Lauren McNeigh

It took a while, but she finally did it. Lauren managed to change all the clocks’ time. They were now all set to six on the dot. She was sent up to where Anastasia would enter so she could confront her there headfirst. There was a faint whimper from up ahead. She ran up to see what it was.

She sighed in relief when she found an unguarded Bunochius in a cage on the center of the battlefield. The young OC was scared and miserable. She was bruised up a bit, but whole nonetheless. Among all of the mechanical objects in this place, she seemed to be one of the very few who was still normal and natural.

When she saw Lauren, she perked up. “Lauren?”

“It’s alright, Bunochius, I’m getting you out of here” she assured her before using her Ice Wand again and breaking the lock on the cage. “Hazel, Hester, I found Bunochius!”

Right then, the duo reappeared. Bunochius immediately jumped into their open arms as they shared a happy reunion. Lauren looked on, happily. Compared to the others, she was the easier one to free. It was just too easy. She knew what that meant: She got her out of the cage, but she must make it out of the Domain alive.

Bunochius then came over and thanked her. “Thank you for freeing me, miss Lauren. For this, I shall aid you in battle!”

She then turned into her part of the OC Staff: a huge gemstone, which fitted perfectly into the holding part of the Staff. It was almost complete now; it just needed something to hold all pieces together.

“The only one who’s missing now is Bunster. She holds a small, but vital role. Her part holds the whole weapon together. We last heard she was being used as an eye for Tirek. He thought that if she was a part of him, he would soon gain her power. Though he gained none, she is just hurt. Though he still has his other normal eye, I understand he’s grown quite fond of both” Hester spoke.

“I doubt time shall change his mind” Hazel spoke.

“Speaking of which, where is Anastasia?” were the Familiar’s last words before disappearing again.

Lauren looked up to see that a glow appeared infront of a giant grand clock. It then enlarged before becoming Anastasia. She grinned at Lauren. Lauren readied her Jackstones.

Lauren threw the Jacks as Anastasia neared her. It annoyed the mare as she tried to swat them off like flies as they dealt a lot of damage. The mare then flew up and summoned two Automatons.

Lauren had no choice but she fought them off. Only after she killed them and absorbed their Meta Essence did Ana fly back down. Bombs shaped like teacups came out of her hat. Missiles also fired from her sleeves.

Lauren did her best to dodge them, but she got hit by the missiles. They didn’t hurt so much, but she was quick to find out why. The missiles were laced with venom from the Nightmare Spiders, so now she was having clouded eyesight. She tried to get it off her and see again, but she couldn’t until it wore off normally. Ana then flew up to her and smacked her in the head with her hoof.

Lauren then ran back as Ana prepared for another swipe and threw the Jacks at her. It dealt some serious damage as the mare fought to make them go away. Only when she flew up did the automatons appear again. Lauren then killed them off and refueled on ammunition.

She then looked up and learned from her past experience with Flutterbat. She threw the Jack Bomb at Ana while she was still in the air. It did the trick: The mare had broken a wing and could no longer fly. Lauren then threw the Jacks at her. Ana didn’t stand a chance against them. She couldn’t flee anymore to summon the Automatons.

She had no time to react as the final blow from one more Jackstone got her.

Flash screamed in pain as the death of another Flashlight child was felt. He had a spell cast on him that would make him feel the death of each Flashlight child, as well as their tortures. When that wasn’t happening, he was in his own personal torture.

He was burned, boiled in oil, intestines removed slowly, and repeatedly blown up. He was also spelled to come back to life as each child died. This was a never-ending cycle of torture for him. He wanted it to stop. But the end would never come.

And now, there was another torture just infront of him. A few feet away, in proximity deemed safe but good enough to watch, a familiar duo was watching him get tortured. They were both sitting on folding chairs, wearing 3D glasses and eating popcorn and sipping energy drinks. Once in a while, they seemed to get bored and read two books on a table in the middle of where they sat. One was called “Twin Desires: the Tale of Two Ponies who Want Twilight” while another was called “Flash Sentry Will Pay”

“You know, Storm would’ve loved to see this” Hazel spoke up before grabbing another hand of popcorn.

