Lauren visits a realm that is filled with her fans, creations, and OCs, of My Little Pony
Lauren Faust, the maker of MLP herself has just had a normal day in her office when she is awoken by a certain lavender mare who wants her to follow her. The next thing she knows, she's in a Wonderland filled to the brim with her Bronies, Pegasisters, their OCs, and her own Canon characters.
Based on the story Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol
“…and done!” Lauren Faust said as she finished the new book she was writing. It took her nearly the entire day to finally finish what she had in mind for the viewers. Satisfied, she stretched in her office chair and decided to relax.
I wonder what the viewers have said lately, she thought as she recalled all the fans of her creation, “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic”. She even came across a site where almost all of them were bound to find, Fimfiction. It’s a site where they were able to post stories of any they could do. Some were for all ages, some you have to be older to avoid throwing up. There were even those in which they created their own Original Characters, or OC for short. Some of them like Nyx were very famous.
The founder of the site was Knighty. Some think he’s fine, others think he’s a dictator. Some of the reasons why include his strict rules and the fact that he kept terminating those who opposed him. Those who feared for their lives at Fimfiction just followed the rules, others just rebelled.
Lauren also met some other users at Fimfiction, oldest and newest alike. She also learned that although there are many reenactments of other media, four are the most popular. The Original version made by her was the most loved. The Alternate or Murderous version was the one in which they looked the same, but they kill. The Pony Monster or Freak form was made by InvertedShadow; some like Pinkis even forgot she was their Lauren and original maker. And the 5 Nights at Pinkie’s or FNAP was the one where they reenacted the pizzeria game and where they are just mostly just plain animatronics.
How would it be like to meet them all for real? Lauren thought. She knew that was impossible. But, still, it would be nice to know how it would feel. With a smile, she was beginning to doze off.
“LAUREN, WAKE UP!”
Lauren woke with a jolt. Who was in her office this time? She just dealt with most of her co-workers, and Craig stopped by for bit, so who was in her office now? Lauren looked up to see somepony who she never expected to see.
“TWILIGHT?!”
As much as she wished it was all a dream, Lauren couldn’t help but gape in awe. There, just infront of her face, was Twilight Sparkle. How did she get there? Has Equestria found a way to interact with the human world? Why was Twilight suddenly referring to her as a mom? Lauren asked many questions in her head. This was impossible and she knew it. But it all seemed so real. This looked like her Twilight. She had the same lavender coat from the show, the dark purple pupils in her eyes, the sparkling cutie mark. What made Lauren more aware of her creation was that she didn’t seem as happy as she did normally. In fact, she was upset. Twilight seemed gloomy rather than her normal serious way.
“No time to explain, Lauren” Twilight said, frantically. “We’re late!”
“Late? Twilight, how are you even here?” Lauren asked as she got up from her chair to see the Alicorn closer.
But Twilight had already begun to run in a certain direction. “We’re late! We’re late! For a very important date! No time to explain how or why! We’re late! We’re late! We’re late!”
Lauren didn’t know what to do, but from the looks of it, it seemed very urgent. Getting herself together, she chased after the lavender mare. She chased her through the halls of the building, trying her best to keep up with the princess. If Twilight was using her wings, she may have lost her by now. Finally, Twilight opened a door to an empty office. Lauren was uncertain of what to do. She looked around to see if anyone was following. Luckily, no one was.
“Lauren!” Twilight called from the door and Lauren followed her.
Twilight led Lauren to a hole in the middle of the office. It was dark and deep. So it that Lauren couldn’t tell how far it goes.
“Um, Twilight…” she tried to call to the mare, but Twilight already jumped down the hole.
“TWILIGHT!” she called out. She was scared whether or not this was real. A part of her wanted to leave. But another part told her to jump in after her. Lauren was scared of what may happen. But Twilight was her creation and somewhat child. Swallowing her fear, Lauren jumped into the dark abyss.
She screamed at the first few seconds of falling down and opened her eyes to see various things clinging to the walls. They included clocks, books, tables, chairs, and even necklaces. How they got there was what she’d probably never know. Finally, Lauren landed on a mattress at the bottom with a pomf. It was a soft landing and she was glad that she was alive but where was Twilight? She looked around and saw that she was now in a hallway full of doors.
She then got up from the mattress and tried to tug on the doors. She tried to open every door but they wouldn’t budge. Twilight has got to be in one of these doors, it’s only a matter of opening the right one. She was beginning to give up when she found that she couldn’t open any of them. Taking a deep breath, she noticed a small key on a table nearby. She took it and began to fiddle it with every door. She tried it on the last one: a very small door that she couldn’t get through. It had a symbol on the front, a red bottle of ink and a quill, beside a crown.
She looked around and found a small bottle filled with a purple liquid. The cap looked like a snowdrop flower, and the bottle was a sunset orange. The tag on it read only two things, “DRINK ME’. Lauren was unsure of this, but if it meant finding Twilight, she had to take it. Taking a small sip from it, she noticed that it made her suddenly shrink. She hurried to the door, but she forgot that it was locked again and she left the key on the table. She tried climbing, but the rails were too slippery.
She suddenly found a small box. Curious, she opened the box and it showed that it had a small cake inside. Its main color was lavender and there was a candy shaped like a snowdrop flower. Two words were written by the sunset-colored icing on top, ‘EAT ME’.
Well, things can’t get any worse and it’s just a cake, Lauren thought.
Taking a nibble from the small piece, she had to admit it was rather sweet. When she looked around, she found out that it somehow made it grow enormous. She was big, in fact, that she was stuck in the hallway.
“Twilight, come back!” Lauren called out to the lavender mare.
“What is it now, Mother? Can’t you see that we’re…oh my Celestia!” Twilight dropped her jaw when she saw the now giant Lauren Faust stuck in the hallway. She screamed at the top of her lungs as she ran away and into the door. She was so alarmed that she dropped the gloves and fan she was carrying for later.
“Twilight, come back!” Lauren called to her again, but the lavender mare already fled inside one of the other doors, one that had Twilight’s own cutie mark.
“Oh, this is just great, Lauren Faust” she ranted at herself. “One minute you were in your own office, just finished with a new story for your fans. And then the next minute, you’re chasing one of the characters you yourself created down a dark and deep hole in an empty office. Let’s face it, this is all a dream. You spent too much time in that office and now you fell asleep, dreaming that you’re in a world you created. I mean, what you are thinking?” she subconsciously grabbed the fan that Twilight dropped and began to fan herself with it. “That there’s a world in dreamland that every Brony and Pegasister goes to at night, becomes their avatar, tinkers with their own original characters, and can even communicate with other Bronies and Pegasisters? I mean, what’s next? There’s a prophecy about me coming here to free them from some horrible ruler?”
Lauren ranted so much that she didn’t notice that she had shrunk again and fell into a pool of water. She was so caught up in her ranting that she didn’t even notice that she cried while at it. With so much tears shed, she already created a pool. Luckily, she could swim. Taking a look around, she found some different others who were in the pool with her. One close look with one of them and she recognized her immediately.
“Nyx?!” Lauren was surprised to see the OC created by Pen Stroke. It was definitely the famous Fimfiction OC. She had the same black coat, wings, horn, cutie mark, mane, tail, and even eyes. “Now, I must be sick”
“Oh, hello there!” the young filly Alicorn greeted. “My name is Nyx, have you seen my mom Twilight Sparkle?”
“Um, yes, I think she went that way” Lauren pointed to where she saw the Alicorn went.
“Nyx, I think this was a bad idea to go swimming at this hour” another filly’s voice rang out. She paddled fast, and Lauren got a clear view of her. She was a Pegasus, and her design resembled that of a candy corn. Even her ears had the stripes that belonged to a piece of candy corn.
“Candy Burn, you really are your mother’s daughter” a Changeling appeared on the scene. She sounded like a girl.
“Give me a break, Catherine” Candy Burn said.
“That’s Catherine the Great to you”
“Candy, for the last time, this was Tantabus’ idea” Nyx said.
“My name’s Dreamcatcher, mom said it herself” a filly who resembled the Tantabus revealed herself from the water. Oddly enough, she seemed to be the only one whose mane didn’t seem wet by water.
“Nyx, Candy Burn, Catherine the Great, Dreamcatcher” Lauren enumerated as she pointed who was who.
“And let’s not forget, daughter of the Lord of Chaos himself, Screwball” a pink filly with a poofy, purple mane appeared out of the water. Lauren recognized her anywhere as the swirly eyes gave it away.
“Okay, can we please just get out of the water?” Candy Burn complained.
“You’re not afraid of melting are you? You’re a pony now, no longer a piece of stale candy corn” Screwball pointed out.
“I know that. But still, it’s getting cold” she shivered.
“No problemo” Screwball then clapped her hooves together. In a split second, they were on dry land.
“Atleast you finally got a hold of yourself to be on the ground this time instead of on trees again” Nyx said.
“I’m still practicing, okay?” Screwball then turned to Lauren. “Who is she?”
“Don’t really know. We bumped into her while going for a swim”
“Doesn’t she look familiar to any of you?” Candy Burn asked.
The others took a closer look.
“Never really saw somepony in their Equestria Girls form that looks like that” Catherine said.
Lauren looked down to see that she looked rather different. She wasn’t in her casual attire as usual. She was wearing a brown top and a blue skirt to go with it. She was wearing brown boots and there was a small design on her skirt: a bottle of black ink and a quill. She realized that she was in the Equestria Girls version of herself that she made. Her skin and eyes were just the same as she drew them before.
“Um, I hate to be the last one to talk right now, but did any of you forget the fact that most of us are still wet from the water?” Dreamcatcher raised a hoof as though she were a filly in school.
Not to readers: Apart from Screwball, these are OCs from various stories here at Fimfiction. These are where they're from:
Nyx, as everyone knows, is from Past Sins by Pen Stroke
Candy Burn is from The Living Candy Corn by Dark Nightshade
Catherine is from Catherine the Great by Scarheart
Nyx looked down and checked the others, even Lauren was still dripping wet. “Dreamcatcher’s right. We have to get ourselves dried before one of us catches a cold”
“Aachoo!” Candy Burn sneezed.
“Bless you” Catherine said.
“Thank you” the candy filly sniffled.
“Alright, does anypony have any ideas? We can’t let our parents get worried just because we got sick with a cold”
“Oh, I’ve got one!” Catherine then went up on a huge boulder. “How about I tell the tale of a forgotten and cancelled story about how Queen Chrysalis tries to raise Flurry Heart as a weapon whilst her own daughter poses as the baby princess herself?”
“Could use a good story, right gang?” Nyx asked. The others, including Lauren, nodded.
Candy Burn was still shivering so Lauren gestured for her to come near her. Candy was held gently by Lauren in a loving embrace. The little filly felt better. “Thank you”
“Don’t mention it”
“So, it all began when…”
_______________________________________
“…but that was the last words that were on that story, never got finished. Though, I’m guessing that it would be hard for Chrysalis to raise somepony like Flurry Heart” Catherine concluded. “Well? Did it work?”
“Aachoo!” Screwball sneezed, causing a tree nearby to suddenly turn into a fish and go into the water.
“I’ll take that as a no. Sorry, gang” Catherine looked down, disappointed.
“Well, you tried, Cathy, and that’s what matters” Nyx said. “Anypony else got any other ideas?”
“Ooh! I’ve got an idea!” Candy Burn suddenly took flight, feeling better. “I heard about this in a story I read in mom and mother’s library. It’s called a Caucus Race, a race where everypony starts and finishes the race whenever they want”
“Sounds like a good idea. Let’s start” Nyx then drew a starting line with a branch on the ground. Everypony went behind it.
Screwball appeared, dressed in a coach costume, a whistle in hoof. “On your marks…get set…” she then blew the whistle, signaling the start of the race. Afterwards, she herself joined in.
________________________________________
“I don’t how, but you’re a genius” Dreamcatcher said when they realized that they were dry from running.
“Helps to be a filly who cracks a book or two every so often” Candy giggled.
Everypony giggled from Catherine’s panted out words.
