Elsewhere, Eric slowly regained his normal gait as they walked, the pain fading slowly to memory. “Sorry about that whole… mess with Wave earlier. I should have just shut her idea down sooner, rather than letting her make it a whole awkward mess for all of us.”

Tom nodded as they walked along. “It’s, well not okay I guess, but you’re not at fault, Eric. I think we all made it into a bigger issue than it had to be, and things just got a bit out of control for a moment,” he slowly replied, shrugging. “Wave is rather beautiful, and if a beautiful woman wanted to think of you as more, well… hard to resist, yeah? We just haven’t even had any time to sort things out between us, trying to bring another into things? A mess.”

Eric nodded, idly fingering the wedding band still on his finger. “Wave’s just naive, I at least should have known better. Though… perhaps a compromise? Why don’t we declare ourselves brothers? Then Wave can have me as family like she wants, just not, well, how she doesn’t actually want?”

Chuckling at Eric’s idea, Tom shrugged. “That sounds like an interesting way to give her what she wants. You might have a good idea about me, when it comes to her. I find myself crumpling to her wants and needs. Plus, so far you’ve been a great friend, Eric, so…” Tom trailed off, holding out his hand. “Brothers indeed. You wanna do any over the top theatrics to go with it? I’m sure we could find a knife if we really wanted to,” he joked.

“I’m pretty sure the correct ritual is sharing sake, but I don’t have any on hand,” Eric joked in return, before taking Tom’s hand, clasping midway up the forearm, and dragging the surprised Tom into a hug with his other arm. “So this’ll have to do for now, bro.”

Stumbling right into Eric’s hug, Tom returned it, if only to regain his balance. “Different things for different places, really, I’ve seen the whole cutting palms thing before, so many ways to do it,” tom remarked with a chuckle, finding his balance. “Bro, huh? Always wanted a sibling, this’ll work just fine, just twenty something years later than I’d wanted.”

Eric released him, satisfied. “I’m not so great around blood, as it turns out. But really it’s the commitment that matters. No matter what, we’ve got each other’s backs, right? Though, speaking of commitments… Wave’s got Cadance talking to her right now, you need any words of encouragement or advice yourself, little bro?”

“You probably wouldn’t want any of this weird blood of mine, anyways, who knows what might happen. As for Wave, well,” Tom paused, going silent for a few seconds and faintly blushing. “Just need to find my confidence, I think? She’s physically attractive enough, and well, earlier I had to fight a certain urge, so…” Scratching the back of his neck nervously, he kept walking after the guard, hurrying just a bit and nearly stumbling.

Eric nodded. “Just borrow a bit of her confidence. She chose you for a reason. Sure, it was just opportunity when you first met, but she didn’t agree to marry you because you just happened to be there, or because you pressured her into it. You didn’t even bring up marriage, she did. And as far as sex has been from her mind up until now, well. If all her parts work vaguely like a woman’s, she’ll love it if you do a decent job. Just don’t be afraid to use your hands, and give each other a lot of grace while you’re learning how it all fits together. And if they don’t have that kind of sensation, then, well… I’m betting she learns to enjoy pleasuring you anyways. Because she loves you.”

“It’s… a learning relationship, certainly. The other thing on my mind is perhaps letting her just finish changing me. Being human really isn’t all that special, here in Equestria really. I’ll wait till we get to Ponyville and talk to Twilight, perhaps,” Tom muttered, shrugging his shoulders. “Better let Wave change me than her goddess… gods really are assholes.”

Eric chuckled. “You’re my bro, either way, and Wave certainly wouldn’t reject you for it. Take your time and make your choice. I wouldn’t want to give up hands, personally, but I’m sure you can get used to the hoof thing eventually. The ponies seem pretty dexterous with them, at least after a lifetime of practice. I’ve… actually been considering experimenting with changing myself. With Poppy, I learned I can both add and remove alterations, as long as the subject is either willing or, well, incapacitated. I’m hesitant to try on myself, probably start with something small, but then technically I already did the eyes…” Eric rambled.

Eventually they ended up in the dining hall. The guards saluted and wandered off on their own business. A modest amount of food was kept available for guests of the castle, along with crystal berry juice and water in crystal carafes for anyone's thirst.

It was scarcely a minute before Cadance trotted into the room with Wave floating beside her. On seeing Tom, Wave perked right up and reached for him. Cadance was only too happy to gently drift the siren towards her husband. "Here we are."

Tom warmly smiled and gently took hold of Wave from Cadance’s magic, kissing her. “Did you have a good talk with Cadance, Wave?” he quietly asked, hugging her tightly as he glanced to Eric with a friendly smile. “And, guess what? Eric and I decided we’d be brothers, so now we’re all family. Figured you’d like to hear that.”

Eric nodded. “It’s a human tradition. Any two guys who have been through some serious shit together can swear to be brothers from then on. So, I guess that makes me your brother-in-law. No awkwardness needed. Hugs optional.”

Wave looked a little confused at the concept of brotherly ties, but nodded despite it. "Well, alright? So we're all family now, right?"

Cadance looked between the snuggling Wave and her stallion-companions with a faintly raised brow. The ties she saw were… "Do you… Is everything alright? If you need to speak to me, just let a guard know and I'll be back, but I should return to work." She turned from the gathering. "Please, feel at home, and say hello to little Twilight for me."

“Yes, Wave, we’re all family, which is closer than friends, but not as close as a husband is,” Tom calmly explained, letting up on the hug to toy with that lovely mane of hers as he looked up to Cadance. “Princess, we’re alright, I think. Just need time to properly sort things out, you know? And, again, thank you so much for the help,” he finished, turning his attention back to Wave, resting his head on her shoulder.

