"Max........that's not funny and I already scorned her for it" he said before hugging max again Jay was still crying Ace then let go of max and moved over to jay and put his hooves around her "Shhh shhhh" he cooed "It's ok jay, it's ok, it's over, we're all ok" he contined like this for a little bit longer
"It's never over..." Max muttered quietly to herself, slowly getting off the examination table. She looked over at Ace comforting Jay and smiled in a slightly strange way, before going to join them. "I love you both," She murmured, hugging them, ignoring the ghostly shadows of ponies that lurked at the corners of her vision.
Ace sighed and held her now too "Max......I how you don't mind.....but i checked out the vault a bit while you were passed out" he told her "I haven't found the talisman yet but I looted a few of the rooms for useful stuff
Max winced a bit at that; looted? First she'd killed these ponies, and now she'd returned to rob them too? She shook her head slightly and sighed. "Don't worry; I'm sure you'll find it eventually." She said, quietly. She gently freed herself from the embrace, and looked towards the door at the back of the clinic that led to her room. "I think I need to rest..." She added, not taking her eyes off the door.
"Max.....if your having trouble here you and jay can go to the enterance" he told her as he picked up his sword and put it back "Maybe jay can organize the loot"
"No... we need to stay here until morning," Max said, looking back at him slowly. "You should get some rest too; you'll need your strength for the journey back." With that, she trotted over to the door, and headed into her room.
Ace frowned He didn't need to rest And apperently she didn't know how long she was out Jay held onto ace as he brought them to her room
Max was standing by her desk, looking at her small bookshelf. She picked out a book, and gave it to Jay. "Here, I want you to have this; it's my medical textbook from when I was a young mare learning medicine. I'm sure you will find it helpful." The book was well read, and filled with all kinds of hoofwritten notes; helpful tips, and special recipes.
Jay took it and nodded She wasn't speeking so she wouldn't start crying again Ace smiled at the gift max gave jay and stood there, holding the shaking mare
Max smiled a little again as she looked at the two of them together, then climbed into her bed to rest.
Ace led jay to the bed and laid down with the both of them as jay began to sleep inbetween him and max
Max closed her eyes and pretended to sleep as she thought. When they'd first arrived at the Stable, she'd thought returning was a mistake, but now that she was here, with the ghosts of her past, she realised the real mistake was leaving in the first place. Once she felt sure Jay and Ace were asleep, she carefully crawled out of the bed, and left the room, taking something from her bags before wandering off down the Stable's familiar corridors...
She walked slowly, visiting all the places she'd spent most of her life on her way to her final destination. She walked past the school rooms; remembering the years spent studying and playing with the other fillies and colts; remembering the look on her teacher's face as she sedated her for her trip to the chamber... She passed the canteen; remembering the time the kindly mare in the kitchens who'd always saved her a slice of cake, and sharing a milkshake with her first marefriend; she remembered how she stood by as they too were selected to make the sacrifice, and a tear ran down her cheek. Finally, she reached the Overmare's office, and the bodies of the four others who had finally confronted the Stable's maneframe, and been named by it as 'heroes'. She sat down next to them, their bodies kept from decomposing by the Stable's air filtration system, and looked at the 10mm pistol she'd taken from her bag, cradling it in her hooves...
Max looked at the gun for a moment longer, then sighed, and racked the slide like Ace had showed her, loading a round into the chamber. It felt heavy and cold as she lifted it and pressed it to her temple. Another tear rolled down her cheek as she pulled the trigger. *CLICK!* Max let out the breath she hadn't realised she was holding, and opened her eyes, floating the jammed pistol in front of her and looking at it miserably. A dud cartridge...
Ace had this strange sixth sence wake him up He didn't know why and was about to go back to sleep when he saw max was missing Ace then quietly got up and started to look for her
Max sighed, and tried to rack the slide again, but it was stuck. She removed the magazine, and began stripping the pistol, thinking back to when she'd watched Ace do it, and trying to remember the steps. "I tried to be a good pony," She said quietly to the bodies around her as she worked, feeling they were the only ones who could understand, "I tried to help ponies, and I suppose on some level I did; but since I've left, many more ponies have died as the results of my actions, and even the ponies close to me have suffered from it." She got the slide free from the frame, and started trying to get the misfired round out of the chamber. "Coming here has just made that more clear; Jay almost died in the chamber I sent so many other ponies to die in, and I'm not foolish enough to think that simple coincidence..." The round fell to the floor, and Max started reassembling the gun. "No... I'm cursed for the things I've done, but that's okay; I deserve to be." She stopped a moment, and looked sadly at her deceased companions. "I don't want to leave Jay, but she'll be better off without me, and Ace will look after her, probably better than I ever could." The gun was back in one piece, and functioning smoothly, so she slid the magazine back in, racked it, and fired it at the desk, just to be sure. The gun snapped and roared, cycling clean and crisp as the bullet buried itself deep in the wood. Nodding slowly, Max raised it to her head once more, and closed her eyes...
The gun was ripped from her telekinetic grasp by a stronger one It then exploded into parts as it disemsembled itself and was thrown agenst the wall Ace was standing in the doorway, his face red with anger and his eyes flowing with tears
Max opened her eyes in shock, then looked back and saw Ace. "Why...?" She whispered, tears forming in her own eyes.
