It's a Miserable Life (Patreon)

sorry for all the monty spam y'all, just trying to ride out this sudden inspo wave. will get back to comic making soon

So originally I had Daring Do and Dr. Cabelleron straight up kidnap ("rescue") baby Montezuma from Ahuizotl, but I'm wondering now if that was just a little too evil. Daring and Cabelleron do renounce stealing in their final episode, after all.

I'm thinking now that Ahuizotl let them take Monty. Daring and Cabelleron, his good, good friends, did an excellent job convincing Ahuizotl that a jungle was no place to raise a baby- Ahuizotl is a temple guardian, and danger comes with the territory. From dangerous animals to quicksand to poachers, how could Ahuizotl hope to keep his son safe on top of protecting the treasures of the ancient temples? If Montezuma was taken by Daring and her husband, they could give him a luxurious education, a normal life- if Monty was allowed to grow up among ponies, he'd fit in just fine among them, make friends, be seen as just a regular person, not a fearsome monster like Ahuizotl....

Ahuizotl is at first furiously against the idea, but his resolve wavers as they pick at his insecurity over being a new father. Can he really do a better job raising Montezuma than ponies could? Is he, out of his own petty selfishness, going to doom his son to the same lonely, thankless existence he himself leads....?

So regrettably, painfully, Ahuizotl gives his son up. For what he believes will be a better life. Monty screams and cries for days, but Daring and Cabelleron are convinced he'll adjust to a happy new life with them in no time.

Daring likely did believe she was doing the right thing. She tried to give Monty a good life, full of everything a pony foal gets. While not the kindest or most patient mother, she treated him decently (so long as he behaved). More importantly, adopting Montezuma got the public spotlight back on her again after she'd had to stop her temple-robbing adventures. Daring was praised as brave, kind, and noble by many ponies, and wrote tirelessly about the challenges of raising such an abnormal child, with her new books and articles raking in cash. Daring recommended every pony consider adopting a non-pony child and raise them up the same as any pony.

Cabelleron, meanwhile, enjoyed touring his family across Equestria, offering up Montezuma to museums, zoologists, and wealthy ponies curious about the strange little spawn of Ahuizotl. Creatures across the world were indeed willing to pay top dollar to see Monty, and Cabelleron was blessed with more profit than stealing trinkets ever could net him.

Happy little family~

Montezuma does indeed have toys and books and games....but friends? The family never stays in one place long enough for him to make any, and Daring and Cabelleron keep him isolated besides, fearing him hurting somepony on accident. Montezuma's questions about his background are met with dismissal, his parents tell him that they adopted him when his real father, the monstrous Ahuizotl- tried to feed him to his jungle cats. His parents, meanwhile, keep up correspondence with Ahuizotl, making out like Monty is having such an idyllic childhood that it'd be a shame to drag him to the jungle to meet his father.

The older Montezuma gets, the more bitter and sullen he becomes. Everything comes to a boiling point when one day, poked and prodded at by a pack of rich foals, teenage Montezuma bites a pony, and they nearly die from his venom. Daring and Cabelleron, furious about the bad press, lock Monty away "until he can remember how to behave"....but Montezuma breaks out of his enclosure and runs away. Lost and alone, he decides on a single goal- to find the father that dared to discard him.....and kill him.

Of course, when he finally does find Ahuizotl, the truth is revealed. Ahuizotl, crushed at learning how Monty was really raised, vows to lever let his son go again, and Monty finally discovers what it's like to have a loving parent.

That isn't to say his need for revenge is quieted. Now that he's learned from Ahuizotl who he is, what culture they come from, how ponies like Daring Do have exploited it- Montezuma vows to undo the injustice committed by his adoptive parents.....and teach ponies to respect his name.