I can’t believe how badly I messed that up. No matter, there is a second chance. Minuette now has to serve as my new time machine, I suppose.
Haven’t progressed at all, however. There’s got to be a way to relay the information to her, without it noticing her. It’s been eating away at my mind for so long, I can take a few more days of it, if that means protecting my kin. I have unleashed this terror upon myself and myself only.
Then suddenly, I forgot everything about that day. I was standing in the middle of my clinic, unable to remember what happened beforehand and what I was supposed to be doing with my patient. He seemed to have noticed that something was wrong and asked about it through his cheek retractors. I assured him, not wanting to bring unnecessary tension into the room, that I just remembered something important. I quickly checked the calendar and the schedule to piece together what I was supposed to be doing and I managed to finish the procedure without further issues.
He was the last on my schedule for the day. Once he was gone, I had plenty of time to make sense of my situation. I seemed to have rearranged something that morning, because things were in different places than they usually were and there was a spell-scroll on my table. I didn’t recognize what spell it was, but I was sure there was a reason for it being there. Beyond that, I also had an intense feeling of déjà vu. As if something like this has happened to me before.
Later that day I met up with my gals, Lemon Hearts, Twinkleshine, Moondancer and Lyra, at Donut Joe’s, like I usually do. Moondancer talked about her new favourite book: “Creatures from Beyond” and it all felt strangely familiar. I felt like I could recite all of her stories from memory, like every single creature rang a bell. Almost as if the episode of déjà vu never stopped. It didn’t last this long before. But then again, I never had spontaneous amnesia either.
Lemon took notice of my perturbed state. “Minuette… Is something wrong?” She said.
I looked up from my donut, which I was certain was a new one in the shop, but it still tasted familiar. “I-it’s nothing...” I replied vaguely. After a bit of thinking I asked: “Moondancer, haven’t we talked about this book before?”
“N-no...” She said. “I just found it in the library today. I’m pretty sure it’s new.”
“Another déjà vu?” Lyra asked with a knowing smile.
“I guess so...” I replied. “But it’s been going for a while.”
“Maybe you should get it checked again.” Lemon advised. “If it’s getting worse, then it might be a good idea to do so.”
“You know what the most disturbing thing is?” I continued. “I think I had a spontaneous amnesia during my last procedure.”
“What do you mean?” Twinkleshine asked, now with all eyes staring at me with concern.
“I completely forgot about where I was, or what happened up to that point. I don’t even remember waking up this morning.”
“Whoa…” Lyra reacted.
“Has something like this happened to you before?” Moondancer inquired further.
“Not that I know of. It was just the déjà vu before.”
“Okay, you definitely need to get it checked again.” Lemon asserted.
“No kidding,” Moondancer added, “it sounds like the condition is deteriorating rapidly.”
“Dude, this is legit scary.” Lyra commented. “Imagine that happening in a serious situation. Like being chased by a monster. One moment you’re running for your life, then you’re all ‘wait, what am I running from?’ Chomp!”
“Actually,” Moondancer steered the thought to a new direction, “remember that memory spell that Twilight created?”
“Yes, I was just thinking about that.” I answered, feeling like we have talked about this before.
Lemon interrupted that thought. “Maybe it’d be a better idea to take a break tomorrow and get it looked at by a doctor. Casting untested spells on yourself may not turn out well.”
“I would, but I also don’t want to cancel all the appointments. But if it happens again, I’ll call somepony.”
“Let’s hope it doesn’t.” Twinkleshine finished the thought.
I felt better after they’ve shown concern, but my déjà vu never faded. I almost forgot about it once Lyra started another one of her aimless rants, but even that felt familiar. Which is strange, because it’s really not like her to repeat the same joke twice.
Eventually, I excused myself and went to the bathroom. I spent some time there, regaining my sense of reality. It was good to see something that was familiar, because it was actually supposed to be familiar and not because of some strange otherworldly feeling. I must have spent a lot of time there, because Lemon Hearts came in looking for me.
“Is everything alright, Minuette?” She asked.
“Yeah... The déjà vu has been fading.”
“That’s good to hear. Actually, there is a stallion who’d like to see you.”
“I don’t think this is the right time for an impromptu date.”
“No, no, he’s a doctor; he may be able to help you.”
And there he was at our table. He had a friendly, but also somewhat worried expression. And most of all, his face looked familiar, so the déjà vu started crawling back. His name was Doctor Hooves, a name that I was sure I had heard before.
We introduced ourselves to each-other, then I asked: “Have we met before?”
“Dude, you must have!” Lyra chimed in. “He’s that kooky scientist from Ponyville.”
Hooves rolled his eyes, as if it was the thousandth time somepony described him like that.
“I hear you know something about my chronic déjà vu.” I continued.
“Yes, I do!” He said with enthusiasm.” You see, I have the same condition as well. I always had these episodes throughout my life, where everything felt familiar for seemingly no reason.”
“Yes, that’s what I have too. As a foal, I was convinced that I was a time traveller.
“Exactly! We’re on the right track already!”
