"Umbra, a few things." Shining was looking at her over the breakfast table. "When you first came here, you called yourself queen. Why was that? And are you upset, being a princess instead?"

Umbra's ears flickered. "Oh, right. I did do that... It felt right, at the time." She lifted her shoulders. "But in pony land, princess is queen, so whatever. I just got the terms mixed up." She looked to Cadance, stuffing her snout with a sweet pastry. "I'm still alright with you being in charge. Not sure I want to lead an entire city. I'll handle shadows, and crystals. Oh! Oh, good news!" She began to clap excitedly. "Crystal mining? Both fun and productive. My magic causes barely any damage when I mine it directly, as opposed to shaping it, or creating it out of nothing. Push up the schedule on the arena."

Cadance nodded softly. "That is good news. It still amazes me how enthusiastic you are. That is not a complaint. But Shining did have another question, which I share. I have felt nothing from you, Umbra. Are you alright? It must be quite tiring to keep the door closed at all hours of the day and night. How do you even manage it?"

Umbra pointed up at her bejeweled tiara. "Congratulations! You discovered one of the spells I have locked in here. It flips the lock on the door. So long as I wear this, I'd have to spend energy to crack it open, instead of having to focus on closing it. Outgoing only. I don't want to miss a signal from you two in case you need to get something across to me."

Shining smiled warmly at that. "Aw, thanks. That's really thoughtful of you. I didn't know you could do that, but... I guess that makes sense. You've learned how to lock up any spell you can cast, basically, right?"

"Right!" Umbra nodded firmly before snapping up some fried oats. "Mmm, compliments to the chef, really good today!"

Shining rubbed behind his head. "Does that mean you don't mind feeling us?"

"Hm? You bottle up before you do... really private things." She shrugged at the idea. "The rest isn't so bad."

Cadance coughed into a hoof gently. "Not to dissuade you... but we are living creatures. We do things that would be... uncouth to share, and I don't always remember to shut the door beforehoof..."

Umbra burst into fresh laughter. "I am happy to report that both of your excretion systems work properly, as an outside observer. It was creepy, at first. I'm pretty used to it, but it also prompts me to think about my own needs. One of you goes, and I'm off to the little filly's room a second after more often than not."

Both of the royal couple were blushing at that. "Stop that." Umbra waved at them. "It was so much worse when I had to share bedroom times."

Shining pointed at the tiara. "If you could make that, and lock it out, why not give us each one of those?" Cadance nodded quickly, the same question twinkling in her eyes.

"I could..." Umbra worried her hooves together softly. "But I like... it a little... Ugh. It's a closeness, an intimacy. We're tight, literally. I... Look, if you want, I'll get to enchanting. Now I'm the one being a creep." She planted a hoof on her face. "Forgive me?"

Shining set a hoof on his chest. "I'm not opposed to it, at this point." His tail flicked behind him. "I was just confused. You seemed like you wanted to get away from us."

Cadance leaned in a little. "I am glad that wasn't the case... But our relationship remains a little... uncertain."

"We're friends, really good friends." Umbra nodded as she mused through it. "Super tight. They say a friend would help you move a couch, and a true friend would help you move a body. We're in that second category."

Cadance blanched at the image presented. "Wicked shadow pony! What a terrible idea... Let us hope such a need never arises between us."

"Now my turn." Umbra pointed at Cadance. "You voted me #2 pretty. Am I pretty or not?"

Cadance smiled, her cheeks warm and colored. "You are a pretty pony, Umbra. You didn't need me to confirm that."

"You are a mare." Umbra rolled her eyes. "You know having that confirmed is a nice thing."

"I can't argue that..." Cadance sipped from her morning juice. "You are #1 rated by popular request. You could have just about any pony in the empire."

"I could..." Umbra trailed a hoof on the table. "But I'm still... Alright, I have a decent grasp on me now, which is good! Great! I'm a mare, and I like it." She waggled her tail with a sudden burst of enthusiasm. "Even the parts I thought were kind of odd before are warming up to me."

Cadance raised a brow. "What parts were those, if I can ask?"

"Ugh... It's going to sound really odd, since they all have to do with the other body I had, which doesn't matter anymore. I like having a tail that wags. It's weird that I don't have a butt. It's attached to my legs in a way I can't even describe... I like these ears." She wagged them for show. "You can talk through them, and they love talking, even if you're not trying. Even these big round cheeks!" She plonked her hooves on her round equine cheeks. "So big! I've learned to like them. I am a mare, and that's pretty grand."

Shining clopped softly. "I also have... learned to enjoy being a mare." That got odd looks from both of the mares actually there. "What? I've felt... everything you two have felt, at least before you put on that tiara." His cheeks darkened swiftly. "All of it. It's different from a stallion, but not a bad different. Just different. I feel... like I got a new perspective on things, and that's a blessing, isn't it?"

