Max just eyed the ponies warily, and went over to sit next to Jay, putting a hoof around her protectively.
"Anyway could you direct us to Rain Storm?" Jack asked "He went to our home" ace said. "Your welcome to come with us if you want" "Ok...also have you happened to come acrossed a pony from half bridge would you?" Jack asked Jay looked up shocked as she remembered the mare who had died by merc infront of them Her family was in half bridge...were they talking about her? Ace shook his head "if I have I didn't know" he said having not been told about the mare yet "Well if you do tell her not to go to jesterville....let's just say were the last survivors" the stallion said. As snow and jessy looked down at the painful memory "Well we should get on our way before it gets too late" ace said as he stood up and got ready while jay slowly did the same
"Why is your brother running away from you?" Max asked, staying where she was sat, "And how is it that you were the last survivors?" She had no reason to trust these ponies, and she wasn't going to put Jay in danger by travelling with them unless she was sure they weren't dangerous. She knew better than most that being the last survivor wasn't always down to luck...
"Well we were being attacked by raiders an we had gotten separated. The building we went into blew up right after we had narrowly escaped the blast, he was the only pony we knew the others in there were already dead-" jack explained "Mainly cause it was such a small town and we saw each death" jessy interrupted, receiving a small glare from jack "Anyway he must have thought we died in the explosion and thought the raiders were following him cause he has been yelling at us that 'we raiders' need to bother somepony else" jack finished as ace and jay finished getting ready
Max still wasn't convinced. "Can you prove any of this?" She asked, looking at them, "Can you prove that he's your brother?" She felt bad enough about herself without inadvertently helping raiders or bounty hunters, and if her decision led to Jay being hurt... She shuddered at the thought.
"Um....max that was what the picture snow let me see was about....they were sitting together at what I'm guessing was they're old settlement with jack and another pony walking in the background" ace explained to her Ofcorse he hadn't let max see it so it made sence that she was still skeptical Snow pulled out the picture and walked over to hand it to max ((FYI theyre all earth ponies exept jessy who's a unicorn))
Max looked at the picture, and recognised the pony she'd hit, although in the picture he didn't look terrified, and didn't have a cut on his cheek. "Alright, sorry..." Max mumbled, giving the picture back.
"For not trusting you," Max said, quietly, looking at the mare, "I just... can't risk anything happening to Jay..."
Snows face softened "I understand" she said before putting a hoof to her belly "I have my own" Jack started to smerk at that "Our own" he said as they walked Ace smiled at the information It was nice seeing others growing family's even after the war
Max smiled a bit at that too. "You're expecting?" She asked, taking another look at the mare. "How long?" She had only delivered a few foals in her Stable, but it had definitely been her favourite part of the job; there was nothing so fulfilling as helping to bring new life into the world. As she looked around her though, she was reminded of her original mission; this was no world to be bringing a foal into, she could still shell casings on the floor from some recent firefight, and traces of Jay's vomit from when she had radiation poisoning. No... This was why she needed to run the hospital; so that foals could be raised somewhere safe, somewhere with hope of a better life... She had lost sight of that, on their trip to her Stable... into her past... but now she remembered. "We need to get back to the hospital; get you ponies to safety, and prepare for the foal," She said, standing up and retrieving her bags. She took off her bloodstained coat, and stowed it in the bag; she could clean it once they got back. "There's still almost a whole day of light left," She said, walking over to Ace and Jay, at the head of the group, "If we make an effort, we can get through the canyon before dark, and maybe even catch up to your brother."
Snow smiled "about five months" she said before max ran up to ace "Not likely" ace said "he took off running when I told him about our safe haven of ours....and if she's expecting foals she shouldn't be running for that long" he then turned to everypony "but we do need to get thru the canyon before nightfall We've had two run ins with truble in there already, I don't want to know what's in there at night" Everypony said they're agreement on the matter before the continued back on the path
"Ace... I'm sorry about how I've been in the last few days," Max said, quietly, walking along with at the front of the group. "I'm still a little lost, but it's not fair of me to let that affect you or Jay..." She added, sadly, "So I'll try and be better."
Ace smiled and bit before pulling her towards him to kiss her cheek "your forgiven" he said as they walked
Part of Max wanted to argue that she wasn't the only one at fault, but she was tired, and didn't want to get into another fight with Ace, so she just gave him a small smile back, walking alongside him, scanning the area for any potential threats.
Max looked back at Ace, a little surprised. She smiled again, more warmly this time, and gave him an affectionate nuzzle as they trotted along together. "I love you, Ace," She said, quietly, closing her eyes for a moment as she pressed her cheek against his.
Ace smiled as he took in her warmth "I love you too" he said as they entered the canyon "So how far is this hospital" snow asked
"About a day's walk from here," Max said, looking back at snow, with a little smile, "We should be there by tomorrow afternoon," She looked back to Ace, talking quietly so the others wouldn't hear. "That pony that you sent ahead; he's not going to be able to get into the hospital," She said, looking concerned, "You reprogrammed the security system only to attack hostiles, but the doors still won't open for anypony but us,"