“Although, today’s episode is particularly bad.”
“Yes, yes, that does happen. The condition may deteriorate; for me it’s gotten to the point where I get spontaneous amnesia, where entire days fall out of my memory, or even week-spanning déjà vu episodes.”
“Uh-oh, is that what’s going to happen to me too?”
“Perhaps not, if we can catch it in time.”
“Wait, so you have a cure?” Lemon Hearts enthused.
“Not exactly.” Hooves clarified. “My understanding is pretty poor as well-“
“But you can still help her, right?” Twinkleshine urged him.
“I think she’s the one who could help me.” He smiled.
“Wait, me?” I was surprised.
“Yes! You see, I suspect there is some kind of magic behind this condition and I have found spells that would help us find an explanation.”
“That would make sense.” Moondancer interjected. “Sometimes earth ponies and pegasi are the ones to find new magic, even if they may need the help of a unicorn to cast spells.”
“I’ve always been told that it’s a miniature seizure.” I added.
“Yes, yes, but I’ve never been satisfied with that explanation.” Hooves explained. “And there is one thing that might be a lead to prove its magical origin.”
“Oh? And what is that?”
He turned sideways. “Our identical cutie-marks?”
I looked at his cutie-mark; it was indeed the same yellow hourglass that I have.
“That is amazing!” Moondancer beamed. “There are cases of hauntingly similar cutie-marks, but this is unprecedented.”
“Wait, are they really identical?” Lyra jumped in and took a very close look at the doctor’s cutie-mark, almost pressing her face against his flank. She then looked back at me with wide eyes. “Checks out, they’re identical.”
“Wait a minute!” Lemon cautioned. “What if he’s a changeling?”
“Nah dude,” Lyra assured, “I’ve known Hoovesy for years and he ain’t a changeling.”
“Actually, I’m glad you brought that up.” Hooves tied those thoughts together. “I was going to ask Minuette’s help in casting a spell called veritatem revelandam. That would be quite counterproductive if I was a changeling, wouldn’t it?”
Lemon crossed her hooves. “Fair enough.” She said, with a sense of suspicion still in her voice.
“Doesn’t that need special training to interpret?” I inquired.
“Which I have!” Moondancer proclaimed proudly.
“Excellent!” Hooves hit his hoof on the ground in joy. “It might even be better, if a third party casted the spell.”
“Sure, I can do it.” Moondancer said. “But what are you expecting to see?”
“I have a theory...” Hooves answered, then he trailed off, as if he was thinking really hard about how to explain his theory. “It’s a bit complicated.” He gave up the explanation before he began. “In short, I suspect there being some kind of magic behind Minuette and I sharing not only our cutie-marks, but also our condition.”
Moondancer scratched her chin. “So you’re looking for anomalies?”
“Yes, you could say that.”
“Alright then. Well, I think I can recognize an anomaly.”
She closed her eyes and her horn lighted up. Her eyebrows furrowed with focus. Then after a few seconds, her expression eased up and she started looking around with her eyes still closed.
“What do you see?” Hooves queried.
“Interesting,” Moondancer began, “Minuette looks so weird. She’s like a... I don’t even know how to say it... Like staring right into a pony shaped black hole.” She then turned to Hooves. “Interesting, Hooves looks the same way.”
“That makes sense.” Lemon commented. “If their cutie-marks are the same.”
“Sounds like we’ve found you a boyfriend.” Lyra said to me. “My, my, I can already feel the attraction!”
“I guess this did end up being an impromptu date after all.” Lemon smirked.
I laughed. “You guys are getting sneakier and sneakier with this.”
Our fun was interrupted by Moondancer gasping in terror. She pointed in the doctor’s direction. “Is that...?” She blurted out.
Suddenly some kind of force threw her behind the bench. When she got up, her horn was covered in a thick fleshy slime, with an olive shaped shell clumsily hanging off it that had eyes forming and unforming repeatedly, frantically looking in random directions.
“What the fudge is that?!” Lyra shouted.
“No, not again!” Hooves panicked.
“What do you mean again?” Lemon shouted.
“Quickly, the scroll!” Hooves shook me.
“What scroll?!” I shouted back at him.
“The one you found on your table.”
I was dumbfounded. How did he know about that scroll? But it was urgent, so I didn’t question him about it. I reached for my saddlebag, but I noticed that it was on the table. I showed it to him “This one?”
“Yes! You must cast it right now!”
“Why? What is it?”
We looked back at Moondancer. She was now completely covered in the fleshy slime, as her muffled screaming could be heard under it. The rest of us tried blasting it with energy beams, but the creature absorbed all of them and grew bigger.
“Just do it!” Hooves shook me again. “I’ll tell you everything later. I promise you this time!”
None of what he said made any sense to me. But if casting this strange spell was really going to help Moondancer, then I had to. So I just winged it, not thinking about what I was reading. I casted the spell as I went. Tastes flew across my tongue and an empty feeling took me over, as memories scrambled before my eyes frantically. And as quickly as it started, it all went away...
...