Princess Amity

        Early on a Wednesday morning at Canterlot High School, a forty-three year old, female, unicorn twelfth grade teacher, with her classroom door closed, is cleaning her room at a fast pace. The frantic pony multitasks by straightening her students' desks with her magic while organizing paperwork spread everywhere on her desk. She takes the paperwork with her front hooves and crams it in one of the desk's drawers. Then, she slams the drawer making a loud banging sound echoing in the room. Just then, a younger female Earth pony knocks on the door, and the teacher sits in her wooden chair, takes a deep breath, and says, "Come in."

        The door opens slightly, and the younger pony steps in and says, "Mrs. Lily, 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 for the special guest, the majestic Princess Celestia. As Celestia walks into the room, 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 telling the students about my cousin. If I recall, you are a history teacher, correct?"

        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 little 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. Now, 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, the students will start coming in, and the bell rings at 8:00."

        Celestia responds, "Until then, we can just talk."

        The two ponies start and carry on a conversation throughout the time while teenage ponies, unicorns, and pegasi formally enter the room staring at Celestia in disbelief that she is actually in the classroom. 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, and all the students sit silently giving Princess Celestia their full attention. Celestia instantly knows how they are feeling by their body language. Some students either have widened or shrunken pupils, while others are shaking constantly, or even licking their lips, but Celestia knows this is normal for teenage ponies and proceeds to speak. She stands from the extra chair beside Mrs. Lily, walks in front of the students, and says politely with a smile, "Good morning, class." All of the teens stay quiet.

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

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

        Celestia turns to the educator and responds to her, "Mrs. Lily, please don't do that again." The teacher 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 responds, "You're correct, and, specifically, my cousin."

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

        Celestia's smile deteriorates and forms into a slight frown, looks down at the floor and answers, "He was... a wonderful alicorn. In fact," she looks up to look at the class, "he was my and Luna's favorite cousin.

        "When we were little, we played all the time. He was sweet, caring, and he never thought about himself. When he was somewhere else, Luna and I sent letters to him all the time. We loved him dearly, and I wish he was here and his former self. This is where the story starts.

        "Triton became the ruler of the once great city of Pandora twenty-one years ago, and, at first, he handled the city and the citizens with great care, and the ponies of Pandora loved him. He was a symbol of hope because Pandora just like most of Equestria was harshly affected by Discord's chaos. During Discord's reign, the cowardly mayor of Pandora abandoned the city 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 no one seemed suited to run the city. Violence and hatred were destroying the city. It seemed nothing could save it or the innocent ponies. As a result, Luna and I contacted Triton and asked him to take care of Pandora. Triton accepted and flew to the city immediately. From what I know, when he arrived at Pandora, the ponies greeted him, and since he was of royal blood, the citizens accepted him as their new mayor immediately. In fact, they refused to call a mayor but instead a leader. We thought he was the perfect choice...but we were wrong, and what he did was beyond belief.

        "He did as he promised: rebuild Pandora. He pushed employment, tax cuts, and orders to make the city's economy strong once again. Additionally, he had hired many ponies build homeless shelters, repair apartments, and reconstruct local businesses. Of course, he was viewed upon as a great leader. He constantly sent Luna and I letters informing us about his progress, and it sounded like he was doing magnificently. After about two months, he had told us the city had reclaimed its former glory, and we were happy for him. 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 when we had not received a letter after three months, we became worrisome. Eventually, we sent him a letter asking if he was okay, but instead of sending us a message back the next day, we did not receive one until four weeks later. He responded with a single sentence, 'Everything is fine.'

        "As soon as we received that letter, we knew something was wrong and flew to Pandora immediately, and we took the Elements of Harmony if 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 before Discord, 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 in the star looking forward, as if he was looking at you, with solid black eyes. Those flags though simply designed sent chills down my spine, and we wondered what had happened to our dear cousin. When we got to the middle of the city, we saw a massive castle. This was not in Pandora before Triton came, and it was black with dark blue markings all over it with those disturbing flags hanging on nearly every wall. Of course, we knew Triton had to be in there.

        "We landed in front of the entrance which was composed of two massive wooden doors, and as soon as we landed, the doors opened and standing in wait was Triton. I could tell immediately something he had changed. His iris was completely black with no sign of the bright blue color his eyes had, and his eyes were bloodshot. 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: Triton had embraced the dark magic within himself in the form of pride and greediness, and his behavior definitely showed it.

        "Luna and I tried to persuade him to stop his tyranny and be his former self, but he believed he was living in our shadows, being disrespected by all ponies, and being mocked and criticized behind his back. He said when he had Pandora, he did not want to let it go and wanted all political power and fortune he could have. Also, he blatantly told us he made a law in the city to obey and worship him, and all male ponies were soldiers of the city and all gold went to him. I don't remember all of the things he said...but I do remember one. He said, 'I am greater than all ponies in this world! I...am...God.' We tried to tell him that we all loved him and convince him to turn back into his former self, but he did not listen and attacked us.

        "It was an intense fight, and with the dark magic, he was stronger and more powerful than Luna and I had thought. He was one of the most powerful enemies either of us had ever faced. I remember one moment of the fight where he demonstrated his power: I had charged at him and we were in a horn lock, which for those who don't know is when two unicorns' or alicorns' horns are side by side and one tries to overpower each other by 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 who was hit by one of his magic beams prior the horn lock rushed in and joined me in the lock, but Triton continued to push forward 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. Sometime during the fight, we were in the air, and we tried to force him to the street so we can use the Elements of Harmony against him. I charged at him with everything I had, and he and I got into another horn lock. However, I was distracting him while Luna stabbed into his right shoulder with her horn. With Triton in intense pain, we overpowered him forced him to ground level. To make sure he would not escape, I broke his left wing by landing on it with intense strength. Then, Luna and I used the Elements of Harmony to turn him into stone, but before we did, I remember saying to him, 'How could you, Triton? We asked to bring peace back to Pandora, not tyranny.'

        "In tears, Luna then said to him, 'You were our favorite cousin! We loved you.'

        "Triton wallowing in pain responded, 'I hate you, and I will kill you both! Go ahead, do whatever you wish to me with those stones but heed my words. I will return and this world will be mine! I am darkness! I am Triton! I AM GOD!' He broke our hearts, and with tears dominating our faces, we turned him into stone. He's still in his stone imprisonment in the Canterlot Garden."

        The students with faces of awe sit silently while Celestia looks at the classroom clock on the wall to her left. She then says, "According to your classroom clock, you have a couple of minutes until the next class period." She turns back to the students and asks, "Any questions?"

        After asking the question, a young male pegasus raises his left wing. Celestia looks at him, and he asks, "I know he did terrible things, but he was your cousin. Do miss him, even a little?"

        Celestia with a neutral expression answers, "Yes. Just like how I miss Luna when I banished her ten years ago, I miss Triton a lot."

        Then, a female unicorn raises her right hoof, and Celestia looks at her. The young unicorn says, "I know this is off topic but…"

        "You know the class rules, Firefly" Mrs. Lily interrupts the teenage pony, "we don't ask questions off topic."

        The princess looks at the educator and says, "It's quite alright." She turns back to the curious unicorn and says, "What's your 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 consumed every minute for the last sixteen years."

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

        "Of course." 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 a pink alicorn who stands up to Celestia's chest, has a mane and tail of gold with silver lines, golden eyes, a blank flank, and a bookcase containing three massive textbooks on her back approaches the princess.

        "Great job, Mom," she says to her mother.

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