Time Flows at a Snail's Pace

by JesterOfDestiny

Rating: teen
Tags: Doctor Whooves, Lyra, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Colgate, Lemon Hearts, Mystery, Moondancer, Horror
Length: 11068

There are many dangers to time travel, but this was unprecedented.

There is a reason some magic is deemed dangerous and not to be messed with. You have to be careful around spells that can alter the flow of reality, or you end up watching your loved ones die over and over again. But sometimes, you just happen to be a target of an ancient inevitable evil, that will make sure you commit the same mistakes as your poor forgotten ancestors.

[Updated on every Friday.] Now finished!

Published 2020-08-21 18:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2020-09-18 17:08:56 UTC

Chapter 1

This is it, I’ve reached my wit’s end. It simply won’t leave me, until it takes everything away from me. This needs to be the last time I see them die, because I can’t reverse it anymore. It has taken away everypony I loved and it has now taken away my only method of getting them back again. Decades of work down the drain.

Dr. Minuette may be my last chance. By Celestia, I hope I don’t drag her into this as well!

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 something was missing. I didn’t know what; I could just feel that something was missing. Beyond that, I also had an intense feeling of déjà vu. As if something like this has happened to me before.

That last part wasn’t unusual. I always had these episodes during my life, where suddenly, out of nowhere, this intense feeling of déjà vu takes me over and I feel like I just woke up from a dream and what’s happening in front of me is what I was dreaming about. It usually goes away after a short while, but the feeling sticks with me for much longer. I remember I used to have them almost daily as a foal; I was convinced that I was a time-traveller. I’ve been told that it’s basically a miniature seizure that stops before it goes out of control. Nopony really knew what was causing it, but since it did not cause any disruption in my life, I just left it the way it was. But none of it was this intense and I certainly never had spontaneous amnesia before.

Later that day I met up with my gals, Lemon Hearts, Twinkleshine and Moondancer, at Donut Joe’s, like I usually do. This time Lyra was visiting as well, so I had to be there. I don’t see her often since she moved to Ponyville, but every time we meet, it’s like we were apart for only a day. She bought her favourite extra salty treats. Lemon took one once and she almost died of thirst right there. I don’t know how Lyra can eat that, but hey, I haven’t been following my diet either, so who am I to judge? And who could blame me, Joe just had a brand new donut that I couldn’t wait to try out.

Moondancer talked about her new favourite book: “Creatures from Beyond”. She was always fascinated with the unproven corners of magic, accounts of otherworldly spells and mysterious ponies. Her brain is a black hole of knowledge; once it absorbs the facts, it starts to hunger for the speculations and legends. This one was about creatures that supposedly live between planes of reality. Lemon was unimpressed by the concept, but Twinkleshine and Lyra were enamoured with it. Meanwhile Moondancer drew no conclusions on whether these creatures exist or not. She even commented on the implausibility of the claims.

I drifted off midway through; I couldn’t stop thinking of that sudden amnesia a few hours ago. I wondered if it had any link to my déjà vu, or if it was something else. If so, what? Lemon noticed that I was unusually quiet and asked me: “Minuette… Is something wrong?”

I snapped back into reality, as I pulled my head out of my own thoughts.

“Another déjà vu?” Lyra asked, with a knowing smile.

“No, well… Not right now.” I said. “I kind of had one during my last procedure, but it was something different.”

“What do you mean?” Twinkleshine asked, now with all of them staring at me with concern.

“I… Well… It kind of wiped my memories of the day and for a moment I didn’t know where I was.”

Lyra chuckled. “It’s like when the teacher asks you something, while you’re drawing an unflattering portrait of her in your textbook.”

“No, not really… It was more like… Like the memories of the rest of the day were blown away by a strong gust and I was having a déjà vu about those vanished memories.”

“Has something like this happened to you before?” Moondancer inquired further.

“Not that I know of. It was just the déjà vu so far.”

“Maybe you should see a doctor again.” Lemon advised. “It’d be a good idea to catch it in time, if it’s something serious.”

“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?”

“Well, she didn’t create it.” Lemon corrected.

“Eh, she did base it on an existing one, but it’s still considered a new spell.”

I raised my head up. “Good thing you say that, Moondancer,” I cheered, “I was just thinking about digging it up.”

“It’s in the restricted section, waiting to be experimented with.” Moondancer hinted. “And I’d be happy to help you explore its capabilities.”

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.” I said. “But if it happens again, I’ll call somepony.”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t.” Twinkleshine finished the thought.

I felt much better after they showed their concern for me. I slowly forgot about it as I got absorbed into one of Lyra’s silly rants that never go anywhere. But she had to hurry away. She would normally stay with me, but her sister was graduating, so she was staying with her parents. The rest of us stayed for a while afterwards, but as the sun went down and Joe was about to close up, we dispersed and went home.

