Mephisto and the Pony

by Zealus6

Rating: teen
Tags: Dark
Length: 10904

Ariel, noble from Canterlot, wants to find something perfect. He abandons his life and love to search, but doesn't know that a demon, and a princess were counting on it.

Ariel's life in Canterlot has perfectly happy. Comfy job, lots of money, cute marefiend top spend it on, even time with the Princesses, when he had reason to visit them. There's just one problem: hes bored out of his mind. So he does what any normal bored noble does and abandons ever pony and thing he ever cared about to go wander the nation in search of something perfect.

A retelling of the story from the rock opera albums "Epica" and "The Black Halo", in Equestia!
(Rated teen for morbid situations)

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2014-09-08 02:30:06 UTC

Epica

Mephisto dove and swooped through the air as he screamed and spat at the wind.  He was close, now.  The air tore at his mane and chilled him to his bones, but he wasn't going to let it stop him.  Today was the only day in thousands of years that Celestia would see him.  It was the deal that they had made, so long ago.  He had tried, and failed, time and again to get what he wanted from her.  Deals, powers, screaming torture and fiery temptation were routine for him.  This time would be different.  He had watched and waited for an eternity for times just like this.  This time, all was over.  There were simply no more heroes to defend the light of justice.  There were plenty of foes and disasters for mares and the like to defeat - by default.

Compared to Starswirl?  Discord?  legions of demons?  Ponies these days were weak.  He had known for eons that Celestia's rule would weaken and demoralize ponykind.  She just didn't have what it took to be a leader.  She didn't even have the patience to properly act as an older sibling, last time he checked.  Sure, she had her moments (after all, it takes a special pony to wield all six elements of harmony at once) but they were fleeting and negligible at beast.  At their worst, Mephisto recalled fondly, they were spectacular incidents of failure and utter foolishness.  He still remembered her first stallion-friend...

He was ready.  Equestria was ready, and he wasn't going to keep it waiting any longer.

Mephisto flew straight into the main square of Canterlot, landing squarly on some statue.  He was a little smaller than Celestia herself, but he was a pitch red alicorn covered in a thick black travel cloak that hid his wings from view.  His long mane fell down past his shoulders, his beard past the base of his neck, and his tail was almost three feet long, trailing behind him like a ruby snake where he stepped.  He slowly allowed his head to rise as he expect wails of horror and ponies running for their lives and their sanity - and he saw ponies walking about the market, going about their business.

His looked around quickly and projected his voice at just the right volumn.  "Mephistopheles has returned!"

Somepony looked at him.

He jumped down from the marble mockery of somepony and bellowed again, his voice deeper.  "Flee in fear, for I deal in sanity and thy souls!"

A mare looked at him, annoyed.  "Sir, whatever you doing, do it elsehwere."

"Fool!"  Said Mephisto confidently, "All of this town would burn if I but wished it!"

A stallion turned to him.  "Sirah, some of us are trying to concentrate here!"

Mephisto took a step forward.  "Focus thyself on this!"

His horn went pitch black as the magic fired itself at the stallion.  He cried out, and simply vanished in a puff of smoke.

"Whomever else?"  He asked with glee.

Ponies around him screamed and fled in every which direction, knocking over stalls and crashing into eachother.  Mephisto suddenly felt bored.  Thats it?  Back in his day...

"There he is!"  Somepony shouted.  Mephisto wheeled around just in time for a burly guardspony to crash into him at full speed.  Both ponies crashed to the ground as the trained guardspony wrestled with an unresistant Mephisto.  After a moment the guard held up the limp pony, his tongue hanging from his muzzle, and screamed at him.  Mephisto shook his head furiously and looked at the guard with a look of death.  As his horn lit up, he whispered "No touching the art!"

The guard dropped him and clenched his stomach with his hooves, started heaving and wheezing.  Mephisto stepped back.  "Teach you."  He whispered.  The guard fell to the ground and started squirming.  Mephisto looked around himself to see that he was surrounded by guards, each one with a look of horror.  By this time, most of the crows had cleared away.

"What have you done to him!?"

Mephisto spoke like all was perfectly calm and normal.  "I turned his insides into snakes."

The guards looked at each other.  "Were going to have to ask you to come with us..."

Mephisto closed one eye at them.  "Thou art foolish indeed."

"What?"  Was all the time one had to say before a black wave of magic was thrown at him - only to be blocked by a much brighter blast from the sky.  Mephisto looked upwards in rage to behold Princess Celestia and Luna, neither looking to terribly pleased with him.

"Meistopheles!"  Shouted Celestia.

"Whomever is this?"  Asked Luna.

The guards looked shamefully to their writhing friend.

Clestia and Luna landed between the semi-circle of guards and the red alicornl, Celestia looking ready to run a marathon, Luna simply confused.

Mephisto gave them both his most handsome smile.  "This world spins around me, yet I see little of your lovely face, Celestia."

The injured guard let out a yelp.

Celestia rolled her eyes at Mephisto, Luna gasped.

"Sister, thou knoweth him?"

Celestia ignored her.  She addressed the guards "Take him to a hosipital, then return to your rounds."

"Yes princess!"  They said at once, then dispersed.

"Fix him."  Seethed Celestia.

Mephisto looked thoughtful.  "What is my reward, should i see fit to do so?"

Celestia's eyes went pitch yellow.

"Hold on!"  He said,  "I cant!  Its easy enough to turn flesh into snakes, but turning randomly dispersed snakes into a perfectly placed intestinal system?  Cant be done!"

Celestia's eyes returned to their normal color.  "I have FAITH in you."  She said simply.

Mephisto sighed, and his horn flashed.  "Thine work is done."  He gave her a smile, revealing rows of sharp teeth.

Celestia stared him down.  "What is it now, demon?"

Mephisto looked down with a smile.  "Demon?  Thou hath scarred me..."

Luna looked back and forth between them, but said nothing.  She hatred being ignored.

Celestia leaned forward a little.  "You have made a demon of yourself."

Mephisto chuckled.  "Judgmental as always, love."

Luna blurted out "who art thou?  Doth thou have feelings for our sister?"

Mephisto looked at her for the first time.  "Our?  Doth Celestia have more than one sister?"

"We have always spoken as such..."

Celestia cut in.  "Leave her out of this, Mephisto!  Tell me what you want."

"Thou hath known what I seek."

Celestia seemed to relax.  "Your not going to get it.  Enjoy what you do have, before you lose it."

Mephisto laughed at her.  "Hath thou seen the state of ponies?!  Greedy, angry, jealous,vain, sensual, slothful, gluttons!  Anyone of them would take my side in a moment!"

Celestia looked hurt, but quickly recomposed.  "Then here is my decree.  Lay claim to the very soul of my favorite pony."

Mephisto jerked a little.  "Thou cant be serious..."

Celestia looked pleased with herself.  "Ariel, my favorite pony, resides in the very city you claim would betray me in a thought.  So prove it.  All you have to do so is lay any kind of claim upon his soul, and you win."

Mephisto leaned back a little.  "Celestia, any nobles would betray you for a bit!"

Celesia took off and flew away.  Luna watched her go, then said "Ariel?"  And she too, was gone.

Mephisto looked up at the sun, and at the slowly returning crowd.  "Ariel...Move slowly."

Farewell

"What?!"  Shouted Bero.  Ariel cowered before his raging father, trying to babble a good excuse.

"Father, I-"

"Am abandoning your family, life, and love for no good reason!"  Bero shouted.

"Father, its not that simple..."

"Oh?  How is it then?"

"Oh, you wouldn't understand!"

"Colts,"  Came a soft voice.  Both stallions turned and faced Ariel's mother, High Decour.

