The Mane Six Militia and The Shadow of a Phantom

It was that time again, time for Rainbow to get out of her comfort zone. Into the unknown perils of enemy territory. She sniffed the night air and let it out slowly. "Perfect." She whispered to herself. She loved it, she'd always have love for danger. Unfourtanetly their was one other thing she loved more than the fight for survival.

    Fluttershy stepped out beside her looking defeated. She had tried her best to convince Dash to turn the assignment down but to no avail. In the end she understood why Dash did what she did, she just wished it didn't have to be her Dashi.

    Dash turned to face Shy, forcing a smile for the sake of her mare-friend.

    Shy takes a couple steps toward Dash and nuzzles the side of neck in which she takes the opportunity to breath in Shy's sweet aroma and closes her eyes.

    Dash felt Shy pull away and opens her eyes again.

    "Dashi, please be careful." She whispered.

    "Shy, you don't have to worry. I'll be back before you wake up in the morning." She reassured her.

     Shy seemed to accept this. She was just scared that one of these days Dash wasn't going to come back. She wouldn't know what to do with herself if she lost her Dashi.

    Rainbow Dash gave her one last kiss before taking off into the sky. She flew slowly over the camp, enjoying the cool air that swept through her fur, mane, and tail. For just a moment she forgot where she was headed.

    The armory came into view a moment later as she began her decent. She could just make out Rarity's figure in the dark before touching ground. "Rarity? What are you doing here?" Rainbow inquired.

    "I was asked to lay out your ponies's gear for your assignment." She replied simply. "Come on, the others are already inside."

    In the armory, there were three other pegasi. Two mare and one stallion. All she could see of them where their faces as they were all dressed in black. Dash obtained her clothes and a small sword in which she sheathed to the small saddle bag that was included in the equipment. Inside were various supplies for marking, climbing, and sustainment, along with basic medical supplies.

    Dash gave a small nod of approval and closed the bag, tossing it over her back and securing the straps along her waist and over her forlegs.

    Rarity stopped Dash before she took off with the team. "Rainbow do be careful."

    "Rare, nothing can hurt the Dash." She chuckled before nodding to the rest of the team. They took off into the night, heading toward the front lines, and Solandian border.

    The leader of the group was a mare named Freefeather. She was a bit taller than Rainbow but skinny, with caramel colored fur and a white mane. Her cutie mark was of a tennis racket and ball. Before she volunteered for the militia she played on the Equestrian tennis team, so she was moderately athletic and had quite the body, of course you couldn't tell with the black apparel. She didnt talk a whole lot but she was rather kind. She did have her moments where she would break down for almost no reason on occasion. Aside from that she had adapted really well to militia life and proved quite the adversary with a dagger. Despite her fur color she was adept at concealment and stealth tactics making her more than qualified for recon missions.

    The second member of the team was a stallion named Hoard. He was rather large to be a Pegasus but with proper training his wings were more than capable of sustaining his weight. Hoard's fur was tan and his mane a slightly darker shade of brown. At a young age he had decided to use his attributes to his advantage, joining the royal guard in the desert regions of Kayan, his cutie mark confirmed this being a shield. For reasons he refused to explain he was exiled from the land and came to Equestria where he became a simple security guard, not being that smart. When he heard about the militia forming up he could not resist, wanting to get back into the fight.

    The third, another blue colored mare with a dark blue mane, who used to be a waitress decided that joining the militia was an exciting and much needed change in her life. The founders of the militia were impressed at her ability to shoot a cross bow and so accepted her as a fighter in their ranks. Her name was Flora.

    In a little more than an hour they made it across the border, managing to avoid allied and enemy encampments alike by staying just above the clouds. They needn't worry about enemy fortification occupying any clouds seeing as a fortification in the sky would easily be torn through or infiltrated by the opposing side. So instead of attempting to fortify the sky they simply posted pegasi to watch over the clouds.

