//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: Agrippa's Arrival // Story: My Little Amnesia: Daniel's Story // by DaringWizard //------------------------------// "Daniel!" Twilight called, Daniel took a last look at the library before wheeling away to the carriage waiting for him. He stopped. "What's wrong?" Pinkie Pie asked. "There's a storm coming. Is it safe to be on board a... flying carriage?" Daniel asked, thinking he sounded like an idiot when he mentioned 'flying carriage'. "The carriage has a special device on it to protect against lightning bolts- you'll be fine!" One of the guards said, and Daniel wheeled himself into the carriage. "I'll meet up with you later, Daniel!" Twilight said. "See you there..." Daniel said, and he shut the door. The carriage lifted off the ground and Daniel was hauled off to the distance. "Well, now what?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Now, I need to pack a few things- I'll be at the castle for a few days with Daniel. You guys mind helping me?" "'Course not!" Rainbow Dash said, the other four nodded their heads and walked inside, the room darkened, then, Rainbow Dash stopped dead. "What's the matter Rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy asked. "Waaaaait a minute... we didn't schedule rain for today, either!" Rainbow Dash said, Twilight was about to say something when she was interrupted as a bolt struck down in the middle of the town, then a second one, and a third one. A blue ball of light appeared at the spot. The six ran outside. "What the hay? Again?" Applejack exclaimed, the sphere imploded on itself, then expanded to a large volume and a spiraling vortex stood before them. It then dissipated and all that was left was a device of some sort, a wooden arch... and something hanging from it- a body of a human. "Eeeew!" Rarity let out. "What's a d-d-dead body d-d-doing here!?" Pinkie Pie stuttered. "I don't know, let's get it out of here, the rest of the town might panic." Twilight said, grimacing at the sight. They approached, but when they got very close- the head turned up towards them. "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!" The six yelled, it had white eyes with no pupils, it's mouth hung open. "Help...me..." It said, the six stared in terror. "Pull the s-switch..." It said, the six loosened. "Please..." It pleaded. "Help...me..." It said again, Twilight's eyes went wide- then, she pulled the switch of the device with her magic, a low tone was heard, then, a voice came from it. "Thank you. You have my gratitude." It said, the six stared confused. "My name is Agrippa. Who might you be?" Twilight stood forward. "I'm... Twilight..." "Twilight? Were you born at sunset?" It then laughed, Twilight rolled her eyes. "I got that enough during kindergarten!" "Oh my, it seems I'm the only one who's seen it... hahahah!" Twilight gave Agrippa an uneasy smile. "Don't worry, miss. I am not here to harm you... if you would- remove these ropes from my limbs?" Agrippa asked, the other five backed away cautiously as Twilight cut each of the ropes with a spell, and held the limp Agrippa with her magic. "You'll need to bring that device there to be able to communicate with me." Agrippa finished, and they brought him inside Twilight's house, she -very gently- set him down. "Thank you, again. You are Celestia's student, are you not?" Agrippa asked, Twilight didn't answer. "Mistress?" He asked. "Uhmm..." "Forgive me if my appearance is a little... unsettling. Thought I'd be free of this dead husk as soon as I was hurled through the portal... to my surprise, I just grew a new one..." Agrippa said, his voice giving a hint of disgust. ---------------------------------------------------------- The carriage carrying Daniel flew quickly across the sky. Daniel looked out at the countryside and took it all in. His thoughts were drawn back to Brennenburg and his nightmares. First of all- was this all just another dream of his? From what he could remember, his nightmares felt real... but this wasn't a nightmare. At the very least, it was a dream. No, this was real... it had to be... Daniel argued -mentally- with himself, trying to piece together what he knew... but the lingering affects of the Damascus rose potion weren't helping, he turned to face the two guards facing him. "Uhmm..." he said, the guards didn't break their blank expressions. Daniel looked at them curiously, then, looked away -slightly- and saw out of the corner of his eye that one of them smiled, as if freaking out about the fact there was a human right across from him, he turned his head back toward them and he immediately went back to his blank expression. "Nice try, I saw that." Daniel said. "Damn it..." The guard muttered, Daniel smiled, he turned his head back toward the window. Pomf! Daniel whirled his head back towards the guards where a letter stood, the first guard took it, read line after line, then, his eyes went wide. He stopped the carriage. "Is there a problem?" Daniel asked, the guard looked up at him. "Sorry, sir. You need to return to Twilight's library." "For what?" "...Someone named... 