The Mane Six Militia and The Shadow of a Phantom

It took a couple of days for Ditzy;s wings to get recover in any shape to use them again. When she had awoken she was just able to fold them to her sides. Kumori winced as he watched the mare suffer for the next couple of nights. Showing up regardless of her discomfort, yet Kumori turned her away for three nights, feeling it was better for her to allow her wings to rest before training.

Today was a new day for Ditzy, and her wings felt much better. She had started on her way to the work shop to check on Rarity and Sweetie Belle's project they had been working on for her. Ditzy was more than pleased as she entered through the old doors into the warm atmosphere of the shop. Sweetie was in the front of the shop, carrying a variety of tools through the doors as Ditzy entered. Her face immediately lit up when she saw the gray Pegasus

“Ditzy oh Ditzy, wonderful news, we did it, we actually did it. Rarity and I found a way to work  the metal so as to make it lighter with the same amount of resistance as even a sword. Finding a way to allow your wings maximum maneuverability was a challenge but we made it work. You should, should still be able to fly, but were not certain. That's on you.” Sweetie was excited to finally allow Ditzy the opportunity to test her work.

Just a few minutes later and Ditzy was in the back with Rarity and Sweetie getting fitted with the new weapons. Rarity looked overly pleased with herself when Ditzy finally got them on. “So dear, how do they feel?”

Ditzy lifted each of her wings one at a time, getting a feel for the light but added weight of the blades. They fit snugly around the edge of her wings, not slipping or sliding in the least which was good if you wanted to avoid blisters. Two metal clips on each blade to fasten it securely did however ruffle her feathers but she didn't see a way around this. They had to be secured somehow. She lowered her right wing in front of her and traced one of her hooves down the edge of the blade. She pulled away with a light squeak as the blade nicked her hoof.

“Well don't do that silly.” Sweetie pipped. “How do they feel?”

“They're actually better than I would have thought.” Ditzy nodded in approval. “Besides the clips I barely feel as if I am wearing anything.

“Ohh I was hoping you'd like them!” Rarity replied. “I am glad Sweetie convinced me to work on them after all.” Rarity patted Sweetie on the top of her head, ruffling her mane in the process and enticing an annoyed growl from her sister.

“Sis stop it, you don't like it when people mess up your mane.” She pulled away from her sister and smiled back up at Derpy. “Lets go outside and see if you can still fly.”

“I'm pretty sure I still can but okay, just to be sure.”

Out in front of the shop Sweetie and Rarity stood off to the side as Ditzy stretched her wings out and gave them a couple of flaps. “Yeah I think I got this” She took off in a short gallop before leaping into the air and with little difficulty she spread her wings and flew. She could hear Sweetie and Rarity cheering from down below as she turned through the air and elevated slightly. Her mind was swimming with accomplishment. One step closer to her goal. She landed with a couple of steps in front of the two mares. She threw her forhooves around both of them in a tight hug. “Thank you two so much, if there is anything I can do.”

“Oh dear that wont be necessary, but please be careful. Your wings are a tad bit close right now.” Rarity had to lean her head back a bit to avoid the edge of one of the blades.

“Oh, I'm sorry.” Ditzy took a couple of steps back with her cheeks glowing.

“If you come inside we have a belt with sheaths for the blades to fit under your saddle bag.” Rarity chimed and sighed with relief as Ditzy got a safe distance away.

(Later that night)

Ditzy trotted behind the school with a bit of pride in her step as the blades hung loosely from her waist in their sheaths. Kumori sat waiting as per the norm and smiled when he saw her.

“So you were able to get them after all.”

“I told you I know a pony.” Ditzy smirked. “Can we start tonight? My wings are fine now, I even flew today.” She didn't even attempt to hide the eagerness in her voice.

Kumori sighed, he was still having doubts about teaching her but he had made a deal, not to mention he felt terrible for hurting her a few nights back. “Yes, we'll start, we wont be using the blades tonight though. I don't want you getting hurt during practice.”

“Who said I would be the one getting hurt?” Ditzy smirked.

Kumori shot Ditzy a look of amusement at her mock confidence. “Drop the blades Ditzy.” He told her flatly.

Ditzy giggled and sat to unstrap the belt from her waist before recovering to her hooves. “So what first?” She suddenly became giddy with excitement.

“Well, I'm not really sure. I told you I am self taught and I am not really a teacher, but... I will say the wing fighting has more to do with your agility than anything. While fighting with your wings leave your hooves free its also a bit more difficult to get a straight shot in so I like to use a small sword or dagger when I can in conjunction with my wings. We'll get to that later though, one thing you'd be smart to avoid is to many direct defensive strikes with your enemies blade. Keep sparring to a minimum and do more dodging than anything. Your wings are not quite as strong as your hooves.” He looked down to the ground in thought as he fought to remember any other first hoof details to give Ditzy but could think of none at the moment. “Your sure you want to do this?” Kumori asked once more before looking back up at Ditzy who stood in front of her.