“Screwy, can you tell us a story while Cathy tries to catch her breath?” Nyx asked.
“Sure thing! Take a seat, everypony” Screwball then made a book appear out of nowhere as she put on glasses.
Instead of sitting down, Catherine fell down to the floor, completely exhausted. Everypony laughed at her display.
“It’s not my fault. I put myself on a diet from love” she groaned.
“Sorry. Screwball, go ahead”
As Lauren sat, Candy Burn went to her again to sit on her lap.
“Can I stay here please?” she asked.
“Sure” Lauren said. “By the way, is Nyx your leader or something?”
“Kind of. I mean, yeah, she gives commands, but we’re just playing at times”
Lauren nodded as Screwball began her tale.
“It all started when I was just a ball of air…”
________________________________________
“…and I was his daughter even since, his little heir to Chaos, but being reformed” Screwball finished.
“Very nice story, Screwball” Nyx said. She then turned to Lauren, “Um, miss? Not to be rude or anything but, what’s your name?”
“I’m Lauren”
“Oh, nice name. Sounds familiar” Candy Burn said.
“Where have we heard that name before?” Screwball asked.
“Maybe mom knows” Nyx said. “Everypony, head back to your parents. I think I need to ask my mom if she knows Miss Lauren”
“Well, my mom put me on a curfew since I need to monitor dreams to avoid any more nightmares so…I’ll see you around” saying so, Dreamcatcher teleported away.
“My daddy has me scheduled for reformation” Screwball left.
“Yeah, my parents might be calling too” Catherine flew off.
“See you around, half-sis” Candy Burn flew away.
“Yep, guess that leaves me” she then turned to Lauren. “Follow me, Miss Lauren. My mom might know something about you”
Lauren just followed the filly. Look at me, I’m hanging with OCs from Fimfiction and these are even little fillies and a Changeling. What’s next?
“Come on, Miss Lauren, it’s not far from here!” Nyx said as she trotted ahead of Lauren, full of energy.
“That’s what you said ten minutes ago” Lauren whined.
“But I’m sure about it this time. Look! Her Castle’s right over there!” Nyx then pointed to the Castle right ahead.
Lauren almost fainted. No, not from being tired. But because she couldn’t believe she was actually in Ponyville or the fact that she was now standing infront of Twilight’s Castle. She took deep breaths as she walked on the stairs that lead to the door.
“Mom! I’m home! I brought somepony here who needs help!” Nyx called out as she knocked on the door.
Instead of Twilight, the door was opened by Spike, who seemed all the more annoyed rather than happy. “Hello Nyx. Who do we have here?”
“This is Miss Lauren, I found her while I, Screwball, Candy Burn, Catherine, and Dreamcatcher went swimming. Why are you so upset today, big brother?”
“Because Twilight just dropped her fan which she was supposed to give to the Queen! Now, if she doesn’t find a new one soon, she’s dead! And I mean Limbo Dead!”
Nyx and Lauren gasped. “That sounds awful”
“That’s because it is! I’m cranky because I can’t even eat a single gem without finding a new fan! I need to find one before she comes home!”
“Maybe I can help?” Lauren suggested.
“Why not? We’re gonna be late! Come inside and help me find a new Golden Ruby Fan!” Spike let them in.
“Why does mom need it?” Nyx asked.
“Because it contains a special property that whoever fans themselves with it will shrink” Spike said before going off to find it.
That would explain how I got so small again, Lauren thought as she helped them look around.
________________________________________
Spike was already frustrated with himself as he searched the Throne Room. Nyx was about to give up hope while searching in the Hallways. Lauren was blaming herself as she searched the Archive Room. She found various other duplicates, and sometimes triplicates, of various items inside. As she felt that it was pointless, she finally found another fan similar to the one Twilight dropped. She was about to call Spike and Nyx when she found a box that had 3 symbols on it: a snowdrop flower, Twilight’s cutie mark, and what looked like two hooves holding a ball of molding clay and pencil. Curiosity got the better of her again and she opened the box. Inside, she found bottles of the same vial of potion from before, but minus the tag. Taking her chances, she drank a sip from one.
She regretted it when it caused her to grow again.
“Any luck, Nyx?” Spike asked upon meeting with the filly.
“Nope, have you seen Lauren?” saying so, they went to find the girl.
“Lauren, are you in there?” Nyx knocked on the door of the Archive Room.
Spike opened the door, only to find that Lauren’s leg had blocked it. Both the dragon and the filly screamed.
“Nyx, get help!” Spike said before the filly ran off to go get help.
“Lauren, it’s Spike, are you okay?” he said to Lauren, worriedly.
“Partly cramped, and my arm is basically sticking out of a window, but otherwise fine”
“Don’t worry, Nyx went to go get help. What happened anyway?”
“I was looking for the fan and I found this box with these three symbols and bottle inside. I got curious to see what they would do so I took a sip from one. I’m really sorry”
“No worries. I was meaning to put a label on that anyway” Spike hid his annoyance.
“Mom’s on her way! But in the meantime, I had to get some closer help” Nyx entered the room, panting from running.
“What do you mean by closer help?” Spike furrowed a brow.
In a spilt second, they heard the familiar sound of a certain rainbow-maned pony’s dash. From that point, who else could they have thought of?
“You called Rainbow Dash” Spike facepalmed.
“Yeah, why?”
“Don’t worry, I got this!” the cyan mare said before running down by the chimney that led inside the Archive Room. Lauren let out a sneeze that caused the Pegasus to fly right out of the chimney again.
“That’s why” Spike was deadpanned.
“I came as soon as I heard, Spike and Nyx. Where is she?” Twilight’s voice rang out as she entered the room.
“Stuck in the Archive Room” Nyx said.
“Lauren, I have what should take that growth thing away. Eat this cake, it’ll make you shrink again” Twilight said as she made a piece of cake appear infront of Lauren. Lauren grabbed it with her mouth and ate it. All of the sudden, she began to shrink again, until she was merely three inches in height.
“Oops! Too much Snowdrop tears!” Twilight said in embarrassment.
“Well, atleast it’s better that being cramped in there”
“Did you find the fan?” Spike asked.
“Over there” Lauren pointed to where she left it, and Spike wasted no time getting it.
“Well, you can’t go to the Queen in this size. No matter, there’s an antidote with the proper amount needed. Get on my back, I’ll take you there” Twilight allowed for Lauren to get on, and the Equestria Girl made sure to hold on tightly. “Nyx, thank you for bring her here”
“Of course, mom”
“Let’s go” Twilight said before trotting off with the tiny Lauren on her back.
Atleast I don’t have to walk right now, Lauren thought.
Lauren just rode on Twilight’s back without any questions asked. She had to grip on tightly every now and then to avoid falling. When Twilight galloped or flew, she would grip on tight or the Alicorn would levitate her to avoid accidents. How she wished it was all but a dream right now. She still couldn’t believe that throughout the whole day today that she kept on growing and shrinking to various sizes but was now on her way to getting to her normal size. She still couldn’t believe that she bumped into various OCs earlier, made by different Bronies and Pegasisters.
“And that Pegasus who resembled a candy corn so much was Candy Burn, me and Fluttershy’s daughter from the Object-verse. She was the very first one to be born. I casted a spell on Fluttershy and when she spit out a stale piece of candy corn, it became alive. Candy Burn has two younger sisters named Taissy and Twill Weave. Taissy is a bit robotic really and she decided to go ahead and play at the Animatronics area, she was a machine designed for war before being brought to life. Twill Weave was a piece of cloth, and she could talk to spirits and they talk to her”
“Is a handful with them? I mean, dealing with three kids?” Lauren asked.
“Sometimes, but they are mostly able to fend for themselves. Candy Burn tends to be with the Crusaders or, like you saw a while ago, other OCs from different Verses. Taissy can communicate with other robots and they defend her, plus she goes to the Five Nights at Freddy’s group so she can feel less lonely. Twill Weave has voices that give her advice and sometimes future events. And they even also visit Fluttershy at times so it’s not that bit of a problem since we take turns”
“Good thing they weren’t foals when they were born or you would have to worry about diapers” Lauren chuckled.
Twilight giggled. “Oh, we’re here!”
Lauren looked up to see that they were now at Canterlot’s Castle, where Princess Celestia and Luna live. It looked just as she designed it, inside and out. Two guards were at the entrance, as planned. They bowed upon seeing Twilight, but the Alicorn lifted a hoof, telling them its okay. They then noticed Lauren on Twilight’s back, but the Alicorn just told them that she’s with her. Both then let them pass and they got into the Castle.
“Ah, my faithful student! How nice of you to come by!” Celestia greeted Twilight upon entering.
“Hello too, Princess Celestia!” Twilight greeted as her mentor approached her.
Right at that, Philomena, Celestia’s pet phoenix, flew about around Twilight. She let out a sweet sound when she noticed Lauren on Twilight’s back. Using a wing, she pointed to her.
Celestia then noticed the tiny Equestria Girl on Twilight’s back, gaping in awe. “My, who do we have here?”
“Princess Celestia, this is Lauren, she’s new here. Nyx found her when she went swimming with Candy Burn, Screwball, Catherine the Great, and Dreamweaver”
“I see. Did she drink that little bottle labeled, ‘Drink me’?”
Lauren nodded.
“Ah, no need to worry; we’ll have you back to your normal size, Lauren. This way”
Celestia then lead Twilight and Lauren to a garden nearby the Castle. This was the garden that was infront of the labyrinth. It was adorned with various plants and flowers, well-cared for and decorated. There were also many statues around. In the center of all statues, there was one who was formerly imprisoned, but was now free to be himself. Yup, it was Discord. And by the looks of it, he was having tea with Screwball.
“Ah, Celestia and Twilight! How nice of you two to come by! Please, have a seat. Me and my daughter were just having tea” Discord then made two seats suddenly appear while Screwball lifted her teacup and gave a wave and smile.
“I see you both are talking it well with Screwball’s reforming” Celestia said while taking a seat and Twilight got Lauren from her back and levitated her with care.
“It’s really not as bad as I thought it would. And taking it from daddy makes it even more fun” Screwball smiled.
“Eventually, she’ll be able to love it more and…” he then noticed Lauren. “Oh! Who do we have here?”
“This is Lauren, she’s…” Twilight began but was cut off by Screwball.
“Wait! I remember you! You’re Lauren! That new Equestria Girl I and my friends bumped into while swimming!” Screwball interrupted. “Though, you were a lot bigger”
“Oh, my daughter made a new friend, I see” he then made a seat fit for Lauren own size. “Please, have a seat”
Lauren then sat down. “Thank you”
“Now, why is a new Equestria Girl this size? I swear, they were bigger” Discord used a magnifying glass.
“That’s what we came here for” Twilight interrupted. “She drank a vile of a potion that made her grow too much. I gave her a cake that should’ve returned her to her normal size, but I guess I used too much Snowdrop tears so she shrank to merely three inches in height”
“I see, and you want me to make her go back to her normal size, do you?” Discord sounded offended.
“Umm…” Twilight got nervous.
“Humph! Fine! I and daughter got used to this treatment long ago! I should’ve known you wouldn’t want to drop by to check on her progress!” Screwball looked shocked, but she just ignored it and drank her tea without batting an eye.
“That’s not it, Discord” Lauren said as she stood up. “I would love come by for tea and meet your daughter, but maybe some other time. We all have some things to do, but if you hear from your daughter, you’d know that I did see her progress while she played with her friends”
Discord calmed down. “Really?”
“She’s telling the truth, daddy. She listened to me tell my story of how I was before you were reformed. She heard about my upbringing. She listened to everything. She even smiled and clapped at my story”
Discord shed a happy tear. “Aww, my little jack-in-the-box has an Equestria Girl for a friend. I’m so proud” He then turned to Lauren, “And you, Lauren, thank you. I suppose you are in a rush and I threw a temper. But I’m glad to hear that you spent time with my daughter and even listened to her story. For that, I shall help get back to your normal size”
He then made the seat Lauren was on turn into a mushroom. She was confused at first like Twilight and Celestia, but Screwball held back a giggle.
