Umbra nodded to the other two there. Morning wasn't there, and neither was Midnight or Anik. It was her and the royal duo. "This is a big deal for me. This is about facing a lot of things, all at once."
Cadance set down her magically held fork. "That sounds serious... What do you have in mind?"
Shining smiled. Supportively? "You mentioned you had something to go over, go ahead. Thank you for talking about it ahead of time."
"Oh, yes." Cadance nodded swiftly. "This is so much better than hearing about it afterwards. Thank you."
Umbra cringed, yeah, she'd done that... "I want to cement us." She waved between all three ponies there. "You." A guard perked up at being addressed. "Buzz off. We need privacy."
"Ma'am?"
Cadance nodded at the guard. "Go ahead. I'll call when we're done."
"Ma'am." And off he went, looking less worried with the princess' command.
Shining lifted an ear at Umbra. "Cement us?"
"Together," added Umbra, tapping her hooves lightly. "I've been dancing around, aimlessly... It's time we seal this deal, permanently. No more joking around. No more messing around."
Cadance smiled gently at this admission. "I'm flattered, but I do have to ask... if you're willing to settle, why haven't you tried with your last paramor? You... Forgive me for pointing this out, but I can see that line." There was still a connection draping off Umbra, leading towards the one that got away. "Mostly one way... But there."
"Ugh, you and Midnight?" So many ponies that could poke her where it hurt! "I won't do that. She made a decision, and for good reason. I won't stop her from taking care of the most important person in her life, herself. I am... sad... but proud. So proud... that she was able to make that decision, and stand up for herself. Love can be a bit blinding... Better she set a simple line in the sand."
Shining nodded lightly. "Alright, but this is about us." He waved between Umbra, Cadance, and himself. "What were you thinking?"
"I am thinking... I want to top a pony." Both of them lit up at that, Shining spitting out his coffee. "And I want to be topped... I want to let go of my hangups in the most dramatic way possible, with ponies I can trust entirely. I will surrender."
Cadance raised a hoof to a glowing cheek. "I... I would say I see, but I don't. Who is it you want to top... and to top you?" She curled a hoof at herself. "I am available, if you're looking for an evening of... an evening... You knew that. We agreed on it."
Umbra took a slow breath, quiet and still a moment. "I want to top them." She pointed at Shining. "I want that to top me." She pointed at Cadance. "We will repeat this as often as is required." A bit dry and technical of an explanation. "Sorry... This is a lot for me to face, but I'm sure. We will be a family, properly. No more faking this is not the case."
Cadance sputtered softly. "I..." That certainly wasn't what she woke up expecting to talk about! "You want me... on you?" She pointed at herself and Umbra with each part of that. "I will... remind... I am using rather advanced love magic to make it possible for Shining and I to... try the other way."
Umbra smiled at that, shadow billowing free of her, obscuring her form, before he was revealed. Lord Sombra, a cruel smirk on his face. "As I was reminded recently... I'm not human. I'm not even a pony. I... am an umbrum." He pointed at himself. "I am male. I am female. Both? Neither. Whatever I decide I want to be." With a release of tension, he became Umbra once more. "Just have to get over my mental... hangups... and I can't think of two ponies I trust more right now to help with that."
Cadance stared in silence a moment. She looked aside at Shining, who was returning the look. There was an understanding there. "Umbra..."
"If this is dumb, just tell me." She deflated a little. "I'll understand. It's a big ask. A huge--" She stopped, cut off by a hoof on her snout.
Cadance was leaning in closer. "Umbra. This is a big ask, as you put it... but I'm more... flattered than appalled." She swatted gently at Umbra. "You fiend, stealing Shining's foal from me...But offering a replacement in the same breath. This is... a lot." She sat back in her own chair. "I want some time, to think about this."
"Of course!" Umbra blushed at how loudly she had barked that out. "Of course... Take all the time you want." She looked to Shining with a nervous smile. "Your thoughts?"
Shining cleared his throat softly, thumping his chest. "Well, um... I..." He sat up. "I didn't know you had that kind of interest in me."
That was neither a firm confirming nor denial. It was, on some levels, a clear answer despite that. Cadance picked up on that, ears dancing. "When... When Flurry Heart entered our lives, we were all there. We all felt that..." She took a slow breath, expanding with the woosh of air. "We were connected. We were all her mother, for that moment. She had a father, before then, but in that moment... we were all her mother." She reached out, and nothing happened, but Umbra could feel, somehow, the desire to produce a milk bottle, but Cadance had become as dry as Umbra had, and no bottle manifested. "Two of us were her wet nurse, and all three of us showered her with love and care... We are yet her parent, back to our usual genders... But for that time... For that moment... we were all mothers."
Umbra squirmed with the memory of that intense moment. It had pain, sure, but mostly... "It was like my... Like... Do ponies believe in souls?" Both ponies looked at her oddly.
