//------------------------------// // Interrogation // Story: Bring Me the Heads of the Cutie Mark Crusaders! // by CCC //------------------------------// “Reports from Baltimare, Manehatten, and Las Pegasus all show similar trends.” stated Shining Armour, in a rapid monotone. His coat had faded to a pale grey that was near indistinguishable from its normal shade; but the difference in his mane was striking, its normal brilliant blue having faded to an anonymous grey. “Three weapon depots, four guardhouses, and a popular coffeeshop have been targeted in Manehatten; two armourers and a guardhouse in Baltimare; and we've lost contact with the Las Pegasus outpost entirely. Fillydelfia has remained largely untouched, but there's been rebel activity in dozens of smaller villages. The individual attacks are largely disorganised and random, but they have widespread popular support and appear to have less trouble with supplies than we do. We also suspect that some of the former Wonderbolts may have thrown in with the rebels. Aside from that, the only constant in the attacks has been the rallying cry.” Shining Armour paused, for just a moment. “In every attack, whether the rebels were captured or not, in either written or spoken form, there has been a single cry – 'For The Cutie Mark Crusaders'.” Tirek, sitting on his (formerly Celestia's) throne, in his (formerly Celestia's) throne room, frowned at his new guard captain. Using Discord's Grey Plague to simply switch the loyalties of the entire Equestrian Royal Guard had been a stroke of genius, but he sometimes privately wondered if some of the guard-stallions had managed to partially shrug off the spell, at least enough to act like total idiots sometimes. “I don't want excuses.” he snarled. “I want results. These 'cutie mark crusaders' are making me a laughing stock in my own country! What have you done to protect your fellow guardsponies?” Shining Armour stood smartly at attention. “We have increased protective patrols at all Guard locations,” he said, “and dispatched a squad to Las Pegasus to -” Tirek roared in anger, slamming his sceptre into the ground, and making the half-dozen ponies (and one dragonequus, and one dragon) tied to his throne jump. “USELESS!” he roared. “You fool! You treat the symptoms, when you should strike at the source! These 'Crusaders' are a symbol, and while they live you can fight rebels all day and never get to the end! But destroy the symbol and resistance to my rule will crumble and fail!” Tirek stood up, glaring down at Shining Armour. “BRING ME THE HEADS OF THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!” he yelled. Behind Tirek, there was a slight squeak. As Shining Armour saluted and marched off, Tirek turned about to look at the eight beings tied to his throne. “I heard that.” he said. He snapped his fingers, and the muzzles that had been holding their mouths shut vanished. “One of you knows something. The Royal Guard had never heard of these 'cutie mark crusaders', but at least one of you has, haven't you?” The eight prisoners clustered together, and stepped back from Tirek's angry gaze. It didn't take them long to back away to the limits of their ropes. “Yeah? Well why should we tell you anything, you jerkface?” yelled Rainbow Dash, stepping forward Tirek's horns glowed, as he levitated Rainbow Dash up, in front of his face. “Oh, indeed.” he said. “That is rather the crux of the matter, is it not? How about this – if you or your friends don't start talking quickly, I'll pull your wings off.” Rainbow Dash gulped. She shut her eyes, and took a deep breath. “It's...it's not like I can use 'em, anyway...” she murmured. There was a thump, as Applejack tried, once again, to buck Tirek's leg out from under him. He sighed, lifting her up as well. “I really thought you'd have learned by now.” he said. “Without your Earth Pony magic -” Tirek paused, frowned, and looked down at his hooves again, where the remaining four ponies and one dragon were making a concerted attack on his left hoof. He rolled his eyes, sighed, and levitated all of them into the air. As an afterthought, he picked up Discord as well. “For the last time,” he said, “I've got the magic of every earth pony and alicorn in Equestria. Without your own magic, it doesn't matter how often you try that – you can't hurt me. Now, would anypony like to start telling me where I can find these Cutie Mark Crusaders, or shall I start pulling the wings off your friend here?” Rarity was the only one who replied, with a burst of blistering invective that was more or less anger given audible form. Tirek simply raised an eyebrow. “Well, then.” he said, reaching out his telekinesis for Rainbow's wing. Rainbow gulped, and shut her eyes. “WAIT!” yelled Discord. “I can't take it – not my dear friend Shutterfly! I'll talk! I'll talk! I'll tell you all about the Crusaders!” Rarity's head snapped around and she glared at the dragonequus. “Discord you misbegotten son of a viper! Traitor!” she yelled, then took a deep breath and continued in a similar vein. Fluttershy curled up and sobbed, just once. Tirek waved a hand, sending all the ponies and the baby dragon off to one side; and then, for good measure, he threw a silence spell over them. Rarity continued to mouth her angry insults, but they were no longer audible. “Fascinating.” said Tirek. “As I thought, your new 'friendships' have simply given you a new weakness. Now, talk. Who are the Cutie Mark Crusaders?” “An elite unit of Celestia's,” said Discord, promptly. “They've found out how to extract the cutie mark from a pony and bottle it, and give the result to another pony. They're based in Manehatten, I'm not sure exactly where.” “If they work for Celestia,” asked Tirek, “then the Guard would know about them.” “Top secret.” said Discord. “Quite frankly, the only reason I even know about them was because they were involved in recapturing me the first time I escaped. Outside of the Crusaders themselves, potential recruits, and those they've stopped, very few ponies know a thing about them.” Off to the side, Rarity had stopped trying to angrily yell insults through the silence spell, and floated rather with her mouth open in shock. Fluttershy had a small, encouraging smile. Twilight nudged Rarity in the side, and frowned at her. “They're very versatile,” continued Discord, “because they can switch out their cutie marks for whichever ones they need at any given moment. They're selected from the winners of the Equestria Games; those who make the cut usually only find out about the Crusaders when they're asked to join.” Discord gave a slight chuckle. “You didn't think this group reformed me by themselves, do you? Shutterfly got invited to join after she pulled off a sonic rainboom – they're still going through the process, but she's almost a member now. Or, at least, she was, before you took us all prisoner.” Tirek frowned, wondering whether to believe what Discord had just told him. He snapped his fingers, removing the silence spell from the ponies behind him. “I'LL DEFENESTRATE YOU FOR THAT, DISCORD!” yelled Twilight. “I'LL DEFENESTRATE YOU WITH A RUSTY KNIFE, AND IT'LL BE NO LESS THAN YOU DESERVE!” Discord winced. But Tirek's mouth turned up in an evil grin. If the ponies were still threatening Discord, then surely that meant he'd been telling the truth...