A shuffle at the door was the last thing I remembered….
White… Nothing but white… Nothing hurt… I couldn’t move… Couldn’t feel my wounds… I had to be dead… At least I could be happy here, wherever I was… I had died protecting the ones I cared about… the ones I loved… And best of all: I got to see Jinx one last ti-
As sudden bolt of electricity shot through me, causing my arms to flail outward and my back to arch. A sudden rush of oxygen filled my lungs with a loud gasp.

“He’s alive!” Nurse Red Heart declared, tossing the de-fib unit off to the side and shoved a tongue suppressor in my mouth to keep my from swallowing it. After the initial spasms died down, I gripped the sidebars of the hospital bed and sat up. The kindly nurse removed the oversized pop-cicle stick from my mouth and tossed it in the bin.

“Where is everypony!?” I demanded.

“We’re all right here.” Jinx’s voice sounded on the other side of me.
I turned quickly and went to dive for her, but instead merely flopped onto the floor face first…. Ow…

“You shouldn’t try to move around too much. Your body is incredibly low on blood…” Nurse Red Heart explained as she scooped me from the floor and back into bed.

“Yes ma’am.” I replied, my gaze not wavering from the five women that stood near my window.

“You were convulsing when I found you,” Jinx explained. “You really should have brought me with you. You almost died, Sebastian!”
She was obviously miffed at having me leave her behind to go fight… If there was one thing that kitten hated more than being bored, it was being left behind…

“What? You honestly think I’d let you get here a day late and let you in on all the post-birthday fun? No way!” I teased.
Her golden eyes set in that serious manner that only she had. She was genuinely upset… It became obvious that she was upset for reasons beyond just being uninformed…

“Sebastian,” she began, stepping toward me and planting a hand on my cheek. “We’ve known each other for a long time. In that time, I’ve seen you do things that no other living being has ever done. I’ve seen you at your best, I’ve seen you at your worst… You go through everything alone, Sebastian. You aren’t fireproof… And yet you charge through Hell whenever something happens… You’re going to get burned if you keep doing it on your own… You have people that are capable and willing to help you… Just let us.”
Her words sliced right through me… She was right… But…

“Jinx… You’re right… I have people that care about me… That’s exactly why I go it alone… To keep them safe. To keep you safe.”
Jinx sighed, probably recalling the countless arguments just like this one. Instead of perusing the subject further, she instead smiled and patted my shoulder.

“You’ll be let out by tomorrow morning.” she assured me.
My gaze moved to the worried-eyed mares that stood behind the Bombay.
Only four of the best people to ever happen to me remained… Rainbow Dash stood to the far right, an uncharacteristic frown dragging on her features… To her left stood Twilight Sparkle… The youthful, lavender sheen of her coat seemed dulled somehow… Apple Jack also wore a frown… Worst of all, Flutter Shy was silently shedding tears over the sight she was beholding… This made me look myself over. A large length of bandage gauze was stretched over my abdomen where The Seamstress had run me through. Several stitches were trailing out from beneath it. Sterile thread always seemed really thick and particularly inky... Not a pleasant effect… A pad had been taped to my cheek where it’d been sliced all the way through. This too had thick stitches trailing up, stopping just beneath my eye. The brand was the most obvious of all, however… An enormous, valentine-shaped burn that took up a great deal of my chest… It began right between my pectorals and arced outward and down, coming together just above my naval… I was seared… Badly… I’d need skin grafts to repair it… I made a mental note to request some after recovering. My gaze drifted back to them, studying each face, each feature very intently. I never wanted to see them like that again. Ever… I smiled at them.

“C’mon, guys! This is nothing! C’mere!” I waved them over and opened my arms. One by one, they all gathered about, Jinx included, in a mass group hug. I gave particular attention to Flutter Shy, wiping her tears away with a swipe of my finger.

“Just smile… I’ll be okay, really…” I cooed into her ear. It worked, it seemed, for when they all drew back, the yellow-coated mare was beet red in the face.
Visiting hours ended… It was time for sleep…