"You had a good time." It was not a question. For Umbra, there was no way for it to be a question. "You deserved it, with all the work you two have been doing."
Cadance's face began to color. She had remembered. Shining wasn't far behind her, both of them aware of what they had done, but Cadance responded first, "We are so sorry. Are you alright?"
"No..." Umbra rubbed at her right cheek, hoof brushing against the fur. "I have..."
Shining interrupted Umbra's uncertain talking with a hoof on her side. "We didn't mean--"
"--Of course!" Umbra scootched back a bit, almost tripping over herself. "You're married and you love each other a ton. Of course you'd do that. That's normal." She cleared her throat. "I'm jealous a little... You... Can I talk about it?"
Cadance nodded at that. "After what we did, you've earned that right, surely. Please, talk."
"I know what sex is." Umbra just went ahead and stopped dancing around that unspoken word. "I've done it before... But it was never... that... Furtive things, always unsure and never that... Never like that. I was never in love the way you two are." She began to smile a little. "I could feel it, from both sides. Not the, uh, emotion, but the responses. It... It colored it, giving and receiving, all done out of love."
The two rulers were only darkening as Umbra explained her side of things. "Back then," she went right on. "Back then... I had the wrong body. I didn't like it, so... sex was never right either, how could it be?" She suddenly laughed. "And now I'm a pony, which isn't the... right body? But it's a girl pony, and that makes up for it, a lot. A lot lot." She stood up. "For however much I felt like things were wrong before, I can get used to the pony parts. I have hooves that clop clop." She stepped in place in march to nowhere. "I have a cute little snoot, even if it keeps surprising me." Thinking of it, her eyes went cross, looking at her own snout. "A soft long tail that likes to wag and twitch. Be careful when sitting!" She laughed at the mental image she made for herself.
Cadance cleared her throat suddenly. "To turn this back to the topic at hoof... This is not acceptable. You shouldn't... have to be in this situation."
Umbra fidgeted. "It's not all bad."
Shining coughed at that admission. "Uh, really?"
Umbra glanced at the few guards standing there stoically. "Do you want them hearing this?"
Cadance quickly motioned for them to depart. "This is likely already well outside their range of comfort." They saluted and left, showing no sign of distress in a rare opportunity to be competent. "Now, really. Let's be fair. Umbra, when you... did things, neither of us found much comfortable about it."
Shining laughed nervously. "I was not expecting to suddenly feel... mare parts, being touched." A new shocked expression returned to him. "Thank Celestia this connection doesn't echo. I'm not sure what I would have done if what I was doing... came right back at me."
Umbra inclined her head at that. "But it does." She reached out and touched Shining on the nose, booping him. "Oh wait, no." She did not feel Shining's nose being touched, just her hoof touching it. "Alright, so one emergency avoided. You two didn't feel each other while you were... enjoying yourselves."
Cadance wobbled a hoof at Umbra. "But you got both. I can feel both right now." She angled her horn at the hoof touching a nose. "The hoof touching, the nose being touched. Umbra, you are in a very... intimate place, with us. Ponies can only dream of knowing what another pony is feeling."
"I don't want it to be a nightmare." Umbra drew her hoof away from Shining. "I like you, both of you. You're such nice people."
Shining wriggled his snout back into proper alignment. "You are too. We weren't sure what to make of you, but you've been unflinchingly positive about things. You just want to be helpful and productive while exploring yourself and your place in the kingdom."
Cadance nodded at that, her expression easing. "You exceeded our expectations, in a good way. But this. We don't want to attack you, and this is obviously something I would consider an attack."
"It's not that bad," weakly argued Umbra, ears going limp. "It's the surprise that bothers. It's that I didn't ask for it, or expect it. I was just at a good part in the comic and suddenly, oops, it's sex time, attendance mandatory..." She squinted, eyes flaring with shadowy power. "And let me note how difficult it is to try to read in the middle of that."
Shining shrank a bit, but rebounded to Umbra's side. "I am so sorry. Comic time is a sacred time."