    Anypony already in the clouds would see them coming before they realized they'd been spotted so they descended to the ground, relying on the forest to mask their trail.

    As the team landed they ducked low into the brush, waiting to see if they had been spotted. After a minute or so of silence, which seemed like an eternity they made their move. Avoiding well beaten trails and roads of any sort they picked their way through the brush.

    They did a good job avoiding the Solandian troops until complacency caused them to stumble almost on top of a patrol.  The four quickly ducked down low, hoping they had not already been spotted. Dash's heart sank when the head of the patrol stopped and the soldiers ears perked up. "Did you all hear anything?" The stallion asked the rest of the squad.

    Dash's hopes dropped even more when they rose to their hind hooves, dawned their swords and began to pick their way through brush. The enemies patrol consisted of three rather large earth pony in armor and five pegasi. In a head on fight they wouldn't stand much of a chance, and if one of the pegasi flew off to alert the others that were sure to be nearby they would have to scrub the mission, whether they survived or not.

    Just before they stumbled upon Dash and the others a miracle fell upon them. From the very rear of the formation a muffled scream alerted the others. Dash nearly jumped from her hiding place out of shock before realizing it was one of the enemy being slain. She strained her eyes from her hiding place to get a view of what was happening. All she could see was the Solandian soldier drop dead and a black blur disappear into the tree's shadows.

    "Its The Phantom!" One of the soldiers shouted.

    "Where gonna die!" Another panicked.

    "Silence You Fools." The head of the patrol shouted angrily. "Are you all a bunch of cowardly fillies? Its but one pony. Just keep your heads on." He growled, scanning the area around him.

    "Buck you man, im outa here." One of the mare pegasi announced before lifting off into the air.  However she barely made it five feet before a bolt shot from somewhere in the trees and into her neck. She fell to the ground with a sickening thud, thrashing and grabbing at the bolt as the blood rushed to escape her body. A moment later she lay still.

    This convinced the remaining six to stand there ground. All but there leader shivering with fear, barely able to hold their weapons steady as their heads snapped back and forth, trying to locate the demon that thirsted for their blood. One of the earth pony dropped to the ground, dropping his weapon and covering his crying eyes with his forhooves.

    Another flash of black blasted by the group. It looked like a curtain flying through the air. A second later two more of the soldiers dropped dead, slashes on either side of their bodies.

    The pony that had dropped to the ground took off in a mad dash toward the thick of the forest. He disappeared but a moment later a scream was heard from his direction.

    The patrol of eight was reduced to three in the matter of a minute and no pony had even seen the assailant. One of the Solandian stallion soldiers had backed to close to Freefeathers position. Before the pony took another step Freefeather rose up swiftly, grabbed the soldier and dragged him down into the brush, wrapping her hooves around his throat to stop his scream. Only after he passed out and quit thrashing did she release her hold.

    "Watch my back." The head of what used to be a patrol told the remaining soldier. The two who were left stood back to back holding their weapons out in front of them. The blur appeared again, above them this time, snatching the remaining soldier up and flying back into the tree tops. The lead turned around but saw only the soldier's sword lying in the dirt. A moment later the body of their owner fell atop them, dead.

    The remaining Stallion growled. "You coward, Show Yourself!" He shouted into the air but got no response. His ear twitched to the side and with amazing speed he spun around, just managing to block the phantom's attack from behind.

     For the first time Dash got a look at the legend. Definetly a pony, she also spotted feathers protruding from the cloak it wore. "A Pegasus." Dash breathes to herself.

    However lucky he may have been, the leaders time had run out. With a twitch and a spin, one of the phantoms blades gutted the stallion and he to fell dead, joining his soldiers.

    Everything was quiet again. "What if it comes for us?" Flora whispered frantically.

    "If it wanted us dead we'd be that way already." Hoard growled and rose from his hiding place. "Come on, we don't have much time we still need to find the enemy fort and gather intel." He grumbled.