Shining raised a hoof. "You mean like a ghost?"
"Sorta? The ghost that's inside a living person." She tapped at herself. They did not seem to be grasping the concept. Sweet, athiest, ponies... "Well, fine, but it felt like all of me, beyond even the body, was opening up, like the entire world was ready to explode free of me..."
Cadance smiled at that. "But the world did explode free of us."
Shining nodded along with his wife. "And nothing else mattered more than her... Um..." He coughed into a hoof. "Speaking of that! Regardless of... today... I'm a little hesitant to bring that many foals at once. They each deserve a lot of attention, and we only have so much to give."
Umbra raised a hoof quickly. "I can wait for either part. I can wait for even an answer... I'm the one asking big--"
"Stop that." Cadance drew her hoof back from Umbra's face. "You asked, that is done. Stop beating yourself up for asking your special someponies a question." She slid to her hooves and started for the door. "I have a lot to consider, and I think you two do too. This is not an answer, I just need to think about this."
Neither stopped her from walking out.
Shining rubbed behind his head. "I am in a confused place..."
"In a good or bad way?" She considered the stallion. "I'll take either."
"A bit of both?" he got out with a nervous little laugh. "I just told you I prefer my monsters to be ladies."
"Bad defense," flatly noted Umbra. "You're already willing to let Cadance climb up, and she's still a lady, you said so."
"True... True..." Shining grabbed a scone in his magic and ripped it in half in his teeth. "I thought you were... pretty sure about who you were."
"And Cadance isn't?" Umbra folded her arms over her chest. "If that girly girl of a mare can do this and still be a girly girl... then I was the one being hung up." Color crept over her face. "Besides... We haven't done... things... And I kinda like you..."
"Only kinda?" He reached across the table. "What you're asking for is way more than 'kinda' if you want to raise a foal together afterwards."
"True..." Umbra smiled, too wide of a smile, teeth becoming sharp razors that promised pain to any she applied them to. "I can be a monster."
"You already are one," he countered with a kind smile. "One I like."
"Good. That's settled." She tapped at the table. "I am a lady monster, whatever ghastly form I wear at the moment. That's just part of my wicked talent set. Now... back to you. You were ready to be topped, but if it's only by Cadance, I... get that... It's your body, and your choice. I'm not that much of a monster." Even monsters had limits, hmmph!
"Can I be honest?"
Umbra perked. "Of course. Aren't we being that?"
"Not entirely." He deflated slightly with the admission. "To be honest... I like your idea... I'd rather not be with Cadance, that way. I... would rather she sit in the mare box entirely, my lovely perfect 'girly' mare. But I don't want to hurt her. She... She deserves happiness, and it's... I would do it, for her."
"Aw..." Umbra rubbed his shoulder. "That's sweet... Look, I understand I'm being a bit selfish here, using you two as... what, props? Props to deal with my own baggage... I promise that I'm in for the whole thing, forever... This is... me... proposing." She drew her hooves back. "Whether or not we do that part... Shining Armor... Will you marry me?"
Shining recoiled. "Woah, hey, hold your horses." He wasn't expecting a hug to be the result. "Um?"
"I'm holding my horse. I'd hold Cadance too if she were here..." Umbra nestled in close with him, closing her eyes and forgetting the rest of the world.
Shining put an arm around Umbra, holding her gently in that moment of quiet. "So..."
Umbra drew herself back with a sigh. "So! So, I'm serious. Of course, Cadance has to answer too. I can't do that to just one of you. That would be... super awkward, at best."
"Super awkward... That is a kind way of putting it." He chuckled as he pushed up to his own hooves. "Well, you know my vote. You knew it before you even came in here today, but I am loyal to Cadance. I will not go behind her back. I will not betray her."
That ball was entirely in her court.
Umbra and Shining emerged, going their seperate ways. "Mother." Anik stood not far away, watching her.
"Anik." Umbra veered towards him. "Doing alright? Where's Morning?"
"She said she had things to do." And he was not one to stand in her way. "You look like you're... thinking about something... Is something wrong?"
"Perceptive." She offered an arm and soon had an Anik nestled against her. "I... Hm. You may not get this, but I'm dealing a lot with how I see myself, and how others see me, and how I fit into the larger picture."
"How I fit into that cold picture was very clear, and hostile." He leaned against Umbra, sharing warmth as they walked. "But I am not there. This warmer place, less unkind, but so much more confusing, mother. Here, I have time to worry about that, and I do... I think I understand, at least a little. What am I doing, and how do I fit? I used to know, but now it's not so clear. I turned away from that crystal window, to find the rest of the room cluttered and neglected. It hadn't mattered before... but it does now. Mother, perhaps... We should clean. Will you help? I'll help as I can."
Umbra squeezed him in a firm drawing. "You... Of course. What a lovely son you are, brother of a sister."