I decided more nextgens (specifically siblings) were needed cause I have no self control <v<; So I decided to make them in between my headcanon pieces but I will still be drawing them with their families! I'm also incredibly proud of how these turned out

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Aristaeus (greek god of bees & beekeepers)

Nickname: Bumblebee (family), Ari, Taeus (aphrodite), Honeybee (aphrodite)

Youngest son of Apple Bloom and Snails

Cutiemark: A honeybee

Talent: Beekeeping

Appearance: Light yellow coat with orange-red eyes like his mom & a blue-green mane and tail like his dad. Also inheriting some unicorn features like a long fetlock and cloven hooves

Aristaeus inherited the Apple stallion gene of being a heckin' lörge boi. He's his father's height with uncle Big Mac's build, and is taller than his lanky older sister, Junebug. Aristaeus is a very chill dude with a deep enthusiasm for bees, specifically honeybees. He studied at his mom's school but after graduating, he began learning to breed and keeps bee to help improve the productivity of the family orchard, while also learning to care for the trees for the sake of his bees. He became an accomplished beekeeper not long after graduation. Aristaeus has also been known to be a bit of a forgetful klutz, giving him the nickname "bumblebee" from his family.

Aristaeus is also fiercely protective of his family, especially his big sister. When she was having relationship troubles with Red Apple, Apple Blossom and Sakura had to practically tie him down to keep him from trying to murder his sister's boyfriend. He and Junebug were very close when they were young. Junebug would stand up for her little brother so it only makes sense for him that he would do the same.

The two have collaborated often on their work of bugs, Junebug sometimes passing on her research as an entomologist to help his own work.

Aristaeus also sells his own line of fresh honey. It became very popular in Ponyville for its apple-y taste and the extra sweetness to it, which Aristaeus says is from the love he gives his bees. It was one day while selling this honey at market he met the most beautiful mare he had ever seen. She was a soft, pink mare with light blonde hair and white-tipped wings. She asked for a jar of his honey and Aristaeus was so starstruck, he didn't even remember telling her she was prettier than any apple blossom he'd ever seen. The pink mare blushed and hurried away with her jar of honey, but ended up coming every week to buy another jar of his honey. He called her his "apple blossom girl" and she called him her "honey boy", the two too nervous to actually talk to each other for weeks, before Junebug finally stepped in when she next saw the two together at the market. The girl introduced herself as Aphrodite, the eldest daughter and middle child of Bulk Biceps and Fluttershy.

After Junebug's introduction, the two began dating and fell madly in love. Aphrodite introduced Aristaeus to her world as a beauty influencer and taught him how to bake, which he would bring fruit and honey for her different treats that she made for them and her family's animals. Soon, they decided to move in together, in a little cottage not far from their families where Aphrodite continued her work in beauty and body positivity, while still baking and taking in animals, while Aristaeus brought his bees and planted his own apple trees.

With the help of his bees, Aristaeus asked Aphrodite to marry him to which she gleefully said yes. The happy couple are now planning their wedding, ready for the next adventure in their life.

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Aphrodite (greek goddess of love and fertility)

Nicknames: Dite, Dee, Apple blossom (Aristaeus)

Eldest daughter and middle child of Fluttershy and Bulk Biceps

Cutie mark: A seashell around a heart, a trademark of her namesake

Talent: Body positivity and beauty guru

Appearance: Slender like her mother with a little more fluff to her fur. Light pink coat with bright blue eyes and long pale blonde hair. One wing shorter than the other (a deformity inherited from Bulk) with white tips on the end of her wings

Aphrodite was the first child born to Bulk and Fluttershy. There relationship began soon after the passing off Bulk's first wife, leaving him to take care of his son, Featherweight, alone. When Fluttershy fell pregnant, the two worried about what others would think, but with the support of her friends, they finally confessed to their relationship, got married, and couldn't be happier.

Little Aphrodite was born with lots of joy and excitement from Fluttershy, her friends, husband, and stepson, named for the goddess of love to represent the love between her parents, but there was a slight damper on their mood. Aphrodite was born a pegasus, of course, but had a deformed wing, one smaller than the other like her father's smaller wings, meaning she would never be able to properly fly like most pegasi. Bulk was devastated for his little girl. His son had already developed this, and now he had passed it to another child.

But it didn't take Aphrodite long at all to get used to her lopsided wings. Being from a family of weak fliers meant that she didn't truly struggle at home, and little change needed to be made to acommodate her. Things were harder as she grew older, and her ffellow schoolponies began mocking her for her "lucky wing" as her family called it. Featherweight always defended his baby sister, but this didn't stop her from feeling hurt by their words.

