The Offer


Dr. Caballeron had lost the battle. He had taken some gold, but it was not what he wanted. Daring Do had been taken away from his possession, although in hindsight he did very little possessing. She had fooled him and his thugs completely.

High in his castle on the Smokey Mountains where he lived, Dr. Caballeron could see nothing but the outlying forest surrounding him. He held the heavy velvet curtain out of his way, standing closely to the thin window.

"Boss?"

Behind him stood two of his closest soldiers. They had come on all of his missions to acquire historical artifacts or other materials he desired. After several minutes of thinking, Dr. Caballeron replied to his soldiers through his foreign accent, thinking about his next acquisition.

"Are you two ready for an adventure? I think this one will be our last."

They stood back, accepting the challenge without knowing what it was. Leaving the doctor, he soon went to work planning out what he'd be doing next. The stubbly faced stallion took his leave from the window, trotting to his map room. Inside, across a massive wooden table he sprawled out a large map of Equestria.

"North-west of the Galloping Gorge, north-east of Vanhoover, right... here."

Dr. Caballeron located a space in a thick and far off forest. That is where his treasure of choice would be. For days he and his soldiers prepared for the mission, packing, training and mastering the skills they would need to attack and retrieve what their boss wanted.

This object had no physical value, but Dr. Caballeron promised payment in gold to his soldiers if they took part in this mission. It was personal.

"I've always wanted one of these, and I'm almost certain this will be worth the trouble."

The acquisition would be a lot of trouble, but luckily he had the pony power to manage such a feat. His castle hid many secrets, even some that his soldiers didn't know about. In his office, the doctor went through a hidden door and to a room no one knew about. It was the biggest room in the entire castle, and it only had one door to get in and out. This room stretched on for what seemed like a very long time, and it was full of treasure.

Precious metals, gemstones, artwork, fabrics and jewelry lined the room with such density that mountains of valuables were established. That room had taken years to fill, and now with it so stuffed, Dr. Caballeron didn't know what to do with himself.

He walked its length several times, spending the entire day in the room, looking at his past acquisitions. He found that capturing them was the fun of the game, and once he had them they gave nothing back. These things he'd stolen or found, they didn't do anything to help him live his life: they simply existed. Even after years of having them he realized that he never touched them again, he never even glimpsed a few of the things. The doctor had a big castle full of expensive things, but he had no use for it.

"A golden necklace, what am I to do with this?"

He threw it back onto the pile, upset that he'd taken it from somewhere. In the back of his mind, the doctor knew that there was somepony who could indeed wear it and put the necklace to the use it deserved to have.

As more and more days passed, the plan built until it was ready to be executed. Dr. Caballeron went down to his hidden treasure room several more times after that, going through all of his things and on one occasion crying. He had so much, the treasure room was full but he felt so empty. Obviously what he thought would make him happy wasn't.

Dr. Caballeron has fired all of his thugs and severed all ties with them, now it was only him and his top most soldiers. They knew this was the final mission.

Across from his office was the entrance hall, and there he turned on a record player of his. He had a collection of records, but he only ever listened to one. The loud orchestra was at its strongest in the entrance hall, and flowed through the halls like honey until it had reached the furthest corner of his castle.

"Boss?"

His soldiers walked up on him as the doctor got himself dressed, making sure his red and white polka-dotted ascot was positioned the way he wanted it to be. He nodded to his soldiers, ready to begin the mission.

"The time is now, let us go."

The journey would take all night long, and as they left the music continued to play. He closed the door behind him. Dr. Caballeron took a good look at his entrance hall, looking from the ceiling to the floor and nodding his head before he closed the heavy wooden door with a tight metal latch.

After hours of walking in the pitch black, he arrived at where he wanted to be. The forrest was dark and the three stallions could see very little.

"Hush! There is the target."

They all hunkered low and began their approach. The target was a house. Small and shabby, falling in on itself almost. The lights were on inside, and he could hear lite humming from the occupant. It was just past dinner time, and Dr. Caballeron figured the occupant was cleaning up or preparing to go to bed.

