[MustangKnight]

 Owner       >>> Rondell
 Name                >>> Ikelos
 Gender         >>> Stallion
 Adoption Price         >>> x
 Training         >>> [Fully Trained]
  =====
  . nurturing
  . calm
  . calculated
  . trusty

 Offspring;
 None
 Parents;
 Sire
 Dam
 Stud Fee;
 NA

 [Discipline >>>>> ]
 [Shows Entered > R: W: E:]
 [Shows Won >>>> R: W: E:]

 [Ej > ] [Ep > ]
 [Eh > ] [Ws > ]
 [Wp > ] [Wt > ]
 [Rf > ] [Rs > ]

[Rondell]

---- Ikelos uses THIS color (#e3355a) in the fanclub/in RPs. ----

Personal Preferences:

................................

Likes:
*Sam
*Rain
*Bugs
*Alone-time
*Puzzles

Dislikes:
*Seeing his friends upset
*Direct confrontations
*Unstable footing
*Fish
*

Favorites:
*Ride - Trail
*Season - Spring
*Treat - Sweetmeats
*Pastime - Paling around with Sam
*Place - The hayloft on rainy days

Herd Dynamics:

0 Sam --> The underdog. Ikelos and Sam became fast friends on the colt's first day out in the pasture. They have very similar attitudes and very similar outlooks on life, not to mention similar positions with the herd. So it's unsurprising. Since then, their bond has only grown stronger, and it's now rare to find one without the other.

0 Curare --> The impsh one. At first the two were friends. A shared love of practical jokes and mutual appreciation for puzzles and games brought them together, despite the difference in their ages. Then, as time passed and they came to know each other better, it became clear that the older mare had a sense of humor quite different from that of her younger counterpart. While Ikelos liked pulling pranks and using his jokes to make others happy, Curare liked using her bag of tricks to pull others down. He did his best to bring her around to see his point of view, but, after many weeks of trying, ultimately failed, and the two drifted apart. Now Curare is unafraid to target Ikelos with her pranks. And even makes a point of doing so.

0 Mosaic (Moe) --> The real boss. Ikelos has a good relationship with Moe, even if it isn't a very close one. They will sometimes share a patch of shade, work well as a team while out on rides, will greet each other when passing in the paddock, and have no problems drinking at the same trough. Yet, for the most part, they share space without sharing each other's attentions. The only time Ikelos pays significant attention to Moe is when the massive gelding decides to insert himself between the young stallion and his torturers - Curare and Efialtes - upon their getting a bit too enthusiastic. Yet each time this happens, Moe refuses to be thanked. So Ikelos just maintains his respectful distance.

0 Pennyroyal (Penny) --> Mother darling dearest. Ikelos cares for his mother, don't get him wrong, but sometimes he wishes she'd give him a bit of space to do things on his own. After all, he's not a foal anymore! Yet he tolerates her attentions. He knows she means well, and he knows she loves him back. It's just one of the hazards of having your mother around 24/7. Besides, if she ever actually stopped trying to groom the cowlicks out of his mane, he'd probably miss it.

0 Efialtes (F) --> He's hot stuff, and he knows it. The relationship between Ikelos and his sire is anything but sunshine and roses. At first, the older stallion saw his young son as a possible threat to his dominance within the herd, and took every opportunity to put Ikelos down and keep him in a subordinate position. Never-mind the fact that Ikelos has never shown any indication of wanting to take over. Lately though, F has grown more complacent with Ikelos thanks to the latter's demure attitude. Instead of out-and-out bullying, the colt is now treated to the same snide teasing Sam receives, interspersed with long periods of being ignored. Nevertheless, Ikelos still does his best to avoid F. Just in case the older stallion is in a mood.

0 Ikelos --> Shy to a fault, this eternally relaxed lover of puzzles and jokes wouldn't ... (WIP)

0 Fantasia (Fanny) --> The strong-minded princess. While Ikelos finds his little sister hard to get along with sometimes, they really do have a very close relationship. He finds it funny that while she picks on him indiscriminately, she will not hesitate to take a chunk out of Curare's ego if she catches the blue and green mare doing the same, and even challenges their sire on his behalf from time to time. Ikelos loves Fanny's sharp tongue, fast wit, and unyielding loyalty. They often spend time daydreaming together. He just wishes she wouldn't always try to be the best at everything all the time.



