A/N: Special thanks to InsanityStreak, Amethyst Blade, refferee, and Chibalt for your thoughts last chapter. I hope to continue hearing fro you, and I hope to hear thoughts from more of you as well!
Hela and Loki got focus last time we did the main family, so now here's the opposite side of the coin, albeit a few years later...and with a new family member!
Chapter title from "Life is Beautiful" by Sixx AM.
I hope you enjoy, and I hope to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
After Twilight Sparkle fully moved back into Ponyville after years of supporting Celestia and Luna in Canterlot, the room that had been hers was transformed into a personal library and study for the usage of those of the royal family. Given its small patronage it ought to have received little usage, but it was where much of the Princesses offspring went to do their lessons as they were taught privately in recent years. They were leagues above any peer of their age, and while they shared their age in numbers they were far younger. Despite Sleep Near and Hela each being in their teenage years they appeared as if they were barely teenaged at all.
This carried over to their development in other ways, but it did not interrupt the flow of their personal lives to great lengths because they were being nurtured by other long lived beings who were watching something they had been through play out.
Compared to Hela’s aloofness, Sleep Near was very focused and dedicated to his studies. This gave him the bookish reputation of the two, with Hela receiving more of a mischievous one despite being of relative same intelligence: he learned about his powers, and she put her own into practice, often in less than helpful ways.
“Where are the others?”
When Sleep Near entered the library he had expected to see more than just Luna sitting at its center, where tables had been pushed aside to make room in the room’s center for magic casting. Luna had made sure to create back ups of the books in the room just in case anything happened to them, but as this was a place to learn she had set it up so that her children could practice to some degree what they had learned in their massive tomes.
Luna gave Sleep Near a smile as he walked in, having long since heard his eight hooves as they trotted down the hallway in their awkward fashion, “Your sisters are out in the courtyard studying today. I will be overseeing your studies today.”
She was smiling, but Sleep Near knew better than that…Hela had, on a whim, decided to take their other sibling with her and do whatever she pleased. As she would not try to fully incur Luna’s wrath, Hela would likely teach her younger sister something to pass off as a lesson, but this was truly just an act of defiance born of teenage rebellion which was fueled by an unresolved family matter.
“Mother, I am sure if you asked her Hela would join us.”
Luna closed her eyes and tilted her head back as her mind pondered why she had done something so foolish…only to come back to the same realization she would feel worse if she had not, “Your father has already spoken to her. I accept her animosity. I’ve expected it from each of you all these years.”
Sleep Near sat down next to her as Luna lapsed into silence, “She still loves you.”
Her response was under her breath, but that was not enough to keep Sleep Near from hearing it.
“I wish she did not, sometimes.”
Sleep Near brought a hoof around his mother’s body, only able to do so because she was in her anthropomorphic form rather than her equine one, “We’re not even two decades old at this point. She just needs time, and we have plenty of that. You just need to talk to her, instead of letting our big sister do it for you. That won’t help anyone.”
While she wanted to cry, Luna instead returned the gesture and smiled. While she was not close to one of them, she still had the other…and her youngest as well, who was too young to know of true malice for one’s parent, “You’re so wise for your age, you know that, right?”
Sleep Near nuzzled his head into her fur, “I learned from two people with a lot of life experience. So has she…she’ll understand.”
The encouragement was enough to get Luna to smile to him and nuzzle him back, her spirit rekindled, “I’ll muster the strength to talk to her later, when we’re done here.”
That last part got Sleep Near’s mind to thinking about the rest of his day, though he knew not how to plan for it without knowing his mother’s intentions for their study session and how long it would run, “When will that be?”
Of course, Luna took this in the way that would be most embarrassing to her son, and her mind went to a cobalt haired mare who frequented the castle, “Oh, are you longing to be with your marefriend?”
“Mother…”
“Hah, so much for a prince! You should learn how to walk before you try to fly!”
“Must be hard moving around like an octopus!”