That's when he and his two soldiers struck. The two soldiers jumped through two closed windows. Glass shattered all over the floor and the only pony inside jumped away from the sink in startled surprise. The cider glass she'd been washing fell to the floor and shattered also, then two soldiers tumble rolled across the floor, each one taking their move on the mare. One was kicked hard, he fell back and didn't get back up.

The second soldier was able to get a bag over her head and tie up the girl's hooves. Slowly but surely she felt a rag go over her mouth and nose, and from there it was only a matter of time. The last thing Daring Do heard was some pony opening her door, and a second set of hooves walking into her home, his voice sounded foreign and she knew who it was: Dr. Caballeron.

Once she was out, the doctor paid his conscious soldier, and he departed. He wrote a note to the unconscious one and placed it under that soldiers payment. He would never see the two of them again. Loading his unconscious acquisition into a cart, and harnessing himself in, Dr. Caballeron began the trek back to his castle.

The walk was long and hard, especially the area where the road grew rocky and difficult to pass with a load heavy cart. The fact that he lived on the edge of a mountain did nothing to help his situation, as he had to walk up hill for at least an hour. Once at his door, he undid the latch and threw it open.

The music rang out down the mountain, outside of his castle. The doctor brought the cart inside and locked the door behind him. He went to the ballroom. It was large, the only room that had an open area big enough to keep Daring Do away from anything that could free her. There was a heavy metal chair in the center of the room, weighing several times what she did.

The doctor moved her to the chair, chaining her into it, locking the locks and putting a different bag over her head. The first one was cheap burlap, but the new one was black velvet.

Dr. Caballeron took the cart and the bag to an outdoor fire pit. He chopped the cart up and burned it with the sack and rope used to restrain the unconscious Daring Do.

The sun was just rising, but the doctor was going to sleep in his large and comfortable bed. He was happy that he was now alone without any soldiers around, and that he'd acquired what he was after. The easy part of his plan was now complete.

It was noon when Daring Do woke up. Her eyes opened but her body didn't move, she was unsure if anyponies were around her due to the bag over her head. She did notice it was soft, but that was the least of her concerns. After a few minutes she concluded she was alone. After a short struggle, Daring Do realized there was no way she was getting out of the chair in her current state. The chains were tight and she couldn't move at all.

After several hours, she was growing thirsty. It's one thing to ponynap a girl, but then to leave her in a chair in a big drafty room and not show up to give the common villain monologue? Ridiculous. After what felt like several more days she heard the door to the room open.

"Who's there?"

Afterwards she hung her head, as Daring Do sounded much more frightened than she wanted to be. After listening to somepony walk around for a few moments, get right up close to her, the pony left the room and closed the door. She sighed in relief, feeling completely helpless to this silent torturer.

Upstairs, Dr. Caballeron was having his own sort of panicked session. He was looking in the mirror, before him a bowl of water, cream and a razor. He was contemplating removing his stubble so his face was smooth and soft, but he wasn't sure that it was a good idea. After a half an hour of thinking, he eventually went through with it and shaved his face. Obviously he wasn't trying to remove his fur, so he only took away the untidy stubble. Now, with a clean face and a new attitude he prepared to start his sales pitch to Daring Do.

His first line of action was to cook a late lunch. He worked for a while preparing the meal, and it was the biggest one he'd made in a long time. He laid the meal out on the table, preparing two place settings at the opposite ends. On a different cart from the one he destroyed, the doctor transported Daring Do to his dining room, chair and all.

Setting her down, the doctor removed the black velvet bag from her head, placing it on the table. She squirmed, her eyes having to readjust to the differences in light. She looked out the many windows lining one side of the dining room, finding that from the view they were very high up and in a mountainous area.

"Dr. Caballeron!"

She saw his face as he moved about the dining room, lighting two candles at the center of the table and also beginning to serve her the meal. She hissed at him with an angry whisper, demanding to know where she was and why she'd been taken.

"All in good time, please let me serve the meal and then we can talk."

The doctor served himself, sitting down opposite her and beginning to eat as she starred at him angrily. Her inability to move her extremities proved a major barrier in the eating process.

"When I'm done, I'll feed you too, you must be very hungry."

"Why am I here?"

"Well Daring Do, you're here for a couple of reasons, as usual, I want something."

"I figured as much you thief, why don't you just go ahead and take it, I don't have anything with me and I don't care to know where anything else valuable is, I gave it all up, I finished my books and I'm done."

