Wanderlust: Equestrian Nights

"Steam indeed." Bubbling Spring observes quietly. "She's the reason we weren't all trapped in a burning building yesterday." He says to Water, a bit tartly.

"We know you aren't a Cultist, sweetie." Soft reaches a foreleg around the filly for a quick hug. "But... oh, well I guess it isn't really my place, but you should try to leave dangerous things to the big ponies." "She was? I thought that was because we beat up the cultists and then got dragged out..."

"It's thanks to me that you weren't trapped in the house." Bubbling Spring says, still tart. "It's thanks to her that the house wasn't on fire. I might've had to leave you at that point."

"Hey, we had the fire under control, until we got attacked!" "Shush. It's not important." "Fffffine." Water pouts, but Soft looks at Bubbling. "Well thank you for your help."

Bubbling Spring shrugs. "Like I said, thank Lavender. I tend to create as many problems as I fix."

Softs horn lights up as she grabs a tuft of Water's mane, pulling her head over to face Lavender. Taking the hint, they speak in unison. "Thank you Lavender." "You were very brave to come save us." "Yeah, glad to have you along."

"T-thank you." Lavender ducked her head, blushing slightly. "I'm going to go get a chocolate muffin" She added, going to find one of the ponies who worked there.

The twins just smile as she leaves. Immediately, Water looks back at Bubbling and smirks, but doesn't say anything. Instead, she takes a bite of her banana bread. Meanwhile, Soft turns to Wandering Eye. "So? What do you think about our mysterious filly?"

"I'm not sure," Wandering says, having mostly just eaten his food in silence while the conversation went on. "I'm curious to know more about her powers... and her origins."

"Well she's a homunculus, for whatever that's worth." Bubbling Spring says, stumbling over the word a little. "I can't say I know who made her."

"Was it not her parents...?" "What's a homunculus?" The twins look at the two Stallions, genuinely confused.

"A homunculus is an autonomous equine-made construct with a specific form." Bubbling Spring recites. He blinks, surprised at his own knowledge, before muttering "blasted libraries."

Water looks at Bubbling, and then sits back, looking around. The look on her face seems to be one of skeptical confusion. Soft on the other hand looks at him blankly. "So... she's Ponyocchio, basically? Uh..."

Bubbling Spring shrugs, only marginally less lost than Water Drop, and turns to Wandering Eye, raising his eyebrows.

"Not exactly Ponyocchio. She's fully alive, I believe." Wandering Eye tries to recall what he knows on the subject...

Skill Check:

Ponyocchio is a classic foal's story about a marionette that, after a peculiar adventure and much hardship, becomes a real, flesh-and-blood mare through the magic of her love for her "father".

The comparison is a little clumsy; while homonculi have been made out of wood (and everything else imaginable) it is questionable as to whether they are really "alive", per se. Some argue that they have life force through them just like other creatures, and that makes them living; others argue that the energy in question comes from the caster, making the homonculus an extension of their body (Much like a, well, marionette.)

Wandering Eye doesn't know too much about homonculi in general. He does know the Philosophy department at his university can't seem to shut up about the ethics behind their creation and even their very existence: he is also aware you're supposed to have special licenses before you actually make one, and even then it is carefully monitored, probably because of those ethical questions the Philosophy ponies raise. He is aware that homonculi have "classes" of a sort based on their quality: although he isn't clear on the exact system, he can guess that Lavender is of a very high "class" that few would attempt if they valued their sanity.

"Well... look, there's nothing about her that even remotely suggests she's not... a real pony." "Except her creepy teddy bear." "Except her creepy teddy bear, so there's no reason we should even think about her like this. She's a nice sweet little filly, and that's all there is to it."

Bubbling Spring nods, agreeable for once. "And honestly, Teddy is more polite than she is, half the time."

"Polite, maybe, but it's still a walking, talking teddy bear. 'Please's and 'Thank You's aren't going to stop ponies from being a little weirded out by that." Water looks over at the filly and her bear. Soft, meanwhile, looks back at the Cake Twins, still playing.

Lavender walks back to the table, a muffin in her mouth and Teddy on her back. She places the muffin on the table and tried to say thank you to Bubbling Spring. However, since she had already taken a big bite out of her muffin, it came out very garbled.

Bubbling Spring snorts and raises an eyebrow in a gesture of entertainment. "You're welcome." He says simply.

Soft looks back at the table, and both Twins smile at Lavender. "So... this well we need to find. Do we know where it is." "Of course, we know exactly where it is, that why we have to find it." Soft sticks her tongue out at her sister, and then is immediately elbowed in the side. "Or, you could shut up."

Wandering Eye doesn't say any more about Lavender's nature now that she's returned to the table. He instead says, "Well, after this meal I have to practice my magic for a little bit, but after that we can leave whenever."

"Oh, magic practice?" Soft lights up, and Water sort of follows suit. "Can I-" "We." "-we join you? I've been meaning to learn a little bit more, since the fire... and the fight." "Yeah, Soft's terrible at magic and def needs practice. And I picked up that cool new watermaking trick, and I wanna practice that a bit too." "Yeah, so. Wanna practice together?"

Wandering Eye smiles a little. "I'd love to. I'm not sure if our magical styles are compatible, but I'd definitely like to practice with you."