“One side should make you grow shorter and the other side will make you grow larger. Just be careful with eating a piece from the sides and you should be able to get to your normal size in no time” Discord explained.
Why do I suddenly feel like Alice? Lauren thought. But nonetheless, she took a bit from each side of the mushroom.
She couldn’t tell which was which. She took a nibble from the right-hand of the mushroom, and it made her began to shrink too much. She began to panic that if she didn’t stop it now, she’ll shrink into nothing. She nibbled from the left-hand bit, and she stopped shrinking. The next thing that happened was that she grew too big. It was a good thing that Screwball got her off the table before the major growth happened.
Lauren looked around to see that she was now a giant, and Twilight and the others were now ants compared to her. Lauren then had to take a look on each piece. The right-hand makes her grow shorter and the left-hand makes her grow larger. She took a careful lick from the right-hand bit and it returned her to her normal size.
“There! That’s much better now!” Lauren said happily.
“See? I told you, it was only a matter of taking the right amount on the right bit!” Discord said.
“Yup, just the size I found her in the first time, now, if only we could get you to the Queen…” Twilight thought aloud.
“What Queen?” Lauren asked.
“The Queen of this realm, of course. But, there’s so little time to explain!” Twilight looked at her clock. “To get inside, you need to know the other parts of this realm first! But now I can’t show you around since she’ll request my presence now!”
“We could let her have a guide to show her around; meanwhile you go to the Queen and say she’s on her way”
“I guess that could be fine. But who do we sent for?”
“You could try a Brony or Pegasister. Last I heard, they could all be in one of their Groups again. They’re either reading, writing, watching, listening, or even doing something else when they’re in a Group so it shouldn’t be hard to find them” Discord said.
“Can you take her to one of them, then?”
“Screwball could”
“On it!” the pink filly then appeared infront of Lauren all giddy.
“Make sure it’s not one of those groups that will go too nuts when there’s a newcomer, okay? Remember the last time?”
“Don’t worry; Lauren is in safe hooves with my daughter. Right, Screwy?”
“You bet!”
“Okay, I gotta go!” Twilight flew off as fast as she could.
“Tea, Celestia?” Discord offered.
“Alright then”
“Follow me, Miss Lauren!” Screwball then began to trot infront of the Equestria Girl.
Who is that Queen anyway? Lauren thought as she followed Screwball.
Lauren followed Screwball throughout the area that had a big sign on its gates: Groups. For nearly a whole hour, she followed the pink filly past as many buildings that each had different signs and logos. Some were colorful, others looked rather gloomy. One resembled a school, and its sign read, “School for New Writers”. Some buildings were even large while others were small, depending on how many members there were. It looked like a huge city. There were even support groups for OCs and there was even a rehab. Lauren was getting tired from following Screwball around as they seemed to go on forever.
“Screwball…” Lauren panted. “How much farther?”
“Not far. Oh! Goody! We’re here!” the filly chirped.
Lauren looked up and what she saw early made her drop her jaw. It was a tall building, and the colors were gloomy and dark. There were protective nets on the windows and even though there was a yard around it, it was surrounded by a wire fence. The sign on the building made it all clear: Wonderland Asylum for the Insane.
“Are you serious?!” Lauren yelled. “An ASYLUM?! It’s only where the mentally unstable would go to!”
“Not all of them are insane as you think. Some are very stable, especially when on their meds”
“But why here?!”
“You need a guide that wouldn’t be so hard to follow. This place has them. They’re not very talkative, they do anything to get on your good side, a little rebellious but in a good way, and they won’t be so hard to talk to”
“Have you even been in there?”
“I have, many times. But they’re even friendly”
Lauren grumbled.
“Screwball” a loud voice rang out. Both turned around to see a young colt at the door’s entrance. He looked like the doctor from the show.
“Doctor, how good to see you again” Screwball greeted.
“How good too. Ah, who is that behind you?”
“Lauren, she’s new here. We met when I went swimming with my friends a while back”
“I see” he took a closer look at the Equestria Girl. “Pleasant to meet you, miss”
“Pleasant to meet you too”
“What brings a sane soul like yours to the asylum?”
“Miss Lauren needs a guide to show her around our realm” Screwball answered. “I figured maybe one from this group could be decent enough to show her, so long as they’re on their meds”
“I see. Very well, then. Come inside, the members won’t bite” he said as he led them inside the asylum. Screwball went off and left Lauren to in herself.
Lauren followed the colt inside as he led the way. The place looked dark and dreary, but plain white. There were other rooms with other labels and signs. The staff had gone to their own business. Some went to prepare the meds and therapy while others got ready to keep records of progress. Finally, they reached a door that had a sign, “Main Room”
“This is where we keep the members or as I sometimes call them patients and…” he then noticed the lack of a presence of a certain pink filly.
“Where’s Screwball?”
“She left, probably to deal with stuff”
“Her reforming, yes. Anyway, this is where we keep the members”
“This place doesn’t seem as scary as I thought it would”
“We don’t show passerby the disturbing parts” he said before opening the door.
Lauren’s eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.
“Don’t puke” the colt said.
Inside, there were various members of Fimfiction Asylum, and even OCs. Some were just reading books that appeared and disappeared as they finished a chapter. Some were writing stories. Others did random other stuff. Some were laughing but others were crying. Some were just playing and talking with one another or their OCs.
“Isn’t this also disturbing to the members?” Lauren asked.
“Meh, they seem fine. Some are a bit rebellious and others are in their rooms, asleep. Well, go ahead, pick one” he gestured for her to go on.
Lauren had a tough decision to make. She just has to pick the one who seemed the least dangerous. This was just hard since they all seemed too caught up with something else. She looked around for one who could be an able guide. She eventually saw someone who seemed rather gloomy.
She was a young black-haired girl with all locks going straight down. She wore a black dress with equally black shoes and long, white socks that went up to her knees. She had a small cross on her neck. Her hazel-nut colored eyes showed pure sorrow and there were dark rings around them that suggested she must’ve been crying. She looked sickly pale. From the looks of it, she was very young.
“What happened to that one?” Lauren asked, pointing to the girl.
“Abused even as a child, even before coming here. She had traumatic experiences that scarred her. I’ll admit: she doesn’t normally look like this unless she’s depressed”
“What got her here?”
“Mild Bipolar Disorder and possibility of depression. She has a Familiar with her normally, but I guess something bad happened”
“Familiar?”
“Right, you’re new. Familiars are a Brony or Pegasister who decided to be a Familiar when they wanted to be connected to a friend who was the same, but like a relative-way. They come in all shapes and sizes. If someone tries to sever the link, it can be traumatic for both of them. Familiars call the one they’re connected to Partner, and Partners call them Familiars”
“I see”
“Okay, time for members to take their meds” a young mare said as she entered the room with a cart filled with various meds, each with a name labeled. She handed the doses out to the members as she passed by them.
“I’ll leave you to find a guide; I’m afraid I have some errands to do. If you need me, I’ll be in my office” the colt said before going out of the room.
Lauren looked at the girl again. She held sorrow in her eyes. Lauren looked to see that the girl had something in her hands. She took a closer look and saw that it was a ball of black clay. She watched with pity as the child molded it into a simple pyramid shape. She then lifted up to her face and sighed sadly. Lauren felt sorry for the girl. She was sad, confused, lonely, and even possibly physically sick. She had to try something that may help. She checked her shirt’s pocket to check if it was there, and it was.
As the mare approached the girl, she was about to hand over the meds when Lauren asked, “Um, excuse me, what are the effects of those pills you keep this girl on?”
The mare then put the meds back on the cart and lifted up a clipboard. “Hmm, seems to say that it fogs her mind a bit, like a sedative for the mind”
Lauren nodded. The mare then put the meds infront of the girl. She looked shocked, and would just stare.
“Hazel, is there something wrong?” the mare asked the girl.
The girl shook her head. “No, it’s fine” she whispered in a timid voice. She immediately took the meds as the mare went off to give the other members. Lauren looked back to the girl, and the child showed a shocked look.
________________________________________
Later…
Some of the members had already gone to their rooms due to the effects of some of their meds. Others stayed behind to do other work. Lauren watched as the black-brunette headed to her room. She followed the child inside. When she went in, the girl closed the door behind her with a surprise attack. And for the first time since they met, the child’s tired eyes showed an emotion: confusion.
“Why did you steal my meds?” the girl demanded Lauren angrily.
“What?” Lauren pretended to not know.
“A while ago, you asked the nurse about the effects of the meds they keep me on and then while she looks, you swapped my meds with sugar pills. Why did you steal my meds?”
“You look troubled and unable to think straight. I believe that people can’t get well if they’re not able to think straight. I had sugar pills just in case so, I thought you needed it”
For a few seconds, they both stood in place, neither of which moving or talking. Lauren thought she may have made a mistake. But, rather than an attack, the girl went up and hugged Lauren tightly. “Thank you. I’m starting to feel like myself again. I haven’t felt this way in a while”
Lauren patted the child’s head as they pulled away from the hug.
For the first time, the child gave a small smile. “You want to get something to eat? I know where the nurse hides an extra candy bar”
Lauren smiled and nodded. “Sure”
The girl then dragged Lauren by the arm like a hyper kid at the fair. “Um, may I ask, what’s your name, child?”
“I’m Hazel Nut Vine, Hazel for short” she said.
________________________________________
“I haven’t been able to think normal ever since. Then you came and helped me” Hazel said as Lauren ate a few pieces of chocolate.
“Sugar pills make you happy again? Wow, I never knew that”
“My body takes weird reactions to different substances. If I take energy drinks, even though most people don’t go so hype, I go immediately nuts when the effects kick in. To me, it’s like coffee. I guess those placebo pills removed the effects of the meds they kept me on”
“So it’s like I did you a favor”
Hazel nodded. She then sighed, “What do you need?”
“What?” Lauren asked.
“I wasn’t brought here yesterday. I know very well that if somepony does a thing like that for you, that sometimes means they either pity you, want to help, find a friend, or they need help and you may be the only one to provide it”
“It’s not that…”
“Wait, hang on. Eclipse has lost it again” Hazel said before she went to a certain Unicorn in the corner with a doll. “Oh, boy. She’s really cracked. She’s gone nuts”
This mare looked like was in Necromancy. Shorter than average, dark green eyes, and has a black coat with a dark red mane with a dark purple strands in it. Her cutie mark is an eclipsed blood red moon, with the rest of the moon being a purple color with a black outline. She had a cloak with her, but underneath was an asylum dress.
She had a Smarty Pants doll with her. It was blue with orange eyes and a huge grin. It wore a pink shirt with a white collar on it.
As soon as Hazel was infront of her, she tried shaking her on the shoulders as the filly cackled. “Eclipse? Eclipse?! Get a grip!”
She was then caught by the throat by the Smarty pants doll and the filly.
“Good grip” Hazel choked out.
“Don’t do that” the filly said to her. “Nightbeam was laughing over a joke that I didn’t get. Now go” she said before letting the girl waddle back to Lauren.
“That’s Eclipse, and that’s also her doll Nightbeam. They got here from her Multiple Personality Disorder” Hazel rubbed her neck to make it better.
“Did that doll just help choke you?” Lauren asked, eyeing the doll. She swore it was staring at her.
“Nightbeam is a doll possessed by a demon. Eclipse also has these voices in her head. Don’t mess with her. She’s almost always emotionless and very powerful. Her only weakness is as if she uses too much power all at once”
“How do you know all this?”
“Her creator, Typevader, told me”
Lauren sighed.
“Look, don’t worry; I’m used to this treatment anyway. So, go ahead, tell me what you need”
Lauren sighed and took a deep breath. “I need a guide to show me around Fimfiction and the other areas of this realm I’m new, just arrived today. Twilight Sparkle couldn’t because she had a rush so Screwball led me here and told me to find the least insane one here. I just thought maybe it could be you. You seemed really down in the dumps and lonely. But I also care for you, I do”
“I see” she then began to cough a bit. “Sorry”
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine”
Lauren then thought back to what the colt said earlier. “You had a Familiar, right? Did you both get separated?”
