Truly Done

by Skylarking the Stargazer

Rating: teen
Tags: Daring Do, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Death, Alternate Universe, Sad, Suicide / Self Harm, Ahuizotl
Length: 6025

Daring Do, depressed and hopeless, vows to end it all under the supervision of her arch nemesis.

When they say you are able to break your limits as long as you believe, confidence boils over.

But what if that limit returns after you're no longer who you used to be? Do you still believe to succeed?

What is spirit when reality seeks to crush your dreams?

Is it really the time for Daring Do to quit?

Based off episode 18 of season 7, "Daring Done".

Published 2018-01-21 18:40:06 UTC
Last updated 2018-01-21 18:40:06 UTC

It's Time

From one arm to another, Ahuizotl leaped up onto a granite, in search of his next great treasure to conquer the world. He rejoiced when thinking about this new opportunity, but hissed when he realized that there's always that one pony who would never give up to end his ambitious deeds. Hesitating, he sat down and grabbed a couple of leaves for a mediocre meal.

His ears perked up when rustling shot from the east. In curiosity at the quivering bushes, Ahuizotl slowly crept forward for a more enlightened observation. Perhaps a glimmer of hope for something even more desirable than an ancient artifact, he smiled to himself. Licking his lips, the creature from the Aztecs lunged towards the bush without forewarning. Once his eyes were conscious of their surroundings, he groaned miserably.

“Who in the world would do anything with a chipmunk?! My mind is getting dried up with deciphering what's valuable or not after all these years.”

“You're not alone, old friend.”

Turning his head back, Ahuizotl saw pitch blackness under the tropical, divine orb of light. Recognizing that familiar voice, the renowned villain slowly walked into a hollow cave. Cautiously approaching the shadowy figure under the dried clay rocks, Ahuizotl squinted his eyes to adjust his spectrum. When the dim light finally revealed itself, he was nothing other than shocked.

“D-daring Do?! Is that really you?”

The gold, yet now pale coated mare, tossed her hat (a signature accessory she’d brought with her throughout her wild yet thrilling adventures) onto the ground in a sluggish manner that differed from her usual dramatic flair. Ahuizotl grew more confounded upon closer inspection, seeing the once treasured hat, now dirtied and torn to the point of disintegration. It left him... uncertain of how to respond.

He pointed at her worn out hat. "What's that supposed to mean, you deceitful pony?”

With a mellow but forbearing shrug, Daring Do Dazzle rolled over to her front side, her chest was badly bruised. A long dark line gashed across her midriffs. Her hooves were battered, almost deformed and out of their shapes. If any light were to illuminate, Ahuizotl would've thought he can see the treasure hunter's interior blood-fleshed guts and dried, cracked ribs. Growling in displeasure, he released his snake-like tongue free from his lips; and he began to circle around his longtime arch-nemesis.

“You don't scare me with that. If you think you did then you must be the biggest fool I've ever encountered in all my centuries living in this accursed world.”

No response. The mare's still and stoic image continued to haunt Ahuizotl's mind. She then winced in pain, the smothering anguish forcing her to swallow in the cave's dusty air. Soon followed were intense coughing and sobbing acrimony. What is going on? The Aztec beast asked to no one particular. By now the disturbing noises and broken cries have ended; Daring Do finally urged words that were clear enough to make at least basic sense.

“Scare? Who was I supposed to scare? I'm not even in the mood to take another step out of this damn cave anymore.”

“Without your annoying presence, I was able to steal some of the greatest treasures and ancient scriptures that were enough to make me unstoppable at causing destruction.” Ahuizotl sardonically laughed, but that lasted abruptly short once the smell of death returned to vanquish his triumph.

“But the more I thought about winning and achieving my one and only objective: To conquer the world. Yet, every villain in Equestria always loses to a weak and inferior species called the ponies. I was one of your kind's victims, you know?”

Sighing, Daring Do put a hoof over her face. “Get a roll on with it, what's your big idea now?”

Growling, Ahuizotl frowned in dismay. "Thanks to your heroic deeds, every treasure I tried to obtain ended up in your hooves. I hired henchmen, set up traps, and I never played fair while you were the one who had to endure all the hardships; yet you always had the last laugh?"

“Next to hurting my family, cheating on me is the worst thing someone could do.”Daring smirked (as if giving in to death), much to her longtime foe’s vicious snarls.

