This is a short entry from my Ask RedEye blog. If you want to know more about Ilaris, see this blog entry. For a short description...
Ilaris was the closest thing to a friend I had in the last days of my rule.
Ilaris was special. The Goddess was ashamed of her, and wanted to remove her from my service once I discovered the clutz and began paying special attention to her - but I placated her by telling how I care about all ponies, even the least of her children…
First of all, Ilaris’ magic link to the goddess was dodgy at best. This combined with Goddess definitely avoiding to speak through an avatar with googly eyes (and look through them - Ilaris admitted her eyesight was rather bad) gave us a chance to know each other better.
Allow me to share a small secret memory before it is forgotten. A completely insignificant event maybe twenty seconds long, so minor it could have gone entirely unnoticed, and with no consequence whatsoever. It’s surprising how much I enjoy recalling it in detail.
It was one of the times troops had arrived with a wagon of assorted loot. It’s been pre-sorted already, ammo and weapons for the Military, valuables for Treasury, foodstuffs to storage, utterly worthless junk disposed of, what was left was various assorted stuff that might or might not be utter junk. Sometimes I’d sift through that along with others, more often I stood back and watched for somepony turning up something of significance, telling them to bring it closer, or somepony bringing something to my attention.
It wasn’t Ilaris’ duty but she seemed to like to dig through all this “junk or treasure” so I’d let her set a box aside and “make herself useful”. She discarded some waterlogged magazines, damaged family photos, old lingerie… and came up with a ball gag. Apparently without a clue what this does and what purpose might it serve. She asked me.
Without going into details, I explained the basic function: “It’s to keep ponies from speaking. The ball goes in mouth, the strap around the neck…” I didn’t expect her to follow this like instructions, but she did, she put the dusty ball in her mouth, latched the strap at the back of her head, then looked in her usual, curious, slightly confused manner around… I was almost sure to see her try to say “What now?” and then a flash of confusion (at being unable to speak), a spark of realization followed by joy.
Instead, I saw the normally meek Ilaris’ body tense to attention, face grave, eyes drawn in a sort of focus, about to Rise Regally, feathers unfurl as the wings will spring out in a moment!
Then a gallery of expressions: First, of surprise at the foreign object in mouth, futile attempt to spit it out. Next, of creeping wave of disbelief as she realizes the nature of the object. And then the utter shock, the absolute indignity, then a moment of PANIC, eyes shooting wildly around. Then as apparently nopony seemed to notice (I managed to steel my face emotionless and seem to look past her), the surprised and confused googly eyes of Ilaris returned. She paused for a while as if listening, lowered her head sadly, then with a quiet sigh removed the ball gag and put it down with the rest of the junk, returning meekly to sorting through the rest of the box.
Later that afternoon the Goddess came to make some demands. I’m not sure, it might have been just my impression, but I think she seemed slightly more polite.
A story how Ilaris got her name.
She was not a clever pony, and her child was too young to be smart. It was the Goddess' mercy to pick the pair and save their lives, as dehydrated and sick, running from raiders.
The alicorns didn't have much mercy for the raiders. The likes of them weren't very welcome in the Unity. Still, one of them, a rabid dash-head, had his mind gone so far that he could not function without the drug... and could barely function with it. So, a filler, a placeholder. Every alicorn is made out of three ponies, but not every mind lasts through the transformation. The weakest ones... fade. This one would do, to save the two.
There was a risk that the mare and her foal would not last. Still, merged with the dash-head buck, the two survived, the buck vanished.
The effect wasn't exactly pretty. The blue goddess inherited faulty eyes of the mare, and the two minds... weren't too bright. Still, another of the children, not as powerful as the others, but still quite formidable in Wastelands' standards... besides, the deed was done, Goddess would not dispose of one of her own.
So there stood the new alicorn surrounded by the new sisters, the minds of the child and the mother bound together, and trying to adapt to living with a crowd of voices in her head.
I think she's kinda cute
A disgrace to our race,
She's faulty. Kill her.
We do not kill us.
Does it speak?
Can you speak, child?
"I... I'm sorry."
She's sorry. Don't be mean to her.
She's us now.
I can't feel her.
I can feel her. The link is weak.
She is with us but weakly linked.
This may be dangerous.
This may be useful.
She needs a name.
"I have a name. I'm Derp Eye. And my daughter is Sunflower. And the buck's name... his name was Razor."
That's unacceptable.
She's a disgrace.
No, child. You need a new name that will name your trinity as one.
A graceful name, like a glorious song
Or a distant star
Or a powerful spell.
What's a star?
She doesn't know what a star is!
Stars are beautiful. We will soar above the clouds, you will see.
Star names are beautiful.
My name is Arcturus
My name is Antares
My name is Polaris
The daughter, Sunflower... maybe Solaris?
Her? Maybe even Celestia? ha ha ha...
"Can I think up a star for a name for myself?"
No, that's silly.
How would one even go about it?
Oh, she's hilarious.
She's a true star!
"I? Star? I... larious?"
Ilaris? That actually sounds good.
Has a nice ring to it.
Matches her well.
There, a thought up star name!
"I-Laris? I like it! It... it sounds nice!"
She seriously likes it?
She isn't offended at the joke?
Let it be, nopony should recognize the origin of the name anyway.
Welcome to the herd, Ilaris!
Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two regal sisters who ruled together, and created harmony for all the land.
The alicorn mare closed the book with a sigh. She knew the story by heart, she knew it was true, but it felt like an old ponytale. She peered through the window at the monotonous grey landscape dotted with meteorite craters. She sighed, observing the far, gray disc. She put her eye to the telescope and peered again. Same, gray, dead. Although the cloud cover was gone for half a year. There was life. It wasn't dead.
There had to be life down there. There would be survivors in the Stables.
"Two hundreds years and I still cry like a foal," the alicorn sighed, wiping a tear from her eye with her hoof. "Two hundred and seven next month. Yay me," she muttered sourly, peering at the dead orb again.
Suddenly her body jerked, electrified. A spark of color! A blast of rainbow in the dead wastes... leaving green behind, repairing the land! The Elements of Harmony! She could sense their singing, filling her body with energy and hope! Not only there was life down there, it was active, powerful and brave to wake up the Elements!
No. It was not her time. She lay down and couldn't withhold tears any more. She wanted to return, she wanted to have friends. Another eight hundred years of waiting? Will the ponies even accept her? Or will they make her suffer for sins of her mother and aunt? Another eight hundred years of solitude, and when she's back, she will be irrelevant and useless.
The alicorn lay on the floor of the empty lunar base and cried. Just a long-forgotten, useless war effort project. Not a savior to reintroduce life, but a relic of forgotten past.
Down in the hub of the SPP Littlepip could not understand, why, of all the things, would Princess Celestia be so insistent on getting the space travel program back on track.
