//------------------------------//
// Daring Do 
// Story: Bring Me the Heads of the Cutie Mark Crusaders! 
// by CCC 
//------------------------------//

Back in the present

“Guard Captain!” called Tirek. There was a clatter of hooves outside the throne room, and a couple of sudden thumps, as if of bodies hitting the ground.

Tirek turned away from Discord, still using his magic to hold the dragonequus in the air as he glanced at the door. There was the sound of hooves sliding across marble, and a blank-flanked pegasus screeched to a halt outside the throne room. Before Tirek could do more than blink, the pegasus' foreleg turned to point at his head, and he recognised the crossbow she held in her hoof. She pulled the trigger, and Tirek saw a bolt of light travel directly towards his head.

There was no time to dodge aside, so Tirek did the next-best thing; he used Discord's magic to split his head down the middle, allowing the shot to pass harmlessly between the two halves.

“DARING!” yelled the blue pegasus. “RUN!”

Tirek slammed the two halves of his head back together again, and grabbed the attacking pegasus in his telekinesis before she could get away.

“'Daring', is it?” he asked, carefully pulling the crossbow from her hoof. “Well, miss... 'Daring'. What exactly did you intend to achieve here today?” He waved a hand, tossing silence spells over all his other prisoners.

“Isn't it obvious?” snarled Daring Do. She reached up one hoof to push back her pith helmet and get a better view of the giant centaur. “Kill you, restore the magic you stole. Save the lives of thousands of ponies.”

“Is this about the weather again?” asked Tirek, inspecting the crossbow. “Honestly, you'd think that the fact that I keep the day-night cycle going would be enough for you ponies.”

“Yeah, the weather's part of it.” said Daring. “Without proper control, half of Equestria's going to be a desert in two years, and the other half's going to be flooded. You'll have less ponies to rule then, won't you?”

“You think I care about ruling weaklings?” asked Tirek. “Any pony who can't survive a bit of climate change isn't worth the bother. But give me a generation or two, and I'll have an Equestria that's really tough – an Equestria where the surviving ponies are truly strong. Where weak 'friends' die and only those tough enough to serve me survive. And then... when I have an army worthy of the name... then I shall rule the world!” He crushed Daring's crossbow in one hand.

Daring winced. “That was a priceless historical treasure!” she said.

“This?” Tirek held out the remains of the crossbow. “Nothing but a toy. I should know, I made it.”

Daring gasped. “The... the origins of the Canterlot Crossbow were lost to history!”

“Well, now you know.” said Tirek. “It was supposed to be able to kill Celestia. It couldn't.” He held out his hand, and let the bits drop to the ground with a clatter. Then he moved one hoof forward, and stomped on them, flattening the pieces further.

Daring winced, again.

“And as for you,” continued Tirek, stepping forward to look Daring in the eye, “you are going to do a little job for me.”

“Why would I do anything for you, you overgrown freak?” asked Daring.

Tirek grinned, and his eyes suddenly flashed with multicoloured light. “I never said anything about you wanting to.” he said. He reached up, and poked Daring's head with a finger; the colours drained from her body and mane leaving her a monotonous grey.

Daring struggled for only a moment before the mental domination took hold.

“Go to Manehatten.” Tirek ordered. “Track down a group who call themselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Find their headquarters, and kill them all. Bring me their heads as proof.”

“Yes, sir.” said Daring Do.