“That Ring of Destiny you let me have for your proposal thirty years ago... You couldn’t have forgotten right? Excuse me,” she apologized, but it too, was sardonic. “I was just using a mild pun to mock your embarrassing defeats. Cheaters like you will never win at anything.”

Out of the blue, Ahuizotl lunged his face into the mare’s nose. “Oh, so giddy and full of childish manners you are, what filth have you stooped down to? What has happened to you?! You weren’t the same since I last saw you! ”

He then answered his own question. “I went to hide so I may one day trick you into believing that I’m gone for good, and that was when I should’ve gone back into action and take all the goods for myself. But even then...”

“I feared that you would appear and put an end to me again. So even after collecting all my treasures, I have not done a single thing more.”

“Ugh!” Daring groaned, not because her recent wounds haunted her once more, but because the wicked Aztec’s words were ridiculously unbearing. “You’ve got to be the worst and most disgraceful villain ever. What kind of central antagonist are you for giving up like that? Where’s the fun if a villain can’t last long enough to quench his desired thirst?”

Bewildered, gnashing of teeth can be heard from the ancient beast.

Frustrated, pounding of fists can be heard from the mythical animal.

His tail whipped the dry air and beat the cracked rocks. An angry roar echoed through the cave, causing the dormant bats to flee in terror. He brought down his claw onto the defenseless pegasus, sweeping her away across the cave.

“SILENCE! What on earth do you know about my struggles and failures?! I’m tired of repeating the same accursed process over and over again if it never works! You just won’t stop being a miserable thorn to my eyes. It disgusts me to see you showing up with a rope hung from nowhere, and leaving me in the dust! You always take the world, Equestria, the spotlight, the audience, everything away from me! And I just know that it will never end!”

Coughing, and gasping for air, Daring Do lifted a hoof and examined nothing but fresh droplets of her own blood. Her flesh from past wounds was torn and exposed to the unhealthy environment even more than before. She grimaced and bit her lips in pain, but only encouraged more blood to spill. She put her hooves to her head, yelling and screaming in vain. Her ichor now soaked into the aging granite, soon to turn into hard pieces of red clots.

“S-so...” She managed to choke out a couple of words, but the rest was only heavy breathing. “Aren’t you glad now that you can finally get rid of me here?”

A logical philosophy seemed intact in mind. Ahuizotl rapidly tapped his head. Drip, drop, drip, drop, were all left in his brain as Daring’s blood continued to flow across the rough surface. It crawled before ceasing at his feet, to which he hissed in disgust.

“If you put an end to me right here and right now, wouldn’t your fear be gone for eternity...?” She forcefully grinned. “Then all the glory will be yours to keep.”

“Go on... do it... I don’t care anymore.”

Unable to comprehend his arch nemesis's song of melancholy, the ancient creature rapidly smacked his own head, trying to get at something. His greatest enemy whom he had never defeated. She’s a pest, yet a rose wreathed of unimaginable thorns planted below. A fragile pony she was, yet so thickheaded and bold.

Many times did she put her life on the line to venture through the dangerous jungles, brawling against dangerous predators, dancing across sly and artful traps... While he just waited at a location far from danger, far from hazardous journeys and tiresome races against the odds of time... She always made it through in the end, and somehow taking the treasure along with her.

“Is this a dream? I don’t believe any of this nonsense!” He spat and smashed his fists against the wall.

Daring guffawed helplessly, her melting tears melded with her very own flesh that left her body. “It was fun while it lasted! Wasn’t it, Ahuizotl?”

“SHUT UP! Foolish idiot!” He vexatiously pointed a claw to her with his tail. “You still haven’t explained to me why is it that you stopped our momentum of truth? Our war is still ongoing, and it shall never end! But now look at you!”

Her throat now nearly dried from laughter, copious teardrops continued to leave Daring’s eyes, her pupils lost a shade of their lavender rose pigments. Her mane and tail were gray as ever. Regardless of the empty apathy coloring through her veins, it was impressive to hear her voice whispering on.

“That was it... momentum.” Ahuizotl’s ears perked up once more, his golden earrings blinked upon his frightening gaze. “Although we’ve hated each other, although we’ve tried to steal and do dishonest deeds for each other, life was never the same once I stopped confronting you.”

“A story we are, trying to keep a plot balance between the hero and the villain. If the villain falls, then what is the point of the hero anymore? She would go back to her old ways and live as a normal pony again.”

