Wanderlust: Equestrian Nights

Scorch

"Scorch," Mother says quietly. "Scorch," she says again, rolling the name around on her tongue. "What do you intend to do with my Violet, Scorch?"

Telebiscuit Jen wrote:"Your cousin? Since when?" "Well, still, a pony her age is better off safe elsewhere, right? Its not like you can't find her again later."

"Lavender looks an awful lot like my cousin, Jeweled Scorpion. She's far too old for it now, but there was a time when she acted a great deal like Lavender does." He wasn't certain why he was talking about this. It was just that sort of night. "For a long time, Jewel was my only friend." Bubbling Spring stares over the treetops for a long moment. "I can't say I have a good track record with finding ponies twice." he says finally.

"Well you managed to track us down on our fun little outing tonight. So you're getting better at it." "Yeah but we have big ice statues, that's probably why."

Bubbling Spring cracks a small smile. "They certainly helped, that's for certain." He goes back to looking over the trees, and abruptly the air around the table heats up as he pulls it towards him. The water rises out of the river and swirls into a precise shape, rippling as it freezes to form immaculate hair textures. In a few instants, a newly frozen statue sits next to the original, this time depicting a short-haired, stocky unicorn playing with two foals,one of which was clearly Lavender, the other of which looked very similar, but lacked a horn. All three were in some stage of the process of 'prancing,' and seemed to be having a grand old time.

Bubbling Spring shakes his head. "I've got to stop thinking of things that can't be. It'll be the death of me." As he turns face the Twins once more, he finds that one of his hooves accidentally froze to the tablecloth. Contemplating the adhering piece of fabric, he smiles, and giggles a little. "So, what do you two really make of him?" he asks, jerking his horn towards the unconscious figure to his right.

Scorch quickly rolls some answers and jokes in his mouth before responding with "Oh, you know, hang out, get to know one another. Maybe have a drink together, or maybe Violet can show me a few of her favourite spots around town. I'm happy with anything really."

"I like him." Water says simply. Soft looks at her, then at their unconscious date. "I think... he was trying too hard. I could see myself liking him, especially if we had to deal with him long term. He's just full of himself and not really sure what he's doing... kinda like Wandering." She pauses. "I guess what it comes down to is, I'd be willing to put up with him for Wandering's sake, but if we ended up friends as well then that would be ok too."

Bubbling Spring nods. Soft liked to think things through. "Well, he did say that he spent a long time imagining how to wreck the world. Those sorts of plans don't disappear overnight. But he doesn't seem all bad, which is really strange, given what I've heard about his upbringing." He looks closer at Soft. "You know, I'm also confident in myself, yet not quite certain what I'm doing. There has to be more than that in your affection for Wandering, yes? I'll admit I can think of a few things, but I'd like to hear your choices."

Scorch

"Properly cautious, are we?" she says, a hint of tease in her tone. "That's good. More young drakes should be cautious of simple earth ponies." She pauses to slide down the hill with practiced grace. She begins to pace around the pedestal, examining you from below with a critical eye. "I wonder what your children would look like," she muses aloud.

"MOTHER!" Violet cries indignantly from the top of the hill.

"Oh, hush. You look nothing like me, maybe the splash of red would remedy that," Mother retorts. "Very well. You may have her for tonight. You will stay near other ponies, and you will bring her back before dawn," she says, making her way back up the hill as Violet begins to slide down before being stopped in the middle. "And you. No Neon Green for either of you, and no cliffside dives."

Violet nods in understanding, giving Mother another hug before sliding back down.

"Quick now, let's get going!" she says, grabbing your claw eagerly to lead you away...

"Thank you," responds Scorch to the earth pony as he lets himself get dragged out, before moving alongside Violet as eager as she is...

Scorch

Violet leads you back out of the cave, seeming almost ready to burst.

"I know just where to go," she says after taking a moment to calm herself. "There's a stargazing field just to the northwest! I've always wanted to go with someone before, and there should be other ponies about," she says, leading you off in the appropriate direction.

Sure enough, after several minutes of walking you come to a wide clearing at the top of a hill, offering an unobstructed view of the sky and the town sprawling below. A few other couples are sprawled out on blankets, as well as parents with foals peering through telescopes and generally having a good time.

Scorch gives a whistle in awe to the view. "Where do you wanna sit?" asks Scorch...

"Oh, um..." "He's gotta cute flank, duh." "He.. I don't know, he was just..." Soft thinks for a minute, and Water chimes in. "Its because how he helped us." "Yeah, he did do that, got us a small job that paid well. When we met, it was just sort of... spontaneous attraction, though that gives off the wrong idea about us." "But he was cute so we did that date on the train, and thennnn... yeah."

Scorch

"Over by the ledge?" she suggests, pointing to a spot nearby that offers a view of the town, somewhat distanced from the other ponies without being too far. She promptly sits down, pulling you down close beside her in order to lean on your shoulder.

"Ah... This is the best view, don't you think?"

---

Steam Twins, Bubbling Spring

"So this is the 'dark spectre'," a familiar voice says as the owner begins nudging at Wandering Nightmare. "Sorry, but I'm just not impressed. 'Dark' doesn't automatically mean 'evil', you know. 'Evil' doesn't tend to drown itself in Neon Green," he explains, examining the empty glass before drinking it with a shrug, putting the remaining fluid back down. "So how have we been?"

Scorch looks at Violet and smiles. "From where I sit it's a close second."

Bubbling Spring snorts. "I am not in a position to judge someone for spontaneous attraction."

"Welcome back." He says dryly as Discord appears once more. "I don't suppose you can pay for dinner tonight? I am, it seems, still broke."

"Isn't that what this is for?" Water nudges the crown, having barely reacted to Discord's sudden appearance. Soft, on the other hand, chokes in surprise on the last of her wine, and spends a moment coughing.

"The wait staff still don't believe I actually know you three." Bubbling Spring says with a shrug.

Scorch

Violet nuzzles in a little closer. "Tell me about yourself. What is the ultimate purpose of the jewelry? "

---

Steam Twins, Bubbling Spring

"I'm sure you can work it out," Discord says, patting Bubbling Spring on the head. "Anything else you guys need from me? I have a cake I need to check on."

"Helps with the look," comments Scorch, "Tuns out folks don't wanna mess with a pony who's being protected by a dragon with broken chains."

Soft, still coughing, shakes her head, and Water shrugs, then whispers (a bit loudly) to Bubbling, "Why is Discord here?"

"I called him, remember?" he gives a sort of half-nod to Discord. "I also wanted to get his two bits on Wandering, here. And possibly pay for dinner."

"Ohhh, yeahh... you guys didn't have anything to drink? Get that gren stuff its suuuper good." Soft has by now calmed down, and shakes her head in disagreement.

The metaphorical flame of idle curiosity abruptly channeled its way into the shape of a real flame, puffing into existence in the mostly empty glass of Neon Green and licking at the residue.