Chapter 25: A Demented City

Harry and Twilight took long, heavy breaths as they rested near a fountain in the front courtyard of Canterlot Castle. The League Armies had so far been successful in preventing any of Opal's forces from penetrating the castle, but now it was only a matter of time. Harry knocked the dust and rubble out of his hair and off of his clothes and proceeded to splash some of the water in the fountain on his face.

"It doesn't look like this is going to end soon," coughed Twilight as she too splashed some water on her face.

"No. But, so far, our side seems to have things...somewhat under control," said Harry.

"Those aren't exactly the choice of words I'd choose but whatever."

"Come on. We better hurry and find Artemis before Koboi does."

"Right."

Harry and Twilight stepped away from the fountain and rushed through the main entrance into the castle.

Artemis was still in shock at the sight of his alternate personalities standing before him in the world of reality. Luna was confused and turned between Artemis and the others.

"They weren't here a few seconds ago," she breathed. "Artemis, who are they?"

"Orion and Opalline Fowl. They...were alternate personalities of mine locked deep within my psyche. It seems your prototype healing spell released them," replied Artemis.

"Is that even possible? To turn an alternate personality into a living, breathing being?"

"It apparently is because we're living proof of it," Orion answered. Luna looked, dumbfounded, at Orion and began looking between him and Artemis.

"You look just like-"

"I know. The resemblance in uncanny."

"Using the word "uncanny" is an understatement."

"Excuse me!" snapped Opalline. "Don't we have a battle going on right now?"

"Right!" said Orion.

"What are you going to do now, Opalline?" asked Artemis. "You're now actually your own person. I can only assume that you're going to go and join Opal. You are almost a carbon copy of her."

"I don't know. I think I'll take a walk around this new world to clear my head," replied Opalline. She then spun around and ran through the doorway.

"She almost looks exactly like-" Luna began.

"I know," Artemis interrupted. "It's a long story."

"Too many long stories. Why can't there ever be short ones?" Orion pondered. Just then, the world shook and Artemis, Luna, and Orion found themselves falling to the ground. "What the hell was that?"

"They've started an attack on the castle! We must hurry!" exclaimed Luna as she helped Artemis up.

"You two go do what you can to ward off the invaders!" ordered Artemis.

"What are you going to do then?" asked Orion.

"I'm going to take care of Opal."

With that said, Artemis ran out of the room and down the hallway opposite the direction Opalline went in. This had to end. It would end. He pulled out his Neutrino and prepared for the oncoming fight.

"Sonic!" called Chris Thorndyke as he found himself, along with Spike, cornered by a pack of goblins. Spike tried to scare them away with a blast of fire but they simply laughed.

"We conjure fire you stupid dragon! What makes you think you could hurt us?" chuckled the obvious leader of the pack. Chris reached for a blaster that he had in his pocket but it was knocked away by one of the goblins. "Finish them!"

All of the goblins began to conjure up fireballs in their hands when a blue streak crashed into them and sent them flying. Chris grabbed his blaster from the ground and smiled at the sight of the blue hedgehog.

"Thanks for coming!" Chris chuckled.

"No problem! Excuse me for just a moment!" said Sonic as he raced away to rescue some Canterlot civilians from a pair of menacing dwarfs.

Ginny, Rainbow Dash, and the others were doing fairly well fighting in the skies above Canterlot. Even Derpy Hooves was catching a few Changelings by surprise. They had just managed to ward off another group of Death Eaters when the air around them began to turn cold. This was incredibly strange for it was early spring and it was usually very warm around this time of the year.

"Oh no," breathed Ginny.

"What is it?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"That!"

Ginny pointed off in the distance at a large, black cloud moving towards the city at a fast pace. Rainbow Dash still didn't understand what it was but Ginny knew, and she knew that this was definitely a big problem.

Artemis was still running. He had his Neutrino at the ready and he was growing extremely tired with every step. He soon came to a intersection between two hallways and leaned against the wall for a few seconds of rest. He then heard footsteps racing down the hallway and he got his Neutrino ready. Just as the source of the footsteps reached the intersection he jumped out and aimed his Neutrino. He sighed with relief as he saw Harry and Twilight freeze in place in front of him.

"Artemis!" cried Twilight in shock.

"What are you two doing up here?" asked Artemis as he put his Neutrino down.

"Looking for you," replied Harry.

"Why?"

"We were a little bit worried about you," said Twilight.

"Don't worry. The problem's been fixed."

"How?" asked Harry.

"Princess Luna used a prototype spell on me that turned my Orion and Opal Koboi personalities into living beings."

"Wait a minute...are you saying that Princess Luna turned alternate personalities of yours, mere thoughts existing inside you mind, into living, breathing beings with a spell?" asked a dumbfounded Twilight.