Sleep Near had been leaving Celestia’s School for Talented Unicorns and on his way to Canterlot Castle when he tripped over his own legs and made a fool of himself in front of a crowded street. He had just passed a since retired from use public stage and he had clumsily moved his middle hooves in a way that tangled them and made his next movements stumble him further and lead to a painful crash.
He had been about to take flight, something that did not involve his numerous legs quite as much, which had caused his mind to wander from keeping track of his legs to instead focus on taking off.
While nearly all of the people on the street kept quiet and did not dare speak to Sleep Near for fear of divine retribution that might be wrought upon them by Luna for daring to acknowledge her son’s misshapen body and lack of control over it, not all of the street was as well mannered or frightened. A trio of Pegasi had taken notice and stopped to laugh at him.
Sleep Near wanted to shrink and die he was so embarrassed, only being an extremely young colt at the time, and he found himself too embarrassed to look at them as he tried to pick himself off the ground.
“Leave him alone!”
Sleep Near heard someone land on top of the nearby stage, right above where he lay, and he found himself confused by who they were. No-one but his family and their friends talked to him, at least no-one except those who liked picking on him when he came home from school.
Hela usually took care of those, but she had been sick and their mother was taking care of her that day. She also didn’t talk in public, so who was this? She had blue fur and a much darker blue for a mane, and her green eyes were narrowed at the trio who stood in the street.
One of the bullies laughed and snorted at the mare, recognizing who she was and reacting as he noticed who the interloper happened to be, “Ooh, what are you gonna do about it, Frost Colt?”
She exhaled and stomped a hoof down on the stage, irritated by the nickname but also by the situation at hand, “Keep making fun of him and you’ll find out!”
“Pfft, now he needs a girl to stick up for him. What a wimp!” a second voice, this one a mare, came from the trio of bullies.
“That’s it!”
Sleep Near had opened his mouth to try and interject, but the Pegasus on stage had leapt down and assaulted one of the Pegasus who had just spoken.
“What did Mom and Dad tell you about fighting?”
Sleep Near watched as his babysitter, Scootaloo, finish applying band aids to the blue furred mare who had stood up for him. She had been roughed up a lot by the crowd she had swung at, but two of them did not go home conscious and the third only managed to tuck tail and run because Scootaloo had arrived in time to reprimand her sibling.
The younger sibling, who appeared to be little older than Sleep Near, snorted and looked away from her sister, “They deserved it.”
Scootaloo laughed as she thought back to her own days being bullied as a filly, quietly appreciating that her sibling was more…active about the issue than she had been, “I know, so I won’t tell on you, but you better not go and get me in any trouble.”
Her mending of her sibling done, Scootaloo finally turned her attention to her young charge, “Hey Sleep Near. I brought my sister today since our parents are busy and can’t look after her. Sorry if she caused you any problems.”
It took a moment for Sleep Near to realize Scootaloo was talking to him, for he had been captivated at first leap by her sister. He was blushing heavily beneath his fur and was unsure about what to say or do. He really had only a couple kids his age he knew, and seeing as how Hela was the only one he spent any real time with he was left speechless and unprepared for the sudden heart beating in his chest.
Realizing his attention was on her, but not realizing why, Scootaloo’s sister held a hoof out to the awkward Prince and smiled, “Hi. I’m Frost Bolt.”
“I’m…” he swallowed heavily while lifting a hoof up to shake with hers, only to force a second leg from following the first as if they were conjoined, embarrassing him further, “I’m Sleep Near…”
Frost ignored his physical problem while still smirking right at him and speaking in a joking tone, “You sure about that?”
As the only not-young-child present, Scootaloo managed to pick up on the expression her sister was receiving and snickered. Not wanting to interrupt anything further, she winked at them and left towards the castle.
“I’m going to go let Princess Luna know I’m here. You two play nice.”
Left alone, Sleep Near felt his eyes drift to the ground, for he could no longer look at the other kid without completely losing his composure. In some ways her attitude reminded him of his mother, and he could see the physical similarities Frost shared with her mother outside of having a simpler mane color.