“Definitely.” Ditzy nodded and smiled before catching a strike to the side of her muzzle and stumbling sideways. She looked back at Kumori who had his wings spread and was crouched low in an aggressive stance. “What was that for?” Ditzy asked as she rubbed the side of her muzzle.

Kumori shrugged. “The way I learned is I practiced.” He replied. “You might want to put your guard up.” He pounced forward and turned, swinging his left wing at Ditzy who stumbled backwards to avoid getting hit.

“I don't know what to do.” She panicked, as her heart began to race from the sudden conflict.

“Fight, defend yourself, do something.” Kumori used her imbalance and turned low, swiping Ditzy's hooves out from under her.

Ditzy squeaked as she hit the ground and was just able to roll out of the way before one of Kumori's hooves hit her while she was down.

Kumori wasn't trying to hurt her, just get her started though he still didn't like it but he didn't know another way. He'd just keep hitting her until she fought back. He was relieved when she recovered and spread her own wings, a somewhat agitated look across her muzzle.

“Well don't just stand there.” Ditzy's overconfidence shown apparent across her muzzle.

Kumori ducked low and made for he hooves again to try and unbalance her, however he was surprised at how quickly she jumped off to the left and charged him, hitting him in his side with her head. It was Kumori's turn to stumble as he fought to hold his ground but was given little time to do so. Ditzy mimicked Kumori's earlier twisting motion, to try and catch him with the brunt of her wing but met nothing but air. Kumori had lept up and hovered above her to avoid the attack and dropped down in front of her. “Not bad.” He chided. 'Maybe its not over confidence.' He thought to himself.

After an half hour or so of keeping this up, both sides taking hits but it was mostly Ditzy taking the brunt of the damage, Kumori stopped her. “O, Okay... whew... Alright lets take a break.” Kumori manage between breaths as he fell to his stomach. Sweat, dirt, and a small bit of blood stained both of their pelts.

Ditzy couldn't even find the energy to argue and graciously accepted the opportunity to rest, collapsing in front of Kumori.

Kumori could see the look of pain on Ditzy's face and the signs of tears that matted the fur on her cheeks. “Ditzy if you want to call it a night we-”

“No!” Ditzy interrupted quickly. “I don't have the time to train at my leisure.”

“But Ditzy I don't like hurting you.” There was almost a pleading tone in his voice.

“Your not hurting me Kumori your helping me, you made me a promise.” Her words came a bit harsher than she had wanted but her exhaustion and pain altered her tone.

“O-okay.” Kumori breathed. It absolutely baffled him. He had killed and hurt so many but he felt guilty striking her. He'd never felt guilty for anything before. “Alright, you seem to have a basic understanding of hoof to hoof combat already. Is there something you are not telling me?” He inquired.

Ditzy took just another moment to catch her breath before answering. “Nothing you haven't already asked about. Lets just say that some of my travels haven't exactly been the safest of trips.” She feigned a weak smile through her pain to comfort him.

“Well, I know I said you want to avoid sparring with your wings as much as possible it is not possible to completely avoid it. So after we rest, you and me are going to have another go, except this time we're going to focus more on our wings. If we focus on that you will be more efficient with the wing blades.”

“Sounds good.” There had been a couple of instances during their fight where their wings collided in the conflict. She was relieved to find that the contact had not hurt nearly as much as she thought it would. Her wings were a lot stronger than she thought they were she just had never takin the time to test that theory other than her normal flight. At first Ditzy was scared she might break her wings if she used them to fight but it turned out the bone and muscles in them held strong though she still needed to be careful.

A few minutes later Kumori rose to his hooves. “Lets go.”

Ditzy wanted a little longer to rest but she didn't dare to complain, she'd figured that Kumori was skeptical on training her so she didn't want to give him another reason to argue. She got to her hooves, spread her wings and crouched low as she had seen Kumori do before. This time however she didn't give Kumori the pleasure of striking first. With a couple of running steps she jumped at Kumori.

Kumori jumped back and took to the air on his wings, hovering a few feet away. Ditzy had expected this and as soon as she landed she jumped back up gliding on her own wings and catching Kumori in the chest with her right wing. Kumori recoiled but stayed in the air. Ditzy turned and tried to  hit him again but Kumori cut right, took hold of Ditzy's right wing and threw her toward the ground.

Ditzy was just able to turn to land on her back before she hit the ground. She cursed herself for falling so early until Kumori landed in front of her. “What are you mad about? That was great!” He exclaimed.

Ditzy got back to her hooves and shook off the crash she just had. “Then why was I the one to hit the ground?”

“Ditzy if you would have had your blades on I would be dead, or at least down. I wasn't expecting you to recover so quickly and jump up at me like that, much less actually catch me in the chest.” Of course Kumori was taking it a little slow for her but he was still impressed with her speed and natural talent. 'I'll have to take it up a notch.' He decided.