Cadance clapped down on his closer shoulder. "It is, and I'm very proud of you for seeing it that way. I... have felt what it is to be a stallion in the same way." Her cheeks, like Shining, began to darken. "And it was not displeasing. I understand my stallion so much better now, and I'm happy for that. That he understands me only makes me happier." She leaned in and soon they were gently nuzzling one another in joy.

Umbra got a sappy smile, feeling the nuzzle from both ends. "Aw, you two are such loveys!" She didn't sound displeased about it. "Serious side-step, but you two seem pretty happy with each other." She turned both hooves at herself. "Why were you even considering throwing me in on that?"

Shining flicked an ear back. "I was being foalish. I already stopped."

"Yeah..." Umbra hadn't gotten a strange look, or comment, from Shining in a while. "You have, and you're fun to play O&O with, so there's that." Her eyes went to Cadance.

Cadance worried her hooves together softly. "I've been asking myself that question. I've been challenging myself to answer, truthfully... I.... think I may have an answer, even if it makes me look quite silly... During my lowest point, I was placed in isolation and misery. My husband was... not. Tortured in a different way, isolation was very much not the issue..." She tapped her hooves slowly. "He had company, the wrong sort, but company... He was with a monster, and some little part of me can't get over that."

She could see Shining's hurt expression. "I know! I know I said I forgive... I'm not mad at you... but the situation. There is a difference. The... little foal in me has a big ole pout. 'When do I get to be with a monster?' she asks. 'Is that a stallion only thing? That's not fair...'" Cadance raised a hoof over her face. "Even saying that out loud makes me feel stupider by the moment. It was dumb, I was dumb! That you can forgive me this far is, itself, a miracle. One I scarcely deserve."

Umbra leaned forward, head on her touching hooves. "So you wanted to experience something. Shining wasn't really involved, other than maybe an excuse to make it easier." The miserable appearance on Cadance's face was more than enough answer to her. "God, we're adults in this room." She tapped a hoof on the table. "You could just ask? Asking is great. It's how adults get what they want." A sudden lack of confidence swept over her. There was a thing she hadn't dared to ask. A secret she was hiding. "But... I get it. Sometimes the right words are hard to find... I get that... As an adult..."

Umbra extended a hoof towards Cadance. "As an adult, if you want this hoof, you have to ask for it. I said it before, and it's still true."

Cadance's ears pricked up. "You aren't saying no."

"Nor have I said yes. You still haven't asked." Umbra's eyes went to Shining. "And you don't count. Blame Cades for that. She threw your vote out a while ago."

"Thanks." He smirked at Cadance, arms folding in indignity. "I see how it is."

"Don't be like that..." But her eyes were on Umbra, thought on her face. "Umbra."

"Yes?"

"I would like... to spend an evening with you. I would like to explore you, as a pony. In return, you can do the same to me." A little smile spread. "We are bound together through the crystal on our rumps. Perhaps something more can come of it, or not. I would like to see. Umbra, will you give me an evening?"

Umbra's eyes slid towards Shining. "This is your wife, man. I can't say yes to that without your alright, which is not a vote, it's a veto. You can shut this down, hard, right now. I am not here to bust up your thing. You got a nice thing! I love it. I want it to last."

Shining reached for her, setting his hoof on her arm just past her hoof. "Thank you, for respecting that, and me. Thank you." He took a slow breath. "I won't lie. I'll be jealous." He smiled softly. "Even as I realize you two may do nothing but compare notes and ideas. But jealousy isn't reason enough to make me step back from something that'd make my Cadey happy." He raised a hoof suddenly. "My opinion would be different if you were a stallion."

Cadance's brows waggled suddenly. "About that."

Shining's eyes went wide. "I do not like the way you said that! Umbra, do you have a secret I'm not aware of?"

Umbra thrust up her hooves wardingly. "Woah woah woah... I... used to have those parts, but not for a while now, and I'm not rushing to get them back. Mare, me, that's what I am." She nodded, quite sure of that fact and that she was perfectly happy with that fact.

"You've inspired me." Cadance was looking at Umbra intensely. "Examining the facets of my power. I am a pony of ties and connections, what draws ponies together. That is physical and mental, the ties." She played her hooves together. "Physical." She said that word slowly and purposefully. "And I think I almost have that... working. Since you are attracted to stallions... I could try to strengthen that tie between us, to draw us closer through it."

Umbra recoiled. "But I'm attracted to you as a lovely lady mare." She pointed at Shining. "He's the guydude stallion! The sexy between you two is very different."

"True, but that remains a dangling thread from you, waiting for that right stallion." Cadance reached for the thing only she could see. "I can draw it out, I think, or use it to pull myself closer... But first, an evening. Princess Umbra, may I have that?"

Not 28 updates, 8, 2 a week, and here's the first! We're back baby!

What is Cadance implying?

Join the special community of folks who like my stories and/or get your own written here at atreon!

Join my discord to chat!