It was a pleasant end to a strange afternoon, but I couldn’t stop thinking about my amnesia. I hoped that I didn’t forget anything terribly important and that it never happens again. But at the same time, I was weaving a plan just in case.

A strange stallion was waiting for me outside. He was there in the donut shop as well, but I didn’t pay any attention to him at the time.

“E-excuse me!” He stepped up to me rather meekly, once I was by myself. “Doctor Minuette, if I’m not mistaken.”

“Y-yes... That’s me.” I replied, expecting the stallion to book an appointment with me, though I wasn’t particularly keen on doing so at the time. He did look rather familiar to me, but I just couldn’t place it. We must have met before.

“I’ve taken a very careful look at your cutie-mark and-”

“Beg your pardon?” I cut him off to let him rethink what he just said.

He must have realized what he was implying, because his cheeks turned red slightly. “Oh, no no no, I just noticed that we have the same cutie-mark.” He turned sideways and sure enough, he had an hourglass cutie-mark, just like I do. “I was just looking for those subtle differences that would set them apart.”

“Oh I see. Still a bit weird.”

He turned serious. “Do not misconstrue my intentions, doctor, this is important.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well...” The confidence dispersed from him again. “I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation and you mentioned having episodes of déjà vu, throughout your life.”

“Right... Wait, that was like a few hours ago. How long have you been eavesdropping on us?

He was stumped. He hummed, trying to find the right thing to say, but eventually gave up and cut to the point. “I do apologize for my bizarre behaviour, but I’ve been researching something very personal to me and I’ve grown desperate to find answers.”

“If this is about the déjà vu, I’ve been told it’s a miniature seizure.”

“Yes, but I’ve never been satisfied with that explanation. There must be something more than just a quirk of the brain. I think its source may be magical in origin. And seeing that you’re a unicorn, you might help me uncover the mystery.”

“You say it’s personal, does that mean you have it as well?”

“Y-yes, haven’t I mentioned that already?”

“Nope...”

“Oh... Well then it’s probably time to do so. I’ve had episodes of déjà vu throughout my life as well. So much so, that as a wee colt I was convinced that I was a time traveller.”

“Oh wow, the same with me!”

“But a few years ago, I started having particularly intense episodes every few months, where entire days’ worth of memories would disappear and only leave behind the feeling of déjà vu.”

“Uh-oh, that’s what I had today. Is this gonna get worse for me as well?”

“Perhaps not, if we crack the mystery in time. Now, I’d like to show you something.” He pranced away.

I stayed behind. I mean, I don’t know this stallion and he’s calling me away from the crowd... He might have been the most honest pony alive, but he surely wasn’t acting like such.

He stopped and turned back to me. “Is something wrong?”

“I’m sorry, but between you staring at my flank and listening to conversations and now you calling me away who knows where... It’s all starting to feel like a kidnapping of sort.”

“Oh, heavens, no!” He was shocked at my interpretation of his behaviour.

“This would feel weird coming from one of my weird friends and from a stranger it’s honestly a little scary.”

“Oh, have I forgotten to introduce myself?”

“Well, I certainly don’t know who you are.”

“How rude of me. My name is Doctor Hooves...”

“Oh, that kooky scientist from Ponyville?”

“...Not the most flattering description, but I suppose it’s accurate.”

“I have heard of you from my friend Lyra. She lives in Ponyville as well. Do you know her?”

“Yes, she was the one who told me about you having the same cutie-mark as I do! She’s the reason I came to Canterlot to see you!”

“...Wait... So you were looking for me?”

Thinking back to the way he looked, it was really funny. But at the time I couldn’t really appreciate the humour of the situation. It all felt like I had a stalker or something. He froze in place, his eyes darted around as he looked for the rope that could pull the right words from his mouth.

“Y-yes...” He stuttered.

“...Sooo... You could have just told me everything upfront in the donut shop...”

“Hmm... Perhaps I did overcomplicate it for myself.”

“Don’t worry, that’s how first dates usually go.” I tried to lighten the mood.

“Oh no, I just need you for an experiment.” The joke totally went over his head. “If we both have the same condition, on top of having the same exact cutie-marks, then there must be some kind of connection. I just refuse to believe it’s a coincidence.”

“And what do you think the reason for it is?”

“Hmm... I certainly have a few theories, but I’ll withhold my judgment. I just need you to cast a single spell.”