'Agrippa' came through." He said, Daniel looked shocked. --------------------------------- Daniel quickly wheeled himself from the carriage to Twilight's front door, he pounded hard on it. It opened. "Daniel?" Twilight asked, and he wheeled himself in, he stared at Agrippa when he saw him. "Daniel! Thank goodness you are all right! I thought I'd lost you!" Agrippa said. "I-I thought that I- how-? When-?" "The portal crossing seemed to have caused me to... regrow that old husk of mine..." Agrippa remarked, Daniel sighed. "Well, at least you are all right." Daniel said. He wheeled his way over toward Agrippa. "So... you two... are friends...?" Rarity asked, looking creeped out. "Acquaintances, to say the least... I was kept prisoner in a castle- Daniel here helped me out." "Wait a minute... Daniel- is this the 'Agrippa' you were telling me about?" "Yes." Daniel said. "You didn't tell me he was all... how should I put this..." "The Baron of Brennenburg had sustained my soul in this dead husk for years... I have no idea how many... for all I know I was trapped for hundreds until Daniel came along!" "So... that's why you're like this?" Fluttershy asked, looking very intimidated. "Quite. I lost my own ability to move a long time ago..." "Yikes... sorry, sir." Rainbow Dash said, Daniel stared. "What is it, Daniel?" Agrippa asked. "Was all of this the way you intended to help me?" Daniel asked. "Quite- I'm an old friend of Celestia, the leader of this place... I was hoping I'd meet her crossing over, but, to my dismay, she wasn't there... It wasn't easy getting though the gate to the other side." Agrippa explained, Daniel looked at Twilight. "Weren't you going to introduce me to her?" Daniel asked. "Yeah..." "Maybe we should bring Agrippa along, then." Daniel said, the six looked distraught. "Uhmm... it might freak out the other town members, though..." Twilight said, looking over at Agrippa. "Miss...?" Agrippa asked, Twilight blinked. "If that's the case- why not send her a letter asking her to come here? I'm an old friend." Agrippa said, and with that Twilight picked up her ink and began to write a letter to Celestia. ------------------------------------------------- Celestia walked in and her jaw dropped at the sight of Agrippa. "Been a while, hasn't it?" Agrippa asked. "Heinrich?" Celestia asked, she ran towards him. "The same." He answered. "What in Equestria happened to you? Where have you been? We had held a funeral- we thought you were dead!" She asked, looking more concerned then disgusted. "That baron I was telling you about? He'd kept me prisoner." He answered. Celestia looked to her side and noticed Daniel, who -instinctively- knelt down. Celestia looked rather uneasy, for some reason. "Princess, how do you know him?" Twilight asked, Celestia turned back to Twilight. "We're old friends." She said, her horn glowed and Agrippa rose up. "Well, sending you over to your home world and having you return in this state wasn't necessarily what I would find the most desirable outcome of our experiments, but you returning in general was. Welcome back- now, you're this 'Daniel' person I've been hearing about?" Celestia asked, raising an eyebrow at Daniel. "Quite." Daniel answered, trying to be polite in the presence of someone who was obviously royalty. "You must come with me as well. It is imperative." She said, sounding very serious, "Very well." Daniel said, he turned to Twilight- who looked very confused, Twilight just stared. "Let's go." A guard said, nudging Daniel, and He, Celestia, and Agrippa left the library to a carriage waiting for them, Daniel turned around and saw Twilight standing at the entry- she gave Daniel an odd look. Daniel stepped inside the carriage, and it lurched as it took off from the ground, and began it's trip to Canterlot. Twilight walked back inside her library where her friends were waiting. "I've never heard Celestia like that..." Twilight remarked, the others nodded. "She acted almost like she knew Daniel..." Rainbow Dash remarked, the others nodded. ------------------------------------------------- Daniel looked out at the countryside as it passed him by. It was lush and full of plants and animals he had never seen before- or at least that's what he thought, due to his amnesia. Celestia's eyes seemed to be boring into him. He glanced at her and noticed she seemed to be... mad? Daniel brushed it off, then, she spoke. "Seize him." She said. "What!?" Daniel exclaimed, two guards seized him and pulled his pack off his back. They dumped everything inside of it onto the floor. "S-stop that!" Daniel demanded, then, they stopped as a vial of a pink liquid fell out and landed on the ground. Celestia picked it up with her magic, she stopped glaring at Daniel. "W-what is the meaning of this!?" Agrippa demanded, The Princess looked shocked at Daniel, she loosened. "Let go of him." "But- your highness-! You said this one is a mur-" One of the guards exclaimed. "Let go of him. Now." Celestia said, the guards reluctantly let go of Daniel. Celestia used her magic to gather up everything that had been poured out of Daniel's pack, and placed it neatly back in. "Wh-what is the meaning of this!?" Daniel exclaimed, trying to get up, but the pain in his legs was unbearable. "Calm down, Daniel. Sit down." Celestia said, Daniel reluctantly sat down, flattening himself against the back of his chair, Celestia looked the vial over several times, opened the cap and sniffed it, then closed it. She turned to Daniel. "Damascus Rose. Mixed with vitae, it can cause massive amnesia." She said, looking at him, Daniel's heart was growing slower, and slower. "Celestia, dear friend! He did not deserve that!" Agrippa said, the Princess shook her head. "No. He didn't. I didn't know you had taken this potion, forgive me." She said, Daniel's heart began to pound. "Yes, I know. Just as I know what you did at Brennenburg before you took it." Daniel's heart stopped. ------------------------------------------------------- He