That got a burst of giggles out of Umbra, still unfitting her appearance, though less of a contrast with her recovered voice, the gravel gone entirely. "Right?! Um... We're all adult ponies here." The other two nodded. "We know what's up... We know the situation we're in, and none of us asked for it. I won't be mad about it." She set a hoof on Shining's chest. "Cadance is lucky to have a stallion that loves her so much."
Cadance coughed suddenly. "This... reminds me of a question I kept nudging to the side. Umbra, you were a stallion, at least on the outside, and now you are a mare." She waved a hoof over the whole package that was Umbra. "What sort of pony would you prefer? Are you considering another mare, or a stallion?" It was Umbra's turn to start coloring. "Don't be like that. They call me the princess of love." She leaned in, lashes fluttering. "Matchmaking is one of my dirty little habits."
Shining angled an ear at his love-seeking wife. "Cadie, nice thought, but if Umbra finds a special plus-one, than we get a taste of what we've been giving."
It was only at that moment that it occurred to Cadance. "Oh... right..." She tapped her hooves together. "That does make it... awkward... but my question remains. We found each other." She gestured between herself and Shining. "What sort of pony are you hoping for?"
"I'm going to be honest here..."
"Please do." Shining nodded at Umbra. "No secrets."
Umbra giggled at that. "Not sure we're good at secrets, us three. Um... You're both... I don't want to say pretty. I bet Shining doesn't want to be called pretty. You're handsome." She moved a hoof to point at Cadance. "You're pretty. You're both super nice, which is a big plus in my book. And... You care, about me." She fidgeted a bit. "Which also counts, a lot."
Cadance's ears quivered softly. "But we are also taken."
Shining nodded at that. "By each other."
"Yeah..." Umbra deflated at that reminder. "But you asked what I wanted, not what I could have."
Cadance cycled her forehooves over one another. "So you like mares and stallions?"
Umbra's cheeks lit up as she was called out. "Y-yeah... I don't mind much which it is. It just changes how you... play with them." The blush was only getting worse. "I never... I never played with a woman as a woman."
Both ponies looked confused, inclining their heads in opposing directions. Shining's ears went up. "Is that a human thing?"
"Mare!" Umbra squeaked. "I never played with a mare, as a mare. I'm not against the idea, just inexperienced. Technically... Anything as a mare, I'm a virgin." She burst into laughter. "Hey, get to be a virgin all over again."
Cadance smirked softly. "Shining, you could be a virgin again."
Shining lit up furiously. "You said that was a secret!"
Despite that, Cadance leaned in towards Umbra. "My little Shiny has a dream, a fancy, of experiencing things as a mare, just once. He'd like me to be the stallion, in that case, and treat him gently, but lovingly." The way her eyebrows waggled as she said that left nothing to the imagination of what the loving would entail.
Shining collapsed with a miserable groan, his fantasy shared. "Cadie..."
What he did not expect was Umbra moving in over him so quickly, cradling his cheeks in her hooves. "Poor thing. You unhatched little egg... I'm so sorry."
Shining sat up, Umbra's hooves moving right along with him, keeping his face held. "Um... egg? I'm a pony. Ponies do not come from eggs. Do they on your world?"
Umbra giggled at the idea of an egg popping open to reveal a smiling little pony. "No! It's a term trans people use. If someone is an unhatched egg, they are considering being trans, right on the fence. When it hatches, they've made the actual step. You are an unhatched egg."
Cadance inclined her head faintly. "You, then, are hatched?"
"It doesn't get much more hatched than this." She wagged her tail. "Behold this hatched egg. I am like a bird, spreading my wings to catch the wind, and quite happy with it. But you." She touched noses with Shining, looking into his confused eyes. "If you want to be a mare, I want to help however I can help."
