Unaware darkness turned to a hazy kind of half aware darkness as I came to. I was having problems putting together where I was and why. Slowly it came back to me in the darkness of my closed eyes.

The memory of what happened and that fleeting last thought of Jackie, the look of terror in her eyes, the tone of her scream. I think if I live to be a old man that scream is going to haunt me.

Well, okay Shane, you’re not dead; if you are, hell isn’t quite as hot as you were told.

As I thought about opening my eyes a noise, a voice, came to me. I dared not breath a noise or move as I listened and tried to put together what was going on.

“Faust knows, Ah dun looked at this book of Shane’s. Ah, well, Ah’m not sure if y’all can hear a pony or not, Ah just know I hear Shane talk to ya like you were standing right there so, I figure maybe you can hear me too.” It was Jackie’s voice, but, who was she talking to? “Ah got no clue about yer ways, heck, I ain’t even one of them fillies what follows Celestia like she was almighty.”

She had paused and then I felt something shift on the bed I was in. Going by the soft beeps from something to my left, I would guess a hospital.

“God, er, Gee-sus, er, whatever yer name is. Please, if y’all can hear this earth pony mare, bring him back ta me. Ah love him and it hurts me something powerful; the thought of not having him at my side. Please, ifn you understand, if yer as kind and lovin’ as this stallion here says, then please, Ah’d be mighty appreciative to ya. Just, would help him wake up so Ah can see him smile?”

I fought with all my heart to not just blurt out I was awake, but I dared not. I was raised christian, and even though I knew this pony was not one she was talking to the lord, and for me to interject in that would be borderline blasphemy. I may be angry with god sometimes, I may have not been a good christian, but I knew right and wrong and to chance the wrath of Him wasn’t on my list of dumb things to do.

“Well, Ah figure I should let ya go. Thank y’all fer yer time and fer listen’n.”

I heard her sigh and the weight on the bed shifted again. She must be leaning on it, since she isn’t laying on me. Daring to open my eyes quickly the light blinded me and I winced like the fool I am. As focus came, I looked down my body aside to see a warm, scared, loving pair of emerald green eyes looking right back at me.

I managed to speak first, despite the pain I was in. “Guess He was listening to you.”

“S-Shane are y-y-you…”

It killed me inside, to see her. Her eyes were bloodshot with bags under them. It was clear as day she had been crying and none of that ‘on the inside’ stuff. Her ears pinned and her hoof trembled as she reached out and touched my open hand; I closed it around her hoof.

The tears welled up and started to fall again as she climbed part ways onto the bed and clung to me suddenly. I grunted from the pain of being shifted around, glad I was laying on my back but I shifted to my left side, damn the pain. I slid my right arm gently around her and held her as close as I could.

I hushed her quietly while I stroked her mane and back. “It’s ok, ain’t nothing wrong now. it’s gonna to be okay, Jackie.”

Tears welled up in my own eyes and I was glad she couldn’t see them as I pressed my face into her mane and held her. God, what have I done to her? All this because my mouth and my pride. Shawna, what have I done?

I didn’t say a word, I just held her and shared her crying for what felt like hours.

I glanced at the scruffy unicorn stallion. There was a part of my brain that just was not willing to deal with who and what this was. “Excuse me? Your name is, what again?”

He rolled his eyes and continued to use his hoof edge and magic to lift the bandages off my hip. “Doctor House, and your name is the idiot who thought it would be a good idea to catch a lead ball with your body, right?”

I shut my eyes and muttered, “Sometimes, I hate this world.” AJ had been helped out of the room by the girls and told to stay out for a while, much to both our disagreement she was, indeed, not going to help the doc’s work.

Celestia asked, as she and the other princesses stood back towards the window to let the doctor do his work. “Why would you say that, Shane?” Her head tilted.

I flicked my eyes to Celestia, then back to the doctor inspecting my wound, and back to her again. I watched as her eyebrow lifted then she gave a shake of her head. I took note of the other three watching this exchange with a confused look.