jumped from the carriage onto a cliff they were passing by, throwing his wheelchair out first, then using every ounce of his strength, escaped. "Bring him back." Celestia said, sounding rather mellow. Daniel sped through the forest, he didn't look back. His arms continued to turn the wheels.at a fast pace, he could hear them closing in on him, he was speeding closer and closer to a river. This was the end. He knew it. All his efforts to cover his past up would be for naught... then he remembered; he still had the orb with him. With one last push his wheelchair started to roll down the hill towards the river. He started to chant. "Payash, salila, Mithras, aavartate, C'has, niire, apah... apah... apah..." He said, his voice echoing. His body, with a flash, became like water yet again, he dived into the river. The guards slowed to a halt as they neared the river bed. They couldn't see where Daniel was. "Where'd that child-killer go!?" One guard exclaimed. "You can't hide from us!" The other said, he kicked a sizable amount of dust into the water, the dust settled on Daniel's face. "There you are." The guard said, getting a sneer, he raised his spear but was stopped by a bolt of golden energy. "I said bring him back. Not to kill him." Celestia said, Glaring at the guard. The guard stopped and backed away from the water. Celestia stared down at Daniel, and lifted him out of the water with her magic. Daniel had a mortified look on his face. "If you had let me finish, I was going to say I wasn't going to harm you." Celestia then set Daniel on the ground. "And... would you mind telling me... what on Earth did you do to make yourself look like that?" Celestia asked, the now translucent Daniel did a face-palm. Well, if she's not screaming at me, this could go well... maybe... Daniel thought. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Let me get one thing cleared up; you were watching me the whole time?" Daniel asked, Celestia nodded from across the table. Earlier, Daniel had been brought to a giant castle in a town named 'Canterlot', and had been escorted to a conference hall. "Yes... I watched you as you tortured multiple people... and I also watched as you slipped into sadness when you realized what you had done... I hadn't watched you drink the potion." Celestia finished, she stood up. Daniel looked extremely upset. "So it's true... all those flashbacks were real..." Daniel said, he looked like death had grabbed his grace and thrown it to the ground. "Your terror was not with disgrace. You chose to forget your entire life then live with the guilt. You made a rather impulsive decision... but in the end, you got rid of a murderer. Your past self." Celestia said, sounding very Solemn. "But I still killed so many people... my actions were unforgivable." "...What we do in the past doesn't define what we will do now. Especially if we erase our pasts- even if we remember them." Celestia walked over to Daniel. "You must keep your 'other self' hidden. Promise me you'll carry him to the grave, and I promise you I'll give you a home, a bed to sleep in, and a good life. I hope you can forget about Brennenburg." Celestia said, she turned to walk away. "All I've done is forget... I want to remember." Daniel said, Celestia looked confused. "What you did at Brennenburg?" She asked. "No. I want to know what I did with my life. I know I have a sister, but, that sums up what I know... if I don't remember, I'll have nothing. Nothing but journal entries that might not even be accurate... I don't know." Daniel said, Celestia frowned. "Very well. I'll leave you to think about it." She said, and she turned and walked away. Daniel sat there, wondering what he would do next. He opened his pack and took out one of his journal entries. 19th August, 1839, I wish I could ask how much you remember, I don't know if there will be anything left after I consume this drink. Don't be afraid Daniel, I can't tell you why, but know this: I choose to forget. Try to find comfort and strength in that fact. There is a purpose. You are my final effort to put things right. God willing, the name Alexander of Brennenburg still invokes bitter anger in you, if not, this will sound horrible: go to the inner sanctum, find Alexander, and kill him. His body is old and weak, and yours, young and strong. He will be no match for you. One last thing: a shadow is following you. It's a living nightmare, breaking down reality. I have tried everything and there is no way to fight back. You need to escape it as long as you can. Redeem us both, Daniel. Descend into the darkness where Alexander waits, and murder him. Your former self, Daniel. "...Then what do I do now?" Daniel asked, and he put his palm on his forehead. He decided to stop worrying in that moment... and instead, to start living with what he had: a couple of letters, a few new friends... and his lantern. The thing that lit his way through Brennenburg. He looked at it, curiously. His former self had carried it, and now, it was time for him to carry it, into a new light- a new life. That is, a life in a land of fairytales... if anything, it was the closest thing to a 'normal' life he could have after his punishments in Brennenburg. And just knowing what he had gone through, and where he was now, he was grateful for it. He rolled his wheelchair out the room, and began to make his way to his new room, carrying his belongings with him. In that moment, he remembered something. Didn't the orb disintegrate when I passed through...?