Shining scrambled backwards suddenly. "N-no! I mean... No offense to the mares of the room, but I am a stallion." He thumped himself on the chest. "I like being Cadance's stallion. I... um... I enjoy stallion'ing for Cadance..." He suddenly laughed. "I had a friend that was more curious, an old O&O pal. Good guy, um... but I am Shining Armor, a stallion, really."
Umbra inclined her head, sitting. "But you still dream of being a mare, of being topped even while you do it." Her cheeks darkened. "I used to dream of being pretty, of wearing soft frilly things... Sex wasn't really where I was focused, but other parts of being a wo--mare. Shining... you're a treat as a pony either way, but I just want it super clear. If you want that, I want to help, however I can."
"Do I get a vote in this?" Cadance was smirking softly at the exchange. "I rather like Shining as he is, but... As a thing of play, I'm not opposed to a little roleplay." She rubbed her forehooves together, pink magic seen between them. "Love magic is a specialty of mine. When he's ready, I am prepared to give him the chance to live that dream."
Umbra looked to Cadance with fire in her eyes, resolute in a way she was normally not. "And if you do that, and he decides he... likes being a she. Will you stop her from staying there?"
Cadance frowned, but a response didn't come right away. Those were heavy words and equally severe thoughts. "A lot would have to change. I... I prefer stallions, I'll admit that." She gestured at Umbra. "You're pretty, as a mare, and I can appreciate that, as one would a lovely statue or painting. But I feel no desire for you, as a mare. But you do, for me?"
Umbra clopped a hoof down. "A lot less if you'd stop Shining from being their true self." A point of personal investment, Umbra didn't seem ready to back down on that idea.
"I would not stop them," stated Cadance with rock-firm resolution. "But... That does not mean I could walk alongside them... Should that happen, we would need to re-examine things... They would, in either event, remain a close and cherished friend, but perhaps not as my husband, who need be a stallion by the very definition." She reached suddenly, booping Umbra firmly. "Speaking of that, even if Shining wasn't involved, I couldn't accept you as a potential suitor, as I do want a husband, not another wife. I have that covered."
Umbra shrank back, shot down. "Sorry. Um... We've gotten off topic a bit." She swirled a hoof between the three of them. "The connection?"
Shining nodded firmly, regaining his lost balance as they turned topics. "If you're..." He went quiet a moment. "How does this affect you, aside from being extremely distracting?"
Umbra's turn to color. "I feel things I didn't ask for, and I imagine the two of you... doing the things that would make those feelings. It's... surprisingly easy to imagine that when you're busy feeling it go on. I don't..." Her eyes fell towards Shining's rump, or something in the general area. "I could do without some parts of it... but you two are so intense... I forget about that."
She bit at her lip lightly. "Part of me wanted to... do things... but then you'd feel that, and I'd ruin your special time. Not fair... But it is what it is."
Cadance sat up. "How do humans do that?" Both of the others looked at her confusedly. "Masturbate," she provided flatly. "From your description, they are very much not ponies."
"N-no!" squeaked out Umbra. "They are not. Um... Fingers, mostly." She raised a hoof that had no fingers. In a moment of species dysphoria, she tried to stretch and contract those fingers she did not have, but the hoof did not respond to her desires. "Our fingers are very sensitive. Combine that with other erogenous zones and you're ready for a good time."
Strangely perhaps, Cadance seemed to grasp that. "We are not that different then." She raised a hoof to point at her snout. "Our noses are quite sensitive, so..."
Umbra put two and two together, bursting into manic little giggles. "Oh! Oh... Oh!" Visions of ponies burying their sensitive snouts against sensitive parts came to her. "I was wondering..." She had been ready to use her hooves, as ill-suited as they were. "Wow... I am a grown person, but you're basically talking to a gangly and awkward teen when it comes to pony specifics like that."
Shining turned an ear back. "That would be... distracting."
"Right in the middle of things," agreed Cadance. "And yet, not unfair. Just as we'd ask you to forgive us for doing what we want and need to do, we would be hypocrites if we didn't extend the same courtesy." She took a slow cycle of a breath. "It would be in all our interests to learn more about how the crystal heart operates. If we could detach ourselves, we'd all be happier."
