Rainbow casually landed on Umbra's back. "This is all nice and whatever, but I hear there are shadow ponies running around. You know about that?" She leaned in over the top of Umbra. "Huh?"
"Ugh, yes." Umbra sagged a little, but still held up Rainbow. "You are not light, by the way."
"I'm not heavy," huffed Rainbow, hopping free of Umbra to the ground. "So, have you seen them?"
"I fought one." Umbra quickly explained the two encounters. "The second one made it sound like a lot more was coming with him soonish."
Cadance let out a weary sigh at that, a little further back than the other mares. "It would be nice to have peace. It's not as if this city didn't have concerns aside from this. An entire city of ponies out of time, can you even imagine it? With the train station getting more traffic and use, they are starting to explore Equestria." A smile formed as happiness returned to her. "They come back with such wondrous tales for their friends, which only encourages them to want to have a look."
Spike shot double finger-guns at Cadance. "They starting to want to read comics and play games?"
Cadance burst into laughter. "Actually, yes. I had a pony here just yesterday asking permission to start a comic store. But let's put that aside for now. That store will be short lived if we allow these shadow ponies to have their way."
Twilight sat, a quill noting on a floating bit of parchment. "Alright, so we know they favor fear and nightmares as attacks."
Rainbow rolled her eyes grandly. "Just like that Sombra guy?"
Twilight made a quick note, horn glowing. "That's a good point. Sombra, he was a shadow pony himself, was he not?"
Umbra bobbed her head. "Sure was, until I happened." She stood tall and proud, doing her best Rainbow Dash impression. "Still a jerk, just to remind."
Rarity tossed her mane. "But he isn't the problem, I gather. Just these copyponies. Well, we have a shadow pony of our own." She gestured at Umbra. "So there."
Umbra pumped a hoof, grinning brightly and sharply. "Yeah! But there's only one of me." She pointed at herself, grin turning to an awkward smile. "And more than one of them." A thought came, and with it, she perked. "Twilight! I need your help. Um, someone else needs your help. Follow me!" She scampered off without delay.
Thankfully, she could hear the girls trailing after her. "He's in here." Umbra scooted into the medical wing, nodding to the nurse she saw at the front desk. There was no resistance given to her just walking right on past and into the comatose stallion's room. "There you are."
Rainbow was next in, flashing in on her speedy wings. "Woah, hey." She inclined her head at the sleeping pony. "Should... we be here?"
The others flowed into the room, huffing for breath. Twilight accelerated to Umbra's side. "Why did you bring us here?" She looked at the sleeping one. "And why are we bothering them?"
"Yeah, they're not bothered." Umbra waved a hoof over the sleeping pony's face to no reaction. "He was the first victim and is stuck in a nightmare. I tried to dispel it, that's a shadowy thing, but shadow dispels work really bad at shadowy magic." She tapped at the grey field only she could see. "I was thinking, you being a clever magic pony, maybe you could break it?"
Umbra lowered her hoof to the blanket. "This is keeping the nightmares from reaching him, but the spell's right there, trying its best to bother him."
Twilight leaned in an inch. "Huh... Shadow magic is not my specialty."
"Good!" Umbra waved at the sleeping stallion. "We don't want shadow magic, doesn't work, remember? Bust this with your magic. Show us your moves!"
Twilight's horn began to glow, but not with any specific spell as she tried to decide her approach. "Alright... I... prefer to know what I'm doing, not just--"
"Just do it," groaned Rainbow. "It can't hurt."
"Yes it can," barked Twilight with a huff. "Wild magic can hurt a lot of things, and we have an already incapacitated pony right here." She looked to Umbra. "You can see it, right?" Umbra nodded quickly. "Is that a spell? Is that a spell you can share?"
"Even better!" Umbra produced one of her shadow goggles and floated it over towards Twilight. "Put this on and see the shades."
The color around the goggles shifted as Twilight took hold of it, wriggling it onto her head as she wriggled up into the band, getting it into position. "Alright, and--" She looked at the stallion, just to recoil. "Oh my Celestia!" She could see the cocoon of angry dark shadows creeping and prying at the protective layer of darkness beneath. "It's... the top layer, I assume?"
Umbra bobbed her head. "The quiet layer is me, protecting him. Can you bust up the angry part?" She rolled a hoof. "Pretty sure he'll be grateful!"
"Right..." Twilight frowned at the problem she could at least see. "Right, hm." She tapped her hooves on the ground in a nervous pacing. "Hm... Alright." She looked around nervously. "I just need a plan." Out came a blackboard, and some chalk, writing furiously with three bits at a time. "If I... then..." Many marks in different colors began to decorate the board as she worked with an intense mania. "But I can't..."
Rarity set a hoof on Umbra's shoulder. "She may be at this a while. It's a thing of hers."
Applejack smirked softly. "Well, while she's busy, ah'll just say, nice to see ya again. Good to see yer fittin' in just fine."
"Oh!" Umbra beamed at Applejack, turning to her fully. "You're Applejack Apple, right?"
Applejack blinked softly. "Ain't nopony that calls me that, but that's my technical name sure. Applejack Apple, or just go with Applejack, of the Apples. Like that one better." She nodded with building confidence. "Why?"
