Artemis Fowl II arrived in the exact location he had hoped to be. The world came into focus barely a yard in front of the library-home of Twilight Sparkle, a grin of perpetual success gracing his features. Finally, something was going right for him after all the failures of the previous day. He noticed something slightly off about his current position—it was still barely sunrise.
The genius noted under his breath, “It seems our worlds sit on different time axes. This is a very interesting detail, one that I’m glad to have discovered. I suppose if my plights ever came to brute force, it would be wise to know when all the ponies are asleep…” As he finished his musings, the door of the tree-based house swung open hurriedly, and a little purple creature stumbled through the threshold and into the early-morning air.
The creature didn’t seem to notice Artemis’s presence, which was fine by him. No, instead the creature continued its lazy walk off into town, assumedly on a fetch quest for the owner of the home. With that thought, the boy approached the threshold, knocked loudly on the open door, and let himself in. Twilight stood by the far bookshelf, picking out books with her telekinesis-like magic, and placing them on the floor beside her.
The genius caught a glimpse of the spine of one single book. The title sent his heart aflutter for several moments, before regaining his senses. After a few seconds of this pattern somewhat-repeating, he decided that his host was fully unaware of his presence, despite the loud series of knocks from before.
Artemis cleared his throat and announced, “My dear Twilight is this any way to treat a guest?” The book currently in the air fell with a thud as the unicorn jerked her attention to the human.
She placed a hoof on her head and gasped, “I didn’t expect to see you so soon, Artemis! You should’ve said you were coming!” She scrambled around the bookcases for a few moments before groaning, “I don’t even have my supplies ready!”
The word echoed in the boy’s mind for several seconds. What on earth would she need in order to give him a little interview? He cast away the thought and chuckled, “No need to be so flustered, Twilight. You asked for a Q&A session, and here I am. Although I must admit that it is quite early in your world.” Her expression shifted from panic to curiosity as he finished his comment.
“What do you mean ‘early in my world’? Is it later where you’re from?” She lifted the fallen book onto the pile at her side and pulled a sheet of paper from the nearby end table.
“Back in my world, it is at least midday. However, here it barely seems to be dawn. It’s an interesting bit of trivia, but nothing too substantial. That being the case, I can only assume my message from earlier woke you up.” He looked down at his device, then to his jacket pocket where he’d placed Twilight’s message.
The unicorn giggled, “Yeah, it sure did. But that’s fine, since I had a lot of preparing to do for our meeting.” She waved a hoof at the stack of books she’d been picking out all morning.
Artemis took a moment to ponder the pile. Based solely on the dimensions of the books, he estimated that altogether, they had to weigh at least one-hundred kilos. He scoffed, “I appreciate your time and effort, Ms. Sparkle, but I don’t see how I can carry all of them back with me.”
Twilight giggled, “Actually, I was going to let you look through them and discuss some things, then pick whichever ones you wanted to take. I mean, if you want to take them all, go right ahead!” She lifted one book with magic and sent it floating toward her guest.
The genius cracked a smile when he saw which book it was. The very same he had spotted on his arrival to the library—Manifesting Magic: Princess Celestia’s Guide to Controlling Your Power. The second it reached his hands, he cracked it open to the author’s notes. The print was faded, and in the current level of illumination it was unreadable. The bottom of the page was fully printed with the publication date and the author’s biography.
“What year is this Ms. Sparkle?” he asked, attempting to piece together the age of the tome he currently held.
Twilight placed a hoof to her muzzle and sighed, “The year is 1472 A.C.” She noticed his lack of understanding of the initials and explained, “A.C. stand for ‘after the rise of Celestia’.”
Artemis let out a loud laugh, “So this book was written over 1200 years ago by the ruler of the kingdom? She must have been a very wise leader.” He closed the tome, deciding he would need better lighting to even begin reading. The very person whom the time was named after was the very being to write the book. That seemed almost too convenient.
“What do you mean? She still is a wonderful ruler!” Twilight snapped, adopting a tone of indignation.