The three were in the rather large and richly decorated mansion of the -Crat family, of which Ariel was descended.  Ariel had never known his grandparents on either side, only his two parents, and himself remained of the once proud family.  These days, it seemed that the Rich family was all the rage, but as Ariel's father always said, his luck ran out when he had a girl.

"Now, my son, tell me what this is about."

Ariel reeled form his mother.  "Mother, I-"

"The boy has decided that Canterlot isn't perfect enough for him, so hes going to go find a capitol, castletown, and sun-rising monarch that is!"

Ariel gave his father a look.  "Its about principle, not dissatisfaction.  I need to do this for myself, otherwise I may never know the truth."

High Decour nodded.  "I always knew this day would come."

"What?!"   Blurted out Ariel and his father at the same time.

She smiled.  "You colts always needed lots of room to roam and play.  A mother's work is never done."

"He cant just leave!"  Countered Bero.

Ariel shook his head.  "Of course I can!  I'm older than you were when you left Manehattan!"

"Bero,"  said Decour, "Let the boy go.  Instead of fighting him, tell him how much you love him."

Bero turned and look at Ariel with sorrowful eyes.  "It sure is nice having you around..,."  He said.

Ariel smiled.  "Father... I must take your farewell."

Bero nodded.  "Just don't get hurt."

Decour shed a single tear.  "You can always come back..."  She said hopefully.

Ariel turned for the door, looked back just once, and stepped through.

Ariel never saw his parents again.

...

Ariel stood just in front of the door to his own home.  He preferred to live in quality over quantity, so it was not nearly as big as his parents' mansion.  It was, of course, in an upscale area, but Ariel was happy as long as Helena was.  That was, of course, about to change.

Ariel finally got the courage to face Helena and knock, when he heard his name called.  His head snapped in direction of Helena herself, galloping towards him.  He smiled, but her expression was strangely calm.  He stood perfectly still until she caught up to him.  He looked at her in fear, but her expression did not change.

"Dropped by your parents place.  They were sure cryptic,"  She said with suspicion.

Ariel nodded at her.

"Open your mouth,"  She ordered with authority.

He opened it and held his breath.

"Breath."  She said simply, leaning closer to him.

As soon as she did, he snapped his jaws closed and planted a firm kiss on her muzzle, earning him a squeak of surprise.

He pulled away quickly, before she had a chance to strike him.

Helena shook her head quickly, and said "That's one way to prove your sobriety."

Ariel gave her a mischievous smile.  "You know me better than that."

Helena dropped her calm demeanor and asked "Ariel, whats going on?"

Ariel looked down.  "Well..."

"Yes."

"You see."

"Go on."

"Helena, your the only mare ill ever love..."

Helena's eyes narrowed as her ears flicked back.  "What?"  She squeaked.

"Helena... I must take your farewell."

She looked at him with pleading eyes.  "Please don't leave me..."

Ariel raised his hoof and swag it in a circle.  "I'm not leaving you, exactly, but everything.  My life.  This whole... thing.  I think that is more, you know, out there."  His voice dropped to a whisper.  "Something perfect."

Helena exploded.  "Something perfect?!  Ariel, what we have is perfect!  I love you, I changed my life for you, I abstained for you, and now your packing up and leaving!?  Ariel!"  She started to heave, then she started to cry.  Over soft sobs, she said "Fine.  But ill love you until the end."  With that, she strode past him, opened the door, and slammed it shut right in his face.

Ariel didn't allow to himself to cry.  This was the start of something new.  Helena had her whole life ahead of her... but there was just something different about himself.  He couldn't live a life of peace, knowing that could be more to the entire existence.  After all, what if, when you die, you only get born again?  The thought filled him with fury and anxiety.  He raced towards the train station, just managing to catch the last one to Ponyville, his first destination.  He tried hard not to be sad.   This was new.  A new adventure, a new perfection!

Soul Conforms

13 years later

Ariel walked down the road between Ponyville and the Everfree Forest, just a little beyond Fluttershy's cottage.  He did not know exactly how he had wound up in her chicken coop, but he did know why.  He just didn't want to believe it.  The mushrooms he had taken were responsible, though he couldn't remember the details of his voyage.  Something about a demon?  Running from a demon?  Running to a demon?  Bright red eyes, open wings...  Other than that, he couldn't remember.

Ariel had aged quite a lot in his time.  He looked at least fifty, with saggy skin and bald patches across his body.  His eyes drooped, his ears seemed too long.  His hooves were bigger than before, because the skin around them had pulled back into his legs.  He smelled of smoke and alcohol.  His mane was now all the way to his shoulders, his beard was messy and tangled, his tail dragged behind him like a filthy snake.  Ariel didn't know it, but his eyes were bloodshot, his teeth were rotted and falling out, his tongue was discolored.  He had also managed to lose about half his weight and all his money.  He now lived off weird stuff from the forest and never stayed in one place for more than  a month or so - he had long since lost track of how it had been since he had left Canterlot.  He had managed to spend time in every big settlement or town in Equestria.

"Um.. mister..."  Came an incredibly soft voice.

Ariel slowly turned around to face Fluttershy, her face hidden in her pink mane.  A bear behind gently pushed her forward, and she made a small squeak.  Then she opened her eyes and seemed to steel her resolve.

"What?"  Ariel asked, impatient.  He sounded like a was talking through a veil of butter.

"Its just..."

Ariel waited.

"I think you need help."

Ariel nodded at her, and she seemed to fortify herself again.

"I mean... how much have did you have to drink last night?"

"More than enough to kill you."  Ariel said simply.  Time to move on, he thought.

"I see.  Well, I know a hospital here they take ponies like you, you'll get lots of help from there."

Ariel started thinking about the first time he arrived in Ponyville, all that time ago.  He had to see Princess Twilight, and was surprised that she said yes.  She did, however, seem not to trust him.  He was of course a noble from Canterlot, and he could see how she would be slow to trust him.  However, with his knowledge of philosophy and history, he made conversation easily with her, even though her insights into perfection were a little bland, even at the best of times.  He was shocked when she told him he could not stay at the palace, even though he offered a considerable sum.  He had left early the next day.

"-forest" Fluttershy finished.

Ariel nodded again, then turned right around and headed for the Everfree.  Flutershy stayed right beside him.

"Um, mister, the hospital is in Ponyville..."

"I know."

She looked at Ariel for a moment, then lost all her fortification.

"But..."

Ariel wheeled around at jabbed a hoof into Fluttershy's chest, his face contorted with rage.  She froze.  "Listen here, pegasus,"  He seethed, "I am a big stallion now, and I can decide what to do with my own body.  I don't need some random pony telling me to get help or go to a hospital.  I can take of myself."  He paused.  "I dont need your help."  He huffed and continued his trot into the forest, only just aware of the sobs.

Ariel scoured the forest, rushed as far as his withered body could take him, past trees and rocky crags, into the higher crevices where he was looking.  Just beyond them - the mushrooms.  Red and brown spotted mushrooms where exactly what he was looking for.  He walked over to one of the larger ones, and reached out a trembling hoof.  It recoiled from the touch of the mushroom, but suddenly shot forward and seized the red fungus.  Ariel hesitated for one moment and spoke.  "I love this moment..."  And snapped the mushroom up.

The effect was instant.  The dark gloomy forest lit up with green and red lights, and his pupils shrank to slits to keep from being blinded.  His smile was goofy and deranged, his legs trembled as he wobbled back and forth towards the cliff.

"Are you okay?"  Said Fluttershy.  Ariel looked at her, aghast. She was covered in little bugs, they crawled into her eyes and mouth as she spoke again.

"Mister.."

