Author's Note
For TheMessenger.
This is like some kind of weird, unrequited mating call to your own story, Temporary Hiatus.
Better Luck Next Time
I always knew that one day I would die.
It’s not something I ever thought about often. When in my line of work—exploring temples, evading traps and ultimately foiling your plans—the constant presence of danger is something I learnt to live with. Slowly it became part of my life, until one day, I forgot it was even there.
It made me fearless, reckless, perhaps even a little stupid.
No, that’s not right. I got full of myself, but I don’t think I was stupid. I ran into your traps so many times, but I knew how to escape. I always knew I would escape. It became less and less of a surprise, and more and more an expectation. Some flimsy rope or a few chains aren’t going to stop me.
The traps meant nothing if you succeeded. They were just there, a minor annoyance in the grand game of cat and mouse you and I enjoy so much. Or perhaps it’s just me who enjoys it. I imagine it must make you quite angry, each time your plan doesn’t work out, each time I swoop in and snatch the crucial artifact. I shouldn’t be so smug, but I can’t help but smile when I hear your cries of outrage. I can’t help but laugh to myself as I soar off, yelling “Better luck next time, Ahuizotl!”
I know that line makes you mad. Your glare only intensifies whenever I say it. You spend so much time meticulously crafting your ingenious plans, only to see them crumble before your very eyes as your nemesis, the great Daring Do, snatches victory from your claws once again. It must make you so angry, so frustrated, so embittered. How much do you hate me, Ahuizotl? Do you want to imprison me? Hurt me? Maybe even kill me?
I know you, Ahuizotl. You and me, we’ve got some history. I’ve known you since the day you were reborn. I think I’m right in saying I know you; I know how much you hate me, how much you want rid of me. But I know you would never kill me. Even after all this time, you’ve never once tried to kill me. Not properly. Not really. Burying me in a tomb and hoping that I don’t escape is not trying to kill me.
So I’m not going to lie. This came as a pretty big surprise.
I should be in shock, but I'm not. I’ve tried moving, you know, but it just takes too much energy. Instead I’ve opted to just lie in a pool of my own blood. I must look so pitiful. I’m not sure how I feel about this. I was hoping to smile smugly once again and taunt you from a swinging rope, just like old times, but now it looks like that plan isn’t going to work out. Not this time.
The whole world is red. It’s painful to look at, Ahuizotl. It hurts to breathe, hurts to cry, hurts to keep my eyes open. I’m not crying, by the way, my eyes just feel hot. I wish I could make the pain stop, but I can’t. I have minutes, maybe even seconds to live. It’s strange to think that these words might be my last. It doesn’t make sense that I’m dying here and now. I want to feel at peace, knowing that it's all over, but I can't. I like playing these games. I like snatching victory from your claws. And most of all, I like writing about it.
That's one of the things that eats at me. I write all about our adventures. I wonder if you ever even knew. So many times I came close to telling you; I wanted to tell you, but I didn't. I couldn't. Now I have millions of fans all waiting for my next book. The next book that will never come. I wonder if anyone will find out that Daring Do is real. I wonder if the truth will ever get out. I imagine if it does, you'll have one hell of a bounty on your head, Ahuizotl. I hope the princesses themselves come for you and destroy your body so that you can never be resurrected.
Maybe then you can join me in whatever comes after life. Celestia knows that’s where I’m heading right now. There’s no way that I’m going anywhere else, not since you busted my wing and I broke two of my legs. I didn’t even get the chance to dodge that arrow, that single iron arrow. It wasn't anything special or spectacular. It was just a simple arrow.
Pretty humbling, huh.
You know I always wanted a hero’s death, maybe by stopping you once and for all, sacrificing myself for the rest of the world. I would sacrifice myself to stop you, Ahuizotl. I would sacrifice myself to make sure that you come with me. That would be a heroic death. One that others could write about and remember just how great Daring Do really was.
By the gods it hurts. It hurts more when I think about how alone I am. Hurt seems to be the only word I can think about as I lie here. I can hear myself struggling to breathe properly, but strangely I can’t focus on that. I can barely focus on anything; my vision is so red and so blurry. All I can really feel is this pain.
Do you remember how we first met, Ahuizotl? It feels like so long ago now. I’ll never forget it, though. I’ll never forget that moment when you were reborn, that moment as I watched my father dying at your feet, his blood splayed across the temple floor…
I hated you so much in that instant. Despite being an author, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to find the words to tell you just how much I hated you. My father was all I had, and you took him away from me. I remember hearing a scream, and I remember realizing it had come from me. I remember tearing through those pathetic tribesmen who brought you back. I remember ripping apart your guards. Perhaps I glorify the memory, but I remember killing so many ponies…
My injuries are messing with my head. It becomes difficult to think properly when you can't breathe. The puncture in my chest is agonizing, my bruised ribs from that fall still stab at me, and my legs are twisted all the wrong ways. I won't cry. No matter what, I won't let you see me cry.