Ditzy realized he was right and smiled. “I forgot about that.” With a renewed since of energy she took her stance back up. “Come on.”

Kumori couldn't help but grin. He had never seen anypony this eager to do anything before. She had a since of enthusiasm he had seen in only one other pony before. Except this time the memory of his friend did not make him sad. It made him smile.

The two pegasi engaged in combat once again, Ditzy went at Kumori with all she had but Kumori's change in pace proved to much for her. She couldn't get through as he twisted and turned, ducked and pounced. It didn't help he had more endurance than Ditzy either. With each collision her wings hurt more and more but she wasn't going to give in so early.

In order to avoid a particular nasty blow she folded her wings in front of her, however Kumori followed through with his strike and knocked her off her hooves. She slid a fair ways back before unfurling her wings to recover but Kumori was upon her. He placed one hoof upon her chest to hold her to the ground and the other beside her head to brace himself.

Ditzy decided against struggling, she took the opportunity to rest. Kumori was thankful for the chance to breath himself. After he was sure she was done he removed his hoof from her chest and placed it on the other side of her head. With each breath they took their fur brushed across the others.  Kumori realized the position they were in and his cheeks beneath his fur began to glow. “I-uh I'm sorry.” He stuttered as he attempted to move away. Ditzy caught his forhooves with her own and stopped him from moving. “D-Ditzy?” He looked back down at her and saw the same shade of red across her muzzle. Though her mane was ruffled and her fur was spotted with dirt, grass stains and the faint traces of blood from their fighting she still looked cute staring up at him like that. He had to figure he didn't look much better himself seeing as he'd takin his fair share of falls.

The fire's light provided just enough glow to see the aggression and hostility had left her eyes, though he couldn't quite figure what it had been replaced with. She looked, a bit bashful, but longing with a faint glimmer of hope. At long last the awkward silence was broken. “Kumori, I know... I know we haven't known each other for lo-”

“Ditzy, w-where are you going with this?” Kumori asked but didn't try to move again.

“Kumori, what am I to you?”

“What do you mean?”

“A student? A friend? Or... I mean...” She suddenly looked hurt. “Never mind.”

“No.” The word had come out unintentionally and in an instant. He looked away but spoke none the less figuring there was no since in denying it any longer. “Ditzy I didn't want to teach you for one reason, I didn't want you to get hurt. That test I gave you a few nights back, I-I well, I hadn't expected you to pass. In fact I was counting on you to quit. I accidentally fell asleep and when I woke, seeing you still standing I was angry, angry with myself. If I had known you were that determined I'd have never tried to break your spirit. Its been a while since anypony has shown me such resolve. Before that you'd convinced me to stay, I was going to leave the night you found me on that hill, but you convinced me otherwise for which I am grateful now. Most of all, your the first pony since the incident that seems to understand me and yet... I tried to push you away.” He closed his eyes, he felt a deep since of sadness and suddenly regretted his decision to stay after all, he'd done nothing but hurt her. That was when he felt Ditzy's gentle touch of her hoof on his cheek.

“You were trying to protect me Kumori, please don't be sad. That's what I wanted after all, somepony to protect me. Then, that morning when I collapsed, you stayed with me throughout the day while I slept, and... Well I know it seems small, but when you talk to me you look me in the eyes. Most ponies avoid looking at me when we talk, or just avoid talking to me.” She smiled at up him and took a deep breath. “You saved my life Kumori, I thought I was alone, that I was going to die without The Doctor but you saved me. You proved me wrong, made me happier than I've ever been and you didn't need to say anything at all to do it.”

All at once Kumori didn't feel so empty anymore. A single tear rolled off his muzzle, not one of sadness but of joy. “You asked what you were to me?” He sighed. “Well, its whatever you want to be.” As the words left his muzzle he felt Ditzy wrap her forelegs around his neck and pull him gently to herself. She brought their lips together and kissed him with as much emotion as she could manage. The action startled Kumori for a moment, his wings fluttered before resting back to his sides and he relaxed, closed his own eyes and gave into the emotion once and for all, shutting out his isolation. His pain, sadness and fatigue disappeared as he kissed the young beautiful mare beneath him, replaced with compassion and care. Their shadows danced as one across the grounds, formed by the fire of the torches that lit the school yard.

Two young and damaged souls had come together as one to heal. Too light the darkness that had once plagued one another. Brought together by pain and suffering to prove that there was always a silver lining, a faint flame of hope that now threatened to spread and burn the memories that caused them so much pain and the will to overcome any future endeavors.

Their training did not resume that night, nor did their conversation. They lay side by side, Kumori's wing draped over Ditzy's back as she purred and nuzzled his neck, feeling warmer than she had for a while despite her current physical condition. She placed one of her forhooves over one of Kumori's and rested her head upon it. In turn Kumori rested his head upon hers. At long last they drifted off to sleep, one shortly after the other and without a care in the world. Much like a vacation from the harsh realities of the world they now shared.