For her part Frost found herself raising an eyebrow at the completely bashful Prince, who she had honestly expected a bit more from given what Scootaloo told her about the kids she looked after. This difference between what she saw and what she had heard caused her to be silent long enough for the melting Sleep Near to speak up softly.
“T-Thank you…”
The acknowledgment of her actions made Frost swell with pride. It made the bruises and the scrapes feel worth it, even if she might get in trouble later with her mom. At the time she didn’t know that simply standing around Sleep Near would remove the wounds, and would end up still wearing her band-aids until later, where Rainbow Dash would reprimand her as a mother ought to…only to then ask about how hurt the bullies were, and snicker at the response she received.
To give off an aura of “coolness”, Frost tried to downplay it while also reveling in the fact that a Prince was thanking her, “Yeah, yeah, whatever. Who do those dummies think they are anyways, making fun of a prince?”
Sleep Near thought back to the incident and brushed his mane out of his eyes, “My mother and father tell me to not let others get to me.”
He had once tripped a broke a wall with his head. He was told it ought to have been the other way around, and that he and his family were special, and that until he had full control over himself he was to exhibit complete caution.
Hela didn’t care, but she wasn’t the one who was still tripping over their own limbs…
Frost scoffed at the revelation that Sleep Near was not only holding back because of his personality but also because he was disallowed from retaliating, “So they think that you’re an easy target, since you don’t fight back? You should put them in their place next time!”
The Prince glanced over to where the fight had taken place, two of the bullies still sprawled out after one spirited mare dispatched them. Scootaloo had notified their parents of the incident, making sure to note that they picked the fight.
“I don’t want to hurt them…”
“You’re too strong for them, right?” Sleep Near’s silent nod made Frost smile, and she brought a hoof up to her chest while pointing her nose up haughtily, “Well then leave them to me. I can’t stand bullies, and I’ll beat them all up for you.”
When she realized that she was not going to receive a response from the withdrawn colt, Frost approached him and smirked again, though this time in a softer manner, “You are pretty shy, like my aunt Flutters. How about this then: what do you want to do?”
What he wanted to do? The young colt really didn’t know what to do with someone who wasn’t his family, and he wasn’t yet used to being put on the spot by someone else since his family understood his disposition and accounted for it, “I like reading, and playing with my sister Hela…”
Understanding his predicament to some degree, and sensing this would not really go anywhere, Frost flapped her wings and extended them for him to see, “Do you ever race?”
“Race?”
With a quick flap of the wings Frost thrust herself into the air and then began to fly around Sleep Near in a relaxed fashion, showing off superb skill for someone their age.
“Yeah, you know, when you run or fly with someone else and see who is fastest.”
Sleep Near realized what she was talking about then, and it was not something he had ever needed a word for until then: the person he did them with didn’t talk almost at all, so they had never minced words over the topic.
“Only with Hela…” Sleep Near sighed as he thought about his abysmal record compared to his sister, “She wins all the time though when we use the same form.”
“Form?” it was a genuine question for the young filly, who had not encountered one of his ilk yet…but she would quickly see what he meant.
A flash of light before her ended just as quickly with a completely different being in Sleep Near’s place. His skin was as pale as his father’s, and no fur hid it except at the top of his head. Resembling his father at the same age, Sleep Near’s raven hair was styled in the same formally combed manner his mane had been. In this body he also resembled his sister more, though only because she often took to her Asgardian body more than her equine one, and so to the common pony they would appear quite alike since their kinds were not wholly integrated yet.
“I can shapeshift,” Sleep Near stated after the fact, quickly becoming aware of how in this body he had no way to hide his blush.
The flying filly continued to circle around him, though now she was observing him. He still had extra limbs, but in this body the extras were arms instead of legs and he had the two extra sets crossed on his abdomen. The fact that he was so powerful magically that he could shift forms impressed Frost, who was beginning to see why it was the bullies who ought to fear him rather than the other way around, “Woah, that’s awesome!”
Her observation did result in finding one detraction to his body, which the blunt mare spent no time in pointing out, “You don’t have wings like that though…” she shrugged and then did a loop-de-loop in the air for fun, “Oh well, how about we see who can fly around the courtyard fastest?”
