that."

"Corvo," said Serath in a sympathetic voice, one that suggested complete understanding, and even a little excitement, "you never did shift your outlook, did you? No? Oh, what wonders, you are even more adventurous than I thought! I simply must exchange words with the people here, there is so much to learn! Yes?"

"But here comes the outlandish part: they are talking ponies."

Serath proceeded to reply, but for a second no words came out of his mouth, merely choosing to rub a finger under his chin, raise a skeptical eyebrow, and stare with mocking eyes. "Talking ponies? Hmm, hmm, in a place like this I would give you a psychological cross-examination to determine whether you're all there or not, but we did go through a mirror into a room that should not exist, so... I am at a loss here. How did you come in contact with Equestria? Were you summoned?"

"No, not that," said Corvo with a fixed look, yet averting his gaze every few seconds to the ground, but this was due to complete worriment rather than embarrassment.

"Then what did occur?"

"I was here once before, and I too found it to be ridiculous, but... ah, come now, Serath, your persistence is terribly cruel!"

"Fine then, I will try to understand," said Serath in a passive tone. "At the very least, tell me what your purpose is here at the present."

"Perhaps we should head upstairs so none of the, er, ponies—" he cringed at that word "—can understand. But please do not mistaken this for any sort of mutual friendship. The trust here is wobbly at best."

"I do think that introductions would be a logical step," said Serath, fidgeting with the base of his sleeves.

The two men wandered up the stairs and found themselves in a hallway; and Corvo, while he led the way, was on the verge of hyperventilating, his head was bowed with a grey shadow over his face, almost unable to bear the pressure of confronting the ponies with a completely random stranger. Not only was this struggle with the magic mirror unexpected, even less welcomed—and it raised far too many uncomforting questions—there was absolutely nothing Corvo could have done with Serath. The latter would continue with his curious questions, it'd be impossible to hide him, and his presence was a horrible disturbance to the situation with Sombra. All of the bad luck had begun to unceremoniously pile onto Corvo.

Serath, however, followed behind with dancing eyes, wondering at the foreign architecture, and how expensive it all looked. They then passed through a double door into the foyer room of the castle.

"I do not want to come off as unpleasant," began Corvo, "but this right now, with you being here, is extremely inconvenient. They will have a hard time adjusting to you."

"They adjusted to you, no?"

"You can say that. But to be fair, their leader, Princess Celestia, was expecting me to come."

"Then why would they not trust you?"

"Because the things that are happening right now, this threat, it is all because of me. What? Oh, no, enough with the questions for now, I need some breathing room, time to think this over."

Hoof-steps sounded from the other side of the room, faint at first, but soon built up into stretches of advancing shadows that originated from another hallway entrance. The two men stood there, waiting, only to see Luna and Twilight coming through, discussing what seemed like what to do on Celestia's return.

"Wait here," said Corvo, walking over to the two princesses, "I will try to explain this matter."

"Sure, whatever you say," said Serath in an undertone. Oh dear, I hope I can get back in time before the others start to worry, in time for the bowling match I promised.

Meanwhile, Luna and Twilight spotted Corvo wandering towards them, a look of uncertainty highlighting his face.

"A few hours of sleep and you're good to go?" said Luna. "What are you doing up, Corvo? Are you eager to see my sister again?"

"Not exactly," replied Corvo, "but it would do some good if she could come back right now."

"So you really did decide to help out, huh?" said Twilight in vague contempt. "Well, we'll keep a close eye on you, so do be careful. Princess Luna and I were just talking about what to tell my friends when they get here."

"Your friends?"

"Yes, the Element-bearers have played a significant role in Equestria's survival up until this point, but I'm sure you know that by now," said Luna. "I just pray that my sister is successful in her goal. Anyway... did you need something?"

Corvo looked back to the corner that hid Serath, which simply earned him confused stares from the princesses. And then, to make light of the situation, he began to laugh halfheartedly, throwing up his arms in defeat. "This is far too ridiculous, even for me," he declared.

"Um... what?" exclaimed Twilight.

"Come here, Serath!" called Corvo.

