Pain. All I could feel was pain as I was drifting in and out of consciousness for who knows how long. Between the brief moments of awareness, I could hear some of the conversations going on around me for several minutes at a time.

During the first period of consciousness, the voices were distorted, like I was in an echo chamber. But I was able to understand what was happening.

"Male Unicorn, with first-degree burns to the torso, second-degree burns to the right and left forearm, upper left and right legs, and third-degree burns to the hands. His forearms appear to be broken and his breathing is shallow. The patient is also showing symptoms of severe magical overload and a cracked horn."

"What else do we know of this patient nurse?"

"His name is Moonshadow Flash, half-thestral, and one of the leading experts in the field of Transmutation. He was brought here by Princess Celestia and his student named Sunset Shimmer. According to the report that Miss Shimmer gave us, he has used his knowledge to rework the chemical make up of his skeletal structure to make them lighter and stronger."

"Any idea what caused these injuries nurse?"

"No Doctor, when I asked all Miss Shimmer did was glare at Princess Celestia."

"Nurse I need you to find out exactly what caused this if we are to safely remove the excess magic from his system. When you find out, get to OR 2 as fast as you can."

I blacked out after I heard two doors slam open. The next time I gained consciousness must have been after surgery, as my whole body was in pain, but it was a dull pain. That dull kind of pain that you get when on very powerful painkillers.

"...even after severe damage to his nervous system, we do expect for Mr. Flash to make a full recovery, in time. We are currently waiting for the anesthetic to wear off, and then we will put him in a medically induced coma for a few weeks while we wait for his skin to heal more. Until the anesthetic completely wears off, we expect him to be drifting in and out for some time."

"What about his magic? Did the fracture to his horn, or the magical overload cause any permanent damage?" Was that Sunset? It sounded like Sunset.

"From what we can tell, no. He will lose some fine magic control while the fracture heals, but it shouldn't be any more than two months before the fracture is fully healed. He is quite lucky actually. if the fracture was two centimeters to the left, it would have hit the main mana conduit. In which case, he might have lost the ability to use magic altogether. Now normally, the chances for that would be extremely low, but due to the magical overload, if he had a surge it would have been about 50/50 if he lost it forever."

"Is... is it ok if I stay in his room until he wakes up?" That had to be Sunset...

"At this time, no. However, once we have put him into the coma then you may."

That was the last thing I clearly heard before I passed out again.

When I woke up, my whole body was sore and ached like hell. Opening my eyes, I was in a hospital recovery room, directly in front of me on the other side of the room was a window where I could see that it was dark outside. To the left of me was a sliding glass door that went out to the hall, and to my right lying down on a couch with a blanket over her was Sunset. Her hair was messy and there was a bit of mascara running down her face. It looked like she had possibly cried herself to sleep. Sitting on a table next to the couch, was a 'Get Well Soon' basket and a giant card. And at the back of the room was a closed door with a bathroom sign on it. Looking down at myself, I saw that my arms, hands, and torso were wrapped in bandages and an IV to my right leg. I guess they were having difficulties finding a vein in my arm.

I try to sit up but made the mistake of using my arms to try and lift myself up. As soon as I tried to push myself up, I immediately had pain shoot through both of my arms. I suck in air and grit my teeth to the pain. That is a mistake that I don't want to repeat. So I just give up trying to sit up and concede to the fact that I will need someone else to help me up for the time being.

Lying down on the hospital bed, I think of everything that had happened that put me here. If I had done things differently, would I have still ended up here? Have I made the most of this new life? How close was I do dying again? And if I did die, the next time I am reincarnated, would I still retain the memories of past lives? Or would they go and fix it so I once again can't remember anything of my old lives? Would I return to Earth, or would I stay here on Equis? And what kind of legacy would I be leaving behind if I did die? Would I leave this world better off? And what kind of impact would my death have on Sunset? Just seeing the trails of mascara running down her face as she sleeps makes my heart ache. It makes me want to make sure she doesn't experience something like this again. She has been close to me for years now, loyal, willing to learn, and by far one of the nicest pony I have had the pleasure of knowing.

