Project: Underground

"Alright, now I have a question for you."

Her statement took me a little by surprise. "Huh?"

"What was with the earthquake? How destructive was it?"

"Well, I guess you must have not felt a thing of it down here, because it completely tore up the surface. The damage wasn't very widespread, like the damage didn't make it to the palace, but what it did hit, it destroyed. Okay, maybe destroyed is a bit of an understatement. How about obliterated."

"What the hell? Are you serious?"

"I couldn't not be. Ash completely flooded the streets and killed everypony in its path. Only about two hundred or so were able to escape from harm's way and end up here, so there were probably only about two thousand or so survivors in Canterlot."

"Good hell... All of this destruction over an ill-considered attempt at murdering? Celestia must have been way more insane than I originally thought. This means trouble..."

"No shit. Just one more question, though: The photos we saw of you said you were bi-polar. Is that true? I mean, you haven't acted that weird around us..."

"Well, you haven't seen me at night yet."

Her last statement left me hanging on a nail. "What do you mean?" Pick and I asked in near perfect unison.

"Well, how about I put it this way: You don't want to be near me when it's night. So, if it is night up there, I haven't acted weird around you because I don't know for sure if it's night. But when I know, I go crazy."

I cringed at the thought of her going crazy again. "So, kind of like a were-pony, but not nearly as badass?"

She laughed a little under her breath. "You could put it that way, I suppose, but it's a bit deeper than meets the eye. There will be time to explain later, but we have to make our way towards the surface fast. I suspect that it's already night..."

She left me with a few more questions to ask, but I could forgive her. She probably hadn't spoken in two weeks anyway.

As we slowly neared the section of the tunnel that curved upwards and started the massive staircase, we noticed something odd... The entire entrance to the staircase was empty. The dead Celestia and Pierce were gone.

"Holy shit... Where did Celestia and Peirce go?" Pick asked us, although he should have already known that he wasn't going to get a real answer from either one of us.

Clearly shocked at what Pick just asked, Violet spoke up. "Wait a second... You're saying that this is where Celestia and Peirce were killed?"

"Yeah. And now they're gone. Why, though?"

Still in an odd state of shock with a horrified expression plastered on her face, Violet did something completely unexpected, but still oddly welcomed. Reaching out both of her forehooves towards us at the same time, grabbing us and finding our bodies suddenly squished together. Before we had any say in what appeared to be a couple bruised ribs and an incredibly awkward moment, she quickly unfurled her wings. And with a quickly placed jump on her part, she was powering her wings up and down in the small stairwell as we soared upwards.

The intense sensation of acceleration would have been incredibly welcome if she had actually told us what we were doing, and just as importantly, where we were going. Seeing the mildewed steps of the dark staircase racing centimeters from my nose sparked an interesting feeling that I had never felt before: The perfect balance of intimidation and security. Well, for the time being at least. The staircase suddenly ended, causing us to be pressed down on our backs with intense forces as Violet pulled down into a level flight path.

The last few meters of the dark hallway were going by fast. Literally: Violet was probably somewhere around 80 kmh and still going strong, blowing out the torches behind her with powerfully launched gusts of wind.

As the wooden end of the tunnel neared us, I realized something at the last second that would nearly make me use all of the strength that I had left to get out of the bone-crunching grip of Violet: She wasn't planning on stopping anytime soon. I tried opening up my lungs to deliver the message to her, but her grip on me was too strong. I couldn't say anything. There was nothing I could do.

I managed to barely tuck my head into her arm as her head ducked down with her body, allowing her back to strike the back of the bookcase with full force as she tumbled forward. An explosion of shattering wood shot out away from us as we barreled through the old wooden structure, sending several splinters into the air and into our skin as Violet lost control of her flight entirely. All three of us skidded several meters along the cold marble tile, further implanting the rotted shards of wood into our backs, sending searing pain throughout our bodies instantly.

Damnit, not again.

Careening along the smooth tiled floor of the office gave me a short glimpse of the time of day outside through the library window and the office doorway: night. We had to contain Violet. Fast.

Quickly stammering to my feet before anypony else could, I used some quick, on the spot thinking to reach out a hoof and slam the door to our left before either one could see what was behind it. Waiting for by back legs to catch up to my forehooves as I watched Violet get back up and continue running was nothing short of terrifying. It took a great deal of courage to stop her, and through that, I still barely managed to squeak out a few words.

"No."

She suddenly drove her hooves into the ground as they brought her to a grinding halt inches away from me. A dumbfounded but angered look found its way onto her face as she muttered a response.

"What did you say?"

I swallowed the fear that lingered in my throat. "I'm not letting you pass until you tell us where you're going."

Her look changed from confused to determined. "Oh really... Is that so?" I knew that she already suspected it being night time, so I saw anger spark in her.

Knowing what she meant but not entirely sure what she was going to do next, I braced for impact. "Yes."

Nearly shattering the tiles behind her in a furious lunge towards me, I found myself inches away from her wing as she turned to her side. Her wing grabbed me from the underside of my ribcage and hurled my powerless body upwards, smashing my back against the ceiling as I caught a glimpse of Violet trampling down the door below me.

I could do nothing. She had already seen the stars outside of the library window as gravity took over me once again, crunching me down on the tile floor face first in a fury of pain.

Barely overcoming the burning feeling that swept through my body, I lifted my head slightly to see that Violet had crumpled to her knees and was screaming out in pain. I looked back at Pick, who had a look of pure horror on his face. Neither one had a clue to what was about to happen. Violet fell to the ground with a sickening 'thud' as she went completely silent.

I turned back around violently, screaming at Pick the last warning I could. "RUN, DAMN IT!"

Pick got on all fours as I did the same. And in one klutzy motion, we both screamed along the tile floor as fast as we could and ran.

I could barely see what was going on as my hooves skittered painfully on the marble tile. I ran forward as I watched Violet lay motionless on the ground in front of us, wondering what would happen next. Making a quick decision, I veered to my right, while at the same time realizing that I had something that Pick didn't: Wings. Thinking fast, I heaved myself into the air. The second I felt the weight completely come off of my hooves, I swooped down towards Pick. Before he could stop me, I yelled "HOLD ON!" and bear hugged his back as hard as I could as I took off once again.

Clearly surprised, he struggled a little bit before realizing that it was just me. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?"

I cut him off in the intensity of the moment. "Going outside."

I didn't listen to the rest of what he was saying: I had already picked up speed and was now headed for the main entrance to the library.