Lauren McNeigh

As Lauren passed by a cave uphill, she heard a loud voice boom from within.

To destroy the turret, full of hatred

Is the daring work of noble Lauren

An endgame with Queen Faust is possible

Only after you crush her sentinel

The siphon Tirek the terrible

Without the staff of OCs born of the Hidebrit Gene

Destroying him is harder than it will ever be

Lauren thought it was an oracle because of how it was talking to her. She managed to understand what those words meant from all her experience with a cryptic Familiar. She spoke up to it. “I have one of the Hidebrit’s OCs, the one from the Original version, where are the others?”

“Scattered throughout Wonderland” the oracle spoke. “When you have them all in hand, checkmate is possible. The Crystal Empire may be of use”

Lauren flinched a bit before moving on. “Comparison of this war to chess is fine, but it’s quite troubling that anonymous oracles seem to know more of my business than I do”

Lauren had officially thought she was in a chess match. Though they weren’t really like chess pieces, it made her think about the game a lot. The ground was now checkered like the board. Three new enemies appeared, and the ranking among them made her really think Queen Faust is aiming for checkmate. They were Crystal Ponies, but were controlled by the Corruption.

The foals resembled pawns in their armor. They were small, but they would jump and stomp on Lauren when she got too close.

Mares took the place of rook. They wielded spears and would stab Lauren when she was within their range. They had a helmet that highly resembled that of a rook on chess.

The stallions took the knight position. They wore the same armor as the mares, except for the rook-type helmet. They had a sword and shield and to go with it.

All three were wearing the same armor, but they were custom-made to suit each position. They looked like the ones from the time of how it could’ve been if King Sombra took over the Crystal Empire. The only difference was that the armor was all red, and had Queen Faust’s symbol on the chest plates.

Lauren ran over the Hazel and Hester as the effects of the Invisible Looking Glass wore off. This was like the same one that Hazel gave her to use when she first met them and saved Hester from Deceptive Beauty. The Partner and Familiar were frightened at first, but it was payback for the many times they did that to her.

“Since you know the moves, best play with the whites; they go first” Hester adjusted her hat.

“Such order in the midst of chaos is suddenly making me feel sick” Lauren held her urge to puke.

“The regularity of the chess board disguises the predatory menace of certain pieces” were the Familiar’s last words before vanishing again.

Lauren walked up to the Crystal Empire. She spotted Cadence get taken away by Queen Faust’s Pawns, but she couldn’t do anything about it since there was another group of enemies that ambushed her. By the time she fought them off, Cadence was gone. She soon found the Castle and went in.

Shining Armor smiled at the sudden appearance of Lauren. He ran up and hugged her tightly. “Mother!”

Lauren smiled while hugging back. She then let go after. “It’s good to see you too, Shining”

“I need your help, Mother Lauren. Queen Faust’s forces are getting stronger and they show no mercy. They just captured Cadence, and she’s in terrible danger”

“I saw her being dragged away by them to their castle, I’m sorry about that” she sympathized with him.

Shining looked down, but had to stay strong infront of the others. “Without her leadership, Queen Faust wins”

“I’m sorry about that. I will try my best to stop this madness, but you can be of help for that. Have you seen OCs Brazy, Bunochius, or Bunster? I need to them to create the Hidebrit’s OC Staff to kill Tirek and also Queen Faust”

He thought for a bit. “As a matter of fact, I think I have seen one of them. Looks a bit like a Katsuma, but has black irises, deep blue eyes, wears a collar made of unicorn horns, has several stitches on her body?”

Lauren nodded. “Yep, sounds like Brazy. Where is she?”

“I think I saw her in the Castle, trapped in a cage”

“Then that’s where I’m going. Don’t worry, I’ll find Cadence along the way and set her free”

“You are brave, Mother. But I must warn you: it’s dangerous to go in there. There are deadly traps and fierce oppositions on the way. But you won’t face the enemy alone. Take Flurry Heart with you, she’ll be very helpful”

He then turned and called his daughter out. She ran down to him. She looked all grown up, just like Sunburst described. She then ran over and turned into a card for Lauren to carry around.

“She sure has grown up” she mused.

“Yes, the Corruption allowed her to do so. Now, go and be careful. The knights know the way out”

Lauren was too late. Cadence was beheaded by the enemy forces. Still, there had to be a way to bring her back. She just had to get in. She soon did. It took some time and effort, but she finally got in. She just had to get Flurry Heart over to where they killed Cadence and the filly could bring her back. Once she got to the area, the drawbridge she walked on closed up.

“Lauren, look out!” Hazel and Hester cried before pushing the woman out of the way of a red beam. “Are you okay?”

She nodded as she was helped up. “Yeah, what was that?”