Eric waved to the princess, before turning to focus on getting some breakfast. “So there’s some things to know about bros, Wave. For one… we’re allowed to fight each other at any time for any reason, just nothing lethal or maiming… it’s part of being bros. But we’re still good once the fight’s over, so you don’t have to worry or intercede… but if anyone else threatens either of us, they’re in for a no holds barred double-team of doom,” Eric began rambling, a tone of amusement to his voice that made it hard to tell how serious he was.

Wave lifted a hoof. "I can fight with you two, what's the difference?" She rubbed her chin. "I suppose it doesn't matter too much in the end, so long as we're family now, right?" She nuzzled into Tom's cheek, then held out an arm/leg to Eric, inviting him as well. "Cadance was very helpful, I think. She showed me things I didn't know, or forgot. I'm not sure after this long."

Eric accepted the hug, hugging both Wave and Tom firmly before stepping back. “Spouses should never fight, not physically anyways. Verbally… will happen, just be quick to forgive.”

Breaking off from that group hug, Tom smiled at Wave. “I’m glad to hear that, we can spend some time together later, if you’d like?” he offered, having a general idea of what Cadance might have mentioned. “And like Eric said, family having a squabble is different than spouses having one, somehow, I guess?” he chuckled. “Also, I’ve started thinking about it… would you care if I went ahead and went full pony, Wave?”

Wave bobbed her head eagerly. "Later, sure. Um, what do you mean by that though? I mean, I love you as you are, but…" She tried to reconcile her feelings with a frown. "Any time we get close, I feel like I should keep rubbing that off. I get those itches around Eric too, but he's been pretty insistent about staying away from me. Hay, he just made up a new term to not be too close to me."

Tom looked somewhat surprised at her answer. “That’s… rather odd. Our humanity is making you itch?” he curiously asked, lightly massaging her neck. “I’d miss having hands, myself, that’d probably be the worst part of it all, I imagine. Given this whirlwind… I’d rather give in and enjoy it than fight it. I’ll still be me either way, which is all that truly matters in the end I’d say,” he mused aloud before leaning in to gently kiss Wave’s neck.

"I'm only holding back for Tom’s sake, Wave, you know that. The 'bro' thing might be made up, but not by me. Though... wonder how you will feel when I start altering myself, " Eric mused. “Did Poppy give you anything like that ‘itch’?”

Wave made a soft and happy sound as her neck was rubbed along. "I... I like your hands too. They're very clever and nice and…" She clapped her hooves together, looking between the two humans with growing uncertainty. "Maybe… Maybe this is my issue. I should get ahold of myself, before I let myself do anything more, even if you feel ready. I don't want to hurt either of you." She smiled and exposed her sharp teeth. "We're a family now, and that makes that my responsibility too."

Smiling, Tom slightly nodded at Wave’s thought. “Wave, yes, we are a family now, and if you want to take time to figure out more for yourself before doing too much with us, that’s perfectly fine. Just remember, family helps each other out when they need it, so if you need anything, just ask,” Tom finished, hands moving from her neck to shoulders, gently massaging them next.

Looking to Eric, Tom raised a brow in curiosity. “And what do you mean by altering yourself? The, would it still be called shadow magic? If it comes back, do you think you could honestly do that?” he questioned.

Eric shrugged. “The eyes are still altered, and don’t seem to be a problem now that the shadow itself is gone. Beyond that? I would want to experiment a bit cautiously, make sure I can undo whatever I do, if I can get some time to do so. But I think there’s something to be said for making temporary changes to suit the situation, rather than permanent conversions. Like… you’re a lot better suited to the water now, I imagine, but what would we do if you went a few steps further and had a flipper instead of hind legs, like Wave? You wouldn’t be able to carry her on land anymore, and you’d need someone else’s help like she does now, right?”

A soft knocking came from the door to the dining hall before Flash Sentry poked his snout in. "Hello there. The Princess said to arrange train tickets for you, here." He produced a hoof with tickets balanced on it nicely. "Are you visiting Ponyville? Say hi to Twilight for me. It's been a while since we had a chance to chat."

Wave reached a hoof for the tickets and claimed them between them before her mouth took them into her grip. "Thanks. We will! Does Twilight have a library too?"

“Will do, thanks for these,” Tom replied, gently taking the tickets from Wave’s mouth with a hand, passing them over to Eric. “You’ve got the backpack, if you don’t mind holding onto them?” he asked. “And, something tells me Twilight will have a library, Wave. Trust me.”

Eric accepted the tickets, looking them over briefly before securing them in a side pocket. “Twilight, Twilight… I think she was a librarian or something? My pony knowledge is pretty lacking, but I even I know that one. I think she was big on research or something too, might be a great person to ask about sirens when we get there. Hey, Flash. Is there a specific time for these tickets? I don’t want to miss the train if we do some things before leaving town.”

Flash tilted his head lightly at Eric. "Yeah, she was a librarian before, but she's a princess pretty full time now. Be sure to be polite to her." He raised a hoof to point at where the tickets vanished to. "Not specifically, but she said you should get moving while the coast is clear. I mean, you're not being kicked out or anything, but it'd be pretty bad if something bad happened to you."

Sighing, Tom nodded as he understood what was being said. “She’d rather not come out and say that we’re being booted out, but right now there’s a country full of ponies who think Sombra is back, and an angry shadow somewhere out there,” he paused, pointing his hand in a few random directions, “that probably isn’t too happy right now. Right?” he questioned with resignation.

Eric sighed. “I still need to find out if Lost Chance and… Footnote are okay, and apologize to her, in person if I can. I guess maybe I can write her a letter? That’s…” Eric shook his head, looking a bit defeated.

Flash smiled at Eric. "Oh sure. You can write them any time. I checked around and they were still out of town. You beat them back here, I guess? I'll send a letter myself when they come back, and tell them where you went to, no problem."

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