Ariel laughed at her as he managed to get up to the side of the cliff, looking down at the abyss below.  All the trees around him started rocking back and forth, as their faces laughed at him.  One of them said "Don't be a filly, filly!"  He thought he heard his father.

"I don't think that..."  She trialed off.

A gigantic worm screeched, and another said "Oh, keep your slime on!"  Ariel tensed all four legs, giggling at his own joke.  Fluttershy looked ready to pounce.

The moonlight above them shown so brightly that some of it broke through the treeline, a cone of it spilling from the moon to just in front of Ariel.  He stopped and looked up at the moon, vaguely interested.  Fluttershy relaxed and watched in wonder.  Ariel felt the effects of the drug melt from him as a shape descended from the circle of light, so bright that it lit up the entire forest.

Ariel shook his head rapidly.  What had he just been contemplating?  His eyes went wide as the pitch white shape now floated calmly just a few feet above him.  He looked up to it.

There stood a pitch white pony, with silver mane down past his shoulders. A small beard, and a tail that seemed several feet long.  His wings were bigger than his whole body, flapping gently through the air, without even making a breeze.  Fluttershy couldn't believe her eyes, Ariel looked like he had been caught doing something sinful.

The silver alicorn spoke, his voice singsong and perfectly in tune.  "Speak my friend, you look suprised, I thought youd know Id come disgused."

He rose a little into the air and puffed out his chest, silvery powder falling from his wings.  The light got a little brighter, and the forest returned to normal - save for himself, Fluttershy, and the moon.

"On angel wings!  In white!"

Ariel took a step back from the silver alicorn.  "I can make your dreams come true, what a couple, me and you, on journey through..."

Ariel looked around, wondering if the drug was still working.

"The night."

Ariel looked back at the floating silver pony, his face twisted with fear and wonder.

"I will show you everything so vividly..."

The silver alicorn gestured to the sky.

"You can't deny me."

Ariel took another step back, and the silver alicorn flew higher.

The light from the moon somehow got larger, encompassing Ariel as well.

Ariel spoke, his voice trembling.  "Who are you?"

The silver alirorn smiled.  "Bathed in moonlight, I'm proclaimed by angel's cry!"

Ariel spoke louder.  "What do you want?"

"Think well.  Do take your time... because your soul will be mine the day you die."

Ariel shook his head rapidly and stepped out of the moon's embrace.  "What?!"

The silver alicorn flew closer.  "Oh, you didn't hear me?"

He flew above Ariel, and magic projections appeared before him when the silver alicorn's wings started to glow.  Images of food, mares, wine, a gigantic castle, and ecstasies of gold swam before Ariel's eyes.

"Name a pleasure, one, a few, any form of lust in you..."

A wingtip brushed against Ariel's shoulder, the chill was paralyzing. He shivered.  Then he started to sweat.

"Will tremble at my touch."

Ariel started to heave and wheeze at the sight of the silver alicorn.

"I come down from heaven's light.  I have all the perfect alibis, there's so much!"

Ariel managed to breath "Like what?"

The alicorn shook his head.  "Call my name or carry on, til that last resistance gone... I'm sure we'll meet again.

"Who are you?"  Ariel asked again.

"I'm your true disciple when the flesh desires..."

Ariel caught the alicorn's eye, and both ponies vanished in a puff of black smoke.

Fluttershy cried out and rushed to where they both had been, but the light was fading and both poines were simply gone.

"Twilight!"  Fluttershy rushed back to Ponyville.

A Feast for the Vain

Ariel's head was pounding.  His limbs were weak, he was starving and dehydrated, he managed to spit on the stone floor in front of him.  His vision was hazy, everything was intense and bright.  He slowly got to his feet and rubbed his mouth with the back of a hoof.

He looked at the stone walls, stone ceiling, and stone ceiling, and stone floor.  Everything was decorated with golden furniture and colorful banners and paintings, depicting monsters, and landscapes. Ariel was in a small room with one wood door, which he tried.  It opened, and just outside was a noble Ariel knew from Canterlot.  The noble said nothing.

"Where am I?"  He breathed.

The noble said nothing.

Ariel looked out into the grand hall before him - long golden tables piled high with food and drink in golden cups and bottles, at least three hundred poines (mostly mares), and a throne at the end.  Ariel had never been in The Castle, except for open court.

The noble looked at Ariel, but said nothing.  Ariel eyed him, suddenly feeling much better.  He smiled and stepped out, and the noble shouted.

"Please make way!  The host is making his entry!"

Everypony turned and looked Ariel, who meekly waved.  There were whispers, some of them that Ariel could make out, he would never repeat.  He blushed.

Everypony gasped and Ariel jumped a little, when a bang rang out and in a puff of smoke, the silver alicorn sat upon the golden throne.

"Mephisto!"  Some said.  "Mephistopheles!"  Others cried.

Quite fell over the hall, and Mephisto said "Everyone is here!  The feast can soon begin!  Vanity we celebrate, my favorite!  Of sins!"

Mephisto turned his attention to Ariel.  "Guest of honor, step forward!"

Meekly, he took a step out into the middle of the hall, where he stood still.  Nothing happened, until laughter filled the hall.

Mephisto smiled.  "I mean, come and take your place by my side."

Ariel squeaked slightly and quickly sat down next to Mephisto in a large golden chair that had been procured.  He looked left and right at all the others seated on this table, but none of them looked back.  As soon as he did, everypony in the hall took their own seat and the hall became filled with laughter, talk and noise, then some singing.  The noble from Canterlot caught Ariel's attnetion.

"What happened to you?"  Ariel whispered.

"Mephistopheles brought me here!"  He answered cherrily.

"What about your wife?  Your foals?"

"Egh."  He said simply.  "A little tough love never hurt anypony."

Ariel looked horrified, and Mephisto said "I brought him here when he challenged me.  He decided to stay."

Ariel gave a confused look.  "How did that happen?"

Mephisto shook his head.  "It was awhile ago.  I don't really remember."

"I... see."

After that, Ariel became caught up in the conversations of others, laughing and feasting himself.  The room became warm as time passed, the festivities started to die down.  When they did, Mephisto drew himself to his full height and proclaimed

"Come with me my little ones, lets revel, for the free!  Raise your glass and praise the fact, how easy life can be!"

Silence fell as everypony looked at Ariel.  "Everything you look at could be yours."  Somepony said.

"By your hand i'm truly graced."  Ariel said into his cup.

Everypony cheered and laughed at once, and Mephisto's face seemed to darken for a moment.

The entire crowd suddenly shouted "In the splendor of the night, You've found company!"

They continued to shout, even as Ariel shouted back  "I feel that life has only just begun!"

Over all the noise and everything he had to drink, he remembered years and wandering and drugs, alcohol and its pain, but mostly, the last time he saw Helena.  Her memory seemed to clear his head for a moment when he thought of her.  He looked a Mephisto's smiling silver face, and everything faded.  He felt more than a little drunk.

"In the splendor of the night,"  Ariel began,

"I accept the deal!"

Nothing happened, but Mephisto gave the faintest smile...

"With one point we have to modify!"

The smile faded.

"Should I ever wish to linger on, in a state of still, only then I'm yours the day I die!"

Mephisto smiled brightly at Ariel.

The feast continued long into the night.

...

Finally, Ariel grew weary and the drink grew low.  Everypony seemed either tired or drunk, with a few dancing on the tables and yelling at each other.  Ariel turned to Mephisto and said

"I must rest. my travels have left me weary."

"Of course they have.  Your room is through the door at the other end, up the stairs, to the left and at the end of the hall."

"Well.."

"Yes, Ariel?"

"I dont want to stay here."

Mephisto nodded.  "Eager to resume your travels?"

"I am."

