(Opening his eyes) Maya, why is there a statue of a, ahem, toaster in the middle of the bar? And I think that's enough of that. (Pulls the slide from the projector but not before an image of his best friend's tragic, near demise, flashed on the projection, before vanishing as the slide is removed.)
Maya shrugged. "Ignore it. And... I'm pretty sorry you saw all that blood. But I saw stuff like that, too. If you ever need to talk about it..."
I didn't just see blood. I saw my friends' souls resurrected by necromancy, and I was forced to kill them again. The necromancers still shriek from what I did to them. Even with all their unholy power, they weren't able to stop me. Energy and life force was pouring from me in such quantities that if it were to be harnessed, you could power Equestria on just that, for over 30,000 odd years. They shrieked when they saw that I refused to die, no matter what they threw at me, and they have yet to stop screaming in fear. (By now, trembling at the memory of having to kill his own friends)
"I don't have the screaming... but I have some memories." She frowned. "My mom killed by my hooves, family home burned to the ground, over a hundred thousand ponies I've had to drop, so many friends passed on, my real name lost in time, two failed pregnancies in the last fifty years, thirty years fighting Az and his soldiers... what happened... I know my way around hellish situations, dude. You can believe that. We have more in common than you might think."
"Not if it'll be a lotta work. I know Maya's my first name. And I like Heartstrings. I know it's crazy common, but I like that. It makes me feel like I can just settle and be a pony."
"Hi Arch. Didnt even realise you were here. How are you in the bar? I thought your boss, friends, whatever didnt want you here?"
"Cool." Saber reached in her mane, and pulled out an empty cage. "Oh thats right, I let him out when I put him in there..." Saber whistled a little bit. Soon after, a pheonix poked its head out.