"It sounds impossible and confusing but it happened."

"I'm not really that surprised that something like that would happen to you," Harry chuckled.

"Glad to see that we're finally on the same page, Mr. Potter."

Harry and Artemis chuckled until they noticed the temperature take a sudden, large drop.

"Is it just me or did it just become incredibly cold?" asked Twilight as she began to shiver.

"It's not just you," replied Artemis.

"It can't be," breathed Harry as he began to run down the hallway.

"Where are you going?" asked Twilight as she and Artemis began running after him.

"I need to find a window or a balcony!"

"Why?" asked Artemis. Harry remained silent and continued to run. He had his wand at the ready and looked incredibly terrified.

Artemis and Twilight followed Harry to a doorway that led out to a balcony. Harry opened the doors and stepped out onto the balcony. Artemis and Twilight were still confused as Harry looked around with a look of terror etched onto his face.

"What in the name of Celestia are you looking for?" asked Twilight as she attempted to catch her breath. Harry finally found what he was looking for and pointed his wand at it.

"That!" he breathed. Artemis and Twilight turned in the direction Harry was looking at. At first glance, it looked as if a massive, black cloud was approaching Canterlot at a deadly speed. It wasn't until further analysis that the Irish genius and the lavender unicorn noticed what was terrifying the boy who lived.

The cloud was not a cloud at all. Instead it was a massive group of horrible, cloaked figures. They had long rotted arms, faces of rotted skin, and toothless holes for mouths.

"Dementors," uttered Artemis.

"I should have expected Koboi to form an army of Dementors," said Harry as he readied his wand. The Dementors were drawing closer with every second. A huge chunk of them had now sensed the presence of Artemis, Harry, and Twilight and were now flying towards them. Artemis and Twilight felt completely helpless. The only one out of the three of them who could produce the Patronus Charm was Harry, though Harry had managed to ward off an army of Dementors in the past.

"Expecto Patronum!" cried Harry. A large, silver stag erupted from Harry's wand and flew at the Dementors. The Dementors let out shrieks of pain as the stag collided with them. The stag continued on and flew into the massive army of Dementors. Many flew away but the cloud ultimately broke up into smaller militias of Dementors. The Dementors flew down towards the city, ready to take the souls of all members of the League Armies.

"Twilight!" said Artemis. "Try to cast a Patronus Charm!"

"I can't. That magic isn't of my world!" she cried.

"Just try! Think of the happiest moment in your life and focus on it!"

Twilight nodded and focused. She closed her eyes and began scanning through several different memories. Her birthday party in Canterlot. The day she got her cutie mark. Her defeat of the Ursa Minor. The day she met Artemis and the others. Then she found it. The day Princess Celestia allowed her to stay in Ponyville with her friends. The happiness overwhelmed her. Her eyes opened wide and glowed white. Her horn also glowed white and, suddenly, a massive, silver dragon burst from her horn. It roared with hunger as it flew at the hordes of Dementors. The wizards below casting their own Patronus Charms watched in amazement as Twilight's dragon Patronus soared through the air and engulfed the Dementors in pure light. The Dementors screamed in pain and some even began to burn. The Dementors turned away from the city and flew away as the dragon continued to chase them. It wasn't until the Dementors had vanished beyond the horizon that the dragon disappeared. Twilight's eyes returned to normal and she collapsed, exhausted from her incredible feat.

"Twilight!" exclaimed Harry as he ran towards the collapsed unicorn. Artemis was the first to reach her and cradled her in his arms like a younger sibling. "Is she going to be okay?"

"Just fine," replied Artemis as he pulled out his vial of experimental healing potion. "She did pull off an amazing feat of magic."

Artemis poured a few drops of the potion into Twilight's mouth and watched as the healing process commenced. After several long seconds it came to a stop and Twilight opened her eyes.

"Thanks for saving me again," she said with a snarky grin.

"We're just glad that you're alright," said Artemis.

"Yeah," chuckled Harry. Artemis, Harry, and Twilight laughed happily.

"Look out!" cried a familiar voice. Artemis turned around to see the giant form of Princess Celestia flying towards him. Artemis watched as the white alicorn jumped in front of him and was instantly knocked back by a powerful force.

"Princess Celestia!" cried Twilight as she got up. The Princess groaned in agony as several deep gashes appeared all over her body.

"Artemis...Koboi," groaned Celestia as she began to lose consciousness.

"Stay with me, Princess! Stay with me! Artemis! The healing potion!"

Twilight turned to Artemis but found him standing a few feet away, his Neutrino aimed at something. Harry and Twilight looked past Artemis to see a crazed Opal Koboi facing them, a wizard's wand held tightly in her bloody hand.