Though this gentlecolt had a very odd vibe to him, I still decided to go along with him. I figured that if he does pose a danger to me... Well, I went to Celestia’s school, so I know a few spells that could get me out of trouble, in case he ever tries something sketchy. And I wasn’t worried about him being a changeling either, even if the fall of Chrysalis was rather recent. Honestly, I was just curious about his findings of our condition. Especially if it was going to get as bad as he said. I definitely want to prevent that from happening.

I followed him into a hotel room, which he turned into a complete mess. There were graphs laying everywhere, calendars full of incomprehensible scribbles, along with sketches and books on sea snails... There were also several bags of salt lying around... I wanted to ask questions, but I just didn’t know where to start.

But the most peculiar thing was what appeared to be a giant machine. It seemed to have been broken. Not through a mechanical failure, but more as if something bashed it apart and rendered it dysfunctional.

“Alright, here’s the spell I would like you to cast.” He flipped through a magic school textbook. “It supposedly reveals the true nature of things.”

“Oh, veritatem revelandam?”

“You know it?”

“Yeah, it’s one of the final exam items.”

“Splendid! Can you cast it?”

“Sure, but why? Are you suspecting somepony of being a changeling?”

“Well... Not a changeling... It’s a bit complicated and I feel I already overwhelmed you with too much new information. I’ll tell you after you describe what you see.”

They say curiosity is a trait that sets apart the exceptional from the average, but it can also be a fool’s game and downright dangerous. I felt like I was that fool for going along with Hooves’ ideas. The potential for knowledge was beckoning me, as if casting that spell was going to answer all of my questions.

So I did it. I closed my eyes, casted the spell and the world turned inside-out around me. I looked around, while keeping my eyes closed and saw that some of Hooves’ items had this odd distorted aura around them. Like their existence was not meant to be. But these were just books and papers. The broken machine was phasing in and out of existence before my eyes.

But the most peculiar thing was the aura around Doctor Hooves. When somepony isn’t what they seem to be, then I’d see the silhouette of their real form. The silhouette around Hooves looked like a hole in space and time, a shapeless crystal ball that can show past present and future. I’ve been told that what the spell shows can be vague and there are ponies who studied the right way of interpreting these visions... I didn’t, so I had no idea what I was looking at.

“What do you see?” He asked me.

“I... I’m not sure...”

“...What does it look like?” He pressed further.

“Your silhouette... It looks like... Like... Like a hole in reality... Where the beginning and end of the universe are happening at the same time over and over again.”

“Interesting...” He didn’t know what to do with that information. To be fair to him, I wasn’t entirely sure what I was saying either.

“Some of your items have a similar aura as well.”

“Ah, this might be the right time to tell you why I needed you to cast this spell. You see-“

“What is that?” I cut him off in surprise. As I glanced back at him I saw this enormous mass of fleshy glob-entity following him around. It had a shell, covered in eyes forming and unforming repeatedly, many of them extending into thin tendrils, coiling around Hooves’ silhouette. And they were all fixated on him, like a cat waiting for an opportunity to pounce.

“What is it? What do you see?” His voice got filled with a hint of worry.

I couldn’t answer. I saw the creature’s eyes suddenly turning to me. Its formless body expanded and a pitch-black opening appeared in its middle. The opening suddenly reached out and like a frog’s tongue, it launched out to me. My vision blackened and I could feel it jerking my head around violently.

I opened my eyes and everything was back to normal, except for Hooves’ distressed expression.

“Oh no!” He trembled.

“What is it? What happened?” I started panicking.

“...N-no... Don’t worry... Stay calm and listen to me.” He frantically attempted a calm demeanour.

“I can feel something on my horn, what is it?” I panicked further.

“No! No... Don’t worry about it. Here is a spell that can fix it.”

“It hurts! It’s hurting my horn!” I tried to shoot an energy beam to get rid of it. But whatever attached itself to my horn has absorbed it and expanded. It felt heavy and slimy and began dripping down on my face.

“Don’t look at it! Here!” Hooves showed a scroll in my face. “I used this spell for my time-machine, it will fix it!”

“Time machine?! What is going on?!”

“Just do it! There is still time! I’ll explain later!”

I would have questioned further, but the blob of flesh was now chipping away at the outer keratin layers on my horn and it was extremely painful. So I panicked and casted the spell. It looked like a very complicated spell, so I just winged it. I casted it as I read along, without really understanding what any of it meant.

There was a bright flash of light. A loud dissonant mess of voices blasted past my ears, words and laughter flew back into my throat and the pain in my horn disappeared without a trace...

...

Chapter 2

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...

...

Chapter 3

Whatever happens, I must not let it cross over into our physical realm. As long as it’s still fixated on me, we’re relatively safe, but I must stop expecting others to do my job. I’m well aware that my mind is falling apart, but I should not let that get in my way. This is beyond social norms; I must cease the pleasantries if I want to find a way to destroy it.