Origin:

0 In Character: The second born foal from Pennyroyal out of her mating with Efialtes, I had been planning that breeding from the very first day I saw them together in the pasture. Their coats complemented each other so! It just so happened to also be my first foray into the world of Neravontii breeding. Needless to say, I was absolutely stunned when I ended up with such perfect looking triplets! Such an occurrence was a first for the Agency, and, as of yet, is also unique.

0 Actual: For all intents and purposes, see above. I will add, though, that Ikelos is my sixth Nera and my second stallion.

[Rondell]

Ikelos the second-born had been a great surprise for me - little did I know then that there was still one more surprise in store! - as it was only my first foray into the world of breeding Neravontii. I quite believed that I had been lucky enough already to get a stallion as handsome his elder brother, and the very last thing I was expecting was more than one foal. Yet after turning my attention away for what seemed at most to be a minute or two in order to steady Sam, who was getting restless on the other end of the barn, I returned to find Ikelos already up and about on his gloriously striped and oh so wobbly little legs. I could hardly believe my eyes! I could hardly believe my luck! I... hadn't thought that I'd been gone that long... Feeling quite giddy now, I waited until Penny was finished with the new boy before I gingerly slipped into the crowded stall, keeping an eye on the mare to make sure my presence wasn't upsetting her.

As far as I was aware the hard part of the evening was over. So, from my new place in the far corner, I simply stood and watched the brothers wobble around, using my unwillingness to shatter the serenity of the moment as an excuse to study the newest members of my herd from a reasonable distance. Never mind the fact that I was dying to stroke them both.

While the first foal was a virtual clone of his sire, the second - Ikelos, as he would soon come to be named - bore a much stronger resemblance to his dam in both stature and hue. He was smaller than his brother for one, and much brighter, his underbelly being striped with the very same red-on-white-peppermint markings that decorated Pennyroyal while his back was the very same shade of dark reddish brown. Yet even so, it could not be denied that he was his father's son as the stringy little pink mane that ran the length of his neck and the characteristic white jags that marked his cheeks were both testament to Efialtes' genetics.

He was perfect.

The entire time was I standing there, I was half hoping to tempt one of the brothers over to me. But they seemed far more interested in who had nursing rights. They hadn't so much as flicked their ears in my direction yet. So, smiling faintly, I slipped out of the stall and made my way to the tack room/lounge where I set about preparing a bottle, figuring I'd solve that particular argument for the moment, at least.

It was upon my return that I realized Penny's work wasn't quite finished yet.

..Triplets?! The agency had said nothing about triplets...

Not even pausing to try to sort out my muddled thoughts, I set the bottle on the ground before I could drop it in my surprise and quickly undid the latch on the stall door, at which point I looped a lead rope around Ikelos' slender neck and led him out into the aisle with me to give Penny more room. He didn't seem too happy to be pulled away from his mother so suddenly, but quieted down slightly when he realized that he could still see her through the stall door, which I had left standing open slightly. When I presented him with the bottle he quieted down even more. After a few false starts, Ikelos was sucking away happily, his ears wriggling slightly with pleasure. He seemed happy to not have to argue with his brother. And I could hardly blame him.

As I stroked Ikelos' velvety soft neck and toyed lightly with his silky mane, I could only wonder how on earth Penny and I were going to manage him, his brother, and the third foal.

It was going to be a long afternoon.

((Part 2))

[Rondell]

Time passes so quickly when you're having fun...

Which means I must've been having a blast, because time had passed very quickly indeed.

Ikelos had gone from being a stringy little foal to a graceful, delicately built young stallion seemingly over night, and he'd long ago gained control over his gangly legs. Like his mother, he had a reliable temperament and a distinct tendency to be rather laid back, much preferring the company of Sam and Moe to that of his own father, who seemed to exasperate him with his constant need for attention. He'd also grown very close to his younger sister. Together, they shared many happy afternoons hunting through the paddock grass for snails to munch on. Don't get me wrong though, Ikelos could be plenty goofy when he wanted to be! But he was goofy in a more calculated manner. Where Efialtes was chaotic and unpredictable, his son was warm and jovial, always careful of those around him and just mischievous enough to be utterly endearing - he was great at cheering Sam up whenever the older gelding felt put-upon. Thus, in personality as well as looks, Ikelos had inherited the best traits of his parents. The only thing that seemed to drag Ikelos down was his lack of confidence. Whenever Efialtes - or Curare for that matter - would challenge him, the young stallion would give in almost instantly, every inch of his posture radiating submissiveness and defeat.