Sleep Near shifted back and flapped his own wings to join her in the air, quite interested in playing with someone that was his age for once…especially if it was somepony that made him feel good.
“That’s the spirit!”
Sleep Near drifted out of his recollection to look back down at the book his mother had him studying. He was such a fast reader that even with his mind diverted he had managed to finish the book entirely in the couple hours he had been given to do so. There would not be much actual practice today, only a lot of preparation reading to do. The harder the spells and magic he and the others learned, the more reading there was…at nearly an exponential rate.
He and Hela had been born with more magic than their older sister had when she tried out for the Equestria Games, and so the only thing keeping them back from doing anything they pleased with their powers was learning how to tame them. Fortunately Luna was able to enact a higher level of teaching for them than she had been able to for their sister given their strength disparity, and so all that was needed at this point was time.
“Mother, may Frost come over later?”
Luna smiled as she looked up from her own book, having enjoyed the shared silence but also enjoying the fact that her comment before seemed to have had an effect on him.
“I do not see why not, provided you finish your studies.”
Sleep Near nodded but said no more. Everyone knew of his deep crush on his best friend…except that very same friend it appeared, who had taken his awkwardness as a given when in fact it was greatly reduced whenever she was not around. Since she had never seen him without her, she had no idea how shy she made him.
“When are you going to tell her your feelings?”
Even if it was obvious, he felt the need to defend himself, “I do not know what you are talking about.”
Luna sighed and gave him a serious glance, “Sleep Near, you do not need to lie to me, so do not.”
“She’s already married to her future career. Why should I bother?” his eyes averted, he ran a hand through his hair nervously, realizing then that during his daydream he must have shapeshifted when he had been first thinking about it, “By the time I’m finished being an adolescent she will have retired.”
Luna could hear the rationalization, and could well tell that it was a deflection of his own insecurities concerning the whole matter. Still, what he said was true, and so long as he saw it as an issue he would drag his feet and let someone he loved slip away, “My sister and I agreed long ago to not engage in romance because any partner we might find would pass away long before us.”
Sleep Near looked down abashedly as she spoke, realizing sort of what she was getting at even before she continued. His glance down gave Luna the chance to lean down and give him a kiss on the forehead gently.
“But, my lovely son, you of all people should know that lifespans can be changed.”
Sleep Near remained unconvinced, however, and more doubts crept in as he thought about his missing twin and the secret she had shared with only her immediate family…that she could see how people were going to die. That she could even know when, and the circumstances leading to it.
“Hela has visions and knows what will happen, I…”
He was not so cursed with visions, but rather left with a mind that could ascertain every possible outcome to a series of actions. While Hela could see the future and look back from it, he could understand what could be, and the more he learned the more doubtful he grew of trying to do or change things. If any change outside of his own being could result in untold influence both positive and negative, should he?
“I know what could be with my imagination, both good and bad. If I change anything I could make things worse just as much as I could make them better.”
He went back to reading as Luna continued to look at him with a sad look. As great as their power was, her children were cursed by that very same strength they possessed.
They would grow into it though…she was sure of it. It would just take time, and they were but teenagers.
“Are you alright?”
Sleep Near was laying down beside his heavily breathing friend, whose lip was split and bleeding as she spoke back.
“Yeah…I just need a bit…”
Her lip healed quickly and the blood faded, and the bruises hidden beneath her fur faded as she felt Sleep Near’s power wash over her. Frost had come to visit her friend along with Scootaloo, but once again she had gone ahead of her sister and found Sleep Near surrounded by bullies. They would need to be carried home, and they wouldn’t be able to fly for possibly months given how she aimed for the wings, but even though she was tougher and faster than them did not mean she was able to easily best three ponies at once.
It was for this reason that Sleep Near tried to talk her out of doing this. There were many such instances of this sort of thing happening when she was over, so many that Luna had decided this would be the twins last year going out to school, but never once did Frost fail to stick up for him…
“You don’t have to always fight for me.”
