The Rise of Passion

Twilight had been given the morning and the afternoon to rest, recover, and acclimate to her situation. The whole time, Cadance had been trying to convince her to just give in, and she, too, would be wearing a great big smile. Twilight tried not to listen, but felt that she had to. If there was any part of Cadance still in there, she wanted to hear it, so she could call out to her.

Just before sunset, Gallus walked into the room. "Headmare Twilight Sparkle," he smiled. "Settling in okay?"

Twilight scowled. "You're either really brave or really stupid to show your face here today," she growled, staring him down as he crossed the room.

"Please understand that I wanted only the best for you."

"If you wanted the best for me, you'd prove it by setting me free," spat Twilight.

"Let's say I did," nodded Gallus. "I untie your wings, remove the ring from your horn, and walk you out of here. Then what?"

"Then I go to Celestia and Luna, and we--"

"Die," interrupted Gallus. "Do you think we don't have protections in place for that? You'll have an arrow through your back and I'd be hanging from a noose before you even board the train. Try again."

"I'll just fly," answered twilight, flapping her folded wings. "No big deal."

"And Cozy won't catch you with her stronger wings, more powerful magic and army of brainwashed guards. Brilliant."

"Okay, wise-arse," growled Twilight. "How would you go about escaping?"

Gallus shook his head. "I'd bargain my way out. Make myself more useful than detrimental. Make it so that I'm more of an asset if I'm free to move around than if I'm caged up."

"And how is that supposed to help me?"

"It doesn't," shrugged Gallus. "Right now, your best option, and I mean this earnestly, is to be released into just my custody."

"Just yours?" sneered Twilight. "That's not a good time."

Gallus leaned back. "Think back over the last several days," he said. "All the time we spent together. We could have that again, but this time, nopony is trying to harm you. It's just you and me, together."

"With the knowledge that you betrayed me."

"Yeah."

"Yeah, no thank you."

Gallus raised his eyebrow. "I'm giving you the opportunity to eventually walk around in public, see and spend time with your friends, and sleep in a bed in a nice room. All you have to do is put up with me and not fight against the system that we're putting in place. Be like Flurry, not like Cadance."

Twilight looked up. "Where's Flurry? Tell me where she is!"

Gallus raised his claw. "Shall we go see her?"

"Right now!" barked Twilight.

Gallus nodded and tossed her a collar at the end of a leash. He held the other end. "This leash is enchanted. As long as you wear it, you can leave the room. strap on that collar, and we'll go see her."

Twilight strapped it on, and Gallus locked it in place so she couldn't take it off. She rolled her eyes at that. She wasn't going to take it off. not until she at least saw Flurry.

Gallus opened the door. "Take a right down the hall, and it's the second door down."

Twilight walked down the hall, looking into the first room and seeing Cozy talking to Stellar Flare, Yona and Sandbar. She took a deep breath and continued, walking into Flurry's room.

"So, the simplified version would be A2+2AB+B2." said Flurry.

"Exactly right," smiled Sunburst.

Twilight looked around. The room was almost as nice as the suites in the Crystal Palace. Flurry had a bunch of stuffed animals, some toys, games, books, and all manner of other amenities. There was even a nice, big bed.

"Aunt Twilight!" Flurry rushed over to Twilight and gave her a big hug. "I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too, Flurry," kissed Twilight. "Are you hurt?"

Flurry shook her head. "Sunburst takes very good care of me. He feeds me, plays with me, and teaches me stuff!"

Twilight looked down at Flurry's cutie mark and saw the arrow. "Flurry, I'm so sorry..."

"Oh, who cares," waved Flurry. "It's just a cutie mark. It doesn't define who I am as a pony. With or without one, I'll still be your niece, I'll still be Sunburst's favourite student, and I'll still have a fondness for grapes." As evidence, she popped one in her mouth. "You want one?"

Twilight shook her head. "I'm not really hungry right now. I was worried about you."

"Don't be," smiled Flurry. "After the initiations were over, we were all mostly fine. Mommy acts a little weird, and daddy's always wearing that blank stare, but they didn't hurt me at all."

"I was firm, but very gentle," confirmed Sunburst. "I'm as protective of her as I would be for my own daughter."

Twilight scowled at him. "I can't believe you're part of this, too!"

He shrugged. "I was going to stay out of it, actually," he said. "I wanted to warn you. But then I saw what they were going to do to Flurry. If I told you, they would torture her. I can't..." he looked away. "I will not let her come to harm. I suppose that makes me a coward."

Flurry stood in front of Sunburst and held out her hooves, as if blocking Twilight. "Don't blame him. He's a good pony. It's just a bad situation, is all."

"You see, Twilight?" smiled Gallus, leaning in and petting her shoulders. "Flurry Heart has been well-behaved and rewarded for her actions. Soon, she'll be allowed to go back outside and meet with her friends again, and she has herself to thank for that. Don't you want to go up with her? We could always just keep you with her mother, instead..."

"Please, Aunt Twilight?" begged Flurry. "I want to have at least some of my family intact."

Twilight was silent. Could it really be that easy? If she just gave up, could she be done with all of the fighting, all of the discomfort and all of the loneliness? She could be living a happy life with her friends and her niece. She was currently powerless to stop them, and even if she tried, they could do to her what they'd done to Cadance.

"I need some time to think," she eventually sighed. "This is a lot to process."

"I'll take you back to Cadance's room," smiled Gallus, tugging on her leash. "We'll see how you feel in the morning."