“But even if ambitious as he sounds, the villain just might look back and reflect upon his fierce competition with the hero. There is a feeling of remorse, I should say, that might slowly retract him towards something else.”

Ahuizotl folded his arms. “And what exactly is that ‘something else’?”

"Anything, to be honest.” The pale mare answered as air found leeway only through her nostrils. She took a deep breath. “But he will no longer be a villain.”

On the verge of a breakdown, Ahuizotl grabbed Daring’s hat and shoved it into her face, though the mare had no intention to fight back. “Enough! That’s enough! How would I even be affected by your pathetic absence? My life would’ve been so much better without you around pricking me from all directions! I deserve to have my own sense of place, and that is to play the villain's role!”

“Look Ahuizotl,” the mythological beast stopped in his murderous intent and released the poor pony from suffocation. She proceeded to continue,

“I’ve been doing the dirty work trying to play the good guy for years. Now I’m too old, too unfit, too mentally retarded to do any of those horsecrap adventures again. I believed that it was the time to move on with life and maybe start a family. But oh no, the brave Daring Do was always alone, taking care of no one but herself in the wild, that she hadn’t got used to a pony’s civil life since treasure hunting. Do you know how much that hurts me?! I don’t even know what is considered a family anymore.”

“I had little to no friends, and that sonofagun Caballeron almost crushed my pride by lying to the Somnambula ponies that I was the one bring destruction and harm to innocent lives when in reality I was only trying to save them.

“But thanks to Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, my spirit was healed, and I was back to business before anypony knew. And twenty years after that, I thought it was time to retire for good and never have to worry about your dreadful plans ever...”

Ahuizotl could not whisper a word. It was even hard for him to blink once. Daring held her heart with a firm press. “But now look at me. I’m a mess.”

“I’m filthy, I’m stinky, I’m ugly, useless, wasted, anything insulting you can throw at me; I don’t care anymore.” Daring repeated the last phrase. “I can’t go on those adventures whether I love it or hate, but none of those matter more than being heartbroken.”

“I was lonely, I was cold, and I was hopeless. I had stayed in this dark cave for at least two years now because I believed that the pony society didn’t need me to thrive.”

“Why is it that you’re hiding from others of your identity?” This time it was his turn to speak. “Everyone should know, by now, who you are.”

“They may have heard me through my career. They heard me through my dream: to become a heroine and inspire young foals.” She sighed in utter distress. “But nopony knew me in person, until Rainbow Dash and her friends. They are such courageous souls, more than I ever was.”

“After we parted ways, I was back to a state of loneliness. I never realized how painful it was to stand on my own hooves when I stopped running after monsters like you.”

The atmosphere grew dreadfully insalubrious as Daring Do inhaled, spitting blood and choking on her dried saliva. Ahuizotl soon felt the same and held his nose tight enough to prevent further infection from chewing away his lungs. It was about time the retired treasurer lifted herself on four hooves again, stumbling and grunting as she tried to find the balance she once departed with years ago. Without further ado, Daring slowly dragged herself out of the cave, followed along by the curious beast.

Back to the open-world landscape they now stood in, Daring walked over to a peg knotted with a single string of thick rope snaking through the humid jungle. Grabbing a metal hook, she never lifted a smile as she pressed down her hat. A shade covered the bottom half of her face, the mare unexpectedly dropped the hook with a clank. The rhythm was ridiculously off, so off that Ahuizotl could not help but feel his brain twist and tilt. He was still quite skeptical of all this.

“What is the meaning of this, Daring Do? I don’t expect you to play filly tricks with me.”

She sighed, her cold breath quivering to the freezing north. Yet it’s so hot here, I’m just so damn exhausted every day... she couldn’t help but think to herself. Is this some sort of ancient spirit I’ve encountered during my adventures returning to haunt me?

“My point is, I give up.”

“What did you just say?”

She continued, “This place is actually near my old residence in Van Hoover. My parents passed on in a safari tour when I was a mere filly, so I lived under my uncle’s care until I was old enough to explore an independent mare’s journey.”

“My uncle was also my inspiration to roam the world in search of hidden secrets of the past. I didn’t do it solely for treasures, but it was a learning experience of Equestrian history, and what we must avoid as mistakes that may repeat themselves. Such as the Ring you had in mind in order to unleash eternal heat and destroy civilizations.”

“And what’s your point?” Ahuizotl asked impatiently.

