“By this world’s standards? I’d be kind of inclined to say humans do belong to the shadows by default. It’s not to say we have nothing good or light in us. You do well enough on land, Wave. But how many of us can honestly claim innocence of mind and thought by the time we reach adulthood, Tom? How many of our games and entertainments are all about violence? How much of the rest about sexual fantasies we know very well would be destructive to live out? Do I give Equestrians too much credit? Our race is all about turning back our own darkness, nonstop, to live decent lives.” Eric looked down at the wolf’s head. “Still… it’s hardly the same as a beast like this, huh? I’ve tamed it for the moment, but can it even live a peaceful life if it tried?”

Tom waved a hand around somewhat dismissively. “That’s one way to look at it, although it’s a bit brooding when you put it that way,” he remarked, shrugging his shoulders. “Then again, I really haven’t found my place or where I wanted to be yet, and I know I’ve had plenty of violent thoughts, some homicidal, rather frequently at that. But having thoughts and not acting on them is what counts, I suppose.”

Wave perked one of her ears at Eric. "Huh, maybe you are dark already, with that power brooding you have going on that." She stuck out her tongue lightly. "I have ten times the reason for pouting as you. Everything I knew isn't just far away, it's gone, like, never coming back. It's not just 'not there for me', it just isn't there, and never will be." She clopped a hoof on the floor. "And that sucks, a lot." She leaned against Tom lightly. "At least I have some new things…"

“I don’t want to make light of your situation, Wave, but at least you know you can’t go back. You have no choice but to move on, and that makes it an easier decision to make. I’d love to just move on. To turn my back on them and embrace this new world, and simply look for new things for myself. But even thinking about finding someone new feels like a betrayal.” Eric fidgeted with his wedding band, rotating it a few times around the finger that had grown around it enough that it couldn’t be easily removed. “‘Until death do us part.’ That was the terms of the wedding vow. But I’m not dead, and as far as I know, neither is she. So my vow holds, and I can either break it and be scum, in my own heart at least, or hold to it and be tied by an anchor to a world that’s currently out of my reach. Knowing she was dead and gone would be simpler at least.”

Tom let out a small sigh, pulling Wave closer even though he was frowning just a bit. Things weren’t quite how he liked being described, although right now Eric’s revelation was of more pressing concern. “Eric. Just, be careful with it, okay? Given how Lost and Foot reacted, no one in the Empire, probably the closest civilization to us, is going to want you around with it. But, I understand,” he restated, leaning back against the somewhat uncomfortable stone wall.

Wave made a gesture with her hooves to the corners of her eyes. "You're starting to look the part. You're going to have a tough time hiding it, eh?" She snuggled against the hug that Tom offered, clearly enjoying his presence. "You might be better off being upfront about it?"

As Wave indicated, Eric's shadow-tears were faintly visible to the untrained eyes, waving in rolling emanations as creatures touched by shadows tended to develop.

“What do you mean by that?” Eric asked. “I don’t think we have a mirror on us, but I’m guessing I badly need one now.”

Tom nodded. “Yeah, just like I could probably use one for a look at my eyes… you’ve got some sort of… shadowy thing going on with the corners of yours.” Tapping his free hand on the ground a bit, he sighed. “So long as you control it, rather than letting it control you, that’s fine. And, the only way we’re going to see our guides again will be to send Fido there out to bring them back,” he added on with a weak chuckle. “Or whatever you’ve named the wolf that seems to be yours now.”

“Oh, hey, yeah yours have kind of a cat-like thing going on. I hadn’t noticed… I’m bad with noticing eyes,” Eric commented before looking down at the wolf. “I was thinking of calling her Poppy. Or him? I didn’t get a good look. I really don’t think it’d be a good idea to chase after them with her, at least not without doing some very serious Science! to her first.”

Wave rolled her eyes. "I don't think it matters much which it is, unless you plan to do very inappropriate things with a dog." She developed an expression between disgust and amusement. "I wouldn't send poochy there after the ponies though. You saw how they ran. If they saw that thing they'd keep right on running until they fell over and died. That hardly seems a good way to repay them for being nice." She glanced around, then pointed. "They left their chocolate at least." During the mad dash to flee, apparently it had fallen from a saddlebag, half-scattered on the stone floor.

Eric couldn’t help but laugh at the chocolate’s presence. “The very first spell I ever cast was moving the chocolate from Lost’s saddlebags to Footnote’s. I guess we see the end result.”

Chuckling, Tom shrugged. “Least we get something from them then? I hope that they are fine though, that blizzard is very nasty out there,” he remarked, turning to look outside again for a moment. “Hopefully the fire will last until the weather calms though.” Looking at ‘Poppy’ Tom pointed. “Science, huh? Well, if you wanna do that now, I still need to talk with Wave about what you pointed out earlier, Eric.”

“Have your talk. You don’t need to watch this, but I do want you to watch me, in general. If I do lose control, you might be able to recognize it easier than I can… if you tell me to stop… I will if I can,” Eric offered, before turning his attention fully to the wolf. He tried to gently pull out the dark magic from ‘her’, careful not to wake her, wondering if there was anything that would be left underneath if it could all be removed.

