//------------------------------//
// A Time to Mourne 
// Story: The Mysterious Adventures of Mare-do-well 
// by Commando-Scarecrow 
//------------------------------//

Trixie and Summer were both just watching Rainbow Dash scream and cry on the grass near the mercenaries safe house. He'd originally had it built as just a log cabin he could retreat to during more intense missions and assignments, but it quickly became his library, store house and in general the only real home he had for years. He almost fainted as soon as they got there, too. He wasn't even sure he had the magical power after that fight with his sister to pull off teleportation with not just one, but three different ponies. Last time he was tired was when he saved their collective flanks a couple of weeks ago. But now was not the time for complaining, he thought. Now was the time to comfort a friend who had just now lost the only colt she ever really loved.
Trixie tried to step forth and comfort her friend, but Summer only grabbed her shoulder and shook his head no. She needed to sort out how she felt about the situation. He understood that much.
It was hard to believe that they all woke up only an hour or so ago, and now? Now they were at a safe house in the snowy foot-hills of Mount Killmarejaro. Summer opened the door to his cabin and abruptly fell on the his chair. It was old and it was dusty, but it was still home. Trixie immediately followed suit and fell upon the couch, taking off her mask and the enchanted ropes she used as weapons. They both looked at each other and just sighed. They both knew what had happened, although Trixie was probably taking the loss harder than Summer. He could tell by the way she looked at Braeburn that they had been something in the past. The way she followed his lead and trusted him made it plain as day for those who took the time to notice it. She looked terrible. Her white mane and blue coat was covered in dirt and she had fresh cuts on her arms and legs. Even with her charmed robe, she still suffered some injuries. He didn't really have room to talk, though. In fact, he was maybe in even worse condition. He had been totally drained of all his magic and he was pretty sure he had a few small cracks in a lot of his bones. Bruises were rampant and he had scrapes and some frost bite in places he didn't like to think about. Even standing seemed to be a challenge. But he had to stay awake if only for a few hours. When Rainbow Dash was ready to come in and rest, then he would do the same.
After nearly an hour of simply staring at the ceiling and wondering what went wrong, Rainbow Dash walked through the door. He knew she would eventually. Trixie and Rainbow Dash both had no idea where they were in Equestria and, until they could devise a real plan of attack, he planned to keep it that way. As Rainbow walked through the door, Trixie immediately got up herself. She walked up to her and no words were exchanged between the two. Rather, Rainbow Dash only looked away with sad bitterness. That was when Trixie cemented her friendship with the blue pegasus. She went in to hug her tightly. At first, Rainbow was reluctant, but she accepted the embrace after not even a second. The first words he heard since he entered his home was then uttered. "I know." Trixie said. They both had tears welling up in their eyes. If the moment was any sweeter and sadder, then Summer Blaze would have gotten some kind of heart condition from it. Finally confident that Rainbow Dash wasn't going to leave half cocked, he drifted away to sleep. They all needed rest after what happened today.

...