“Later,” is all I grumbled before House finished and gave a grunt of his own as he wrapped me back up, tighter than before.

He smirked oh so slightly. “I think I’ll take my leave now before somepony decides to give me advice on how to treat this pin cushion.”

I watched as he limped out. “Don’t go catching any more metal in your or I’ll have to charge you extra for being a danger to yourself via lack of brain cells.

I exhaled long and slow to not shout or laugh when Twilight spoke up. “Okay, what was that about?”

I looked at them as I tugged up the blanket over me again. I wonder, is it a universal thing? Are all hospitals cold, have the most uncomfortable gowns in existence, and beds that are made to bring aches?

Cadence glanced at me, then back to her Twilight. “I suspect it has something to do with Shane and where he came from,” she looked at me, “right?”

I nodded. “You all remember me talking about how surprised I was so many things from my world are parallel this one? Well, Mr. Bedside Manner there is almost the spitting image of a human show character by the name of Gregory House; a very expert doctor with terrible people skills.”

Luna snorted. “Surely it is just coincidence. This, House you saw on the TV could not…”

I cut her off with a raised hand. “Right down to the limp and scruffy five o’clock shadow, and I am going to bet he has a painkiller addiction,” I stated, looking right at Celestia; who gave a nod in agreement of my statement.

I lay my head back onto the pillow and looked at the ceiling. “Like I said, sometimes, just sometimes, I hate this world.” I meant it ironically, but I don’t think they took it that way.

After a few seconds, all four walked closer. Twilight spoke softly, her right wing came out and touched my arm. “Shane, how are you feeling?”

I didn’t look at her face, I wasn’t quite ready for that yet. “How should I feel, Twi? I let my anger get the better of me, and because of it I’m lying here with a hole in my gut, and a pony is now laying on a slab in the morgue because I put him there.”

Again they were quiet, until heard a sniffle from Cadence. Luna spoke up next “Thou, ehem, you did what you had to do, Shane. Again, I point out to you as others have; if you didn’t care then the events would not bother you so. It speaks highly of your honor.”

A silence fell as we processed that comment.

“Shane?” Cadence said with an implication.

I shook my head. “He was going to kill me; I saw it in his eyes. There was no feeling there, just intent to murder me for whatever reason.”

Celestia stepped closer to look down at my face. “Will you talk with somepony now, Shane, please?” There was such a need in her eyes, a fear for me. Fear, perhaps, for my sanity. Might I even say my soul? I had seen that same look in Cort’s eyes when we spoke of certain things that troubled him.

I exhaled, but before I could answer, Twilight interjected. “If not for you, Shane, do it for Applejack and your future together. Please Shane. She, I’ve never seen her so…”

That made me look over to her, then nod my head. “I know Twi, I know. I heard it before I passed out.” I lay back. looking at the ceiling again. “It haunts me even now; then to find out you all had to sedate her to get her to calm down, the time she spent awake, crying by my side.”

“Shane, if you want,” Cadence hesitated, “I can have one of the counselors from the Crystal Empire come speak with you. They...” she paused before her tone dropped. “they know how to deal with such things, many in the Empire still remember the war they were forced to fight in, as it was still so recent.”

I was quiet, and they left me to my thoughts for a few minutes while they talked and watched me. I turned my head and looked right at Cadence, then gave a slight nod when she was looking. “Okay,” I said softly.

All four looked so relieved, and perhaps a tiny spot in me was too. It would be nice to get some of the weight off my chest. Just like when I admitted I had fallen in love with Jackie, perhaps this would be another step to accepting my past on earth and my future here.

“Shane, there is something else we must talk to you about.” I looked at Celestia just as a yawn escaped me.

I gave her a little nod, I was tired, but I really wanted to not sleep right now. “I got too much sleep as it is,” I tried to dismiss, even though we all knew I was full of it.