I was back in the clinic, the cycle of events starting all over again. All my memories were lost and that intense feeling of déjà vu, was stronger than ever. I collected myself and finished up the operation. Once the patient was gone, I used my time to gather my thoughts. The first thing I noticed was a scroll lying on my table. Somehow it was the only thing that didn’t feel out of place, almost as if part of me was expecting to see it. There was a very complicated spell written on it, but something was written on its back as well.

“Moondancer’s book!” That’s what was written there, with a rushed horn-writing that was clearly not mine, complete with a signature I couldn’t recognize. I asked her about it once we met up at Donut Joe’s, but she had no I idea what I was talking about.

“What book?” She stared at me blankly.

“Oh, I was hoping you’d know... Because I don’t.”

She seemed even more confused than before.

I sighed and took out the scroll. “I found this scroll in my office and it has ‘Moondancer’s book’ written on its back.”

They all looked at each-other, hoping that one of them had an answer to what was going on.

“Well, I did find an interesting book called ‘Creatures from Beyond’...” Said Moondancer.

“Wait, what do you mean you found that scroll in your office?” Lemon chimed in. “Did somepony leave it there?”

“That’s the thing,” I said, “I don’t know... It’s all so strange... I had like a spontaneous amnesia. It felt like I just woke up from a dream, almost like my usual déjà vu episodes. But this time I forgot everything that happened today and I was having déjà vu about what I forgot about. I don’t even remember waking up this morning.”

Lemon insisted that I take a break and take another look at my condition, while Lyra and Moondancer looked at the issue with a hint of curiosity. Twinkleshine was the one to take us back on track.

“Wait, what’s the scroll about anyway?” She interjected.

“It looks like some sort of spell.” I said.

“Oh, but what a spell!” Moondancer exclaimed as she took the scroll. “This is some super advanced stuff. Something that I’d try to learn to impress the lecturers at Celestia’s school.”

“It looks like some kind of time spell to me.” Twinkleshine added.

“Yeah, I can see that.” Moondancer replied. “But it doesn’t specify the time or location or anything.”

“Wait, you’re telling me this is a base spell?” Lemon prodded.

“And why is it signed by Doctor Hooves?” Lyra threw a curveball into the conversation. They turned the scroll to look at the signature only Lyra could recognize.

“I was going to ask about that too.” I said. “I have no idea who that is.”

“E-excuse me!” A voice from outside our group called out to us. It was a stallion, sitting at a table next to ours. “This Doctor Hooves might be me, but I don’t believe we have ever met before.”

The confusion grew to a point, where it started to turn into an odd sense of fear. Especially for me; we never met before, but he looked so familiar to me.

“So let me get this straight,” Lemon got really disconcerted, “you forget everything about your day in the middle of it and for whatever reason you have an advanced time spell on your table, which has a note about one of Moondancer’s books, signed by a pony you don’t even know?”

I had no idea what to say; I understood just as much of the situation as Lemon did.

“I think I may have an idea what’s going on.” The stallion called Hooves approached us.

“I really hope you do,” Lemon groaned, “because I’m starting to lose my mind over here.”

He read through the scroll. He nodded, as he recognized the spell. “This is indeed a time spell.” He stated. “To be more specific, one that reverses the flow of time. Nothing is specified, so it defaults to about half a day.”

“Oh, so Minuette is a time-traveller!” Lyra exclaimed.

“Wait,” I pressed further, “is that why my memory’s gone?”

“Could be.” He replied dryly. “This spell needs to be used in conjunction with other spells; it doesn’t just reverse time, it resets everything to the previous state, including memories. I say it’s very possible you used it, but without protecting your memories.” He then turned the scroll around, to confirm that it was indeed his own hoof-writing. “What did you say what book have you read today?” He asked Moondancer.

“Creatures from Beyond.” She answered.

Hooves thought for a moment. “May, we take a look at this book?” He asked. “I have a theory, but I don’t want to say anything just yet.”

We followed Moondancer back to her house. It was clear that she couldn’t wait to talk about the creatures she read about in the book, because she couldn’t stop raving about it on the way. Hooves tried to stay focused, but the proposed origin of the Ursa Major took him on an adventure of the mind. He couldn’t help but be sucked into the black hole that is Moondancer’s brain. Soon afterwards Lyra and Twinkleshine joined in, while Lemon just kept rolling her eyes at the absurd stories. She looked at me for reassurance, but I kept my mind open to all of it, in case any of it explains what’s going on. I was just so eager to find out, that my mind sucked up all information thrown its way.

