Spike led the way up to the castle and reached for the door when a human opened it for him, headed out. The athletically-shaped human tilted his head at Spike. "Hey Spikester, just heading out for some ball with… Who's that?" He looked at the guests curiously.

"Hey Jake! This is Eric, Wave, and Tom." He pointed at each in turn at he introduced them. "They're coming to meet Twilight."

“Good thing to know,” Tom mused quietly on Spike’s advice about Twilight before catching sight of the human who was still completely human. “Uh, yeah. We were hoping to talk with Twilight a bit, been here for a bit over a week or so now, I think?” Tom questioned, turning to look at Eric.

Eric shrugged. "I was bad at tracking time when I had regular access to a calendar. Nice to meet you, Jake." Eric offered a handshake.

Jake laughed good-naturedly. "Oh man, you have no idea. I stopped trying to keep track of time around here. I think it's just the way all the ponies live around here or something? You'll be losing track of seasons and years in no time, promise." He accepted the offered handshake and gave it a firm pump. "Nice to meet you all though. I really should get going. RD gets super pissed when I dawdle."

Wave leaned in to whisper to Tom, "He's the worst of them all. Just being near him makes me itch all over. I think he's way overdue to change, but he's just… not. I guess the world hasn't gotten to him."

“Nice meeting you, Jake, perhaps at some point we can chat?” Tom offered up, slightly nodding to Wave, but not bringing it up just yet. “I have a feeling we’ll be in town for at least a few days, but we’ll be moving on at some point, I imagine.”

"We do have another destination in mind," Eric confirmed. "Though we have time to spare, for now."

Jake raised a hand to wave. "Sweet, catch you all later." And off he went with a parting word of advice, "Don't mention her weight."

Spike blushed. "Oh yeah, good idea." He stepped into the house and gestured for the others to come in.

Following Spike inside, Tom whispered back to Wave. “So, since Jake is still completely human, it makes you itch all over, huh? Maybe Twilight can help figure out why that is?” he whispered before speaking up. “Why’d he mention the weight?” Tom quietly asked Spike.

"Pregnant?" Eric inquired quietly, while wondering about all the whispering.

Spike nodded, but before he could answer, Twilight entered with a belly that was clearly rounded and pudged. She was a pregnant mare, but her look hadn't changed much. She smiled at her guests. "Oh, hello there." She focused on Wave and approached her and Tom directly. "You must be the siren? Cadance sent word about you! I can't wait to have a look at you!"

Wave got a little nervous quickly. "I'm not an experiment, miss princess."

Twilight waved off the objection. "It's for your own good, and ours. It won't hurt even a tiny bit, promise."

Eric cut in quickly. "Excuse me, Princess, would you happen to know where I could find any books about shadow magic? I heard you are quite well read on all manner of magical lore... and given my recent past I wish to be as informed as humanly possible."

At Twilight’s rather insistent approach, Tom took a step back and rotated around a bit so that he was between Wave and Twilight, smiling at Eric somewhat thankfully as he started to address her. “Princess? My wife isn’t an experiment, and I gotta say… you’re making her a bit nervous. If you’d like to do something, politely ask first, please?” he explained, although his voice was perhaps a tad shaky for the moment.

Twilight became confused at the talk of wives. "You're married? Oh my!" She conjured a scrap of paper and a quill and began to write busily. "There's so much to document." She only just barely took note of Eric's query. "Hmm? Oh! Shadow magic, hmm… I did borrow a book on the topic after I got back from the Crystal Empire some time ago." She pointed a hoof at a bookshelf and a thick tome rushed to the hoof, held in her pink magic. "It's really made for magical adepts though, so you're not going to get much out of it."

Reaching out, Tom tried to grab that quill in his hand as he looked at Eric for some help. “Twilight? How about we all sit down, first? I’ll even consent to being poked and prodded at, if you’ll slow down a bit. We did just get off a very long train ride.”

"May I?" Eric asked as he took the tome and plopped down. He turned to the first page and started reading. "It wouldn't be the first reference I've had to pour through without proper and prior contextualization."

Twilight waved a wing dismissively. "Please, go ahead." It was only then that she noticed that her quill wasn't in her grip. Oh, Tom said things. "Yes yes, of course. Spike!"

"Right here, Twi." He had never moved far from here.

"Yes, Spike, see that they're comfortable and get them some rooms, and some food, thank you." She pointed to the stairs.

Wave frowned a little and squeezed at Tom. "We only need one room. We're one family."

“Wave? Eric could stand to use his own room, family doesn’t mean we all sleep together. We’ll still be spending time together though, okay?” he softly whispered before speaking up and looking at Twilight, holding out her quill. “Here you go, Princess. Sorry, but you seemed really wrapped up in your note taking there. I’ll let you poke and prod me if you’d like to, just dial it down a little bit?” he restated.

Eric was too zoned out to join the great rooms debate, muttering to himself about some terms he was trying to make sense of from context alone.

Twilight held up a hoof. "Two rooms it is!"

Spike saluted and gestured for the group to follow him. "Right this way. Dinner's not gonna be ready for a while, fair warning." And up he went along the stairs.

Tom followed Spike up the stairs, giving him a grateful smile. “Is she always that… enthusiastic when it comes to studying something she doesn’t know about, then?” Tom asked, not wanting to make any assumptions from what he knew about the show about anyone or anything in it.

Eric managed enough awareness to follow, carrying the tome with him. "I'll have to get Twilight to teach me some of this jargon..."