"I was going to give you a present up there, all alone, in your room.  For you to enjoy."

Ariel blushed.

"Instead, Ill leave you a boon for to find, out there, alone, in the snow... A diffrent kind of light to warm your way."

Ariel smiled.  "Snow?  Where are we?"

"Outside of the crystal empire, on top of a mountain near it and just before a small village."

Ariel's eyes went wide.  "Oh."

Mephisto gave him a look.  "That's no trouble, is it?"

Ariel shook his head as he got up from his seat.  "Not at all."

"Good."  Mephisto resumed eating in silence.

Ariel found his (wobbly) way though the hall, out the double door, past the spiral staircase, and through a large stone door.  He emerged out into whirling winds, pitch darkness, and howling gales.  The cold instantly bit through his naked body.

"Huh.  Already I'm wishing for more."

He took a step out onto the open drawbridge and marched onward, into the cold.  He followed a dim path, through the snow, through the wind and the cold, looking everywhere around him for Mephisto's promise.  As the city came into sight, his limbs weary, the cold thoroughly punched through his body, the shivers violent and the edges of his fur frozen, his eyes rapidly dotting from side to side, all over the edge - he bumped straight into another traveler.  He hastily stepped back as the traveler didn't react at all, clad thick in a cloak and long cape, his face obscured, his breath audible even over the howling gales.

"I'm so sorry!  I was looking for something, and I - well, it doesn't matter.  What are you doing out here?  This is not the time for a leasurly stroll."

The traveler said nothing.

"Come with me, well head back to the village, find lodging, and Ill make sure your okay.  Okay?"

The traveler said nothing.

"Um, hello?"

The traveler pulled back her hood to reveal Helena.

Ariel's eyes went wide, his voice caught in his throat, his limbs went rigid, he peed a little.

Helena smiled at him.

"I am breathless..."  He managed to wheeze.

Helena's raspy voice met his own.  "I have been looking for you all these years... um, I tried to find you at the train station... I looked in ponyville, but I was too late, then you went to pother towns and I never knew and I..."  Tears leaked form her eyes and her ears flicked back.  She pushed her head to her chest and allowed the tears to flow.  "You look... good."  She finished.

Ariel dashed forward and wrapped his hooves around her warm, dry body.  He kissed her deeply, his breath heavy and wet.  She kissed him right back, her hooves finding his ruffled, thin, and messy back.  After a long moment, Ariel pulled away and looked deep into her eyes, seeing the fire, the need that she still had for him.  All these years?  He thought.

She started to speak again, but he silenced her with a hoof.  She lay her forehead across his thin, receding chest and closed her eyes.

Is this it?  He thought to himself.  Am I so perfectly content that I'll never want to leave this moment?

"Need I say..."  He whispered over the snow.

"How could you find me here?"

Helena answered "I was on the train, and then this-"

"-you of all have crossed my way..."

"Yes, Ariel."

"Unexpectedly, from where?"

"Ariel..."

"I feel like I am dreaming!"

"Me too."  She sighed.

"Hold me close..."

She squeezed him tighter, but she seemed hesitant, reluctant.

"Now Helena, tell me all.  The years weve been apart... Did you hear the moutain fall?  My once broken heart..."

A single tear dripped down from Ariel's eye, onto Helena's cloak.

"If i'm dreaming, don't wake me..."  He sobbed into her back.

Helena pushed her head up to look him in the eye.  "Ariel, lets find shelter before we freeze.."

Ariel pulled away from her, just a little, feeling the cold bite across his chest and his belly, then completely came off of her.  He pressed his body against hers and they took a unified step forward, towards the outline of the village.  They started walking together, at a very slow pace.

"I tried to catch up to you,"  Helena started.  "I was always too slow... you took all our money, you know."

He gave her a cheeky smile, and before she knew what had happened, he licked her from chin to nose.  She blushed and licked his ear, and his voice caught in his throat as he shook his head side to side.  She giggled at him.

"There is still a little left-"

"Oh, thank the stars,"  She exclaimed with a glance at his side, "you certainly didn't spend it on food."

He looked down, and several responses came to his head.  But what good would it be for his relationship if he continued his life of lies and apathy?  This was a new beginning, for them both.  Right?

"Um, most of it went to hallucinogenic drugs, and... uh, that's pretty much it."

Helena rammed her head against his side, causing him to stumble but not fall.

"What?!  I leave you alone for a week and you degenerate into a complete miscreant?!"  Her anger broke.  "Ariel..."

"I cant lie... I'm not sorry.  I saw much, but not much of it was any good."  He sighed.  "I'm no closer to my answers."

Helena was silent for a moment.  "Has it made you reconsider... anything at all?" She asked hopefully.

Ariel was silent.  "Completely."  He said suddenly.  Helena gave her brightest smile yet.

"What about you, Helena?  I don't think you've aged a day..."

Helena blushed a little.  "I have connections.  Investments to cash, old friends with old favors... I didn't spend a day on the road."  She looked down.  "Tell me more about you.."

"There's not much to say."

"We're... there any mares?"

"Not one."

Helena looked up and smiled again.  "I mean, uh, it must have been so lonely for you.."

He looked her square in the eye.  "Crushingly."

Helena looked forward.  "I was so lonely...I would have done anything to get you back.."

Ariel's gut clenched.

She gave him a cheeky smile, then instantly shook her head and looked disappointed.  "Ariel, what were you thinking?"

"That I would do anything for the truth."

"Ariel..."

"Don't wanna talk about it.  Lets... just get to the village."

They walked in silence, and for some reason Helena's ears were flicked back in...something.

I still got it, thought Ariel.

Lost

Helena slowly rose from her soft bed, breathing a sigh of relief.  She had never felt so... satisfied before.  Light drifted through the windows as she slowly opened her eyes and grunted.  She reached out with a hoof.  She felt only a pillow.  She bolted up straight, and looked around the room, to see Ariel sitting on a stool, his face obscured by shadows.

"Ariel?"

"Helena."

"Come back to bed..."

"Helena, you came to me.  It seemed that life had only just begun again."

She stood up on the bed, and looked him with rage and fear.  "What?"

"Once I was free to fly... I never promised anything.  This... may well be goodbye."

Her tears hit the floor and her eyes shut tight, and her heart shattered.

"Don't ask why, and don't be sad.  Sometimes we all must alter the paths we planned.  Try to understand, I want to save you-"

"Save me?!"

"From the lost and bound."

She shook her head.  "Please..."

He shook his head.  "I felt retention rise."

"Ariel!"

"Keep your voice down.  I can't explain, and I don't know, somehow we may reuinite."

She nodded at him.

"Helena, don't you cry.  Believe me, I do this for you."

She gave him a look of pure hatred.

"Heed my decision now.  I will be gone but soon...  Nothing can take my faith away."

"You'r... faith."

"Deep within you know.  I'm lost and bound."

He got off the stool, walked past Helena, and pushed the door away with his head.  He didn't even look back.  He was gone.

...

Helena lay on her stomach on a rock, icy, slippery cliff just a above a raging river.  Had she turned around, she could see the village behind her, but she didn't care.  She felt sick.  She looked out over the skyline, where she could almost make out a castle.  Only briefly did she wonder about it.

She stood up and heard something thud down next to her, so, emotionless, she turned around to face it.  The pitch red alicorn looked at her with utter sympathy and peace.

"My little pony,"  He said carefully, "whatever ails you?  I could feel your pain from my castle."

She shook her head.  "Stallions," she snapped.

"I assure you, some of us are just as sick of the others.  Tell me all..."  He said.

She looked away and allowed her tears to flow.  "I remember a song.  From long ago."

"A melody of longing?  Of betrayal?"  He asked her.