Much to Luna's and Twilight's unexpected shock, a sudden figure became visible from behind Corvo, yet looking exactly like him. This figure, now in a state of single-mindedness, went to see the two alicorns up close, whom of which could now only shift their gaze between the two.

"Luna, Twilight, this is my friend, Serath Hemsworth," said Corvo with a comical lack of energy. "Serath, here are two talking ponies with wings far too small to lift them off the ground in any practical sense, accompanied with omni-illuminating candles on their foreheads."

"Very well then," said Serath, "there can absolutely be no doubt about it."

"Luna, Twilight, please listen to me," said Corvo to the speechless alicorns, "I truly did not intend for this to happen, and please remember that Serath's last thought is to bring harm."

"A-another human," gasped Twilight. She laughed nervously and gestured to Luna, and they both conversed in whispers. "Princess Luna, what do we do?"

"I'm not sure, Princess Twilight," said Luna, completely at a loss. "This companion of Corvo's struck out of nowhere; we really cannot take his word for it."

The two princesses shot stares at Corvo and Serath, then proceeded to take gradual steps back.

"We need to inform the others," said Twilight.

"Agreed, but..." began Luna. "I truly do doubt that this 'Serath' can possibly be more of a threat than what Corvo is right now."

"What do you mean, Princess?"

"Not that I trust Corvo"— Luna now bit her lip —"but it feels very genuine to me that he wishes to put an end to Sombra's plan."

"Alright, let me handle this," suggested Twilight wholeheartedly, puffing out her chest, doing her best to appear as authoritative as possible. "Why are you here?"

"Terribly sorry if I am interrupting anything work-related," replied Serath, "but I was conversing with Corvo here when all of a sudden a powerful force lifted us off from the very floor boards and sucked us into a mirror! We are here now, and... that's about it?"

"Decently put," said Corvo in a stricter voice, "but let me explain."

"Wait a minute," said Twilight, "he said that you two are friends?"

"Yes, he did," replied Corvo.

Twilight narrowed her eyes in examination and rubbed a hoof under her chin. "Hmm, interesting."

"So what you mean to tell us, 'Serath,' is that your arrival was a mere accident?" said Luna. "And what about this mirror?"

At the mention of the mirror Corvo felt anxious, now forced to consider these dangerous questions that had risen from this whole fiasco. "I... I really cannot say," he said, growing more agitated by the minute. "It was never supposed to be possible yet, but something called to me, I got curious and investigated; what I did not expect was a mirror down in a rather small basement. It led me back to my world."

"What!" exclaimed Twilight. "A mirror! You mean to say that there's a direct link between Equestria and where you come from?"

"Not anymore," sighed Corvo disappointingly, yet with a hint of relief. "It is just an ordinary mirror now."

"This is all getting incredibly confusing," put in Serath. "I mean, just what in the world is happening? The 'threat'; you ponies; this place; there are too many explanations that I await!"

"Furthermore, I am pleasantly surprised," said Corvo with a sardonic smile. "Here I thought you ponies would lose your very heads and blast us with magic at the very sight—"

There was a blue flash, followed by the rush of wind, and Serath dropped to the floor, twitching and moaning, but totally immobile.

"Perhaps I should invest in becoming a fortuneteller," deadpanned Corvo. Before any of them could see what was going on, the very same thing hit him.

"Are you two okay!" exclaimed Shining Armor frantically, quickly making his way to the princesses. "I was talking to Cadence, but when I got here I saw Corvo and—and that other creature in front of you!"

"Shining Armor!" said Twilight defensively, much to his surprise. "They weren't going to hurt us."

Shining himself glanced at Luna for any sort of affirmation, yet she just shrugged and applied: "Well, at least you did what a guard should do."

"Wait a minute," said Shining, "if Corvo was already here, then who's that next to him."

Twilight suddenly relaxed, yet still could not decide what to say exactly. "I'm... not sure. He just appeared out of the blue."

"Corvo told us that they came from a magic mirror," said Luna, and what she said next was mostly addressed to Twilight: "Maybe the same one that brought you and Spike to that other world."

Twilight considered this, and her eyes gleamed at the realization. "Oh, that's right," she said. "But why would it change?" All three stared at the two paralyzed, coat-laden men on the floor. "And we should really get them out of here."