Spike shook his head. "Twilight? Oh man, everything she can sink her teeth into is fair game." He looked to Eric and his book curiously, but moved along and reached a door. "You two can stay in this one, it's a little bigger, and your friend can be right next door." He pointed at the next door. "They don't really have locks, but everyone here is pretty polite, so don't sweat it."

Wave suddenly flopped, hitting the floor with an energetic thrust, then scootching herself towards her door. Spike peered at her confusedly.

“I… I don’t know,” Tom said in confusion, staring at his now empty hands and then quickly darting inside after Wave. “Thanks, Spike, but gotta see what’s up!” he said over his shoulder, scooping Wave up as he caught up with her. “What’s up, Wave? Where are you off to in such a hurry?”

Wave accepted Tom's offer despite her sudden bid for freedom. She hugged close as she giggled. "Why aren't you excited? I haven't had a room that was really mine since the temple! I want to see it!"

Spike gave a light salute. "Well, enjoy! I have to get back to work. Enjoy your stay," And off he went.

Eric slipped into his own room, sitting on the bed with his new treasure.

Smiling at her, Tom looked around the room before settling on her face as his focus. “I didn’t even think of that, Wave. As far as I can remember, I’ve always had my own room,” he explained, walking around the spacious room slowly before grinning. “That bed looks really soft, too,” he mischievously said before jumping backwards, landing on his back with Wave on his chest, laughing loudly.

Before they could get cozy, the presence of another was felt. "I heard there was a siren here? I've missed one for so long!" announced a deep male voice.

Wave turned quickly to see a male siren smiling at her, and she looked confused, deeply and profoundly. "Um… Who are you?"

Hugging Wave closer, Tom turned his head to face the new speaker, slowly sitting up. “Umm… can I help you?” he asked, just a bit annoyed at the fact someone could just intrude in their room like that as he examined the newcomer closely.

The male siren was shaped… desirably. He had muscles that stood out against his fur a little, and his tail was clearly strong and ready to propel him through water with ease. He lifted from the ground with an aura of magic as he moved towards the two. 'Oh ho, she has a mate? I am Fast Change. A pleasure to meet you both."

“Fast Change?” Tom enquired, tilting his head to the side ever so curiously. “I’m Tom Sawyer, and this here is Wave Swimmer,” he greeted the male, somewhat on guard as he got curious and tried reaching into those newfound powers of his as he continued speaking. “So… what brings you here?”

Wave was not nearly as friendly. She allowed Fast Change to come in close before she lashed out. Wave sank her sharp teeth into one of Fast's waving legs and she bit him quite viciously with a snarl of clearly lethal intent.

Fast Change squealed in surprise, and his/her form vanished along with any shred of her concentration. The mare flopped to the ground, but her leg was still held. "Mercy! Mercy!"

Tom was thoroughly stunned at first, unable to do much more than hold on to Wave before the mare’s words kicked his brain back into action. “WAVE! Let her go, now!” he screamed, eyes wide and his heart threatening to beat out of his chest as the sight before him.

Wave spat out Fast Change's leg with a grunt and scowled at her. "Don't you dare do that again!"

Fast Change held her injured hoof with her intact forehoof, sniffling at a few tears that forced their way from her. "It was just a joke. A little prank."

“I, you, that,” Tom muttered, looking between Wave and Fast, still trying to process what had just happened. “What. Wave, what was that all about? Why did you bite her?” he asked before looking over to Fast. “And you… just, how did you do that? And, uh,” Tom paused, a hand halfway outstretched. He was a priest, so perhaps he could heal it? Focusing on that still unexplored power, he tried his best to focus on mending the mare’s leg. Joke or not, she didn’t deserve what happened.

A spritz of salt water suddenly washed out over Fast's leg and she hissed in pain. "Ow ow ow, easy with that." She got up to her three working legs. "What did you just do? I didn't know humans had…" She paused as she looked over Tom's very inhuman parts. "I guess you aren't one of those. What are you?"

Wave scowled at her. "He's mine, and you tried to steal me away from him." She crossed her legs. "Like I said, never again, or I won't let go, ever."

“I… don’t think she was trying to steal me, Wave,” Tom slowly remarked, pulling his hand back and sighing. “And what I did, still learning? I was human, still am to some degree, just with more?” he slowly questioned, looking at her leg. “I tried to heal it, cause I’m sorta a priest, but guess not.” That said, he turned his attention back to Wave, making sure she was facing him. “Wave, dear, please try not to bite anyone? It’s not like someone is going to steal me away, you know. I’ve pretty well thrown my lot in with you,” he softly spoke, finishing it with a kiss.

Wave smiled at the kiss and her general posture became less threatening. "I don't promise that. I'll bite anyone that tries to separate us. It's my job, to guard it as well as any treasure. It's at least as valuable, don't you think?"

Fast Change flashed a bright smile. "I like your attitude. You keep him nice and safe. I'm sorry I scared you, but I wasn't trying to intrude, just play a joke, promise. So you're the siren, obviously." She looked Wave over a moment. "I hope you don't mind my saying so, but you're both very fetching creatures in your own ways."

Tom brushed a bit of Wave’s mane and smiled, rubbing her neck as he sighed. “I can’t argue with that, but try to hold it back a bit longer, perhaps?” he asked before nodding to Fast. “And I’m sorry that your joke went so wrong, but she is a very possessive and lovely siren. Not quite sure how you get fetching from me, though, but thank you. So, Fast Change, if it doesn’t hurt too much,” he asked, pointing at her injured leg, “who are you, really?”

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