He silenced his laugh immediately. He scoffed, “What do you mean? You mean this ‘Celestia’ person is still in power today? That’s absolutely ludicrous! Perhaps her descendants adopted her namesake, but there’s no chance of it--!”
“It’s the exact same alicorn, Artemis.” Twilight Sparkle looked angrily serious, and her glare sent a shiver down the boy’s spine. “She’s the same princess that sealed away Discord 1472 years ago, the same princess who banished her sister to the moon over 1000 years ago, and the same princess that protects her subjects today.”
“Are you bloody serious? How can that be?” Artemis could tell she wasn’t lying, and yet his knowledge of the mortal nature of all living creatures refused to let him believe her.
Twilight sent him another tome with her magic. This one read The Nature of Magic: Immortal and Limitless. There were bits of information scattered on the first few pages, talking about how the Princesses of Sun and Moon were immortal with their deep inner-silos of magical energy. The notes discussed how magic could bring about the life and death of a creature if focused in enough quantity.
One short comment stood out to Artemis more than any other.
“Long ago, the denizens of our world would focus their magical powers together to create special minerals and objects like gold and diamonds to offer to the demon Discord. This practice was once known as Alchemy. When our Goddesses came to power, that art was abandoned for simpler uses.”
The wheels in his head kicked into overdrive. “So if I understand this correctly, concentrating enough magic into one spot can be used to create genuine gold?”
Twilight nodded and said, “Most ponies don’t do that anymore. We usually just use our magic for everyday tasks. Even though unicorns and alicorns are the only ones that can manifest magic physically, the other races still use it.” She sent him another tome. “Turn to page 342.”
Artemis examined the title closely. “Everything to Know about Ponies: A Report on the Nature of the Races. Sounds very…deep.” He then turned to the instructed page, several highlighted passages immediately catching his attention.
“Despite what most might believe, each of the four races does, in fact, manifest magic in their everyday lives. Earth ponies, the bland, ordinary creatures without wings or horns, use the magic they manifest to give them greater physical attributes. Bulky builds, resistance to pain, and superior strength can all be attributed to magic.
“Likewise, a Pegasus, the winged creature that controls weather patterns, uses its magic to keep its wings from giving out under intense g-forces. Based on its stature, a Pegasus’s wings would not normally be able to lift it even a foot from the ground. Their flight is all thanks to the presence of magic in their bodies, focused primarily in their wings.
“Unlike the other races, unicorns manifest their magic more obviously. The horns on their heads concentrate the magic within to give it physical form, allowing for multiple productive and visible uses. Being able to lift objects from afar, change the properties of an item, or just send messages from long distances are all abilities presented through the use of a unicorn’s magic.
“Alicorns, the creatures that possess both wings and horns—our dear Princess Celestia being a prime example—manifest magic in a combination of ways. Essentially, an alicorn uses its magic in the same way as all the other races, in that it manifests the energy in all three manners. Alicorns tend to excel in all areas of magical prowess, because their inner tanks can hold more at a time than any other race. This being the case, alicorns that do not use their magic in vast quantities can turn that extra energy into pure life force. Thus the reason why alicorns tend to live for ages longer than others.”
Artemis beamed a sly grin at the book he held in his hands. He chuckled, “You mean to tell me that magic can both create rare minerals and bestow immortality upon someone?” The gears in his mind turned faster and faster as he interpreted the information he’d been given. It was at this point that he began to develop his overall grand scheme. If the art of Alchemy worked as the book described, then his chances of regaining his family’s lost fortune were steadily increasing.
Twilight giggled, “I’m glad to see you take such an interest in our culture and world.”
“Oh yes, I am quite intrigued by all this information. Tell me, your Princess Celestia is an immortal creature, correct?” He placed a hand on his chin, pondering what course of action to take directly to lead him to his desired conclusion.
“Of course. So is her sister.” she confirmed.
“She rules over the entire kingdom of Equestria, correct?”
“That’s right.”
“I originally came to this world to establish diplomatic relationships with the lands therein. I suppose your princess is the pony to speak to on that accord?” The genius had decided to resume his diplomatic approach to meeting his goal.
