The Mane Six Militia and The Shadow of a Phantom

Derpy Hooves was a bit upset at the days events that had re-shook her world. She trotted up the hill she sat upon when she thought of the Doctor. That was one of the few things that comforted her anymore in this chaos. Though halfway up she noticed the black furred Pegasus that lay at the top that distracted her from her thoughts.

(Kumori)

    Kumori didn't know what else to do but lay there. Lay there and think of all the wrong that had been done to him. He felt empty, drained.

    "Hey."

    Kumori jumped up startled. In his emotional state he hadn't heard anypony approach him. He spotted the Gray mare who had called out to him, sitting not a foot away.

    "Are you okay?" Ditzy asked.

    "I'm fine." He replied and sat back down, deciding she was not a threat. Something about her seemed strange, the look in her eyes, not the fact they were not aligned properly but there was something in her eyes that most ponies did not have, though he couldn't quite place it.

    "Then, why were you crying?" Derpy asked.

     "No reason." He replied. 'Why are these ponies so persistent?' He thought.

    "That's silly, nopony cries for no reason." She replied.

     "What are you doing up here?" He decided he was going to turn the line of questioning around to get the focus off himself.

    "This is where I go to think." She replied.

    "About what? Why come out here for something you could do anywhere.?"

    Derpy looked up to the sky. "The stars." She replied simply.

    "What about them?" He asked. 'She's... Strange.' He thought to himself.

    "They remind me of somepony special."

    "Who?"

    Derpy looked back down and giggled. "You'd think im crazy if I told you."

    "Try me." Usually he would not put so much effort into talking to any pony but in his vulnerable state, he welcomed the company.

    "Well, okay." She replied as she untied the key from her mane and began to toy with it. "He called himself The Doctor, but he wasn't a real doctor, and he lived in a blue box that was much larger on the inside than the outside, and it wasn't really a box, it was a time machine."

    "A time machine?" Kumori replied. "What is that?"

    "Oh yeah, sorry. Its a machine that lets you travel through different times, and even planets if you wanted. Me and The Doctor traveled together for a long time, he showed me so many things, and was one of the few ponies that didn't make fun of me because of my eyes. He was amazing, but one day, just a year and four months ago he left. He said he couldn't stay, and couldn't take me with him or else something really bad would happen, but he couldn't tell me what it was. I still don't understand but I trust him." She finished looking down sadly. "Think I'm crazy yet?"

    "No." Kumori replied.

    Derpy looked up surprised. "Huh?"

    "Well, just because I didn't see it, doesn't mean you didn't. I mean can you see magic? Yet unicorns use it all the time." He explained.

    "That's true." Derpy had never thought of it that way.

    "So, this doctor, he was special to you?"

    "Yes, I'd even go so far as to say I loved him." She had no problem admitting this now that the doctor was no longer around, though she wished she hadn't had the trouble before.

    "Did he love you back?"

    "I don't know. He never told me."

    "Don't worry, I'm sure he did." He replied.

    "Well, since I told you something, you have to tell me why you were crying." She replied, not wanting to discuss what could have been.

    In truth he knew he didn't have to do anything of the sort, but for some reason he felt he could trust her. So for the second time that night he told his story, with a detail he had left out before.  "When they burned the village, they killed somepony special to me. She was a unicorn, and... Well she was the only pony I had ever trusted. She was only a friend, but...  She was my only friend, and they killed her. Now I am alone, that's why im sad I guess. I can't really trust anypony anymore." He lay down on his stomach, tired of sitting.

    "I'm sorry, I know how it feels." She sighed. "You can trust me if you want. I know you don't know me but... Well, I just want to help. Nopony should be alone."

    On any other night Kumori would have told her to go away and leave him alone. Maybe even if it had been any other pony. Tonight was different though, this pony was different. "Okay."

    Derpy's ears perked up a bit and a small smile crossed her muzzle, shocked that he had agreed. "Do you mind if I stay up here with you tonight? You shouldn't be alone while your so sad." In truth she didn't want to be alone herself and was willing to push her luck to prevent that.

     "Yes, that would be nice." He decided against his instinct.

     Derpy trotted up next to him and lay down on her stomach beside him, making Kumori shift uncomfortably, but he settled down quickly. "I'm sorry, do you want me to move?" Derpy asked.

    "No, no your fine, I just normally don't let ponies so close to me. Makes me nervous." He replied. "I'll have to get over that eventually, why not now?"

    "What happened to your leg?" She asked, noticing the wrappings around it. "Where you in that fight?"

    "Yes, I was." He sighed. "I saw your camp was being attacked and I came to help. An arrow caught me as they were retreating."

    Derpy gently raised her hoof and traced the edges of the neatly tied bandages. "Fluttershy did this?"

    "Yes, how did you know?" Kumori inquired.

     "Look here." She replied and pointed to the inside of the bandaging. "See how it overlaps here? What does it look like?" Derpy asked.

    Kumori hadn't thought to examine his bandages so closely, why would he? So when he saw what the mare was talking about he blinked a couple of times, making sure his eyes were not playing tricks on him. "It looks like a heart, but what does that have to do with her?"

    "We never really talked much, but I know enough about her to know just how nice she really is. In Ponyville she tended to the animals that stayed around her cottage, and if she had to wrap a wound on one of the animals she always ties them so that somewhere in the wrapping it looked like a heart. So when she started taking care of ponies here she did the same. I asked her about it one day and she was surprised I had noticed, most ponies don't. She told me that she believed it helped the wound heal faster if there was a little love in the bandages." Ditzy explained.

    "She really believes that?" Kumori asked.

    "I don't know, but remember what you said about unicorn magic? Just cause you really can't see it, it doesn't mean its not real." Derpy reminded him.

    "I, hmm... I guess your right. Everypony believes in something that others might find strange."

    "What do you believe in?" Derpy asked.

    "I, I don't know. I've never really thought about it." Kumori replied. "What about you?"

    "Its always the most unique ponies that make the biggest splash in the world. Like the Doctor." Derpy replied smiling.

    "I, I think I can actually believe that." Kumori sighed. He hadn't really thought about such trivial matters before, he'd only concerned himself with killing the Solandians since the war started. "But, what does any of this have to do with anything? How does it help?"

    "Well, since you've been having this conversation have you thought of anything that made you sad?" Ditzy asked smiling.

    "No, in fact I haven't. Your good at this." Kumori complimented her.

    "I've been alot of places, talked to many ponies, I may be a young mare but I've traveled farther than anypony I know, well besides the Doctor of course." She replied twirling the key on the string before tying it back in her mane.

    "What does the key go to? It doesn't look like any key I've seen before." Kumore inquired.

    "Its the key to The Doctor's blue box." She replied. "I hope I get to use it again one day." She sighed and lay her head down.

     Try and get some sleep, the weathers nice and tomorrow couldn't possibly be any worse than today." She told him, laying her head on her hooves.

    "I hope not." He replied.

    "Trust me, tomorrow will be better."

    "Okay, I trust you." Kumori laid his own head down, realizing just how tired he was despite sleeping through the afternoon and dozed off.