"You didn't give up anything Daring Do, you still very much have the valuable thing I seek, and a few things in Equestria just can't be taken by a stallion such as myself, they need to be given to him. You have what I want, and I'd like to trade you for it."

"You're a thief, you don't trade..."

"No, no not anymore. I've stolen my share and I'm done pursuing silly golden trinkets. What I want is much more... fulfilling, and I have a lot to offer."

"I don't want your dirty treasure, it doesn't belong to you so you can't give it to me."

"I'll do whatever I want with it, and you shouldn't make assumptions, once you've seen my offering to get what I want, I think you might be moved to give it to me."

"What is it that you want so bad? You ponynapped me and brought me all the way up here to... where am I?"

"You, are in my castle, and soon enough you'll learn the terms of my offer."

After Dr. Caballeron had finished eating, he moved to Daring Do and offered her the food that he had made. She refused to eat it, likely assuming it was poisoned or some other ridiculous theory. Thirst had gotten the better of her, so she did drink some of his water.

The doctor left the room, returning with a white jacket. He put it on her and unchained her from the heavy metal chair. Daring Do tried to spread her wings, but realized the jacket prohibited her from doing that. She even went for a punch but found that hard to do as well. Even kicking was limited, although she was able to walk in slow shuffles.

"That's just to make sure you can't get away-" he stopped talking and his eyes fell to the floor for a moment, he seemed to be thinking but recovered quickly and returned to speaking, "-come on, I want to show you something."

The walk to his office was very long, and she watched as he opened the hidden door.

"After you."

Daring Do went first, and at the bottom of the stairs she entered his treasure room. She looked over the many piles and mountains of treasure: the wide multitude of things that he had taken one way or another.

"Do you like it? This is everything. I've got a few things scattered around the castle, but most of it is down here."

"The room is full..."

"Very full, thus my crisis, and now it's my offer."

Daring Do turned to face him, looking at the doctor straight on. She had no idea what he was talking about, but now she had a mission. If he had all of these treasures, she could steal them all back and give them to their rightful owners, saving the day yet again.

"So what is this deal Dr. Caballeron, just spit it out already."

"I said I wanted something I couldn't take, and that's because I want you."

Daring Do shook her head from side to side, laughing.

"Funny joke doc, now what do you want?"

He took half a step back, and the fact that he looked offended made Daring Do realize that the doctor before her was being completely serious.

"Look, Daring, I've got a lot of... stuff. But I don't want it anymore, I've got all this treasure down here and I didn't even need it. I've realized the fun is the chase, don't you agree?"

"Yeah, I understand that part."

"Well the chase is over, there's nothing else that I can take, so I want something to be given to me in exchange for everything I have taken. Everything in this room, every last speck of gold and every last gemstone, you can have all of it. Keep it, throw it away, I don't care. I'm willing to trade everything in this room... for you."

"I'm not following..."

"I want a companion, it turns out gold isn't a very good conversationalist, but I'm certain that you are. I mean, who else could I go after? We're both in the same line of work, a lot more to talk about I suppose. You're an amazing mare, and I'd like to think I'm not too bad myself. All those times we faced off were pretty epic, so imagine what we could do... together."

"You'll give it all back to whatever pony you took it from?"

"If that's what you want."

Daring Do swallowed hard, it sounded like a good deal, but it put her at a hefty disadvantage. She was afraid what the details of his offer entailed, especially since by definition he already had her in his possession, so what ever he was expecting her to give him had to be clearly defined before she tried to run or submitted.

"Tell me, what is it that I have to do... exactly, be specific."

"I'm looking for a companion, the treasure that keeps on giving. There's no way you think I haven't noticed how beautiful you are, you're the only mare I've ever even considered to be worth my time. I know I'm not perfect, I steal, I lie, I cheat, and sometimes I'm a coward, but... I think that... I know that I'd try very hard to make myself as likable as possible."

"All you did was say that I'm beautiful, you didn't answer my question."

