Civil Distinction

by SpitFlame

Recap of the first story

I've brewed up this nifty recap for those who lack the patience to slog through the first story just to get to this one. It's for the sake of convenience, after all, since I consider this story to be the more important of the two works. Below is a more or less detailed synopsis, in point form, of Elements of Honor, written to the best of my abilities to make Civil Distinction a cohesive whole on its own.

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-There are many strange and dangerous events occurring in Equestria (unnatural weather patterns, mysterious destruction of buildings and mountains, signs of dark magic, Discord is nowhere to be found, et cetera).
-Naturally, everypony is both scared and confused, and confronts the princesses for answers (none of them know the cause, however).
-It is revealed that four months ago a mysterious being (a human named Corvo Attano) ventured to Equestria to kill both Celestia and Luna, his reasons for doing so being unknown. Corvo is a master swordsman from an alternate 19th century.
-He can stop time, teleport, blast gusts of wind, possess people and animals, see in the dark and through walls, and summon a swarm of murderous rats (these powers come from a magical mark on his hand, gifted to him by the Outsider, a supernatural deity who likes to be entertained). He carries a small crossbow. He also has a metal mask and kills those he deems evil in his world as a vigilante (basically a Batman who kills). But for most of this story he does not wear this mask.
-Right in the midst of all this chaos, Corvo returns again and confronts the princesses, to apologize for the pain he had brought them in the past, coincidently at the same time as these horrible events have started to appear.
-Celestia doesn't believe him at first, and even commands her guards to attack him, but after intense reluctance, she accepts his apology. On one condition...
-They both will make a deal: to redeem his name by helping the ponies relieve Equestria of these arbitrary dangers.
-After a bad-tempered get-together with the Main Six and all the princesses, as well as Shining Armor, they ride to the Crystal Empire, as it's revealed that they've found a clue there.
-They are attacked by Windigos on the way (which is strange, Windigos shouldn't exist anymore, yet there they are).
-Corvo fights them, is knocked out in the process, and wakes up three weeks later in the care of Cadence.
-They lead him to the clue, which is a tall, black tree, embedded in the wall, with seven round slots at the branches.
-Corvo is told that they found a stone with his Mark on it, and yet placing it in the gaunt tree has no effect.
-He then places it, a magical surge occurs, and the room brightens a bit.
-Corvo deduces that they must clear out the tree with all seven stones (which turns out to be scattered all over Equestria).
-At night Luna questions Corvo as to why he came to Equestria in the first place. Corvo can't recall correctly, and says it was because a powerful man (the Outsider) promised him something. They leave off unsatisfied.
-They ride back to Canterlot, but the city is overrun by thousands of Timberwolves (again, due to strange and dangerous events happening all over Equestria).
-Corvo reveals that he has gained the power of pyromancy when he placed the stone, and burns them all, at the expense of severe fatigue. He passes out.
-He wakes up in a hospital next to Celestia, and she tells him his hypothesis about the tree is correct (the magnitude of these events have decreased by roughly 1/7th).
-The following day he has a one-on-one chat with each of the Main Six, getting to know them a little better.
-This time Celestia questions Corvo, but she just makes herself feel sad.
-What follows is several adventures where they each collect the stones, one by one. Before this Corvo deduced that each stone was in a unique environment (no two were in a desert, for example), ridden by magic.
-During one of these Corvo realizes that he's losing his powers, as he's been getting weaker and weaker throughout the story.
-He then tries to figure out the cause of these incidents in Equestria, and stumbles upon the possibility that he might be the cause, as it all falls into place. This prospect leaves him extremely uncomfortable, so he waves it off and doesn't think about it.
-Celestia and Corvo also have a match of chess. Celestia wins.
-When they find the sixth stone and Corvo places it in the tree, he regains all his memories:
-His first arrival was because the Outsider looked into the future and foresaw the creation of multi-dimensional magic, which would lead to a war between his world and Equestria. He goes to kill them but is unable to, and the Outsider brings him back. Corvo then devises a master plan:
-The Outsider will set up those strange occurrences in Equestria, delete his memory of the first visit until the sixth stone (which will make him want to go back and seek forgiveness), and have him lose his powers in the process, as well as gain a new one. He will then gain all of his powers back with the seventh stone. This is all a psychological trick. And alicorns have a magical force field around their bodies, so killing them with a sword won't work. This is all a product of Corvo's studies on Equestria.
-He also has the Outsider erase Discord from the picture beforehand by threatening to kill Fluttershy if he doesn't leave for a certain number of months. Discord sadly complies (the Outsider is much more powerful than him).
-But this whole time Celestia and Luna have been suspicious of Corvo.
-What follows next is a mind game where Corvo still pretends to be on the ponies' but is still trying to find the seventh stone.
-Corvo finds the seventh stone, much to Celestia's horror, since she was hiding it from him until she could figure the whole scene out. She almost wins.
-He manages to kill Celestia by poisoning the lid of her tea cup (where one places their lips to drink).
-At first this was part of the sisters' plan to defeat Corvo, but he out-smarted them regardless.
-He then kills Luna by luring her into an underground dungeon: he intoxicated the air there with his pyromancy (creative control of the energy in chemical bonds).
-At the same time he burns down the Royal Library and Archives to ensure that Equestria is magically crippled and cannot follow him back.
-Discord at last returns, more pissed off than anything else, and with Twilight chases Corvo down.
-Corvo escapes back to his world with ease by stopping time and hopping into a portal, courtesy of the Outsider.
-The story ends with Twilight and Discord depressed that Celestia and Luna are dead, and Corvo laughs maniacally that he will take over his city (Dunwall) and rule it as the upholder of justice.
-The Outsider disapproves, but nevertheless displays his impartiality and continues watching over everything.

The sequel, Civil Distinction, takes place two years later.