“How did you…?”
“You don’t look well. How about this: You’ll be my guide and I’ll help you get back your Familiar”
Hazel was shocked. “Oh no! That would be dangerous! I can’t let you risk your life for mine or Hester’s!”
“No, it’s fine. You need it. You need help and I want to help you. Just tell me where to find her and I’ll get her back for you”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure”
“Okay, but we have to get out of this place for a bit”
Lauren nodded. “Come on, where’s the office?”
Hazel then got up. “Follow me”
“By the way, who’s Hester?”
“That’s my Familiar’s name, Hester Hide”
________________________________________
“Come in!” the colt said as he let Lauren and Hazel entered the room. “Lauren, how nice! Hazel, I thought you were sleeping”
“Mister, I found someone for a guide. This girl named Hazel”
“Hazel? Well, I’ll admit: she’s very normal and no serious reactions. Very well then. Hazel, will you be willing to lead Miss Lauren around this realm?”
“Yes, sir” she whispered timidly.
“Very well, then. You may go out now. Have a good day!”
Both nodded as they exited the office. Right then, Lauren noticed the scars on Hazel’s arms.
“What happened there?” she asked.
“Long story”
________________________________________
For a long time, Lauren followed Hazel to where her Familiar was being kept. On the way, Hazel explained some things, like the fact that the realm they live in is divided into two: one part for Bronies, Pegasisters, and their Familiars, and the other part for Anties, or those who hate MLP. Although Hazel is a Pegasister and so is her Familiar Hester Hide, her mother was an Anti.
Lauren also learned about how Hazel tends to act the way she is. Turns out, her mother was rather a narcissist, or one who seems to only look upon her own children as herself. Hazel had an elder brother and sister, but they were also abused in the same way. Their mother always tried to make them like her, and if they didn’t obey, she would do painful things to them. Hazel also explained that she almost drowned twice because of her mother making her go to the Deep End without coach supervision, leaving her traumatized.
Her mother was also responsible for the deaths of some of her childhood pets. She was also the cause of Hazel being shy at school, lack of confidence, fear of crowds, and possibly the cause of her Mild Bipolar Disorder. Then, she met Hester, who eventually became her Familiar, but she too was abused. Hester was kept in a dark room, causing her to eventually develop Schizophrenia. Her mother also threatened that if this ever goes to the police, she will kill them, and even made them feel no one would care if it ever comes to that, since they are so fearful and rarely ever talk. So they all lived their lives in fear.
Then Hazel and Hester eventually found their way to Fimfiction, where they found those who did care. They still kept the past a secret for fear of the punishment. The duo soon met Shadow Kirby, who became a friend and both felt very close to him. Hazel eventually learned to open up and “talk” again. Hester, due to trauma, became rather aggressive and somewhat rebellious.
“Then we got separated because mom wanted to make it more painful. And that was the last time I saw Hester. I found my way to Fimfiction Asylum, and they put me on those meds that made my thinking foggy and I sleep off the sorrow. I wanted to go get Hester back, but mom made sentries that patrol her house” Hazel wiped off the tears that swarmed her eyes as she finished her backstory.
Lauren placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Hazel, I’m sorry to hear that”
“It’s fine. I try and act happy to avoid suspicion anyway”
“But still, no one deserves to be treated that way”
“Can’t do anything about it. She tells me to put it all behind even if she does it again, so in truth, I’ll never recover from it”
“What about when you were in school? Didn’t they suspect it?”
“In public, we hide it all and are a perfect family. But when we go home, that’s when it all happens. I hide it all by pretending to be over happy all the time, but in truth, I’ve just been drinking those energy drinks she packs me”
“Hazel, this isn’t healthy”
“We all manage. The Fandom side is the only area that she can’t get into to follow us. It’s a barrier that protects us all from the Anties who hurt us. So, in a way, this is like an only refuge”
Lauren put a comforting hand on the young Pegasister’s shoulder.
“It’s fine, Lauren. I just need to…” Hazel took a deep breath and recited a mantra. “Believe in God, have Faith, and all will be well”
“Are you Catholic or Christian?”
“Catholic. And, oh! We’re here!”
Lauren looked infront of them to see what looked like a Victorian era house. It looked like a mansion, really. Plants grew around it beautifully. Birds seemed to flutter around to look for food. There was an elegant gate that guarded the entrance. All in all, it was just a façade. Outside, it’s beautiful, but the inside holds very dark secrets.
Lauren looked to Hazel to see that the child had cringed from fear. Her tired eyes had shown that she had been crying from constant pain inflicted on her, and fear for even setting foot in that house again.
“You know what? You stay out here, and I’ll go get Hester” Lauren sat her down behind one of the trees that were a safe distance away from the gates.
“But, Lauren, she’s got sentries. What if they get you?” Hazel was shaking from fear at the thought.
“Don’t worry, I’ve handled worse” she assured the scared child.
“Okay, but before you go, you might need this” Hazel then handed over a clay doll that resembled Fluttershy as a filly. “It’s to assure her that there’s nothing to fear from you”
Lauren took the doll and placed it in her pocket. “Did you make this? It’s pretty”
“Thank you. And yes, I and Hester do that other than writing and reading”
“Did you take lessons?”
“Kind of, my mentor was a Pegasister at YouTube named Eifos”
“Well, tell her she’s a good teacher”
Hazel nodded. “Oh! And I think you’ll need this” she handed Lauren a mirror. This was with a pale blue hue in the glass. The handle had a starry design on it. At the top of the mirror was a quill and clay ball.
“What’s this?”
“If you look into it, you’ll turn invisible for a limited amount of time. But Hester and I will still be able to see you. Use this mirror wisely”
“Okay, hang on, how will I know if it’s Hester?”
“She looks like a Katsuma, but her color is yellow and her stripes are orange. She also sometimes wears a blue hat”
“Alright, wish me luck” Lauren said as she climbed the gate.
“Be careful, Lauren”
________________________________________
Lauren managed to get past the gates easily via climbing. She looked into the mirror when she got to the door and turned invisible. She knocked on the door, and when it was opened, she snuck past the sentry guarding it. Lauren hurried through the halls as the effects of the mirror began to run out. When it finally did, she had found her way into the room were Hester was being kept.
She watched as who looked like Hazel’s mom scaring the poor Familiar with needles and sticks. Her form was rather human than a pony or Equestria Girl, not surprising for an Anti. Her hair was a cross between blonde and brunette. She was wearing a violet semi-formal dress that had flaps on the color area. Her shoes were lavender. She waited until the woman was out of the room before stepping in.
There, she saw, cowering in a corner, was Hester. She looked like a Katsuma, like Hazel said. She was indeed yellow on the fur and orange on the stripes. She donned on a blue hat that had a ribbon, a gemstone, and a flower. Looking on her neck, it was visible that she had a cross similar to Hazel’s. She looked very hurt, however. And her colors were a little dull, as though someone drained her life out. It was visible that she kept on a leash, tied to the wall.
The second Hester noticed Lauren, she immediately got tense. “No, not another sentry” she whined weakly.
Lauren shushed her, and then showed her the clay doll Hazel made.
At once, Hester calmed down. “Oh, Hazel. Quick! We have to leave, before she comes back!”
Lauren undid the leash and held Hester since she knew that she looked very weak. She carried the Familiar out of the room and ran through the hallways. In her pace, she forgot to look in the mirror to be invisible again and this time, the sentries spotted her. Lauren ran fast as she realized they’ve been caught.
She had to dodge and jump every now and then to avoid the arrows that threatened to pierce her. With Hester’s help as keeping an eye for her back, she was able to avoid getting hit. But just as she was about to leave, an arrow shot her in the arm, making it bleed. Lauren got out of the gates as fast as she could, and from that point, the sentries couldn’t follow her anymore.
As soon as Lauren got near to Hazel at the tree, Hester seemed to just float out of her arms and to Hazel’s. “Hazy!” she cried in happiness as she was embraced by her Partner.
“Hester” Hazel whispered. “Thank you, Lauren”
Lauren nodded.
Right then, the duo pulled away from the hug and held each other’s hands, and paws. Right then, Hazel recited something, “My Familiar and I, together forever, it’s something I’d want”
Hester then recited her part, “My Partner and I, together forever, it’s something I’d want”
Right then, a white light enveloped the duo. The light was so bright that Lauren had to cover her eyes to avoid the blinding light. When it was finally gone, she saw something had changed in the duo. They looked…healthier.
Hazel seemed to know have a healthier complexion. Her hair seemed to have gained a somewhat brownish tinge to it. Her eyes now longer had the dark rings around them. Her dress was now a little fixed up. Hester now also seemed better. Her coat coloring had turned from sickly to bright and radiant.
“Whoa!” Lauren exclaimed.
“We know, right?” Hazel said as she and Hester let go.
“Oh, does that feel good! I’ve never been so happy in a long time!” Hester floated again in mid-air and even twirled to prove her point.
“But, how did…?” Lauren asked.
“Oh, right. Partners and Familiars tend to be better and healthier when we’re reunited. That thing we did that made us suddenly well? It’s what united us together again” she then noticed the cut on Lauren’s arm. “Oh, my! Did her sentries use the arrows on you?” she examined the cut arm.
“Kind of, but with Hester’s help, I was able to avoid all except the one that cut me there. I think I’ll be fine”
“Please, atleast let us bind that for you” Hazel said as Hester produced long cloth from her hat.
Lauren stretched out her arm as she let the duo patch up her arm. Hester disinfected it with a little alcohol that Hazel kept in in her pocket. She used a cotton bud and dipped it with some alcohol and gently dubbed it on the cut, making Lauren cringe a little. After that, Hazel proceeded to wrap the cloth to avoid infections and continuous bleeding.
Once tight, Hester asked, “What do you call yourself?”
“Lauren” she said, before saying her full name. “Lauren Faust”
Hazel beamed. “Lauren Faust? THE Lauren Faust?”
“I can see I’m famous here” Lauren pulled her arm back slowly.
“Indeed. And you would not believe how long we’ve waited for you to come” Hester gleefully floated.
“Okay, Hazel, you said you would be my guide here?”
“Of course, I keep my end of the deal” she allowed Hester to perch on her shoulder. “Where do you want to go to?”
“Anywhere, really”
“Then it doesn’t matter which way we go”
“Just as long as we get somewhere” Lauren elaborated.
“Very well, the, let’s give a tour of this realm’s facilities. Along the way, we may as well go find somepony with the Healing Tea to get that arm fixed up completely”
“Healing Tea?”
“So named because it heals any injury on the user” Hester explained.
“Alright then”
“Good. We’ll take you to Clementine Jr., Sunny Shores, and Anastasia. They’ll be very welcoming today” Hazel said as the duo seemed to just disappear into thin air.
Lauren looked around nervously for the duo, and then they reappeared infront of her, sitting on a tree branch. “Coming?”
“Please tell me that they’re not mad” Lauren followed them.
“Sometimes we are, due to some slight disturbances. But you can’t help it. I’m mad, Hester’s mad, you’re mad, we’re all mad here” Hazel said as she and Hester led the way back to the safety of the barrier.
“How do you know if I’m mad?”
“If you weren’t like us, you wouldn’t have gone to the asylum, or met Screwball”
“How did..?”
“My ears are sensitive at various sounds. If I concentrated hard enough, I can hear things that is even a mile away. Hester can spy and do the same”
“Okay, how are you and Hester mad?”
“Mild Bipolar Disorder, and Hester has Schizophrenia”
“Okay and disturbances?”
“They are caused by the fight going on between the Fandom and the Anties. Though the barrier protects us all well, they try and find new ways”
“One time, before it was put up, they ambushed us and I got hit at a tree” Hester held her head.
“We’re at war?”
“Something like that. But nowadays, since the barrier was put, we’ve been safe ever since. Bronies, Pegasisters, and Familiars can enter and exit the barrier whenever they like, but Anties can get in at all”
“Okay, but can you atleast make your disappearing and reappearing a little less quick, you make me giddy when you both do that” Lauren said as they were finally back inside the barrier.
