//------------------------------// // Greetings...from Planet Dementia // Story: Artemis Fowl: The Equine Dominion // by _No_One_Remains_ //------------------------------// Several minutes passed as the ponies gathered around the crater. Concerned gasps continued to erupt from their mouths periodically, while Butler slowly approached the impact site with a severe sense of dread growing in his gut. The large brute made it to the edge of the pit just in time for a large chunk of the ground to give way, nearly causing him to slide in and join its residents at the bottom. A loud, annoyed groan roared from the crater as a single hand gripped a section of solid ground. Its owner began to pull himself from the hole; fatigue obvious by the arm’s trembling. Butler lunged downward and gripped the hand, immediately assisting in the boy’s climb from the pit. A mix of relief and confusion simultaneously flooded the bodyguard’s mind as he assisted his charge in regain his footing. A large group of the ponies cheered, excited to see that at least one victim had survived. The survivor, however, was not as happy about it. He shook his head vigorously and slapped himself multiple times, eventually deciding that he wasn’t dreaming this bizarre series of events. He sighed, “I simply can’t catch a break today, old friend…” Butler chuckled, “What do you mean, Artemis? You’re alive, aren’t you?” He gently slapped a large hand on his friend’s back, grinning happily that his employer was still breathing. The genius groaned, “That’s the problem…” He turned back toward the crater and addressed the purple unicorn on the edge of it, “I highly doubt your friend survived the impact, though considering I’m still living, it is possible. As for Juliet, she’s too stubborn to be killed by such a trivial fate.” “Juliet?” his companion asked bluntly. “She came back with you?!” His eyes adopted the shine of a deathly-concerned sibling. A feminine voice coughed from the edge of the impact site, “It wasn’t on purpose, bro… It just kinda…happened.” Juliet’s hair shined a comforting golden color in the midday sun of the foreign world. Butler’s mind was set at ease by her appearance from the hole. Twilight addressed Artemis, “You said something about our friend? You mean Fluttershy, right?” She had a look of concern on her face, a common characteristic nowadays. “Of course. She’s the whole reason I returned, was she not?” Artemis dusted his ruined jacket off as he slowly recovered from the impact’s effects. He scowled as his eyes caught the ripped sleeve, where the bandage remained intact after all the chaos. His bodyguard’s eyes caught the bandage as well. Without missing a beat, the brute mumbled, “What is the bandage for; have you been injured?” He leaned down to examine the wrappings more intensely. The boy scoffed, “It’s nothing worth concern. Miss Fluttershy and I had a slight confrontation in the manor earlier today, resulting in a kitchen knife accidentally grazing my arm. It was all in unfortunate placement of utensils.” He took a quick glance back down at the bandage. Something about it seemed off to him, but he couldn’t quite grip the cause of unease. A quiet voice squeaked from the hole as a few bits of rubble shifted under the source’s weight, “Are you okay, Juliet?” The yellow Pegasus was met with loud cheer by her friends and fellow ponies. The three humans let out relieved sighs at seeing her healthy while Twilight greeted her with a tight hug. Artemis, whose eyes were still glued to his bandage, chuckled, “I must thank you Miss Fluttershy for your assistance in keeping Juliet and me alive.” The pony grinned sheepishly and mumbled, “No problem…” She followed the boy’s eyes to the bandage, immediately recalling the knife she had inadvertently stabbed him with. She darted to his side and asked, “Is your arm all better now?” The gathering ponies were taken aback by their friend’s lack of concern for her own health. The boy cocked an eyebrow and groaned, “I’m not certain. Why do you ask?” “Well, there’s no blood on the bandage, and it was a deep cut…” Fluttershy gently poked the general area of the wound with the tip of her hoof. Artemis, feeling no pain, suddenly realized that she was right. The knife pierced deep enough that it immediately drew blood, and the wrappings had been soaked a few hours prior. On top of that, he felt no pain from the irritation of the wounded area. He hastily unwrapped the medical binding, wondering just why there were no signs of a wound. Both he and the concerned Pegasus let out confused grunts once the dressing had been removed. Right where Fluttershy’s hoof had touched—where the knife had unmistakably pierced the flesh—was nothing but smooth skin. There were no gashes or scars. Not even a single drop of blood, dried or fresh, rested near where the wound once was. Fluttershy cheered, “Well, it’s good to see you healed up so quickly!” It became painfully obvious to Butler at that moment that what Twilight had told him before was absolutely true. Even though Artemis had practically kidnapped her, she still only concerned herself with the wound she had accidentally