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Alone1,031 words
The Calm Before the Storm1,500 words
This Day2,563 words
Who Am I?1,638 words
Flood Warning2,109 words
The Hive2,514 words
Intruder1,280 words
Rumors731 words
Interrogation2,815 words
Ascend3,287 words
The Mares from S.M.I.L.E.1,553 words
The Calm After the Storm1,357 words
Gamophobia2,250 words

Ascend

Anon tries to keep his breathing steady as he walks through the brightly lit corridor. Mere minutes ago, the clean, sanitized hall felt alien and strange. Now, it feels oppressive and omnipresent. Every single pony in the hall, whether they’re looking at him or not, feels as though they’re looking right through him.

He hopes that the sweat on his brow isn’t noticeable under the LEDs.

Thankfully, the walk isn’t very long. Rather than go back the way they came, Miss Stake instead leads him to the unassuming door at the end of the hall near the interrogation room. With a brief flash of her horn, the door silently pushes open before she motions for him to follow.

The stairwell is cold and somewhat damp. The walls are made of dull concrete, much like his cell below. Speaking of, the stairs go both up and down in a square-shaped spiral. There is no gap in the middle, so it’s impossible to tell how far it goes in either direction. At the very least, there don’t seem to be any ponies nearby in the stairwell.

“Keep a brisk pace, but don’t run.” Stake begins to ascend the stairwell, prompting Anon to do the same. “Fewer ponies use the stairs than the elevator.”

“I’m assuming we’re below ground, then?”

“Yes. Deep.”

“How deep?”

“Forty more flights and an elevator ride’s worth.” She turns to look at him as they climb with an eyebrow raised. “Is that going to be a problem?”

“Not at all,” he smirks. “Though, why both stairs and an elevator?”

“The headquarters has a front office above ground. In the event that some cataclysmic event occurs, keeping most of the agency’s business below ground is their method of keeping everything safe. Not having stairs helps with that, as the elevator can be deactivated manually.”

“That’s a huge fire hazard,” he mumbles. “And I’m still not sure what this ‘S.M.I.L.E.’ agency even does. Why does there need to be such a massive underground complex in the first place?”

“While I’m not opposed to telling you,” she replies while looking straight forward, “I think that’s a discussion for another time. Hopefully when you aren’t in danger.”

“What about you?”

“Hm?”

“What will happen if they realize you’re helping me?”

“That’s none of your concern.” Her response is quick and dismissive. “Besides, it’s time for us to shut up. This is our stop.”

To Anon’s surprise, she halts in front of a small landing with a doorway very similar to the one they entered through. However, the stairs keep going up beyond said landing.

“This isn’t the top, though.”

“It’s to keep any potential less-informed escape attempts from making too much progres.” She gently nudges him in the leg. “Now stay close to me, and don’t say a word.”

After clearing her throat, she opens the door. Light once again fills Anon’s vision as another pristine hallway stretches out before him. This one looks almost identical to the one below, though with several other hallways branching off from it in-between several office spaces and other rooms.

Stake wordlessly begins walking down the hall while doing her best to favor the right wall. Anon walks right behind her, doing his best to heed her previous advice of not making eye contact with anyone. It’s difficult given the stares that he’s receiving, but he figures that in retrospect, that’s not much different than Ponyville.

Although he tries to keep looking forward, his wandering eyes can’t help but glance into some of the nearby windows. Everypony in these offices wears well-tailored suits, and many look about as intimidating as Silver Bullet. He takes a deep breath as he tries to contain his nerves, hoping no one notices how tense he is.

Stake makes a sudden turn into a connected hallway, and Anon quietly follows. This hallway looks almost identical to the last couple, and he realizes that he’d most definitely be lost without her.

Three ponies pass by at the same time, each sharing hushed whispers that Anon cannot make out. Ahead, Anon can see what looks like an elevator door, and he can only hope that it’s the one that will take him to safety.

Suddenly, Stake begins to slow down. Anon doesn’t notice until he realizes that they’re walking side-by-side, but he continues to follow her advice and say nothing. It isn’t until he hears her whisper something beneath her breath that he understands what’s going on.

