Hummingbirds
The silent wings sliced the air with insect-like speed, lifting both of the LEPrecon officers into the air with almost no resistance. Artemis stared in awe at the silent machines as they proved themselves worthy of the task Mulch had volunteered for them. Wings. Artificial wings as backpack attachments for the officers’ suits had given the boy even more information on the fairy people. For instance, despite the title of ‘fairy,’ they obviously couldn’t fly naturally.
“You really should be ashamed, Julius. So caught up in your helmets and guns you completely forgot about the wings!” Mulch chortled smugly as the officers gained a feel for the Equestrian air. Munching away at the various warped bugs he found in the corrupt soil, the dwarf enjoyed the silent appreciation of his fellow fairies.
Commander Root landed with more grace than could be expected, his face a light shade of red. His brow furrowed in frustration, he snapped, “You could’ve mentioned these earlier, Diggums! We could’ve been in Canterlot hours ago if we hadn’t climbed those cliffs!” Taking off once more, the red in his face faded.
“So these devices allow fairies to fly…” Artemis mused. “How much weight can they support, exactly? I dare to guess they can’t exactly carry all of us.”
In the intervening moments as the fairies first equipped their tech, Twilight Sparkle had been caught up to speed on the situation. She sighed, “I could probably levitate one or two of us. Not Butler, obviously, but maybe Juliet.” Taking a second to run through her thoughts, she added, “I still think we should fix my friends!”
Artemis tittered, “I’m afraid we just can’t do that, Ms. Sparkle. We have to reach Foaly’s machine before anyone else. And besides, Butler, how many bullets do you have left?”
The hulking human slid the clip from his pistol and counted, “Two.”
“Two bullets, and we simply need at least one in order for my plan to work. Just reaching the box will be insufficient. You understand, don’t you Twilight?” The boy couldn’t help but feel a twinge of guilt at the thought of abandoning the unicorn’s friends. If this plan didn’t pan out, they’d be trapped in stone forever, unless Discord decided to change that.
Captain Short glided along the ground and unbuckled the belt around her waist. She clipped one of its tiny hooks onto Butler’s shoulders; the brute went flying into the air as she elevated once more. The seemingly-weightless bodyguard flailed for a few moments as the feeling of flying sunk in. When he at last calmed down, the captain lowered him gently back down and unclipped the belt, the weight returning in an instant.
“Moonbelts!” she exclaimed, realizing that of all the equipment they had lost, their belts remained fully functional. While still a relatively new concept, she knew they would help get the job done much easier. “They reduce anything clipped on them to one-fifth its original weight by surrounding it in a gravity field! One of the greatest achievements of fairy technology if you ask me!”
Artemis cracked a smile, the guilt twisting into a knot in his stomach. In light of all the new technologies, he felt certain his plan would come to fruition without much trouble. He laughed, “There are seven of us. Two fairies with Moonbelts and wings, two small humans, one large human, a pony, and a dwarf. Assuming the Moonbelts can only carry two of us, Juliet and Butler should take one, while Twilight and I can take the other. Twilight can carry Mulch.” Whatever the limit on the Moonbelts, Artemis wasn’t willing to risk overloading them; they were crucial to the plan at this point.
Everyone shared glances, worries and expectations floating through the air with little sound. It was, at that moment, fair to assume that not a single person was particularly comfortable with the thought of heading toward the source of the insanity they’d been facing. Even before really entering the world, the humans had been influenced by Discord. And now they were headed right for his throne, something only done in stories and games.
The point of no return was upon them. They all felt it.
Despite not having her friends at her side, Twilight knew that Artemis’s plan was the best bet anypony had to return to normal. She stood tall as she nodded her acceptance of the idea.
The Butler siblings shared looks of worry for one another before nodding in agreement. Whatever the outcome, it couldn’t be worse than doing nothing.
Julius and Holly shared cocky grins, finally fully equipped and ready for action, their magic no longer suppressed by the strange world. Wings fluttering silently, they hovered barely off of the ground, the burden of gravity hardly a concern for them anymore.
Mulch didn’t even care. His mind was somewhere else entirely, already trying to find a way to sneak away from the officers in the case of victory. He couldn’t handle any more prison time; especially considering he had just escaped before the whole manor incident.
The knot in Artemis’s stomach tightened; guilt was something he’d never really experienced. Even when he had sold the very last living member of an entire species of lemur to a group of extinction-loving hunters, he’d barely batted an eye. But now, for some reason he was starting to understand, he couldn’t shake the guilt that the entire world was twisted because of him. It was his fault, because he wanted gold. It all came down to gold.