"Ah--" Umbra drawled out the I on purpose, imitating Applejack. "done met a relative of yours."
Applejack leaned forward. "Did you now?! Which one? Ah got a lot of relatives." She looked quite proud of that fact. "Didn't figure any of 'em would come out this far without a real specific reason though."
Umbra waved a hoof away, towards a wall but meaning beyond it. "Out in town. Wesley? Wensley? His butt icon--"
"Cutie mark, dear." Rarity was hiding a little chortle at the mistake. "Butt icon sounds far too... improper."
Pinkie didn't hide her giggles. "I like my butt icon." She waggled that butt, her laughter only growing.
"But if you apply the..." Twilight was still working feverishly at the arcane issue, the marks becoming a dense tangle.
"Yeah..." Umbra trailed off before refocusing. "The cutie mark was two different kinds of apples and a thing of cheese? That help?"
"Wensley!" Applejack nodded firmly. "Green coat?" Umbra nodded back. "Yeah, know him. Good pony. He ain't causin' you no trouble, ah hope?"
"No! No no no." Umbra waggled a hoof left and right rapidly. "Seems like a nice guy. He came to me, said he heard nice things. Just chatted a little. Nothing more than that.
"That sounds harmless 'nough." Applejack poked Umbra lightly. "Thought a moment you were gonna say he made a pass at you. That woulda been somethin' else!" She laughed at the very idea of it. "No insult on you or nothin', but ya'd make a funny Apple."
Umbra colored, but was mostly joining Applejack in laughter. "We only met that one time! I'm not that easy to win over, AJ."
Fluttershy started for the door. "I wouldn't even know what to do." She fled rather than consider further the idea of somepony making a move on her suddenly.
Rarity waved it off. "Don't mind her. She lives up to her name, our dear Fluttershy. Now, if a stallion walked up to me, well, that depends on which one." Her brows lowered with a sultry flutter of her lashes. "If I liked the look of them..."
Rainbow elbowed Rarity firmly. "Really? There's more to a pony than how they look, Rares. Any pony chasing me's gonna have to keep up!" She darted around the room with streaks of rainbows, showing off just how fast any stallion would have to be.
"But it could work!" Twilight brought all three chalks down together. "Alright! I'm ready to try." She turned back to the bed, mane frizzled and breathing a bit hard. "Shall we begin?"
Umbra brought her hooves almost together but they didn't quite meet. "You look a bit..."
"I'm ready." Twilight's horn began to glow. "Let's begin."
"Detect Shadows." Umbra sent her vision into the view of darkness to see what was going on. Twilight's magic exploded from her horn in a fine laser that rapidly grew, seeming to sear a bright scorch across the blackness. "Yeah! Keep that up!" It was the opposite of her attack, literal light burning away the shade. "Yeah!"
Rarity watched the light effects, ignorant of the play against shadow. "You are very excited about this. Considering your trade, isn't she doing the opposite of you?"
Umbra rolled her eyes at that. "I wouldn't put a pony in nightmares, so she's free to bust that up all she wants." She poked Rarity with a grin. "What's your talent?"
"Me?" Rarity brought both of her hooves to her chest. "I make things splendid, to share with the world."
"She finds gems," noted Spike with a grin. "Which she uses to do that other thing."
"Right, so if someone was using a big sparkly gem to make a doom laser, would you be that upset when someone smashed it and stopped people from getting hurt."
Rarity rolled a hoof. "Are we sure we can't just... take away the gem?"
Applejack pulled the hat over her eyes. "Rarity, yer a classic."
Rainbow laughed, clapping her hooves together. "I'd smash that gem and save the day! I've already passed this test." She suddenly offered a hoof towards Umbra. "Good job joining the loyalty club!"
Umbra met the hoof with one of her own, a little smirk on her face. "Is that what I did?" Her eyes went back to the stallion. "More down." She waved lower along him. "Go towards his tail."
Twilight's dazzling beam sliced downwards as she huffed for air. "Just... Oof." She slumped, magic fizzling. "That's not easy," she groaned out, laboring to catch up with herself.
Umbra grabbed for the tatters of shadow. "You're mine!" With it broken free and peeling, she was able to get a grip on it, tearing it away from the stallion with a wild laugh. "Get out of here!" She threw it to the ground and began stomping on it as it broke apart, shadow puffing away to nothing. "Yeah! Yeah! Woo!" She was performing quite the happy dance of victory.
"Huh?" The stallion was sitting up with bleary eyes. "Woah." He noticed his company. "Um... Did I miss something?"
Applejack patted the side of the recovering pony. "Jus' relax. Twilight an' Umbra worked together and got you out of a nasty spell, from what ah can figure."
"Ugh." He put a hoof to the side of his head. "It felt like I was trapped in a really dark place. Things kept trying to get me..."
"No more of that," assured Umbra with a big grin. "Only good shadows allowed around here. Now... do you want a nap, a nice normal peaceful nap?"
The stallion slumped back with a strained laugh. "That actually sounds nice."
Umbra fired a thin beam of purple at the daydark in the corner, causing the room to dim. "Sleep well then. Welcome back. I'll let Shining Armor know you're feeling a little better."
He said something that could have been mistaken for a thanks, but he was already passed out, off to the first true and proper sleep in too long.