Umbra could have taken a train. They wouldn't have even charged her. Still, she did not. She flowed instead swiftly through the darkened evening, rushing at the speed of dark through the frozen countryside, towards Equestria proper. She wondered what she'd see there. Fun things? They made it sound fun...
Morning was in good hooves, being taught and cared for while Umbra was away. She had a princess to meet! And maybe dream magic? That would be so cool! She chuckled darkly, a nightmarish laugh that echoed from her shadowy form as she darted and zipped through the mostly empty territories that seperated the Crystal Empire from Equestria.
The snow was cold, she could feel that, but she was in her shadow form. It knew not heat, or chill. She just knew it was cold, without actually feeling the snow beneath her as she hurried. Perhaps, as a pony, it would be bothersome. Did Umbrum care about cold? She wasn't sure, and she felt no reason to doublecheck that. Perhaps she'd ask Morning later?
She had travel, boring travel. She could have ridden a comfortable train, but that'd also be boring, and longer. A terrible combination.
"Nothing to report." A golden-clad guard saluted to another and marched past them, relieved of their duty. The one they reported to stepped into their place. There usually wasn't a lot that happened, watching the gate of the castle, but they were ready! Ready for anything.
"Hello." Rising from the shadows, Umbra took shape in front of the two guards with a sharp grin. "Luna is expecting me."
The guards recoiled in a mutual yelp of fear, lowering their spears into shaking readiness.
Umbra swatted one out of the way, crystals erupting with the motion to knock the weapon aside. "Really, just ask her. Tell her Umbra is here."
There was a moment of uneasy silence, the two glaring at her and furtively glancing at one another, but, at last, one stepped back. "I will check." And off he dashed to find Luna.
Umbra sat in front of the remaining guard, watching him shake in fear. "You know... I'm a hero up there."
"Up where?" He glanced upwards, as if she could be claiming to be hero of the night sky.
"The Crystal Empire," Umbra explained, amused. "Stop being so scared. I'm on your side."
"This way!" The first guard was hurrying back. "Please, this way." He led the way into the castle, leaving the other guard behind with his dubious expression. He came upon a door several hallways inside. Knocking once firmly, he shouted, "Your Highness, your guest is here."
"Send them in," came muffedly through the wood.
The guard stepped out of the way and gestured to the door.
Umbra's cue! She stepped up, willing the door open as she stepped through the opening. "Luna?" She had to look left to spot her seated at a table with snacks. It was a reminder of the breakfast and meal nook back home. A pony habit? "There you are."
"Here I am." Luna gestured at several other cushioned seats, wide for a pony to lay on or sit on their haunches. "You failed to warn me you were on the way. Pray tell, did you take a train?"
"Nah." Umbra waved the idea away, her horn glowing as she snatched a pastry to take a chomp on. Woah. It was even tastier than up north, and Cadance was a princess, right? "Distraction, but why are these so good?!"
Luna rolled her eyes. "Sister dear says, 'One does not rule for thousands of moons without a quality chef or ten.' Seeing as she has managed it, I can't rightly argue with her, and the results are here to be witnessed."
"A winning philosophy, clearly." Umbra laughed at the notion of a dessert powered monarch. "Good to see you, and without any emergency or fancy event happening."
"Truly. Just you and I. Now... You have struck me as a creature that would prefer to get to the heart of things, rather than dance around what you came for." That Umbra was nodding eagerly confirmed that. "You covet the magic that I have."
"Don't say it like that." Umbra snorted softly. "You could never tell me, and I won't be angry at you, just a bit bummed. It's your magic, and you get to share it, or not. I'm an open book sort of wizard." With a pop and a puff of smoke, her book appeared from nowhere, landing on the desk with a dull thud. "Now if you want to see some of my magic, happy to share. I've touched on some dreaming adjacent spells."
"Dreaming adjacent?" She leaned in for a better view of the book, but it was upside down to her. Upside down magic was a bit hard to pick out from across the table. "Do explain."
"Already on the case." Umbra tapped at the open page. "Nightmare relief. Extremely temporary, as in only as long as the spell is actively kept going. For emergency use, and not a real fix. If a poor pony has issues to work through, they'll still need working through, unless you're going to sit next to them every single night."
Luna arched a brow. "Hardly a solution, that... Still, a useful spell, and one I know. I administer it just as I come upon a troubled pony, to calm things enough so that we can begin the proper treatment." She gestured between herself and that theoretical pony. "A start, but hardly the end. I am pleased you realized this without being told."
"I know I look it." Umbra leaned forward on cupped hooves. "But I'm not a power mad tyrant, evil laughs or not. I like the idea of helping ponies, which is why the dream magic perked my interest." She flipped an ear back with a sudden shudder. "Actually gonna bet most of their dreams are things you'd rather not see, and a lot of noise."