inflicted. The large brute shook his head in silence. Juliet smiled warmly at the sensitive nature of the yellow pony. Artemis remained completely dumbfounded, his eyes locked on the missing incision. His mind began to stir as everything he’d been through suddenly exploded in his brain. After a few seconds of silence, Twilight cheered, “Well, it’s good to know everyone’s still alive! That impact looked painful; are you sure you’re okay Fluttershy?” The purple unicorn cocked her head to the side, remembering how Rainbow Dash had been injured easily from a moderately short fall. “Of course!” the shy pony giggled. She glanced toward Juliet and whispered, “She’s a really nice person, Twilight. I think she saved me earlier this morning.” The subject of the discreet exchange perked up, catching a small bit of what the pony said. She giggled, “I do what I can to keep these two guys in check!” She waved a teasing hand toward her brother, who was still pondering the kindness of the world’s residents. The brute groaned, “She likes to think she can stop us, but when the young master sets his mind on something, I fear that’s impossible.” Butler turned his attention to his charge, which was still locked in place by thought. His sister continued, “They wouldn’t make it far without me by their side! I’m Juliet, by the way.” She reached out toward Twilight, feeling like it was only the polite thing to do, despite their lack of actual hands. The unicorn happily gripped the human’s hand with the cleft of her hoof, a sensation that the former found to be both uncomfortable and surreal. The latter giggled, “I’m Twilight Sparkle, and it’s a pleasure to meet you Juliet!” As soon as the exchange was finished, the youngest of the humans burst out with an angry grunt. He immediately caught the attention of everyone in the area, especially startling his bodyguard out of concern and the shy pony out of surprise. His face flushed a bright red as his eyes shined with a certain sign of intense frustration. Artemis roared, “Nothing about this makes even the tiniest sliver of sense! Everything in this damn world is broken and backwards!” He thrashed an arm around, beginning a brisk pace to and fro. Fluttershy began to back up slowly, merging with the crowd inconspicuously. Juliet reached out for the boy and sighed, “Calm down, Arty!” “Don’t tell me to calm down!” he rebutted. “I was fine when I opened a door between the worlds. I was fine when a flying horse came back to our world. I was fine when I learned that the device was a two-way gate. But this—this is just inane garbage!” He pointed his dominant hand at the missing wound. Butler groaned, “This world is filled with magic, Artemis. Perhaps that energy healed your wound when we first arrived…” The angry genius roared, “No, no, no! I don’t care what kind of ‘magic’ this world has, physics are laws! The way you swatted aside that blue pest was simply impossible, and surviving that fall was even more so. On top of all that, I am a human; I possess no magic! There’s no way that some random energy would heal me without attracting my attention!” He stopped pacing and stood stock-still in front of Twilight. The somewhat-uneasy unicorn stammered, “W-well, it is possible for some loose magic to find you while you’re here. I don’t see why it can’t, anyway.” She smiled sheepishly at the still-raging human. Artemis stomped a foot and groaned, “Fine, your silly magic healed me. But how do you explain all of the science behind her ability to fly and that apparently non-lethal fall?” He crossed his arms and focused intensely on the frightened pony. Twilight tried to think of something to say. She finally choked out, “I guess magic would answer all of—” “Magic can’t be the answer to everything! What kind of world are you imbeciles living in?! There has to be some way to logically explain all of this rubbish! Nothing about ‘magic’ makes and sense! I can’t believe that you—!” The angry genius suddenly fell silent, his breathing suddenly stopping along with his movement. The boy fell limp on the ground, everyone in the crowd surrounding him. Both Butler and Juliet attempted to lift him to his feet, all the while shouting something inaudible to him. Everything around him fell silent. He heard a faint breeze blow around him, though he noted that there were no leaves in the vicinity rustling. Following the breeze, and just as faint, a voice called out to him. It sounded slightly demented, almost cynical. "You want to make sense of things? Aw, but what fun is there in making sense?" In an instant, Artemis regained his sense of hearing, and could tell almost immediately that Butler was panicked beyond his wits. When the boy shifted his eyes to look at the bodyguard, he noticed that there was a small pool of blood right by where his head lay. The sight of the crimson liquid in such a large quantity sent the genius’s mind spinning. His vision started to fade, and the sounds around him fell mute once more. He muttered something he couldn’t hear to his human companions as his vision faded. The cynical voice’s words continued to echo as he faded from consciousness.