A LIFE WELL-LIVED
By UniqueSKD
Everypony often says that 'Death is cold', but they weren't the ones that were dying.
Unlike me. And let me tell you, Death is bucking freezing.
I have never felt so cold in my life. Maybe it's just the cold breeze coming in through the window. Maybe it's because my own blood is weeping out of my body at a steady pace, or perhaps it's the coldness of that steeled dagger that pierced my gut that I'm feeling. Whichever one it is, I am cold, and I am dying.
But I'm not afraid.
I'm not afraid of dying. The loss of my parents several months ago might have had something to do with that. I guess you could say that their passing strengthened whatever fears I may have had before, opened my eyes to the realization of the cycle of Life. We are born. We live. We die. Rinse and repeat.
No, it's not Death I'm afraid of. It's my wife I fear for. She's here with me right now, holding my weakening body in her soft, gentle hooves. Even in this state I'm in, I feel bad about her lovely coat and mane being covered with my blood. Heh heh. I can't believe I really just thought that. I'm the one dying here, and yet I'm more worried about her than about myself.
I chuckle awkwardly. It hurts to laugh.
Yes. I'm not afraid of Death. I'm afraid of leaving my wife. She's the most wonderful mare I've ever laid my eyes upon. Even as my vision fades in and out of total blackness, she still looks as beautiful as she did the day we married. Those gorgeous blue eyes that I fell in love with are filling up with tears, held back by her own will.
I've never seen her in such pain as this. I understand clearly why she is. I've been happily married to her for five years. In that time, I've learned to read her face like a book, as though she were a living diary of all her emotions and dreams and thoughts. She's upset because she's about to lose me, the only stallion she's ever loved. The only stallion she's ever shared her bed with, who she's ever allowed to hold her and comfort her when she felt miserable, who gave her a shoulder to cry on when she needed it.
If I could do that right now, I would.
But there's more to it, I can see it in her face as plain as Celestia's day. She's crying because it's herself she blames for my current state. She thinks it's her fault that I am dying. She should have been the one to feel the sharpness of that dagger penetrating her flesh, not me. She was the target, not I. It was her that the stallion thief had chosen to kill, not me.
Oh, my darling. How I wish I could tell you not to blame yourself, but I feel my blood creeping it's way up my throat. Painfully, I turn my head aside, and expel the red fluid onto our bedroom carpet. I wish she didn't have to see that.
But no, my love. Your life is more precious than my own. You were always stronger than me, my sweetheart. I am glad to have had the honor of giving my life so you may keep yours. Were you in my position, I know I would not survive without you. I'd die either way, so better my death had some meaning behind it, right?
I can see some anger in your eyes. I chuckle again, groan in agony again, as I know too well the reason why. You're pissed off with me for being so reckless. Because I chose to throw myself in front of you, and take the fateful blow meant for you, right? I'm sorry for stealing your moment of glory, my love, but better it was I to receive it than you.
You deserve better.
She's saying something to me. Her mouth is moving, but I can't hear her. Now and then, I think I hear a word, but it's inaudible. Is it natural for one to lose their hearing when they're dying and bleeding out? It's my first - and my last - time dying, so it's pretty new to me. Heh heh...
I shouldn't be laughing about my own death, but truth be told, I never wanted a depressed funeral. I'd rather my mourners be cheerful and smiling than for them to be pained. There's too much sadness in the world as it is without me contributing to it.
She closes her beautiful eyes, and the tears come full-force, erupting from her eyelids like a dam past the breaking point. Please do't cry, my sweetheart. I don't want my final memory of you to be one of such sadness. Please don't cry.
A terrible shiver runs up my spine, as I feel, sense, a shadow casting over me. Maybe it's my vision, my mind, playing a sick joke on me, but I think I see the figure of Death standing right there by the side of my wife.
He's come to take me. Death comes for me tonight.
No.
He bends down slowly, taking his time. The wait is agonizing and torturing.
Not yet.
His bony hoof reaches out to me, to claim my soul as his trophy.
Please, just a few more seconds.
A single tear leaks from my eye as I stare up at him with pleading.
There's just one thing I want to do. Please...Just a few seconds...
His hoof stops, paused halfway. I could swear beneath his ragged hood that he sighed. His head nods silently. His hoof retreats from me. Death kindly gives me permission to do what I need to do.
A few seconds is all I need.
My body is nearly drained of blood. I feel numb, and I think my body is shivering, spasm-riddled. But i need to do this.
I try to raise my foreleg. I've never felt my hoof be this heavy to lift, and it's certainly a struggle. But so long as I still have these few precious moments of life in me, it will be done.
It's hard, but I manage to get my hoof around my wife's head. I let the weight of my hoof fall on her, pushing her pretty face down to mine.
Our lips connect and touch, and for the briefest of moments, a beautiful and magnificent warmth surges throughout my cold corpse, before the icy chill settles back in again. I taste the sweetness of her lips, fell the passion behind them. This moment...it is...good.
I would hold her lips to my own for longer, but another glob of blood sickeningly forces its way up my throat. I break the kiss to regurgitate the red bile away from her.
I look at her once more, and smile. That kiss is all I needed. My hoof falls from her head, limp and still upon the red-stained floor.
She's smiling too, now. This is good. She's still crying, but her tears hold less sadness to them now. There's a hint of joy in them, as she remembers how much I love her.
How much I still love her.
And I can happily go with Death without regrets, because I can take with me this kiss, and this memory, as evidence, as proof that when I lived in the world of the Living, I had been blessed with the chance that few others ever got - the chance to know what it was like to love, and be loved. I had experienced pain, and I had discovered joy. And at the end of my life in this world, I made the ultimate sacrifice for the mare I treasured more so than all the wealth of the world, more so than the prettiest gemstones of the dragon's horde.
Even wherever Death will be taking, I'll still love her, and I will wait patiently for her, until the day when we can be reunited once more, and I can hold her in my hooves again, feeling her silky mane, staring into those wonderful eyes.
Satisfied, I turn my head to the figure looming over me. I do not know why, but I could almost swear there's a smile underneath that hood of his. Like as though he was pleased with my final act in life. Like he understood the meaning behind this kiss, my treasure to take with me into the next world.
Silently I thank him for granting me those extra few seconds. I use the last of my strength in my body, and nod my head to him.
He nods back, and slowly reaches out his bony hoof to me.
I keep that smile tattooed on my face, as I take one final look at my beloved wife. She's calmer now. She knows I'll still be with her. She forces a smile back at me. Her mouth moves again, and at long last I can hear her sweet melodic voice.
"I love you," she whispers to me.
I smile wider than before to her. And as Death's hoof draws ever closer to me, I feel my consciousness fading away, slipping ever more from my body.
I close my eyes. No more crying. No more sadness. No more pain. This...this is good.
I lived a wonderful life because of you, my love, and now my debt to you as been payed.
Take me wherever you will, Death.
I'm ready to leave Equestria.
Goodbye, my sweetheart.
I'll wait for you...
