Lauren McNeigh

Lauren went up to the gates, finding a hidden room inside. She saw another weapon. This once resembled a gun a bit and it had the head of a flamingo. She went up and took it. Right then, Hazel and Hester appeared.

“The Blunderbuss in the hands of a blockhead is a catastrophe waiting to happen” Hester warned.

“You’re not an idiot, but exercise great care” Hazel added before they disappeared again.

Lauren looked at the weapon with uncertainty. As she exited where it was hidden, she was confronted by a Lava Man. She used the Blunderbuss, and was literally blown off her feet. It took out all her ammunition, but atleast the Lava Man was dead. Well, that settled it. One hit KO for all her ammunition.

It took a while and some exhaustion to get past the guards, but she managed to get through them. Lauren was now in a mechanical area of the Castle nearing where Queen Faust was.

She looked down at the bottom. She knew if she fell, who knows how far she will plummet. There was only one thing around to help her move on the next platforms: Thermal drafts like the ones from where she fell. They were all in position to carry anyone from one place to another safely. She was quite scared, and about to try and find another way but…

“Ride the thermals drafts like a gyrfalcon” Hester’s voice rang out.

She sighed. That settled it. Taking a deep breath, she made her way over to the first thermal draft and began to move from one to the other.

Well, now she was getting rather stuck.

Lauren looked down at the water below. There were no drafts to help her this time. The platforms were too far away. She knew how to swim, but the water was also teeming with Snarks. If she got attacked, she might let go of her breath and drown.

“Luna’s spell comes in handy in times like this” Hester’s voice rang out.

She knew what that meant: Luna left a spell on her that would allow her to breathe underwater. That was a relief. Taking a deep breath, she jumped in the water.

Man, Queen Faust really didn’t want her to get near. Lauren looked around at the spinning gizzards everywhere in this part of the Castle. She was getting dizzy just by looking at them. She heard Hazel and Hester appear again, on the other side of the room. Hester was holding onto a pole nearby while Hazel was covering her eyes.

“Time to jump in…time to jump through…time…” Hester struggled to say when she saw the spinning.

Hazel held the urge to vomit. “I’m dizzy”

Lauren giggled at that while the duo vanished. No doubt it was to get away from it. Still, she had to get pass this whole level on her own. Taking a deep breath, she did her best to avoid the dizziness as she went through.

“Wait!” a small voice cried out.

Lauren turned to see who it was. She had entered the Labyrinth. It was similar to the one she made during Discord’s debut in Return of Harmony. But it lacked statues and had red roses. It was also filled with several guards and enemies. She had to find the portal that would lead her to where Snowdrop was. Now, she was surprised to hear a small voice that sounded normal.

“Who’s there?” she called.

From a turn in the Labyrinth, she saw a familiar face. It was Fluttershout, and she was still herself. She looked a little bruised and tired, but she was still alright. Lauren couldn’t believe it was her. She thought she was dead, or kidnapped, in refuge, or gone mad like the rest of the EOI. But no, here she was. How she got there was not known, but this was the farthest any member of the EOI had made.

“Mother, thank goodness” she spoke weakly.

Lauren ran up and hugged her tightly. It was so comforting to see a friendly face. Fluttershout hugged back. She was shaking from fear. Lauren could feel how thin she was now. She saw the eye bags and knew she was tired as well.

“Oh, Fluttershout, it’s you. How long have you been here? Are you hurt? You’re so thin” she fretted over her.

“It’s fine. I’m just tired. I can’t believe it’s you”

“Same here”

“Brutalight and I knew you would come to save us”

“Of course” she then thought. “Where is Brutalight?”

Fluttershout looked down before biting her lip.

“Oh, I’m so sorry”

“It’s fine. So, where are you heading?”

“I’m off to find a portal in here that would take me to where Snowdrop is. She’s out fighting Tirek and I have to be there in case she needs back-up”

“The portal? I know where it is!”

“Really?”

She nodded. “I’ve been in this Labyrinth long enough to know it as much as I know Brutalight is not to be messed with!”

“Great! Can you show the way?”

Fluttershout nodded. She took a few steps ahead, but she was starting to collapse. Her pace was also slow now. No doubt, she was already tired. Lauren picked her up and carried her.

“Mother, you don’t…”

“Fluttershout, you’re weak and tired. Just tell me which way to go”

The mare sighed, but let it be. She couldn’t even fight anymore. And the warmth from Lauren’s body was calming her cold skin. Lauren shifted between carrying Fluttershout to battling the enemies. But the young mare was losing her own sanity. She followed the directions as they went. Finally, they arrived at where the portal was. Fluttershout then got off her and went to a nearby platform and stood on it, opening the gate holding the portal.

“Go on without me” she told Lauren.

“But, Shouty, you’re…”

“I’ll be fine. Just stop that poser”

Lauren bit her lip, but the tired smirk on Fluttershout’s face told her to go on. She had no choice. The sooner she got rid of Queen Faust, the sooner everything will be back to normal. As she stepped through the portal, she heard Fluttershout just scream.

“DOWN WITH THE BLOODY RED IMPOSTER!”

