Tom gratefully looked to Eric before turning to Twilight, hand still on her horn. “Twilight, look, I get it. You like knowledge, yeah? But, consent is key.” Letting go of her horn, he sighed. “If you had simply knocked in the first place, or been polite about it, we probably would have been perfectly fine saying yes. But, you barge in here, interrupt a moment Wave and I were having, and then try to pry her out of my arms without even asking. Would you like someone doing that to you?”

"I would probably show them a few moves," spoke a new voice as a new figure moved in around Eric. Her form was large, more swollen than Twilight, but moving with a greater control of herself than the self-admitted geek could be. Her leathery wings ruffled as she frowned at Twilight. "But, since I know this one, I'll settle for denying her any sweet or sour treats tonight."

Twilight paled quickly. "What? No! I didn't mean… I'm sorry!"

Wave started to smile with apparent amusement at their interaction. "Miss Twilight? What did you plan to do, besides throw me and hope I caught myself before I hit the ground?"

“Thanks for the help,” Eric said quietly to the newcomer. “If I might ask, what kind of mare are you?”

“Thank you,” Tom said to the newcomer, mirroring Eric’s sentiment on the matter. “And that doesn’t sound like a really good way to see if Wave remembers how to float… there’s a reason we’re going to be headed to Baltimare in a few days, specifically to learn about sirens from a siren.”

The bat-winged pony directed at herself with one of her wings. "Me? I'm Night Watch, a pleasure, humans, or what's left of them." She glanced towards Twilight. "Answer them, or no snacks gets continued."

Twilight fidgeted with obvious dread at being further denied the clearly coveted snacks. "Oh, um. I was just going to hold you up at the right height and see if you reacted to it at all. I wouldn't throw you, ma'am, no sir ree, no way no how." The fact that she was fibbing was not very well hidden.

“I don’t think Wave Swimmer much appreciates being Science’d, especially without prior consent. And as they said, we are planning to go consult someone actually well versed in that particular topic. I on the other hand could actually use your expertise,” Eric offered, trying once again to drag Twilight’s attention away from the siren.

Tom’s eyes went wide as he shook his head to Eric, but it was most likely already too late for him. “Night Watch, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Tom, this lovely siren is Wave Swimmer, and the soon to be experiment over there is Eric.”

Night Watch nodded at Tom. "The feeling's mutual. I never met a siren either, hello there, Miss Swimmer. As for you…" She moved up to Twilight just to bite her ear. Twilight squeaked at the harsh fangy-bite and Night tugged twice to make a clear message. "You will be polite to your guests."

Wave's remaining anger continued to dissolve watching Twilight get her comeuppance from the other pony. She leaned against Tom before proposing. "Let's try it, but there is a catch. If you can float me and it works, you can have your snack tonight, but if you can't do it, then no snacks for two evenings."

Tom snickered a bit as he gently moved Wave off of him, kissing her nose for a moment. “Let’s see what she does, hey? Gonna go bug Eric for a moment,” he added on, getting up off the bed and walking over to Eric, nodding to him as he spoke as quietly as possible. “How’s the reading been? Anything useful for you?”

Eric replied quietly, “it’s hard going, as I don’t have all the relevant organs of the target audience, but I have been gleaning a fair bit. I am actually hoping Twilight has some idea how to measure whether I’m wasting my time, or can actually potentially get things working again.”

Twilight got distracted. She looked towards Eric as he spoke, only to have her ear tugged again. "Wave first!"

Twilight grunted and squirmed out of Night Watch's grasp. "Fine fine! Here we go…" She lifted her hooves as her horn began to glow, at least in the view of the humans. She lifted Wave from the bed carefully and floated her over the floor. "How does that feel?"

Nodding to Eric, Tom looked between Twilight and Wave. “That makes sense, hopefully it’ll come back. Cadance claimed it might, anyways, but I should probably,” he started, walking over to where Wave was at and sliding underneath her with a wink to her. “Just in case, Wave, but I have faith that you’ll figure it out,” he explained, wrapping his hands underneath his head.

Wave squirmed in the air before giving Tom a brief smile. "Should I be… trying to do something? It just feels like you're holding me right now." She made a swimming motion, barely moving in Twilight's telekinetic grip. "I want to float."

Night Watch perked an ear. "Twilight, put her down, gently. Wave, you get back to where she had you. Don't ask how to do it, just do it, like you were a wizard or something, and I bet it'll come to you."

Returning that smile, Tom moved to hold out his hands so Twilight could carefully drop Wave down before she took Night’s advice. “Hear that, Eric? A wizard or something. Maybe your stuff is partly like that, just think, yeah?” he asked jokingly, grinning at his friend.

“It pretty much was before Cadance did her thing,” Eric said with a shrug. “Well, usually. The ‘remove fear’ spell had basically the opposite of the intended effect.”

Twilight looked displeased. "Magic doesn't work that way." She set Wave down gently, but her face suddenly brightened. "Oh wait, spells don't work that way, but this isn't spells!"

Night Watch nodded. "Exactly. Now go on, Wave, you can do it now that you know you can do it."

Wave didn't appear entirely convinced, but she was ready to try. She took a slow breath and reached up for the space she was in. "Flyyyy! Come on, in the air!" She huffed and puffed and even jumped in place, to little effect. She scowled at Twilight. "It didn't work, you're going to lose your snack."

Twilight squeaked. "No no no! Don't give up yet. Um, wait! I have an idea. Imagine the air was just like the water you swim in, and you're just floating on the top of it."