She tried to pass it off as no big deal, but she had to admit to herself that it really hurt even if she didn’t regret it, “Pfft, what do I care? Those jerks really need to learn it’s not okay to treat others like that, especially not a Prince like you.”
The fact that he was royalty was something she often brought up, not out of malice but out of respect for his station, but it made him uncomfortable since he was not an egomaniac and he did not place himself on a higher level than her or anyone else, “I’m no better of a person than anyone. I…I just have more powers.”
“Of course you’d be modest,” Frost joked while playfully punching his shoulder with one hoof. Upon touching him, a thought struck her that made her laugh as she rolled over onto her back and enjoyed the courtyard they chose to relax in, “Hey, think I could be princess of kicking butt when we grow up? That way I could make sure there isn’t anyone like them around?”
“I…” Sleep Near averted his gaze as he tried to think of a way of telling her that something like that didn’t exist, “I don’t know…I don’t think mother wants to create any more ponies like us who isn’t a part of our family…”
As Frost began to mumble about something, Sleep Near nervously added to his statement.
“You could always be…m-my princess though.”
That certainly got her attention, and Frost looked over to see if he was joking or not. Realizing that he wasn’t, she smirked and leaned in to place her head by where he was resting.
“I think I live with that,” she paused before looking up at him with a smile, “You’re my best friend, Sleep Near. You know that, right?”
He was unable to read her the way she just read him though, and so he was unsure if she was serious about the first part, though he had no doubt about the second.
“And you’re mine,” Sleep Near lowered himself to the ground as well so they would be on an equal level, “I want things to always be like this.”
She playfully punched him again while also scoffing at his words, “Hey now, don’t get too wishy-washy on me,” she softened after a moment, having realized his surprise, “But I don’t want anything to change either. You better keep your promise.”
“Promise?”
“I want to be the best flyer there ever was, but I think Princess will do.”
“I wonder if she remembers...”
“I am sure she does, but I doubt she feels comfortable bringing it up.”
Sleep Near looked up to see his smirking mother. He had forgotten that she was capable of looking into daydreams as well, provided they were vivid enough to be actual imaginations rather than fleeting thoughts.
He shook his head to free himself of the lingering pieces of his decade old memory, all the while formulating an argument to ward himself off from it, “Mother, would it not be selfish to marry for my feelings rather than some political arrangement?”
“I want you to be happy,” Luna said back with a soft smile, one of her arms wrapping around his far shoulder to pull him into a hug, “I would rather my dear son live with someone he loves than someone who he does not care for.”
The way she said it…Sleep Near could see logic in it. Still, despite that, it did not make it feel any less selfish and merely served as an apology for one’s own selfishness. If he were selfless he would happily marry whoever was best for the nation, not who was best for him specifically so he could happily lead.
Sensing his doubt, Luna gave him another kiss on the forehead and consoled him softly, “You have thousands of years for politics. Don’t worry about them now, when you still are young. I only want the very best for you, and that begins with your happiness. Never forget that for everyone to be happy, you, as a part of everyone, must be too.”
That was something that had been forgotten by her eldest, and she would be damned if she watched her son fall down the same path.
“Mommy!”
Both Sleep Near and Luna looked up to see a young filly finish pushing the door open as she rushed inside to join the two inside. Sleep Near moved aside as his younger sister rushed forth and began to climb onto Luna’s lap and began rubbing her light blue fur on Luna’s dark clothing.
While she was endeared that her daughter was so devoted to her that she wanted to tackle-hug her every chance she got and climb up onto her lap, Luna did not want to show a complete lack of discipline towards her children.
“Trixie…”
Realizing that she was being reprimanded given Luna’s tone, the young filly stopped climbing on Luna and sheepishly looked down at the floor.
“I’m sorry,” Trixie sobbed as she poked at the floor with a hoof. Sleep Near wanted to pity her, but this was the third time this week they were having this conversation.
Luna had intended to name her next daughter Trixie, but when she had given birth to a second daughter and its fur was an almost near match to her deceased daughter’s, Luna had been filled with so many emotions she did not know what to say or do.