When Aphrodite was about six, her baby sister, Angel Heart, was born. She couldn't deny she was jealous of her sister for being born with fully formed wings. This turned Aphrodite into a surly and angry child who took her jealousy out on her poor baby sister. The family was concerned for her so Bulk Biceps and Fluttershy went out and bought their daughter her first makeup set. They explained it was so she could feel as beautiful as they saw her. After trying it for the first time, Featherweight offered to take her picture, insisting she looked wonderful. This was how Aphrodite got her cutiemark and began making videos on beauty and self-care so everyone could look and feel beautiful inside and out.

One of her hobbies she enjoyed was baking and making a lot of her self-care supplies and it was when she went to the market for honey that she met the shy, handsome Aristaeus. The two of them shyly flirted until Junebug couldn't take it anymore and got them together, and the rest is history.

To this day, Aphrodite has an incredibly close relationship with her family. She adores her parents and siblings. She still models for Featherweight when he asks, and was the first one to find out about her sister, Angel Heart's, intense crush for Sweetheart Cheese-pie. In fact, Aphrodite was her sister's maid-of-honor.

Aphrodite is also very close to her cousins, Persephone and Songbird, and has often collaborated with her uncle Zephyr Breeze on her beauty videos.

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Persephone (greek goddess of spring)

Nicknames: Perri, blossom, love-bat (Hades only)

Youngest child of Zephyr Breeze and Treehugger

Cutiemark: A thorned rose

Talent: Wildlife conservationism

Appearance: Black mane and a pinkish tail cut short. Light green coat and deep violet eyes and freckles. No wings, but has tail feathers. Tattoos (heart on one ankle, and a skull on her shoulder)

Out of all of their children, Persephone is by far the most "black sheep" & diffferent from her family, though this isn't said in spite. Persephone loves her family, she just prefers her space.

Since she was little, Persephone had a bit of a darker aesthetic to her parents. Treehugger took it in stride, insisting her daughter was "vibing on a different plane" and should be allowed to "explore" this. Thiss was what earned her her name. When she was born, she wailed loudly, unlike her twin siblings. Treehugger insisted a different vibe deserved a name more fitting, so she became persephone, a beautiful name that meant "destroyer". Something to fit both parts of her "vibe", as Treehugger kept saying.

Zephyr Breeze, on the other hand, did not feel the same way. He believed his daughter would grow up to be a punk and a rebel. He just couldn't understand why she wasn't more like her free-flowing sister, Songbird, or her laidback motivational speaker brother, Indigo. He tried to understand his daughter and encourage interests and a style more like their family, but Persephone wouldn't hear of it. Out of all her family, her relationship with her father is the most strained. Her siblings thought it was cool she was doing something a little different. Her mother thought it was "far out". So why was Zephyr the only one who didn't seem to back her up?

It all came to a head when Persephone decided to chop her hair and dye it from red and blonde, to black. Zephyr Breeze nearly lost his mind. He simply couldn't understand why she would make such a drastic change, and not let him help her so it would "look better". He yelled that she was purposefully pushing him away and didn't care about him. Persephone's siblings insisted that their dad was taking this too far and needed to back off, but the damage was done. Persephone left home the second she could, running to her aunt Fluttershy's house.

Fluttershy took her niece in and had Persephone explain what had happened. Fluttershy explained how her brother had never been a good listener, but this time, they would make him listen. They brought Zephyr to explain to him how Persephone felt and why she did what she did without his help, because she liked doing things on her own like that. Persephone enjoyed being alone sometimes, and enjoyed doing things on her own. It was how she learned best, and if she needed her parents' help, she knew she could still go to them. Fluttershy explained she would be letting Persephone stay with her for a few days so she could get back on her feet and begin her new life as an adult.

Zephyr agreed and he and his daughter made up. During her time at her aunt's, Persephone began to truly explore her love of animals and plants. She had always known her talent was working with plants, but decided she wanted to do more. So, she moved away from Ponyville to one of the nearby Equestrian National Parks where she would live and work on site as a conservationist. Her specialty was protecting and cultivating wild plants, but she would also make signs explaining different plants to visiting ponies, and use some to make medicine for injured visitors or injured animals she came across.

On one of her rounds, she was surprised by a visit from Spike and Rarity, her aunt's friends, where she met their children, Crystal Gaze, Fire Wing, and Hades. Hades was their youngest child (they were all grown up, but came together for a family camping trip) and Persephone was immediately smitten with him. During their trip, Persephone would stop by to check on him and the family, but mainly as an excuse to get to know Hades. By the end of the trip, the two had agreed to start dating.

Hades would regularly visit Persephone and travel with her, coming in handy sometimes if they passed a wounded animal. Persephone was happiest to find someone who was like her, independent, a little different from his family, and enjoyed being out in nature.

The two soon moved in together and after about 4 years of living away from home and 2 of Hades & Persephone dating & living together, Zephyr Breeze came to visit. He was struck, at first, by his daughter's appearance, same short black hair, black makeup, tattoos, a piercing, her punk dragon-pony boyfriend, and her rather witchy little cottage in the woods, but Zephyr couldn't stop thinking about how happy his daughter was. The happiest he'd ever seen her, so the two decided to just enjoy the trip, and it was wonderful. But, on his last night of the visit, Persephone had taken him to the nearby river where they set up a bonfire to play music and make smores, when Hades got down on a knee to ask Persephone to be his wife, revealing he had asked Zephyr to come so he could get his blessing.

