Lauren McNeigh

Lauren just let the demon attack the giant mirror. It was relentless even though she tried to get it to stop. She then flinched as a group of giant Jackstones suddenly appeared and began to circle around the mirror and attack it. Soon enough, the mirror broke down, revealing a passage inside. The demon died and the Jackstones all went to a small ball that bounced in the same place before going behind her. She turned to her side to see a familiar duo.

“The simple game can turn indistinctly nasty” Hazel commented as she handed her the Jackstones and ball.

“Don’t ever play alone” Hester gave her cryptic words before leaving again with her Partner.

Lauren thought she was going barf any second now if this continued. It was too disturbing even in Anastasia’s lair. The passage led to what looked like an asylum, but worse than the one she saw here during her first visit. The doors were not locked, but the ones inside were too mad to even know it anyway.

She saw all types of things going on in each room. In one room, two foals were being terrified to death by their worst fears. In the next room, two others were being electrocuted. The next one had a duo being cut open and salt was literally rubbed into their wounds. The one after that had a pair being impaled on spikes as thin as needles. Preceding one had a couple that was choking on insects. The following couple was being slowly burnt alive. Next one was being suffocated repeatedly. The one after that had them being drowned. Preceding one had their eyes pulled out slowly, bit by bit and after that, their intestines were pulled out just as slowly.

She noticed a pattern with the victims: they were all from the Flashlight, Flutterdash, FlutterMac, Twidash, or Fluttercord Shipping Verses. Various ones from each ship. They were being tortured mercilessly. They were all shifting around in the restraints holding them, desperately trying to break free. It was no use.

Lauren couldn’t save them. She had to ignore it to keep on moving. She destroyed the mini-clocks in each cell to try and see if anything would happen. When she destroyed the last one, a huge door was revealed. She went to it and saw two familiar faces.

She flinched when she saw the state the Flim-Flam Brothers were in. They looked quite the same, but their eyes had the insanity of the Corruption. They had dog collars on each of their necks. There was blood on their clothes and dripping from their mouths. They both looked rather fat. They had saddlebags carrying several fire bombs.

“Look, brother” Flim spoke up, gaining his brother’s attention. “It’s goody-two-shoes-mommy from reality, so-called Champion with a duo of lunatics for guidance”

The twin glared at her when he saw her. “Oh yeah, thin and mad, isn’t she? Who let her pick the cryptic ones out of the asylum? They’ll blame us, most likely”

“With her time spent around mad people, she must be influenced to be like them. She’ll need medicine, strong medicine”

“She got anything to eat since she fell into depression and doubt?”

“Doubt it, she never ate much since the news” he then sneered. “If she had any meat on her, she’d make a delectable dish”

Lauren fumed at those words. She could take some Corrupted Creations for so long, but if they began to speak of her weaknesses, she had it. It was unable to tell whether or not it was her rage that suddenly summoned the duo to her side.

“Despicable, grotesque, cheating louts, I’ll fill your bellies alright” the woman glared.

Hester grinned. “The bigger they are, the harder they fall”

She got tired of the cryptic advice. “Spare me your riddles for now. Hazel, do you have any useful advice to translate?”

“Use their size against them” was the Pegasister’s words before the duo disappeared again.

Lauren had to run up on a ramp nearby to get away from the brothers as they pulled out swords from their jackets. That didn’t help as the twins sprouted propellers from their heads, and flew directly above her. She barely had any time to react as Flim fell with a belly flop while Flam fell with a stomp.

She loaded up the Jack Bomb and threw it down at Flim. It hit him good. But then something really annoying happened. The brothers somehow managed to split themselves and create clones. The only difference was that the eyes were completely white.

Lauren dodged the attacks of the clones as she tried to focus on the original Flam. She hit him repeatedly before he finally gave way and died. The clones also disappeared. She ran to him and collected his Meta Essence.

“Flam, dear brother, you will be avenged!” Flim yelled before relentlessly hitting Lauren with grenades.

She had to dodge his attacks as much as possible. It was more challenging when he summoned his clones again. She had to defeat just him. Finally, she threw a final Jack Bomb and that ended him. He fell down and she absorbed his Meta Essence, restoring her full health and ammunition.

Suddenly, the door infront of her opened and Anastasia came out.

The young mare sighed when she saw the carnage. “Oh, give me break! I just hired those two to keep track of all those freaks of Shipping nature! Guards like that are hard to find nowadays in this apocalypse! Oh well. Come with me, Grandmother Lauren, you’re just in time for tea”

Lauren remembered how this mare’s Corruption was the reason Twilight was flattened down to a pancake. “I only take mine with friends”

“Count me to be among them. That’s the truth” she then dropped her smile. “Oh wait! I forgot! You and the truth are not on familiar terms right now”

“And you should the truth is you killed your Aunt!”

“Ant-y Aunt, if I may” she stifled her giggling. “But the truth is always bitter to those who fear it”

“I fear nothing”

“Fear was what got you here, because you have so much of it. With doubts about your heir and the guilt of Smith, you started to lose your mind. Longer in that and we’ll all end up in an institution. Of course, it may be all avoided”

Lauren tilted her head from that. “What do you mean?”

She didn’t have time to react as the Pegasus stomped on the ground infront of her, causing the ground below Lauren to shake and break apart. She screamed as she fell down to where the floor would take her.

Lauren stared at the mirror on the wall. She noticed how she seemed to be getting well now. She had begun to rebuild both physically and mentally. Soon enough, she would stop the madness of the Corruption in Wonderland, everything will be back to normal, and she herself would be better in the real world.

She didn’t have time to react when Hazel and Hester appeared on a platform behind her. “A reflection sometimes exposes more beauty than the object it echoes”

The sudden surprise caused her to fall into the water with a scream. Luckily, it was shallow. She spit out some that got in her mouth while parting her now-wet hair.

The duo giggled at it, Hester doing backflips in the air while laughing. “Sorry, Lauren!”

She sighed while getting up the dry land.

Atleast we still have some humor here.