“History is an emotional chest of knowledge, an unexplained phenomenon that I just couldn't sit back and drool on; I needed it to fulfill my desire to know even more. I worked hard, succeeded, and made countless accomplishments towards enriching myself.”

She hung her head low to the dried dirt. “When I retired, however, I realized how unfamiliar I was to a regular pony’s life. Not even my relatives and acquaintances could help me adjust.”

“My ego, developed through all those hazardous and wild adventures against all odds such as yourself, had gotten in the way of me ever contacting with them and anypony else ever again. Therefore I made my home in this rundown cave. I had to hunt, cook, clean, and other basic skills that guarantee survival in the wild. Year after year, my body began to take more tolls on the physical labor of a hunter-gatherer, perhaps the most prehistoric and least developed pony species; that was what I’ve become after my fall from grace.”

She pointed at the rope, a long brown string stretching through the giant green lushes of leaves. “During those sorrowful years of remote isolation, I used that rope to gain access through the forest, where plants and animals were abundant for me to take advantage of. I needed food, and perhaps a few medicinal herbs in case of fever or otherwise.”

“But now look at me,” she repeated once more, “I used to be able to reach the Forbidden City of Clouds and become the protector of the Halo of Cirrastrata. I used to dare myself to gamble with the Eternal Flower in exchange for my life against your evil deeds. I used to attempt and grasp onto thin air, performing the impossible...”

A single tear rolled down her cheeks. “I guess when the time comes, all those emotions and even materialistic things you rejoiced simply become faded memories, huh?”

She simply could not repeat her abilities anymore. She was now a wasted pegasus with a painted pair of dreamlike wings, not able to fly anywhere she wanted. Although frustrated, Ahuizotl gave this wild thought a little snicker. He tapped his chin with a paw.

“So you no longer can hunt like before, and this long rope becomes a futile object for future gallery walk when your grave arrives.”

She nodded without a sound, just too silent to be true.

“How... interesting.”

But that optimism caught itself in flames once he began yanking on his fur. “It still doesn’t make any accursed sense after all the explanations! I cannot accept such gibberish coming from the likes of you, Daring Do!”

“It’s D-dazzle.” She stuttered on the remains of her name as if she was trying to find what had been lost from her since forever. “Daring Do Dazzle, and she has made her legacy, only to suffer years later with it.”

“A world without end, a world full of struggle, that’s what I see with my own two eyes. What’s worse is that it just gets harder tomorrow.”

Ahuizotl pointed at the mare. “There is a dearth of sincerity in what you’ve just said, foolish girl. You’re probably waiting for me to sympathize—”

“Did any of your words define what you truly believe?” She cut off his sentence with a provoking smirk. “You lack a lot too, of qualities that is.”

“And since I’m tired of repeating myself over and over again to make you believe me...” She took a deep breath.

“Tell me Ahuizotl, how close do you feel towards death?”

An icy breeze sliced across the mythical creature’s blue fur and pierced his back.

“Whatever do you mean?”

An impotent desolation seized Daring’s back hooves the moment she plopped on the rock-solid ground. “I want an honest answer this time. I’m tired of your tricks, you goon. You’ve been cheating on me for ages, neglecting all personal interactions aside from playing your role as the bad guy. I want to know more about you.”

“Me?”

She nodded. “I have cheated death far too many times, and I think it’s time I’ve accepted my fate. No more running, no more treasuring, no more venturing. I’ve taken too many risks to accomplish the impossible. I think it’s time...” She bit her lips and tossed her hat down the little mountain that Ahuizotl had climbed on prior.

Without suspicion, Daring Do took out a switchblade and gently skimmed over her pale coffee skin, across the neck. A flowing river of red squirmed out from her veins. As he paid close attention to the minuscule details that traumatized him into violent aggression, Ahuizotl immediately lunged forward to pin down the mare and press onto her wings. Daring exclaimed in tears, as she attempted to reach for the weapon with her hoof. That hope was quickly extinguished when the Aztec grabbed the pegasus's hoof and pushed it back to herself.

“Stop! You monster!” She attempted to kick him away with her hind hooves. “Let me do my job! This is what you wanted anyway, right?”

Ahuizotl hissed. “Nonsense! You’re only meant to succumb to the dirt under my claws, Daring Do! And as Equestria’s most renowned villain, I can only feel glorified when I defeat you at your peak.”

Followed was her hysterical cackle, “Why you must get in my way now? I thought I was supposed to stop you.”

