Corruption

In the Darkness of the Mind

Celestia rose just before sunrise. She completed her daily routine despite her injuries and as she raised the sun to bring forth the day, she heard knocking on her door. She used her magic to open her door and watched as Arone trotted in with a nervous smile.

"Good morning, Princess! Did you sleep well?" Arone asked as he closed the door. Celestia noticed he was wearing his usual saddle-bag when he took out some treats for her pet, who munched on them happily. Celestia flipped through medical books. Trying to decide her next course of action. It could change Equestria.

Arone seemed nervous. His eyes were darting across the room as if he was waiting for a bomb to drop on Canterlot. He wouldn't look Celestia in the eye as if he was hiding something. Can she trust him with her plan? No. She can't trust anypony. She actually agreed with the voice...Sombra. She agreed with Sombra, who was growing stronger in her head.

"I slept well, thank you." She said with a smile and adjusted the vase of flowers on her nightstand for the sake of something to do. She needed to find a way to get him away from her. "We have a busy day planned. I need all the information you can collect about-"

"Ah, actually..." Arone said softly. Using his hoof to rub the back of his neck, he cleared his throat and pointed out the window towards the direction of the Canterlot Train station. "B-Bini invited me to go to Ponyville with her to help her find some rare books in the town Library. Is it alright if go? It will be for just a few hours."

Celestia immediately brightened up. She was happy she wouldn't have to go to the extremes of drugging her poor assistant just to escape from Canterlot. Just to save her assistant's sanity. No pony can know where she is going. She spun around to face him with a bright smile and used her wing to almost push him towards the exit of her room.

"Of course. You can complete the research on Griffin's history later. Have fun." She chirped. Arone didn't find the situation suspious at the moment and smile back as he started to gallop into the corridor.

"Thanks, Princess Celestia. I will be back sometime around noon." He said. Then galloped off with haste. She dropped her smile as soon as he disappeared around a bend in the hallway and she shut her door. She used magic to lock it and opened the window. Gesturing Philomena to the outdoors.

"I am sorry, Philomena. I won't be back for a few days...weeks...Maybe never. It all depends on how my trip ends. Go. Have some freedom." Celestia said. Her phoenix chirped and gracefully flew into the sky without a care in the world. Celestia watched her as the sky slowly turned blue.

Celestia grabbed all her medical books and took off her Royal attire. Switching it out for a black cloak. She ignited her horn and grunted in pain and her body morphed into a younger version of herself. Her mane didn't have multiple colours anymore and sparkled like the sun. It was light pink and flat like anypony else's mane. She made sure to make her wings disappear and her cutie mark change to the sun and a collection of birds and clouds as her cutiemark. There. Her disguise was on.

She wasn't the ruler of Equestria anymore. She was just a mare called Sunny Skies. She teleported herself just outside the Canterlot Train station with a black cloak on and a saddlebag full of medical books. Her injuries were still there. Just hidden. She intended them to stay that way.

She had become a very good actress when it came to hiding pain and pretending to be happy. It was sort of like a mask built up over the years. Constantly redesigned and improved to benefit the ponies around them. To give them a character they want, they believed in.

She pulled out a small bag of coins and dropped them onto the ticket master's window sile where a pony with a moustache was handing out tickets.

"One ticket to Ponyville, please." Sunny Skies requested with a disguised voice.