Early on a Wednesday morning at Canterlot High School, a middle aged unicorn twelfth grade teacher is cleaning her room at a fast pace. The frantic pony multitasks by straightening her students' desks with her magic while organizing paperwork scattered everywhere on her desk. She takes the papers, crams it in a drawer, and slams it which makes a loud sound echoing in the room. Just then, a much younger female Earth pony knocks on the door, and the teacher sits in a wooden chair, takes a deep breath, and says, "Come in."



The door opens slightly, "Mrs. Lily," the young pony says, "your guest speaker is here."



Mrs. Lily swallows nervously and responds, "Please bring her in."



The Earth pony completely opens the door and bows her head before the guest, the majestic Princess Celestia. Mrs. Lily steps off her chair, walks up to the princess, bows her head, and says, "Welcome, Your Majesty. It is an honor having you in the school and classroom."



Celestia with a kindly smile responds, "Thank you for inviting me. I'm very anxious in educating the students on history.?"



Sweating profusely, Mrs. Lily lifts her head and responds nervously, "And the students will enjoy it, hopefully. Uh, do you need anything like water? I have bottles in my fridge beside my desk." Celestia tries to answer, but the unicorn unintentionally interrupts her. "Would you like a snack? I have granola bars. Oh, I know, would you like a chair or a stool?"



Celestia finally responds, "Mrs. Lily, don't be so nervous. I know your students will do fine. Also, thank you for the offers but I'm perfectly fine. When do the students arrive?"



Mrs. Lily slows down her breathing calming herself and answers, "It's about 7:25 now. So, in about ten minutes."



"Well, until then," Celestia says, "we can just talk."



The two ponies start and carry on a conversation, and soon, teenage ponies, unicorns, and pegasi formally enter the room staring at Celestia in disbelief. Many want to ask her questions but are too shy or even scared to ask the princess. Eventually, the time reaches 8:00 and the bell rings to start the school day. All the students sit silently giving Princess Celestia their full attention.



Celestia stands in front of the students with a smile, "Good morning, class." However, all of the students stay quiet.



Mrs. Lily then yells, "Class, respond to the princess!"



This startled the students, and they say at once, "Good morning, Princess Celestia."



Celestia turns to the teacher and says, "Mrs. Lily, don't do that again." Lily blushes in embarrassment, and Celestia turns back to the students. "Class, please relax. I am simply here to tell you a story about an event that occurred twenty-one years ago, but first, does any pony know who Triton was?"



An eerie silence dominates the classroom atmosphere for a couple of seconds, then a male unicorn with a deep voice sitting in the middle of the room breaks the silence by answering to Celestia, "My mom told me that he was your relative."



Celestia answers back, "Correct. Specifically, my cousin."



Then, a female pegasus sitting in the front row raises her right hoof, and Celestia looks at her giving the young pony her attention. The pony asks, "I know he was a mean ruler, but how was he before that?"



Celestia's smile deteriorates and forms into a slight frown, "He was... a wonderful alicorn. In fact, he was my and Luna's favorite cousin.



"When we were little, we played all the time. He was sweet, caring, and unselfish. I remember one time, Luna tripped a scrapped her knee a bit. She started to cry, and Triton was there to check on her before I had a chance. Whenever he was away, Luna and I sent letters to him all the time. We loved him dearly, and... I wish he was here as his former self. I guess this is where the story starts.



"As I said earlier, this occured twenty-one years ago, and this was when Discord was spreading chaos throughout Equestria. Much like Canterlot and Manehattan, Pandora was greatly affected his destructive magic, and during that time, the cowardly mayor of city fled leaving it and the citizens to perish. Even after defeating Discord, the city was still in great peril. Many ponies tried to run for mayor, but the violence and hatred was too great for a regular pony to resolve. It seemed nothing could save it or the innocent ponies. As a result, Luna and I contacted Triton and asked him to save Pandora. He accepted and flew to the city immediately, and from what I know, when he arrived at Pandora, the most of the ponies greeted him while others became furious. Despite some negative reactions, he did as he promised: rebuild Pandora. He pushed employment, tax cuts, and restoring city's economy. Additionally, he had many ponies build homeless shelters, repair apartments, and reconstruct local businesses.



"He constantly sent Luna and I letters informing us about his progress, and he was doing a magnificent job. After about two months, he had told us the city had reclaimed its former glory. We were so proud of him and knew that he was perfect for this task. However, about a month after that message, the letters had stopped. Luna and I thought nothing of it at first. We figured he was busy and had forgotten, but after three months, we became worried and sent him a letter asking if he was okay. Instead of sending us a reply back the next day like he usually did, we did not hear until a week later. He responded with a single sentence, 'Everything is fine.'