    Freefeather cleared her throat and stood up abruptly as if reminding the heavy built stallion who was in charge.

    Dash and Flora followed suit. Before continuing they searched through the fallen soldiers belongings and saddlebags to see if they carried any sensitive information and to Feathers disappointment they found none.

     For another hour they crept through the forest brush, stopping once to sip at some water from a water skin from in their bags. The faint glow of fire directed them toward what looked like a sto e wall, hiddin by a thick formation of trees just south of their path.

    "Flora, go check it out." Feather ordered quietly.

     The blue mare looked as if she were about to protest but chose to keep her muzzle shut. With a nervous shake in her step she crawled low until she reach the trees. Flora peeked around the edge of one of the trunks to see the wall standing just taller than the trees and as wide as their own encampment. Between the wood line and the wall itself, a field stretched out a hundred yards out, leaving plenty of room for the archers to spot invading forces. On the walls archers were posted that patrolled back and forth lazily, obviously still oblivious to their squads disappearance.

    Flora swallowed nervously and crawled backwards until she was sure they couldn't see her, then turned tail and moved swiftly back to the other three. "That's it."

    "Your sure?" Feathers asked.

    "Yes, but its much bigger than we initially thought. Our militia couldn't possibly overtake that thing."

    "What do you mean? Its only supposed to be a forward operating base from what we were told." Feather exclaimed.

    "I'm telling you, there has to be an entire brigade of enemy soldiers in there, if not more."

    Feather growled to herself. "Well at least we know now. Lets get out of here." However as she spoke the words a sound that none of them wanted to hear froze their hearts.

    "Hey You Over There! Identify Yourselves." Another patrol that seemed to just be leaving the gates had spotted them, again exposing the four militia's inexperience as true soldiers.

    "RUN!" Dash exclaimed. The others had already took off before she had finished the word.

    "INTRUDERS! SOUND THE ALARM!"

    The team heard the squads hoofsteps behind them and they wished they could take off into the sky but the thick tree tops prevented a clean take off. A bell sounded behind them, alerting the fort of the intrusion. "Shit." Dash breathed as her hooves pounded across the forest floor.

    An arrow passed just over Flora's head and she whimpered in freight. The near miss distracted her enough to where she tripped over a rotting log. She screamed for help as she tried desperately to get back to her hooves.

    Dash and the others skidded to a halt and turned to help but saw that the enemy had already caught up to her. With a quick thrust they cut her crying short.

    "Nooo!" Feathers breathed then cried out as she attempted to rush the group of soldiers. If not for Hoard grabbing her she would have fallen victim next.

"There's nothing we can do for her now." Dash called out to Feather. "We have to go, Now!" Dash was going to wait no longer to take off again, and was thankful to hear the others follow suit. Unfourtanetly the delay had allowed the enemy force to gain on them.

    Then another scream was heard. Only not one of their own. Dash turned her head for only a second, spotting the cloaked pony's blade claim another Solandian life before disappearing into the shadows again. This did not detour the remaining, much larger force from their chase however. Their numbers being to great for the phantom to pick them all off however a few did cut back to search for the source of their soldier's death. 'They must have thought they had ran into an ambush.' Dash thought to herself as her hopes flared. Finally they came upon a clearing and the night sky glimmered above them. "Lets go!" Feathers called out before rising into the sky, followed suit by Dash and Hoard.

    Before Dash could get far enough however an arrow grazed her hind leg causing her to cry out in pain. She didn't stop however. Stopping meant death. Stopping meant breaking her promise to Pinky, to breaking her promise to FlutterShy.

    Feather and Dash had no trouble out flying the enemy pegasi, however Hoards sheer size meant he was not as lucky and he knew this. So he did the only thing he could. He turned to face the enemy force that had been gaining on him.

    "Hoard!" Feathers stopped and turned.

    "Go, I'll never make it. The least I can do is buy you time." He called over his shoulder.

    "Hoard No!" Feathers pleaded, crying. "Please!"