Hooves got his focus back once we arrived at Moondancer’s house. Moondancer flipped the book open with excitement, ready to gush about all the creatures inside it. But this time, Hooves just told her to keep going after hearing the names. Then suddenly, he slammed one hoof down on a page.

“This one!” He exclaimed.

“Mogalon?” Moondancer read the creature’s name out loud.

“Keep reading.” Hooves ordered, in a tone much different to his usually chipper attitude.

Moondancer read the creature’s description out loud. According to the book, the Mogalon was a creature created by Grogar, from an assorted collection of carnivorous sea snails, for the purpose of hunting down a class of grand wizards known as chronomancers. These wizards would eventually banish the Mogalon into the void between planes of existence, but then they disappeared shortly afterwards. There were none of them left by the end of that century.

“What’s the big deal?” Lyra interjected as she crunched down on her salty treats. “It’s a snail, just dump a bunch of salt on it and get done with it!”

Lemon tapped her hoof on the floor. “How in the hay is any of this related to Minuette’s condition?”

Hooves turned a solemn face to her. His eyes then darted onto the bookshelves and began browsing. “Do you per chance, have a book about the wizard orders of the past?”

“Of course I do!” Moondancer happily took off another book from the shelf that was organized in a way only she could make sense of. “Forgotten Orders”, was the title of the book. She began flipping through it. “I know, I heard the term chronomancer before. A-ha!” She pointed at a paragraph in the ‘hypothetical’ section.

There were many wizard orders whose existence haven’t been proven yet, but have been mentioned in literature. Tales and legends that recall their exploits. Many of them converged into one order later on and their existence only remained in name, while some of them were so ancient that they barely left anything behind. Then there were the chronomancers, who were mentioned only in specific writings and only up to a certain century. But everything about them is totally gone without a trace. Even their supposed central site of pilgrimage is just an empty field, with not even a ruin left behind.

Lemon was really losing her patience at this point. “So I ask again: How is any of this relevant?”

“Oh, it is very relevant.” Hooves talked in a grim tone. “In fact, it is the answer to both her condition and the memory loss.”

“I gotta side with Lemon here.” Moondancer commented. “While all of this is fascinating, it also seems like kind of a non-sequitur.”

“Aren’t you curious about where the chronomancers went?” Hooves asked.

“They meddled with time.” Lemon stated. “They probably accidentally prevented themselves from being born or something.”

“I say,” Hooves asserted, “they are very much still around. And the Mogalon is still hunting them.”

Lemon got visibly frustrated with how cryptic Hooves was acting. “Again, how is this relevant?”

Hooves then turned to me. “You’ve been experiencing episodes of intense déjà vu all your life, correct?”

“Y-yes...” I replied, not knowing where he was going.

“To the point that, as a foal, you thought you were a time-traveller, right?”

“R-right...” I got a bit worried about how specific he was getting.

“And you also started experiencing spontaneous memory loss as well.”

“Today was the first time for me, yes.”

“Right...” He paused. “Have you noticed we’ve got the same cutie-mark?” He turned sideways and showed his flank to me.

I haven’t noticed, up to that point, but he was right. We did have the same exact yellow hourglass cutie-mark.

“Oh right,” Lyra chimed in, “we even talked about that back in Ponyville.”

“Exactly and something must be behind it!” Hooves kept going, his calm demeanour softly eroding away. “Both of us have the same condition, on top of having the same exact cutie-mark!”

“Isn’t it like, a miniature seizure or something?” Lemon said in a somewhat condescending tone.

“Then explain the shared cutie-mark!”

“Pff, I don’t know. I’m sure there are plenty of explanations beyond old dumb mythologies.”

“There’s just simply no way that it’s a coincidence! There is a reason behind both of us having the same cutie-mark and the same condition.”

“Well, here’s the thing,” Lemon tapped her hoof in frustration, “Minuette is not freaking crazy! If this is how she might end up, then we need to find a solution instead of reading about cosmic snails and time-wizards!”

“We are the chronomancers!” Hooves shouted. “They didn’t disappear! They fled into the future, where they could be born again, outside of the Mogalon’s grasp!”

His ravings were followed by silence, a mix of awe and bewilderment sitting in everypony’s eyes, with a hint of fear. Even Lemon, who was so assertive a moment ago, didn’t know how to respond to that.

Lyra was the one to step in. “Alright Hoovesy,” she tried comforting him, “sit down and breathe. Collect your thoughts and think about something pleasant.”

Moondancer took down one of her old notebooks from psychology class.

“I’m sorry.” Hooves talked with sweat pouring from his face. “This chronic déjà vu has been eating at my mind for so long... Months pass and I remember nothing about them. I don’t even know what’s real anymore.”

Looking at him I felt pity, but I also felt fear. His mental state was clearly unstable and I was afraid that I would turn out this way too “Is this how I’ll end up as well?” I whimpered.

