Chapter 1: The Beginning
Artemis once again surveyed the room, pleased with the unfolding of events. He had gathered all of his friends in the sitting room of Fowl Manor for his big unveiling, but he had told no one what it was. Holly Short and Juliet Butler were talking animatedly about the latest human and fairy trends. Artemis chuckled mentally; he had often thought that being around so many men would dampen Holly’s chance of “living a real girl’s life”, as Juliet would put it. His bodyguard and oldest friend, Butler, was absently cleaning his trademark Sig Sauer in the corner of the room. Mulch Diggums the dwarf was setting a very bad example, unhinging his jaw and throwing random foods in, while the demon N°1 egged him on. His twin brothers, Myles and Beckett, were drawing with crayons on the table. Myles was an exceptional artist; even at the age of five, he had faithfully rendered what appeared to be a crackling bonfire. Foaly the centaur was talking to himself, muttering incessantly about new wings and jotting things down on a clipboard. He had brought with him a human named Connor, who had apparently been digging a well in an old Haitian village when he’d stumbled on an LEP weapons cache. He somehow managed to prove to Vinyaya and Trouble Kelp he wasn’t a threat to fairy society, and that he wouldn’t speak a word of it to anyone who didn’t know. (Let me just say it right now: You know I had to add an OC to this story. The mandates of heaven state that any My Little Pony fanfiction that aspires to be great must have an OC character.)
Connor sat down next to Artemis with a sigh and stared up at the enormous LCD flat-screen television mounted on the wall. An admittedly attractive young woman was arguing with a policeman on BBC.
“Puberty’s a bitch, Artemis,” he said, taking a long draught of coffee from a mug. Artemis chuckled.
“That it is, my friend. That it is.” His gaze almost instinctively drifted to Holly, settling on her heterochromatic eyes. Eyes that matched his exactly. After a few seconds, he snapped out of his trance and returned to watching the drama, but Connor had noticed. He grinned and started to speak, but Artemis cut him off.
“If you tell anyone, I will make sure your entrails are hanging from a California redwood, so high up only the vultures could reach them.” His smile widened.
“All I wanted to know was whether you liked her or not, and I just got an answer.” He blocked a hasty swipe from Artemis, who sighed.
“I guess I did set myself up for that one.” Artemis got up and circled around to Foaly, who was now scribbling on his papers with incredible speed. “Foaly, I believe it’s time we start.” Foaly looked up from his notes.
“Alright, Artemis, but I’m warning you: nothing good will come out of this.”
“I know, but what’s the point if there wasn’t any risk?” Artemis retorted, settling his nerves. By now, the room was completely silent; even Myles and Beckett has stopped drawing to listen.
“I know you’re wondering why I gathered you here today.” Connor immediately facepalmed.
“Artemis, if you say any more cheesy crap, so help me God…” his free hand curled into a fist. Artemis grimaced.
“Alright, I get it,” he said quickly, waving down the teenager. “Anyway, Foaly and I have finally finished developing something that will put even N°1’s magic to shame.” The demon in question raised an eyebrow but didn’t respond. He nodded to Foaly, who pressed a button on a small fob watch. With a smooth grinding sound, an archway appeared in the room.
The curved steel was navy blue and shaped like an omega. Soft greenish light pulsated from inside it; a signature form of demon and fairy magic mixing.
“As you can see, Foaly and I have built a device that, when activated, will rip open the boundaries in the space time continuum and allow us to access other universes,” Artemis explained to the bewildered audience. Connor raised a hand.
“By that, do you mean parallel universes, or just shattering the boundaries into a random dimension?” he asked.
“I truthfully don’t know,” Artemis admitted. “But I do know that if we have four or more magical beings transported at once, we can have some semblance of control over the destination.”
“But there are only four magical creatures in the room,” Holly pointed out. “Me, Mulch, Foaly, and N. Foaly will need to stay behind to watch for our return, so who’s up?”
Artemis cursed himself silently. “Well,” he admitted sheepishly, “I may or may not have stolen just a little bit of magic in the time stream.”
“What?!” Holly shouted, knocking over the coffee table. “Artemis, you could’ve gotten yourself killed!”
“She’s right,” N said gravely. “As a human, your body isn’t used to magic, even after spending a few years with Holly and Foaly. The magic could have just as easily backfired and burned you to dust as it could have accepted you.”
“I personally don’t see the problem here,” Connor said. “The magic has already accepted him; he’s tried mesmerizing me a few times already. What’s in the past is in the past.”
“Thank you, Connor,” Artemis said. He gestured to the archway. “Now, anyone who wants to try it, follow.” Artemis stepped into the archway. Connor jumped up to follow, as did Butler. The fairy people followed suit. As Foaly prepared the archway for activation, Artemis saw Connor jump out of the gate out of the corner of his eye. He dashed over to the couch, quickly kissed Juliet on the mouth, and ran back. Juliet looked torn between anger and a dreamy smile, while Butler had the look in his eye that told people anyone in the vicinity would be in pain.
“He’s got guts,” Artemis muttered. “He may be an idiot, but he’s got guts.” He turned to a tap on his shoulder. Holly was looking at him, a smirk on her face.
“Damn right he does,” she said. “Oh, how do we control this thing, Artemis?”
“Just focus on civilization and sentient life for now.”
“Got it.” She looked away again, and Artemis turned his gaze onto Connor. In the light of the now shimmering arch, he looked ethereal. “You are a fool, you know that?”
“Oh, I know,” Connor said, dismissing it with the wave of a hand. “I’ve been dying to get that off my chest, though, and it’s good to see Butler actually show some emotion for once.” Artemis chuckled as Foaly pulled the final switch. He saluted Holly, Artemis and Butler.
“Stay safe, you three,” he said. He then leaned over and whispered something into Holly’s ear. She turned bright red.
“You twisted little donkey!” she said, swinging at him. Before her punch could connect, the room faded away, and Artemis blacked out.