“Swimming… in the air. Interesting way to look at it,” Tom muttered, smiling at Wave. “Why not? Might as well try, yeah? Although, now…” he paused, looking to Eric first, before settling on Night. “Is there anywhere in town, or just outside, where one can go swimming? I’d like to do that at some point.”

Wave reached up again, then withdrew her hooves. Like water… She looked back at her powerful tail and began to wave it to and fro. She closed her eyes and envisioned swimming along with it, and she began to lift up into the air under the subtle movements of that powerful limb. Her eyes shot open and she exclaimed with surprise and joy. "I'm doing it!"

Eric looked about to comment before Wave lifted up into the air, then shrugged. “Congratulations, Wave. Though I’m sure that must be extremely tiring, and you’ll still need to be carried around a lot. Wink, wink,” he suggested playfully.

“Like I could tell her no,” Tom muttered, shaking his head in amusement. “Congratulations though, Wave, looks like you’re a ton more mobile this way now. How does it feel? Like swimming, but in the air?” he questioned as he grinned, reaching his fingers to her belly and lightly tickling her.

She bobbed her head at Tom. "It's just like that." She did a quick circle, easily guiding herself with all the ease of being in water. She couldn't lift much higher than a foot off the ground, give or take, but she couldn't care less about that. "This is wonderful!"

Night Watch smirked a bit. "Looks like I have to share the treats tonight."

Twilight huffed. "You just wanted it all for yourself." She poked Night lightly, who showed absolutely no shame.

Climbing back to his feet, Tom smiled at Wave before looking at the squabbling couple, or so he assumed. “So, are you two an item, then?” he curiously enquired, glancing over to Eric.

Night pointed at Twilight. "Twilight Sparkle is but a mare that is a member of the same herd I am."

Twilight flushed as that came out. "You make that sound so incredibly inappropriate, but, yes. I am a member of a herd, with Night Watch here, and Fast Change, have you met her? Our stallion is on an important mission at the moment." She sighed softly. "He'll be back soon, hopefully."

“A herd?” Eric inquired. “So that is a thing here then? Are they limited to one stallion with a number of mares, or more generalized? Just out of curiosity…”

“You seemed to interact like a married couple, so was curious, thanks.” Tom shrugged his shoulders before raising a brow at Eric, rolling his eyes for a brief second. His attention shifted right back to Wave, a smile creeping over his face.

Wave became quite intrigued at the ongoing discussion of how ponies could be bound together. She floated over Twilight and Night. "Yes, please tell us all about it." Her tail wagged almost like an eager dog with her excitement.

Twilight tilted her head a little. "Traditionally, it's one stallion and some mares. I suppose that makes sense. Biologically, only one male is technically required for several females to do their part, but legally speaking, there's no such restriction. There have been marriages or herds with different ratios. Why, there have been a few stallion-only marriages, but those cause a bit of sca--"

Night Watch prodded Twilight, cutting off her words. "You've told them enough, Twilight."

Eric nodded, “enough about that topic, at least. It’s good to know, but if I could, Princess, I’d like your help investigating the after effects of Cadance’s magic on my person. Do you think you could spare the time?”

Thankful that the topic seemed to have been passed rather quickly, Tom shrugged. If Eric was going to bring Twilight’s scientific drive upon himself, Tom might as well help things on along. “I’m assuming not many folks play host to the shadow of the north, yeah?”

Twilight perked with renewed drive. "Oh, I'd love to help with that." She trailed off a little and glanced at Night, who nodded. With permission secured, Twilight began to grin. "Tell me all about it. How did you come into contact with dark magic? Does it have any after effects? What are you trying to do now?"

Eric himself began to reflect her excitement, all too happy to explain. “I first heard from the shadow of the north when we were trying to make our way back to civilization from Wave’s temple. It offered me power in exchange for ‘existing as more than just whispers’, though I’m fairly certain it had a more nefarious end goal in mind. It was able to grant me the ability to use shadow magic while it was present, and quite easily at that. However, it was clearly a jerk. Also, it’s use had a side effect of making my eyes more… ominous looking. You’ll have to ask Tom, I never did get to see a mirror…” Eric began rambling.

Tom had moved over to the bed, taking a seat on its edge and watching them all. “He had Sombra eyes. Green, bit of red, wisps of shadow rolling off the edges,” Tom paused, humming thoughtfully. “You know, Eric, I’m sure some metal bands would’ve loved how they looked.”

Wave moved through the air with her newfound ease. She moved to settle beside Tom and snuggle into him. "Green and purple. It was very obvious. I never saw it before, or since, once Cadance blasted it."

Twilight nodded her head thoughtfully as she looked Eric over. "Did you both get your eyes from her?" She pointed at Wave. "Or was that part of the dark magic? Did you spread it to Tom?"

“Despite the similarities, Tom’s was from Wave’s power, mine are from my own,” Eric answered. “I’m not aware of any other remaining after effects, other than Poppy’s modified state, but I was hoping you could somehow… I don’t know, analyze me? Cadance seemed to think I’d be able to regain control over shadow magic eventually, but thus far nothing.”

“Yup, mine came solely from Wave. Went to carry her out of the temple, couldn’t see in the pitch black, so voila. First change, of a few as you’ve noticed by now,” he explained, wrapping an arm around Wave. “I think his eyes changed after using shadow magic, really, while that voice was in him.”

Twilight clopped her hooves together. "Well since it's your idea… Let's go analyze you." Without any further prompting, she lifted Eric right off the ground and trotted from the room with a happy little whistle on her lips. There was science to be done, and, by golly, she was looking forward to it.

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