Summer Blaze woke up to see Rainbow Dash asleep where Trixie was earlier. As she slept, the mercenary saw a distressed look on her face. She was probably having a nightmare about what had happened earlier. He gave a look of sad remorse as he got up from his couch. His body still ached, but he sensed that he had enough magic in him to put himself in a healing trance later on. He wasn't in any worse condition than he was when he bailed them out last time, after all. The only exception was he was more hurt this time around. His body ached as he walked, but he knew he'll be fine. He'd survived worse. He went over to the window and saw that the sun had been down for hours. It was winter, though, so it could be anywhere from six pm to six am. He only sighed. Like it even mattered.
He walked into the kitchen, limping as he did so. He was starving and was surprised to see Trixie in the kitchen drinking some of his special hickory blend of coffee. There was an empty plate with the crumbs of dried foods like apples and potatoes. He smiled. He never kept perishable food in his safe house. He was always afraid of it going bad. He took out a bag of ginger snaps. It was one of the few luxuries that he allowed himself. He poured a cup of coffee and noticed that it had been brewed to perfection. He gave an awkward smile to the magician and kept on drinking. Maybe it was only because he was so emotionally strung out, or maybe it was just that awesome, but it was the best cup of coffee he had ever had. He looked at her again, and then ate a ginger snap. A little bit stale, but nothing too bad. Ginger snaps kept practically forever.
Finally, Trixie opened up to the colt who could only save three fourths of their team. "So... what's the plan?"
The stallion was surprised to hear her question. Surely, so soon after being put through such a ringer, she wasn't serious. "What?"
The blue mare had apparently cleaned herself off since he last saw her. She had her mane tied back and was wrapped in a blue blanket. He finally recognized it as the one his own mother knitted for him maybe 12 years ago. "I've noticed that you can lead us just as well as Braeburn has lead us," she was serious. He could tell by the fact that she wasn't using the third-person perspective when she spoke. "Rainbow Dash is to distressed to take the lead."
Summer Blaze only sighed. "I don't lead." He looked away out the only window the kitchen had to offer. "Not anymore."
"What do you mean?"
There were certain parts of his past he didn't like to talk about. And the story about how he became a mercenary was one them. "I don't want to talk about it, Trixie."
"Trixie thought you hated running." He gave a bitter grin. So she saw something in his eyes last night too, eh? "The way you fought that monster back in the city showed your courage. Surely your own past isn't so horrifying to confront."
He sighed again. That had begun to be habitual since he met these ponies. He took a deep breath and admitted she was right. "Three years ago... I passed the last test my master put before me." He began to tell her about his fall. "I was so excited. It meant that I wasn't his student anymore, but his peer. I was his equal. That was the single happiest day of my life." He turned around and walked to the window he was staring out. He could see a full moon in the winter night sky. "In my happiness, and maybe more in my arrogance, I joined the royal guard. The training was rigorous but it was nothing I couldn't handle. My training with Sir Blue Flame prepared me for that."
"That sounds like a dream," Trixie added her own commentary. "Many ponies might have killed for such a chance."
"That's what I thought," he agreed with her, but only just. "There was an assignment... I was placed in charge of my own squad. My commander thought he saw a natural leader in me. Today I would say that he was wrong." He took a breath and continued. "Today, I know that they were gearing up for something, but I had no idea what was going on."
Trixie got up and walked over to the former guard. "Summer, tell me what happened," she said in a serene voice. They were kindred spirits, she thought. She had thought him to be the sort that would not willingly run from his allies or those he felt he owed something, but instead, she found he ran from his own past guilt. Much like her.
"The changlings... Celestia damned changlings." It always went back to changlings. "We were investigating supposed sightings south of Las Pegasus and we all thought it was a wild goose-chase, but we were wrong." Trixie swore she heard a lump begin to develop in his throat. "We were ambushed. I got sloppy and led them right into a trap. None but me survived."
"Summer, you can't blame yourself for that." She tried to touch his arm, but he refused.
"I can. It was my fault that they got killed," He turned around to look into her eyes. She had no idea what he was going through. She may have thought her childhood was bad, and indeed it was, but she looked into his eyes and realized that he wasn't the invincible hero he made himself out to be. He might have been loyal, but it was very clear he was stilling running from his past. "Trixie, I can't atone for not being able to protect them."
Trixie now understood why he couldn't be made the leader. He would be good at it, sure, but he wouldn't let himself do the job. She put her hoof on his face and he saw her eyes illuminated by a princess’s gentle moonlight. She closed her eyes and moved her lips closer to his and for a split second, they kissed, but only for a moment. He parted his own lips from hers. "I'm sorry," he said silently. He walked off from the kitchen and into his bedroom. Trixie was left there, just standing and looking out into the winter night. She could hardly blame him. A lot had happened today.

...