“Alright” saying so, Hazel and Hester began to vanish slowly, staring with the shoes and tail, accordingly. Both ended with their grins.
Lauren commented, “Well, I’ve seen a Partner and Familiar without a grin, but never a grin without a Partner or Familiar!”
She then waited until the duo finally reappeared slowly. Once they were whole, Hazel and Hester gave Lauren a gesture, “Follow us”
Lauren followed Hazel and Hester as they went around the realm. Hazel had introduced her to the facilities and the rest of the groups. They lead her to the divisions of the areas. There were areas that put different boundaries, depending on the field where the Brony or Pegasister wishes. It turns out that every Brony and Pegasister comes here at night when they sleep, as soon as they are summoned by Twilight Sparkle. From every site where the fandom was, the fans that were there would come here. They all were here. The ones from YouTube, from Fanfiction, from the Archives, from Deviant Art, from Facebook, from Fimfiction, from every site, they’re all here.
Lauren was also shown that some places had a system to keep balance. Bronies and Pegasisters were split into two types: Hider and Biter. Hiders are shy and on defense in terms of battle. Biters are confident and on offense. She was also showed the cemetery where they kept the memory of those who died. Among them were what looked like the precious jars of which they kept who seemed to have played something important in life. They showed her about this part was where they kept Hidebrits, those who were a mix of both Hider and Biter.
To lighten up the mood, the Familiar began to sing,
Oh, we come from a realm, from an otherworldly place Where the Fandom and Haters roam Where it’s divided and immense and the war is intense It’s barbaric, but hey it’s home When the Bronies from the East, and the Pegasisters from the West And the Familiars know it is right Come on down, stop on by Grab your wings and fly To another Wonderlandian night!
Wonderlandian Nights! Free from real-life human days More often than not And hotter than hot In a lot of good ways
Wonderlandian Nights! Like Luna’s moons An Anti’s cold heart Could fall and fall hard Out there on the dunes
Right then the duo shared a hearty giggle and a brohoof. Lauren was just happy that they both were all better.
She was then showed about the Record area, where they kept records of everything that happened in the Fandom. And soon, after, Lauren was lead to the Group section again, but this time to the Shipping Area. She couldn’t help but notice that every time they passed by a Flashlight Shipping Verse, the duo would look away as though in disgust. But if they passed by a Fluttercord Verse, they would seemingly cringe.
She had to ask. “Why do you both look so afraid if we pass by a Fluttercord Verse?”
Hazel looked up. “Oh, uh…”
________________________________________
Hazel and Hester ran as they got out of the Verse containing the story, “The Corpse Bride”. It was about Discord keeping Fluttershy with him as a zombie. The ending was just enough to make the duo run out terrified.
As soon as they caught their breath, Hester spoke up. “Okay, it was just a one-time thing” she looked back at the scene before looking back to Hazel. “We were never here”
Hazel nodded. “I agree with you, Hest”
It was all needed to make the two run away and hide.
________________________________________
Lauren nodded when Hazel explained it.
“By the way, can you stand Twishy, Appledash, and Rarixie shippings?” Hester asked as they went to the entrance of a particular verse.
“I guess, why?”
“Cause that’s where we’re going” Hazel said before they all entered the She knows How to Treat a Lady Verse.
Lauren looked ahead as she followed them. There was a large table under a tree infront of a fancy house. There were many tea things out on the table. There were seven chairs surrounding it, but only three were occupied. Then Lauren saw them. One was a filly who had a yellow coat, and a mane like Twilight Sparkle’s, and the same eyes, and she was definitely a Pegasus. Opposite of where she was sitting was a colt who had a blue coat and Rarity’s mane, and was a Unicorn. At their center was another filly who looked almost exactly like Rarity, save that she was a Pegasus. When they noticed Hazel, Hester, and Lauren, the filly resembling Rarity stood up and flew from her chair and to the trio.
“Hazel, Hester, what a fine day to see you here!” she greeted as she shook hooves, hands, and paws with the duo.
“Pleasant to you too” Hazel greeted.
“Indeed” Hester greeted.
Then the filly turned to Lauren, “My, who do we have here?”
“I’m Lauren, I’m new here” Lauren greeted the filly.
“Lauren, a lovely name for a lovely girl like yourself. Please, have a seat, all of you”
The trio sat down at the table. Lauren noticed that some of the teapots were able to move on their own. Though she was a little surprised at first, Hazel and Hester acted like nothing was wrong.
“Allow us to introduce ourselves” the filly said as she sat down.
“I’m Sunny Shores, daughter of Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy” the yellow filly said.
“I’m Clementine Jr., son of Rarity and Trixie” the colt said, taking a bow.
“And I’m Anastasia, daughter of Rarity and Trixie. I’m also Clementine’s little sister” the white filly said.
“Nice to meet you, all of you” Lauren said.
“Oh, shucks. You’re too kind” Anastasia remarked.
Lauren whispered to Hazel, “How is that possible? I mean, they’re all children of two mares”
“A spell Luna used allowed Twilight and Trixie to turn into stallions for a night and you can guess what’s next” Hazel whispered.
Lauren nodded.
“What brings you all by?” Clementine asked.
“Wanted to see you, and I’m afraid Lauren had a little accident when we were outside the barrier” Hester showed the hurt arm.
“Oh you poor thing” Sunny Shores took pity.
Anastasia spoke up. “You’re in luck. We have a new batch of Healing Tea ready just today. Sunny, be a dear and fetch it for Miss Lauren”
“Of course, Anastasia” saying so, the filly left the table and went into the house to fetch what she was being told to.
“Hazel and Hester, you have been looking better since your last visit here” Clementine said to the duo.
“Lauren saved Hester from the Anties, of course we’re happy”
Hester then looked at her watch. “We have to go, I’m afraid. We’re being called!”
“Oh! Sorry, I’m afraid we have to go, me and Hester that is”
“It’s fine. If summoned, you must go” Anastasia said.
Hazel and Hester nodded. “Lauren, as soon as your arm’s better, just ask them for a way to Queen Faust’s Garden. You’ll meet us both there!”
Lauren nodded. And right then, Hazel turned into a see-through type and she went into Hester. The Familiar then took to the air and that was the last time Lauren saw her in that bit.
“When is a raven like a writing desk?” Clementine asked to break the silence.
“Hmm, I don’t know. What’s the answer?” Lauren asked.
“I haven’t the slightest idea either” Clementine confessed.
“Well, why did you ask me a riddle that even you don’t know the answer to?”
“Forgive my brother; he’s a little like a March Hare”
Lauren rolled her eyes with a smile.
“What is taking Sunny so long? It should be easy to spot” Anastasia said as she looked at her pocket watch.
“I’ll go and look for her” Clementine stood up from the table.
“Don’t waste a second if you want to kiss her” Anastasia chuckled.
Clementine blushed. “We’re just friends!”
“Your blushing says otherwise”
“Ana!” Clementine grumbled before going in the house.
“He’s hiding it, I just know. If it ever pulls through, they’d make a cute couple” the Pegasus chuckled.
“How do you know? I mean, he could’ve just felt embarrassed or something” Lauren pointed out.
“My mother says that when they were being foalsat for a night, those two kept on playing together like two peas in a pod”
“Well, they could just be good friends then”
“Yeah, maybe you’re right”
“If, I may ask, among you three who’s the eldest?”
“Sunny Shores was born first in a late winter, then followed by my brother, and then a year after, I was born”
“If Sunny’s the eldest, then why do you seem to be the Leader?”
“Sunny Shores tends to have a little flaw in her life; she’s shy like her mother Fluttershy. Clementine is an illusionist in practice, and I still have yet to learn my own craft. But since Sunny’s too shy to play Leader, I took up the position”
“I see”
“Sunny fell asleep again” Clementine’s voice rang out from inside the house. The next second, they watched him help a half-asleep Sunny Shores out of the house. The filly was carrying a shuttle of tea as she stumbled to regain her balance. The container was green, with a glowing leaf for a design.
“Mm, I’m sorry” the filly apologized. “I haven’t been myself these past couple days”
“It’s fine, Sunny” Anastasia then turned to Lauren. “Sorry about her tiredness. She’s been up late at nights because those stories in the library really got her hooked”
“Can you stand now? Make sure you don’t spill any of that tea” Clementine said as Sunny began to open the shuttle.
The filly rubbed her eyes. “I’m fine now” she then began to pour the tea into a teacup. “Drink up, Miss Lauren”
When it was within reach, Lauren drank the tea in the cup. It had some peculiar flavor to it, but nonetheless tolerable. She checked her arm to see that it was beginning to heal completely.
“See? Healing Tea does its works” Anastasia said.
“Thank you. Who made this?”
“Sunny did, apart from reading stories late at night, she reads spell books at contain recipes in case of emergencies”
“Thank you Sunny”
The filly yawned, “No problem”
“Are you always this sleepy?”
“No, one time, Angel put a sleeping pill in my drink and I fell asleep early on the books”
“Then you spent the whole afternoon just to finish that book. If it’s not at night, it’s at the day” Clementine sipped his tea.
“Well, mom never runs out of books! I had to make up for lost time!” Sunny explained.
“Sunny Shores, Clementine Jr., no arguing at the table!” Anastasia snapped them out of it.
“Sorry, Anastasia” both said at the same time.
“Sorry about this, Lauren” the filly apologized. “Disturbances caused from the war tend to make us fight with one another”
Lauren nodded.
“Well, your arm’s looking all better” Sunny said as the last part of the cut was gone, not even a scar was there.
“Thank you”
They all nodded.
“By the way, do you know a way to…?” Lauren tried to remember what Hazel said a while back. “…Queen Faust’s Garden?”
“Oh, yes! Sunny, are you too tired to?” Anastasia turned to the elder filly.
“I’m fine! Follow me, Miss Lauren” Sunny got up from the table with Lauren and led her to a tree with a door on it.
“Just go into this door, and you’ll find your way to Fandom Central. There, you’ll find a hallway of doors that lead to different parts of this realm. Take the smallest one, which has the symbol of a red bottle of ink and a quill, beside a crown. Make sure you take the key on the glass table before you drink the bottle with the label, ‘DRINK ME’”
Lauren nodded. “Got it”
Sunny opened the door for her, and said her goodbyes. “Bye, Miss Lauren, I hope you can come by and visit sometime”
“Me too, Sunny. I hope to see all of you again soon. By the way, you really remind me of Fluttershy” Lauren said as she entered the doorway.
Sunny nodded, “Thank you, Miss Lauren”
Lauren gave the filly one last smile and wave before closing the door and looking around herself. It was the same place she was in earlier with Twilight. She saw the door and glass table with the key on it again. Learning from her past mistake, she took the key in her pocket first before she drank a little from the vial in the bottle.
She shrunk until she was about the right size and unlocked the door with the key, and went inside. There, she found herself in a beautiful garden filled with roses and other plants. Cool fountains were in the centers of each Garden.
No wonder this place was locked, she thought while admiring the area.
Laruen took a stroll around to find a certain duo or the Queen in the Garden, but seemed a bit like a maze in there, really. She eventually found somepony, but it was either of the three she was looking for. They were different Bronies and Pegasisters, whether pony, Equestria Girl, or Human in form. And they were all painting at a rosebush. The white roses growing on it were being painted red by them carefully. From their expressions, it was obvious they were afraid.
“Rape Train, don’t slosh any paint on me, you perve!” a skeleton unicorn yelled at a giant Rainbow head with a perverted face.
“Just because I write a lot of clop doesn’t mean that I want to paint some on your rump to make you look like a girl with a period!” the head yelled back
“Hey!” another Pegasister growled. She was pale pink and her eyes were green. She was a Pegasus. Her mane was red with white markings and a hint of black underneath.
“No offense”
“Let’s not forget: He was the one who got into the most trouble than the rest of us!” A Brony in a black leather shirt pointed out.
