The Mane Six Militia and The Shadow of a Phantom

"Dashi! Dashi get up, Dashi!" Fluttershy shook Rainbow Dash roughly, as she panicked due to the events that were unfolding just outside.

    "Shy?" Dash groaned as she stirred, then shot straight up as she heard the chaos, a mix of screaming ponies and steel on steel. "Shy what's happening?" She asked frantically as she jumped down to the floor, grabbing and hooking her belt with her blade onto herself.

    "I-I-I don't know, I-I just woke up. Rainbow I'm scared." She stammered as she hid behind her wings.

    "Stay here." Dash replied, not waiting for an answer she left the hut and took a look at her surroundings, nothing was happening close by thankfully but the noise did not die down. Rainbow took to the sky, drawing her blade. In the sky a number of pegasi where fighting. 'Solandian forces of this size? How did they get through the frontlines?' She was horrified by her next thought. 'Has the 3rd division fort fallen?'

    She was snapped back to reality as the body of a militianpegasi fell dead from higher in the sky. "Shit!" She blurted out as she looked up. A Solandian Pegasi was making a beeline for her. She barely had time to raise her sword to deflect the oncoming strike. As their blades met Dash lost a little altitude but stayed airborne. Another deflected blow later Dash slashed at the soldiers wing, the most vulnerable place on a Pegasus. The sword cut halfway through the muscle on the Pegasus's wing and he cried out before pulling away, struggling to stay in the air. He didn't last more than a couple seconds before his bleeding wing gave out on him as he spiraled out of the air, hitting the ground with a thud.

    Dash took the opportunity to take in her surroundings once more, trying to get a grip on the situation. The air battled looked like it was going in their favor but the ground battle was a different story. The militia soldiers had formed a line on one of the paths that led deeper into the camp where their resources were kept. Unfourtanetly the line began to thin as the Solandian forces pushed through, not only there but the whole camp. Fighting, screaming and dying pony filled the camp. To top it off a fire had been started on the west side of the camp.

    Dash decides to dive down, targeting a lone Solandian who had been dumb enough to break away from the rest of his force. The pony had seen Dash a second late as Dash buried the sword into the chest of the mare solandian troop and landed over her dead body, Dash again took off into the sky, looking for any more stragglers. She repeated the process three times before another situation required her attention. A small group of MilitiaPony had been cornered and in the group was Alsvid, sparring frantically with two Solandian earth pony.

    Within seconds Dash had landed behind them, slashing at one of their necks and stabbing the other from behind, blood spatter soaking Dash's fur.

    Alsvid was breathing heavily, actually happy to see Rainbow. "Thanks."

    "Don't mention it, just keep fighting. We need these fuckers out of here now." Dash replied before taking to the sky once more. Rock was just a few yards away, laughing merrily as he took hold of a Solandian soldiers had and smashing it against the wall of a hut, crushing the soldiers skull. As dumb as Rock was he was a vicious soldier, no including his sheer size. Another Solandian made the mistake of charging him head on with her sword raised. As she swung down on him she stopped dead in her tracks, the look of shock obvious, even through her helmet as Rock stopped and took hold of the blade's edge with his bare hoof. Blood leaked down his arm but he showed no sign of pain, just a wicked smile as the soldier attempted to pull her blade from his grasp. With his free hoof he took hold of her throat, lifted her into the air and through her into the ground. The soldier cried out and released her blade. She turned over on her belly to crawl away in pain, enticing laughter from Rock who took her by the scruff of the neck and tossing her aside like a stone.

    "Rock quit playing and finish her.!" Dash shouted angrily. Rock was effective but his cruelty knew no limits.

    Rock turned to face Dash for just a second before laughing. "Fine then!" He took hold of the soldiers head with both forhooves and broke her neck.

    Dash shook her head in disgust but refocused on the battle. "Alsvid, go defend the medic hut." She ordered before rushing to the aid of another. 'Its no use. There's too many of them.' She thought as she traded strikes with the enemy. Another MilitiaMare went down as an arrow pierced her neck from above. "Damn It To Hell!" Dash yelled as she took to the sky, slaying the archer responsible before he could dock another arrow.

    That's when she saw it, the black cloaked pony who had saved her before, slashing through a group of Solandians. "The Phantom." Dash breathed to herself.

