And here I thought my life was complicated before...

"How's this?" Artemis struck a pose, one foot lifted in a traditional gesture, his head up, neck arched.

"Good, good." Marble Chip's voice was a little muffled around the pencil he held, which moved over the paper, sketching rapidly. "Although your hair... Can you hold it still?"

Artemis shook his head. "Sorry, no. I can make it lie flat like an ordinary pony's if that would help."

"Oh no. This is to be a statue of the Lord of Darkness, etcetera. It wouldn't do to give you ordinary hair. I shall manage." He returned to his sketching, while Artemis tried to hold perfectly still. Marble Chip was an earth pony, whom Artemis had met while down in the city buying a new set of chisels. He'd been trying to get back into doing art, since he spent nearly all his time in his rooms now, avoiding Altani, avoiding Solaris, and generally being antisocial.

Meeting Marble had changed at least a little of that. They were friends. They had a great deal in common, including a mutual love of art. Artemis was still avoiding the halls, so he had to teleport Marble here whenever he visited, but that was easy enough to do at any time save near moondark. But friendship and art were not the only things he and Marble had in common.

"There, done with the sketch." Artemis lowered his hoof and moved to look, but Marble held up a hoof. "Ah! You can't move yet."

Puzzled, Artemis lifted his hoof again, resuming his pose. Marble trotted up to him and then lifted his head to kiss Artemis. Artemis laughed, wrapping a hoof around Marble's withers as he kissed him back.

He hadn't been looking for a lover, nor for a friend, when he'd met Marble. He'd had enough troubles with both. But they'd fallen easily and naturally into both friendship and intimacy. It was delightful, but also sometimes worrying. He hadn't exactly broken things off with Altani, he'd just been avoiding her. He couldn't help but wonder if she was the jealous type, and what would happen if she was and she found out. He hadn't discussed her with Marble either. The subject hadn't come up.

Marble kissed him again, dragging his mind back to much more pleasant thoughts. He wrapped both hooves around Marble and caressed him as he kissed the smaller stallion back. The feel of Marble's stocky, muscled body under his hooves was good. He remembered when they'd first met, and how he had been unable to keep from admiring Marble's physique, even then. He was on the short side for an earth pony, which made him much, much shorter than Artemis. But he was built like, well, like a pony who spent all his time muscling heroic marble statues around.

Artemis broke off the kiss. "Done with sketching for the night?"

"Yes."

"Tired yet?"

"No." Marble grinned.

"Well then, what shall we do to pass the time?"

"If you kiss me again, oh Mighty Lord, I think something will come up."

Artemis laughed and kissed him again.

Quite some time later, as they both lay together in bed, Marble rolled onto his back, looking up at the canopy overhead, and said, "This is pretty damn nice. I always wanted to get spoiled by a rich patron who'd have me fill his garden maze with statues. But working with the God of Night himself, and then ending up in his bed after, that's pretty good too."

"It is pretty nice," agreed Artemis. "Having a collaborator, and a friend, be someone I can love too..."

"Woah now, Majesty. Careful with that word."

"Huh?"

"Love. That's pretty strong language."

Artemis frowned, suddenly puzzled. "What do you mean? We're lovers, aren't we?"

"Ah, well, yes. But I don't do romance, My Lord. Don't ask me to."

Artemis blinked. "Okay..."

"We've got something nice. It doesn't need love to complicate it."

"I see." Artemis wasn't sure he did. But he decided he probably shouldn't pursue the matter. Marble was right, what they had was pretty nice. Things were complicated enough as it was. If Marble thought it would be simpler to be friends and lovers, but not be in love, that was probably a good idea.

Artemis's horn flared as he burned his signature into the paper. It was easier than hunting down another jar of ink, since his had run out some time ago.

He looked at his desk. It was once again clear. He was coming and going by winking, or by wing, he hadn't set foot in the palace halls for more than a month now. But he had plenty of free time these days, so he was putting in a lot of work. Marble didn't take up much of his time. In fact lately Marble seemed to be avoiding him. He knew he'd probably pushed too hard when he'd started talking about friendship again last week. He hadn't said love, but he suspected Marble had heard it all the same.

He sighed. I seem to be a sex toy again. Although at least Marble appreciates me as an artist too. But he's not the kind of friend Starswirl was. Will anypony ever be?

"Good evening, brother."

Artemis looked up to see Solaris standing in the doorway. "Solaris?"

"I thought you might like to know that the new gryphon delegation has arrived, and the previous ambassador and his entourage have departed."

"Uhm..." Artemis felt himself blushing. Solaris knew about Altani? He had to, otherwise why come to share that news specifically? "That's... good."

"It's also good that you've gotten caught up on your work here. I appreciate it, Artemis. You do a great deal for the Empire."

Artemis felt a flicker of warmth in him at his brother's praise. He still felt rather bitter towards Solaris. Not just for recent events either. He could summon up several thousand years worth of bad memories between them. Yet there was a reason he called Solaris brother. They were very close. Had been very close. Maybe could be again, somehow.

For a moment Artemis entertained a wild thought. What if was just the two of them again? No empire. No church. No duties. No other ponies, just them. What would they be to each other then? The last time they had been that alone they had been bitter enemies. What would it be like now?

Solaris broke into his thoughts. "I do hope, though, that you'll come to the autumnal equinox rites, Artemis. There is a great deal of gossip about why you were not at the summer solstice."

