Diaries of a Canterlot Librarian

by Cloud Shaker

Judgement Day

Artemis awoke silently, without the usual moaning and groaning that he was known to do. Making sure to move as quietly as possible, he magically stowed away all of his possessions and closed up his bag. He couldn't bring himself to do it. No matter how much he had resolved yesterday to tell everything to Twilight Sparkle, he lost his characteristic stoutness when faced with the actual prospect of doing so. Thus, there was only one option available to him.

Running away.

Artemis couldn't simply conjure up a teleportation spell and leave. Not only would the burst of magical energy create a disturbance on all the planes of existence that could be detected by any unicorns who were near the area, but his magical signature would be able to be traced through the slipspace between dimensions. He didn't want Twilight suddenly waking up and tracking him down to demand an explanation out of him. He wouldn't have the heart to lie, not after having grown closer to her like he had in the past couple days.

Being ever so cautious, Artemis snaked out of the door into the main room. Between him and the exit stood an entire floor of creaky floorboards, probably installed purposely to defend from intruders. Deciding that the risk of him making a noise was much higher than Twilight noticing any magic going on as she slept, Artemis did a quick levitation spell and carried himself safely over the floorboards towards the door. Suddenly, he heard a loud yawn and nearly dropped himself.

"Twilight's waking up!? Already!? Cripes!" Artemis thought furiously to himself. Trying to force himself to move faster towards the door, he had nearly made it when Twilight emerged from her room, eyes blurred with sleep. Freezing with his mouth on the doorknob about to close it, Artemis prayed to Celestia and Luna that Twilight's early morning vision wouldn't be clear enough to see him.

As luck would have it, Twilight simply walked passed him and called out a sleep "Good morning, Artemis" as she made her way to the kitchen, her mind still slowly warming up to the fact that she was awake.

As quietly as he could, Artemis closed the door behind him, letting out a low yawn. Even though he had planned to make his escape in the early morning, his body didn't seem to be as dedicated to the plan as he was. Even now his eyes threatened to drop shut and never open again.

Shaking himself back to semi-alertness, Artemis started walking down the street towards the train station, never realizing that perhaps Twilight Sparkle was not quite as asleep as she'd led him on to be, and even now watched him from her kitchen window, hurt that he would leave without even saying goodbye. She had something she wanted to say to him too, but if she didn't catch up to him she'd never have the chance to. Not for a while, anyways.

Correctly inferring from his general direction that he was heading for the Ponyville train station, she mentally brought up today's schedule. The next train wouldn't be leaving for two hours. Perfect.

Gathering up energy in her horn, she quickly teleported to Sugar Cube Corner. She had a fare-well party to plan, and if anypony could put together a party under pressure it's Pinkie Pie.

----

Artemis shivered, his breath visible in the brisk morning air. Today was a particularly cold morning in Ponyville, and he still had to wait another hour until the train arrived.

"Wouldn't it be just silly if I got caught before I made my 'great escape' just because the train hasn't arrived yet," Artemis laughed bitterly to himself. As much as he tried to deny it to himself, he really wanted to at least say good bye to Twilight Sparkle. While meeting them two days ago for his welcome party had been an interesting experience, he never really connected with any of them.

However, he felt a strong bond with Twilight. Perhaps it was because she had been of such great help to him, or perhaps it was because she was a great partner for conversation. Either way, her absence would be sorely missed when he moved back to Cantlerot. "Ah, Artemis, you're growing soft," he chided himself.

How he had suddenly teleported from the cold train station to a barnhouse in the space of half a second was beyond him.
Suddenly disoriented by the change in environment, he looked down just in time to watch a magic circle melt away into the light. He looked up to see Twilight Sparkle coming towards him with a hurt look in her eye.

"Artemis, I can't believe you would try to leave without saying goodbye to me," Twilight whispered, her voice soft and her eyes melting holes into his conscience. He stood there shuffling his feet, not knowing how to respond until Twilight suddenly brightened up with a mischievous smile. "That's why I'm going to throw you a 'fare-well' party!"

Suddenly, the barn lit up. Artemis stood dumbfounded as Twilight's four friends and a white unicorn mare he'd never seen before opened up the festivities. He stared at Twilight incredulously. "Was this really all necessary?"

She smiled. "Yes, Artemis, because I have to at least try to get you to stop being a stick in the mud." Sticking out her tongue playfully, she dragged him over to reacquaint himself with her friends. Needless to say, Artemis resisted it every step of the way.

----

The party soon died down as twilight approached, the sun slowly giving way to Luna's moon. Twilight and Artemis remained alone in the apple orchards of Sweet Apple Acres, gazing into the stars as they had last night and the night before that.

Artemis, for the first time in years, felt awkward. For the length of the party, he was forced to talk, eat, and even dance with all of Twilight's friends. In fact, he pretty much had a "good time" with everypony but Twilight, because she seemed to avoid him whenever he tried to approach her.