Shining thumped to the side against Cadance. "I wouldn't mind staying connected to you, hon."
"Aw." She nipped at his closer ear. "Even between us, there are things we experience that don't need to be shared. It is less unwelcome, to be sure, but still, we need to fix it."
Shifting Prism cantered around the room with a big smile. "Today I want to try something new. You got the idea of a chair down pretty good. Great! But there's more to life than places to park our rumps."
Umbra watched the energetic crystal bat pony. "What did you have in mind?"
"One thing crystals do." She looped around towards Umbra. "They store magic, hold it nice and tight. Me? Not a lot of magic." She waved it off. "But that doesn't stop me, watch!" She plucked out a slender wand of crystal from her pocket. "Looks harmless enough, right?"
"It's a wand." Umbra inclined her head. "Nicely made." It had a cloth grip and fine etches. It was pretty, as wands went. "But it does magic?"
"A very specific magic." Shifting waggled the wand and it began to scream a specific high pitch in a prolonged 'Eeeeeee' that echoed across the room. "Behold! And it's not entirely for show, even if I love that part." Her tufted ears twitched atop her head. "I can 'see' the entire room, even in the dark. Your shadow magic can't blindside me!"
Umbra blinked her equally slit eyes. "Amazing. Can I see?" When a nod was given, she began radiating darkness, plunging the room into a sudden midnight. She could see, her eyes glowing with the purples and greens of her magic. "Go ahead."
"I'm already going." Wagging her squeaking stick, Shifting walked around the room without bumping into things. She grabbed a ball on the way and bounced it up and down against the end of her nose, giggling as she went around obstacles without difficulty.
Light returned with an applause of clopping hooves. "That's quite the trick. Like a bat."
"Which I half am," Shifting stuck out her tongue at Umbra, setting the ball aside. "But there, see?" She lifted the wand back into easy view, but didn't prompt more squeaks. "Crystals can lock up magic, so you can use them later. Very cool."
Umbra willed crystal to rise towards her circling hooves, fashioning a quick staff that was little more than a perfectly straight projection of crystal she could hold. "Alright, so how do I do that, and what, just put shadow inside?"
"You skipped a step." Shifting tapped at the staff. "One, that's a little plain, but you can fancy it up later. Two, the magic has to be on the inside, and you didn't leave open a spot to get it in there."
A critical error for some, but Umbra soon had a hole in the side, brushing the crystal like firm clay instead of the stone it was. "Alright, then?"
"Then you put the magic in." Shifting Prism pointed at the created hole. "If it was me, I'd scree with all my might right there. But you're not me, and that's alright." She burst into merry giggles. "So put the magic you want in there. Do it as hard and as long as you can, then seal it up tight. Do it proper and the crystal will hold it."
Umbra considered with a little frown. "Hum... Oh!" She angled her horn towards the hole, focusing her strange shadow magic at it. "I know what I want... I hope they like it."
Shifting perked at that. "Planning on a gift? That's nice! Keep it up." The tutoring crystal bat pony was watching Umbra pour her magic into the staff. "Keep a good lock on what you want it to do, your magic. When you start to feel tired, seal it up so it doesn't get away."
Umbra washed the hole over, causing it to become smooth crystal in a flash, only a little puff of dark escaping from the instant provided. "There," she gusted out, heaving for breath from the effort. "Alright? Did I do it right?"
Shifting grabbed the staff, wings coming in to grab it near the top and bottom and lift it up over her head. "Look inside." She shook it vigorously, letting the captured smoke inside swirl from the motion. "You've made your first magic item. Be proud, a lot of ponies never do."
"Wow..." For a moment, Umbra just watched that smoke shift around inside the staff. "But... How do I make it do things?"