He grabbed her by the neck, slowly smothering her into a thin cord. A wrong holding position might end it all. “Enough! Don’t try to play mind games with me—”

Daring still managed to breathe and gasp a few words out of her mouth. “It’s you who’s been playing with me over twenty years, scum!”

With a growl, Ahuizotl tossed the knife far away into the depths of the forest. A place he knew the brave and heroic Daring Do no longer dared to trespass anymore. He let go of the desperate pegasus, who struggled to keep her front hooves in place when rising. Quietly, she retreated back into the cave, only to come out with a thick-paged book in hung loosely in her mouth.

She dropped the book in front of the Aztec creature and slowly lifted her head to meet his gaze. Staring at the sloppily drawn book cover, Ahuizotl noticed an image of Daring Do gloomily facing a mirror, an expression of self-doubt and shame washed over her face. Her clothes were torn and full of holes. Her hat was scrunched and dented inwards. Nothing seemed friendly to him wanting to know the content behind the cover, but Daring read his mind and proceeded to speak anyway.

“This book was written during my times in this damn cave, it’s not about my usual stories achieving success and inspiring fillies and colts.”

“You write... books?”

Daring nodded. “I cover myself from the outside world and made two identities: one being an author and publishing popular literature of my journeys across Equestria to save the world. Call me A.K. Yearling."

"The other identity is my true self as an iconic heroine and saving the world. It’s hard for most ponies to believe my dangerous missions to be more realistic than some foolish fairy tale.”

A lump formed in her throat, followed by a sounding gulp as if it were a party thrown off in the wild jungle itself. Daring calmly approached the situation through a series of respiration exercises. Her pale coat had faded in with the shriveling mountain. Sunset peeked through a hollow canopy from Ahuizotl’s back. She stared down into the beast’s soul for a good amount of time. The two rivals met each other’s gaze once again, and no longer felt cold in that frosty afternoon. With a sigh, Ahuizotl finally gave in.

“What... is your request?”

Ahuizotl folded his arms and began tapping on them. The response he halfheartedly expected was a rather slow and tortuous wait. Daring Do refused to speak, and she would not anytime soon. The Aztec finally spoke up,

“Your usual instincts would have you dodging my attacks and evading traps, but it seems this time around there is no fun in ending this.”

“I choose to follow my mental instincts...”

“You what now?”

Daring sighed. “A lonely autumn leaf gliding through the flaming forest as the trees groan for winter, torn and unripe. Hope is only a word for fools who cannot create opportunities for themselves.”

Shaking his head, Ahuizotl walked in circles. It seems to be that the more he tries to get out of her, the less clear the situation seems to be. Why is it that she’s losing her sanity? He questioned himself as he kicked up dust from the wry surface of the rocky ground.

But it no longer mattered when he turned around, only to see the mare coughing intensely. A pool of blood widened the gap between them. A deep purple cut revealed itself as she began tearing parts of her clothing.

“What now, Daring Do?”

She waddled her hooves in a repeated motion, her disturbing coughs did not cease. From what is left of her clothing rolled out an orange capsule filled with small white globules tumbling over one another.

“Aren’t those...?”

She continued coughing. “Yes,those... Amitriptyline...” The bleeding pool enlarged itself.

Ahuizotl snarled furiously. “So that blade you had earlier was only an act?!”

“N-no... idiot... I long had thought about using that thing and ending myself with ease, it’s part of the drug’s effect. But you just had to show up and get in my way... Like always.”

“That was my line, fool!” The mythical beast grabbed the capsule with his tail and brought it closer for inspection. After the observation, he dropped the capsule and slung his entire body toward the dying Pegasus, leaving only a nose-length gap.

“They are what you said to be. I can’t believe you would go this far and play a child’s puppet show to lure me here! My effort to save you from instantaneous death only proved to be in vain. How could you waste my time like this?!”

Daring Do quietly mouthed something that only the villain knew all too well, a gasp of air quietly departed from her creaking lungs.

“W-who cares... It’s too l-l-late... a-anyway...”

She wheezed and wheezed again, and again. She tried to lift her hoof, only to see it tremble with fear in her blurring vision. She wanted to laugh hysterically once more, but air barely escaped her lungs in squeaks and short gasps.

“E-excuse me...” She stuttered, “I-I think I have h-h-hic-hiccups.”