He sighed deeply, drawing everyone’s attention. His gaze distant, he spoke, “I suppose I owe you an explanation, fairies and pony alike.”
Butler cocked an eyebrow, the guilt in his charge’s voice catching him entirely off guard.
“I’m sorry to say that the entirety of this ordeal was caused by simple, idiotic greed. The lust for gold, no less!” The boy turned toward Twilight, realizing that this affected her worse than anyone else. After all, she was being forced to join the fight against a monster she’d already defeated once before. “Discord’s manipulation guided my hand, but I still wielded the knife of my own accord. I came to this world for only one reason, nothing diplomatic as I claimed, but for riches alone. I wanted gold.”
The fairies turned their wings off, standing on solid ground as they listened to the boy’s confession.
“Two years ago, my father, a world-renowned criminal, was lost at sea when his cargo ship was destroyed by an opposing faction of criminals. Over the course of those two years, I spent the majority of my family’s wealth searching for him and attempting to rebuild the empire lost with my father.” If one didn’t know Artemis, you could think he was about to cry. “I turned my eyes toward fairytales and make believe, searching for the proverbial leprechaun at the end of the rainbow and his pot of gold. When my attempts to find the fairy people failed, I looked at other legends.”
“And that’s when Discord struck?” Twilight guessed.
The boy sighed, “Indeed. An ancient tome found in some ruins on an uncharted island spoke of its people offering sacrifices to a demon in exchange for good fortune. The tome made it seem that the world was close to ours, and so I began crafting a device to tear down the walls between those worlds. Discord’s magic helped me do just that.” He ran a hand through his hair, “When I read in one of your books that ponies were once capable of performing alchemy, I felt I had found my source of gold.”
The unicorn finished his story with her own assumptions, “That’s why you wanted to meet with Princess Celestia. The greatest source of magic in Equestria would have to be able to perform alchemy.” Concern flooded her tone as she asked, “How far would you have been willing to go?”
“If Discord’s influence had allowed it, I would have used Butler’s brute force if necessary.”
The truth. The real reason they had all been trapped in Equestria and Discord was set free. There were no poker faces left, no more lies to keep. The entire truth was out and everyone knew the score. Artemis was a manipulative, greedy human, and Butler was his gunman. The ponies were targets just as the fairies had been.
“And now we’re gonna stop Discord!” Twilight cheered as the entire tone of the situation shattered. “Whatever you were going to do, you didn’t do it! Now we have to beat him and get things back to normal.”
Confusion filled everyone’s features, the happiness being so far out of place it might as well have been Discord’s doing. Artemis swam through countless questions, but decided on the obvious, “You aren’t upset?”
“You’re willing to help set things right, aren’t you? The way I see it, that makes up for the things you thought about doing.” Twilight smiled a warm smile, something Artemis hadn’t seen since before his father’s disappearance. It reminded him of his mother, and in turn the single outstanding variable in any assumption he could make.
No matter how the following hours played out, there was one question he would simply have to ask Discord. One answer was all that was missing from the deductions of the logically broken world.
Butler grunted, “I’ve never heard you apologize so sincerely, Artemis. Why the change of character?”
The boy considered the question carefully. “Discord loves a good game. And, like any game, the characters are required to develop throughout the narrative.” He was met with an all-too-expected unanimous confusion. “What better character development than that character’s own personal future?”
“Are you seriously trying to tell us that you—a manipulative, greedy Mud Boy—ends up a kind and selfless hero?” Captain Short scoffed, almost offended at the thought.
Artemis cracked a smile, waving a hand toward the absent-minded dwarf. “Take Mr. Diggums for example. According to you, he is a nefarious criminal whose sole joy comes from thievery. And yet the entire time you’ve been here, he’s done nothing but help you; first with overloading the helmet, then recovering your weapons, and now your mechanical wings.” He turned swiftly toward Butler and added, “Not to mention my own bodyguard—a man hired to follow orders indefinitely—growing a conscience and denying my orders.”
Commander Root growled, “Why does it even matter? We should be kicking that monster’s sorry butt, not discussing morals and maturity!” Turning his wings back on, he glided toward the Butler siblings and hooked them to his Moonbelt. Struggling only slightly, he lifted into the air.
Before the youngest human could object, Captain Short had him and the unicorn hooked onto her own belt. The boy hanging by his belt and the pony dangling from a saddlebag, the fairy captain cautiously increased altitude to match her commander’s. A purple aura swallowed Mulch even as he carelessly munched away at the bugs in his beard, carrying him up to their height. Twilight seemed hardly fazed by the effort.