“Good thing we’re recording this on tape” Hester smiled while lifting a camera after drinking.

Flash screamed in pain. “For once…can you both…put the hate aside…and help…me out?”

“See, Flash, that’s the thing: We hate you”

“To the very core”

“If we had to choose who would live between you and Prince Blueblood, we’d choose that snob”

“In a heartbeat!”

“Please! I’ll do anything! Just make it stop!”

Hazel sat up and looked at Hester. “Hmm, what do you think, Hest?”

“Well, love, say ours at the same time?”

Hazel nodded. “1…2…3…”

“NO WAY!” they both yelled at once before laughing.

“… Sadists…” Flash groaned.

“Yeah, we get that a lot when we’re not weak” Hazel smiled as she munched on popcorn.

“You’re never weak to me, love” Hester smiled.

“Hest, stop”

Right then, Hazel felt a vibration on her wristwatch. She looked at it before sighing. “Lauren needs us”

“Oh, fine” Hester then went and shot Flash in the head with a gun nearby. She then got up from her chair with her Partner before perching on her shoulder.

“I love the way your little foul side works” Hazel smirked.

When Lauren delivered the final blow, Anastasia suddenly froze in place. She then began to shake and shudder as electrical sparks began to fly out of her body. Soon after, she short-circuited and her head exploded, sending her hat flying a few feet away.

Lauren then saw Hazel and Hester reappear beside the hat. They beckoned her to follow them, which she did. They then picked up Anastasia’s hat and made their way over to the opened portal. Hazel then reached into the hat, and took out a rather peculiar clock.

It looked like a pocketwatch, but it was slightly altered. The arms were shaped into swords. A rainbow gemstone was its centerpiece. The numbers looked like they were carved by a knife.

Hazel pushed its setting button, and everything else around them stopped. It all froze in place. Then, she pressed it again and everything went back to moving.

“This unique watch, called the Dead Time Watch, stops time for a time” the Pegasister explained as she gave it to Lauren.

“Unlike death, time moves on. Those who stood still with time move on also, unless they are dead” Hester grinned before the duo disappeared again.

Lauren then spotted a huge piece of Meter Essence and went for it. She then went through the portal.

Snowdrop stretched her wings as the cage holding her broke down. She sighed happily now that she was free once more. Lauren smiled at her as she flew to her.

“With gratitude, I offer you my services” she smiled.

“I need to free one more person before the real deal is settled. To do it, I must defeat Tirek. I am destined to battle Queen Faust, but the outcome is uncertain”

“You won’t fight alone. I will serve as your commander and muster the forces of those who are loyal to you for all you have done”

Lauren sighed. “Thank you, Snowdrop. But how do we prepare for battle?”

“An assault on the Queen depends on breaking the gates to her part of Wonderland. Only the Hidebrit’s OC Staff can pry them open. And you know the Hidebrit. If you can open the gates, I’ll lead the troops to victory. Let us right the wrongs of this realm together”

Lauren smiled as she shook hand, and hooves, with Snowdrop. The mare then gestured for Lauren to get on her back, which she did. She clung on for dear life as Snowdrop spread her wings. The blue Pegasus then took to the air and went to the glass dome covering the room she was in.

She let out a tear and wiped it, before blowing on it to create some icy breath. She blew long enough until the whole dome was covered in ice. Only then did she break through the glass.

Lauren watched from down below to see the destruction going on. The Corruption had polluted everything in its wake, but was now losing its advantage against her. With each defeated Corrupted character, each part in Wonderland was starting to heal. If Queen Faust dies, everything will go back to normal. But if she didn’t, what would happen?

She turned her attention back to where snowdrop was now landing. It was the Dragon Lands again. When the Pegasus was on the ground, Lauren got off.

“Recruit whatever allies and forces you can, Lauren. We’ll need them all. I’ll return with reinforcements. Take heart” Snowdrop spoke up before taking to the air again.