"I want someone to spend my life with! Is that so hard a concept to grasp? You're a pony, I'm a stallion, let's give it a shot, okay? If it doesn't work than fine, you can go home with the treasure anyway, all I need is effort on your part. Try me out, and I mean seriously try, no pretending, and if you like me and you want to stick around... I'd be really appreciative. If you didn't, as hard as it is for me to say, you'd be able to go and I'd leave you alone."

"So you want... a ponyfriend?"

"I guess so, I'm not really fluent with the phrases and what not, I'm just a stallion."

"That's a lot to ask for... I don't want a ponyfriend, I just... wow, that really caught me off guard."

"Come here."

She took a few hesitant steps toward him, and he removed a key from his pocket and took the coat off of her. It fell to the floor with a heavy thud, and Daring Do could finally spread her wings. Dr. Caballeron took a few steps back, smiling for a minute and then just standing there, waiting for her to say something.

"Just promise me you won't run away, I fired all of my thugs so I don't have the power to go after you."

"I'll... you'll get rid of all of this? All of the treasure?"

"Everything in this room, it's a lot of stuff, you're worth a lot more so I'm really getting a good deal if this works out."

Daring blushed, smiling and nearly snorting out of her nose.
"Fine, I'll stay."

They went back up to the castle, and Dr. Caballeron showed her where everything was. She nodded, in an almost out of body haze as she followed him. She couldn't believe what was happening. Eventually he showed her to a bedroom, just down the hall from his.

"I'll leave you alone in here for a while, alright?"

"Thanks."

He closed the door behind him, and Daring Do stood in the center of the massive and heavy feeling bed chamber, unsure why she was doing anything. Across from her was a balcony. She went to the door, opening it. Standing on the balcony, feeling the mountain air, Daring Do couldn't figure out why she couldn't summon the power to fly away and escape.

She realized something on that balcony: she did want a ponyfriend. Living in the woods was a lonely business, and she only had one real friend: Rainbow Dash. A mare can only go so long without finding somepony to love her, and Daring Do had had quite a lot of adventures in her time.

She wanted to fly away and leave him alone, to come back and get the treasure when he was least expecting it, but she just couldn't do it.

"Daring Do, you silly little filly."

She couldn't manage to go. At the same time she wanted to make sure he was really serious that he wanted a ponyfriend and would give all his treasure for it, leaving her room, she was again surprised to fine he hadn't locked to door. She went to the room he said he would be in, and once inside she found him lying on his back, starring up at the ceiling. His head rolled to one side, and he saw Daring Do with her head down, looking embarrassed as she messed with her hooves on the floors.

He rolled out of the bed, standing in front of her. He waited until she looked up at him, wanting her to speak first.

"Were you serious when you said you wanted me to stay so you could... get to know me as a mare and not as... you know, your enemy or something."

"Absolutely, wouldn't be messing around with this sort of thing, it's personal to me."

"I just don't believe you."

Dr. Caballeron reached out with his lips and gave her a short and wet kiss. Daring Do took a step back, but after realizing what was happening and how very serious he was, she let him kiss her, she kissed back for the short moment he maintained contact with her, and when he broke loose the doctor took a few steps away from her, biting his lip and waiting for her to hit him. When he realized that her expression was a happy one, he spoke.

"I promise you I'm serious, I know you're strong and smart, I know you're beautiful and this is what I want, you."

His green eyes were telling the truth, and Daring Do quickly gave him a hug. Neither of them realized how soft and vulnerable she was to the power of love. She didn't love him yet, and he didn't love her, but all it took to get her wrapped around his hoof was to say he was serious and issue an offer she couldn't refuse. The idea of somepony offering everything they'd ever worked for in exchange for love was a very romantic gesture.

He thought for a minute he could manipulate her, keep the mare and the treasure, but he pushed that thought away. If he stayed honest, he could have somepony to love him, if he lied, he'd end up with a room full of cold and lifeless gold.

Later that day he cooked her dinner, and they talked about things not related to treasure. They talked about what she liked and what she wanted to do with the rest of her life.

Before she went to bed he kissed her again, she took another hug. That night Daring Do couldn't help but smile to herself, she couldn't wait to tell Rainbow Dash that she had a ponyfriend, and that she was happy. Daring Do never expected anyone to want to be with her, but than again Dr. Caballeron never expected he'd feel lonely. Now they had somepony else to talk to, as long as things continued to go smoothly.


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