The words were a gong calling her back from that infinite emptiness. A boom in the great beyond, that place between places. It shook her entire essence, and for a moment Twilight could recall a faint memory of what she once was. Of what she still was. And that memory spoke to her.
She was still needed.
"Arise, my champion!"
Life surged through her once more. Consciousness returned with a vigor. The heart thumped, the blood pumped, the limbs obeyed.
And feeling... it raced through her once more in a tide. Agony burned through her like a scorching brand of steel, scalding every inch of her blood-soaked coat. Bones cracked back into place; teeth realigned themselves in her jaw, her crushed bones pieced themselves together like a jigsaw puzzle. Punctured lungs inflated, and a breathless scream left her throat.
Then, it was over. Twilight breathed through her nose and mouth alike, gulping in huge breaths of air in desperation. Cold air went in, warm air came out. In and out, in and out, in and out.
"Twilight?" A motherly voice came through with such clarity through Twilight's muddled hearing that she would have thought it was a divine being.
And maybe it was...
Standing over her was Princess Celestia, her ethereal multicolored mane blowing in the wayward wind. Her calm yet hard gaze pinned Twilight to the floor, worried yet bold.
"Princess-" Twilight gasped, her newly formed lungs foreign to her.
"Your back Twilight." Celestia's voice was smooth as silk.
"I'm back..." Twilight wheezed, pulling herself to her hooves. They shook beneath her, phantom pains running through every inch of her body. It wasn't real pain, the pain was gone, yet somehow her mind just couldn't forget. "Did I..."
"Tirek was defeated." Celestia said. "You have done well my champion."
"Dead again..." Twilight's gaze tried to focus, but her eyes felt out of place in her skull.
"You died once more for Equestria, and sent Tirek back to his spawning grounds in Tartarus." Celestia said.
"Once more..." Twilight rasped. "My friends?"
"Safe and sound in Ponyville." Celestia stated. "The power of harmony still flows through you yet; it is not a burden you can bear alone."
Twilight could finally focus on the world around her. She was in a crater punched into the rock. Dubious red liquids and viscera surrounded her, splattered against the stone. Purple feathers were scattered about, as if a bird had fallen here. In her scattered mind, Twilight could still piece together that they were hers.
It came back to her then. She had fallen, her wing cut clean through by a stray beam of energy from Tirek. Then she had fallen and with her last breath launched a crackling ball of energy that could have vaporized a mountain. A moment later, she had hit the ground, lay there choking on her own blood, then passed on. Dead.
And now, she had returned...
No grave could hold her.
But each time Twilight returned, the world felt a little less bright. Colors that were once bold and cheerful were grayer. The vibrant blue skies seemed dimmer. The little things she used to enjoy could no longer satisfy her. Even with the magic of harmony itself surging through her veins, she felt more distant than ever before. More calculating, cold, cunning even.
"How many times now?" Twilight asked. "How many times have I died?"
"Is that something worth thinking about?" Celestia asked.
"Do you even care anymore?" The words snapped from Twilight's mouth before she could stop them.
"Of course I care Twilight. I have known you since you were a filly and..."
"Right."
The air went silent between them.
"Why did you even make me an alicorn?" Twilight asked.
Celestia sighed. "I made you an alicorn, so you have the strength protect Equestria, as you always wanted to."
"Have I not done that? Whatever happened to the princess of friendship? The friendship lessons? My friends?" Twilight spoke through a choked throat. "Am I an alicorn just to serve Equestria? Just to die again and again? Then why can't you do that? Why do I have to be the only one to suffer?"
"Because only you can bear this burden." Celestia said.
Twilight looked away, gritting her new teeth.
"Look at me Twilight." Celestia gently grabbed her jaw, turning her head.
Twilight met her deep purple eyes. They were watery, like ripples on a still pond.
"I can never know your pain." Celestia's voice choked. Tears threatened to fall from her eyes, but they never did. "I have never felt the touch of death, but I am here for you. Your friends are here for you. We will do what we can to help, as long as you keep letting us."
"I don't know how much longer I can do this." Twilight said, her voice shaky. "Does this road even have an end? When will it stop? When will we finally be at peace? They just never seem to stop coming. Every day it's another villain, another scorched village, and yet no pony seems to care. They always expect Celestia's champion to come and save them!"
"And they should." Celestia said. "Because of whom you are. You are a champion of harmony, and if your friends could help you, they would be here right by your side."
Twilight knew she was right. Even if she grew sick of it, even if she hated it, she would still help. Not doing so was beyond her. She was trapped here, trapped by her own morals.
"Do you really think they would help?" Twilight asked.
"I know they would." Celestia said. "If they had the ability you do, they would be by your side in a moment."
Those words struck a chord in Twilight's hardening heart that had not been strung in a long time. She leaned into Celestia and wrapped her in a hug. Celestia returned it.
And yet, Twilight missed something while embraced in that soothing hug.
A grin.
