Demons

I slouched over in my chair, half-heartedly munching on a bowl on soggy cereal. My memory was foggy, and the only thing I could really grasp was my dream from last night. That poor colt, Isaac, It was heart wrenching to watch, unable to do anything to help.

I happened to glance up. That purple unicorn was staring at me eagerly, her eyes full of wonder and curiosity. It was highly unsettling to see how much somepony could be interested in me. I set down my spoon and asked politely, "Could you stop that?"

The pony didn't even respond, but took the chance to assault me with a barrage of words and questions, "I found you out in the forest, you were out stone cold, and I was worried, so I brought you here, cared for your wounds, and set you in bed!" She said all this with a smile on her face, as if it were a great accomplishment. "I found this journal next to you," She said, suddenly turning and digging through a saddlebag until she withdrew a fat, aged book, entitled, 'What I didn't ask for'.

I took the book, nodding to acknowledge that it was mine. It felt familiar, but I couldn't place a hoof on it.

She didn't give me a chance to respond verbally anyway, "I didn't open it, didn't want to pry, but I was sooooo curious!" she squirmed in her seat like a giddy schoolgirl, "I want to know everything about you!"

"Well I'd love to tell you," I said coolly, "But I can't remember a shred of it."

The unicorn was clearly disappointed, but then nodded, "I should think so, that's quite the bump you've got there.

I suddenly felt a throbbing sensation in my head. I reached up to feel a dangerously large lump, underneath a strip of gauze and a thick, matted mane. It hurt. I winced.

The unicorn was at my side immediately, "I wanted to clean your mane and wounds, but..." she didn't finish, only blushed. I rolled my eyes, "I decided to wait until you woke up."

I nodded understandingly, then rose, my breakfast soon forgotten, "I should get on that, then."

The unicorn nodded, then gestured down an adjacent hall with her tail, "Bathroom's that way, second door on the left, can't miss it."

I nodded gratefully, then headed towards the hall.

"I'm Twilight, by the way," she said, introducing herself finally.

I nodded, acknowledging it, "I'm-"

"I know your name, Isaac," She interrupted suddenly, then bashfully looking at the ground. "It was...written on the inside of your journal."

I rose my brow.

"But that was just what I looked at, swear," She said, crossing her heart.

I simply nodded, then headed for the bathroom, thinking. She had called me Isaac, could that colt have been...me? I opened the door to the bathroom. No, I couldn't have been Isaac. He had cyan fur and an auburn mane, turtle green eyes. My fur may have been cyan at one point, but was now a mess of twigs and dirt that resembled what one would find after digging a foot in the forest. Any my coarse, matted mane was jet black, shiny with grease. My eyes were blood red. It was quite the shocker of an appearance. I saw the bandages on various parts of my body: head, chest, and legs. I noticed something else: I was standing on my hind legs, and walking around like that. I hadn't even noticed. Why was I doing that? That wasn't normal, right? I tried to drop to all fours, but it just seemed...unnatural, and quickly hopped back up.

Ignoring that small quirk, I almost looked normal. I hoped I was normal, I still had no recollection of anything. Ignoring that for now, I climbed into the ornate tub and switched on the water, allowing it to take away all the dirt, debris, and blood that was caked in my fur.

After the excessively long bath, I was feeling much better on the outside, but not so much on the inside. I still had no Idea what I was doing here, or even what I had done in the past.

I walked out and found a deep black trench coat, fully washed and neatly folded, waiting for me. I slipped off my towel and put the coat on. It fit like a glove, even when I stood up on my hind legs. In fact, it seemed to fit better then, as if it had been specially made for that purpose.

"Why do you walk like that?" Twilight asked, suddenly appearing from behind me. "On just your hind legs, I mean."

I shook my head,  "I really don't know myself. It just works, I guess."

Twilight obviously thought it as odd, but hey, I thought walking on all fours was odd. Two legs just felt natural. she shook her head dismissively, then asked, "Have you remembered anything?"

