//------------------------------// // Why Can I Not Forget? // Story: Where My Demons Hide // by regulator133 //------------------------------// Where My Demons Hide By: Regulator 133 Chapter Two: Why Can I Not Forget? I sat at a stool by the bar with a hoof under my chin, supporting my head. I had been staring at the same empty glass for ten minutes now, and I was starting to gather concerned looks from a few of the bar’s patrons. Why was it so hard to forget? It just seemed like the more I tried, the worse it became. I sighed, and stood up. That is, I tried to stand up. I ended up falling down as soon as I balanced on my hooves. When I hit the floor, I slipped into unconsciousness. ------------------------------------------------ I looked around at my surroundings. I was hiding in a cart on the street in a village in the desert of Zebrica. I looked to my left and saw my best friend, Desert Storm sitting in a crate of bananas. He was asleep, and had his helmet covering his eyes. I took off my helmet and wiped the sweat from my forehead. I let out a deep sigh, and sat back against the crate of apples I was leaning against. just as I was about to doze off as well, I heard a slight whistling in the distance. At first, I thought it was the wind. It got steadily louder, until it dawned on me what it was. I leaned over and shook Desert awake. Just as he opened his eyes, the first shell struck the town. The shell slammed into the local temple, sending a cloud of debris flying into the street. I jumped out of the cart, followed by Desert. I popped a clip into my rifle and pushed the bolt forward. He did the same a few seconds later. I looked around the square we were in. Artillery rounds were exploding all around us, kicking sand and debris into the air, making it difficult to see any suitable cover. I spotted a small house a few meters away from us that was relatively safe from the artillery fire, and we ran to it as fast as our legs could carry us. When we got through the front door, we found a couple fellow soldiers, ponies and zebras alike, loading their weapons for combat. I immediately ran up the stairs to the roof to get a better look at the situation. When I got to the roof, all I could see were clouds of dust from the explosions. I brought my rifle to my shoulder and looked through the scope on top of it. I looked through small gaps in the clouds, and was able to spot a large force of zebras coming straight for the town.I ran back downstairs, and started gathering up the soldiers present to go fight off the enemies. We all ran across the square toward the edge of town, where we had a few machine guns ready for defending the town. We were able to make it there in time to ready the machine guns. After about Fifteen minutes of brutal combat, we appeared to have the upper hoof on the enemy force. I was on the roof of a building with my sniper rifle, covering the soldiers on the ground with Desert. Just as it appeared we were winning, the whistle of artillery was heard over the gunfire. The building we were on was caught under on incoming shell, and I failed to notice it because I was still focused on helping the soldiers on the ground. Desert was able to notice, and he pushed me off the side of the building. Right before it exploded, killing him instantly. I hit the ground, and everything went black. ------------------------------------------------ “GAAHH!” I gasped as I suddenly awoke from my slumber. I sat there, trying to process the dream I just had. I then broke down into tears. “Why me?!” I asked between sobs. “What’s wrong sugarcube?” a voice suddenly said from beside me. “Applejack?” I said, wiping my eyes of the tears I had just shed. “That’s right. Ah had to go to town to pick ya up after ya done passed out in the middle of the tavern.” She said. “Ah think ya should go see somepony about this.” “Who? Who, Applejack? Who here can help me?” I asked her, a hint of desperation in my voice. “Ah don’t know. Maybe Twilight can help ya. She seems like a good pony to talk to.” She said after a moment of thought. “Wait, you mean Princess Sparkle?” I asked. “The one and only, but don’t call her that. She doesn’t like it.” Applejack said. “Maybe I’ll see her tomorrow.” I said. “For now, I’d just like to be alone.” “Alright, just let me know if ya need anything.” “Thank you, Applejack.” I said before she closed the door to my room. As soon as she left, I started lightly sobbing again. Why did this happen to me? Why was I the ‘lucky’ one? If I was so lucky, why did I feel like dying? Why did I deserve this more than they did? These are some of the unanswerable questions that I had. I took the picture back out of my bed stand and looked at it. I looked at Desert in the picture. He looked so happy to go to Zebrica, all of us did. Why? Why would we be happy to go and kill? To possibly be killed? There are some more of those unanswerable questions. As my crying started to fade, so did my consciousness. Soon, I was sleI probably wouldn’t be so lucky.