Once the sun rose high above the tallest oak tree, the three companions awoke from their slumber and began to pack their things.
"So, what's the plan for breakfast?" Spike asked as he put his blanket into the backpack.
"I say we skip and be on our way. The faster we start on our journey, the quicker we'll get to Ponyville." Trixie responded.
"Can we at least leave something for Spitfire?" Roseluck pleaded. She was all ready digging through a package of dried fruit that her grandfather packed them. Only to get her wrist slapped by Trixie.
"Spitfire is long gone Rose. Besides, I bet she can just steal from somepony else for all I care." the unicorn stated flatly.
"But what if she comes back on the brick of starvation? Can't we at least give up a couple of dried apples for her?"
Before Trixie could argue, Spike placed a claw on her shoulder and smiled at Roseluck.
"I'm sure we can sacrifice some dried fruit for her. Besides, we can always restock our food in Ponyville." Spike informed.
The blue unicorn sighed but grabbed a small bag of dried apples and tossed it onto the ground.
"There," she stated flatly, "Now lets get going."
"Just a sec." the dragon replied as he dug through the pack. Once he grabbed a grey shirt, Spike quickly put it on and slung the pack onto his back, "Now we can go."
So the group of three began their journey across the meadow. A couple wing beats behind was a pegasus with a fiery mane.
"Are we there yet?" Trixie whined.
"Do you see a town anywhere?" Spike replied back.
As the two bickered, Roseluck let her mind wander back to Spitfire. Hundreds of questions floated around in her mind. Where has she been all these years? Why was she following them? How come Mr. Greenhooves didn't give her a job? The mare asked the last question to her grandfather, but he would always come up with half baked excuses.
Sighing, Roseluck looked at her two friends and was expecting them to still be arguing, but to her surprise they were standing very still. A look of shock and horror gleamed in their eyes.
When Roseluck shifted her gaze in the direction they were looking, a pit began to form in her stomach.
There laid a dark grey pegasus with a two toned blue mane and tail. He wore a light purple shirt and light grey shorts, in his hoof was a bloody silver pickaxe. His aqua eyes were dull and a gaping hole in his neck oozed out blood while flies began to fly around the carcase.
"Who or w-what would d-do something like th-this?" Roseluck stuttered, her forest green eyes scanning the area for a wild beast.
"Look!" Trixie said while pointing a hoof at a trail of red blotches.
In an unspoken agreement, Trixie and Spike started to follow the trail, only to be stopped by Roseluck.
"What are we going to do with the dead body? We can't just leave it here in the open!" the earth pony explained.
"Then why don't you take care of him while Spike and I find his killer?" Trixie suggested.
However, before the earth pony could answer, Trixie and Spike were already following the trail.
Roseluck hummed a sad melody as she dug a hole in the ground with the pickaxe. Once the hole was six feet deep, the mare rolled the stallion into the grave and went to collect some flowers for the stallion.
When Roseluck left, a yellow pegasus crept out of a bush and trotted over to the hole. There she looked down upon the dead stallion and shook her head sadly.
"And you were so young." she whispered to herself.
Suddenly, the pegasus could hear somepony galloping over. Quickly, she spread her wings and took off into the sky. There the pegasus found a medium cloud and quickly flew into it.
"Spitfire!?" a familiar voice called to the sky.
"Not now Roseluck." the mare muttered under her breath sadly.
Meanwhile, Spike and Trixie were following the trail of blood to a large stone.
"That's odd." Spike stated as he took his axe from his back, "The trail stops here."
The blue unicorn quickly levitated her sword out of it's sheath, "Keep an eye out, this could be a deranged killer we're dealing with." Trixie whispered.
"Are you two warriors?" a raspy voice questioned
Spike and Trixie froze in place and quickly tried to locate the voice.
"Y-yes." Spike replied.
Suddenly, a dark brown unicorn with a white mane and tail jumped up onto the boulder. He wore a pair of blue jeans, and four twisted daggers floating above him.
"My name is Brass Blare, a warrior from Applewood." Brass said before using his magic to throw his daggers upon Trixie and Spike.
Quickly, Spike jumped in front of Trixie and covered his face with his arms. Because of his scales, the daggers were only able to give him minor puncture wounds.
As Brass Blare was busy trying to get his weapons out of Spike, Trixie leap from behind the dragon and charged at the dark brown unicorn. However, he was able to get one dagger free just in time to block the mare's blade from slashing his eyes out. Then he gave Trixie a low sweep. The blue unicorn fell onto the hard stone, grazing her chin in the process.
"I'll take that." Brass sneered while swiping Trixie's sword.
Suddenly, a roar could be heard and Spike jumped onto the bolder and striked the unicorn's left hoof. Brass bellowed in pain as his hoof rolled onto the ground below. Ruby red blood began to flow like a waterfall from the wound.
"Damn you!" the unicorn shouted at Spike before lifting up the blue sword and slashing it at the purple dragon. Anger and fear clouded his eyes.
However, Trixie punched the stallion in the groin. Brass doubled over in pain, giving the mare a opportunity to deliver the final blow, a punch in the face.
While Roseluck kept looking at the sky for Spitfire, she suddenly heard a cry. Scared that it belonged to one of her friends, the mare quickly dropped the flowers she collected and galloped off to the direction of the sound.
Once Roseluck came to a large boulder, she flinched at what she saw.
There was a dark brown unicorn with only three hooves laying on the grass. Standing over him was Trixie who had the blade of her sword pointed at his chin. Walking over to Roseluck was Spike who had three daggers sticking out of his chest.
"What happened?" Roseluck asked in fear.
"A warrior by the name of Brass Blare challenged us to a fight." the dragon explained while plucking out a dagger.
"Is everypony okay?" Roseluck questioned.
"Yep, though Brass could use some medical attention."
As the two friends neared the two unicorns, they could hear Trixie saying something to the whimpering Brass.
"Why d-don't y-you just k-kill me now?" the dark brown unicorn stuttered while cradling his injured arm.
"True warriors show mercy." Trixie spat.
"B-but what a-about the Golden Throne? I-if you l-leave all the w-warriors you've fought alive, they could a-always come back and seek revenge on y-you?"
"Revenge? Revenge for what, me leaving them alive?"
At that statement, the stallion quieted down and shifted his gaze to to Roseluck and Spike.
Trixie looked up and smiled at her friends, "Glad you could come Roseluck. I need you to heal this stallion."
Roseluck nodded her head and knelt besides Brass Blare, "I need my medical supplies, a bowl, water, and food." she stated.
The blue unicorn lit up her horn and concentrated on teleporting the bag to them. With some help from Brass, she was able to bring the backpack to her.
"Now while I work on him, you two finish the grave for the other stallion." Roseluck commanded.
As their friend worked on the injured stallion, Spike and Trixie were working on the grave.
"Should we give him his pickaxe back?" Spike asked while holding up a dirty pickaxe.
"Eh, I guess." Trixie replied while levitating dirt into the hole.
Once they were finished covering up the hole, Trixie was humming a song as she placed some flowers onto the grave.
"I hate graves." Spike sighed, "Dead bodies give me the creeps."
"Well I like them, for the dead always have a story to tell." Trixie replied, getting a strange look from Spike.
Once the blue unicorn placed the last flower on the grave, they trotted off towards the bolder.
When Roseluck finished wrapping a fifth bandage around the gash, she helped Brass stand up.
"There, now make sure you go to the nearest hospital so they can treat it better." the mare informed.
"Thank you." Brass replied before trotting off.
The mare took a deep breath before taking out a pack of dried fruit.
"Lunch is served." She stated happily.