Shifting set the staff back down where Umbra could snatch it up. "Hold it and imagine it doing the magic you put in there. Not you though." She pointed at Umbra's curled horn. "Not there. There." She moved the hoof to point at the staff instead. "Like that was your horn. When I do it, I imagine screaming through my staff. I don't have a horn." She tapped at where a horn was not. "But I got a pretty good screamer." She squealed in the same high pitched eeee that had escaped the staff earlier.
Which only got a new question from Umbra, frowning. "Could I use your wand? Could you use my staff?"
"I think so?" Shifting shrugged as if not really sure. "Should work. Wanna try?" She offered out her screaming wand. "Doubt you'll be able to hear the echoes properly though without a lot of practice. Comes natural to bats."
Umbra floated the wand around, held in her telekinesis. "Alright, let's try..." She did her best to imagine the wand was another horn, one she could push magic through. A little squeak sounded from the wand.
"Almost." Shifting Prism applauded wildly. "More!"
Umbra's eyes began to waft power as she concentrated, the screaming changing in pitch as she slowly aligned herself with it, getting a nice steady Eeeee of a sound to fill the air. She got no navigational data from it, that far beyond her, but she could hear it squeaking under her power. "Neat!" She gave up the wand back to Shifting, the sound fading away.
"I should be able to 'scream' through your staff." But she didn't reach for it. "Go ahead, show off what you made."
Umbra lifted the staff in her magic, twirling it for no particular reason. "Alright. It's big..."
"You made it big." Shifting inclined her head. "That was your choice."
"I wanted it to hold a lot of magic." Umbra closed her eyes, focusing on the staff much as she had the wand. Bits of her power wafted from her, even with her eyes closed. "Is it working?"
She couldn't see it with her eyes closed. Shifting could. "Eee! Yes. Stop that."
Umbra opened her eyes as she released the magic, allowing light to swiftly return to the room. "They're going to love it!"
Shifting blinked with wide eyes. "Why would somepony want that?"
"It's like a nightlight, but reverse." Umbra tapped the floating staff. "If they want dark, here it is."
"Ohhhh." Shifting bobbed her head. "Clever. Now let's make it look nice."
And so they got to work making the staff far more decorative than a perfectly smooth stick of shadows.
And it was with great pride that Umbra offered the revised staff. It had been shaped into what seemed to be a branch with an owl perched on the end of it. "I call it the sleep-time staff." She planted it straight up, the owl peering lifelessly at Shining and Cadance. "Just imagine doing magic with the staff as your horn and it'll work."
Shining gave a thoughtful hum of a noise. "What does it do?" Despite asking that, his horn was glowing as he reached to try and do as instructed. The shadow in the staff began to swirl more visibly, pooling in the owl's eyes. Darkness wafted free of it, teasing into the air. "Oh!"
Cadance recoiled as the darkness spread faster. "A dark staff?"
"Exactly that." Umbra bobbed her head with a big proud smile. "Whenever you want some dark, just use this. Fill it with enough of your own power and it'll keep putting out dark for hours. Take it back and it'll light up again." She clapped her hooves with a big grin. "Ta da!"
Shining lifted the staff, changing the angle the dark came from, but it kept coming, imbued with his activating power. "How curious. But... Actually... Hon?" He looked to Cadance. "This could be quite useful in the medical wing."
Cadance's features brightened. "A lovely idea! Ponies sometimes need to get some rest even in the middle of the day. Being able to turn off the lights would be quite useful." She reached for the owl staff, the color shifting from Shining's magic to her own as she took hold of it. "This is a very thoughtful gift, Umbra. Thank you."
"One thing." Shining inclined his head at the staff. "How does an earth pony turn it on? They don't have horns."
Nor could they screech like a bat. Umbra frowned at that. "They have to use their magic through it. What's earth pony magic?"
Cadance frowned, joining the thought. "Now that is a large question... For now, they may need to gather one of us." She gestured between the three of them. "--to turn it on. But, even then, still a useful device."
Shining chuckled softly. "Well, we could give it to the doctors and let them play with it. If they get it to go dark, we have an answer."