“Don’t turn around. We’re being followed.”

Anon’s eyes go wide and it takes every fiber of his being to not immediately turn around. He swallows hard and steels himself as they continue to walk. Unfortunately, his anxiety makes his eyes wander yet again, and as he looks into a nearby window, he sees two ponies inside immediately lock eyes with him. He shoots his attention forward once more, only to see the elevator doors at the end of the hall slide open. Two more sharply dressed agents step out of it, and Anon feels his heart sink when they immediately stop in place and lock eyes with him.

Stake stops as well, and even Anon knows what’s happened.

“They’re onto us.” She doesn’t try to whisper as much as she did seconds ago, as it wouldn’t really do them any good. “Three behind us, two in front.”

“What about the offices around us?”

“I couldn’t tell you. Either way, it’s bad.”

“You can fight, right?”

“Of course I can, I–” She clicks her tongue. “I am an agent of S.M.I.L.E., and I can defend myself.”

“I know you can.” An anxious smile works its way to Anon’s face as he starts to take a defensive stance. “And you can’t let them catch you either, can you?”

“That’s none of your concern. Besides, you’re the one without experience.”

“I do lack experience, but I’m not defenseless. Not anymore.”

Stake turns around, putting herself between Anon and the three ponies that they had passed. Sure enough, the three of them have spread out enough to block the hall and are slowly walking back towards them. Meanwhile, Anon watches the two new arrivals close the gap as well.

They’re cornered.

“These aren’t your average ponies.”

“Neither are you.”

“Touché.”

Suddenly, the tensity in the hallway comes to a head as an alarm begins to blare. At its sounding, the five total ponies all charge towards the pair. Stake’s horn glows a sickly green in preparation for their arrival while Anon awkwardly places his arms in front of him. Before they can close in too much, Stake lets out a massive beam of concentrated magic at the three approaching her. Two of them leap back while the third, a unicorn, casts a spell of his own, creating a shield that stops the attack dead in its tracks.

Of the two ponies charging Anon, one seems to gain speed faster. A couple of slits in her suit reveals a pair of wings on her back, and she quickly takes to the air and winds up for a powerful kick. Anon, seeing the attack coming, braces himself.

She twirls in the air, bringing one of her back hooves down onto him. Having seen Rainbow Dash do something similar a time or two, he understands that blocking that amount of force would be a fool’s errand. Instead, he sidesteps at the last second. Much like Silver Bullet’s attack from before, he avoids it by the skin of his teeth, causing the mare’s hoof to crash into the ground below. She recovers immediately, having been prepared for the worst.

However, she wasn’t expecting Anon to jump right over her, catching her stallion partner off guard. It was clear that they had a formation in mind, and as the stallion begins to slide along the ground to attack a target that’s no longer where he was expecting, he feels himself being forcefully lifted off of the ground. All he can do is yelp as his forward momentum is carried up and over his human target in a wide arc.

The two ponies let out a brief, guttural coughing sound as Anon slams the stallion into the unprepared pegasus with enough force to really hurt. The stallion stumbles for a moment as he tries to stand, but the pegasus stays down. Glancing up, he watches as Stake teleports in the middle of her own attack, landing her directly behind the other three agents. Without enough time to defend themselves, they’re blasted in the back with another massive beam of magic large enough to rival even the likes of Starlight Glimmer.

While they didn’t do enough to permanently harm the agents, they have, at the very least, survived the first wave of attacks. Without missing a beat, Stake rushes past the stumbling stallion and down the hall. Anon doesn’t need to be instructed to follow her.

As they run, several doors on either side of the hall open. Anon glances over his shoulder to see at least a dozen more ponies giving chase, but thankfully, none can cut them off before they get by the offices.

Down the hall, the elevator begins to close. Running on adrenaline and terror, Anon realizes that they’re not gonna make it in time. Quickly glancing down at Stake, his expression hardens. Without slowing his pace, he reaches down and grabs her with one arm.

“H-hey!”

“Go long!”