"Some of the pieces, they remind me... of him."

"Reminders of love lost?  Everywhere."  He said.

"How could I know?  He was to leave me?"

"Nopony ever does."  He told her.

"I thought that I was the melody.  Oh... so... wrong."  She turned to face the stranger.

He simply nodded.

"If this is goodbye, I will leave.  But Ill love him until... the end."

Mephisto extended one wing, and with a lap, knocked her over the edge.  She fell, screaming, and was suddenly silenced.  Only the running of the water could be heard.

"Mares."  He whispered.

...

Fluttershy saw the mare falling from the cliff.  "NO!"  She screamed as she flew forth.  She was going to make it - the mare was in hooves reach.  Rainbow Dash was right behind her, being watched carefully by Twilight, Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie, from the other shore.  Rainbow managed to get right under her, and then laughter was heard by all.  A gust of wind blew both pegasus away from their target, tumbling them all the way to the shoreline, where their friends waited.

Each of them stood still in shame as the body washed up beside them.  Tears came from each mare.

"What... How.." said an unbelieving Rainbow Dash.

"Mephistopheles."  Said Princess Celestia simply.  Each mare turned and gazed her in their horror.

"Where did you come from?!  Why didn't you do anything?!"  Cried Twilight.

"My little ponies, do not cry.  Everypony dies."  She placed a hoof over the body and checked it.  "She is gone."

"Can anypony speak for the dead?"  She asked the river.

Each mare gave another a look, until the water before them rose.  A mare made of water appeared from the river, standing on the rushing river itself.

Its voice was high and feminine, and it challenged her.  "If you have grace, if this world has light and healing, bring thine souls to heaven's light.  Bless the unborn child tonight!"

Celestia nodded.  Her horn lit up, and the body vanished.  She turned to the others.  "We are more like observers, at the moment.  Find out what happened."

Each mare gave her a different look, but all of them collected themselves, some only after a hug from Applejack.  They were depressed and still crying, but they made their way to the village, and only Celestia glanced up at the castle.

...

Ariel snapped awake with a cry.  He had somehow fallen asleep on the road.

"I just had a dream...she was by the riverside, alone, and dressed in white.  Flailing in the cold!"

He turned and fled back to the village, where the town crier was just starting his messege to a large crows in the center of the village:

"Hear ye, Hear ye!  The pony Helena has committed a sin!  Now death lies on her like a untimely crust upon the sweetest flower of all the land!"

Ariel turned away and cried into his hooves.  "How could I have known?!  Just the thought is simply wild, a little foal!"

"Excuse me sir!"  Said a mare to him.

"Wah - what?"  He composed himself and stood up, looking straight into the face of a purple alicorn.  Okay, seriously.  He thought.  How many of those things are just running around these days?

"Do you happen to know anything about the death of the pony?"

"Nuh-no."  He stuttered.  She leaned a little closer to him.

"Its just so tragic, and I've never been strong in the face of horror..."  He trailed off.  It wasn't a total lie.

She simply walked away, asking others the same questions.

He left the village in the direction of Mephisto's castle, leaving a trail of tears behind him.  "Carry on..."

III Ways to Epica

"Mephisto!"  Cried Ariel has he charged into the throne room.  Several ponies dodged out of the way, and he saw the now ptich-red alicorn sitting upon his golden throne in an empty hall.  Ariel stopped for a moment to admire the crimson fur, but he shook himself and babbled.

"Please!  Please bring her back to me!  I need her, without her I can never do anything again!  Ill never get up, Ill never eat, Ill never sleep..."  He trailed off as tears flowed down his face.

Mephisto looked at him like a flavorless vegetable.  "Actually, I already tried.  I cannot, something is interfering with my power."

"What is it!?  Ill kill them, Ill take their power and Helena will be back with me!"

"I believe it is Princess Celestia."

"What?!  Why?!  ...Wait, how can you be sure?"

Mephisto pointed upward with a wingtip.  Slowly, Ariel followed it to see Princess Celestia, Luna, and six other mares standing on a decorated ledge overlooking the hall.

"That's where I stand when I want to look omniscient."  He sighed.

Ariel's eyes went wide with horror as the Princesses drifted down to land on either of the long tables in the hall.  A purple alicorn landed behind Celestia, Fluttershy and a blue pegasus drifted next to Luna, and the other three mares simply watched.

Ariel took a step towards the sun princess.  "I will say this exactly once.  Let.  Her.  Go."

The mares looked at Celestia, mystified.

"Don't be deceived.  He cannot use necromancy, because I gave Helena her last rights."  She nodded.  "Most ponies would be honored."

Ariel turned to Mephisto.  "By that, she means that she is blocking my power to reach... you know, outwards.  At all, really.  She isn't a very good sport."

"Reach out to where, exactly?"  Asked Ariel.

Celestia interrupted.  "You should be ashamed, trying to steal some pony's final rest."

Mephisto chuckled.  "Any other judgments for us, my love?  Just get it out of your adorable system now, so that we can get serious."

Each mare, and even Ariel, looked aghast at Mephisto's implication.

"Love?"  Said Ariel.

"I am the pony who most loves Celestia."  Said Mephisto simply.

Celesita looked like she had just thrown up.

"Wait a sec,"  Said Rainbow, "How do we know he's even a pony?  I've never seen one that's all red but still an alicorn, but ive seen pleanty of monsters disguise themselves as ponies.  Who are you?"

Everypony glared at her.  Then Ariel said "He was white when I met him."

Everypony looked at Mephisto.  He smiled.  "I am the only pony deserving of this horn and these wings,"  he said as he flexed them.  "I'm more pony than anypony here, excepting my good friend, and ally, Ariel.  He is a work in progress."

Ariel nodded, but Celestia visibly shook.  "Now Ariel,"  She said gently, "Mephistopheles is going to try and tempt you, with all sorts of things.  Never give into him, or promise him anything."

Ariel gave her a wicked smile.  "Princess, how did I know where the castle was?"  Celestia said nothing.

"How did I so easily ask him to bring back a pony?  How did I get all the way up here from Ponyville so fast, while it took you all days?"

Celestia said nothing.

"My friend here has given me more help in a moment than you gave the entire nation in your existence,  and he did it with no violence, no teaching, not even any magic.  My life has begun anew, and yes, he now may lay claim to my soul."

Mephisto smiled at her.

Celestia shook her head.  "Ariel, when we bind ourselves to Tartarus, it is very hard to break free.  But not impossible."

Ariel shook his head.  "Tartarus?  Binding?  Your words are as empty as your heart, Princess.  Mephisto could do anything, if you would but let him.  So, i beg you, you monster, to let him."

Luna flushed with rage.  "Thou may not speak to my sister like that!"  Ariel thought he saw something fall from Celestia's face.

"Fine," Celestia allowed herself to say.  "But I warn you, your not going to like-"

"Mephisto, do it!"

Mephisto flexed both wings and his horn lit up with the power of death.  A pony Helena materialized on the table in front of him.  She said nothing, and looked awful blank.  Ariel climbed up the table, an expression of euphoria on his face, and embraced her.  She said nothing, but slowly allowed herself to hug him as well.  "Whats wrong with her?"  He asked Mephisto.

"When you play with fire, you must anticipate some burns.  Chasing your desire is just a different way to learn."  He answered.

"I... I am defected from the light."  Ariel whispered into Helena's back.

"Yes."  Said Mephisto.

"Light has seized my soul."  Whispered Helena.

Ariel let her go and turned away.  "So low.  Redemption's to far..."

Celestia shook her head.

Helena rose into the air, light coming off her body.

Ariel looked at the mares above him.  "Shes the one that I loved!"

"Love is all we know..."  Whispered Helena.

