The Rise of Passion

Gallus returned to the barracks. He'd been gone for forty-five minutes, but he'd found what he'd been looking for. All doors were now locked, excluding Flurry's, which had not been locked when he arrived. They were ready to go without anything to stand in their way.

"But I only have three of one," said Cozy, laying her cards on the table. "Three sixes. How does that stack up against your two pair again?"

The guards slapped their cards on the table, grumbling as they pushed the stack of bits toward Cozy. She happily took the whole thing as two of the guards, having now lost their entire paycheck, stood up and walked away from the table, leaving just Cozy and two others. Judging by where all of the bits were, it was obvious that Cozy had outplayed all of the others.

"I found her a room," informed Gallus, sitting down at the table and sliding the key back to its owner. "Has she been good?"

"Really good," huffed the corporal. "This is all I have left, and it's the minimum bet. Where'd you find her?"

"Wandering administration," sighed Gallus, "just like I told you before."

"One more hoof?" pleaded Cozy to Gallus. "Please?"

The look in her eye told Gallus that she wasn't asking his permission, but demanding that he accept. "Fine. One more game, then it's off to bed with you."

"Yay!"

The corporal dealt two cards to everypony. Cozy was actually given a pretty bad hoof as Gallus could see. It was a two of spades and a four of clubs.

"All in," sighed the corporal, putting all six of his bits in the center of the table. Cozy did much the same, pushing eight bits into the pot.

"Just eight for me, too," sighed the third guard, making the minimum bet and rapping his hoof on the table.

The corporal, having received the input from everypony at the table, set one card face-down, then three more face-up; the four of spades, the five of spades, and the ace of hearts.

Immediately, the other guard smiled and pushed two more bits into the center of the table. "All in."

The corporal looked at Cozy. "You don't have to match his bet if you don't want to."

"No, it's fine," smiled Cozy, pushing two more bits in. "It's Gallus's money, after all."

Gallus groaned. It was his money, and at best, she had a pair. What was she doing?

The dealer put another card face-down, then face up. This one was the six of spades. Normally, another round of betting would occur, but since all but one player was all-in, the final burn and turn showed the three of spades.

The corporal was the first to reveal his cards. He had the king of hearts and queen of diamonds. "I have a king."

The other guard laid out his cards on the table. The ace of spades and the five of hearts. "That's a flush," he chuckled, reaching out to pull in the bits.

Gallus grabbed his hoof. "There's a third player, and she could have something that beats that."

"Like what? A full house? Four of a kind? She can't beat a flush."

"You won't know until she shows you."

Cozy laid her cards out flat. "A pair of fours?"

"Not good enough," snorted the guard, pulling in his winnings.

"Again with this?" demanded Gallus, grabbing his wrist again. "Take a closer look."

The corporal leaned over the table. "That's a straight flush. She wins."

"No way."

"A straight flush," nodded Gallus. "You don't beat a straight flush unless you have a royal flush." He pushed the cards out of the way and scooped all of the bits into a bag. "Now, it's time to go. I need to put this filly to bed so we can find her parents in the morning."

"Nighty-night!" waved Cozy as she followed Gallus out of the room. "Don't let the bedbugs bite!"

As soon as they were out in the hall and could no longer be heard, Cozy turned to Gallus. "Find it?"

"She's unguarded," nodded Gallus. "Hop up on my back, and I'll take you right to her."

Cozy rode Gallus up to Flurry's room. Being a gryphon, his back feet were padded, and his front claws were quieter than hooves. Returning to Flurry's bedroom was easy, now that he knew where it was.

Cozy hovered over the foot of the bed. "She looks so peaceful," she whispered. "If she weren't an affront to everything I stood for, I'd have some second thoughts. Even now, I'm reevaluating what to do with her once we've finished our plans."

"Can't she be released with the others?"

"Yes, but what to do until then? When she's just in storage, what do we do with her?"

"We can discuss it later," urged Gallus. "We're on a time limit right now."

"Right," sighed Cozy. "Give me the gear."

At the corner of the bed, Gallus pulled out a long length of rope, a very large gag and a ring with a gem on one side and a screw on the other. Very carefully, Cozy slipped the ring over Flurry's horn and tightened the screw just enough to hold it in place while Gallus prepared the rope. The ring was a set of three that Gallus had been gifted by Twilight that could block all magic. He'd coaxed some unicorns into fighting him when he knew she'd be watching and threw the fight so she'd give them to him, in case of future incidents. They would work on Flurry, just as they'd worked on Trixie when he was testing their effectiveness last week.

When they were ready, Cozy jumped on Flurry, pinning her down and stuffing the gag into her mouth while Gallus tied up her limbs. Cozy finished first, and proceeded to tighten the ring around Flurry's horn.

It wasn't even a minute before they were done, and Flurry was all tied up. They also proceeded to toss her into a bag and tie that up to disguise her visually. It was just one extra precaution they had to take.

"No more turning back," breathed Cozy. "This was the point of no return, and we've crossed it. No matter what happens now, we have to keep going until we're done. Are you ready to do that?"

Gallus took a deep breath, looking at the sack they'd tossed Flurry in. She had already stopped moving around as much, as if giving in to her despair. "I don't really have a choice, do I?"

Cozy smirked and patted his cheek. "You do not. Good boy."