“Don’t worry, Minu.” Lemon turned to me, now with a calm demeanour. “You take a day off, go to a doctor and we’ll figure out something.”

“The doctor won’t know anything.” Hooves grumbled. “They’ll tell her the same story about seizures.”

“Yeah, which is more believable than your theory about unborn time wizards.”

“Actually,” Moondancer chimed in, “that may not be that far-fetched. His behaviour is showing symptoms of meddling with otherworldly magic.”

“Yes, the kind of magic we’re told not to mess with,” Lemon asserted, “because our brains will turn into mush.”

“I think it’s worth looking into.” Lyra said. “At least for the heck of it.”

“But all of this is so ridiculous!” Lemon insisted. “Even the stories by themselves are ridiculous.”

Lyra got argumentative. “In a world of hybrid animals and magic coming out your forehead, can anything truly be ridiculous?”

“Yes!” Lemon declared loudly. “Not everything is real! I met a scraggly old hobo the other day, who was really adamant that I was a pile of raisins walking on stilts. Are you going to give his insanity a chance too?”

“I would...” I interjected meekly. “If my condition could get this serious, I don’t want to take my chances.”

I could tell that Lemon saw my point, as her frustrated expression eased up. “Fine,” she sighed, “how about this? I cast veritatem revelandam and see if there’s anything weird going on around you.”

“Seems logical.” Said Moondancer. “If Hooves and Minuette truly have the same destiny, then they should look the same way through the spell.

“Or, reveal that Hooves is a changeling!” Lyra prodded.

“That too...” Moondancer pondered.

“Doesn’t that spell take you exactly where the Mogalon lives?” Twinkleshine asked.

“It does.” Hooves muttered. “We have tried that before, it’s dangerous.”

“This thing eats chronomancers, right? Well I am not a chronomancer.” Lemon reassured.

“No, it’s going to use you as a portal and emerge through you!”

Lemon ran a hoof across her face, while groaning. “Fine! You two stand in front of me and I’ll cast it for just a second. There’s no way anything will cross over in just a second, right?”

Hooves said nothing, but we could tell he refused to agree to it.

“Look Hooves,” I stepped up to him, “I’m scared too. But there’s no other way of confirming this part of your theory. Lemon is a capable unicorn, she knows how to cast a spell safely.”

Lemon nodded.

“Oh... A-alright...” Hooves agreed apprehensively. “But only for one second.”

“Yes, yes, just one second, I promise.” Lemon said. She walked to the middle of the room. Hooves and I positioned ourselves right in front of her. She closed her eyes and cast the spell. With her horn now glowing, she kept looking at us.

“Wow, you guys look so weird!” She exclaimed.

“You can tell us later, now open your eyes.” Hooves hurried her.

But she ignored him. “You both look like... Like... Like a hole in space and time.”

“Good, so my theory is confirmed.” Hooves talked quickly. “Now open your eyes!”

“What is going on with that scroll?” Lemon asked, pointing at the time spell I brought. “It’s all wobbly and keeps fading in and out.”

“Because it’s been used before.” Hooves explained. “It doesn’t belong in this timeframe.”

“Oh no,” Twinkleshine fretted, “that confirms the existence of the Mogalon.”

“Yes, Lemon, you should get the heck out of there!” Lyra added.

“Exactly!” Hooves raised his voice. “It’s been way longer than a second!”

“Alright guys, calm your ticks,” Lemon cut them off, “I am not seeing any snails around here.” She walked around, as if she was actually looking for something, but it was more of a cocky saunter to rub it in.

“Nothing?” Hooves inquired.

“Not a single cosmic mollusc around here.”

“But... But...” Hooves stuttered. “It must be there.”

“I wonder whose eyes those are.” Lemon pointed at the ceiling.

“No!” Hooves screamed and lunged at Lemon Hearts.

Lemon groaned in pain and we all rushed to see if she was hurt. Hooves got off her and Lemon was laying there motionless. She kept moaning in pain. We approached her apprehensively, but then she got off the ground and screamed as a big mass of amorphous flesh emerged from her horn and quickly covered her entire head.

Twinkleshine scrambled and grabbed Lyra’s salty treats and threw it onto the creature. As the salt made contact with its slimy skin, it crumpled up like a piece of paper and slid off Lemon’s face. She quickly got up and ran to the other end of the room.

“Is that the thing?!” She shouted. “Is that the Mogalon?!”

“It might be.” Moondancer answered.

We watched as the snail monster writhed on the ground, like an abandoned paper bag rustling in the wind, shedding pieces of dried slime everywhere.