Dull resentment flared up in him. "I won't be going, no."

"You can't just avoid them forever."

"Can't I?"

"You shouldn't just avoid them forever." Solaris frowned. "Look, Artemis... if it's about that young priest, he can be dealt with. Defrocked, deported, whatever it takes. You don't have to see him ever again."

"It's not just about him. It's about them all. None of them even worship me anymore! They clamor to be in your priesthood! They want to serve you! They don't care about me. They live their lives under your sun, and they sleep away my night. They sing your praises, and they ignore me. You won our ancient battle, Solaris. Your followers have destroyed mine, and I helped you do it when I united the faiths!"

"That battle ended long before that, Artemis. You are my brother now. I can't stand seeing you like this. And you're wrong. There are ponies who love your night. There are ponies who worship you."

"A hoof-full, perhaps."

"More than a hoof-full. But if you stop coming to the rites, if you retreat into seclusion and never talk to anypony again, then someday you'll be right, you'll have no followers at all. Please, Artemis. I beg of you. Say you'll come. It's still more than a month away. At least think about it."

Artemis heaved a sigh. "Very well. I'll think about it."

"Thank you."

The chisel floated in Artemis' magic. Earlier it had flown swiftly, carving away broad chunks of stone. Now it moved slowly, delicately, beginning to refine the form that was slowly emerging from the block. Already a recognizable equine face was there, and the blocky, rough shapes of hat and beard made it evident to anyone who'd known her that the bust would be of Starswirl.

He began adding more detail, carving out individual locks of hair that he would later texture with individual hairs. He hummed softly as he worked. Whatever else might go wrong in his life, at least he had this, his art.

What Might Have Been:

Artemis is interrupted yet again before he can complete the bust of Starswirl that he has been working on. This time it is Marble Chip, telling him that the heroic statue is finished, and asking if a formal event to present it to the public can be arranged. Feeling fondly towards Marble, Artemis is delighted, though he's a little bit nervous about public events. Altani isn't lurking anymore, but still, these days it feels so much safer to remain in his own, private spaces.

Nevertheless he throws a massive party, and Solaris even gets a little bit involved. He likes nothing more than a good party, after all. Artemis is hopeful that everything will turn around. He meets a mare there, a minor noblewoman and patron of the arts, and they hit it off quite well.

Thinking he has made another friend, Artemis retires after the party feeling happy and hopeful once more. The following day two letters arrive. The first is from Marble, thanking him for the party and the opportunities its opened up for him. The letter also says that Marble has found a new patron, and he hopes that Artemis will not be offended, but he's breaking things off. Having a patron who's also a lover has proved to be too complicated, and he wants to dedicate himself to his art.

Artemis is momentarily engraged, and storms around his workroom in a temper. He knocks over and breaks the half-finished bust of Starswirl, which sobers him, plunging him instead into renewed grief. She is gone, Marble is gone, even Altani is gone. Everyone leaves him, no one cares about him.

He goes to his balcony, finds the city shrouded in fog, and he seems to be the only pony alive beneath the moon. The city sleeps, the ponies rejecting his night. The moonlight festivals of his ancient followers have vanished. Solaris has taken everything from him, left him with nothing at all.

Artemis shakes off that thought. It's hardly Solaris' fault that Marble wouldn't commit to love, or that Starswirl died. Solaris is not to blame.

Calmer now, he opens the second letter. It is from the mare he'd met at last night's party, and it is filled with warm and flattering words about him, and his night, that are a balm to his troubled soul. It also includes an invitation to meet, and Artemis immediately drafts a reply.

Once again he begins to form a tentative friendship, and this time the mare seems to truly understand him. She makes no attempt to become his lover, but she listens to all his troubles, and enjoys his rambles about the principles of art and science. She even suggests that the moonlit rites could perhaps be started again, independent of the now-monolithic church.

Artemis is delighted, and begins slowly to repair the restrictive shambles he'd let his life fall into, with scenes of him organizing his paperwork and even rescuing Bright Path's ruined career interspersed with evenings spent with his new friend.

Then, at a larger social event, a friend of the mare mentions something about her second choice working out after all where Artemis can accidentally hear it, and he discovers that the mare had approached Solaris first, but he had not replied to her initial letter, so she'd sought out Artemis as second choice, and that she'd done so in order to build a friendship to eventually parlay royal favor into a specific business venture that she's always dreamed of.

This is the final breaking point. Someone he thought of as a true friend once again only using him, and worse than that, using him as second choice after his brother. It's too much. In complete madness and despair he breaks every vow he ever made, summon's the full power of the moon, and slips into the madness and nightmare that in this universe is called The Black Stallion, only to be defeated by Solaris' secret weapon, the Elements of Harmony, and banished to the moon to begin a thousand year exile.

Author's Note

Thanks for reading! Hopefully getting the final bits just as a summary isn't too terrible.

Just FYI this was thought up and mostly written very early on, before we'd seen Celestia and Luna fight Discord, so I didn't know the detail that Luna had used the elements as well, so I'd planned this as Artemis being unaware they even existed, or at least very unfamiliar with them. Given that Brotherhood was also written then, and this is an AU, I'm not sure if I'd go back and try and wedge Discord and the Elements being used against him into this story somewhere or not. It doesn't fit with the history I've already laid out terribly well, though.