The Aztec was displeased with what he had to witness. “This is ridiculously dreary. You’re not fooling anyone but yourself here.”

“T-that’s the point, i-isn’t it?” She retorted quickly as if she wanted everything to be done with. “I-I-I couldn’t s-s-s-sleep for d-days after t-t-taking the p-pills... I don’t know h-h-how long c-can I last s-suffering like t-this.”

“You fool.” Ahuizotl groaned and smacked himself. “You've truly outdone yourself now.”

“Argh!” She squeaked. Thumps of heartbeat replaced her peaceful scenery, she began making random noises, such were sudden screeches and exhausting groans hinting at only one thing.

“You’re breaths are shortening.” Ahuizotl pointed out.

“Y-yes... an-and there’s n-nothing I-I-I can d-do about it...”

And that was it, she thought to herself. She can save the world a thousand times and beyond yet unable to do anything to save herself. Her very first impression of that fact was the idea that she had transcended into a divine practitioner, doing the world a favor at her own detrimental body. She wondered where she would go now, will she still keep her hooves intact?

Sniffing the scent of the grim reaper approaching behind the helpless mare, Ahuizotl licked his lips and leaned in towards Daring. He put his tail onto her body and rubbed over it. It’s cold again , he thought. And no less than a second he turned his back against the mare, staring at the dying sun sleeping on them.

“A-Ahuizotl...” The familiar yet unwanted voice wriggled through his mind. No wreath to shield his scowl of defeat.

“Why must you drag me into your stupid torment, Daring Do? There is nothing to feed off you anymore.” He raised a paw after the other away from the mare.

“I want to tell you something.”

The Aztec held his claws to halt her speech. “Let’s not go there again. Every attempt of dialogue from your mouth becomes another painful moment of critical thinking.”

Daring grinned. Blood trickled from her mouth. She whimpered.

“There once lived two ponies... One was a spoiled brat and rich in wealth. The other one was poor and homeless, always limping on the dirt road for food...”

No effect. The ancient beast was stoic as he silently moved away from her, step by step.

“The rich pony had everything he ever wanted: bits, mares, fashion, admiration, attention... Yet the poor pony had none of those, yet he was treated the other way around. He even had no family to begin with. He traveled and slept on the streets, begging for food or searching through the trash. He was made of filth, foul smell, injuries, hatred, hopelessness, and signs of death.”

Ahuizotl stopped dead in his tracks. Perhaps the last sentence felt all too familiar.

“The two ponies met one day at a graveyard. The rich pony was proudly walking past the tombstones until he saw the poor pony leaning against the side of a tombstone, his head hung low.”

“The rich pony snickered at him and began to ask, ‘What’s a wasted life like yourself hanging onto? You should join them before you suffer your own reality.’”

“Just then, a crawling mare dragged herself towards them, with a trail of blood that can be seen from the graveyard’s gate. She was a beautiful pony both on the inside and out like the rich pony. But she, too, was recently ruined to shambles by mobs and thugs, and ended up like the poor pony.”

“'Save me!’ She cried desperately. ‘I was robbed and mercilessly beaten by a group of ponies. You two are the only ones I can reach and ask for help!’”

“The rich pony snickered as a sign of disrespect. ‘So this is what it comes down to our community’s corruption. The lower class can’t handle atrocities and provide any benefits for everypony else! What pity! What shame!’”

“But the poor pony tore pieces of his own clothing, although it was dirty and of foul smell. He, hungry and weak, crawled over to the injured mare and wrapped his cloth around the wounds on her hooves.”

“The mare was grateful for his kindness, and she said to him, ’I cannot ever thank you enough! You have my full gratitude!’ And with that, she gave the stallion nothing but a warm and sincere hug that he could not find anywhere else since his deceased parents.”

"What? Blasphemy!” Ahuizotl interrupted with a cry. “She was a rich pony. I would’ve asked for something much bigger, like gold or treasures—”

“The rich pony harrumphed. ‘This isn’t what our society needs. Wasted materials are just as bad as bits turning into rusted pieces of bronze!’”

“The poor pony gave him a glare, and the mare’s reply was just as passionate. ’Except we’re not materials! We’re ponies, and each of us has our own reasons to live. You might be showy with your wealth but don’t degrade the richness inside anypony else!’”

“Where are you trying to get with this stupid fable, Daring Do?” Ahuizotl hissed. “You have finally lost your mind I see.”