A Pegasister who resembled Fluttershy, but with a different manestyle chimed in. “Can we please just focus on the roses? If the Queen catches us…” she then motioned a person or pony slitting her throat and her dying. It was enough to make the others cringed from fear, and paint faster. But when they heard something, they turned around to see Lauren watching them. They all looked very fearful and put away their brushes and cans. Right then, they all bowed low to Lauren.
Lauren was curious enough as to what was going on. She came close to the Bronies and Pegasister and asked, “Excuse me, but why are you painting those roses red?”
They all got up at once. The skeleton unicorn was the first to speak. “Well, Miss, we were supposed to have planted a red rose bush here. But I’m afraid that since one of us was too busy going gross…” he glared at the perverted Rainbow head. “…he mixed it up and it grew. If the Queen catches a sight of it, she will have us terminated. We each are on our last chance here as whom we are, and if we goof up, we’re done for”
Lauren nodded.
“My name’s Skelepone, by the way. This giant Rainbow head pervert is Rape Train Express” he pointed to the now-angry head. “The red-maned mare over there is Hazel Bell”
“A true friend is the one who sees the pain in your eyes, while others believe your smile” she said.
“The guy in the leather shirt and Human form is TheCasualThatCould”
“Don’t touch me, you filthy casual!” he yelled.
“Sorry, he’s a little tense at times. Anyway, and that one over there who looks like Fluttershy with a ponytail is Austrian-Fluttershy”
The Pegasister waved timidly.
“Anyway, what’s your name? You seem new here”
“Well, I’m…”
“The Queen! The Queen is coming!” Hazel Bell cried as she flew down from the high hedge.
Right on the spot, the Bronies and Pegasisters bowed low with their faces almost touching the ground. Lauren wondered why they all seemed so frightened. Then again, she herself would be scared if she were to disappoint royalty. She heard steps from behind and looked around to see who the Queen was.
She was shocked to see it.
First came were different Bronies and Pegasisters with crowns. From the looks of it, Lauren recognized them from a while ago when Hazel and Hester showed her around the YouTube and Video section of this realm. They were the leaders of those who were in those sites. Among them were TheLiving Tombstone and Mic the Microphone, rulers of the Music section, as well as Sethisto, ruler of the blogger section. Behind the King and Queen was a figure that looked like Alicorn Twilight, but the outfit they wore made it clear that they were the Knave. And beside him, nodding to everything in fear was Twilight Sparkle herself.
Then finally came the main King and Queen. The king looked like Butterscotch, but in armor and wearing a crown. Beside him was the Queen. Lauren recognized her immediately. She was the Alicorn version of herself that she once drew. She had the manestyle of Celestia and Luna. She wore an elegant crown on top of her head. She was dressed in royal robes, and the centerpiece on the collar area was the same symbol of the door Lauren opened earlier; red bottle of ink and a quill, beside a crown.
“My, we have a newcomer! Twilight, why didn’t you tell me?” she asked the Alicorn.
“I’m sorry, Queen Faust” the Alicorn nodded low.
“She was too busy getting a fan, I believe” The Knave sneered.
“Hush now, Typevader” she then turned to Lauren. “What’s your name, child?”
“My name is Lauren, your Majesty” she said politely while bowing low. Even though she bowed to a Creation only she was able to make, she just wanted to be on the safe side. Things aren’t always what they seem here and she learned that from her day spent so far here.
“And what are you doing with these who are on their last straw?” Queen Faust pointed to the Bronies and Pegasisters who were still bowing in fear.
Don’t be afraid, you made her; a familiar voice rang in Lauren’s head.
Hester? How are you in my head? Lauren asked mentally.
The same of how I tend to be in Hazel’s head.
“Child?” Queen Faust snapped her out of the conversation.
“How should I know?” Lauren crossed her arms without fear.
At that, Queen Faust began to glare at Lauren. Rage and fury in her eyes. From the first impression, Lauren could already tell that she was short-tempered.
“OFF WITH HER HEAD! OFF WITH…” she declared in a loud voice. That line was enough to make Lauren feel like Alice from that children’s story.
The King held her back, and he took great consideration with the young newbie. “My Queen, please consider her. She’s new and clearly may be possibly only a child”
“Hush, Knighty!”
“But please. Remember when you sent away that other child about two or three years ago just because they laughed? You made them leave even though they weren’t truly old enough to know who rules this realm. Please don’t make the same mistake with one who just got here”
Queen Faust glared at Lauren. She did remember what happened to that child. It was a horrible mistake that they lost a follower. She wished not to have a repetition. And although Lauren seemed like a grown woman rather than a child, she had to consider she just arrived today.
In the end, Faust sighed. She then turned to Typevader and Twilight, “She’s safe for being new here”
Typevader nodded and Twilight took it down.
To the other Bronies and Pegasisters, who were still bowing from fear, she said, “Rise”
They all did, quivering from fear.
She then noticed a drop of red on Skelepone. She knew that it was not blood. She went for a closer look. Skelepone quivered from what she already saw. She wiped the drop off his chest and inspected it closely.
“Skelepone, why do you have paint on yourself?” Faust questioned him.
“I…don’t’ know, your Majesty” he lied, trying to hide fear.
“My Queen!” Living Tombstone called out. He pointed to the rosebush with a face that resembled a lookout.
She approached him and checked the roses. All the Bronies and Pegasisters were scared if she found out. Taking a closer look, she realized that the red on them wasn’t their natural color. She also noticed the droplets on them, and there wasn’t any rain or mist today. She touched one of them, and when she pulled back, her hoof showed that it was red paint.
“I see!” she glared at them. “OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!”
Right at that, the other Bronies and Pegasisters who were behind Twilight and Typevader nodded. The ones who were Unicorns immediately levitated them in the air. They squirmed in the magic’s grasp. Right then, they were levitated away from the scene. Lauren assumed they were being lead to the Executioner.
She could still make out their final conversation.
“This is all your fault, perve!” Skelepone yelled at Rape Train Express.
“Well, how was I supposed to know that there was paint on you?”
“You did!” TheCasualThatCould yelled. “You knew all along!”
Hazel Bell and Austrian-Fluttershy just kept quiet, keeping a straight face.
“Oh shut up, you perve!”
“Don’t tell me to shut up!”
And that was the last Lauren ever saw of them. The next thing that happened was that they were thrown, with magic, away. She swore that she was able to hear something disturbing.
“Can you play croquet?” Queen Faust asked Lauren, as if trying to get her mind off witnessing the removal of her acquaintances.
Lauren nodded. “Yes”
“Come on, then!” Queen Faust gestured for Lauren to walk with her. The Equestria Girl just followed suit. She was just afraid if she didn’t.
“Right timing for you to come here!” Twilight said as she approached Lauren. “It’s a very fine day, isn’t it?”
“I guess so. What happens to those who are put under Execution?”
“Kind of obvious about what happens. They get sent to Tirek for Execution. He chops their heads off, and they awake in their real-world counterparts, either it’s early in their place or not. They can’t really return to that part of the realm as that form anymore. To get back, they have to be a member of a website in reality”
“So, it’s like the lives we lead here in this realm are like a reflection of our lives in…”
“GET TO YOUR PLACES!” Queen Faust yelled.
Right at that, everyone present was in total chaos from fear. They took a while to get to where they were to go to, but after that, they finally settled down. Lauren nearly dropped her jaw when she saw what may be the most peculiar game of croquet she could ever get in, and would be very traumatic for Fluttershy if she was present. The balls were live porcupines. The mallets were live flamingoes. The arches were what looked like children from the Shipping section.
The chief difficulty Lauren found at first was in managing her flamingo: she succeeded in getting its body tucked away, comfortably enough, under her arm, with its legs hanging down, but generally, just as she had got its neck nicely straightened out, and was going to give the hedgehog a blow with its head, it would twist itself round and look up in her face, with such a puzzled expression that she could not help bursting out laughing: and when she had got its head down, and was going to begin again, it was very provoking to find that the hedgehog had unrolled itself, and was in the act of crawling away: besides all this, there was generally a ridge or furrow in the way wherever she wanted to send the hedgehog to, and, as the doubled-up soldiers were always getting up and walking off to other parts of the ground, Lauren soon came to the conclusion that it was a very difficult game indeed.
The players all played at once without waiting for turns, quarrelling all the while, and fighting for the hedgehogs; and in a very short time, Queen Faust was in a furious passion, and went stamping about, and shouting `Off with his head!' or `Off with her head!' about once in a minute. Lauren was beginning to feel uneasy as they brought in Tom the Gamer, another Brony, to Tirek for Execution. She swore she had already puked in her own mouth due to the number of who were brought in. She remembered that she made Faust angry a while back, but she was pardoned. Even so, she was scared if she was the next one to get sent to Tirek.
What would it be like if she did that to me? Lauren thought. She’s so ill-tempered and one could easily get the impression that she likes to Terminate her subjects. It would be a miracle that there are still those who are left alive. Well, the King has been kinder and patient.
Lauren was hoping to have some relief, or a way to be excused out. A note, somepony she met earlier, a friend to talk to, anything to get out a bit! She was already scared of the Queen. She looked around for any excuse whatsoever. Finally, something caught her eye. There was a peculiar thing in the air, well, two, near the rosebushes. Lauren focused on it was it began to move, and it eventually formed two familiar grins.
Hazel and Hester! Lauren thought. What a relief they are here!
“Um, excuse me, I think a friend of mine is calling for me” Lauren pointed to where the grins were.
“Go ahead” Queen Faust nodded with approval.
Lauren didn’t need to be told twice as she put down the flamingo and ran off to where the duo was. She smiled a bit as if in response to their grins. She took a seat beside them, but gave enough room if they were gonna have their full bodies there to seat on.
“How are you getting on?” Hazel asked as both their eyes began to appear. No doubt that they were following Lauren’s suggestion to make their appearances slower in order not to frighten her so much.
When their eyes were complete, Lauren nodded. She didn’t really speak until the ears fully formed. She thought that it would be useless to speak to them if they didn’t have enough to hear with. She waited patiently, and began to regret telling them to make their entrances and exits slower. She finally began to speak when both their heads were whole.
“Please, we stopped by to take some tea, normal tea. You look like you need it” Hester said as she made three teacups appear infront of them, along with a shuttle of tea.
Lauren then began to tell them about how it went from the point of when they temporarily parted ways. She was glad to have somepony sane enough to talk to around. Hazel and Hester just listened on intently. Lauren tended to take noticed that they didn’t have any more intention to make the rest of their bodies appear. Either that or they wanted to show that were really paying attention to her.
“I don't think they play at all fairly” Lauren began, in rather a complaining tone as Hazel and Hester took a sip of tea. “And they all quarrel so dreadfully one can't hear oneself speak…and they don't seem to have any rules in particular; at least, if there are, nobody attends to them…and you've no idea how confusing it is all the things being alive; for instance, there's the arch I've got to go through next walking about at the other end of the ground…and I should have croqueted Queen Faust’s hedgehog just now, only it ran away when it saw mine coming!”
Hazel sighed, and then looked around before asking in a low voice, “How do you like the Queen?”
“Not at all” said Lauren “She's so extremely…” Just then she noticed that Queen Faust was close behind them, listening. Hazel was gesturing the Queen with her eyes, as though from fear. Hester sent a mental message that sounded like the Queen saying, off with her head. So she went on, “…likely to win, that it's hardly worth while finishing the game”
The Queen smiled and passed on. Hazel and Hester took a sigh of relief.
Right then, Knighty appeared on the scene. “Who are you talking to?”
“Friends of mine who showed me a around a while ago, Hazel and Hester. Allow me to introduce them”
“Oh, I remember them. They’re two of those girls from my Fimfiction website. In their real-world counterparts, their first story was scratched a bit due to some being OOC. But they may offer a kiss on my hoof if they like”
Hester’s left eye twitched a bit while Hazel cringed a bit and spoke, “I think we’d rather not”
“Oh, don’t be impertinent”
Right at that, Hester almost gave a soft, inward growl. Hazel looked at her sideway nervously from that.
“Now, Hester, don’t you growl at me like that!” he hid behind Lauren as he spoke.