I lie there on the hospital bed, those last three thoughts running through my mind several times. The more I think on it, stronger a feeling I have felt many times before gets. I think... I think I love her. But... does she love me. And if she does... how do I go about telling her about the past lives I have lived, if I tell her at all. I know that she can keep a secret, but how will she react to learning that I have memories of nine different lifetimes not including the ones I have made here. Locked in this head of mine is enough knowledge to rival even the most learned of scholars. And knowledge of terrible things, things that I do not feel this world is ready for. Crimes that my past lives have commented, inventions I helped to make that caused the death of millions. How would she react to learning that one of my past lives, my life as the German Chemist Gerhard Schrader, discoverer of Tabun, Sarin, Soman, and Cyclosarin? I think she would be horrified and disgusted knowing what I had made. She would probably reject me outright, asking herself how could she love a monster who created such horrible weapons of war.

I was lying there for hours on end just thinking of everything that could go wrong if I were to tell her. As I never thought that I would reveal this secret so soon. I figured that I would leave it in a journal to let somepony discover in the future after I had died. During this time while I was thinking I must have entered a meditative state as when I next opened my eyes, I could see the sun had risen outside of the window. Turning my head to the right I noticed that Sunset wasn't lying on the couch anymore, instead, I heard water running from what I can only assume to be the bathroom. I am guessing that she was either washing her face or taking a full shower. Considering how she looked last night, I am not surprised she would want to get cleaned up after seeing her face in the mirror.

Sunset is going to come out soon. Even with all the time I have had to think this over, I don't think I am ready to tell her about my past just yet. In time I will, I mean I am only 28 and she is 26, I have at least another 120 years to do so, if not more to find the right moment to tell her. But the fact that I love her... I should make the moment memorable when I tell her. A nice dinner, a romantic spot, the works. God this never gets easier no matter how many times I have experienced it before.

I hear the water turn off, and hooves walking on tile through the wall. She should be out quite soon. Having lived with Sunset for a long time, I know it takes her about 13 minutes from the time she finishes showering to exit the bathroom. It is just of those things that I have noticed having lived with her for 7 years. Just like how she likes orange juice with her eggs on Mondays, and apple juice on Tuesdays.

13 minutes later, and I see Sunset walk out of the bathroom, her hair still damp and clinging to the side of her head. She closes the door and looks over towards me. Her eyes go wide as she sees me staring back at her.

"Hello there." I say

"You're... YOU'RE AWAKE!" She yells as she rushes over to hug me. As she grips me, pain surges through my body.

"I thought I lost you forever, when I saw you at the castle... I thought... I thought you died." She says griping me even harder.

"Too hard, Sunset. Too hard." I say though grit teeth.

Realizing exactly what she was doing she released me from her death grip and the pain started to fade. "I... I am so sorry. I didn't hurt you did I?" She asks

"Nothing painkillers won't fix." I say to her, mentally I am screaming every curse word I know.

"I am sorry that I did that. It's just... I have been so worried about you over the last month and a half. When I saw you... When I saw you on the ground your skin burnt and your horn cracked, It took me a moment to process what I was seeing. Before... Before I lost it." She said with tears in her eyes.

"Lost it? What do you mean lost it?" I asked. I didn't get a response from her. Instead, she just looked down at the ground. "Sunset, look at me. No matter what you did, I won't hold it against you. a near-death experience is just as hard on people close to somepony as it is for the pony it happened to. Now please tell me, what happened."

She lifted her head up, and I could see tears welling up in her eyes. "Well... I may have in a fit of anger, tried to kill the others that we were with. You know, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Twilight."

Shaking my head in surprise, "What do you mean by tried to kill them?" I ask

"I may have fired on them repeatedly with the tank." She said while looking increasingly more embarrassed.

"How many times did you fire on them? And are they alive?" I asked worried that I might have to pull many favors to keep Sunset out of jail should one of them be dead.

"Well... I think I fired on them 29 times. And to my knowledge, they are all fine at least physically. At least the last time I checked a few weeks ago." She said

I sighed internally knowing that I would not have to worry about Sunset ending up in jail. "So... two things. One what exactly did they do to not get hit? Especially the high explosive shells. And two, what stopped you from firing the last shell?"

"Well, the first 7 shots broke down the walls between us and where the tank was, then I used magic to drive the tank through the broken wall. Then the first real shot I took at them missed, causing them to scatter and hide behind other walls and pillars. I used a majority of the shells firing at them behind cover. Until I had them in one place, wherein desperation, Twilight put up a shield spell, and then I think I fired 5 of the High Explosive Shells at the shield until it failed. And if I am honest, I had a shell loaded and aimed at them, and I think I would have shot them. But before I could, Princess Celestia teleported in and threw the tank out of the castle with her magic."

