Magenta eyes squinted in focus, peering carefully at the room that lay just a few hooves in front of her. the room, specifically the very center's, was littered with the corpses of long deceased mares. Not so much as a single stallion's femur graced this room. Daring Do knew this, not just from the more slender nature of these particular bones but also from extensive research she did before she left for this mission.
Supposedly whatever it was that she was sent to retrieve was dated to a period when the ratio of stallions to mares had an even larger gap. This lead to many desperate mares and there where several other places across Equestria that mirrored this very scene. Mares, the ones with the talents deemed least useful or desirable were sacrificed for "the betterment of all" as the history books will say. Daring scoffed at that. Personally she believed the deaths were just caused by jealous mares that needed a good lay.
But I guess some ponies could argue those two things were one and the same.
But something it would seem was different about this particular sacrificial cavern. It would seem that the town closest to this place never suffered from a shortage of males, and was in fact boasted a population that was almost equal in ratio. And that is what drew the attention of many historians. One such hired Daring and thus there she was, searching for whatever could have lead to the peculiarity. An amulet of some sorts was what this historian claimed might be the cause.
Of course retrieval of magical amulets was Daring's specialty and with careful hooves and eyes a glint Daring was sure it wouldn't take her long to locate it if in fact it existed. Her tail swished to the side, brushing dust unconsciously from the floor.
Clink
Her backside stiffen, wings flaring as the whir of mechanical gears filled the room, ringing in her ears. Slinking backwards her eyes watched carefully for whatever booby traps might have just been sprung by her carelessness. All senses were on high alert now and that's when another sound reached her ears. Almost hidden by the sound of ancient technology Daring could just barely make out the soft sound of the paws.
Once more Daring's ears swiveled around as the whirrings stopped and some small dropped from the ceiling. Before she could even react whatever this object was landed squarely across her muzzle, wrapping around loosely. Eyes crossed, Daring Do let out a soft gasp as she realized the object that wrapped itself her just happen to be an amulet. A simple one sure, but the subtle green glow coming forth from the emerald centered within interlaced silver wire left no doubt in her mind.
However there was little time to be spent admiring the craftponyship of this amulet with the looming threat of those paws. Daring was almost positive she knew who this paws belong to and she knew better than to hang around to confirm her thoughts. Flinging the chain of the necklace around her neck so she wouldn't drop it, Daring set off, hooves thundering.
She almost didn't notice the subtle headache creeping up on her. Nor did she notice the slight tingling in her hindquarters. But when the tingling turned to the the stab of burning needles her gait slowed slightly and it slowed further as the headache grew. But she didn't dare stop, not just yet. She could hear the paws growing steadily closer.
Blinding pain overcame Daring Do, her front hooves collapsing beneath her and her head hitting the dirt with a solid thunk. Her hat, her most treasured possession, she had to watch as it sailed off her head and landed several feet away, out of the reach of out stretched hoof. The last thing she saw before her she passed out was a white blur landing, claws first, on top of her hat.
"Damn cat..."
~
Daring's eyes fluttered open, and then did so again as she blink again and again. Despite her tries this did nothing to make her vision come into focus. Things remained bleak for the story's heroine though as her surroundings remained as dark as the far side of the moon. Of course our friend Daring had no idea that was the center piece and even less knowledge that everything always turns out fine for the heroines of a story and this lack of knowledge grew into fear as she struggled against the cold grasp of chains against her pasterns.
And then, senses heightened by the fear in her system she noticed something else that didn't belong. No, it wasn't the chains holding her down, nor was it the collar holding her head firmly against what felt like stone. It was something else entirely and in all her years of adventures and misadventures Daring Do never felt anything quite like it.
“What the buck is that thing?”
Daring’s chains rattled as her hoof jerked in an attempt to prod at her discovery and the collar around her throat lead to an unpleasant bout of coughing on her end for the very same reason. She could feel whatever it was laying there, seemingly doing not a thing, but Daring had her suspicions. Anything that Ahuizotl did was not simply going to be harmless. But for the life of her she could not figure out what lay across her belly. It seemed slightly warmer than her own fur and flesh but not by much. Really, it was barely noticeable. It didn’t seem to weigh much, contain any toxins and as fall as she could tell from the lack of movement it wasn’t a snake.
Only conclusion Daring Do could come to was that that dastardly villain set out to torture her with curiosity.
As Daring Do assured herself of this conclusion and was relaxing her head back against cold stone the shadows around her shifted, billowing much like curtains. Whispered laughter rose up around her as dim lights slowly brighten around her, revealing to her her surroundings. Which, as her unimpressed grunt said, was exactly what she was expecting. Just your standard, stone cell with a stone table and an unnecessary amount of rusty chains hanging from the walls. Straight out of the handbook newbie villains got on their first day.
To top of the cliched villianhood when Ahuizotl showed his dark blue muzzle it came with the additional sight of his precious alabaster cat curled up in his arms, prehensile tail stroking its head
""Oh my dear, dear Miss Do," He chuckled, "I heard your little question and to answer your query... That happens to be a flaccid cock. Your flaccid cock I might add Miss Do."
Author's Note
I must say having one hand stiff from burns and the other hand having the main finger bleeding if I use it at all really has slowed down my typing.