“I believe she tends to get like this who wants to seem more important than God. They are both, afterall, Catholic. And from what I’ve noticed,
Hester tends to be the more aggressive one” Lauren said.
“So sorry. Hester, stop” Hazel whispered.
“Well, she must be taught manners!” Knighty then called to Queen Faust. “Faust, can you have this Familiar and her Partner out now?”
“Off with their head!” the Queen said without turning around.
“Thanks a lot, Hester” Hazel whispered to her Familiar.
“I can’t help it” she rolled her eyes.
Lauren was afraid of what may become of those two children, but she went to check on the game to take her mind off it. It wasn’t very fun anymore as most of them had already been dismissed. When she checked on Hazel and Hester again, she was surprised to see that a large dispute had formed around them. She saw Tirek, dressed in Executioner attire and wielding a large scythe. He was having an argument with Knighty, and Queen Faust. When they noticed Lauren, they called her forth to help settle a dispute.
“Miss Lauren, can you please explain to the King and Queen that you cannot behead a head unless it had a body to be beheaded from?” Tirek asked.
“Can you tell this absorbent, siphon leach that as long as one had a head, they can be beheaded?” Knighty glared at Tirek.
“If nothing is settled soon, I will have everyone present executed!” Faust yelled angrily.
That was enough to make everypony lese around cringe from fear.
Lauren didn’t know what to say, except for one thing, “The first time I met those two, they were in the Fimfiction Insane Asylum. Hazel was a bit Bipolar while Hester was schizophrenic”
All three facehoofed.
“We’re dealing with two crazies from an asylum?! No wonder one of them was more dominant than the other, even for a Familiar!” Queen Faust groaned.
“Let them off with a warning” Knighty said to Typevader, who took it down.
Lauren sighed in relief. She looked to where Hazel and Hester were, only to find that they had already disappeared. They didn’t notice that while they were all in argument, the duo had already begun to disappear. By the time they finally settled it out, they were fully gone.
I hope they’re not mad that I revealed their disorders, Lauren sighed.
“Have you met with Princess Luna and her Children of the Night yet?” Queen Faust asked Lauren.
“Why, no, I haven’t yet. Hazel and Hester haven’t introduced to me to them yet” Lauren explained.
“Well, then, we shall have her introduced to you” Queen Faust then gestured for Lauren to follow her, which she complied out of fear.
Lauren tried her best to stop thinking about those who were Terminated a while back. She also wondered where did the Partner-Familiar duo go off to, of if she would even see them again. She walked on with Queen Faust, until they finally came across somepony, sitting on a bench and looking at pictures of constellations, who looked a lot like Snowdrop.
She did look like herself, but she looked more like a grown Alicorn rather than a Pegasus filly. On her head was a small crown that looked like a blue version of the Alicorn Amulet. Her eyes were no longer with cataracts, and were now a beautiful icy blue. She was larger and so were her wings.
When she noticed Lauren and Queen Faust, she rose immediately and bowed. “Queen Faust, how may I be of service to you?”
“Snowdrop, I would like for you to take this new Equestria Girl to meet with Princess Luna and the Children of the Night”
“It shall be done”
“Lauren, you have met Snowdrop before, correct?”
“I think Hazel and Hester mentioned to me about her. But, I’m a little confused. How is she now able to see clearly, and how come she now resembles an Alicorn?”
“Thanks to how some things tend to work in this realm, we took together some good points from a story with her and a possible sequel to her debut video. Now, she has gained an Alicorn-like body and has been relieved of her cataracts” she then looked to her side. “Time to go for me, I have to take a head count, quite literally, on who got Terminated for the past few months”
Queen Faust then just walked off, leaving Lauren with Snowdrop. The Pegasus just gave a warm smile. “Pleased to meet you, Miss. I’m Snowdrop”
“I’m Lauren. Nice to see you too”
“Let me guess, a frantic Twilight lead you here while you were sitting around, minding your own business?”
“Well, yes, how did you know?”
“I decided to look every now and then, by the use of my snowflakes” she explained as she held one delicately in the air. “It was very comical at times”
“Do you know then about what happened to me over the day?”
“Well, not really. I just went to see Luna and the others, and go help with the new “Nyx x Snowdrop” thing going on. After that, I went back here and started checking on the snowflakes for winter and looking at constellations. I’m making the most out of being able to see again, really”
Lauren nodded.
“Okay, so, you wanna go meet Luna?”
“I guess so”
“Good. Get on” Snowdrop then gestured for Lauren to get on her back. Lauren was confused at first, but had to go with it. She got on and Snowdrop told her one thing, “Grab on tight”
Then they were off. Lauren didn’t open her eyes for the first few seconds out of fear. She finally opened one eye and looked. Snowdrop has just flown high in the sky. They were just below the clouds. Lauren looked down to see the view from below. It was beautiful. She could see the whole realm, really. She could see fillies and colts from the OC section playing. There were Bronies and Pegasisters in their Groups. There were also the characters from the show itself getting about and readying for filming. She never knew it could get this beautiful.
“It’s nice, isn’t it?” Snowdrop asked.
Lauren nodded. “Very”
“Oh, look, grab on tight. I see Luna”
Lauren nodded and held on tight, but not too tight to hurt Snowdrop. Thee Pegasus flew down and landed safely on the ground. Lauren took the cue to know she could get of now. The land was somewhat like that of nighttime. The sky was filled with stars and a full moon. Taking a closer look around, she saw the fillies and colts sitting in the field. And in the very center, reading a book to all of them, was Princess Luna.
When she noticed the duo, she immediately closed her book and greeted them. “Oh! Snowdrop, my dear, how nice of you to drop by!”
When the other fillies and colts saw the Pegasus they all began to gape in awe.
“How nice to see you and the Children again too, Luna” Snowdrop gave a warm smile.
“My, who’s your new friend?” she asked when she approached Lauren. “Such a radiant youth”
“I’m Lauren, Princess Luna”
“Lauren, such a nice name” she then turned to the fillies and colts. “Come, Children, we have a new one in the realm”
All the fillies and colts eventually gathered around Lauren, all smiling and eager to meet. One of them in particular, seemed to be the Leader amongst them, and managed to shush them in a way to get them all in an orderly fashion. Lauren could recognize her as the most distinct of Luna’s Children of the Night.
"Hello, Miss. I’m Gari” she introduced herself.
“I’m Lauren” Lauren greeted.
“These are my Brothers and Sisters. Meet Night Glow, Sweet Sleep, Star, Airy Night, Shooting Star, Zodiac, and Andromeda” she pointed to each other filly and colt present.
“Great to meet all of you” Lauren said as she shook hands and hooves with them.
“What brings you by, Miss Lauren?” the filly named Andromeda asked.
“She came because she was sent for us to be introduced to her” Snowdrop answered.
“Actually, Hazel and Hester pretty much already told me about you Snowdrop while they were showing me around the OC section”
“Well, the, it’s just Gari and her Brothers and Sisters then”
“Actually, she also told me about them too when we were going through the Princess Luna sections” she then noticed the Children looking disappointed. “But, she told me about the song. Can I hear it?”
The Children perked up from that with a smile. All looked to Luna, as if seeking approval. She gave a warm smile to Lauren, and then the Children with a nod. All of them cheered happily.
“Take a seat, you’ll love this” Snowdrop said.
Lauren did as the fillies and colts all went to their areas. Luna was center stage amongst them. Luna closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The fillies and colts lied down and pretended to be asleep. Finally, Luna began to sing in a sweet, melodious voice.
Come little children, I'll take thee away, Into a land of enchantment. Come little children, the time's come to play, Here in my garden of shadows.
Follow sweet children, I'll show thee the way, Through all the pain and the sorrows. Weep not poor children, for life is this way, Murdering beauty and passions.
Hush now dear children, it must be this way, To weary of life and deceptions. Rest now my children, for soon we'll away, Into the calm and the quiet.
Come little children, I'll take thee away, Into a land of enchantment. Come little children, the time's come to play, Here in my garden of shadows.
As Luna sang, the Children ‘woke up’ and began to look around as though curious and in a whole new world. They then began to be with one another and dance. Then the moonlight glimmered upon Luna, and they danced around her with smiles. And when she finished the last line, they all stood still.
As for Snowdrop, it was hard for her to not shed a tear from being touched. It was truly too much for her to hold it back. As for Lauren, she almost cried. Not just because the performance and message was elegant, but because she felt like she was able to see the story behind it. She swore that she saw the events of what happened that night that Luna took those Children to her Colony.
“Did you like it?” Gari asked while passing them a box of tissues.
“Very touching” Lauren commented as she wiped a tear.
“Never fails to make me cry” Snowdrop added.
“TRIAL!” a loud voice rang out. The voice was loud enough to startle everypony present. Right at that, Lauren noticed that the crown-like thing on Snowdrop was begging to glow. And the marking on Lauren’s skirt was glowing too.
“You must go, you know what would happen if you don’t” Luna said as she tried to calm the foals around
“It was very nice to meet you, Luna” Lauren said as she got on Snowdrop’s back.
Luna nodded with a smile. “Come back anytime”
Lauren nodded before gripping on tightly to Snowdrop. “What trial is it?”
“We’ll soon find out”
“What does it mean when your crown and my skirt’s symbol glow?”
“It means you’re being summoned” Snowdrop said before taking to the air.
Knighty and Queen Faust were seated on their throne when they arrived, with a great crowd assembled about them, various Bronies and Pegasisters, with their Familiars and OCs, if they had any. Typevader was standing before them, in chains, with a soldier on each side to guard him. And near Knighty was Twilight, with a trumpet and parchment of paper levitated by magic. The jurymen consisted of Fluffle Puffle and a certain brown Earth pony, named Rekhet. She was light brown while her mane was also brown with blue highlights. Her eyes were teal, and her cutie mark was a golden anhk with two red hearts diagonally orbitting around it from right-top to bottom-right. In the very middle of the court was a table, with a large dish of tarts upon it: they looked so good, that it made Lauren quite hungry to look at them.
I wish they'd get the trial done, she thought, and hand around the refreshments! But there seemed to be no chance of this, so she began looking at everything about her, to pass away the time.
“Twilight, read the accusation!” Knighty cried to the Alicorn.
Twilight nodded, and blew the trumpet she held, trying her best to make it less irritating like when Pinkie did at the Crystal Empire. It went out as three loud blows that caused those with sensitive hearing to cover their ears. She mumbled a small apology to the crowd and opened the parchment to read the accusation. She groaned a bit when she read some of it.
“Is there something wrong, Twilight?” Queen Faust asked.
“Sorry, it’s just” she sighed. “Why did I ever agree to let Hester Hide write the accusation? She’s always using a cryptic rhyme”
Hester? Lauren thought. Why did they let Hester write it? I thought they wouldn’t want to talk to one from an asylum. And why did I not know that the Familiar tends to write like that?
“Twilight, read” Faust declared.
The Alicorn sighed and read the short content.
The Queen, Faust, of this realm, she made some tarts, All on a summer day: The Knave, Typevader, of this realm, he stole those tarts, And took them quite away!'
“Consider you verdict” Knighty said to the jury.
“Not yet, we must go to check the witnesses” Twilight suggested.
“Call the first witness”
Twilight blew on the horn again. “First witness!”
Lauren was surprised to see that it was Anastasia who was the First Witness. She looked like she came out in a hurry. But she managed to don one of her mother’s traits: Look elegant in public. She wore a dress that was for any filly that went to court.
“I’m sorry if I look a little draft today, we were in such a rush to get here as soon as we were summoned” she bowed as Clementine and Sunny Shores followed her. Clementine was dressed in a tuxedo and had a dressed-well Sunny Shores tugged along. She seemed still tired as she looked like she was about to doze off any second.
“I had to find where the Waking Tea was for Sunny” Clementine reasoned.
“I fell asleep in the dressing room after I put on my dress” Sunny tried to hide her tiredness.
Lauren sighed as she watched them present their case. But she began to feel a little uneasy. That was when she noticed that she was beginning to grow again.