    To their luck, the supposed phantoms appearance sent panic through the ranks of the Solandian troops. "The Demon, The Demon is Here!" One of them shouted before turning tail and fleeing, followed suit by a good number of his allies. However the camp was still in danger as the Solandian soldiers brave enough to hold ground fought on.

    The news spread throughout the enemy troops of the Phantom's appearance and their numbers suffered. Soon after the surviving enemy troop decided to cut their losses and call the retreat. The militia soldiers shouted and gave chase, cutting down the few they caught.

    However just before the battle ended, Dash witnessed an enemy archer aiming at the cloaked pony.

    "Watch Out!" Dash shouted but she was to late. The arrow was released and as the phantom turned around the arrow sunk into his right for leg, immediately dropping the pony.

    The archer shouted victoriously before taking off with the rest of the retreating enemy.

    Dash hurried to the cloaked pony's side who backed away on three hooves, his forth leg bleeding profusely with the arrow still stuck in his leg. The Pegasus spread its wings about to fly off before Dash yelled. "Wait! You Need Help!" Dash called out. "You won't make it far bleeding like that."

    The cloaked Pegasus kept its wings spread for just a moment before folding them back down and looking to the injury as if deciding whether or not she was right. "Okay." He replied simply.

    By his voice she could tell he was a stallion. "Come on." She hurried to his side, about to help him walk, but again he backed away. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Dash inquired. "We don't have time for this."

    The stallion spread his wings again and shook the cloak off of them revealing the thin blade that stretched around the edges of his wings. "You can't get near my wings right now." He replied. "I can still fly."

    "Alright, follow me then." Dash flew off into the direction of the med hut with the cloaked pony behind her. Even though the battle was over and had been short lived, anarchy still ruled the camp. Ponies who weren't injured ran throughout the camp, trying to put out the fire, aiding the wounded and finishing any of the enemy wounded as well as the occasional straggler who continued to fight.

    The medic tent was buzzing with activity. Any pony who had any medical experience was there, working in overdrive to save anypony they could.

    Dash landed and turned to make sure the stallion had followed her. As he landed he stumbled and nearly fell. He had lost to much blood and was becoming light headed. "Lay Down, I'll go get help."

    At this point he had no choice but to comply. Dash disappeared inside of the crowded tent, looking for an available medic, but there were none. Even Fluttershy had made her way over and was trying frantically to patch a wound on a soldiers chest who had passed out from the pain. She barely took notice of the ponies blood that stained her hooves and yellow fur.

    "Damnit." She breathed. "Buck it, I'll do it myself." She took hold of nearby dressings and bandages before rushing back outside where the cloaked stallion waited, fading in and out of consciousness. Dash knew very little about medicine but she was not so ignorant as to remove the arrow herself. If she would it would do more damage and he would bleed out faster as the tip of the arrow would cut on its way out. She'd leave that for somepony more experienced. Instead she focused on stopping the bleeding. She applied the dressings on the edges of the wound around the shaft of the arrow, then wrapped it tightly with the med tape to hold it all in place.

    To her relief the blood stopped leaking out from around the arrow. "Your lucky the arrow didn't go through. You should be fine for now. Can you still fly?" She asked.

    He shook his head no, making no attempt to do so. He doubted he could still stand, as dizzy as he was.

    "Fine, I'll carry you then. We need to get you inside." She stuck her muzzle under his stomach and gently rolled him onto her back, careful to avoid the blades on his wings. Dash was surprised that the Stallion was complaining very little about his wound. She made her way quickly to her own hut which luckily sat undisturbed by the fighting, brought him inside and lay him on the bed. She then took a bottle of water and hoofed it to him. "Drink."

    Again he found little choice but to obey as he gulped down the cool liquid, sighing as he finished.

    "Will you be all right here?" Dash asked. "I need to find somepony to get that arrow out."

    He nodded his head and just like that she was gone. The brief conflict, his injury, as well as his dizziness made him wish he were dead. Even more so he wished he hadn't been hit at all. He rarely took more than a glancing blow until now. Eventually he faded out of conciousness.

    When he woke he found he was still on the bed, he still ached but the pain wasn't nearly as bad as before. Looking down he realized the arrow was gone and his wound had been neatly wrapped in white bandages. About the same time he noticed that his hooded cape was missing and his blades were no longer latched to his wings. "Wha- Where?"

