Eric smirked, adversarially, as he thought back to the whisper. Is this the best you can do? I don’t feel guilty indulging in a little schadenfreude toward you. I told you, I’m going to set the world record for most pony friends for a shadow wizard, and set the bar so high normal ponies will feel embarrassed they can’t meet it. That’s not a trick you can pull off.

Tom took a step back, nodding to Eric. “I’m sure you’ll be fine, man. Once it’s over, we can compare it to my little experience at least, yeah?” he joked, moving out of the way some and sitting on the bed.

“For Science!” Eric answered Tom with a grin, before his now-opened eyes settled on the Crystal Heart, drinking in its details. “Ready when you are, Princess.”

Cadance directed her horn at the heart-shaped crystal and fired her pink love ray at it. It pulsed powerfully in a wave, but without the proper ceremony, it could only fill a room, which was enough. Eric felt like he was punched in the gut, and the shadowy essence was ripped from him.

It formed an angry sneer in the air as it was carried a few feet away. It tried to rush back for Eric, but Cadance would not have that. She wrapped it up in a field of pink and pulled it close to herself, away from the still reeling human. "You are safe now."

The shadowy emanations were gone, the gift, gone, perhaps to return? She did offer as much, but all there was at that moment was dizzying pain.

Moving from his spot on the bed, Tom helped steady Eric, looking at him with concern. “How are you feeling? It didn’t look that bad, least from out here. Not like getting wrung like a sponge,” he joked again, looking over to Cadance with a smile.

Eric glanced at who he was leaning against long enough to tense for a moment before relaxing and leaning on him fully, his expression quite pained. “It feels… like someone ripped out half my soul. Or probably, more reasonably, ripped the parasite off my soul, along with half the ‘skin’ it was clinging to.” Thoughts of power or powerlessness would come later, when the pain was more memory than present reality.

Cadance moved for the closest window and lowered her head towards the distance. Like a great love cannon, she fired the shred of foul shadow-stuff off into the distance, to trouble her people no more. "Are you alright?" She turned to look at the human she just hurt. "I'm sorry, but there really isn't another way to do that."

Eric managed a weak nod to her question.

“Ah, yeah, that doesn’t sound very pleasant either. Same thing, just different methods to get about it? Least there wasn’t any blood with that, just a lot of icky looking shadowy stuff.” Speaking of, Tom turned to Cadance, having noticed how she launched the shadow away. “You can’t destroy it?”

Cadance shook her head. "I represent love, not light. They are not the same thing. The most I can do is hurt it, sometimes to seal it. Even sealing it is a tremendous effort." She let out a soft sigh. "And not permanent, still…" She smiled at Tom. "Welcome. Tom was it?"

“Yes, Princess Cadance, Tom Sawyer,” he reintroduced himself, now that the shadow issue was dealt with. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, and thanks for helping Eric out.” Speaking of Eric, Tom moved an arm around his shoulder to help support him, feeling just how limp Eric felt at the moment. “I wonder what’s taking Wave so long…” he quietly said, glancing towards the bathroom.

Cadance glanced towards the bathroom. "It is often ill-advised to disturb a mare in there." She returned her eyes to Tom. "Please, tell me your tale? Have you been in Equestria long? Did you mean to come here?"

“Not really, I was at work, back on Earth, and all of a sudden words just started popping up. Thought it was someone messing with me, but then blam, ended up here, in Equestria. In the ruins of a temple, actually.” Tom paused, reaching into the pocket on the shorts he was wearing, pulling out the sphere that had his house in it. “Apparently I was put out there cause I brought my entire house along,” he remarked with a chuckle.

“It was hard going, met Wave Swimmer, who when she gets out of the bathroom I’ll introduce you to, and then Eric dropped in just in time to trigger a rolling boulder trap that nearly killed all three of us.” Tom continued on, giving Cadance an extremely brief summary of events leading up till now. “It’s hard to think that it’s only been, what, perhaps a week at most since I got here? Already married, part pony, and apparently a priest of a goddess that no one really worships anymore.”

Cadance reached out with a hoof and brushed the new fur along one of Tom's legs. "I'm sorry if your stay in Equestria has been difficult so far. You're in a safe place now." She smiled gently. "I can see you have a good heart." Or at least she saw the firm if confused line of love that flowed both ways from the bathroom. "But I can't recommend the two of you--three of you?  I can't recommend the three of you stay here. Once you have fallen to the shadow, it can happen again. Better you all get far away."

Tom glanced to the bathroom again, and then looked at Eric, who appeared to have actually fallen unconscious at the moment, or perhaps just asleep? “We were going to go to Baltimare next, there’s a siren living there that can tell Wave and myself a lot about sirens as a whole,” Tom paused, a look of indecision on his face for a few moments. “What’s it like, being a pony, anyways? I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I’m not going to go back to Earth, so… do you think it would be a good idea to just let these changes finish?”

Cadance perked an ear. "I've always been a pony, so that's hard to explain exactly. Actually, since you'll be on the rails anyway, why don't you stop by Ponyville and ask for Twilight Sparkle. She's a princess, and she's been human before. She could explain it far better than I could." she put a hoof on her chest. "As for going with it or remaining human? That's a very personal question. There's nothing wrong with you, as you, in either way. There's a human in Ponyville who has remained quite well as one, without problem."

“Softer this way,” Eric mentioned before opening his eyes. “Speaking of changes… are my eyes back to normal?”

Nodding, Tom smiled a bit. “Thanks, that sounds like really good advice. The other issue, is, well, more personal. How exactly do you bring up how a relationship is supposed to be when the person, well siren in question is thousands of years out of date with times and doesn’t think of sex as important?” he weakly questioned with a chuckle before turning to look at Eric’s eyes, letting his hand fall from the shoulder.