"Wait... she threw the tank out of the castle with magic? Like through the hole in the wall, you drove it though?" I asked

"No... she threw it straight up through the roof and I think it landed somewhere in the forest."

"Huh... I guess even out Crytal-Infused Titanium-Steel alloy can't withstand alicorn levels of magic. Good to know. Anyways, what happened next?"

"Well, after Princess Celestia showed up and threw the tank out of the Castle, she cast some kind of spell on me to calm me down. After which she asked me and the others exactly what happened. She rushed over to where you and Princess Luna were lying on the ground unconscious."

"Princess Luna? Who is that?" I asked surprised to hear about another princess

"Oh, remember Nightmare Moon?" She asks, to which I nod, "Well, it turns out it was Princess Luna who in Princess Celestia's words, 'May have been possessed by an evil entity. Or may have been a personality in Luna all along who slowly corrupted Luna.' To be honest, I don't think Princess Celestia entirely knows what Nightmare Moon was. But what I can tell you is that after the Elements of Harmony hit her, it either stripped Nightmare Moon from her or suppressed it again. So now we have Princess Luna. Who turns out to be Princess Celestia's sister, and like how Princess Celestia controls the Sun, she Controls the Moon and Dreams."

"OK... so, how did I end up here, and what happened to Princess Luna?" I asked

"Well, when Princess Celestia rushed over to where you and her sister were, she saw your condition and immediately started casting spells on you. When I asked her what she was doing, she said she was making sure that you were still alive, and making sure you were stable enough to teleport. While she was making sure you were still alive, Princess Luna woke up, she got up, exclaimed how much she missed her, and was about to hug her sister when she saw you on the ground. It took her a moment, but she realized what had happened. She broke down in tears realizing that there was one last victim of her being Nightmare Moon. After a few minutes of Celestia casting spells on you, she told me that she was about to teleport You, her, and myself to Canterlot Hospital. And told Twilight to take Princess Luna to Canterlot Castle. Then we ended up here." She said recounting what happened.

"Huh, so that is where we are. I honestly couldn't tell where we were, from my current position in comparison to the window I couldn't tell which hospital I was in. Speaking of which, I was conscious twice before this but only briefly, so I know generally my prognosis. But do you know how my recovery is coming along Sunset?"

"Well, the doctors said that you would likely never have full feeling back in your hands, and the skin on your arms would probably be permanently discolored, and you might not regrow fur in those areas either." She said

"What about my magic, I heard that my horn was cracked and I was suffering from magic overload during my first period of consciousness."

"Well your horn is fully healed thankfully, and it looks like your mana system is fine as well. The doctors said the only way to tell exactly if your magic will be fine is to actually cast a spell, under supervision of course." She said

"Well alright then. Can you help me sit up, please? I tried to earlier, but the pain was too much." I ask

"Of course." She said pressing a button on the side of the bed slowly putting me into an upright position.

"Thank you Sunset. Now I have to ask, how are you doing exactly Sunset? I saw you earlier, with mascara running down your face. And please, tell me exactly how you feel."

Sunset took a moment to respond as if she was asking herself something internally, "Well... when I saw you on the ground, burns on your arms and your horn cracked, and I thought you were dead. I felt... I felt like my heart was breaking. Like I lost something irreplaceable, something that I didn't realize I valued so much. It hurt... and made me so angry. Angrier than I have ever been. Even when Princess Celestia cast that calming spell on me, it still hurt, but I didn't feel like destroying the other anymore, I felt sad and worried. But when Celestia said she was teleporting us to the hospital, I felt relieved and hopeful. The best way to describe it was like learning that something you broke could be fixed. However, after the doctors took you away, and Princess Celestia and I were alone, the calming spell wore off, and all that anger returned. And I punched the Princess."

I snorted when she said that, "You punched Celestia? Tell me, two things, where did you punch her, and how did it feel?" I asked stifling a giggle

"It's not that funny. And if you have to know, I punched her in the face. And to be honest, it felt kind of good. I wasn't as angry after that. And before you ask, I'm not in trouble for that, though I should be if it wasn't for the fact that Celestia used mind magic to suppress my emotions. After punching her, she explained that the spell would suppress a pony's most prominent emotions but once the spell ends would come back twice as strong as before. And that she had me alone in a room with her on purpose."