    He hadn't noticed the blue Pegasus who had aided him and a very distraught looking yellow one beside her. "He's awake." Fluttershy told Dash.

    "Thanks Shy, I know your tired. Just let me find a place for him to say and you can sleep." Dash replied, nuzzling her cheek gently. "Get yourself cleaned up first. I know you don't like blood."

    "Its worth it to help everypony." She told her.

    Dash turned back to the pitch black Pegasus. His fur was pitch black, his mane, black, and he didn't even have a cutie mark, or at least it was all black to. That's when she noticed his eyes which made her tilt her head to the side. He had two different color eyes, one emerald green and one sapphire blue. "Woah!" Dash exclaimed. "That's so cool!"

    The stallion sighed. 'That makes one of us.' He thought.

    Even Fluttershy was amazed as she cautiously stepped closer to get a better look.

    "Your one strange pony." Dash pointed out. "I've seen some funny looking ponies before but I haven't seen this yet."

    The Pegasus looked away, he didn't like being around other ponies, much less being observed like an animal.

    "Dashi don't be mean." Shy ordered.

    "Oh no no no, I wasn't being mean, I think its awesome." Dash thought everything that was different was awesome. "That's why it was so hard to see you. On top of your hood being black, everything else is as dark as night to."

    As the Pegasus sat up Shy shrunk away, afraid that Dash had angered him, but instead all he did was jump down from the bed, keeping wait off of his bandaged leg. "Thank you both for your help, but I would really like to gather my things and go." He said as politely as he could.

    "Oh but you can't." Shy exclaimed then shrunk back again as the stallion turned his gaze on her. "I-I mean, i-i-it wouldn't be good for you to leave before your leg has healed. You need to wait a few days, uh if you want." Shy finished.

    "No, not if he wants. Your staying here, we can't let you leave and risk further injury after all you have done." Dash stamped her hoof.

    "I have done nothing." He replied.

    "Bull shit, I know your the phantom." Dash shot back. "Your the one the solandians are so afraid of."

    "So my fame stretches as far as here does it." He sighed. "Yes, I am the supposed phantom. I prefer to be called Kumori however."

    "Kumori?" Dash repeated.

    "It means shadow. I don't know my real name." He replied.

    "How don't you know your name?" Dash asked.

    "I don't know that either. I never knew it, for all I know I do not have a name." He replied.

    "That must suck." Dash said.

    "No, a name is just that, a name." He replied. "Now please, I don't wish to stay here any longer."

    "Where would you go?" Dash asked.

    The question left the Pegasus quiet.

    "Do you even have anywhere to go?"

        He sighed. "Not anymore. I used to live in Solandia in a small town." He admitted.

    "Solandia? Your not a unicorn, so why did you leave?" Dash challenged.

    "Because I chose to defend them." He snapped.

    "But... I thought you all wanted to kill unicorns." Dash was now confused.

    "That is quite ignorant." The black Pegasus replied.

    Dash bit back a angry retort and instead asked. "Then what happened?"

    Kumori sighed and sat. "I suppose you will not let me go until I explain will you?

    "Nope." Dash was quite stubborn and took her own seat, Shy who had been quiet during the debate sat beside her, curious herself.

    Kumori sighed and closed his eyes. "Fine, before the Solandians set a campaign against Equestria they had a rebellion to put down. A small civil war broke out in Solandia. The ponies who wished to eradicate the unicorn species, and those who defended them. However as you know there are far fewer unicorn than any other breed of pony and even fewer in Solandia who supported them. The war didn't last three months. My town was burned to the ground. As far as I know I was the only survivor. It took that long for me to realize that an open war against their force was impractical. So I hid in the shadows, striking when I could, using fear against them. Most ponies fear what they can't see. Then I learned they had declared war on Equestria. Their cruelty knew no bounds. You would think that after they had nearly cleared their land of the Unicorn species they would stop."

    "But, why?" Dash asked, that's all she could think to ask.

    "They believe in a spiritual being called Azura. Supposedly a crystal pony god or something. They think that unicorns are a mockery of Azura's power. That only Azura should be able to wield magic, along with his three decendants who ironically, are Alocorn."

    "What, but I thought..." Dash was even more confused now.