Ariel whirled around, enraged.  "And she tore me apart!"

"That dark can never win!"  Said Celestia.

Mephisto rose from his throne, bating aside Helena.  Ariel seemed not to notice.

"All that I require is some trust as the pages turn.  I can take you higher, 'cause your will is my concern."  He said.

Celestia looked at Mephisto.

Ariel howled "Why did life take away the one thing I wanted?!  Maybe life is a melody we all serenade..."

Ariel looked at Celestia again.  "For so long,  Maybe forever.  I must carry on."

Celestia's expression narrowed slightly.

Mephisto placed a wing on Ariel's back, but looked at Celestia.  "You would not feel sorrow if you'd never tasted joy.  That's the curse of ponies,  Born in passion, you destroy."

Each of the mares in the hall whispered "The dark can never win..."

Ariel looked down.  "I got what I came here for.  Thank you, Mephisto."  He strode past the mares, the alicorns, and the other ponies waiting in the entrance hall, and back out into the cold.

March of Mephistopheles

Mephistopheles watched Ariel go, his grin growing.  He watched Celestia for a long time, before finally she spoke.

"How far you have fallen.  Even the dead find no peace from you."

He laughed at her.  "You mean, the murdered!"

Celestia's eyes narrowed.  "You shall pay for this."

"Theres a judgment again!"

Celestia looked back at the mares.  "Lets us go, my little ponies.  Allowing you all to see that was... a bad idea."

The mares all marched out of Mephisto's castle, leaving him alone.

...

Ariel had not made it far from the castle when he saw Mephisto waiting for him.  He approached the alicorn timidly, and said "Hi Mephisto."

"Greetings, my little pony.  I have a suprise planned for you - its time we allowed ourselves to focus n the problem at hand.  Mares make things so..."  His hoof drew circles in the air, trying to find the right word.  "Complicated."

Arielo nodded.  "I noticed.  Who were all those mares?"

Mephisto shook his head.  "I dunno.  If i tried to keep track of everypony Celestia failed, I would drive myself insane."

Ariel started to walk past him, and to his surprise, Mephisto started to follow.  "What are you doing?"

"My new plan requires my presence.  Therefore, I shall be with you to ensure nothing goes wrong this time."

Ariel nodded and resumed his sad march to the Village.  He didn't notice that Mephisto left no shadow, and left no hoof prints.

...

Mephisto stood on top of his castle, his voice so loud and monstrous that all in his castle could hear him.

"The fortune is smiling at our first effort!  Let me lead you and you will be safe!  Voice of the people, voice of me, voice of glory!  To the infinity!"

...

Mephisto started talking to Ariel in a very strange way.  He was whispering in the stallion's ear, and it was a little disconcerting.

"You know just who I am.  Don't be so distant.  Cause when your lost, I am solely there, to share your grief."

"Actually, you keep saying that, but you have yet to really prove it.  If you want my soul at all, your going to have to try harder."  Ariel said, irritable.

"Wailing your sorrow is only my way to comfort you.  Your lonely, I name, your solitude."

"I am not that solitary."

"Now tell me all about your pain, down to the detail.  Don't say its love, your fragile heart, breeds my comtemt.

"What?  That is not true!"

"Chase the heathen call, we belong, you and I.  Unison in all you deny."

Ariel shook his head.  "About what Clestia said - who are you?"

"I am the thorn in your side, that seeks accomplishment.  I am an angel, the light sent.  The spore of your pride!  The master of all, I am the urge of the flesh."

Ariel nodded slightly.  "I see."

The two walked in silence as the two approached the village.  As soon as they did, Ariel noticed the nopony asked about the red alicorn, or even seemed to notice him.  "Whats going on?  Why cant they see you?"

Mephisto chanted "They cannot behold my glory."  Ariel strode to the middle of the market and sat down on his romp.  Mephisto casually stood next to him as ponies dodged around and by them.

"Whats the plan?"  Asked Ariel.

"That."  Said Mephisto, pointing his wing at some mare, who was busy at a stall for spices.  She was a gray earth pony, with long purple mane and tail, styled in waves.

Ariel looked between her and Mephisto.  "I don't understand."

"You will.  All I need you to say are these words, and all will be revealed."  Mephisto whispered to Ariel as he watched Rarity.  She seemed so innocent, so pure, yet so energetic and down to earth.  She was perfect.  He decided he liked her, but somewhere he felt the strangest resistance to the situation, and them some doubt.  He ignored it. After all, this was Mephisto's plan, not his.  Who knows what the self-proclaimed master of all had in store?  It was best not to make assumptions.

Ariel did as he was told, and approached her.  He said to her "Excuse me miss..."

She tuned around with a smile, but it vanished when she saw him.  "For the last time, its Margurate- who are you?"

The world seemed to stop as he said "I've come to soak my sorrow in halo black,  as black as the seal on my soul."

The mare bolted straight up and her eyes seemed to lose focus.  "What?"  She asked.

Mephisto leaned forward to whisper in her ear.  "Oh come all ye faithful, beneath the moon.  Into the void as one, marching on!"

She smiled at Ariel, then stepped a little close.  "Ariel..."  She whispered.

Something in Ariel reacted to her whisper, something primal and foul.  He smiled as his hoof went over her shoulder and they walked away together, leaving Mephisto behind.  He smirked.

...

Ariel and Margurate lay under a rock formation, maybe a mile or so from the village.  They lay hoof in hoof, Margurate giggling every so often at some joke Ariel told her.  Suddenly he seemed to sober up and blatantly said "Love is real pain."

Margurate seemed to consider this for a moment, before saying "An eternal revolution in our minds."

Ariel shook his head.  "When the lights are down..."

Margurate giggled.  "What does that mean?"

"Your so far away."

"In the silence of the darkness we unite."  She said suddenly.

Ariel nodded, then crawled over to her to lay his head on her torso.

"What can protect me from the past?  Or the things that I have done?"

Margurate poked his cheek with a hoof.

"She tried to tell me.  Then she was gone."

Margurate shook her head.  "What would she want you to do?  Spend eternity miserable, or to move on?

She giggled again.  "Seriously, you never heard that anywhere before?"

Ariel smiled.  "Maybe in death, we'll live the love we never had..."

Through his connection to Ariel's mind, Mephisto could feel his emotions, from self-hate and regret, to lust for knowledge, to lust for... other kinds of knowledge.  It was easy for him to pull the strings, and slowly but Ariel and Mephisto formed the connection, an abstract version of the connection between Ariel and Margurate.  All he was waiting for was Ariel to have that one moment, where he wished it would last forever.

...

Ariel burst awake, struggling to get away from Margurate and the deep shame he now felt.  He stumbled over rocks, the ground, and himself to get pressed up against the rocky outcropping in the middle of nowhere.  He screamed at himself on the inside, on the outside he wept and curled into a ball, wishing it all would end.

"Ariel?"  Asked a sleepy Margurate.  "Come back..."

Slowly, he sat up, allowing shadows to obscure his face.  He didn't want her to see the tears.  Eventually, she got up as well, climbing up from the nest she had managed to build herself.  She looked at him in confusion.

"Whats wrong?"

"Only the sound of your voice made me believe that, that you were her."

"...What?"

"Once I believed that I could find, just a trace of her beloved soul."

"Your dead girlfriend?"

"Once I believed she was all, then she smothered my beliefs."

"That's... awful."

"One cold winter's night, I may follow her voice to the river."

"The river?"

"Leave.  Leave me for now and forever... leave while you can."

She bolted upright.  "But Ariel!"

"Somewhere in time I will find you and haunt you again, like the wind sweeps Equestria."

"Ariel!"

"It'll happen when the cold in my heart leaves.  And quietly Ill go to sleep..."