"Well, I am glad you are both safe, and hopefully feeling better." I said smiling at her

"Well, if I am honest, there is one other thing I want to say to you, I just don't really know how to say it." Sunset said rubbing one of her arms and blushing

"Oh? Why don't you just come out and say it." I say with a smile on my face

"Well... over the course of the three weeks you were in a coma, I had a lot of time to think, and... and I think... I think I am in love with you." She said with a heavy blush on her face.

I did not expect her to say that. And it took a moment for me to process what she just said. There go any plans I started to develop to confess to her. Taking a deep breath, and letting it out slowly I collected my self and replied with four words, "I love you too." And knowing exactly how much pain this could cause, I put my right arm around her back, pulled her in, and kissed her. As we kissed, time seemed to stop, we let our passions take over. As my tongue passed her lips, I tasted the inside of her mouth, and to my surprise, she tasted like orange sherbert. After seveal minutes we broke the kiss, my mind was still processing what I just did, and was holding the pain I should be feeling at bay like the Spartans holding back the Persians at Thermopylae. And at that moment, all I could say was, "You taste like orange sherbert."

To which Sunset replied, "And you taste like Blackberried." After which we both laughed for a good minute before the pain finally hit me. To which I grit my teeth and fail to hold back a tear that eventually runs down my face, "The pain was totally worth it."

"Oh, you must be in incredible pain after doing that." She said suddenly realizing exactly what I did

"You have no idea. Can you go get a doctor to either give me more painkillers or supervise me while I cast a modified version of the restoration spell we developed to reverse the changes to our bones in case of rejection? I think I can use the base form that the spell uses to repair the damage done to my nerves system, muscles, skin, and possibly restore my fur in those areas as well."

"Really? I'll go ask the nurse to bring him here." She said as she rushed out of the room.

As she leaves, in my mind I visualize the restoration spell and change the target of the spell to the skin, fur, muscles, and the nervous system. And just to be safe, also make four other modified versions, with each one only targeting one of the four areas that were damaged. I go over the spell several times to make sure that it was stable, and I think that it will work. But if the doctor lets me cast the spells, I will start with my chest first, since it was the least damaged. After several minutes, Sunset returns with what I can only assume to be my doctor and a nurse. The doctor was a male crimson unicorn with a grey hair with blue eyes, wearing a brown button-down shirt, and a white doctors coat, while the nurse was a female pink unicorn with white hair, and lavender eyes wearing blue scrubs.

"Hello there Mr. Flash, it is good to finally see you awake, I am Doctor Crimson Heart, and this is Nurse Soothing Touch." Doctor Crimson Heart said with a thick Irish accent

"Hello!" Nurse Soothing Touch said in a bubbly voice.

"Now Miss Shimmer here says that you would like to cast a spell? What kind of spell were you thinking of?" Dr. Crimson Heart asked

"Well, I have a spell that was originally designed to restore my skeleton back to bone should my body have gone into rejection. But the way it works is that it has a template of my body in an undamaged state and I want to use a modified version of it that in theory can restore the parts of my body that have been damaged. Ideally, I will cast it as one spell, but should it prove unstable, I have four back up spells that focus on one damaged area at a time." I said explaining what I wanted to do

"I see, well... I would recommend that you let your body heal naturally, but if your spell does work, provided you are supervised by us, I think I can grant your request so long as we get a confirmation that this is your own spell and if your condition worsens as a result of the spell, you can in no way sue this hospital." Doctor Crimson says

"I understand completely, however, while the spell can work without seeing the damaged area, I would like to be able to see it as I am casting the spell." I say

"I think we can do that. Nurse Heart, can you please remove the bandages from Mr. Flash." Dr. Crimson asks

"Can do." Nurse Soothing Heart said as she walked over to me, "Now as I remove the bandages, you might feel a bit of pain. But please try not to move."