    "I said Go!" Hoard called out.

    Dash came back for Freefeather. She turned Feather to face her. "He's right. We have to go." She told her. Feather's head dropped at the undeniable truth. "Come on." Rainbow told her before taking off again, Feather close behind.

    Hoard breathed a sigh of relief as the two mare flew farther away then looked toward the gaining force. Tonight was his night, to die the warriors death he had craved for so long. The fastest but smallest of the pegasi to reach him attempted to drive his sword into him. Hoard effortlessly caught the smaller Pegasus's hoof. With his free hoof he took hold of the soldiers wing and snapped it before tossing him away to fall to his death. Hoard drew his blade as two more of the pegasi caught up and with the grace of his former years he deflected the first one's sword and slashed the others throat. By this time an archer had caught to the fight and released an arrow at Hoard who barely dodged the projectile.

    The distraction was enough for the enemy sword pegasus to slash down with her blade, cutting across Hoards back. Hoard growled and gnashed his teeth together before turning to slash at the soldier who blocked the attack. Hoard used the opportunity to take hold of her throat and toss her away. She was able to catch herself in time to see Hoards blade drive itself into her gut. He kicked the soldier off of his blade and she fell, this time she would not be able to catch herself as her blood left her body as she fell. If the wound would not kill her the fall would.

    Hoard cried out as he felt a sharp pain in his back and through his gut. He looked down to see the tip of an arrow protruding from his stomach, blood beginning to gush around the sides of the arrow. He caughed up more blood as he grabbed the arrow, pulling it through as he yelled in pain until he was able to pull it free from his body. He discarded the arrow and turned to face the growing force again. Bleeding profusely from his wounds he still was not done. "Die, DIeeeeee!" He cried out as he rushed them slashing and cutting wildly until finally he was struck down.

    Down he fell, the light faing from his eyes. He smiles one last time as a tear escaped his eye. His wish had finally come true. His wish to die a warrior.

    Dash and Feather had finally reach the border where an Equestrian fort stood tall. The Solandian force wouldn't be as foolish as to rush the border recklessly. However they did not want to be stopped by the Royal army for questioning so they flew on past the fort. The faster Dash reached the camp the faster she could examine the wound on her leg. It couldn't be to bad or she would have passed out from blood loss by now.

    The sight of the camp was that of beauty to the two mare. They removed their hoods so as to allow their guards to identify them as they landed infront lf the gate. Dash winced as she put pressure on her hind left leg and chose instead to limp on her three good legs.

    The militia guard rushed out to meet them. "What happened?" One of them asked frantically but neither Dash nor Feather answered. Feather was still crying at the loss of the two pony under her watch. She had failed them. Even though the mission was a success she considered it a failure. No pony should have died over such a ignorant mistake as talking openly like that, especially so deep into enemy territory.

    Dash thought it best to leave her be as they stumbled back into the camp, ignoring the two guards frantic questioning. When they got inside Feather turned toward Dash. "I'll go give the report. Give me your gear and get that leg looked at."

    Dash didn't dare argue with the grief stricken mare. She gratefully turned over her apparel, weapon, and saddlebag. She knoddes gratefully to her and offered her a weak smile which was not returned.

    Rainbow was not going to wake Shy to wrap a simple flesh wound. She went to the medical tent were Raisen sat, watching over the few injured pony that remained there.

    Dash said little as Raisen inquired about her wound that she tended to and the mission. A few minutes later Dash left the tent, thanking Raisen before she limped back to her hut.

    Though it had only been a night it seemed like forever since she had laid eyes on Fluttershy, who slept peacefully on their bed. She climbed gently into her place next to Fluttershy, happy to keep her promise that she would see her when she woke. The sun would be up in all of two hours, Dash was exaughsted and shaken by the night's events. However as soon as she breathed in the sweet aroma of flowers from Fluttershy's fur she began to doze off, falling into the merciful hooves of sleep.