She got on her feet and took a step towards him.  "But... I love you..."

"How could that first recur?  When memories linger, on an arc?  What made me think you were her?  Helena is dead to all!  Nothing can bring her to life, don't pretend Ill be loving you!"

She turned away, hurt.  "We could start over..."

"Like ice on a lake of tears, Ill take you through."

She turned back to face him, strange determination in her eyes.

"Life fades in anew, with someone like you!"

Ariel stood back up, and turned his back on her.  He troted into the wilderness, into the cold, and away from that village, and Margurate.

He walked for what seemed like hours, until finally mountains had risen around.  His stomach growled, and he considered where he might more drugs.  He shook the thought away.  He had done a lot of thinking since his departure.  Suddenly, a pitch red form landed next to him, causing snow to jump away from him like it was afraid.  Mephisto's face was twisted with rage, but he spoke calmly and assuridly.

"What are you doing out here?"

"Im about to tell you."

"Shouldn't you be back at home with that mare?  I mean common, she loved you!  Honestly, I felt it!  ...Good job, by the way.  I was expecting courtship, long years of seeing each other, but you!  Couldn't have done it better myself.  I chose well!"

"If my soul could revive from my carnal remains,  what does it matter to me?"

"What?"

"If it all fades to black, if i'm born once again.  How could I be condemned for the things that I've done?  My intentions were good."

"When has Celestia ever cared about a pony's intetions?"

"How I wish there was a heaven."

"Look, I can't just spill universal secrets and stuff..."

"Sentient reason counters all."

"I can say that that, is not true."

"In the concept of time?  To Celestia, to Luna?  We're like a grain in the sand."

"Yes, but we can be so much more.  Now, I have a plan-"

"We strive for the flame, as if death was our aim, cause we cannot understand."

Mephisto shook his head.

"You don't know any univeral secrets, do you?"

"Of course I do!"

"Our lives are just a fragment.  Yours especailly."

"Ariel."

"There may be more than we can see..."

"That's the spirit."

"Mephisto, leave me."

"Kay.  Ill be back though, got lots of schemes just waiting to used."  With that, he jumped up and flew away, into the clouds."

Ariel walked further.  Into the mountains, into his own mind.  Slowly, words formed in the back of his head.  He knew what he had to do.

He looked up at the sun, pain bearing in his eyes.  And he spoke.

"Once my life was plain and clear.  I recall, once my ignorance was bliss.  Nightfall came like a serpent's kiss to my troubled mind."

He leaned back and spoke to the snow.  "Why?  Why my princess, have you abandoned me?  In my sobriety, behind the old facade, i'm your bewildered child!"

He could barely hear himself.  "Take me cross the river wide."

He looked back up, suddenly enraged.  "Promises were made on my soul!  Ice cold winds swept my heart away!  Bring me back to you!"

Something crunched in the snow behind him, and he whirled around to see Princess Celestia.

"There you are!"

She looked at him with pity.  "I can give you words from her, if you choose to accept them."

"Oh this'll explain everything."  He said dryly.

She cleared her throat, and Helena's voice came forth.  "I remember a song.  Like in a dream, When septermber was long, and winter unreal."  And Celestia vanish in light.

Ariel screamed into the stones around him.  "Why have you abandoned me?!  Just take me across the river!"

He sobbed against the ground.  "That river.."

It started to rain around him, the rain melding with the white slushy snow.

He felt a hoof on his shoulder, and he looked up to see Princess Twilight.  He shrugged her off and backed away, and she seemed hurt.

"What have I done?"  He cried.  "What would you have done?"

Twilight looked at him.

"Your right, your right... I did it to myself.  But what was i to do?  Reject the second best thing that ever happened to me?"

She gave him a expectant look.

"I left her with a warning.  Without protection.  Cause our nature has its way with lust, and with her back against the wall... she crumbled.  I see her shame in my desire."

Twilight nodded.

"Just a minuet more could have saved her life..."

Twilight shook her head.

"And a part of myself.  It took place all too soon."

Finally, she spoke.  "You know what you must do."

"Some of these wounds will always bleed..."

Twilight turned her back and walked, in the direction of Mephisto's castle.

The Black Halo

Mephisto stood atop his castle, glaring at the moonlight.  Clouds had gathered over the mountains to the north, and he was worried.  He didn't know what Celestia had wanted with Ariel this time, but he hoped that he had told her exactly what she had wrought for him.  Mephisto turned and waved his ridiculous mane around at one of his men.  He hated having it so long, but he could feel how mares, and even some stallions, thought about it.

Mephisto was glad, then, when Ariel turned up at his castle.   He fluttered down to meet the most rncid gaze he had ever met.  Something twisted in the pit of his stomach.

"Good, your here.  Anything interesteing happen?"

"I have never craved the system's sympathy."

"Oh great, your still on that."

"Compensation for a misconducted life?"

"None, I'm afraid.  I know from experience."

Ariel relaxed a little.  "It sure is hard to wake up with your heart and soul deprived."

"We can fix that."

"How?!"

"Follow me."

Mephisto turned his back on Ariel and entered the castle.  Inside, there was a show.  Five mares (Ariel only recognized Fluttershy) danced and sang.  Ariel turned to Mephisto.

"What does this have to do with anything?"

"Not only do I really like it, but there is a bit at the end I want you to consider."

Ariel looked at the show.

"While you've been wandering the mountains, I've been working.  An old poem, I believe it shall shed some light."

"What?"

"Hush, this is it."

Rainbow flew atop the others, while Rarity made her glow like the moon.  Fluttershy stood ready to recite, and Pinkie threw confetti at the crowd.  Applejack hoisted a stallion on her back, over the crowd.

"There was once a stallion."  Flutttershy sang.

"He looked at the moon, and he said.  Wont love come soon?  And what else can exist, inside a cold heart?  Except the thought, of a very silent murder."

The crowd cheered and the girls took a bow, the stallion whispered something in Applejack's ear, and she bucked him up to the next floor.  The crowd cheered for that, as well.

Ariel turned to Mephisto.  "I'm not..."

"You wouldn't know if you were.  You also wouldn't care."

Ariel shook his head.  "I cant be, I have love."

Mephisto looked him dead in the eye.  "Who are you trying to convince?"

"Everyone, actually."

Mephisto sighed.  " have something to say."

"What?"

"Helena didn't.. you know."

"Mephistopheles, pick ypour next words very carefully."

Mephisto leaned in close and whispered "I killed Helena."

Ariel leaned back and gave Mephisto the most powerful punch he had thrown in his life.  Mephisto gave into the strike easilly, but he also laughed at Ariel.

"A cold heart indeed."

Ariel fled from the castle, fled from Mephisto, and fled form the village, for the last time.

...

Ariel was back in the mountains, freezing to death in the cold and winds.  He wore nothing as he sit in the open field.

Of course, Mephisto found him.

"What are you doing?"  He asked the pony.

"Come wind come snow come winterland!  I have resigned myself to death!"

"That's a little dramatic, don't you think?  I did it to free you from her, not so you could just give up."

"Come will to show the hidden hand!  So I can draw my final breath!"

"Ariel, get up from there."

Ariel looked at Mephisto.  "You could take me higher, so you said, I trusted you!  I may be a liar, but betrayal lies on you!"

"Thats a little harsh."

"I can feel where the journey ends!  Final call for a last defense!"

"Ariel, listen to me!"

"Darkness come tonight!  I have no fear of what you hold!  Darkness come alive!  You are the stories I've been told!"

Mephisto seemed nervous at that.  "Now look, i'm not the worst thing that exists, not by far, so, uh, stop talking like that!"

A pair of eyes lit up in the distance.