“So, to summarize it all up, my King and Queen” Anastasia said. “We truly did not know about any relation to the Knave stealing tarts”
“He’s a very good one” Clementine added.
“It’s just Hester’s schizophrenia mistaking him for another” Sunny mumbled.
“Fine, you’re free to go” Knighty said.
They didn’t need to be told twice as Anastasia helped her brother get Sunny on a chair and rummage through their bags to find the Waking Tea to keep her up.
“Call the next witness!” Knighty declared.
“Second Witness!” Twilight called out.
From the looks of her, Lauren immediately recognized the next witness as Eclipse. She had Nightbeam with her. From the sounds, Lauren could hear that those who had Familiars were whimpering from fear. Those with young OCs held them close in fear of her casting spells again.
“Give your evidence” Knighty said.
“None whatsoever, your Majesty” Eclipse said with no emotion.
Knighty gave Twilight a look, and she spoke, “Your Majesty must cross-examine this witness”
He nodded. “Have you been casting spells out of the asylum lately?”
“Not with those meds they keep me on, and Nightbeam says to try to”
“Meds are evil” a sleepy voice said behind her.
“Twilight, the next time one of you and Fluttershy’s OC children get sent to court, make sure they had enough rest the night before!” Queen Faust yelled at the Alicorn.
“Sorry, your Highness” Twilight cringed.
She facehoofed.
“Nevermind!” Knighty said. “Call the next witness!”
Twilight fumbled over the list until she found the name. Her ears dropped down from fear as she gulped.
Lauren took a deep breath. She then managed to walk up to the front of the court to meet with the King and Queen. She looked to where Typevader was. She knew that he was indeed afraid that he would be sent away from his current form. Lauren bit her lip and trembled at the thought. She hoped he would be let go and that they would just learn to avoid using those from an asylum as writers. They always say the most ridiculous things, if not on their meds.
“What do you know about this business?” Knighty asked Lauren.
“I don’t know anything, your Majesty” Lauren spoke.
“Nothing?”
“None whatsoever”
“That’s very important”
Lauren then went back to where she was earlier. Right then, noticed that she was beginning to grow again. It must’ve been from consuming the mushroom from earlier. When it came to Discord’s works, one has to be cautious at times. When she looked up, Knighty was reading in the rulebook.
He then cried out, “Rule 42: All those who are currently more than a mile high must leave court!”
That was enough to make everyone present stare at Lauren, who was now really that high.
“I’m not a mile high”
“You are”
“Nearly two miles, really” Queen Faust added.
“I won’t go, then, at any rate. It’s not even a regular rule; you just invented it”
“It’s the oldest rule in the book” Knighty said.
“Then, isn’t it supposed to be rule one?”
Knighty turned pale from that. She had a point.
“Why are you even caring so much about these tarts anyway?” Lauren asked.
Queen Faust got angry. “Those tarts contain a special ingredient. One of them contains a device that allows control to everyone in this realm. With it in the wrong hands or hooves, it would be disastrous”
“Why was it put in a tart anyway? Shouldn’t it be somewhere safe like a vault?”
The Queen got angry again. “One of them was a fake. I mixed it up with the real ones before getting it to safety”
“Clumsily then”
The Queen lost it. “OFF WITH HER HEAD!”
Nopony moved; they all looked down. Some bit their lip. Others tried to whistle innocently.
“Well?! OFF WITH HER HEAD!” the Queen yelled again.
Lauren saw something glimmer with faint light in the corner of her eye. She looked around with her eyes until she found what it was: a small knife handle in the pocket of Queen Faust’s robe.
“Hang on; what’s that in your pocket?”
The Queen seemed immediately alarmed as she fidgeted at it. “Whatever do you mean?” she tried to make the object hide, but it fell right out her pocket. The entire crowd gasped at the object: a small knife with markings like that of a quill. On its handle was a gem with all colors of the rainbow.
“You had the Quillette Blade all along, Faust!” Twilight exclaimed as she began to fume. “Why you…”
"Typevader, you are dismissed and free to go, I proclaim you innocent!" Knighty declared. Typervader sighed in relief.
“Quillette Blade?” Lauren asked.
“It’s an object that can be used to control others in this realm. It’s only meant for one person: the one who made our show in the first place!”
“How do you know if I’ve been even using it? For all you know, it’s just there for protection!”
“Because Knighty’s eyes are cerulean, not grey!” Snowdrop pointed out. “And anypony under the control, their eyes turn grey!”
“It’s no wonder your subjects live in fear” Lauren added as she approached the Queen.
The Queen cackled. “So you finally found out?! Well, it’s time for you all to really obey!” saying so, she picked up the Quillette Blade as it began to glow on its gemstone. Everypony panicked at that. They tried to escape, but they all froze in place. “You wanted to make sure no one is Executed again? Here’s my compromise!”
Everypony present began to tremble and shake as they fell to the ground. Some held their heads as though in pain. Some even let out whimpers and gritted their teeth. Even the ones who with Knighty were not spared by the effects. Queen Faust took so much joy in all of them. But she failed to notice that Lauren was the only one who didn’t drop down like them; she only shrunk back to normal size. A minute later, all the whimpers and struggle stopped. They all then looked up to reveal that their eyes had been turned grey and showed nearly no signs of life. Their teeth had fangs like that of a cobra’s.
Queen Faust grinned as they all bowed to her, but then she finally saw somepony who wasn’t like them.
“What have you done to them?!” Lauren yelled.
“WHAT?! How did it not work on you?!”
Lauren looked around nervously. It’s almost as though she was immune to its effects, but why? Queen Faust then lifted up the Quillette Blade and pointed it at Lauren. “OFF WITH HER HEAD!”
At that, all who were present just glared at Lauren. She had no choice but do the one thing she could right now: run.
All chased Lauren as far they would. She had never run so fast in her life. She had to watch out for anypony shooting spells or Pegasi flying down on her. She had a hard time just trying to lose them. The worst part about it was that Snowdrop’s snowflakes would signal where she was, Twilight could easily teleport, and Hazel and Hester were trying to block her path by Hester’s freeze spells. Lauren was about to lose it as she felt like she couldn’t run anymore. She ran into the center of the Garden, where Queen Faust stopped her. Looking behind her, the others were already stalking her like an animal, especially those who were in Pony form.
“I don’t know why, but you won’t ever make it back into this realm ever again!” Queen Faust said as the she raised the Blade up in the air.
The gem! Lauren thought. The gem controls them!
At that moment, when she had the chance, Lauren jumped up as high as she could and snatched the Quillette Blade out of Queen Faust’s grasp. She had to destroy the gem that was on it as the others closed in on her. She pulled the gem off the Blade and threw it on the ground as hard as she could, breaking it into a million pieces.
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” Queen Faust cried out.
A Sonic Rainboom followed after, spreading across the field filled with all the residents in the Wonderland. As the ring passed through them, they all snapped back to normal. Their eyes and teeth returned to the normal color and size, respectively. As soon as that occurred, a white glow began to surround Lauren, catching her off guard. Everypony present just gaped as the scene unfolded.
Then the glow began to dissipate. As it did, Lauren suddenly had two other forms with her. One was like that of her Human-slash-reality counterpart. The other was her own Pony Form, resembling Queen Faust, but without a robe and her cutie mark was the same, but the bottle of ink was mahogany, not red. All three were suspended in mid-air, until the other two went into Lauren. She momentarily turned into her Human counterpart, then her Pony Form, before going back to her Equestria Girl one. The, she floated easily back on the ground.
“It’s her. The Maker is here!” Twilight cried out.
Queen Faust was still angry. “What are you talking about?! I’m the Queen of this realm! Our maker will never arrive!”
“Twilight, where did you say you found Lauren?” Snowdrop asked.
“At her office” Twilight then remembered it. “At Hasbro!”
“Wait a minute! When Lauren saved Hester and she asked her name, she said…” Hazel then gasped.
“Lauren Faust!” Hester was wide-eyed.
“No” Queen Faust shook her head. “That can’t be true. Anypony on my side, seize her!”
All who were present looked to each other. They each gave out a small murmur. Then Knighty just began to walk to them. The others looked on to see his decision. As second-in-command, his choice was now their choice. He walked up to Queen Faust first, and then headed to Lauren. Lauren bit her lip for his decision. She expected him to take Queen Faust’s side as they looked very close to each other. What she didn’t expect was that he just bowed to her.
Then the others who were Leaders of their sections followed. Then, before long, all of them were. The only exceptions were those who were Catholic, Christian, and Jewish; they just dipped their head as a sign of respect. Queen Faust herself was just astonished. She suddenly felt something being lifted off her head, and that was when she noticed her crown was lifted off her and floated in mid-air, and a beam of light froze her in place. When it got to Lauren, a certain Partner and Familiar duo reappeared suddenly as they placed the crown on Lauren. Lauren just felt at the crown as Hazel and Hester went infront of her, alongside Twilight Sparkle and Snowdrop.
“You are the true Queen of this realm, Lauren Faust. You are the true Queen of this Wonderland” Hester said.
Snowdrop and Twilight nodded.
“Are you sure?” Lauren was surprised. “I mean, yes, I made the show, but why should I be Queen?”
“Because your Creations, here they call you Mother” Twilight explained.
“Those who you assisted in their Creation, like me, we call you Auntie” Snowdrop added.
“And to us, your Bronies and Pegasisters, you are the Queen” Hazel added.
Lauren thought for a bit, and then smiled as she accepted her status.
All then heard a loud rumble. They were a bit scared, at first, but then they looked up to see why. Lauren saw it too. There were cracks forming in the sky. With each crack, shown a bright white light. What was happening? Was something wrong? Was this Wonderland about to shatter?
“What’s happening?” Lauren asked.
“It’s time to wake up” Hazel said.
“What?”
“This place is a type of Dreamland for us to all meet in. Once it begins to show cracks in the sky, it means that it’s morning, and time for us to go back to our real-world counterparts. But it will reset again, when its night and we all go to sleep, this place will come back for us to roam in”
“Will I still see you all again?”
Hazel giggled as she held Hester close. “Of course”
Lauren smiled as a glow began to envelope everypony. Then, one by one, they each seemed to fade away. Lauren closed her eyes, and before long, she herself went back to reality.
________________________________________
“Lauren!” a familiar voice rang out. “Lauren, dear, wake up!”
Lauren opened her eyes to the rays of sun to see that her husband, Craig was infront of her. She rubbed her eyes as she sat herself up. She looked around to see that she was in her house, in bed. How long was she out?
“Craig? How long was I out?” she asked.
“A while. Your boss called and said that he found you asleep in your office chair. We couldn’t wake you up so I had to come and drive you home. Then you slept the whole night” Craig explained as Lauren got to the bedside.
“I did?”
Craig nodded.
“Whoa” she then held her head.
“What’s wrong?”
“Oh, Craig, I just had the most peculiar dream!”
“Really?”
“Yeah”
Lauren then explained to Craig about the events in Wonderland. She had been able to remember and tell every detail. She first told about the fact that she jumped down an office hole for Twilight. The sight of meeting Nyx, Candy Burn, Catherine the Great, Screwball, and Dreamweaver. The sight of Anastasia teasing her brother Clementine Jr. as he helped a sleepy Sunny Shores up. The rage of Queen Faust ordering Execution on those who opposed her. The sudden disappearances and appearances of Hazel and Hester with their grins. Luna and the Children of the Night performing their story by song and dance. And the crowning of Lauren as Queen.
When she finished telling everything, it was affirmed to be peculiar indeed, as regarded by Craig. Lauren herself never forgot about the dream. Whenever she went to work on more of the show for her fans, she would sometimes look at the characters herself, and she swore that at one point, one of them would be smiling at her. About her fans, she would try and look around for those who helped her, including Hazel and Hester. She was surprised when she got a gift sent to her one day in her office, a small locket that had her Equestria Girl symbol engraved on it; the giver was unknown but it was said to be from a fan. As for her going to Wonderland, if she tried hard enough, she was able to spend her dreams with her fans, Creations, and OCs.