The Rise of Passion

Gallus was shaking so much that his armour was rattling. He'd just been caught sneaking somepony into the castle. "What do we do?" he whispered to Cozy.

Cozy had to think quickly. She needed to come up with a way to solve this, and fast. Luckily, she was good at thinking on her hooves, and as the guard approached, she ran up to him, tears in her eyes. "I can't find my way back home!" she sobbed, pressing her face to the guard's hoof, making sure her wig separated them. If she left a smudge of makeup on his leg, it'd all be over.

The guard looked up and scowled at Gallus. "What's the meaning of this?"

Gallus looked to Cozy, who gestured for him to play along. "I found her wandering the halls, sir. She said she had lost her way, and I was trying to calm her down so I could ask her some questions. I think she's lost, sir."

The guard looked down at Cozy. "Is that true? Are you lost?"

Cozy sniffled and nodded. "My daddy, he's in the infirmanen... Inferen... The place with the doctors. Mommy and Chalk Line and Hickory Stump and Switch and I came to see him, and I had to go to the bathroom, and when I came out, they were all gone! And I don't know where they went!"

"It's okay," said the guard, gently petting her shoulders. "The infirmary's closed to visitors right now. Half of the staff have gone home for the night. Do you know your parents' names?"

Cozy nodded. "Their names are Mommy and Daddy!"

"What do other ponies call them?"

"Chalk Line calls them Mom and Dad. Does that help?"

The guard shook his head and looked to Gallus. "She's in your care for the rest of the night. Take her to one of the guest rooms and watch over her. You can ask one of the guards in the barracks for the key, if you can pull them away from their poker game. I'm going to fill out the required paperwork." He turned back to Cozy. "What's your name, sweetie?"

"Cabin Candle."

"I will do my utmost to find your parents, young miss Candle."

As soon as they were out of earshot, Gallus leaned down and whispered "That was spectacular. You come up with that all by yourself?"

"Right there in the moment," smirked Cozy. "I'm actually pretty good at manipulating ponies, as you should know."

"Yeah, but I didn't know you were that good."

Cozy snorted. "I convinced you to suck on my hooves, and you knew you were being controlled. Imagine what I could do to you if you thought slurping on them was your idea?"

"I thought that was a show of loyalty?"

"It can be both. Who says it can't be?"

Gallus chuckled. "I guess I still have a lot to learn."

"Yeah, but you're on your way. You do have a good teacher, after all."

They rounded the corner. "There's the barracks, up ahead. How do you want to play this?"

Cozy shrugged. "That guard said they were playing poker. I'll keep their attention for a bit. You try to find out where Flurry is, then come back and tell me that you've found me a room. By the by, that's your excuse for leaving me with them: finding a guest room that's ready to go."

Gallus nodded. "You sure you'll be alright in there, completely surrounded by guards who'll be watching you closely?"

Cozy smiled. "You should have more faith in me. I'm pretty good at poker."

With a nod, Gallus pushed the door open. Sure enough, seven ponies were gathered around a table, and there was a free chair. Cozy hopped up on the chair while Gallus quickly explained the situation to the dealer, the corporal that had been showing him around all weekend.

"Guest rooms, huh? Yeah, we have a few of those still empty. Here." He reached into his pack and pulled out a key. "This will take you into the guest rooms. Be quiet about it, and come back when you've found one."

"Right," nodded Gallus. "Can I leave her here with you all?"

The guard scrunched up his nose. "Why not take her right to the room?"

"What if the guests are..." Gallus cleared his throat, "enjoying each others' company? She's just a filly, after all."

"Good point, good point. Okay. Go on, then."

Gallus nodded and placed twenty of his own bits in front of Cozy at the table. "Help her keep her mind off her troubles, would you? And go easy on her."

Gallus stepped out into the hallway. He had been paying closer attention than he had let on. There were a lot of guest rooms on this floor for lower-ranking visiting dignitaries and local magistrates. Above them were some larger rooms, and above that, a series of suites. On the same floor as the suites were the royal bedchambers, where Flurry undoubtedly was. He also knew that none of the suites were occupied at this time, so looking for an empty one would give him an excuse to be up there.

He bolted up the stairs, knowing that they were already behind schedule. From the stairwell, the windows looking out told him that Trixie and Starlight's performances had ended. No more distant popping or shimmering lights adorned the city, and all was quiet. They were probably already back at their base of operations, and he would join them in the morning.

He started checking rooms one by one. There was no alert, so it wasn't necessary to have a guard posted outside the rooms, as a standard patrol route would cover everything just fine. He only needed to stay ahead of the patrols to make sure he wasn't caught.

He started checking rooms, ducking into them when he knew there was a guard coming. They had no reason to believe that anypony had access to these suites, as the doors were all supposed to be locked, and no guests of this level of importance were supposed to be here. He could judge when the guards had left by the lights shining under the door, and just waiting for them to go by.

It took almost fifteen minutes of searching, but he soon found his way into an occupied room. He strolled over to the bed and leaned over the side of the covers just in time for Princess Flurry Heart to roll over and face him, still sound asleep. He smiled down at her, knowing that he'd found what he needed.