She gestured to Twilight, who spoke up. “Shane, you’re forty nine in human years, right? What you would call middle aged?”

I blinked and gave her a nod. “Yep.”

All four glanced at each other then back to me. “And, is it typical for somepony in their middle age to heal fast?”

I shook my head. “Nope. Actually, as we get older we heal slower.” Something was starting to nag at me in the back of my head.

She used her horn to gesture to my left shoulder. “Does it hurt still?”

I rolled my eyes and opened my mouth. “Well of c…” but, it didn’t hurt much at all.

That shouldn’t have been possible. I had taken a crossbow bolt to that shoulder less than two weeks ago. It should be sore and stiff, but it wasn’t. In fact, as I turned and tried to look, I noted it was not even bandaged up anymore. I could see out of the corner of my eye a good bit of healing flesh as a big ol’ scab, but it looked like it was well on its way to finishing its healing.

Turning back to look at them I frowned. “What’s going on? Did someone use that healing magic on me again, and it worked?”

She exhaled slowly and extended her wing to touch my arm. “No, and yes. Well, we just aren’t sure, Shane. As best as our scans can tell us, you,” she gestured to my chest, “have the metabolism and immune system of a young stallion. I would venture to say, perhaps, a twenty year old in your years. Going by my study with and about you, plus research of my own from what you’ve told me and what I’ve learned.”

I processed that and looked back at the purple dorkicorn. “How is it possible?”

Celestia joined the conversation. “Perhaps, with the massive infusion of magic when your arm was damaged,” using her wing to gesture to Cadence, “after the Timberwolf attack. Perhaps because you eat our food, breath our air, drink our water.”

Twi nodded fervently. “All that, or perhaps none of it. It could just the natural nature of magic on your body. Whatever the case, your body has, for lack of a better way to explain it, rewound.”

“So, I’ll live longer?”

Celestia nodded. “As best as we understand it; yes. It will take much more research to figure out, though, as nothing like this has happened before.”

“Because you’re not native to Equestria,” Twilight added quickly.

I shut my eyes and thought for a bit before speaking “How long?” They were silent, so I opened my eyes and looked at Twilight, who I knew would give me an answer and not play games like Trollestia would. “How long Twilight?” I asked again with a flutter of excitement in my heart.

She lowered her ears and sighed. “Without more data and until I can research you and the effects, I can’t be sure but...” she dragged the silence out until I was about to shout, “perhaps one hundred and fifty years old.”

I blinked a few times and mouthed that number to myself before speaking up. “I’m, only forty nine now.” She gave a nod. “Well, fuck me,” I grinned

All four of the alicorns winced at my words, well three of them did. One particular pink princess took that moment to show her nature and muttered, “I think that is Applejack’s duty.” She earned a wing slap to the back of the head by Celestia, a gasp from Twilight, and a choking laugh from Luna.

I, myself, was blushing too hard to laugh after what she’d said, despite the moment being rather funny. I managed to cough a few times and wince at the pain that sent through my side.

After a few seconds for us all to calm down, I smiled at them. “Ok, so that just happened. Let’s not do that again, alright?”

Luna was still working to keep the laughter choked down. Poor Twilight had that frozen look and a few strands of her mane were sticking out.

Cadence and Celestia were both just grinning. Trolls, the both of them. Trolls.

“So, when can I go home and get back to work?”

That made Luna snort a laugh out. “Back to work? Back to work?! Shane McDonald, you were just gravely wounded, and you wonder when you can go back to work?”

I gave her a nod as the other three looked at me like I had grown a second nose. “Uh, yeah. I got things to do, investigations to work, patrols-”

I got cut off by Celestia’s snort. “Shane McDonald, until a time when the doctors clear you for active duty, you will remain on leave. When you return home you are to remain off duty, save for paperwork.”

I grumbled under my breath.

“I’m sorry, what did you say?” a tone that brooked both no question she was in ‘I am your superior officer’, and ‘listen to your elder.’