Remembering a sport he hasn’t thought of in years, Anon lifts Stake with one arm and chucks the light unicorn down the hall like a football. Although her eyes are wide, she understands his intent immediately. Her lithe body squeezes through the elevator doors just before they shut, and she slams onto the floor with a thud. Although Anon keeps running, he knows that it’s too late to stop the elevator now.

Sure enough, the doors shut just as he reaches them. After a brief moment, he feels a cocky smile creep across his face. He turns around to face his pursuers, of which there must be at least twenty now.

End of the line.

He takes a deep breath as the adrenaline finally begins to fade. Today was such a whirlwind, and he’s still not entirely sure what turn of events led him to this point. Still, at least he was able to protect–

He feels his breath escape him as he is yanked backwards by an unseen force. The elevator doors are open just enough for his human form to pass through, and they slam shut just as the crowd of S.M.I.L.E. agents was about to reach him. After the doors close, he feels the elevator begin to ascend. Suddenly feeling very drained, he finds himself struggling to catch his breath. Slowly, he lifts his gaze to see Miss Stake looking down at him with a neutral expression.

“How… how did you–”

“I told you the elevator can be deactivated manually.” Slowly, realization dawns on her, causing her eyes to widen. “Th-that wasn’t your plan?!”

“I was just trying to get you out of here, with or without me.”

“Why?!” Anon is magically lifted to his feet as she glares at him with confused fury. “You barely know me!”

There’s a moment of silence as Anon looks into her green eyes. Her expression softens as she watches a warm smile stretch across his face.

“Come on, Chryssi. We both know that’s not true.”

The silence returns as “Miss Stake” says nothing. Her wide eyes slowly make their way to the floor as she takes a deep, defeated breath.

“So, you figured it out.”

“I’ve known from the start.” Anon kneels down to be at eye level with the transformed changeling. “Did you forget that I can see right through you?”

“Shut up,” Chrysalis growls, her voice now back to normal.

There is a flash before her body is enveloped in magical energy. Her form begins to stretch and morph while a familiar sickly green color overtakes her. A few moments later, she’s back to being the Chrysalis Anon knows and loves.

Sort of.

“Still a light changeling?”

“I haven’t been able to turn back yet. Figured I’d need to talk to you before getting that straightened out.”

“You wanted to talk to me?”

Chrysalis hesitates for a moment.

“I did, but then I realized that I was being tailed everywhere I went. There’s only one group that would be stupid enough to try that.” She sighs. “I didn’t care much until I got to our house after shaking them off. On top of you not being there, I found evidence that someone had dug through my old stuff.”

“Your old stuff?”

“I have a few things I kept from my time as Changeling Queen. Shoved them in with some of our holiday stuff. For some reason, my spellbook was messing. Goody Two-Shoes that you are, I figured it wasn’t you.”

“I’ve dug through your stuff before though…”

“Yes, but you wouldn’t do so again. Especially not after…” She hesitates yet again. “I left.” She clears her throat awkwardly before continuing. “Anyway, when I realized that they probably took you in for interrogation, I made use of an old alter ego of mine.”

“You’ve infiltrated this place before?”

“It’s been useful on more than a few occasions, I promise you. Anyway, I had a bad feeling that you’d do something stupid for my sake and got here as quickly as I could. I pulled a few strings, got to be ‘involved’ with your interrogation, and here we are.”

“...Thank you.” She forces herself to look up at him again, but that darn smile of his makes her face get really hot really quickly. Despite the situation they’re in, he couldn’t stop smiling if he wanted to. “I’m really happy to see you.”

Chrysalis stutters for a moment before letting out a resolute sigh, apparently having made up her mind about something.

“I’m happy to see you, too. I…” It’s clear that her words are forced, but she continues regardless. “I missed you.”

Anon desperately wants to throw his arms around her. Frankly, he’s wanted to do that since he saw her through the bars of that cell. However, he’s not sure if this is the time, or if she’d even be comfortable accepting it.

“I–”

“I’m sorry.” She looks at him again, her face serious and, in a look foreign to her, vulnerable. “I shouldn’t have run away like that. Or dumped all of those feelings on you in the middle of nowhere.”

