Corruption

"What do you mean she simply fell!?" Luna barked at Arone as they stood in the medical wing's waiting room. Arone scoffed and began pacing in a circle again.

"Do you not believe me? I thought you trusted me."

"I trusted you when my sister's life wasn't at stake and she didn't have broken wings and injuries that would suggest she was in a battle. You also had injuries that would suggest you were in a battle so start talking!" Luna barked. Pointing to the bandages on Arone's hoof and stomach wrapped around his midsection.

"Am I being interrogated?" He snapped. Bini let out a chuckle in the corner as she flipped through her book. Arone looked over at her with a raised eyebrow. "Something funny?"

"This conversation is funny." Bini replied with a smile. Luna and Arone shared a confused look before looking back at Bini.

"Funny?" Luna repeated with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah." Bini said as she jumped off her chair. "It doesn't matter how she got hurt. It matters if she will be healed or not."

"It matters!" Luna barked in her Royal Canterlot Voice. "My sister's life is in danger."

Bini and Arone stayed silent, unsure of how to respond when a nurse exited Celestia's room and gestured them inside.

Celestia's eyes fluttered open. She noticed that her body felt like it was being ripped apart. She saw her sister looking down at her with a concerned expression with Arone and Bini. She groaned as the pricing white light of the room hurt her eyes. Luna requested a nurse turn down the light which the nurse followed to the letter. Luna looked back at Celestia.

"Sister? Are you alright?" She asked softly. Celestia attempted to move but cried out in pain before relaxing back against the pillow. "Sister, what happened? Why were you in the Crystal Empire?"

"Does any pony else know I was there?" Celestia asked with a raspy voice.

"No. I did a memory wipe. We don't need an international incident." Luna said with a nod of her head. "Celestia...Why? Why were you there? What happened to you?"

Celestia refused to respond to her sister. Wincing as the dark presence of Sombra returned. His voice cutting through all her rational thoughts.

"You can't lie to her forever, little Alicorn." He snarled. Celestia smiled weakly up to her sister as her Assistant handed her a scroll from Twilight Sparkle. Twilight's letter was explaining how she defeated the evil King with the help of her friends and the nation of the Crystal Empire.

Only Celestia, Sombra and her Assistant knew what really happened. Luna, of course, was being more and more agitated with her older sister. She wanted to know how a powerful Alicorn like her would be found, with deep injures, broken wings, falling from the sky and slamming onto the ground during an event where the heart was returned. Why was she in the Empire? Why was her Assistant carrying spell books for advanced magic? For dark magic?

"You almost died. Tia." Luna continued. "I almost lost you. The least I deserve is an explanation."

"Luna. I can not tell you. It was a secret mission." Celestia argued and let out a strangled cough.

"Do you not trust me?" Luna whimpered. "I thought-"

"Luna, don't go there," Celestia ordered her sharply. "I trust you of course. It is just...something private."

"Princess." A small voice cut in between the pair. A small nurse looked up with them. "I...um...have to fill out an incident report and I need an explanation of what happened."

Celestia and her assistant shared a scared look. No. They can never know. Celestia had groaned as she got up from the bed against the protests of those around her. She gritted her teeth as she flexed her good wing, The other one was wrapped in bandages that connected to the ones around her stomach.

"I...um...Was checking in on the situation and King Sombra found me." She lied...Sort of. The nurse nodded and moved away to write on the incident forms. Luna frowned at her, knowing that she wasn't telling the complete truth. She limped out of the medical wing of the castle, flanked by guards to help her in case she fell in her weakened state.

She managed to get back to her Chambers without incident and thanked the guards and sent them off as she entered her Chambers. She immediately sank into her pile of pillows in the middle of her room where she would usually get comfy and work on reports. She closed her eyes, trying to ignore the pain she felt from not just her injures but from Sombra taking control of her mind once again.

She heard her door slowly creak open and reveal her loyal Assistant. She smiled at him and didn't make the effort to move as he moved to sit beside her and brought down his disguise, turning back into a regular changeling.

"Are you feeling alright?" He asked. She rolled her eyes in irritation. It was obvious, wasn't it? Obviously, she was in pain. She is always in pain.

"What do you think?" She mumbled and closed her eyes and deeply sighed.

"I suppose that was kind of an obvious question." He said with a nervous laugh. "So, I was thinking we could implement some more procedures to protect the castle."

"What do you suggest?" She asked.

"Well, maybe some magical spell that would reveal a ponies true self?" He said.

"Well, then that would just make you be revealed as a changeling." Celestia retorted. "I think we know how that will end."

"Right. Well..."

"Arone," Celestia called out. "Elements will protect us. Do not worry."

"They didn't protect you from Sombra. I can tell he is in your mind." He revealed.

"It is my own felt." She snapped harshly. "No pony to blame but myself."

She unsteadily got up on her hoofs and limped over to her private library in her Chambers. Taking out a few dark spell books and placing them in front of her Assistant. Books that she had collected from the Library over the past years and months.