    "Yes yes I know. Those three Alicorn rule over Solandia, much like your princess Celestia. However unlike her, the three Alicorn of Solandia did not want to share their power. So they spoon fed the Azura god bullshit to ponies for hundreds of years, starting as just a pony tale which eventually turned into the violent belief that fuels their rage today. The three Alicorn believe that if they killed off the unicorn race their would be no new Alicorn that would rise to power."

    "If it started that long ago, then how do you know any of this? You can't be much older than me and much less older than an alicorn." Dash inquired.

    "Their were books passed down from then to now that explained the origin of the old pony tale. Some ponies from back then were paranoid this would happen, so they wrote these books. In their nooks they spoke of how they were exiled from the land for conspiracy to commit treason and their paranoid beliefs. Most of the books were burned but a few were saved as artifacts. It was only two years ago that ponies began to realize the books were not the jabering of paranoid fools but a warning to Solandia that had not been heeded, and those who chose to rebel against Azura and the three Alicorn suffered for it." He finished re-opening his eyes. "Simple greed started this war. I fight here in Equestria because this is one of the few nations powerful enough to stand against the Solandians, if they win this war and their power spreads, the remaining nations wouldn't stand a chance."

    "T-that's terrible." Shy finally spoke.

    "Well, that gives you another reason to stay. I mean no offense but you can't do any real damage on your own, not to mention the fact that if you were injured while on your own you would die." Dash replied.

    "I was injured because I fought during the day."

    "Your not invincible." Dash barked. "I've seen you once before. Do you remember, not a few days before, you helped four ponies who had crossed the Solandian border?"

    "I do." He replied, his eyes narrowing.

    "Well I saw the pony who had blocked your attack. I know you killed him but if just one is quick enough to rival your speed then there is always another. Your luck will run out if you continue this lone pony bull shit." Dash stamped her hoof again.

    "You were one of the four?" It was his turn to be surprised.

    "Yes, that's how I know your the phantom." Dash explained.

    Kumori sat in silence for a minute, just thinking. Then looked back up at Dash. "Fine, I will stay and fight along side your militia, however I will not be staying in the camp."

    "Then where the buck will you go?" Dash was losing her patience for the Stallion.

    "I will stay nearby. Just not in the camp, these are the only terms I am willing to accept." He stated simply.

    Dash growled. "Fine, but you have to come back in the mornings to get your leg worked on."

    "Understood, now may I have my cloak and blades?"

    "Ha, if I give you those back now you'll just run. You can have them back when you no longer need the bandages." Dash smirked at her small victory.

    "You will not keep me here against my will." He growled rising to his hooves.

    "I'm not, but you won't be leaving with your possessions until you agree to let us help you." She spat back rising to her own hooves.

    "I could just take them." His anger was apparent now as his he unfurled his wings aggressively as is the nature of pegasi when angered.

    "You can try." Dash replied, spreading her own wings.

    "Stop It!" Fluttershy jumped between the two and turned toward Kumori tears in her eyes yet her expression was that of rage. "You will not hurt my Dashi." She growled.

    "Shy get out of the way." Dash told her but was surprised when she turned on her.

    "And You! I know You Want To Help But You Can't Just Take Everything Into Your Own Hooves! Every Day You Fight I'm Freightned That You Wont Come Back, And Now Here You Are Fighting Again!" Shy took a step toward Dash and Dash took a step back.

    "S-shy?" Dash had never seen her so angry before, much less speak out in such a manner. Dash folded her wings to her side, concerned for her mare-friend. "Shy, I-I had no idea. I'm sorry."

    Fluttershy collapsed to the ground sobbing, her emotional dam had broken. "Dashi." She whimpered.

    Dash rushed to her side and lay beside her. She didn't know what else to do but cover her with her wing and try and comfort her. "Your things are in the drawer in the corner. Just get them and go." Dash spat at Kumori before attending to the sobbing cannary mare beside her.

    "Thank you." He didn't know what had happened but he was not happy being partly responsible for the yellow mare's outburst. So he retrieved his wing blades which he sheathed and threw his hooded cloak over himself. Just as he was about to exit he was stopped.

    "Hey!" Dash called out and Kumori stopped. "You'd better be back in the morning like you promised."

    Kumori simply nodded his head before exiting the hut and taking to the night sky. He was going to stay true to his word and stay near by but he would not be staying. He decided on a small hill at the edge of the encampment. When he felt he was alone he began to cry himself. Re-telling the story of his home had brought back old memories, bad memories.