I turned around and walked towards 'my' journal, holding it and looking at it, "No," I confessed, "But I assume this book will shed some light." I cracked open the book to a random page. That handwriting seemed familiar, maybe it was mine. Nevertheless, there, on the page, was a block of text, strangely formatted and written out as if it were a poem, or a song.

I wanna hide the truth,

I wanna shelter you,

But with the beast inside,

There's nowhere we can hide.

No matter what we breed,

We still are made of greed,

This is my kingdom come,

This is my kingdom come.

When you feel my heat,

Look into my eyes,

It's where my demons hide.

It's where my demons hide.

Don't get to close,

It's dark inside.

It's where my demons hide.

It's where my demons hide.

Memories came in waves, names, places, events, all disconnected and arranged in a random fashion, one that made no sense. I slammed the book shut and involuntarily threw it across the room, panting as if I had just trekked a mile.

"Isaac!" Twilight yelled with concern, coming to my side, "What is it?" she asked worriedly.

I had written those words, I couldn't remember the events that lead up to it at the time, but I knew a few things very, very well. One, I was a monster. Two, where I went, death and destruction followed. Three, I had to get away, now, before anypony else got hurt.

I pulled myself up, collecting my senses, pushing Twilight away, "I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry," I babbled, "I have to go, now, now!" I ran towards the door, scooping up the awful journal as I ran.

"Isaac!" Twilight called, her eyes begging me not to go. I ignored it, focusing on the facts. If I stayed, ponies would start dying, good ponies, innocent ponies. I had to go, I had to remember what had happened.

I opened the door and ran down the path, not paying attention to my surroundings, not paying attention to the fact that I was running on two legs, I just ran and ran and ran. Always running. I was always running.

More senseless memories came rushing back, I pushed them away, I would make sense of them later, I just had to get away now.

After quite a bit of running, I finally ran out of energy a few miles away from where I had started, at least. I was all alone now, out in the middle of a vast grassy plain. I could make sense of myself here. Clouds gathered above very quickly. It started to drizzle.

I pulled out my journal, protecting it from the increasingly heavy downpour. I couldn't bring myself to open it, but I knew I had to.

"Look girls, it's raining!" suddenly cheered a high pitched voice from somewhere in the plains.

I immediately ducked down, not wanting to be found, not wanting to hurt anyone.

"Maybe our cutie marks are for rain dancing after all!" cheered a filly. There they were, stupidly standing atop one of the many rolling hills as the clouds thickened and darkened above.

She was joined by two others, the third of which cheered, "Let's keep dancing!" and they all began doing a crazy dance in the rain. I couldn't move or they would see me. I just stood there, crouched down in the plants, rain plastering my mane to my face, forced to watched the three fillies dance

Something changed in the sky. I couldn't see it, but I felt it, somehow, if that makes sense. Clouds where thickening, rubbing up against each other, charging themselves negatively with the ground. I couldn't see it happening, but I knew something was about to happen, something that wouldn't have been bad, but those fillies were directly in the line of sight.

I couldn't stand it. I had to do something. I jumped up and sprinted towards the fillies. They saw me. They screamed. I ran up, scooped up the filles, and threw them as far as I could down the hill, where they tumbled to a muddy, but safe, mess.

That's when the sky broke.

The clouds had been rubbing up against each other, charging their particles, building up power, forming a path of least resistance to the ground to release the energy. I knew it was happening before it released it. The brilliantly white bolt of lightning struck, a clap of thunder rolled, and it all ended directly on me, where the fillies had been standing moments before.

I knew the lightning would strike before it did, and I sacrificed myself to save the fillies, who would have been struck if I hadn't thrown them.

The thing is, that wasn't the end. I was perfectly fine, my mane wasn't even singed. Of course I screamed, but it was from surprise more than anything. I was just struck by lightning, and I hadn't even felt it.

The fillies stared at me, not fully comprehending what had just happened. I doubted they ever would.

I just turned and ran, but this time, it wasn't away, it was back. I had questions, and to answer them, I needed someone else.

Twilight heard a knock on her door. she was all curled up on her couch, listening to the storm outside with a good book. she went and opened the door and saw me standing there on two legs, soaking wet. I smiled and asked, "Can I stay here tonight?"