Project: Underground

We didn't make it. With an unseen force coming from the dark, our tails were caught by the now unrelenting force of Violet's magic and heaved backwards. I barely caught on to what was happening at the last second: I was still holding onto Pick.

Since he had magic and I had wings, I felt as though I had no other choice at the time. Using illogical but quick thinking, I used my wings to pivot myself around in the air. Just as I heard the confused screams of Pick, I gave him enough momentum to soar towards the entrance of the library, just out of the magic coming from Violet's horn.

I watched Pick as he was taken by surprise of sudden motion. His legs spread out, slowing him down just enough to watch me be pulled towards by Violet as he hit the ground with a sickening 'THUD' and skidded towards the door painfully. Quickly getting on his hooves and ignoring the pain that was possessing his body, he just managed to open the door, slip through, and escape.

I, on the other hand, was still in front of the deranged Alicorn facing her full wrath. I could feel the odd grip on magic on my tail as I was thrown backwards, nearly powerless and defenseless.

I stopped and thought inside my mind for a fraction of a second. Wait... The incident with Grey Flame... I could use that tactic here.

Not thinking but somehow doing, I used my wings to propel my body upside-down, now facing Violet in an odd but useful position. I could see the cold, marble tile soar inches past my head and wings as it raced past me, giving me a slow, pounding spike of adrenaline on the way. Well, maybe spike wasn't the correct term to use here: How about it gave me a slow, pounding explosion of adrenaline? There. That works.

Now in position, I heaved myself upwards with my forelegs. Watching Violet come closer to me by the millisecond, I got a closer look at her face just before my attack. Her face was still mangled and bloody, but that wasn't what caught my eye... What did, was her eye. It now looked red and lizard-like... Just like Nightmare Moon.

I had no time to think of it as I neared Violet. My forehooves threw themselves under my head and under her shoulders, giving me the leverage to heave the poor bitch right into the air behind me as I landed shakily on two hooves. She lost concentration entirely and forgot about her hold on me, letting her fly backwards. I quickly looked back, half-expecting a massive crash behind me. However, it never happened.

When I looked back, I saw that Violet was using her wings to prevent herself from crashing into the cold floor. She was flying.

"Oh, what the fuck," I said in disgust. This wasn't going to be easy.

Clearly pissed off and in an unrecognizable state of rage, she charged. Now, this wasn't just your average run/fly-up-to-somepony-and-hope-for-the-best kind of attack; this was full on and full of uncalled-for, pure, unfiltered, powerful hate. Rearing up her massive wings and looking me straight in the eyes with an almost unreal stare, I froze and stared at hers, thinking of how this could have happened. Nightmare moon? In her?

As if I wasn't frozen in thought enough, all of what was happening was explained. All the puzzle pieces locked together. All of them.

Celestia's mission, as I knew, was to create another alicorn. They only had access to two alicorns, so they had to mix what they knew about Celestia and Luna. Pink and navy blue mixed... Created purple. That's where Violet came in. Violet Rose.

The insanity part of both Celestia and Luna had come from the alledgedly 'dead' Nightmare. Apparently, Luna was more possessed by it than Celestia, which is the reason why Luna killed her sister in an attempt to be ever closer to her goal of being the only alicorn live. So, the Nightmare spread to the 'Luna' side of Violet, hinting at the night insanity. That means that Luna would have gone for Violet next if it weren't for the fact that Violet made it look like she brutally murdered Pick... Genius.

Genius...

I came to two sudden and shocking conclusions. One: I couldn't kill Violet. She was the only pony alive that had a chance of restoring Equestria to what it was before Project Underground. Two: Luna was currently pursuing her insane goal of becoming the single ruler of Equestria, being half controlled by the Nightmare, which Luna probably wasn't aware still existed.

Holy shit.

Snapping back to the brutal reality that I was facing, I stared straight out to see an enraged Nightmare Violet careening towards me like a tank. Letting my instincts get the better of me, I sub-mindedly threw myself out of harm's way using my wings. I watched Violet get taken completely by surprise as she skidded her hooves noisily along the tile as she slowed to a stop, completely unharmed.

In the air, realizing that I was facing another seemingly unattackable opponent, I did the first logical thing that came to mind.

Fly.

'Alright, let's see what these suckers can do...' I thought to myself as I reared my own wings up, readying myself for one hell of a chase.

I was off with a bang. And as if the already insane rush of peril wasn't enough for my poor system, my heart skipped several beats when I started accelerating and saw Violet turn towards me with a look of complete insanity on her face. Racing ever faster towards the exit to the library, Violet did something that I forgot she could: Shut the door. I had already passed Violet and was headed for the door, when the entire block of wood and metal was engulfed in a display of powerful magic as it was closed in my face with a 'BOOM'.

Shocked but somehow half-prepared for it, I quickly swiveled around and bucked the wooden door, sending me in the opposite direction quickly. Before she could realize what was going on and have a chance to stop it, I located the only other way out of this place: The window.

Gaining speed to freedom and what also looked like another round of crystal splinters embedded in my spine, I suddenly met up with my new worst fear right in the middle of the intensity: Glass. In what felt like a slow motion epic in front of my very eyes, my entire body did what felt like half a backflip over the tops of the second story bookcases. Ignoring the nearly unbearable strain that my shoulderblades were going through, I momentarily opened just long enough to see the upside-down bookcases whooshing past my head as a confused Nightmare Violet was searching for me below.

For what felt like the hundredth (but was probably only the fourth) time today, I felt the searing pain of shattering glass behind my back as I slowly watched the jagged ends of the window frame fall away from me as I did likewise. Snapping out of my slow-motion state of mind, I followed through with my painful flip, unfurled my wings, and took flight once again, this time outside in full light of the bright full moon. The quick movement of my wings threw several shards of glass through the night air, sparkling in the moonlight as they alerted Violet of my location.

Hearing the grinding pound of harshly treated hooves shooting off of the tile behind me, I knew that Violet was after me and moving fast. Unfortunately for her, my mind was faster.

Making a mid-air move that I had only seen on a roller coaster before, I pulled up into a tight loop. Halfway through, I swiveled myself into an upright position with a half of a barrel roll, pointed downwards and towards the roof of the castle, which was oddly flat for a good majority of it. I just performed an Immelmann and was pretty damn proud of it.