I wished he would stand up for himself a bit more.

All that aside, though, it had become overwhelmingly obvious that Ikelos was no longer a baby.

As such, it was time to introduce him to a saddle.

Like his father and mother before him, I led Ikelos to the bullpen and left him to poke about while I retreated to the tack room for my gear. When I came back I found him sprawled out in the middle of the pen, enjoying the warmth of the early spring sun on his hide. He utterly ignored me as I swung open the gate and slipped through. He only took notice when I walked right up to him and unceremoniously thumped the saddle down in the dirt about a foot from his nose.

Ikelos' ears flicked forward immediately and his nostrils flared as he tried to figure out what I had just dropped in front of him. After a minute or so, he finally picked his head up off the ground, extended a hand, and pulled the saddle over so he could get a better look at it. Then, having decided that it was nothing he should be worried about, Ikelos relaxed visibly and thumped his head down on top of the seat.

Thus a saddle became a pillow.

It took me ages to extract the saddle - having grown up around me, Ikelos had long ago learned that I was a pushover. Thus, while he'd fold to those he considered his superiors in no time flat, he felt comfortable butting heads with me upon occasion as he considered me more to be of an equal. A playmate. A friend. And I'd never given him reason to think otherwise. Thus, as I tried to pull the saddle out from under his massive skull, Ikelos was no help whatsoever. In fact, I'd bet that he even pushed down on the seat a bit to make it that much harder for me to budge! He was comfortable there in the sunlight, resting in the warm sand with his new pillow, away from the bully Curare and the constant presence of his father. To put it simply, he just didn't want to move.

Eventually though, for no reason that I can ascertain unless maybe he'd just decided that keeping his pillow wasn't worth the trouble it was causing him, Ikelos raised his head and I slipped the saddle free. At which point I scooped it up and promptly settled it onto his back, probably making him regret that he'd let me have the thing back.

This got the young stallion to his feet. Keeping my hands on the saddle to keep it from slipping off as he moved, I casually began buckling whatever buckles I could reach as they became available, and I actually managed to get several of them done before Ikelos had even stood up all the way. I got several more finished after he'd found his footing. He just wanted to stand there, seemingly in a daze, his head held high and his ears swiveled back to catch the sound of my every move. When I was about halfway through though, the shock of having something odd just appear on his back wore off, and I was forced to let go as he twisted away from me and began wandering agitatedly around the pen. Every so often he'd look back over his shoulder without bothering to stop moving as if he were trying to figure out what to do with the saddle. It was sort of unnerving, actually, and I was worried he'd hurt himself.

Before he could make up his mind on what to do next, I caught hold of the saddle and tugged, which, because I had done a good enough job on the buckles, barely shifted it at all. Yet the motion caused Ikelos himself to instantly come to a halt. Which had been the plan. Although he still seemed a bit unsure about the whole situation, the young stallion lowered his head and gently nudged my shoulder, which prompted me to reach up and rub his forehead.

The first hurdle had been cleared.

[Rondell]

I'd fallen behind schedule with Ikelos' training. Far behind. That is to say, even after after taking the time to get him used to a saddle, I hadn't gotten around to hopping up on his back. Which was the entire point of getting him used to a saddle in the first place. While it'd been very nearly an entire month, it seemed like every single time I got around to so much as thinking about riding him, something else popped up and I found myself utterly, horribly, and completely distracted. All I'd had time to do lately was put his saddle on and walk him around for a few minutes - just to keep him in the habit of things. And that was only once or twice a week. So it was entirely likely that the young stallion thought I was done springing new things on him.

But I wasn't.

One bright though somewhat rainy day, upon realizing that my delaying was getting ridiculous, I finally made time. I closed the day planner that had been sitting open on my desk for the past month and jammed all my papers into the drawers of my desk so I wouldn't walk past the room at some point later in the day and, through the open doorway, see something to distract me from my Nera-related task. That being done, I ate a quick breakfast, pulled my rain-slicker from the closet, jammed on a pair of boots to protect my metal feet from the wet, and left the house.