What do you get when you take a shadow wolf and remove the shadow? Apparently a little dog. With a little curled tail that goes waggity-wag. With the shadow removed, she awakened and sat up with a big yawn. Her tongue curled as she pawed at the ground, then she looked up at Eric, yapping at him in three little barks before she sat down.

"That is adorable," commented Wave. "You're lucky I just ate, or delicious might also qualify as a good word for it."

Lightly shaking his head with a small chuckle, Tom wrapped Wave up in a big hug to distract her from Eric. “Hey, Wave… I gotta ask, what do you see me, and Eric over there, as? To you, I mean?” he asked, looking her in the eyes rather seriously.

Eric was elated at the results, and quickly dug out a piece of beef jerky to feed Poppy as he started singing quietly. “This was a triumph! I’m making a note here: HUGE SUCCESS. It’s hard to overstate my satisfaction…”

Wave peered at the curious sing-song before focusing on Tom. "What do you mean?" She tapped her chin lightly. "You're Tom, my human. You help me get around without water around, and I like you a bit, and you like me, right?"

“I’m Tom, a human who happens to be friends with you, yes, I do like you a good bit, Wave, perhaps more than I should in such a short time. I’m just trying to figure out where our boundaries are at, if that makes any sense?” he asked, fumbling a bit. Needless to say, this wasn’t a conversation he had very frequently. “I appreciate what you’ve done for me so far, even if you didn’t properly warn me about those,” he remarked, wriggling his hooves to make his point. “I’m… bah, I’m terrible at this. Eric, some help here, maybe?” he asked over to him, looking a bit confused.

Poppy accepted the treats offered to her, snapping them up and gulping them down. Once fed, she sat in front of Eric with a rapidly wagging tail, happy with life in general it seemed.

Eric petted Poppy happily while glancing up at the other two. “Dragging me into this? Fine, but you get what you get. Wave, Tom needs to know if you’re interested in developing a relationship with him, or if you’re happy to be just friends and settle it in as such. You’re possessive enough of him to get him wondering, but unclear enough in your intentions to leave him unsure. And he’s too indecisive to just pick which answer he’d prefer and push for it.”

Wave looked a bit surprised at the question, but quickly recovered. She pulled Tom tightly and kissed either of his cheeks. "Are you proposing to me? You cheeky naked alien you. Yes! Let's be married, until you die of old age at least." The way she said it heavily implied she didn't think that would be a very long time away.

Blinking a few times, Tom simply sat there, arms around Wave. “So… that’d be a yes then?” he awkwardly said before laughing. “I wasn’t quite proposing to you, Wave, I was merely asking if you were interested in friendship or more, like Eric bluntly stated.” Deciding he was in over his head, he shut up and kissed Wave, much like the one she’d asked for in the temple.

Eric didn’t show any reaction to their affection. He was listening enough to know what was going on, but had more or less assumed it inevitable days ago. Instead, he continued his science experiments by trying to magically command Poppy to do some simple tricks, like rolling over, to see if his mental commands were still getting through without the dark magic in her.

Poppy wasn't a creature of shadow anymore, so subtle commands didn't work, but the little dog was loyal enough, and a spoken command got swift results, as if the dog was actually listening to Eric's words more than any normal Earth dog.

Wave nuzzled into the kiss, her eyes drifting shut as she went full-in on the kiss with her apparently betrothed human. Her hooves pulled at him, keeping him close as they shared warmth, though that was mostly a one way street, with her enjoying the heat he put off and only giving her passion in return.

Pulling her close in return, Tom broke off that kiss, looking just a bit dazed for a few seconds. “Didn’t quite expect this, but… I like it,” he softly spoke, face breaking out into a grin. “Guess you did get that next kiss with a bit behind it, huh? And let’s hope that I don’t die of old age, or anything else, anytime soon… I’ve still got plenty of life in me I’d like to think.”

“Poppy… let’s find Lost Chance! The white earth pony that was here… can you follow her scent, girl?” Eric said as he got to his feet. “We can leave the newlyweds to their honeymoon.”

Poppy tilted her head one way and the other before giving a little bark. She hopped to her paws and started sniffing around the entrance until she found the chocolate, which proved far more interesting than fading scents and she went for some fudge.

Wave let out a sigh when the kiss broke. "You're not allowed to die yet. I said so, so that's that." She tapped his chest with a hoof. "So… you don't mind if I keep doing what I've been doing, do you? Good!" She pressed in for another kiss without giving much time to argue about what she meant exactly.

Any reply Tom had was muffled by her lips, his arms tightening around her as he couldn’t help but chuckle a bit at how Wave claimed he couldn’t die yet, simply because she said so. It made for an interesting kiss as he melted into it, that soft fur and smooth scales adding to the overall effect of the kiss as he let kept his eyes open.

“No, Poppy!” Eric cried out in alarm, swiftly willing the chocolate to teleport into the fire. The gooey mess burned quickly, melting into a darkening mass that spread foul-smelling smoke through the cave. Poppy gave a bit of a pout at the lost treat, then returned to tracking, wandering towards the entrance. Next Chapter: 15 - Sealed with a Kiss Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 38 Minutes