“That makes sense to me.” Twilight cheered.
“Then, you being so devoted to her honor, might you be able to set up an audience with her on my behalf?” A sly grin graced his features once again.
“I can try. I’m sure she’d love to meet you, since you’re from another world and all.” The unicorn adopted a happy grin and took her books back from the boy.
“Excellent…”
Nicely done. I love how Artemis is still very devious. It should be interesting to see what happens when he meets Celestia.
Dun Dun DUN!!!
The manipulations have begun.......
1961561 I bet she'll see right through him....
1963156
Y'sure? This is Artemis Fowl the Junior we're talking about here.
1963483
Even so, Artemis has only dealt with mortals so far. Besides that, she's well over a thousand years old, so she's going to have plenty of experience dealing with all sorts of people.
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I've only read the first three chapters and I already finding big differences in there personalities.
Butler is the biggest problem.
1: he doesn't talk nearly as much and when he does it's usually single words.
2: He is extremely loyal to Artemas being his Butler from birth. He doesn't seem very loyal in this story.
3: I don't recall ever reading about him using throwing knifes. He is more of a close-range hand to hand fighter.
4: You make him sound more like a mercenary bully then a butler.
Artemis has a couple problems as well.
1: He never loses his composure unless in EXTREME situations.
2: He always always thinks several steps ahead and would have a plan for when he gets to Equestria. He shows this best in the first book when he only acts when he knows almost every outcome of his actions.
3: In the first books he is shown as a cold and analytical. In this story he seems prone to sporadic outbursts of emotions.
1966685 It doesn't matter how composed and normal you are, if a strange foreign creature suddenly rammed you in the head after potentially killing your employee, you'd be mildly upset in the least. As for his outbursts of emotion, he has one after Fluttershy's 'attack' (which is rational as a fight-or-flight response), and one down the road in Equestria (after learning everything he ever knew about physics and science to be rubbish in the pony world). I'll explain specifically why he snaps in the pony world later on in the tale.
As for Butler...yes. He was always business and no fun, when he needed to be. But when there is no mission directly in front of you needing to be accomplished, why act all serious? While I'm not sure why you say he isn't acting loyal (willingness to kill a living creature that isn't a direct threat is unlike him), I can assure you that using throwing knives is not beyond his ability, given his aforementioned expertise and arsenal. So let me ask you: The jobs Artemis had Butler do in the series...are they not reminiscent of a mercenary? You never really hear Artemis say "clean up those dishes" but instead hear "dispatch those hostiles".
1966685 Not to mention that Artemis really CAN'T plan everything in super advance, because he's dealing with a world with entirely new rules from his own. You can't plan for variables when the entire equation is essentially one big one.
Concentrating magic to make gold? Heading straight to the top management? Oh, he is going to flip his lid when he finds out about gem-finding spells. Most humans in Equestria make the Mane 6 their harem. Artemis is here to make them his cartel!
(Since that expedition is what he has in mind for this money, and gold can be summoned from pure magic, I bet asking nicely for help would work. That's not his usual style at this point in life though, so I guess he's going to dismiss that right away.)
Celestia knows what Arty's game is about
I am perturbed by the blatant use of the word "spawn" throughout this series. The series is good, don't get me wrong, but spawn pertains to fish eggs, and really isn't accurate as a gaming term either...
“Excellent…”
I'm picturing Artemis sitting in a tall leather chair, stroking a cat in his lap.
(I know that's not his style, but still!)
3266689 Yeah, he would be stroking a computer xD
2304175 Spawn, when not used as a gaming term means offspring. A. K. A everything living.
Also I never once noticed the word spawn in here.
4155370
2304175
Spawn is a perfectly valid gaming turn. Go suck an egg.
Uh oh...
4685970 What do you mean, turn? Did you mean plot turn? Because I think the proper term is 'Plot twist'. Also, what Dogman35 said had nothing to do with spawn not being a proper gaming 'turn'. He simply noted the other definition. In other words, you are being a undeniable, and proper, douche.