//------------------------------//
// Redemption 
// Story: Love Heals 
// by OrpheusMorpheus 
//------------------------------//

	It was around ten o'clock at night when I set off to do my work. I didn't want anypony to see me digging up the grave of my past lover and not know what I was doing. Luckily, Ponyville had an almost nonexistant nightlife, so I wasn't in much danger of being spotted at night. Still, I wasn't taking any chances. I walked with an air of caution, every noise making me jump for a place to hide. I took a winding convoluted route to the burial site in case I was being followed. When I found myself in the open plain, I galloped as quickly as possible towards the grave, my saddlebags hitting my flanks as I ran. I was shaking from anticipation.

When I finally reached the grave, I was taken aback by the number of flowers surrounding it. It looked as if every flower in Equestria had been placed on the grave. After moving all of the flowers into a heap nearby, I moved the statue out of the way. Its happiness seemed eerie in the low light of the moon. 

I bent down on top of the grave site and started digging. My hooves moved rapidly back and forth like a dog uncovering a bone. My face was covered in dirt by the time I finally saw part of the coffin. Although it was a shallow ditch, it took what seemed like hours to fully uncover the coffin. I stood back and carefully levitated the coffin out of the hole. I set the coffin down in front of me and opened it. I was lucky: the mortician's preservation spell didn't wear off for another few hours, but I could see that the magic aura of the spell around her was very faint. I didn't have much time.

I embraced Twilight and dragged her out of the coffin. I then propped her body up against the coffin so she was in a slouched standing position. I turned towards my saddlebags and got out my energy bar and coffee. Performing the spell required as much energy as possible, and failure was not an option. After finishing my snacks, I took out the book from my bags and read over the resurrection spell at least ten times. I performed the concentration exercises three times before I was completely sure that I was ready. 

I took a deep breath, sat down, and took the knife from my saddlebags. The amount of blood needed for the spell varied based on the size of the creature being resurrected. The squirrel had only required a few drops. Twilight would require much more. I grasped the handle of the knife in my mouth and stretched my front left leg out in front of me. The knife pierced my soft skin easily, slicing through it like supple butter. I bit down on the handle of the knife in pain. I still didn't have enough blood. I sliced my skin multiple more times in the same area until most of my leg was covered in blood. Still in immense pain, I levitated a small teacup from my saddlebag and gathered as much blood as possible in it. Before, continuing, I healed my wounds and ate another energy bar.

With cup in hoof, I stood up and readied myself for action. I performed the concentration exercises once more to ensure my focus would be on Twilight. I then poured my blood from the cup onto my horn, coating the entire thing with sticky red liquid. Blood ran down the side of my face and into my mouth until it tasted like my tongue was made of iron. My mane felt sticky to the touch and was probably had a maroon tinge to it. I licked the cup clean and stashed everything away in my saddlebags, which I set down next to me.

I turned my attention back to Twilight. I filled my mind with thoughts of her, which wasn't extremely difficult. Her feminine beauty whirled around in my skull and gave me a lighthearted feeling. I felt as if I had swallowed a swarm of parasprites when I started the flow of magic. Magic was summoned from every corner of my body, from the tips of my hooves to the tip of my snout. I gritted my teeth and closed my eyes, keeping the image of a living Twilight in my head as incentive to keep pushing the limits of magic. I slightly opened my eyes to see if anything was happening. The entire area around me was bathed in a deep red light, and I could feel my horn heating up. But I needed more magic.

I knelt down to conserve standing energy, and I slackened every muscle in my body. My eyes were half open and everything had a reddish hue to it. My horn felt as if it were on fire, and sweat rolled down my face. I started seeing a bubble forming from my horn, but it was still very small. I forced more magic through me until I started seeing a bigger bubble. My eyes were going blurry, my mane was soaked from sweat, and the pain in my horn was becoming unbearable. I had to keep going.

The bubble was now about the size of a miniature soccer ball. I'd calculated that I would need a bubble about the size of a beach ball to even have a chance of resurrecting Twilight. There was still a long way to go. I began pulling at stored magic reserves throughout my body. Magic I didn't know existed flowed from my mane and my tail. The base of my horn became a swirling vortex of bodily magic. Everything burned, but I wasn't ready yet. The bubble was the size of a soccer ball. I wasn't finished yet.

Magic started flowing from my tongue and my eyes. My vision lost its color and I lost the ability to taste. I went deaf after another few minutes, and my nose stopped working after that. I only had my sense of touch left, which was being overloaded with indescribable pain. It felt as if I'd been frozen to death, then burned at the stake, then stoned, then ground up, then stabbed repeatedly. I could no longer feel my extremities, and I was beginning to believe I had no magic left. The bubble was almost at the correct size. It only needed a little more magic and it would be ready. I pumped my last reserves of magic into the bubble and lost my sense of touch. The world was now just a black and white image.

As I readied the last burst of magic, the corners of my vision began to fade away. My range of vision decreased until I could barely see all of Twilight's face. I gathered up all my willpower, bundled the last bit of magic, and shot it through my horn. 

Throughout the ordeal, reality had been in a slingshot. As I gathered more and more magic, the slingshot was pulled back more and more. When I released the final burst of magic, the slingshot fired. All of my senses were instantly working again. I could not only feel the bones breaking, but I could also see and hear them. I could also smell and taste the resulting blood from the explosive launch of the bubble. However, the bubble wasn't the only thing that was launched. I watched in absolute horror as my horn flew through the air and landed in the grass between me and Twilight. My entire body ached in every way possible. I tasted blood in my mouth. My forehead was burning with the fire of the sun, and blood gushed forth from the gaping wound.

I tried to keep my eyes open as the huge bubble of blood and magic floated over to Twilight. It lightly touched her forehead, and I had to close my eyes because of how bright the resulting flash was. I saw some color restored in her cheeks and I thought I saw her blink. Her chest started moving in and out rhythmically. The feelings of ecstasy conflicted with my pain. I was so happy that I was able to ignore the pain long enough to see Twilight's eyes flutter open and look at my crumpled body. 

I closed my eyes for the last time that night. I felt at peace with myself. I was being hurtled through space at incredible speeds. I saw my past, my blunders, my errs, and I accepted them. I saw bliss, happiness, and love. I embraced them. Death returned the embrace.