That night was full of restlessness. I couldn’t get my thoughts to calm down. I kept remembering their confessions, and I felt...ashamed. Like I didn’t think I was worth their love. And, before I knew it, it was morning.
“Mmm...stupid brain…” I groan and sit up. I levitate the staff from yesterday and hobble out of bed towards the bathroom. I wash myself up and look in the mirror. I hadn’t slept with my blindfold on, but I noticed my eyes had a gold hoop around the grey part of my eyes. Like a halo.
“Uuh...is this normal?” I ask no one in particular, opening my eyes as wide as I can to look closer at them. The halo was only a quarter inch wide, but it seemed to shimmer and move, like it was fluid.
This is very bizarre. Wait, I have a theory. Would you mind if I took over for a moment?
Sure, go ahead.
As I took control, I saw the halo vanish. His iris turned a burnt amber color, and his pupils widened into a horizontal disc.
“What the Hell?! These...are my eyes!” I examine them closely. They matched a goat’s perfectly! hmm….His body carries no burdens...Is this his purity?
Why do I have your eyes?!
Would you mind if I tried, too. I’d like to see my eyes, too.
Uuh...Sure...Honestly forgot you were there…
I took over now, and the goat’s eyes shifted to Six’s normal eyes before the pupil completely vanished, as well as the halo. My eye was only pure grey with a white eyeball.
“This is disappointing…”
Be glad you even have eyes!
We should bring this up with Twilight.
The longer I looked myself in the eyes, the more unsettled I felt by them.
I think my eyes may cause discomfort to onlookers. I’m going to sleep now.
Uh, okay?
My eyes return to the gold-surrounded grey like normal as I take over again.
“This is strange…” I put my blindfold back on and rush downstairs as fast as I can with a pole still in my hand.
“Twilight?! Are you here?” I call out, looking through the kitchen and the dining room.
“I’m in the library.” I hear her reply, barely loud enough to hear.
I hobble over to the library door and throw it open. Twilight was on the couch, wearing only...Is that my night shirt?
I look down and blush heavily. I was only wearing my pajama pants!
“How did you get my shirt?!” I yell, still very red.
“I got cold last night, so I borrowed it. Why are you walking around?”
“I left the wheelchair in the park…”
She giggles. “Oh yeah. I forgot. Would you like this back?” She starts to lift it up. I turn away, shaking my head aggressively.
“J-just keep it! And leave it on!” I blush even harder.
“Oooh, you’re no fun…” She huffs. I hear her walk up behind me.
I face her again. “Twilight, I-”
“Call me Twi…” She pouts.
“Ugh, fine. Twi, I think something new happened.”
“What do you mean?” She asks, leaning closer to me, her cleavage…
Fucking brain!!!
Not bad, though…
Shut up!
“I-I noticed my eyes look strange today…” I barely manage to whisper, my eyes glued to one of her hairs that were standing straight up on her head.
“Really? Let me see.” She reaches up and takes off my blindfold. I open my eyes and look down at her. She gasps, nearly tripping on the floor-length shirt.
“Y-your eyes…”
“I know. They’ve got this weird halo around the grey parts…”
“Wh-what grey parts?”
“Huh?” I look at a nearby wall mirror. My iris and pupil were completely gold now. They were shimmering and moving like fluid, just like the ring.
“They...they had mostly grey earlier…”
I look back at Twilight, who was crying softly.
“Twilight? What’s wrong?”
She wipes her eyes, smiling. “I-I just feel so happy when I look at them...Like how I felt when I met all my friends…”
So my eyes induce happiness? Why didn’t it work on me?
Probably because you were looking through a filter. The mirror. Do you think...Maybe that mirror had an issue?
I quickly teleport up to the bathroom and look at the mirror. For a split section, I see mostly grey in my eyes, then it turns back to gold.
Something is wrong with this mirror...Can either of you see what spells may have been cast on it?
No need for that. Look behind you.
I look back, seeing Twilight standing there bashfully.
“Twilight?”
“I-I’m sorry! I-I just….wanted to see you how you really are…”
“You...were spying on me?”
“I-I just….I’m sorry….”
I walk right up to her as she starts to cry. I flick her forehead, making her jump.
“Wh-why did you do that?” She asks, rubbing her head.
“For spying.” I smile softly.
“You’re not mad?”
“No. This isn’t something that would make me mad. It was a little rude, yes. But you were probably thinking of watching me to be sure I wasn’t going to hurt myself anymore.”
“R-right...yeah. Hehehehe…”
I chuckle. “Well, at least I can tell if I’m being watched. My eyes can see it, even if I don’t.”
She chuckles and rubs the back of her neck.
“Oh, yeah. This isn’t the only change either.” I let Shade take over, and she screeches in fear.
“G-Goat eyes?!” Oh, shit. She doesn’t know about Shade.
“Isn’t this cool? I have goat eyes!” I smirk, playing it off.
She holds her chest, gasping softly.
“Th-that scared me…”
I let Sombre take over, and she just stares in awe.
“It's like your most expressful part of your body is just...blank.”
“Indeed. My emotions are very verbal. Can’t you tell how excited I am about having my own eyes?” I ask flatly.
Twilight chuckles. “U-uh...not really, no…”
I take over again and put the blindfold back on.