"I'll try," I said while I watched her grab a pair of scissors and started cutting the bandages on my chest first. As she cut away the bandages on my chest, I could see that the area that was burned wasn't too bad, some discolored skin and missing fur, and looked like it could be healed quickly with the modified spell. The arms and legs were worse as even after weeks of healing, there were still some remaining blisters and bright red skin on in these areas. But my hands were the absolute worst even after weeks of healing, they were there was skin missing, and some bits of muscle exposed, and it looked like burnt Christmas turkey. I saw Sunset recoil visibly as she saw the state of my hands. And even I visibly disturbed at how my hands looked. "Didn't think they were that bad," I said

"Oh, believe me, they have healed quite well so far." Doctor Crimson said, "So, what area are you going to try your spell on first?" He asked

"Well, I think I will try the combined spell first on my torso considering it is the least damaged," I said as I started to cast the combined spell on my torso. As I began casting, I could feel my skin on my torso start to itch as the skin healed and fur started to grow back. As I was casting the spell, I felt that that the spell was a bit wobbly, so I was adjusting the spell as I cast it until it felt stable. After 2 minutes, of casting the spell and it pulling the necessary elements out of the surrounding environment, my chest looked like it was back to normal.

"Well I'll be damned, it looks like it worked. What part are you going to do next?" Doctor Crimson asked

"I want to do my arms and legs next, but I'll need some things before I can do so. Sunset, can you and the Nurse Heart get 7 pounds of the following items, Water, ammonia, baking powder, coal, and 3 pounds of bananas, salt, magnesium, and sulfur. I'll need them to finish allow the spell to replace and regenerate what has been damaged."

"Can do!" Both Sunset and Nurse Heart said as they left the room.

"I'll be outside doing some paperwork. I'll be back once they return." Doctor Crimson said

20 minutes later, both Sunset and Nurse Heart are back with the requested items.

"You will not believe how hard it is to find 3 pounds of bananas this early in the morning," Sunset said placing the bananas, salt, magnesium, and sulfur on the table next to me.

"It was actually quite easy to find my items, though I did get some weird looks when I asked for 7 pounds of them." Nurse Heart said placing a gallon of water, and ammonia on the table, followed by several boxes of baking powder and a crate of coal.

"Than you both very much. If all goes well, then after I cast this spell several times I should be as good as new." I said as Doctor Crimson walks back into the room.

"Ah, I see they have returned. Are you ready to finish your spells?" He asked

"Yes, doctor. I'll start now." Now I know I won't use every pound of what they brought me, but I would rather be safe than sorry. Starting the process again, I cast the modified spell on my left leg and watch as streams of the required materials flow in streams from the table to my left leg as it replaces what was lost. The itching was worse than before, but after four minutes, my leg looked good as new. Satisfied, I move over to my right leg and cast the spell again, and just like before it took about 4 minutes. Moving onto my upper arms, I repeated the process I did with my legs, and after 8 minutes they also looked good as new, now all that was left were my hands, and this would be the most tricky of all of them.

"Ok, everything else is looking good, now here comes the difficult part. I am going to let you all know, that instead of trying to heal it all at once, I will have it go from a Third-degree burn to a second-degree burn, to a first-degree burn, then fully heal it from there." I said as I started the slow process.

Starting with my left hand, I watch as the crispy parts of my hand turn red as skin cells are revived and blood is restored to the area, at the same time, the nerves in the area come back to life and it hurts like a motherfucker. I then transition it to a first-degree burn and the pain starts to fade, finally, I turn the first-degree burn back to normal. The whole process took around half an hour and I was starting to sweat at this point. I then move onto my right hand and repeat the process. Finally, after another half hour, both my hands look and feel like before they were burned, however, I was sweating heavily and was out of breath. Doctor Crimson had left at this point, and only Sunset and Nurse Heart were left in the room.

"Ok, I am done. I should be as good as new. Hopefully. Sunset, can you help me out of bed please." I ask

"Oh no Mr. Flash, as your nurse, I will help you out of bed." Nurse Heart said as she rushed over to my bedside.

Sighing, I allow her to help me out of bed. It took me a good 10 minutes before I was standing and walking on my own, but aside from some itching and dull pain, I felt as good as new.

"Well Nurse Heart, if I am good to go, I would like to get out of the hospital today. I have a few choice words I want to say to a certain princess."

"I'll go get Doctor Crimson to see if he will approve your discharge, so wait here while I go start the process." Nurse Heart said as she left the room.

"It will be good to be out of here. Oh, Sunset."

"Yes?"

"Thanks for staying here with me," I said as I hugged her and planted another kiss on her lips.

After breaking the kiss, she said, "I don't think I will ever get used to that."

"Me neither. Now... where are my clothes?"

Author's Note

Sorry for the long wait. Finals, moving, and getting sick as well as several rewrites delayed the publication.