"Noise... That is a good description," Luna allowed slowly. "To be a dream walker is to swim through that 'noise' and find the meaningful bits, to arrive in the important dreams and leave all the others aside. In a sea of threads of bright colors, pick out the one out of place... It's not easy, I warn."
But Umbra was looking excited, not intimidated by the description. "And it is a shadow magic, isn't it? Dreams are literally the stuff of darkness. A comfortable darkness."
Luna sat up tall. "I am the princess of the night."
"Which is a time of darkness and shadows, yes." As if that just proved her point. "I'm not trying to steal your job, promise. You have a lot more ponies to watch over anyway. I just want to help way up north. Oh! Consider me backup!" She began to clap with a giddy smile. "I'll be an apprentice dreamwalker, under you."
Luna reached across to tap Umbra on the nose. "The world you came from doesn't even have magic, if I understand correctly."
Umbra came up in a recoil. "Oh!... no..." That was some pivot. "Why do you bring that up?"
"I am curious." Luna floated a cup of coffee to her lips for a soft sip. "What would they think of such a power?"
"They'd think you were silly for thinking it could exist, but, moving past that..." Umbra rolled a hoof in the air. "A trained therapist or psychologist could make consenting use of it to really help people out. But consent would be very important. Just popping into people's heads would be super frowned on, I bet, and get someone thrown in jail, if they ever figured it out, which they may never do. How would a bunch of people without magic figure that out? Poor things."
"The same remains true in this world." Luna brought her forehooves together. "To walk in dreams is a very... covert act. Unless one announces one self, it is perhaps too easy to move without detection. Will you argue with me that the potential for trouble is quite high?"
"Nope! That'd be a lie." Umbra willed her book to flip forward. "Speaking of that, I think I have a nightmare spell. I mean, it should be? But how do I test that? I'm not zapping a random pony and seeing if they have nightmares later. That'd be ghoulish at best."
Luna arched a brow at that. "Can you make a pony sleep or not?"
"Not a spell I know. You?" Umbra looked to Luna curiously and perhaps admiringly.
"It is, though not one I use often... If I were to want to test that spell--" She waved at the open spell on display, upside down to her. "I would find a pony I trust and is willing to assist, set them to slumber, and use it on them immediately. We would find the answer, and I can banish the result. Still... It would involve harm, however temporary. It... actually gladdens me that you found it, but decided it was for the best to not experiment with it."
She sat up slowly. "You have used that term before, 'the comforting darkness'. The still embrace of night, where all is quiet, but you are safe. A time for rest and rejuvenation. But you are a creature of the other kind of darkness, and we are both aware of it. The haunting darkness. Darkness that is not safe. Danger lurks within that darkness, and to rest in it is to invite harm. There are ponies who can't tell the difference between the two." She waved between Umbra and herself. "But we are thinking creatures... We do not surrender to our first instinct, hm?"
Umbra flipped an ear back, realizing... "Is... that why you've been so guarded about me? It has nothing to do with Sombra at all."
Luna's brows went up together. Her magic wielded a large knife that she cut out a slice of cake, depositing one slice in front of Umbra and bringing another to herself. "You labor under a mistake there. What makes you think Sombra is not the same thing..."
Umbra perked at that. "Oh! Oh... That actually makes a lot of sense, now that you bring it up... I'm a mare Sombra, with a better attitude, so if I'm one... yeah, guess he'd be too."
"And you know what I mean, so you are aware." Luna took a slow bite of the pie, teeth slicing through the sweetness cleanly. "You are a creature of nightmares, asking me for the key to the realm of dreams. Do you understand why I am hesitant?"
"Not to toot my own horn." She gestured as if holding a horn and doing just that with a fake toot. "But I am not a troublemaker. I've saved the day! I hope to do it again." Her tail wagged behind her. "I want to do it more... To be honest, being a hero is fun."
Luna quirked a smile. "You are quite a disappointment to your people. Other Umbrum must look at you with such confusion. You even did battle with them... eyes blinded. What changed? When did you notice your true nature? I thought that revelation would be the first gift I gave to you on coming, but it seems that will not be required."
It was starting to click. "Sorry... I became a mother."
Luna started at that. "A mother?" She rubbed a cheek slowly. "Do I know the father?"
"Doubt it, since I don't either. A lost umbrum foal... We found her, starving and alone. I took her in under a wing." Umbra spread her right wing slowly. "And she's mine now. But she also taught me what an umbrum is, and that I'm one of them. My choice of name feels ultra... ironic now, looking back... Either way, she is my daughter and I love her! But she opened my eyes to the whole umbrum thing, and that I am one."