“This is so odd. It’s been almost two weeks since I had a burden in me, so maybe this is what I’d normally look like?”
“Possibly. I need to run more tests…”
“Hey, how’s that magic arm working out?”
“O-oh, I thought you forgot...It’s in its first trial stage, but…”
“But?”
“It would be very painful, since this would basically regrow your arm from scratch.”
“Oh…”
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”
“No no, I do! Do you already have the spell?”
“Y-yes…”
“Then hit me with your best shot! It would be great to have it back!”
She nods. “You may want to bite the staff….and sit down.”
Oh, boy…
I sit down and bite the bar.
Her hand glows as she gently touches the spot where my arm once was. I suddenly scream out in pain, biting hard on the bar as I feel the flesh and bone rip and break. I look over, my vision blurred through tears, seeing the flesh and bone stretching and morphing, filling the space where my arm once was.
But, something was off. Instead of the arm filling and growing normally, the bone was surrounded by a glowing gold aura, one I wasn’t expecting to see: That’s Heaven Magic.
The muscle and tendons hide the gold-covered bone, then skin over that, until my arm is completely restored, but without scars.
I drop the bar and collapse, sweating and breathing heavily. My jaw was sore, and my arm hurt like Hell….my arm…
I lift up my new arm and flex it a few times. It felt almost foreign to me now.
“Twilight...Where did you learn that spell?”
“I-I don’t really know...I just stumbled across it the other day when I was working.”
I stand up and look her dead in the eyes, ripping the blindfold from my face as I do.
“Where. Did you learn. That spell?”
Her whole face turns red and she squirms under my stare.
“I-I-I...What is this gaze?!”
“Tell me the truth, Twilight. I know Heaven Magic when I see it.”
“H-Heaven Magic?”
“Are you an angel? Did God send you!? Answer me!”
“I-I….I can’t! You’ll hate me!”
“DID GOD SEND YOU?!”
“NO!”
I tense up, glaring down at her harder. I don’t know why I think this’ll work, but it feels right.
“Then what are you!?”
She bites her lip. “I-I’m a….I’M A HAKUTAKU!”
“A what?” I look at her, confused.
“A-A hakutaku….I-It’s a species of Minotaur….that lives on gaining knowledge…”
“Bullshit. You look normal to me.”
“I-I use disguise magic…”
I cross my arms, looking deeper into her eyes. I feel like she’s telling the truth, so I sigh.
“Show me.”
“Wh-what?”
“I said...Show me.”
She gulps softly and waves her hand over herself. Her normal figure starts to change.
Her legs seem to curve back a little and shift, her feet turning to black hooves. Two thick, off-white horns grow from the sides of her head, and she grows a long, curly purple tail that looks like silky waves. She pulls a set of glasses from her pocket and puts them on, blushing madly.
“Wh….How in the….How did I not notice sooner? It fits perfectly!”
“Huh?”
“The hunger for knowledge, your friendly demeanor! All of it makes sense!”
She chuckles softly, hugging herself bashfully.
“Y-you’re not scared?”
“Why would I be scared? I’ve seen things 100 times scarier than you.”
She gasps softly.
I blush. “U-uh...I mean….n-nevermind. You don’t have to hide yourself around me, okay? I don’t mind.”
She gasps softly before wrapping me in a lung-crushing hug, her breasts smothering me.
“Thank you thank you thank you!”
“C-can’p breave!”
She yelps and drops me. “S-sorry...I forget my own strength sometimes….”
“It’s fine…” I lay back on the couch, grabbing my sketchbook.
“Do you mind if I draw you?”
She blushes bright red. “Wh-whaaa?”
“N-not like that! Just...as you are.”
She looks down at her f-hooves for a moment before nodding.
I watch as my hand moves on its own, quickly sketching out her basic form, then the smaller details.
I feel her reach out to me, but I move away from her grasp.
“I know what Hakutakus can do, Twilight. If you want to know more about me, ask. Don’t try to sap it from me.”
“Wh-I-I wasn’t...Uuugh, but that’s so inefficient!”
“I couldn’t care less! I do not want my memories probed through.”
“M-maybe I wanted to share some of my knowledge…”
“You and I both know that all you want to know is about the Afterlife. Heaven, Hell, God, Satan, excetera. And I cannot indulge you in that information for three major reasons. A: You would give it to Princess Celestia immediately. B: You would probably go insane from the knowledge of things you shouldn’t. And C: You are incapable of keeping secrets.”
“I-I can too keep a secret!”
“Uh huh….Twilight, you have to share your knowledge with those who seek it, because it’s your nature. I didn’t understand before, but now I do.”
“B-but….Can I at least study you?”
I groan softly. “I will let you, but I refuse to let you probe my mind. If you do, and I’ll know if you do, I will never speak to you again.”
“N-never?”
“Not for the rest of eternity.”
She huffs and pouts. “F-fine…”
“Good. Now, what do you want to know?”
“Hmmm…” She sits next to me on the couch and taps her chin.
“Where did that scar on your chest come from?”
“I….I cut myself a lot on purpose….”
“You said that before. But, it’s not true, Is it?”
I sigh and curl up a little. “No...It’s not…”
“Then, what is it?”
“My…..” I tear up, hugging my knees to my chest.
“My mother did it….”