“It’s really not as threatening as I imagined.” Twinkleshine was downright disappointed to see a living being so pathetic.

“I can’t believe that actually worked.” Lyra added.

We continued watching as it squirmed in place, trying to fold itself back together. Lyra wanted to approach it, so she could take a closer look, but Hooves held her back. His face showed an odd mix of emotions, as if he couldn’t decide whether he should be afraid or relieved or perhaps feel pity for the twisting chunk of crumpled meat.

Is this the creature that pushed him to the ends of his sanity? Is this what I’ve been trying to avoid by reversing time? It looked so pathetic. I was sure that there was more to it, but our eyes were telling us, that we were finally safe from it.

We were too quick to judge the situation. The Mogalon suddenly started vibrating, its body became glassy and its visage reflected off the air around it. The amorphous reflections of it then converged into the creature and it began to rapidly expand in size. The disgusting slurping sound its rapid healing made, like a vow of revenge. Before we knew it, it was sliding across the floor like a malicious shadow. It made a wide spiral across the bookshelf, leaving behind a trail of its own expanding body and with the speed of a striking snake, it pounced onto Twinkleshine’s back leg. In a mere moment it covered almost the entirety of her behind.

Moondancer couldn’t stand to see her friend in danger. She lighted up her horn and fired a beam of energy into the beast. It let go of Twinkleshine, only to form its entire body into a single blob and crawl across Moondancer’s laserbeam, like a carnivorous vine colony, growing faster than the brain can comprehend. And when it reached her horn, its body formed a thick drape across Moondancer’s entire being and engulfed her into a slimy ball.

I tried to step in with my own energy beam, but Lemon held me back, knowing that the same would happen to me too. We couldn’t help but watch as Moondancer’s shape swiftly turned amorphous and liquid-like, accompanied by her muffled screaming. And then it all stopped, with only the monster’s slimy body remaining, the eyes on its shell darting around as if it was pondering which one of us was next.

Hooves jumped in-between it and us. “Run!” He shouted. “I’ll save some time for you!”

“But it’s going to eat you too!” I shouted back.

“Doesn’t matter; you have the spell to reverse this. Just take the information with you.”

I tried objecting, but the Mogalon was already towering above Hooves, like an enormous mouth preparing to swallow him as well. Lemon gave me a shove and we all ran. But the creature was blocking the entrance, so we ran deeper into the house to find a different way out.

We finally found the right window to flee out of. Twinkleshine flung it open, but the Mogalon’s eyestalks were already staring back at her from the outside. They coiled around her and quickly pulled her out. Lemon tried to pull her back in, only to get the eyestalks all over her as well. In a matter of seconds, both of them disappeared without a trace, into the monster’s swirling flesh.

The walls began to crumble. Lyra and I soon found ourselves, completely surrounded by the creature, as its slime grinded up the house’s walls. Lyra cast a shield around us, but it wasn’t going to stop our demise.

“Minuette!” She screamed. “You have to go back!”

“This is all my fault!” I broke down. “I should have never agreed to this! I should have never even mentioned any of this!”

“No! You can go back and stop it!”

“I’m only going to restart the cycle!”

“Do what the doctor said! Write down all that you learned today and it’ll come back with you.”

“But there’s no way to stop it!”

The shield began to crack and the Mogalon’s elastic flesh seeped into the cracks, widening them. Lyra grabbed my face and as she stared into my eyes, she screamed: “Insides don’t grow back! Now go!” She then pushed me away, as the shield finally shattered, letting the Mogalon in.

In a sudden surge of emotions, I teleported out into the street, finally escaping the monster’s grasp. I looked back at what used to be Moondancer’s house and only saw this enormous fleshy pile of glassy slime, undulating around as it swallowed the last one of my friends.

Ponies around were watching in terror, completely oblivious to what went down inside. Luckily for them, the creature was there for me, not them. And as its shell emerged from the other side of its body, blotting out the sun’s light, the shifting eyestalks all fixated on me.

Despair turned into rage. I never felt so much hate for anything, than the noxious gaze I was staring back into. It came for me, but still senselessly devoured all my friends and then it had the arrogance to taunt me with its thousand bubbling eyeballs, goading me to reverse time and come face to face with it again. There was no escape from its malice.

It was clear in my mind what I needed to do. I wanted to kill it...

Chapter 4

Seems my cutie-mark has changed. There are now two white spots on it, the reflection of the glass. That means the pain that I had to deal with for so long has finally been lifted off me, the creature is no longer after me; it has served its purpose. It is now all up to Dr. Minuette.

This is exactly what I wanted to avoid! I am such a fool! This is all my fault!

