Twilight's POV

I floated Rex inside the house before me and Starlight walked inside.

The place was a mess. The floor was stained with blood, the storage room was partly burnt, and there was dirt everywhere. Atleast the bodies that laid dead on the floor from before were gone. I went straight to Rex's room before laying him on his bed, turning to Starlight.

"Can you board up the entrance?"

Starlight was silent, but obeyed. My ears flattened. Did she really take what I said earlier to heart? I didn't mean to make her feel bad when I told her to 'shutup,' but it was in the moment. Everything was stressing me out and I needed to concentrate. She could understand that, couldn't she?

"Twilight..?" I heard a dry whisper from the bed.

I turned to Rex, seeing his eyes open and staring at the ceiling. I made my way to the side of his bed, resting a hoof onto his arm. "Yeah, I'm here Rex. We're okay, we're safe. We made it back to the house with a teleportation spell. Quite handy, huh?" I said, trying to lighten the mood.

He didn't laugh.

"I.. I can't see." He said, his eyes still staring lifelessly up at the ceiling.

"What?"

"I can't see anything. I- I can't see!"

He began to panic quickly, but I pushed my hoof down onto his arm. "Shh-shh, stay still. Let me check your eyes, alright? It's fine, it's okay." With my words, he stopped moving around violently. He kept his eyes open, to which I got up onto the bed beside him and looked into his eyes.

They were perfectly fine, if not a little red from the tiny tears that he had gained from his panic.

If his eyes were fine, then it must be internal. Did the electricity fry his eyes from the inside out? Or is his vision just.. distorted for a little while, from the head trauma? There were a lot of questions, but not a lot of answers to any of it. I shook my head. "They're fine. It'll wear off soon, I'm sure. You aren't blind."

His right arm shot up to grab onto my left hoof. "..promise?"

I didn't know if what I said was true, but I knew that saying nothing would make it worse. "I promise, Rex. Just, get some rest. Let me and Starlight deal with the rest, okay? You've had a... painful start, to the day." I said, hopping off the bed. I headed to the door before I heard his voice again.

"Wait."

I turned to him, slowly walking back to his side. "What is it?"

"Luci.. Tarbo gave me Luciferium.. He tricked me into taking it. It slowly causes death if not taken within the coming week. I-I have one pill of it in storage. B-Bring it to me." His voice was shaky.

"W-Wait.. It causes death in the coming week- what if we don't have any after that?"

He shrugged with a pained smile. "Guess that's when my expiration date hits..."

I looked at him with an angered look. "That's not funny at all Rex! Y-You could.. How do we find more of these pills?!"

He shrugged, still staring at the ceiling. "They're extremely rare. Only the highest tech can craft them. Tarbo tricked me into taking it as a way of forcing me to cooperate. If I left, I'd end up dead. If I stayed, they'd give me more of those pills and I'd live. I'd rather be here and die, than over there and forced into torture."

"I'll... I'll find a way to get you more of those. A week, right? We have one left, so that gives us two weeks. Two weeks.." I repeated, trying to find a plan stashed somewhere in my head, even knowing that it was no use. It was going to be a miracle to be able to find something that rare in a wasteland like this. And, the only traders we have come across were tribals. I doubt they'd have any.

"Don't force yourself. Focus on the both of you. I'm a burden right now."

"Stop that. You aren't a burden. I am finding a way, no matter what."

He sighed. "Guess that's what I get for making friends, huh?"

"Magic, ain't it?" I said before popping out of the room.

My vision, within the few hours after being put in bed, started actually coming back. Twilight was right.

It was still weirdly colored though. Things were random colors. Brown was blue, all of that kind of stuff. It didn't make me colorblind though, as the colors eventually began to fade to their normal colors. I was just glad I wasn't going to be tortured anymore. That alone was making me extremely happy.

But the one thing that didn't make me happy? Was the figure standing in my room.

Ever since my vision slowly came back, a figure that was see-through with a red outline stood in the corner of my room, staring at me. It had red eyes as well, as if it wasn't already scary enough. I waved my hand lazily at it, trying to get it to move or something, but it did nothing.

That was until I sat back.

"Sorry, I was doing something."

What in the fuc-

"I was thinking, that's all."

The strangest part about this figure was that he spoke in my voice. Actually, the closer I looked at it, it was an outline of me. Whatever that weird electric device had done to me, had certainly made me go crazy, because this was no way actually happening. I stared at it, pointing a finger. "What- how?!"

"It's magic~!" It said back to me, before laughing. "Oh jesus- that's- sorry, I had to."

"What the hell are you?" I asked. "Are you-"

"Me? Or, you? Yeah, I'm me. Also known as you. Why?"

I shook my head, closing and opening my eyes, as if it was going to disappear. "Okay, I'm insane."

"Nah. Whatever that crazy, weird fuck did, finally got your real eyes open."

I shook my head. "No, I'm actually insane. That shit melted a big part of my brain, and now I'm seeing... you."

"You know, I'd agree with you if I was you, but I'm me, who is also you, so I can't agree. Think of me as like... an angel? Nah, definitely not. Used to be."

"What do you mean, used to be?" I asked.

"I fell. Pretty far, actually. You know, this would never be possible without those two. I never had a... lets say, physical form, until they showed up. Magic leaks from magical creatures, you know?"

"No.. I don't."

It shrugged. "I can't really explain it to you. It's nothing you can understand. Like, here, watch this."

It snapped it's fingers.

Moment's later, Twilight popped her head in the room. "Rex?"

"Y-Yeah?"

"What was that..?"

I shrugged, ignoring the figure. "W-What was what?"

"I felt a shift.. in.. You know, it's probably me going crazy. Sorry." And, with that, she left the room. I turned immediately to the figure, to which it shrugged, looking over to where Twilight had popped her head in.

"I'm real. As real as it can get. Have I proven myself yet?"

I didn't say anything. I simply stared.

"Pft, what's with that look? You look like you saw a ghost. Look, things are kind of weird right now. But, just know, that when all of this is over, and you find yourself- actually, I can't say that. I can't ruin the surprise in the future, can I? That'd be so rude of me! Lord knows there's someone else waiting on the edge of their seat, can't ruin that surprise for them."

"The fuck are you talking about?!"

"Oh, you know... Actually, you don't know."

Author's Note

Tiny chapter.
Busy day.
Sorry.