"As soon as Luna and I received that letter, we flew to Pandora immediately. We also took the Elements of Harmony in case it was something crucial. I'm glad we did. When we arrived at Pandora, what we saw was...disturbing. The city had regained its size, but it had a -you could say- gloomy and threatening atmosphere. No ponies expect for ones wearing black metal armor walked down the streets. Hanging on every street lamp were flags each with a blood-red background, a six-pointed black star in the middle, and Triton's face inside the star. Those flags sent chills down my spine. When we got to the middle of the city, we saw a massive castle which has never been in Pandora before. We landed in front of the two massive wooden doors, and as soon as we landed, the doors opened with Triton waiting for us.



"I could tell immediately something he had changed. His eyes were bloodshot and the color was completely black with no sign of the bright blue color. Also, his name and tail where black as well. The only part of him that was blue was his fur, but it was dark blue much like Luna. He was wearing a dark blue crown and a black amulet around his neck, and both items had various gems and diamonds all over them. Luna and I didn't want to believe it, but it was true by just the mere sight of him, Triton had embraced his dark magic.



"Before I continue, I need to say this children: Please do not embrace your dark magic. Every pony has dark magic within themselves and something will ignite it. Once it is, never embrace it. It will turn you into a monster. Now, it's true that embracing dark magic will make you twice as strong as your full potential, but you have to sacrifice who you are to become that powerful. Some ponies have done it, but they never return to who they are. If you are able to control it, fantastic, but if you need help, seek it please. Back to the story.



"Luna and I tried to reason with him but with no avail. He believed said that he only lived for his gold and jewels and was..." Celestia closes her eyes tightly and continues, "willingly to die for it. He didn't want to let the political power and fortune the city had given him go. He even blatantly told us he made a law in the city to submit all wealth to him. I can't remember everything he said exactly...but I do remember this and something later. He said this exactly, ' These ponies don't mean anything to me for I am greater than all ponies! I...am...a...god.' We tried telling him that we loved him and convince him to turn back into his former self, instead though...attacked us.



"It was an intense fight, and he was much stronger and more powerful than Luna and I had thought. I remember one moment of the fight where he demonstrated his power: Luna was hit by a magic beam and she collasped. I then charged at him, and we were in a horn lock. For those who don't know, this is when two unicorns' or alicorns' horns are side by side, and one pony tries to overpower the other with magic and strength. Anyway, Triton and I were at a horn lock, and he overpowered me with ease pushing me down to the street below. Luna woke up, rushed in, and joined me in the lock. Despite having the both of us using all of our strength, Triton continued to push us back with no difficulty. He definitely had a strength and power advantage, but we had speed and experience. I know you're wondering how we defeated him. We were in the air, and Luna and I tried to force him down to the street so we can use the Elements of Harmony while he was still. I charged at him with everything I had, and he and I got into another horn lock while. However, I was solely a distraction while Luna stabbed into his right shoulder with her horn. With Triton in intense pain, I overpowered him forced him to ground level. To assure he would not escape, I broke his left wing by landing on it with intense strength. Finally, Luna and I were able to use the Elements of Harmony to turn him into stone, but before we did, I remember saying to him, 'How could you, Triton?'



"In tears, Luna then said to him, 'We loved you.'



"Triton wallowing in pain responded and this was the other second I remember him saying exactly, 'I hate you, and I will kill you both! Go ahead, turn me stone but heed my words. I will return and this world will be mine! I am darkness! I am Triton! I AM GOD!' He's still in his stone imprisonment in the Canterlot Garden."



The students with faces of awe sit silently. Celestia looks at the clock at the back of the room and says, "According to your classroom clock, you have a couple of minutes until the next class period. Any questions?"



A male pegasus raises his left wing. Celestia looks at him, and he asks, "I know he did terrible things, but do miss him? Even a little?"



"Yes," Celestia answers, "Just like how I miss Luna when I banished her ten years ago, I miss Triton a lot. He's still family after all."



Then, a female unicorn raises her right hoof. With Celestia giving her full attention, the young unicorn says, "I know this is off topic but..."



"It's quite alright," Celestia says, " I don't mind answering any question?"



"Well," she hesitantly starts, "I was wondering where your husband is. I have heard of him but never seen him."



Celestia smiles and says in a polite yet sad tone, "He's not with us now. He's not dead but on major royal duty elsewhere that has taken every minute of his life for the last sixteen years."



The same unicorn asks, "Do you miss him?"



Celestia responds, "Of course, my dear." As soon as the princess finishes, the bell rings. Before leaving the classroom, every student approaches the princess, bows their heads, thanks her for the story, and politely leaves the room. The last student in the classroom is pink alicorn with gold and siover lining mane and tail, golden eyes, a blank flank, and a bookcase containing three massive textbooks on her back. She approaches Celestia with her eyes reaching the princess' upper chest.



"Great job, Mom," the alicorn says.



"Thanks, Amity," Celestia says in a cheerful tone. "Now," Celestia tilts her head slightly to her left, "get your butt to class. Don't want to have a tardy on your last day of school." Amity chuckles and walks out the door.