"There is a way to end this. I believe it is my last option."

Arone tilted his head slightly in confusion.

"And that is?"

"I have to kill Sombra."

There was an uncomfortable silence that fell over the room as Celestia flipped through pages on dark spells for medical magic. She knew Sombra was listening. She knew he knew what her plan was.

"I don't understand. You have always told everypony that killing is bad. Why do you have to kill Sombra? He is banished. How would you even-"

"Sometimes ponies must do awful things for the sake of freedom. If I don't do this. I am going to lose the fight. I will turn into the wicked thing he wants me to be and drive Equestria to ruin. I don't want that to happen. Sombra was banished deep within the Crystal Empire. The Icy caverns to the North. No pony has ever been able to access it because of the storm surrounding the area. It would kill anypony in seconds at the temperature. But I am an Alicorn."

Celestia continued to read through the book as Arone got up and slowly trotted towards her.

"There must be another way..."

"There is nothing else I can do!" Celestia snapped with sudden rage and slammed the book shut. "Once my injuries heal, I will be leaving. Do not tell anypony of this. Am I clear?"

"Of course, Princess."

"Sh-She is insane! She just goes and announces that she is about to kill somepony and acts like it's fine! It's not fine!" Arone was almost to the point of yelling as Bini rolled her eyes and continued to reshelve books in the dead of night. Her assistants had been long gone as their shift had ended hours ago.

"I am assuming she also told you not to tell anypony." Bini said in a calm manner. "Why are you telling me? This isn't my problem."

"Damn, you are selfish," Arone muttered. Bini chuckled as she put back a few more books.

"And yet you still talk to me. Surprising."

"Focus, Filters." Arone snapped back. "We need to get Discord involved."

"Why? What do you mean by "We?" Bini replied with a raised eyebrow as she moved the cart of books along.

"They like each other. Maybe-"

"Maybe they will fall in love again and have little experiments running around to distract Celestia from her master plan?" Bini finished. Arone shrugged and started to help her organize.

"I have heard worse ideas."

Bini started laughing and leaned against the cart for support. She briefly looked outside as the night highlighted the lightning strike across the sky and rain started to pour down, thanks to the workers of the Cloudsdale Weather Factory.

"Come on." She said with a toothy smile towards Arone and pointed outside. "We are going outside."

"N-Now?" Arone said. Following her gaze to the window and watching the rain pouring down. "There is a storm."

"Exactly. Just like how showers help us think. Storms are like showers. Hurry up." Bini ordered as she removed her scarf and headed towards the corridor. Arone groaned and followed her into the corridor. They walked in silence and reached the nearest exit.

Bini guided him into the castle garden and they hopped onto one of the nearest benches. Quickly getting soaked as they watched the clouds move across the sky. Blocking out the stars and the moon but providing occasional light and noise across the area.

Arone sighed and shook his head. Watching the rain drip from his mane and hit the puddle below them.

"Any good ideas come up yet?" Bini asked.

"The best I got is that we go ask Discord for help."

"How is the newly reformed Discord going to help us? He could change at any moment."

"But yet, he hasn't. He won't do anything to risk her life because, newsflash, he likes her. She will listen to him because she likes him. It was obvious in the way they were watching each other in her medical room. He will give her advice that most likely won't get her killed. If she attempts to kill Sombra, she will die."

"Why will she die? Sombra isn't as powerful as Celestia." Bini asked.

"He isn't as powerful but dark magic has been corrupting her mind. He is in her head and I have no doubt that he will figure out a way to use it against her. Conclusion. She will die."

"OK. I am going to make the active decision to pretend I am not surprised by her being corrupted, as you put it. And then remind you that Sombra isn't an Alicorn. He is a-"

"He is a unicorn. I know. He is also a science experiment gone wrong." Arone barked. They both jumped a little at the sound of thunder and then settled back down on the bench. Bini looked at him in suspicion.

"Did you read Experiment 088?"

"No. I just hear things. What is experiment 088?" Arone asked.

"Nothing. It doesn't matter." Bini said. Quickly shutting down the conversation. "Next thing we do is going to Ponyville."

"No. The next thing we do is decided if we are friends or not." Arone replied. He moved his hoof into the puddle to watch as the water moved across the ground.

"Why?"

"I want to be your friend again. Do you want to be mine?"

"As long as you don't try and suck out my...Love. Sweet Celestia, that is cringy. Then yeah. We can be friends again."

"Good!" Arone chirped with a bright smile. He used his magic to push her off the bench and caused her to faceplant on the ground. "Then I can do that without-"

He felt himself being lifted up in a blue arura, then carried, despite his protests to a spot with a big puddle of mud. Then dropped in it without hesitation. He was soon covered in mud and frantically spitting some out when a small unicorn with crooked glasses and being soaked to the bone approached him.

"Karma, pal. We leave for Ponyville tomorrow morning on the first train out. Fluttershy can tell us how to talk to Discord. See ya then!"

---End of Chapter Nineteen.---