Persephone immediately said yes. The two had a quiet little wedding with only immediate family in the park where they continued to work and live, happy with just the two of them doing what they love.

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Hades

Nickname: Baby-cakes (persephone)

Youngest son of Rarity and Spike

Cutiemark: Pawprint

Talent: Wildlife rescue and rehabilitation

Appearance: Darkish-green, dark purple mane with black dyed tips, black tail fur, and dragon-like wings. Cloven hooves, small purple spikes on hindquarters, and long dragon's horns. Acid green dragon eyes and gauges

Hades had always been a grump for as long as his family could remember. They were all generally very loving and happy together as a family, Hades just seemed to be naturally pessimistic in many ways.

Though his siblings all had a bit of a "punk" style, Hades embraced it way more and way more quickly, with his makeup, mane, clothing, and music from a pretty young age, though this didn't bother his parents. In fact, Hades' idea for his mane came from pictures his mother showed of when she had to fix her mane after much of it fell out. She even found the old bracelets she'd worn and gave them to him.

Hades had his mother's magic, but it manifested in his horns. He had the magical abilities of a dragon, (longevity, fire breathing, wings, protective chest plated scales, fangs) with much of the appearance of a unicorn (long tail, magic, equine body, fur coat, cloven hooves).

Hades is closest to his sister, Crystal Gaze, who understands her brother's grumpy nature best, and will often fit him with the perfect outfit for his style. Over all, Hades had a fairly normal life, even if he did feel like a bit of an outcast amongst his family. They still loved him and accepted him, but Hades just couldn't quite explain why he always felt so surly and grumpy.

He grew up and went to university to study zoology and animal behavior, where he fell absolutely in love with working with wild animals, and suddenly received his cutiemark, which came as a pleasant surprise, as his family had just assumed he was unable to get a cutiemark, like his brother Fire Wing.

When he graduated, his parents decided to celebrate by taking them all on a camping trip to a national park. Hades rather detested this idea, but put up with it because his family seemed so excited about it. It was during this trip that he met the beautiful mare, Persephone.

Hades was practically struck dumb by the sight of her, barely able to speak. Over the next few days of the trip, Hades was still a blushing mess whenever he saw Persephone, but was beginning to build up his confidence to talk to her more. The two grew very close, very quickly. They had similar style, taste in music, love for nature, and desire to live independently together, amongst nature. Persephone told Hades about her cabin and how she kept a small garden of food and herbs and how she made medicine for animals, and cared for wild plants. Hades told her how he'd just graduated from school to study animals.

The end of the trip came all too quickly. Hades & Persephone decided to become an official couple and swore they'd visit each other as often as they could. Hades made multiple trips to Persephone's home, and though she would come visit him, he very much preferred making the trip to her. Eventually, Persephone asked if he wanted to live with her, to which he quickly agreed. Their relationship bloomed quickly and Hades decided he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Persephone. He knew her relationship with her family had been strained in the past, but wanted nothing more than to get her father's blessing. He knew it would mean a lot to her to hear her father accept her lifestyle, and the important role he had become in her life.

Well, Zephyr did come, and Hades made sure to find the chance to speak to him privately. Hades caught him up on everything that happened and at one point, Zephyr broke down about what a fool he'd been to push his daughter away like he did. Hades assured him that Persephone didn't hold any real anger toward him, and that they were happy. She had even been excited when Zephyr first came. Then Zephyr handed him a box with a ring in it. It had belonged to his mother. Fluttershy had taken their grandmother's ring, but his mother insisted he give it to someone in their family, and at the moment, Persephone was the only one who might get married. Zephyr Breeze insisted Hades give her her grandmother's ring when he proposed. Hades took it and promised he would do everything he could to give Persephone the life she wanted, and the day came for him to propose.

Persephone said yes and they agreed to keep it small, their parents, siblings, Persephone's aunt fluttershy and her family, and Hades' aunt Sweetie Belle and her family. Persephone's bridesmaids were her sister, Songbird, and Hades' sister, Crystal Gaze, while Fire Wing and Persephone's brother, Indigo, were Hades' groomsmen. The two lived in that little cottage the happiest they'd ever been, and Hades now had a new outlook on life, one filled with joy, and happiness, beside his wonderful wife, who bright beauty and spring back into his life.

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These are some of my new characters! I'm so happy I decided to make them! I think they came out really well!! I also won't be subjecting myself to writing out these backstories multiple times, so count this as their headcanon. I will still include them in the drawings with their family, which will have perhaps a little more context, but for the most part, there shouldn't be anything else to add when those get written.