//------------------------------//
// Lost Lovers Reunite 
// Story: My Little Ponys' The Count of Monte Cristo 
// by kahnac 
//------------------------------//

The count was in quite the good mood. In one day, he had made all 3 of his enemies pay for their betrayal through acts of cunning, and careful planning. Though he had fled before he could be properly arrested, the unwitting testimony of Neighsay Villefort, and Guild Cadderouse' incompetent inability to keep secrets under any circumstances, Lord Tirek would now be seen as unfit for his position as King of Prance, and rank of General. The Princesses themselves would see to that. The Count still had to make sure that when the time came, Tirek knew he was responsible. His revenge must be completed at any cost.

Though, he wondered if anything should be done about Mercedes.

As soon as he did think of her, however, he heard a sound in the dark of his home. It was the sound of gentle hoofsteps walking against the marble floor. This startled Shining enough to make him draw his sword, and aim at where he pinpointed the sound. To his surprise, however, he saw that is was the very mare he was thinking of.

"Cadence." he said in half surprise, but mainly disdain.

The mare in question was in a dark dress which kept her frame concealed in the shadows from any watchful eyes. She even wore a veil to go with it. As soon as she removed it, Shining saw a hint of redness around her eyes. She had been crying recently. She drew close to the end of The Count's sword, all while he kept his stare on her ever present. "If there's anypony else you should take revenge on, it should be me." Cadenza said with sadness in her voice. "Because no amount of apologies can ever make up for the betrayal i've made towards you. So.........maybe a blade to my heart's exactly what I deserve."

Shining, however, had no interest in such a thing, and sheathed his sword. "I thought we finished out discussion in the carriage, last night." he said, still trying to keep up the pretense.

"So did I........until you mentioned the name "Dante's". A name I never even mentioned once."

Shining's eyes narrowed, and he let out a huff as he turned away so as not to face her. He privately chided himself for forgetting how smart Mercedes truly was. Even now, he had to admit she was always smarter then him. But he would never give her any compliments now. Yet he knew he gave himself away to her much time ago. So there was little point in keeping up the pretense. "What do you want, then?" he asked in a manner which indicated he didn't want her there. She paid it no heed, and simply said, "I only want to be free of you," she chocked before continuing, "as you seem to have done with me." He turned around to look at her. "Just answer a few questions for me, please. Just a few, then I swear i'll leave forever."

He wanted to say no. Seeing her only made the pain in his heart ache all the worse. Just thinking of the betrayal she had unwittingly performed still left its mark in him. But, part of him DID still love her. Just enough to not be completely cruel, and cold to her. So he decided to just indulge her, and get it over with. "Fine. Ask your questions." Grateful, Cadenza bowed her head slightly, before taking a seat on the nearby couch. She then took the opportunity to look him over again. Now, she could truly see how much more different he was compared to the man she knew so long ago. What had happened to him to turn him into this? That was part of the first thing on her mind, with the question she had wanted so desperately answered for 14 years. "Where have you been?" She asked, sounding almost desperate. He somehow could tell by her tone that she had no idea what he went through. Maybe she was innocent in this, after all.

No. No, she wasn't. If she was, she would never have married that monster, Mondego. He had to hold it together, no matter what. "A prisoner." he said, with a hint of dread, and disgust in his voice. "For thirteen years in the Chateau D'if. And then a great many other places." He said, with his disdain not leaving.

Then he saw Mercedes' anguished expression, and it weakened the stone around his heart. Especially as the tears began to fall from her eyes. "T-...Thirteen years in the Chateau D'if?" she said with pain in her voice. She had known Dante's must have been taken somewhere after his arrest. But to be condemned to THAT horrible place? Where no mare, or stallion who is imprisoned ever returns? It was almost too much to bear. Especially with the tales she had heard of that infernal domain. And it only made the hurt for her love all the stronger, as she asked in concern, "Did you suffer?"