…I killed so many ponies, Ahuizotl, and I didn’t even think twice. But then I reached you. I held a spear to your throat. I could have killed you. I wanted to.
But I didn’t.
I remember the blood on the floor. By the gods there was so much blood. The sickly smell filled my nostrils. I felt sick knowing who it belonged to. And as I stared into your eyes, I realized that all I had left was either pooling around my hooves, or lying stunned at the end of my spear. All I had left was the blood.
And you.
It’s stupid. I still ask myself why I let you live. Surely that cannot be the real reason. I don’t see my father in you. I don’t need you! I don’t care for you… But I still couldn’t kill you. I’ll admit that I’ve enjoyed our little games far too much. I’ll miss those games we played, over and over. I guess it was all pointless in the end. My whole life has just been so, so stupid…
I really wish I could laugh right now. I’m trying to. I don’t know why, but I’m trying to. The sounds I’m making sound pathetic. I can feel hot tears falling down my face—dammit! I promised myself I wouldn’t cry! This is no way for a hero to go down, crying in a pool of their own blood.
…It was stupid of me. I made a stupid decision. The next thing I knew I had a broken leg to add to my list of injuries. I tried so hard to escape, but I didn’t stand a chance; I saw the arrow flying towards me, and there was nothing I could do. I tried to dive out of the way, tried to avoid it, but I was too slow. I made a misjudgement. One simple error. The worst part was collapsing to the ground, the sinking feeling as my legs failed me—as everything failed me. Being shot through the heart by an arrow is only made so much worse when you collapse onto the ground.
But hey, at least I won’t ever make that mistake again, right?
I doubt you would laugh at that. You never laugh at my one-liners, and out of all of them, that one was by far my worst. You should have laughed at my one-liners, Ahuizotl. You should have laughed at least once. I’d have liked to have seen it. I imagine it would sound better than this pathetic guttering I’m making. Perhaps one day I’ll say something that you will find funny. Hey, maybe you’ll find my writhing in agony a source of amusement. You always do.
Great, now I'm drooling. Or coughing blood, I can't tell. Everything has blurred into this big mess I don't care about. The sights and sounds of the world don't offer me any respite, so I've just tuned them out.
I was hoping that when I died, I would have done everything that I wanted to. What did I want to do? I never had foals, never had a partner, never really had any friends. I didn’t want any, and I never needed any, so that’s all fine by me.
But I can’t help but wonder… was it really all worth it in the end? All the games you and I played, all the fights we got into, each time I stopped you… was it really worth it? I mean, now you’re free to go and carry out whatever plan you like, and nopony can stop you. Was there really any point in me trying in the first place? All that really got me was an arrow to my chest.
What was the point in that? I feel like I should be angry, but I’m way too light-headed for that. My vision’s slipping away from me, and time's going slowly, dragging out my torture.
We shared a lot of memories you and I, from that little village at the edge of Tenochtitlan basin to the Fortress of Talicon… we had a good time, didn’t we, you and I? We had some fun.
I’m going to miss you, Ahuizotl. Even if you hated me, I’m going to miss you. I’d like to consider you a friend. My only friend. It was a love-hate relationship, wasn’t it? Don’t try answering that. I already know the answer. You hated me a lot, but that doesn’t matter to me. I know you better than anyone else, I know you would never kill me… and yet, here I am, thinking my last few thoughts before I’m gone forever…
I’m no princess, Ahuizotl. I die just as easily as the next pony. You win this time. I guess I’ll have to wish myself better luck next time around. Or perhaps you will do that for me when you come for my body? I wonder what you will do with me when you find me. Will you give me a hero’s burial, or victoriously toss my corpse into a pit? I would like to be buried on a hill that overlooks the basin, but I doubt that’s going to happen.
I can see you walking up to me. Or at least, I think I can. I can feel my last breath escaping, and I don’t have the strength to suck in another breath. It's odd, but now that I can see you, it doesn't hurt anymore. All the pain has gone. It's a strange feeling, not like an absence of pain, but more like all of it is bleeding out and escaping into the world, and I'm being taken with it. I wish you could come with me, Ahuizotl. I wish you could take my hoof as together we fly away…
I will miss you, Ahuizotl. You were a good friend. Maybe you could consider me a friend too?
I think I would like that.
~The End~
