Lauren McNeigh

Lauren screamed as she ran away from the giant dung ball. She was walking around when she fell into a hole, and the next thing she knew, a Bomb-sprite dropped a dung ball and was now going after her. She had not time to think as she ran to avoid being crushed. She was beginning to lose it when she came to a cliff. It had a mushroom-trampoline up ahead, but she would have to jump far just to get there.

Hazel and Hester then appeared beside the mushroom. “Go with the flow. Whatever floats will do” Hester grinned before they disappeared again.

She knew what that meant: Jump. She had no choice; otherwise, she’d be dead manure. She ran back a bit before running ahead and jumping with all her strength. She safely landed on the mushroom, which sent her flying to the other side. She then pressed on to avoid the dung ball.

She soon reached a wintery area of Wonderland. There was a frozen pond up ahead, and she did her best not to slip. She felt her lungs beginning to burn, her legs tiring out, but she had to keep going. She spotted a high ground that the dung ball couldn’t follow her up on. She immediately made a jump for it.

She took deep breaths to get her breathing to normal. She sat down for better chance at resting. Things were really getting out of hand now. As if being shrunk to the size of an ant lion wasn’t enough, now she had to run from manure from a bug. She was really exhausted now, and sweating.

She suddenly felt a cold breeze come to her. She relaxed at it before it stopped. She turned around to see Hazel and Hester had appeared again. This time, Hazel held another weapon. It was metal on the handle, and the blade was made of ice. It had snowflakes dripping down it.

“Feeling better?” the Bipolar girl asked.

She nodded. “Much, thank you”

“Sorry we didn’t teleport you out of there” Hazel apologized. “We had to find the EOI before they got themselves hurt”

“It’s fine, did you find them?”

“Almost all of them. Fluttershout, she’s still missing and nearly unstable”

Lauren nodded. Hazel then handed her the weapon. Lauren felt a cold breeze sweep across her, but pulled away to avoid being frozen solid.

“It’s called the Ice Wand. Snowdrop made it herself one time during the war before the barrier was put. She hid it here for until the right time. She told us about where it was in case you needed it when you found where it was. Good thing you sat right a few feet from it”

“Withering cold incapacitates an enemy more than deep wounds, but winter does not last forever” Hester spoke.

Lauren stood up and added the weapon to her inventory. She was able to hold her weapon by turning them into cards with their pictures on it. They all went to her pocket when not in use. They just appeared in her hand when she needed them.

“Follow us, Discord’s hideout is nearby” Hazel spoke as Hester floated to her shoulder height.

“I thought you couldn’t intervene” Lauren was confused as the girl lead the way ahead.

“We can’t in fight, but we can lead your next move. Besides, it’s the least we could do considering how we almost let you turn into a pancake”

Lauren sighed as she followed the duo. They managed to evade the monsters for now. They soon got out of the icy area and found themselves standing infront of a door with a scanner. It had an ever changing color going on. Hester went up to the door and screamed with her Hidebrit Gene. It opened easily. They all went inside.

They found Discord sitting on a cloud made of cotton candy that was raining with chocolate milk. Around him was an endless oblivion of stars and floating objects, including a mailman. He was just knitting with the black plant that once invaded Ponyville.

Hazel smiled as Hester went to her shoulder. “This is far as we go for now. Discord is just up ahead”

Lauren nodded. “Thank you”

“You’re welcome”

“By the way, how did that door open?”

“Discord programmed it into only opening if it was triggered by any of these things: His magic, Twilight’s magic, Snowdrop’s power, or Hester’s Hidebrit Gene”

Lauren nodded. “Stay safe”

“You too”

When the duo disappeared, the sound was enough to draw Discord’s attention. He dropped his knitting and smiled when he saw Lauren. “Mother! You’re alright, and you’re here!” he then wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug.

Lauren smiled as she returned the hug. It was nice to see her cartoon Son. Atleast he was safe here, and it looked like he was having fun.

Discord then stiffened a bit before looking at her suspiciously. “You are you, aren’t you?”

Lauren smiled and giggled as he inspected her thoroughly. “Yes, Discord”

He then smiled again. “Oh, it is you. How did you get in here? More importantly, how did you find me?”

“Hazel and Hester showed me the way and Hester opened the door. They had to leave because they were called again”

“I see” he then made a table and tea set appear as they both sat down in the chairs. “Tea?”

She sighed before nodding with a teacup.

He poured her a cup before speaking. “It’s so nice to see you’ve returned”

“But Twilight never told me why, and…now she’s gone” she looked down as the image of the dead mare played in her head.

Discord looked upset after a sip of tea. “Twilight’s…dead?”

Lauren nodded.

“How tragic” He looked down before going to the topic at hand. “Oh, and about coming down here again, haven’t you seen what had been going on? Wonderland is severely impaired. Many are dying, some get Corrupted, everyone is wearing apocalyptic gear, it’s all a mess. You must fix it all, that’s why”

“How did this happen? And how did Queen Faust come back?”

“Having guilt for the death of several fans, and doubting your heir to take on the throne, you nearly wiped us out. And with that guilt, that Bloody Red Imposter came back from the dead. But now, you’ve begun to rebuild. Your task, and pain, are not over yet though”

Lauren sighed after her drink of tea and put the cup down. “Why must you all suffer for what I had done? None of you deserve this”

“Because your mind is fragile and Wonderland depends on you to survive when you came in. When you became aware of that, it made you question whether or not she would be able to rule over us just as you were able to. And with the guilt that some fans died for the show, you, and Wonderland with it, broke down”

“What must I do?”

“Destroy that Queen Faust. With her dead, Wonderland will restore to its friendly form and you, become whole again” the draconequeous then walked over to her and led her to his cloud seat, where he began to look in the cloud with a claw.

“I need to rest now and continue my hiding here. You need to regain your human size. Grow up, Mother. Embrace the truth. Travel to the Vampire Colony, and nibble from the Mushroom of Life. Be careful; Flutterbat lives and rules there and she jealously guards and rules over what you require. Please end this whole madness soon. Corruption on my best friend is not a good look for her”

Lauren nodded as she let all of it sink in. Discord then beamed before taking a bottle of green out of the cloud. He took out the cork, and gave a tentative whiff. His face scrunched up a bit in disgust. He then poured a drop out of the bottle, and a portal opened up.

Lauren nodded and gave him a kind smile before leaving.