Cadance's attention slid towards Eric to look him over. "Your eyes look the same. I assume that's normal for a human?" Humans have slit eyes? Must be standard. Her eyes darted back to Tom and his more complex question. "I haven't met a siren before. Let me talk to her, before you go. In fact, why don't the two of you wait downstairs?" She pointed to the door.

Getting to his feet, Tom gratefully nodded to Cadance. “Thank you, Princess. You’ve been a massive help to us both, well to all three of us I imagine really,” he said before holding out a hand to help Eric up. “And Eric? They’re blue again, but your pupils are slit like mine are now. So, I imagine you’ll still be able to see quite well in the dark.”

Eric grunted against the pain as he climbed to his own feet with Tom’s help. “Good enough. Much less needlessly intimidating. Thank you so much, Princess. Despite the pain, you’ve lifted a great weight from me. If there’s ever a way I can repay you, don’t hesitate to ask.”

Cadance dipped her head towards Eric. "Find a happy life and you'll have done enough. Send a letter if you're feeling generous." she smiled gently. "Now, wait for me please? The guards will show you to the dining hall."

“We both will, Princess. And if Lost Chance and Footnote are fine, I’d like to exchange letters with them as well. They’ve got that tablet, and I guess now that I’m a priest, might need it again some day in the future,” Tom remarked, starting towards the door.

“We wouldn’t leave without Wave Swimmer, regardless,” Eric mentioned. “Though I would like to talk to Lost Chance before we leave town. I owe her a few things best delivered in person. Do you have any means to locate them? I’m not sure they would have made it back to town yet, and I worry the blizzard may have been a problem for them.”

Cadance gave a little chuckle. "Stallions, they're the same of any species. Go, shoo. I'm going to talk to your lady friend, then we can see about the rest of that." She made a gentle shooing motion with her forehooves.

Tom nodded, opening the door and leaving it open for Eric, peering around for a guard. “Ah, cool. Princess Cadance asked that you show myself and Eric here to the dining hall?”

Eric smirked at Cadance’s comment. “Good luck with Wave Swimmer. At least we got the best expert on the case now,” he said as he followed Tom out, looking around the palace with fresh eyes.

The two were led away by the guards, who had no reason left to be much wary of their guests, and so talked animatedly along the way about how lovely the princess was. Apparently how hot their princess was not an uncommon topic among the guards, even if she was entirely off-limits.

Inside the room, Cadance waited patiently for Wave to emerge. The siren poked her snout out with a happy sigh. "I'm alright now!" She looked around and didn't see her husband or friend, just a curious pink pony. "Hello?"

Cadance nodded at Wave. "Hello. It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Cadance. To be exact:  Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, but we don't need to worry about formalities." She reached out a hoof and held it towards Wave with a smile.

Wave looked at it without immediate trust. "Are you here to boss me around?"

Cadance tilted her head. "Whyever would you think that? You are a guest, and a friend, I hope. I want to talk to you about your stallion."

That drew her attention and Wave accepted her hoof. Cadance hefted her up easily and set Wave down on a large cushion. "There we are, now, what do you know about yourself, as a siren?"

Wave knew precious little, and said as much. Cadance pouted a little. "I see. May I examine you? It's for your good, I promise." She held up a hoof. "Pinkie Promise, the most serious kind of promise there is."

Wave smiled at the gesture as Cadance started going through the Pinkie Promise motion. "Well, alright, do what you have to do."

Cadance slid in a bit closer and allowed her hooves to explore the siren curiously, to see what parts were the same as any pony, and which parts were not. "You know, he's worried for you. He cares for you a great deal, and wants you to be happy."

Wave sighed softly. "I know that. I'm the one that doesn't understand things. I've been in that stupid temple for thousands of years, and now, wham, here I am, with someone who knows somehow more than me despite being an alien. It's so--Eek!" She squirmed as Cadance found a sensitive spot. "Watch it."

Cadance nodded lightly. "I think you can give him what he was hinting at. Does this hurt?" She tried to stimulate the female with the least amount of lechery involved. Her eyes never left Wave's.

Wave started to flush at the contact and her tail spasmed as she let out a little coo. "Yes! Yes I feel that, I mean, no, no, it doesn't hurt. What are you doing?"

Cadance drew her hoof back. "Nothing I'll repeat, but something your husband will be glad to do with you. Couples do this sort of things, as a matter of trust, and pleasure, and eventually foal making. Do you want a foal?"

Wave's breath started to return to normal as the stimulation stopped. "I didn't think about it… I don't age, it seems kind of selfish to think of foals. Why would I 'pass on' something if I'm never going to die?"

Cadance raised a brow. "I can see the logic in that, but you can enjoy the presence of your mate without that, if you want. I know he does. He thinks he should, to prove how much he loves you, and he wants to love you this much." She spread her hooves wide. "How does that make you feel?"

Wave developed a little smile. "I… I'm really glad that he likes me. I was worried he was just humoring me. Are you sure?"

Cadance nodded slowly. "Absolutely. Now you show him where I rubbed you, but don't tell him I talked about it, just guide him to it, and you'll see. He'll get right to it and try his hardest to make you happy. He's a stallion. Human, pony, doesn't matter. He wants a happy and fulfilled mare."

Wave grinned with thoughts of the future. "I'll do that, promise. Do you have a library?"

Cadance tilted her head. "The city has a fine library, why?"

Wave pointed to a window. "I want to go there. Can we visit?"

She nodded. "Of course, now let's get you back to your stallion." She lifted Wave gently in her magic and trotted off to find the boys.

Next Chapter: 26 - Bros Forever Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 55 Minutes