Now, they were alone.

"So, are you going to tell me why you tried leaving without saying good bye this morning?" Twilight's voice was low, and it was clear that she felt hurt.

Now that the silence had been broken, there was no turning back. Artemis slowly faced Twilight, a pained expression in his eyes. "I knew that if I said good bye, you'd ask me about my past. I just couldn't do something like that."

"So, you still don't trust me?" Teardrops formed on Twilight's cheeks, glistening orbs reflecting the pale light of the moon.

"It's not that Twilight, it's just..." Artemis sighed heavily. "You're the first pony I could call a friend in years. I don't want to lose that friendship."

"You seem to be doing a good job of that on your own..." Her voice trailed off, the implication clear.

Artemis stared at the dirt between his hooves. After taking a moment to think, he committed himself.

"I brought the dead to life."

A long silence stretched between the two of them.

Twilight, thinking that she had misheard him, looked up. There was fear in her eyes. "What? That can't be true. Nopony should be able to..."

Artemis cut her off with a shake of his head. "I did." Without waiting to hear her disgusted reaction, he pressed onward.
"When I was just a colt and about to move to university, I had come across this very peculiar scroll. This scroll was the product of Zebrican black magic, although I was too young to know at the time. It contained curses that did things beyond my wildest dreams, promising power that should have been beyond the reach of all ponies. One of these curses was the curse of "undeath", or quite literally a curse that rebinded a soul to it's body."

Artemis stamped his hoof against the ground. "I was so foolish! Excited by my discovery, I failed to realize the consequences that such an action would create and gathered up the necessary materials needed for a successful revival. However, I was still missing a vital component: a dead pony." He stared at Twilight's face now, his eyes haunted by visions of the past. "And so I committed a crime against ponykind. I dug up the grave of the founder of the town I was born, Bartimaeus E. Coltson. Carrying it secretly back to my magic circle, I prepared the necessary ingredients that would be needed to reform his body, then cast the curse."

Here, Artemis' voice dropped low to barely a whisper. "It went terribly wrong. I had succeeded in binding the soul back to the body, yes, but that was not Bartimaeus E. Coltson that I had brought back from the grave. It was monster. A mindless being driven insane by the curse, with only one purpose in mind: to destroy it's creator and take his skin for it's own before feasting on the rest of the town. So I did the only thing that I could. I killed the thing that I gave life to. After that night, I silently reburied the body and stole away without anypony noticing. But it haunted me forever afterwards. I couldn't make any friends, because as soon as they learned about my terrible secret they rejected me. I eventually learned to just keep my mouth shut and stay alone and far away from the other ponies. This is why I'm how I am, Twilight Sparkle. I can no longer trust the rest of my fellow ponies, for I can't even trust myself." Allowing his statement to drift away long the night wind, Artemis let a single tear drop down his cheek.

"This is it," he thought to himself. "I'm about to lose another friend again."

So entrenched in his misery, he was completely taken aback when he was enveloped by something warm. Opening his eyes to find himself in a sea of lavender fur, he involuntarily took in a deep breathe. It smelled of chamomile and freshly pressed lavenders.

Twilight embraced him fiercely, tears running from her eyes. "Artemis, I...I had no idea you've been carrying such a huge cross on your back for all this time... Nopony should have to suffer for this long... especially not somepony like you."

Pressing his snout deep into her chest, Artemis allowed himself to cry softly, drowning in her kindness. "So this is what it's like to have a true friend..." he said, his words muffled against her body.

They stayed like that for a while, letting the sadness flow out of both of them. When the tears stopped running, Artemis pulled away to look up at a smiling Twilight.

"You look so silly right now, you know," she giggled. It was so refreshing to hear a sound so purely innocent and happy that Artemis had to smile despite himself.

"Yes, I must suppose I do." Getting up to his feet, he stared up at the stars. "Bollocks. I'm starting to regret having to leave."

"Then stay here with me."

Artemis whipped his head around, not believing what he'd just heard. "W-what?"

Twilight Sparkle sidled up to him, their faces only inches apart now. He could feel her warm breath on his snout. "I like you, Artemis." She gave him a quick peck on the cheek, then blushed in embarrassment.

Normally, Artemis would have recoiled back in shock, but it just felt right to him. Staring into her eyes, he finally understood. He had fallen in love with Twilight Sparkle. Not being able to control himself, he moved forward and lightly pressed his lips against Twilight's, who gave a muffled noise of surprise before submitting, allowing herself to press deeper into the kiss.
It was awkwardly innocent in every sense of the word, each pony superbly inept in the art of romance.

The next day, Artemis sent his letter of resignation to Princess Celestia. He had found himself a friend.

Author's Note:

So, this story is quite possibly one of the worst in cohesiveness I've ever written. I guess I'll have to work on that in future stories.

Thanks for reading!