I shook my head. “Nothing, ma’am. Yes, ma’am,” I sighed, “Thank you for at least letting me ride a desk.”

She shook her head. “You are also going to be spending a lot of time with Twilight, converting music for our project.”

The dorkanator started to clap her hooves together with a big smile. That made me chuckle and smile. “Yeah, yeah, okay.”

AJ had stayed another night, sleeping in the room with me,next to me in bed, in fact; despite the arguments of the staff. In the morning she had left to get back to the farm to get our place ready. I found it hard to let her go, but I knew she had to.

We had talked quite a bit, and cried a little bit, not that I would admit that to anyone else. In the end, I promised her I would work on controlling my pride and temper. Truth of it is; I never wanted to see that look in her eyes again, hear that sob of anguish, or cause her pain again as long as we lived.

Twilight came that afternoon and had my strongbox brought to my room. In between naps that I really disliked, I helped set up groups of forty songs in a row for her to listen to and convert.

Because she couldn’t use the tablet, nor wear my ear buds, we set it up so she could hear the music playing on the built in speakers. In turn her spell picked up the music and, as she explained it, stored that in the crystals attached to a odd looking contraption she had with her that was what I guessed to be like a tape recorder.

So that’s how it went for two days .I woke from a nap on day three to a voice. I opened my eyes and looked around. The sunlight streaming into the room told me it was still midday, perhaps close to lunch time.

Twilight was laying in that weird position I call ponyloaf with her horn lit up and head bobbing she was whispering. Her voice quiet, but sure as heck she was singing along with a song. One that I almost instantly went pale at hearing, having forgotten that I had some older rap songs among the myriad of music I kept.

Going on how with the tune she was speaking, I would have to guess she had listened to the song a few times now. It looked to be playing not from the tablet, but from the crystal machine thing. “Yo, his palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy. There's vomit on his sweater already, mom's spaghetti. He's nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and ready…”

I couldn’t help it, I started to give a light chuckle that made her snap her mouth shut. She turned and looked at me, a bright purple lighting up in her cheeks as she blushed. “S-shane, how long have you been listening?”

I grinned and winced as I turned aside so I could look at her better. “Oh, just long enough. I must say that isn’t the song I ever expected you to like.”

She rose to her hooves and walked over to me. “It’s a really fun song, has a good beat, and the words; if you really listen, it’s a deep story.” I gave her a nod as she continued. “How are you feeling?”

I exhaled loudly. “Sore, tired of being tired, bored,” I paused, then said in a softer tone, “I miss Jackie, a lot.”

That made her smile bright and she put her hoof on my leg. “I really am glad you two found each other.” she paused and looked more serious at me. “Also, I’m glad you are going to talk to somepony, Shane. I know it isn’t your way, I know it isn’t Applejack’s way. However I-”

I poked her on the nose stopping her speech and made her go crosseyed. She hoofed at her nose and scowled at me.

“Twi, I’m doing it for her just as much as for myself,” I sighed and rolled onto my back. “The Lord knows I’ve carried this weight for far too long. Now it’s hurt someone,” my head turned quickly and I glared at her. “No.”

She just smirked. “Somepony,” she said cockily.

Shaking my head, I went back to it. “It’s hurt a person that, well, that I love.”

I watched her yawn. “I think I am going to take a break. The tablet needs to be charged up,” she turned and levitated the wood container it sat inside to the cord coming from the small battery pack resting in the window sil, charging up from the small solar panel. She plugged it in and made sure it was charging before she levitated it to the table near the window.

“You know, that works out pretty well,” she said, “I have to exert a little more effort to lift the tray, but at least I can move things from your world on my own this way.”

I gave her a smile. “On the way out, could you let one of the nurses know I am a bit hungry?”

I got a nod from her and then a nuzzle to my arm before she trotted out and I was left alone to my thoughts and a grumbling stomach.