Artemis called out, “Our goal is Foaly’s workstation! If I’ve calculated it correctly, the box will be our key to stopping Discord!” Bracing himself against his escort, he tucked his parchment even deeper into his tattered suit.
“I hope you know what you’re talking about, Mud Boy!” Root growled, kicking his wings into gear.
As the commander zipped by, Holly followed the lead, her wings humming faster and harder. With a small purple bubble trailing just behind them, the group of otherworldly creatures and one unicorn went soaring across the warped Equestrian landscape toward a city on the mountainside. It was in that city, the epicenter of Discord’s chaotic influence, that the fate of Equestria and its visitors would be decided.
And a thought continued to run through Artemis’s head as the stale air scratched at his face. No matter how this plays out, I lose. Gold, fairies, emotions; everything will be lost to me. He looked toward the glistening golden roof of the tallest tower in Canterlot, wondering just what kind of place it was before Discord’s corruption.
A world he’d helped twist, soon to be restored. Whether by his hands or Discord’s, everything would be set right.
He hoped.
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My favorite cartoon x my favorite book series
You have my attention.
Seriously, I got an excited chill in my gut I haven't felt since I first saw the Skyrim trailer. I sincerely hope this is good as it can be.
5136107 Eh, readers have been torn since the start. Mostly because of a serious OOC problem (which gets explained later, btw), but also because I think a lot of them expect Eoin Colfer-level writing from a fanfic.
Don't get your hopes too high, and you might not be disappointed!
5136234 Well, I've read the first chapter. On the one hand, the dialogue could have been better. The Fowl series was particularly good for it's character's banter and Artemis's arrogant yet awesome speeches. I understand, though, that noone can truly write Artemis like Eoin Colfer. On the other hand, Butler was out-maneuvered by a pegasus and Artemis was brained by a bunny, and that was awesome.
My final word before I delve back in is I hope the People aren't going to be completely ignored. It just wouldn't feel like a Fowl story without Holly.
5138187 Worth mentioning that the first chapter was just me taking what the original author had written and condensing it into one coherent chapter. Everything after that is my own work.
And trust me, the important People come in about half way through.
5136234 You aren't far off my friend, you really aren't far off!
One of the things I enjoyed about the Artemis Fowl series is how the author was able to come up with the most ridiculous shit and it would seem clever, and you've captured that perfectly. When you set up Discord I was slightly worried he would do what he does in a lot of fics and overshadow the main cast, but you've managed to keep a lid on his geniefromAladdin-style craziness and instead focus on his devious side, which far too few authors do, and I think works great.
Was Artemis' OOC-ness in the first few chapters always intentional, or did the plot evolve as a result of comments on your writing style? Either way, hats off to you. The way you twisted his seemingly irrational behaviour right round was simply genius.
Finally, this probably wasn't intentional, but I love how much like in the books, Artemis' tone never quite reflects the gravity of the situation. In particular, in the previous chapter it was almost like he was channeling Twilight at the beginning of the Return of
Harmony part 2:
Discord: AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! pathetic humans! See how I've already won the decisive battle. It's over.
Artemis: ...
Discord: Hello, Living embodiment of chaos here. Kinda' taking over the world
Artemis: shut up. Monologuing
Discord: no, but seriously, I'm pulling some really bad shit here, not like last time at all. Mutilating ponies and everyth...
Twilight: can't you see we're busy here! Go make chocolate rain, or jack off or whatever it is you did last time we were busy figuring out how to beat you. Anyway, aren't you meant to be doing exposition with Foaly back in Canterlot right about now?
Discord: yes, yes, now would you please hurry up? I'm bored of waiting for you to come and beat me.
Anyways, love the story. Best crossover I've seen. The proof is in the pudding though, so keep it up!
5139590 I'm a firm believer in the principle of Checkov's Gun in my writing. Checkov's Gun, if you don't know, is a literary principle that basically states that nothing unimportant should be described in the narrative. If we're told there's a loaded gun on the wall in Chapter 1, it must go off before the story ends.
To that end, I like to include characters in that principle. That is to say that the main characters should always be the main characters, never overshadowed by their supporting cast. In this case, Artemis and co. are the main, and Discord is a support.
As for Artemis's OOC-ness. I noticed he was written differently in Prothean's original writing, and from that characterization, I developed the supposed-to-be-wrong Artemis of my story. Same for the other characters.
As far as Artemis's tone never fitting the situation, I simply wanted to keep that in tune with the source material. Artemis was always solemn and monotone, never joking. While that rule is broken a few times, it's because of Discord's influence.
I'm glad you're enjoying the story, and hope you like the way it ends!