“N-no! I’m sorry!” Anon’s smile disappears as concern overtakes him. “I shouldn’t have left you in that cave when you were alone and hurting! I shouldn’t have scared you off, or put you in a situation where you felt like you had to do that in the first place! I should have made sure you were comfortable with the wedding!” He grabs his head with one hand in frustration. “I should have listened to you before forcing you into everything.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?”

“I’ve been thinking a lot while you’ve been gone. About you. About me. About… us. A-and I still stand by what I said before.” He looks into her eyes pleadingly. “I will support you no matter what. After all,” he sighs, “it’s my fault you had an identity crisis like that in the first place. I’m the one who forced you to change.”

The elevator is quiet for a moment before Chrysalis does something unexpected. There’s a snort, followed by laughter.

“Chryssi?”

Slowly, her laughter goes from genuine and airy to an obviously intentional cackle.

“And here I was terrified that I’d done that to you!”

“Huh?!”

“A changeling breaks into your house. You do what you think is right, bleeding heart that you are, and take me in. You feed me your love, actually fall in love with me, and get caught up in the countless problems I left behind when I was turned to stone. You got ridiculed, you got alienated, you got shot, all because of me. And all I had to give you in return was, what, companionship? Something you could have gotten from any number of those ponies out there?”

“But I don’t love them, Chryssi.”

“I know you don’t.” She locks eyes with him once more, and there’s a clarity to them that he hasn’t seen in a long, long time. A tiny smile graces her face as she leans forward and wraps an arm around him. “You love me, right?”

Anon hesitates to return the hug, despite how desperately he wishes to.

“...I controlled you.”

“No. You supported me.”

“...Heh.” He shakes his head as an incredulous laugh escapes him. “Thorax said the same thing.”

His clouded mind finally clearing up, Anon leans forward and passionately throws his arms around Chrysalis, fully embracing her in a tight hug. She isn’t typically one to engage in embraces like these all that often, but something about this one is so cathartic, they both feel tears beginning to form in their eyes.

“I know who I want to be now.” She speaks, though she doesn’t let go. “I certainly had enough time to think about it. Thanks for that, by the way.” If they weren’t holding each other close, he’d be receiving a warm, appreciative look from her. “I don’t need to be a leader. I… probably shouldn’t be one, actually. But, I still know a few things that I can do to help my sub– er, my friends.” She has to force herself to say the word, but he can tell that she means it regardless. “And…” She finally pulls away, allowing her to get another good look at him. “My family.” She chuckles. “If you’ll have me, of course.”

“Sweeter words have never graced my ears.”

“...You’re such a dork.”

“Yeah, well–”

Anon’s eyes go wide as he is cut off, his lips suddenly being pressed against Chrysalis’s. She pushes against him even more, and once he realizes what’s going on, he stands his ground, pushing back in equal measure. His arms still around her, he holds her close as their actions convey what words can’t. It’s a gesture that they’ve both been longing for since the day of their failed wedding.

And neither have ever been so relieved.

After a few seconds, Chrysalis pulls away, a warm smile on her face. That smile quickly turns into a sly grin as she narrows her eyes at him.

“That said, you have a lot of nerve.”

“Huh?”

“You really thought that you could ever control me?”

Anon stands in stunned silence for a moment before his smile quickly returns. The fact that she is willing to joke about this shows just how far she’s come since he found her in that cave out in the Everfree Forest. A lighthearted chuckle escapes him. It’s almost surreal seeing her in front of him again like this.

“I guess my fears were unfounded.”

“I–”

Before she can finish her thought, there’s a loud “ding” in the elevator. Suddenly, the doors slide open, revealing a large room illuminated by natural light via windows near the ceiling. The room is tall and circular, and on the opposite end, a small hallway leads to a set of glass double doors that open to the outside world. They’re home free.

…Or at least, they would be, if not for the dozens of agents that have gathered between them and the exit. Countless eyes lock onto the pair as they both feel their blood run cold. Thanks to their long-awaited reunion, they completely forgot that they were supposed to be running for their lives.

And there’s no way they can fight this many ponies.

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