Ariel ignored him.  "I posses the power of survival in the cold!"

"Ariel!"

Ariel smiled at Mephisto.  "We all know when the time has come.  This is where I willl linger on..."

Mephisto jolted.  "Say that last part again?"

Ariel looked up, where the rays of the moon could barely be seen.  "Here we are, under the same old sun!"

"Yea that's great, but uh, while your denouncing evil and all, could you go back a little?"

"Mephistopheles, our sins can't be undone."

"Your kinda preachin' to the choir on that one."

"Love.  Love is the only truth, at least until it breaks your heart."

"Enough already!"

"You took me higher than the mountains I have climbed!"

"That's better!"

"You waited all your life for me..."

"Uh, what?"

"But we will meet again!  We will meet again..."

"Not talking to me anymore, are ya?"

"Mephisto!"  said Celestia.

"Oh great, your back.  Come to tell me how ugly I am?"

"Take your foul presence away from here! Give the pony his final peace!"

"Close enough.   Lemme know when he dies!"  Mephisto shouted as he flew away.

There was silence for a moment, before Ariel spoke to Celestia.

"Who wants to separate the world we know from our beliefs?"

"Ariel...save your strength."

"Who sees only black and white?"

"Mephisto does."

"Distinguish loss from sacrifice?"

"Not even I can."

"Someday we may come to peace with the world within ourselves."

Celestia smiled.  "Ponies don't live long enough for that."

"The final winter comes to us all... but your not the only, who must pretend were a second in time were the last in the line, of the prey that walks the earth.  Good and evil combined!"

Celestia's smile faded.  "I am the god in my own history.  As are you."

"You really tried, Princess..."

"I always have."

"The deal is done within."

"I know, Ariel."

"I want mercy for all..."

"So do i."

"I just want to pay for every sin..."

"Its time to go, Ariel."

Helena stood next to Celestia on the ground.

"Victory, not plunder.  Remember your mortality."  She said to him."

"There is one last thing to do!"  Celestia said with slight reluctance.

Celestia and Helena took to the skies, flying to Mephisto's castle.  Mephisto stood atop it.

"So, he is dead then?"

Helena nodded at him.

"Good!  When will you be ready for me?"

"Now."  Said Celestia as her horn lit up.

"What are you doing?"

Then Mephisto understood.  and he bowed before them, and he accepted his fate.

"With a voice, I fly, but I prevail.  It is a sweet and seemly thing, to die for one's country.   Remember that you will die!"

Celestia and Helena lifted up from the crumbling castle, fire leaking out from the sides as Mephistopheles screamed like a demon.  The castle buckled and fell into ruins, the mountain opening up and swallowing it with fire.  Only smoke and ash was left.

...

Celestia, Luna, and each of the mares circled around Ariel as he lay dying.  "Just wait," Celestia had said.  "You need to hear this."

Ariel could barely speak, barely even keep his eyes open.

"Remember one thing, girls."

Only Rainbow seemed not to be engrossed in the pony.

"Life can never be better, than it is, right now."

...

The girls walked together through the mountains, in silence.

Finally, Rainbow said "songs of pain."

"A soothing lullaby,"  said Rarity.

"Songs of happiness,"  said Applejack.

"Some that make us cry,"  said Twilight.

"One song we share,"  said Celestia.

"A cross we all bear,"  said Luna.

"One that segregates,"  Whispered Fluttershy.

"One that unifies,"  said Luna.

"If once given life we must die..."  Whispered Twilight.

"Sing the saddest of all,"  said Rainbow.

"The song we all serenade," said Luna.

"The more we know, the less we understand..."  said Twilight.

"Life," she continued, "eternity."

"The savagery of stallions,"  said Rainbow.

"Hold on now,"  said Celestia, "Don't leave, don't let it go."

"Dance away the waltz of life,"  said Rarity.

"Right or wrong, the seed we never sow, that's our loss, our sacrifice," said Twilight.

Celestia looked up, where she could see Ariel, if only briefly.  She looked down, satisfied.  "What does the winter bring, if not yet another spring?"

Center of the Universe

Ariel sat alone in his attic, at his  desk,next to his quill and ink, scatching out his philosophy "The Call of Order."  He wrote as he spoke.

"Order is perfect.  One pony follows another, subservient but equal to his superiors because...um, their lives are simplier, so they die unfulfilled."

"Okay.  Chaos is the only truth because it allows the strong to take what they deserve.  Honor thrives, because... the cheaters and backstabbers got everything that they wanted, as shown in the discordian age."

Ariel shuffled slightly in his chair.

"Well, as shown in the era of magic, Starswirl the bearded... actually, not much is known for sure about his life.  At all, really."

Ariel scratched out everything he had written, crumpled the paper and tossed it aside.  He rubbed his temples in frustration, only stopping when a soft voice came forth.

"Ariel."

Ariel turned around to behold his marefrend Helena climbing up the ladder to the attic where Ariel resided.  She flashed him a tired smile.

She was a spotted yellow pegasus with long blue mane and tail and green eyes.  She was simple to look at, but Ariel loved her desperately, just as when he met her.  He had known her all his life, and dated only one other mare before her, some pony his parents had set him up with.  It hadn't lasted.  Ariel was always an introvert and a thinker, and May Flower eventually moved to Ponyville, last he had heard.  Ariel himself was a brown unicorn, incapable of more than simply kinesis.  He had an older styled green mane and tail, which he refused to allow Helena to restyle.  Everything about him seemed thin and weak, and old despite his true age of 25, but Helena had always seemed to love Ariel like he loved her.  He never dwelt on it.

Ariel stared at her.  "Ariel, love, come to bed,"  She pleaded.  Ariel smiled at her.

"I have to at least get started this time."

"Ariel..."

"Helena."

Helena huffed.  "I want you..."

Ariel shrugged.  "I'm not much one for touch."

She smiled at him.  "That, my love, can easily be changed."

Ariel allowed himself a small smile.  "I have a lot of work to do."

"You have a lot of work both ahead and behind you.  Sleep on it and come back tomorrow."

"That's just it Helena, I don't know if Ill still have the inspiration for it tomorrow..."

He seemed thoughtful.  "Perhaps inspiration itself is perfect?"

Helena sighed.  "It's never there when you need it."

Ariel hung his head.

"Love.  Its late and you've been working all day, if the mountain of crumpled paper is anything to judge by."

Ariel looked at her.  "Well..."

"Come to bed."

"Helena, I said no."

Helena shook her head.  "I'm not taking no for an answer."

Ariel stood up.  "I'm taking a walk.  I need some air."

With that, he marched past her, down the ladder and out the front door.

Helena kicked her back legs and bit her lip.  "Foiled again," she whispered.

...

Ariel took in the warm, dry air breath by breath as he strode down the street to the market.  He looked up briefly at the moon, and asked himself if it was perfect.  It even had the power to block out the sun!  Of course, other than that, the moon was pointless.  Nopony even knew what it was.  He shut his mind away from thoughts of perfection, instead forward, to what is to come.  He had been considering this for some time now.  He was no longer convinced that Canterlot had the answers he sought.  Celestia would never see him, at least not without him waiting days on end, nor would the princess of the night.  And after happened in the market today...

No.  Perhaps it is a sign that his old friends, allies, and enemies had grown redundant.  Canterlot had grown redundant.  If had had managed to figure that out in his short life, what would the alicorn of the sun have to say about it?  Maybe he should just leave.  He didn't  even have to face anypony that way...

Well, Helena he at least owed an explanation.  She had been with him through thick and thin, high water and low flame, even red ponies at markets.  His parents may not be so understanding, but still...

Ariel walked with new found inspiration, and somewhere, Mephisto laughed.