The Rise of Passion

After the sudden disappearance of Pinkie and Rarity, who had been curled up into small boxes and sent to Zecora's hut for temporary storage, both of them seeping with seed, Applejack had instituted a call for much higher security. Guards stood at every entrance and patrolled the halls. While this was meant to not interfere with the education of the students, it absolutely did, slowing down passageways through doors as the guards checked their saddlebags, random stops in the hallways, and regular dorm inspections to make sure nothing was going on.

Gallus especially had to keep his beak clean. Applejack had noticed him being present when Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had disappeared, he'd been at the last extracurricular function that Rarity and Pinkie had attended, and he'd been in the Crystal Palace when the royal family disappeared. Applejack had a strong suspicion that he was involved, and when he came to Twilight asking to help with the guard duty as part of his OJT, Applejack ensured that he would do no such thing.

Trixie wrote to Starlight, telling her about the situation, a letter that Applejack insisted on reading before it could leave, being suspicious of her, as well. Noting the increase in security, Starlight sent her response to Fluttershy's cottage, which was collected by Silverstream when she went to check on the lovers. As she instructed, they were to meet her first in Starlight's manor to discuss the plan, then Trixie would return to the school. Soon, Starlight could drop in to look over what had gone down.

Both mares brought a guest each to the meeting. "Cozy Glow, at last we meet," smiled Zecora. "Your return was no mean feat."

Cozy nodded. "It wasn't easy, either. I'm curious; how did you find out about that?"

Starlight cleared her throat. "Girls, the mission?"

Cozy raised her hoof to Zecora. "We'll talk later."

They all sat down at the table. Starlight and Trixie joined hooves across the table and smiled at each other before quickly returning to the meeting.

"Applejack is causing a problem at the school," said Trixie. "Trixie is concerned that it may end up outing us all as she turns up the pressure. Somepony's going to break, and I think it might be Gallus."

"That would indeed be quite a shame," sighed Zecora. "He's imperative to our little game."

"It's worse, actually," admitted Cozy. "I placed a curse on him that will force the other five into suffering if he's outed, so losing him means they all go, as well."

Starlight scowled "Why would you do that?"

"It's a matter of loyalty," answered Cozy. "They have to all work together or go down together. If one of them had cold hooves, or claws, or whatever, backing out of the contract would cause them to be surrounded by the wails of those that they betrayed." She turned to Trixie. "So have the other five relieve him of some of that pressure."

"Excuse me for being terse," puffed Zecora, "but why not just remove the curse? If Gallus should fall, the others go free, more able to help, if full of ennui."

"Then one of the others could just give themselves up, and then give up the locations where we're hiding the bodies we've absconded with. Their poisons can be counteracted, and we have to start the whole thing over from two steps ago, this time one player down and with the opposition being very defensive. We can't risk a backstep. We'll just have to take Applejack out of the equation."

Trixie nodded. "Cozy's right. We need to remove Applejack from power. She's going to break somepony eventually. So, how do we do that?"

Starlight leaned back. "Maybe we just let it happen?"

Cozy scowled. "Have you completely lost your mind?! What did I just say?! If Applejack breaks one of them, she breaks the rest of them!"

Starlight shook her head. "We don't let her break them all the way. We let her push them all to the breaking point. We make Applejack drive up the security to the point where the students are acting out, then let Twilight see what's become of her students. If Silverstream leaves Applejack's office with a bruise, Twilight will be so pissed that she'll turn her back on Applejack, relieving her of duty as Twilight's guardian, a role that will be filled by Gallus."

Zecora leaned back in her seat. "Are you sure that the students can handle the blow? They're not quite as durable as Cozy Glow."

"Oh, they'll manage," assured Starlight. "They'll have Trixie tending to them."

Trixie put her hoof to her chest. "You trust me with something this important?"

"With my very life," answered Starlight, leaning over the table and giving her a kiss.

"It may very well cost you that," snorted Cozy. "If you fuck this up, Twilight will send you both to the dungeons, where you'd best hope that I forget you. I'm not so forgiving of failure."

Zecora tapped her hoof on the table. "What's to be done with Applejack? We need to prevent her from coming right back. I don't think it'll work, going the same route as the others; turned into fleshlights and fucking their brothers."

Cozy nodded. "Zecora's right. Whether we vanish her or have her banished, we still need to hide the body somewhere. If we put her in Fluttershy's cottage, we'll be drawing too much attention. We're already drawing more attention there than I would like, what with the fuck-up. I'm not sure how big Zecora's bedroom is, but Gallus said it was small, and having three ponies in there already means it's likely already crowded. Plus, that's going to busy her too much."

"They're rubber dolls with working twats," chuckled Zecora. "They spend their whole day standing in the same spots. They aren't much trouble to me as they are quite still. But additional presence would test my maneuvering skill."

"So, what do we do with her?" asked Trixie. "Trixie doesn't care what it is. If we have to lock her in a dungeon or something, Trixie is fine with that, just pick something, already!"

Starlight grabbed her hoof again. "Calm yourself, my pet," she smiled. "We'll come up with something before we leave." Her smile spread from one of gentle calmness to one of menace. "In fact, I just have..."