"Are you done, yet?" Shining asked with growing anger. Already, he could feel his emotions beginning to grow out of control. And Cadenza wasn't making this any easier. Now, he just wanted to end this before he lost his resolve. "Because i've got alot more important things on my mind right now - and they don't include you."

But Mercedes would NOT relent. After all this time, she finally had the stallion she loved back, and she wasn't going to lose him again. "What did you do after that?" she asked, rising out of her seat, with Shining's back turned to her once more.

"Much!" He said in a harsh tone.

"Then why didn't you ever come back for me?!" She asked, feeling her own anger flare for a moment.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU WAIT FOR ME?!?" he shouted, finally allowing his anger to be released. And with it, all the pain, and resentment he held in for her was set free, too. Hints of tears of his own beginning to appear as these feelings came to the surface. "Do you have any idea how I felt when I finally came home?" he asked, with that pain most evident. "I languished for so many years, barely clinging to the hope I would see you again! Oh, god, Mercedes, you have no idea how much it hurt being without you! I though I was going to die from being away from you! But then, when I finally made it back, I found out that you didn't have enough faith to believe i'd make it back. Just like everypony else. And what's worse? You married the very stallion who destroyed my-"

His words were cut off.......and his heart skipped a beat with a gasp. His eyes widened in shock as he saw Mercedes pull out something he only saw once before his imprisonment, and the end of his life as Shining Dantes. "T-the ring?" he said in a hushed, almost pained tone. Yes, indeed, it was the very same ring of crystal that Mercedes had created from her own magic. The symbol of the promise of their true love. Now, Mecedes' eyes were beginning to fill with tears again as she said, "Don't you remember what I told you - that day on the rocks, by the sea?" she said, as her voice cracked. "I swore on my life it would never leave me, and for 18 years.....i kept that promise." She then smiled sadly at the stallion she knew as Shining Dante's. "I will never break that promise, Shining. And I will NEVER betray you."

Shining, however, just couldn't handle what he saw, and heard. When he learned of Mercedes' marriage to Sombra, his heart had been hardened into cold, hard stone. He truly believed she had forgotten him, and moved on. Yet, here she stood, still wearing the ring she herself made, and wore around her neck to symbolize how much she loved him. And the stone covering his heart began to crack, before it completely shattered. Instead of the hate he had held inside, he began to feel something which he had not felt in so many years: happiness. But he couldn't handle these conflicting emotions, and his anguished expression ran wet with tears. "But......why?" he asked in a shaking voice. He truly couldn't understand how she could keep her promise after so long, because he only felt betrayal, and loneliness. Now, he saw he was NEVER truly alone.

"You know why, Shining." Mercedes said, trying to reach her hoof out to him. She managed to caress the side of his face before he gently took her hoof in his. And he spoke in a tearful voice, "Then, if you really do still love me........p-please! Please don't take away my hate. It's all I have left."

"No, it isn't!" Cadenza said desperately, touching her hoof to his chest, wanting to get through to him. "You've only been trapped with hate for so long, it's made you forget that there's love in your heart, still. And Hope, as well. I can still feel them inside you, Shining, because i've carried them for all these years......even after they told me you were dead." She then stared into his tear-soaked eyes, letting a gentle smile show as she said, "You don't have to keep going like this anymore. Please, let the hate go, Shining. Just....let it go. I have no idea what twisted designs are spinning around in your mind, but i'm begging you to stop. Whatever cruel twist of fate tore us apart, God has finally brought us back together - please, don't cast his hoof aside."

"God?" He asked, in a defeated voice which showed he was done trying to fight his feelings. Just as he was again perplexed to hear of an idealistic concept he had all but forsaken at the Chateau D'if. And yet, as was proven with the unexpected appearance of the Abbe, who saved him from his despair, it seemed as if the words of his cell might truly be carrying to reality. God is giving him justice. But he wasn't so quick to accept it just yet. "Always do I hear about God. Can't I ever be free of him?"