I finally found Ikelos in the gloom of the hayloft, snuggled up next to Sam and Pennyroyal in an attempt to overcome the damp chill of the morning air with the company of his fellows. It was warmer up there than it was in the rest of the barn, and the large piles of hay left over from when herbivorous horses used to live here was the perfect stuff to snuggle down into. I know. I've done it many times myself. So I couldn't really blame the trio for hanging out up there. I was just glad I'd paid that contractor to reinforce the loft floor back when Sam first started coming up here. That way I didn't have to worry about the wood giving out unless my entire herd decided to jam into the small space. Although I still needed to get the roof fixed.

A drop of water falling down from some unseen hole in the barn roof landed on the hood of my raincoat and slid down to hang from its edge, right in front of my face. I stared at it cross-eyed for a second, then flicked it away and reversed direction, climbing back down the hayloft ladder and into the watery morning light of the barn. After getting a good look at the sleepy trio, I figured that there was only one really good way to get Ikelos back down to earth so I could work with him. And it didn't involve dragging him bodily from the loft. So, with a great yawn, I set about getting everyone's breakfast ready.

---------------------------

It wasn't long before the smell of fresh meat lured Sam, Penny and Ikelos down from the hayloft. In fact, I hadn't even finished filling Penny's bucket when I felt a puff of hot breath on my cheek. Grinning, I turned around and instantly came face-to-snout with Sam, who was the picture of eagerness. After giving him a good rub between the ears, I turned back and finished filling Penny's bucket, then moved on to the next stall - Sam's - with said Nera in tow. He was always very particular about which bucket he ate out of, you see, so he had no interest in Penny's. He insisted on waiting until I had filled his very own pail.

By the time I had gotten around to each and every stall, I had attracted the attention of the Nera who'd been out in the field - Efialtes, Moe and Curare had trailed in, lured by breakfast - and, more importantly, Ikelos had long since finished eating. I had fed him first on purpose.

Without further delay, I slipped Ikelos' halter on and walked him out into the aisle where I proceed to clip him into a set of cross-ties. Then I left to go get his tack from the tack room. When I came back with my arms full of saddle, the young stallion was in the process of using his tail-hand to pester Curare, whose stall was nearby. When he spotted me, his tail immediately fell limp and he began to look sulky. He seemed a bit upset to be put to work this early in the morning. He was more in the mood to play. And I really didn't blame him. But there was nothing for it. As I set about doing up the buckles on his saddle, I spoke to him in as cheery a tone as I could manage and gave him lots of pets and scratches in an effort to cheer him up. I kept this up even as I unclipped the cross-ties and began to head for the arena.

My efforts seemed to be rewarded - by the time we reached our destination, soggy and feeling slightly chilled though we were, Ikelos looked a bit happier.

Holding tight to his bridle, I led the young stallion around a couple of times, just for the heck of it, before guiding him over to the mounting block. I then took a moment to kick my rain-boots off. Otherwise my feet would stand no chance of fitting in the stirrups! That done, I climbed up on the block and put both my hands on the seat of the saddle. Ikelos was beginning to get suspicious. He'd flicked his ears back toward me and had begun swishing his tail from side to side.

Before doing anything more, I decided that a good ear-rub would be in order.

Once I had him calmed down again, I began putting my weight on the saddle again. I kept pushing down, harder and harder, until he began to get agitated. At which point I stopped and began petting him. Things went on like this for another five minutes or so, a tedious little pattern of two steps forward and one step back, until at last I was able to more or less shift my full weight onto Ikelos' back. I then gave him one last pat, took a deep breath, and climbed aboard.

I remembered full well what had happened when I'd out his saddle on for the first time. So I was ready when Ikelos began to prance forward nervously, his ears laid flat against his skull. Instantly, I pulled back on the reins to discourage him from taking off and began speaking to him softly. Then, once I saw he'd started listening to me, I relaxed my pressure on the reigns slightly and began walking him in a circle.

After what seemed like forever, I gradually began to see the tenseness melting out of the young stallion's body.

The worst seemed to be over.

So now I really WAS well and truly done springing new things on my dear Ikelos and we could both afford to relax.

[Rondell]

Baby Ikelos (by Me)
Penny & Ikelos & Fantasia (by me)

[Tuesday]

Woah.... This is really amazing! The colors fit perfectly! Ikelos really IS perfect!