Well, after such a long time to get past those obstacles, Lauren finally reached the battlefield. She was just in time to witness the fight between Alicorn Snowdrop and Tirek. She stood at the front of the bridge after crossing, should she be needed for help.

Snowdrop and Tirek stood, facing each other. Tirek looked pretty mad about his lost eye while Snowdrop smirked. She then took to the air. Tirek fired a beam of light at her, but she dodged quickly. She let out a tear and blew her icy breath. He narrowly dodged her. They fought on and on, but Snowdrop was already losing. Tirek soon got her right where he wanted her and fired at her. She fell to the ground with a loud thud. Blood leaked out of her head as her fur singed from the beam.

Lauren stood, horrified at what happened. Tirek smirked down at her. He then fired another beam. She dodged down to the ground. But he aimed at the bridge instead, locking her with him.

Tirek grinned. “How typical. How foolish you were to think you could overcome your guilt”

Lauren switched her cards to the Blunderbuss and it hit Tirek. That was a major hit with everything she got, literally. He stumbled back from the impact. She then went and collected some Meta Essence before going to fire at him again, this time with the OC Staff. She hit him repeatedly with the OC Staff. She was so angry about Snowdrop that she didn’t realize she was running out of ammo. It was only when her Staff stopped did she know.

Tirek smirked as he threw down a beam of fire on her. She barely dodged as she grabbed the Meta Essence crystals. She then hid behind Snowdrop for protection. She felt faint breathing, meaning she was barely alive. She had to switch between hitting him with the Staff and hiding behind Snowdrop.

She soon had to run out and grab more Meta Essence. She barely dodged his swipes and was caught by his levitation.

She groaned, “Why did I put that in his abilities?”

She then was brought up to face him. He smirked at her as she flailed around.

He threw his head back and laughed. “You’re supposed to be their Champion, but you can’t even fight with so much guilt on your plate! I wonder, if this is how you react to one death, how if it were…”

He didn’t get to finish his sentence as Lauren threw her Jacks into his gloating mouth. She smirked as they spurn got action inside him. He threw her away to the ground, but she was quick to regain her footing right before falling off the arena. It was quite a sight to watch as he struggled with several spikes jumping around in him like a ball in a pinball machine.

She loaded up the OC Staff. She only had one shot at this now that he was vulnerable. With it at full power, she hit him with everything she had. He didn’t stand a chance. All those attacks at once were too much for him to handle.

She jumped down to the ground and collected enough Meta Essence to fully refuel as her Jackstones returned to her. She looked up to see something rather amusing. Tirek froze in place, his jaw dropped to the ground as the Jacks came out. He then began to short-circuit like Anastasia did. But he looked like he was doing a Mexican dance along with Egyptian poses before he finally exploded.

Lauren bent down to the near-dead Snowdrop. All of the sudden, the mare suddenly shrunk back into the form she had in her debut story. She was blind again and back into a filly. She smiled softly as Lauren gently rested her head on her lap. She wanted to make her clam and peaceful before she left for the great beyond.

“You defeated her Champion, Lauren…and avenged my death…” the dying filly croaked out. “…enter into the ultimate battle”

“Must I go on?” Lauren tried to bite back her tears as they surfaced, she tried to be strong, but the water in her eyes weren’t helping. “Can’t Queen Faust be persuaded to surrender?”

“…she is still strong…and many have died at her will…they want revenge…which we call justice…” she then weakly reached up to her crown, and took it off, before handing it to Lauren. “…you must lead our troops to victory…”

Lauren was surprised at it. She was trying to stay strong. She put the crown down gently. “I’m not sure I know how to lead”

Snowdrop felt her last breath nearing. “Do your best, Lauren…do your best…I have faith…in you…Auntie” Snowdrop smiled softly before her eyes went dead and she fell limp.

Lauren was crushed to see another death of one of her closest friends as she sobbed for her. First Twilight, and now Snowdrop. Who was next? No, she couldn’t have another death on her hands. This was becoming a train to sadness. She lost two of those she loved the most. They were gone. She couldn’t bring them back. She was strong, and brave, and never let her disability get her down. She had a touching story.

She felt Hazel and Hester suddenly appear again as a hand began to pat her back while a paw was combing her hair. She looked to the side to see it was indeed the duo. She sobbed before she flung forward and hugged the Pegasister. Both the Partner and Familiar did their bests to comfort her. Only when she was finally calmed down did they pull away.

A loud cry was heard before Hazel noticed the Essence exit Snowdrop’s body. It was in the shape of an icy blue snowflake. Taking a deep breath, she accepted the essence into her. She looked up to see that the duo was staring at the Castle ahead. When she went over to them, Hazel brought out the crown Snowdrop left and put it on her.

“Without Snowdrop, our troops are leaderless, and the battle has begun” she said as she fixed it.

“Deliver us all from this evil or let us perish” Hester added before they disappeared again.

Lauren looked up ahead as a guard suddenly fell down dead. As she absorbed the Meta Essence, she felt Snowdrop’s last words echo in her head.

I have faith…in you…Auntie

Auntie, it was the title she was given by all OCs, but Snowdrop used it more often than the others. She wouldn’t let her go quietly.

“Your death won’t be in vain, my Niece”