"Of course not." Mercedes said, as he tears finally stopped flowing. She saw her stallion, whom she fell in love with once before, beginning to surface. And for the first time in 14 years, she felt that fate was finally smiling on them both, and repaying them for such cruelty. "God loves you, Shining. If you truly are here, it's because he loves you so much that he's helped you find the strength to live. And you can no more stop him from loving you.........then you can me from loving you with all my heart."

Shining's expression softened. And he asked in a gentle, almost timid voice, "You still mean it?"

"Yes.......now, and forever."

And at last, the two could no longer contain the love they felt. Both of their eyes began to slowly shut, as they felt a passion they had forgotten begin to surface once more. They were savoring every second of this moment. For they had been ripped from one another for too long. And nothing was going to keep them apart ever again. Soon, their lips connected, and they shared in the deepest, most loving kiss they had ever shared before. Both of them poured every ounce of their love into this single kiss. Their eyes remained closed as they grew lost to their feelings. It was a full minute before they parted, leaving the two panting lightly from a short lack of oxygen. But Dante's had danced with death for a long time now, and it held no fear for him. Neither did it for Mercedes. In this moment, nothing else mattered..........nothing except them. And with another kiss, the night would span on to allow the two of them to express their love, and just how happy they were to at last be together again.

They were truly one - now, and forever.





Shining had awakened at 3 in the morning, wrapped in his bed-sheets. Laying beside him, with a hoof wrapped around his chest was Cadenza. She, who slept so soundly, and carried a smile even in her slumber. Shining himself couldn't help but smile at the display. It was almost too surreal. He had dreamed of this moment for the span of his imprisonment. But the desire for vengeance had clouded his mind, and made him forget. Perhaps he was the one who was guilty of forgetting what truly mattered. Ever since his return, he had thought the worst of Mercedes. But she never once gave up on him. Now, all he could feel was his love, slowly but surely returning to him. Perhaps a sign that he was willing to at last move on, and reclaim his life.

Either way, he would find no more sleep for the rest of the night. Gently lifting Mercedes' hoof off of his body, and placing it on the bed so as not to wake her, Shining put his white shirt on as quietly as possible, and exited the room. Here, in the quiet of the night, with the full moon shining down, he was left alone with his thoughts. He could finally think more clearly of things without his anger clouding them. And what he felt was his heart's stone casing breaking off to allow his true self to surface. The stallion who was loving, kind, compassionate, and forgiving. He thought the years had hammered that pony out of him. 

The Count of Monte Cristo was far different from who he once was, and he was happy to let the past die to cast out the pain it brought. Now, however, he found no shame in remembering the past. All of the good, and all of the bad. It was all that led him up to this moment. It led him to a chance at getting the happiness he always wanted, and truly deserved. So, maybe Mercedes was right: maybe it was time to let go of revenge. This was his second chance to truly begin again. And as he gazed upon the moon, with his Little Star hanging beside it, he saw that he DID have a new chance. A chance to resurrect the stallion he used to be.



~I've seen a thousand wonders 
I've lived a hundred lifetimes 
But not until this moment 
Have miracles seemed real

As fleeting as a shadow 
The time goes by unnoticed 
The hate that drove me forward 
Is gone and I am face to face with...

The man I used to be
Dreams I dared to dream
When love was all 
The innocence of youth 
Like memories of truth return 
To learn forgiveness

The stallion I used to be 
Cannot be outrun 
Albert' still lives 
Whatever else I've done 
Forever in his eyes, she'll see 
The man that I used to be

And all the years will melt away 
And lights will fall much softer now

For all the pain is gone 
Hope is what moves on 
I will be there 
As near as her next prayer 
As merciful as sweet redemption

Once blind, now I see 
Once a slave, i'm free 
Give me a star 
To home would guide my heart 
To resurrect a part of me 
The stallion I used to be!~