Hester flinched a bit with Hazel. “She’s here. Brazy’s here”

All turned around to see Knighty suddenly came in. He was Corrupted from the look in his eyes. He wore a red robe lined with gemstones. He had Queen Faust’s symbol on his chest. One eye had become mechanical, which they guessed was what allowed him to use the laser attack.

“Ah, Lauren Faust, what a pleasure to see you” Knighty grinned, the Corruption in his eyes glowing.

“It had to be you, Knighty” Lauren glared at him, her Ice Wand in hand.

“Where’s Brazy?!” Hester yelled while Hazel brought out a dagger.

“What did you do to her?!”

He grinned before lighting his horn up and bringing out a familiar OC in a cage.

“Mom! Mother! Lauren! Help me!” Brazy cried out.

“Brazy!” Hazel cried.

“Let her go!” Hester growled.

“Oh look at you two” he smirked. “I guess it’s right about what they say: When people create a character, it’s like their child. And to the Creation, their Maker is their parent. Now that I think about it, are you both lesbians?”

That was enough to make Hazel lose her temper, and her lack of meds for her Bipolar Disorder wasn’t helping. “HOW DARE YOU, YOU HOMOPHOBIC CORRUPTION!”

The young Pegasister charged at him angrily, her Familiar beside her. She was about to hit him with her dagger when he sent her flying with a red beam. Both hit the wall hard, knocking them out cold.

“Hazel! Hester!” Lauren cried out.

“Now that those two are out for the count” Knighty then placed Brazy aside, on a chain wall as she tried to get out and back to her Makers. “It’s me against you”

Lauren glared at him. Her Ice Wand glowed, ready for attack.

They then charged at each other, Lauren got the first assault. She fired up her Ice Wand and it began to shoot at Knighty. He counter-attacked with a fire attack. He then used his laser attack on her. She threw her knife, aiming perfectly at him.

He kept on hitting her with his laser attack, until she countered it with her Ice Wand. He tried to hit her with his staff, but she was quick to dodge. She used her knife again. As he used the laser on her, she knifed him. She then threw her Demon Dice, trying to summon her help, but he was quick to destroy the dice.

They then just aimed at each other with their long ranges, attacks until she final landed a perfect shot at him with her knife.

Hazel and Hester soon stirred and awoke. They ran over to Brazy and set her free. Lauren watched happily now that two of them were now free and safe. Brazy then thanked her before turning into her part of the OC Staff. She became a red collar with white spikes that was put on the Staff Bunny was, right on the top which needed a holder.

The duo thanked her for helping them while Flurry came out, and resurrected her mother. As the duo disappeared, Lauren suddenly felt a presence behind her back. She had no time to react before something hit her on the head and knocked her out unconscious.

Lauren soon awoke to find she was on a table. The straps that were meant to hold her down were just broken by Hester, who chewed on them with her fangs until they snapped.

“Are you alright?” she asked when she finally got her free.

Lauren nodded slightly as she got up. A slight pain in her head showed up. Hazel gave her an ice pack, to which she accepted. “Oh, what happened?”

“Anastasia” Hester spoke up.

“She knocked you out when you defeated Knighty” Hazel continued as she handed Lauren some water in a water bottle she must’ve kept all along.

“Oh great. Where are we?” Lauren looked around herself with the duo as they took in the surroundings.

It area was a spring green, but nearly a sickening color. There were gears and springs keeping several things going on. There were pipes fixed on wall. Steams vents were on the ceiling.

“Judging from the looks of this place, I’d say we’re in Anastasia’s lair” Hazel spoke.

“Well, I hope this place isn’t as bad as the others. I mean, this is Anastasia, daughter of Trixie and Rarity. What’s the worst that could happen?”

Right promptly after saying that, a foal dropped from the ceiling and onto the floor. It landed with a hard slap. Blood came out and pooled around its dead body. The colt had an orange coat and a mane that resembled Twilight’s. Upon further investigation, Lauren recognized it: It was one of Twilight and Flash’s OC Shipping Children. He had tacks on his mouth that forced him to smile. In his eyes was a deranged look of insanity.

Lauren thought it was disturbing to see that just happen. She looked to her side to see how Hazel and Hester would react. She knew that Hester had a tendency to hyperventilate when frightened or scared, and Hazel would scream uncontrollably. She was surprised to see them just standing normally.

“Meh, I never liked that Ship anyway” Hazel looked deadpanned.

“No fair! I wanted to see him suffer!” Hester whined like a spoiled child.

She sighed in relief, but still confused at their reaction. That was when she remembered: they hated the Flashlight Ship. Well, atleast it wasn’t the worrying reaction. The duo then helped Lauren off the table before they got ready to disappear.

Hester grinned. “Look straight ahead, but be skeptic. Whichever way you choose, always look in a straight direction”

Lauren nodded as they vanished again. She held the urge to puke as she walked past the dead body and over to the Rage Box nearby.