The filly had the same voice as Trixie, similar mannerisms, and if not for the wings and the slightly darker fur this one would be a near replica as to what the original had been like at this age. Luna had taken to nearly spoiling her out of guilt and except for instilling the same rules she had with the twins, she was always trying to make things easy for her.
“Remember Trixie, you are royalty. It is part of our duty to act the part.”
Having heard what Luna said, the very young filly elected to begin climbing up on her lap anyways. Once up there, she curled into a ball and began rubbing her head against Luna’s body.
“Mommy…”
Seeing that she was not going to win this time, Luna gave in and decided to find a way of dealing with this excessive clinginess later, “You are incorrigible.”
The reprimanding session over, Sleep Near felt able to speak up again. He brought a hand down to his sister’s head and rustled her fur softly, “How’s my little sister?”
Trixie pulled herself up so she was sitting in Luna’s lap and was able to look at him, “Hela and I just finished our lessons. She showed me some of dad’s ice magic!”
Sleep Near smiled as he thought about how Hela stole Trixie away for the day. Hela had grown up idolizing their older sister, even after she learned of her passing and everything that led to it. When this Trixie was born Hela had taken her under her wing and had grown about as protective of her as Luna herself was. Trixie did not understand why sometimes her sister kept her away from their mother, but she did know that everyone loved her very much, even if her dad sometimes joked she looked nothing like him.
Sleep Near and Loki each let Luna and Hela work out their tug of war on the child, but each was feeling it was about time to bury that hatchet. Whereas the original Trixie had lost her sanity with the help of Luna and the alternate Hela, both Luna and Hela were trying to one-up the other in terms of raising this one correctly and with as much love as they could.
“Mother, can we have ice cream?” Trixie’s innocent voice piped up after a moment of silence amongst the group.
“Was the ice of your magic not enough?”
“Pleeeeeease?”
Sleep Near had to stifle a snicker at the sight of his sister using her big eyes to forcefully win Luna over, who quickly relented to the adorable sight before her.
“I suppose you deserve it for working so hard. Go talk to the chefs, and remember to thank them.”
Trixie leapt out of Luna’s lap with a big smile on her face, “Thank you mommy!” when she landed on the ground she looked up to Sleep Near and urged him along with her, “Come on big brother!”
Trixie was at the door by the time Sleep Near even stood up. He gave a glance to Luna and smiled sadly.
“You’re going to spoil her if you let her just walk over you.”
Luna hung her head as she agreed to what he said, “I know, dear, but…”
“She loves you though, unconditionally, so do not be afraid to sometimes be firm with her.”
Perhaps not abusive-firm, but firm nonetheless. Such was the duty of a parent, and Loki could not always be the one to lay down the law to one of them while Luna only did so to Hela. Sleep Near knew a balance had to be had.
“Come on big brother!”
Sleep Near noticed that his sweet younger sister was still waiting for him by the door and so he made his way over to her.
“Coming, Trixie.”
Looking at her made him suffer a thousand flashbacks, remember a thousand videos and messages left to him by her predecessor, and all of it made him pause once more as they moved towards the kitchens.
It couldn’t be the same Trixie, could it? She was born over a decade later, and she was not even an absolute match to the original, but still…she made him wonder nonetheless. Was it some cruel joke, or a blessing to heal Luna’s heart by giving her another chance?
“What’s the matter? You look sad…”
Even the young child could tell something was wrong, and so Sleep Near quickly went about fixing his facial expression to hide what he was feeling. He didn’t want her to ever know about what he was thinking…she was happy, and each of them wanted it to stay that way.
“It’s nothing,” he smiled at his sister brightly as he thought about a way of repairing the rift this kind foal was inadvertently causing, “How about tomorrow you spend the day with me and Hela? We can all go out to town together, maybe even with mother and father.”
“Will Daddy and Mommy let us? Tomorrow is for studying.”
“I’m sure I can convince them,” Sleep Near moved her pointed hat to get at her mane, which he rustled from the side this time playfully, “Now, let’s get you your ice cream, okay?”
“Is there toast flavored ice cream?”
“I think I just lost my appetite.”