Rainbow Dash woke up from a nightmare. At first, that's what she hoped. But then she saw Trixie on a piece of dusty furniture and then she saw a blanket she didn't recognize on top of her. It was real. Braeburn was gone. She took a moment to once again drink it all in. It was yesterday. An entire fleet of ships came in force to take the city. They came to take her city. As much as she hated it, she knew that was the cruel reality of the situation. She also knew that sitting with her head up her plot wasn't going to fix anything. She walked around filled with the determination and the desire for justice and revenge. She had enough feeling sorry for herself, thanks.
As she searched for her new friend, Summer, she couldn't stop but think about what any of her friends would do in this situation. None of them, especially Fluttershy or Rarity, would take this sitting down, but even they wouldn't get up so fast Rainbow Dash. When danger called her, she dashed off to face it. It was simple as that. She moved fervently to find the colt who saved her and Trixie but failed to save Braeburn. She knew it wasn't his fault, though. As much as she wanted to blame somepony close by, she knew that that wouldn't be fair. She moved from room to room, finding scattered blankets and books, but no orange unicorn. It wasn't until she looked outside did she find him. He was sitting on the porch and found him playing chess with himself. She guessed she'd seen weirder. She'd seen Twilight try to do the same thing a week before she moved, at any rate.
She barged through the door, which barely registered on Summer's radar. He didn't even look at her as he kept playing his one sided game of chess. "Summer! It's time to save my city!"
He still didn't even look at her. "Can you fly?" he asked in a dead pan voice.
"Can I fly," she mocked what he said, having no real idea why he asked it. "Watch this!" She fully extended her wings only to be surprised by the feeling of extreme pain shooting up the one on the right. "OW!"
"I examined it while you were asleep," he still wasn't even looking at her, which was starting to tick her off. She hated when people ignored her. "It's only a sprain, but you'll need to not fly for a few days."
"What?!" Okay, now she was upset. "But the city..."
"Will only get worse if we go in half cocked and injured." He finished her sentence as he finally looked her in the face. "We need to rest and we need to plan. And trust me; I'm working on a plan."
She waited for a moment to consider what he said. She knew from experience that flying on a messed up wing had 'bad idea' written all over it. "Fine..." she said in a droning voice. She considered sitting down to play chess with him, but then realized that that would only cramp her style. She decided to try to see what he had to eat in this dump.
She walked past Trixie, but didn't say anything. "This is stupid," she heard Summer declare at the one person chess match. Apparently, he wasn't as much like Twilight as she thought.
Trixie sat down next to Summer, surprised at the conversation she just heard him and Rainbow Dash have. "Trixie thought you didn't lead anymore."
He only smiled. "I'm not. I simply not letting anypony leave without my saying so."
"What?" Trixie was rightly confused.
"When we make a plan, it'll be together. But until then, none of us are leaving this place. We need time to heal and prepare," he took a breath and then a sly grin. "Besides, neither of you know where we are. I do."
Trixie herself could not but feel impressed by the thoughtfulness of his planning. She wondered if it had been him that sprained Rainbow Dash's wing in the first place to keep her down and give the two unicorns time to heal, but she sided that that thought. "So what is the plan, Fearless leader?"
He took out a book that seemed like he’d read a hundred times before, and then gave her a Cheshire smile. It seemed like he had all but become the leader, even though he would not actually admit it. Trixie supposed he knew what was at stake just like her and Rainbow Dash. "Right now, it's rest up. No army can survive if it's dragging its feet from exhaustion, after all. Even if it is only an army of three." It looked like he started to blush and the fact that he couldn't look her straight in the eye confirmed it. "And Trixie?"
"Yes?" It looked like she was eagerly waiting what he had to say.
"I'm sorry about what happened last night. I shouldn't have ju-" she placed her hoof over his mouth, as if he didn't need to say anymore. She then made the first move and kissed him.
"Don't be." He looked surprised as hay at what she just did. She then went in for a second kiss that he was fully prepared for. Trixie fully understood why he left last night. She had dug too deep into memories that wasn't hers to dig in and made him feel uncomfortable. But now she was making up for it in full. Moreover, in front of the beautiful and pristine layers of undisturbed snow, well, the moment couldn't have been more perfect.