They were both quite polite, a stark contrast to Ampere's manners, even when she was dealing with those ranked above her. It brought a soft smile to her lips, grateful to their ears and their patience, and their respect. Riding on the tails of that meeting, it did her loyalty some good.

Her head shifted though as Badger spoke of bonds. Anyone familiar with Ampere might have cringed, fully expecting her ire to rise to the surface in all its electrified glory, but the mare was as calm as ever. She did not hate the ignorant, just the willfully so. In fact she was rather pleased to see she had a potential student on her hands, one not yet tainted by the rest of Helovia and its greed. If she thought she was done talking, it appears she was mistaken.

"I wish it were so," she murmured, a heavy sigh befalling her nares. "I would find that much more fair than the current system the gods have put in place. No, these creatures, these companions, they are bonded to a horse's soul upon birth. The bond creates an inseparable link, even death often causes the same for the other." Anger might not have colored her tones, but a certain tough of sorrow did, her heart moved for those trapped souls that were beyond saving. "It's a beautiful thing to be sure... many of the lonely crave it, because you share your mind and all its thoughts with the creature and they with you. Similarly your heart and all its emotions run between the bond, influencing both horse and creature alike as each oh expresses something. All of it merging within the soul, for eternity... well, a mortal's eternity. It's said there is nothing comparable to it, to share yourself so wholly with someone and they you." She shook her head, her gaze having shifted from badger to stare off into the distance as if she were watching some old memory replay behind her eyes. Her meeting with the Earth perhaps, or any countless bonded she had spoken with.

"Yet, it is not as pretty as it seems, despite what others might say. I've seen too many fights to count where those companions are in the fray. They're smaller than us, meant to be, and though some possess magic it is no comparison to ours. Battles bring out strong emotions in us which in turn affects the companions, so while many bonded claim they never make the companion fight they certainly influence it just with their beating heart. Some are creatures born for battle, like dragons, but they are meant to battle their own kind, not us, and certainly not monsters and gods." She sighed, exasperated. Here her gaze returned to Badger, staring her down, needing some confirmation. "You saw what happened when those tried to attack the Moon Goddess? She is to us what we are to companions, what ants are to us. It's madness to treat those living souls as weapons." Yet, Ampere never understood this part - if the death of a companion often meant the same for its horse, why was everyone so reckless with taking them into battle? Shouldn't they at least bear armor like so many of the grand warriors, if not fight at all? Their small size gave them speed and agility but it also meant one well placed strike could end it all. It was insanity.

"What's more, the companion knows nothing of life, being born into the bond immediately. It seems like enslavement to me... even a prisoner kept long enough can come to love its captors, but that doesn't make it right." She snorted forcefully, that grief starting to edge away to rising anger. She caught it, not wanting it here, not for this. "The Earth told me some of them when we spoke. He said the companions and the horses choose when they bond, but I can't understand how a lifelong, irreversible decision can be expected to made by a babe. It's not like we don't all make mistakes, but we have the fortune of learning and growing from them...companions don't. The Earth said bonds were made long ago in an effort to protect these species, but I have yet to ever see a companion breed - how can they when they're with horses all the time and not their own kind, not even their own habitat half the time? It only seems like a fancy tool for horses, like magic or items, just alive, and no one else seems to care."

She wanted to respond to her comment about humans, about her elements belonging to the Spark, but her thoughts continued to tumble around the companions he so casually brought up.