Daring Do ignored him and continued, “The rich pony retorted, ‘There is nothing you sub-ponies can contribute towards our community. All the worse shall happen is governmental funding, wasting their time and energy just to spend on the likes of you lot when they could’ve developed progressive advancement everywhere else!’ There is no justice for the poor and helpless!”

The dying mare looked up at her arch nemesis. A vicious foe he was, yet her only friend whom she spent her times together with the longest. Crossing through swamps and jungles, sanctuaries, and clouds, there were so many places they exchanged words that made them know a bit more about each other. The glint from her ruby eyes pierced the Aztec beast over and over again, and he was sure that he might fall over in disgust when he saw the mare with the most graceful and sincere smile.

“I’m happy, and that’s all it matters.”

The world was silent once more. The jungle of Van Hoover whispered into Ahuizotl’s ears. His eyes were shut, not wanting to see the breathless body lying in front of him. I didn’t win. He thought to himself. I didn’t gain anything through all this hardship. She simply abandoned me, and left me all alone, in this dreadful madness.

With that, Ahuizotl petrified the world with a gentle howl to the rising moon, as the echoes found their way through the shivering dusk.

Author's Note

Thanks to the brilliancy of my editor, The Fan Without a Face, there will be an alternate ending derived from the near end of this story.

Precisely, it’s set right after Ahuizotl’s dialogue, “What... is your request?”

1A quote spoken by American actor, Robert Earl Buckley. Buckley is known for his role as Clay Evans in the TV series One Tree Hill, and as Kirby Atwood in Lipstick Jungle.

Alternative Ending #1: Surrealism

Grinning, she pushed the book forward. “I think you’ll know me better through this piece of autobiography. It will answer my career shortfall and my emotional trauma in the later stages of my life.”

“Again, Daring Do, why do you think I would bother to care? I would rather have you dead than anything else.”

“Because I know you won’t.”

With his tail lashing furiously through the air, Ahuizotl covered his face and dragged the book closer to his feet. He then picked it up before walking away from his arch-nemesis. Panicking, Daring grabbed a rope and swung it perfectly onto the Aztec’s tail.

“Stop.”

Not turning back, the mythical beast smiled and raised his head up into the fierce sky. Daring Do dared to ask more,

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“That, you will have to catch me first to the next ancient treasure.”

“Oh? You mean the Enchanted Artifacts? With those sapphire bracelets on your arms, I’m guessing it’s in Seaquestria?” She pretended to put on her hat and tore off her covered scars on a clear costume made of plastic wrapper. Her coat is now recovered with her younger self, healthy and purified.

Curse you, Daring Do...

Ahuizotl tried to suppress his anger and continued walking away. “Matters not if you can’t catch me after your fatiguing legs, Daring Do.”

She mocked an elegant mare’s pose, a smirk drawn across her lips. This time it wasn’t in desperation or sarcasm.

“Oh really? Care to testify?”

I can’t believe you played me into this childish drama of yours...

“Go on first, Ahuizotl, I’ll eventually beat you to it again.”

But it doesn’t make sense! You were absent for years without tracking me down. You’ve grown old! So why are you stopping me all of a sudden now, Daring Do?!

In a snide manner, she continued, “Is it really over for Miss A.K. Yearling? I knew you would miss me so dearly. Isn’t that right, Ahuizotl the immortal?”

Ahuizotl suddenly turned back and lunged forward at the defenseless mare. Already in preparation, Daring dashed forward and ducked at the same time, trimming under the ferocious animal by a nose length. Before the beast can do anything else, she tsked and stifled a giggle.

“Thanks for switching places with me, now I’m the one closer to the treasure’s location, even if it was only a ten-step difference between us and Seaquestria is still miles away.”

I will not let you forget this day!

Daring Do swung with the rope and hopped off the shimmering rocks, painting herself with the searing sundown as she soared through the misty forests near Van Hoover. Roaring into the heavens, the legendary beast of the Aztecs chased after her, as nightfall drew to a close.

Maybe... She thought to herself, I should retrieve my hat first.

Author's Note

Once again, the alternate ending is set right after Ahuizotl’s dialogue,“What... is your request?”

The ending’s short because... well there’s nothing to extend really. I included this as an experiment to see how else this story would’ve went. It’s really crazy to imagine how Daring’s able to calculate decades into the future and it’s extremely illogical (hence the chapter title). If you read this chapter and are dissatisfied with it, just stick to the original.