I was back in my clinic again, with my memories gone. This time was going to be the last. I didn’t write down anything that I learned in the previous future; I only wrote two simple sentences instead. “Get Twilight’s memory spell. Don’t tell anypony anything.” I even signed it with my name. Of course, I didn’t remember why I had the scroll and why I set myself those two objectives, but I wasn’t going to question myself.

As soon as I could, I went to the restricted section of the magic library. Even though Twilight’s spell is a benign one, its full capabilities haven’t been tested yet. And untested spells need to be kept in the restricted section. Thankfully, I was allowed access once I graduated from Celestia’s school and got my permit to do research on these untested spells.

I ran into Moondancer on my way. I told her that I just needed to look into something. She wanted to come with me, but I didn’t let her. I told her to get to the girls at Joe’s and I’ll get back in about an hour or so. She could tell something was off, but she trusted me and done as I said.

Getting into the restricted section was easy, but actually finding Twilight’s spell was difficult. I just had no idea where to look. Eventually, I found it, laying on a table, almost as if somepony copied it in a hurry and didn’t bother putting it back into its place. One of the library pencils was next to it and it had teeth marks on it, which means a non-unicorn has been using it at some point.

There was no way to cast the spell on myself, since the spell requires a focus item, in some way connected to the target of the spell. That’s how Twilight used it as well, to fix her friends’ cutie-marks and revert the memories of who they are. Unfortunately, I don’t have an element of harmony and I don’t remember projecting my essence onto any object. But I had an idea. I focused the memory spell into the scroll with the time reversal spell. I figured, I have probably used it already and that’s why it was with me. This would mean, I tore it from its natural place in time and space, in which case it is very much connected to me. I thought it was worth a shot anyway.

Once I imbued the scroll with the memory spell, I touched it. The re-emergence of lost memories was overwhelming. The memories of all the alternate futures zipped through my mind and I had to watch my friends get devoured by the monster again. But most importantly, I remembered who I am, what the monster was and most of all, that it is my duty to destroy it. When the flood of memories ended and I was back in the library, I found myself being stared at by my friends and Doctor Hooves.

“What happened?” Lemon asked me.

“Are you okay?” Moondancer helped me up.

Doctor Hooves stepped forward to me and in a stern voice he asked: “Do you remember now?”

“I do.” I answered. “And I know exactly what I need to do.”

“Remember what?” Lemon questioned further.

“Wait, since when did you know each-other?” Lyra added.

I remembered back to what Lyra said in that alternate future. “I need salt,” I stated, “lots of salt!”

“Are we eating something?” Lyra joked.

“But Minuette,” Hooves got concerned, “we have already tried that and it didn’t work.”

“Insides don’t grow back.” I repeated Lyra’s wisdom.

Nopony understood what we were talking about, but I assured them that I’d explain it later, so they went with it. Soon we all gathered at my house, everypony with bags of salt stacked into large piles.

“Would you tell us already what you need all this salt for?” Lemon glared at me impatiently.

I didn’t actually want to explain it to them. The whole story is a lot to take in and I wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible.

“I want to destroy something.” I gave a vague answer.

“Destroy what?” Lemon prodded further. “A river’s ecosystem?”

“But you can’t!” Hooves tried to talk me out of it. “We have already tried and it didn’t work!”

“I know what to do and I know how to do it.” I asserted.

“What the hay are you two talking about?!” Lemon swung her hoof in the air in frustration.

“Don’t worry about it.” I withheld my answer with a melancholic smile. I grabbed all the bags of salt with my magic and turned to the others. “We’ll meet at the Crystal Cave’s entrance. If I’m not there in... Three hours, then consider me dead.”

Of course, that last statement concerned them greatly, but I didn’t wait for their reaction. I teleported inside the caves under Canterlot; I remembered glimpses of it, from back when I was under the changeling Queen’s spell. As a doctor, I was taught ways to resist mind spells, so she had to take some extra effort to fully put me under her control. Who would have thought, that I’d have to fight another monster in the same spot?

I prepared to cast veritatem revelandam once more. But before I did, I cut open one bag of salt and poured its contents onto the ground. I closed my eyes and casted the spell. I looked around me and the monster slowly revealed itself to me. It was much larger than the last time I have come face to face with it. I could see it swirling above me like a supercell, the odious sound of its bubbling eyeballs, like laughter at my inevitable doom.

“Bring it!” I taunted the creature.

As expected, it latched itself onto my horn and soon covered my entire head. As its physical body began to form and slowly overwhelm me with its size, I threw myself face-first into the puddle of salt I prepared.

It let go of my face, its slimy body fizzed as it writhed away in its pain. But soon, the rest of its body erupted from the dried wound and its full size materialized in front of me. Then its shell emerged, with all eye stalks fixated on me, as if it was saying “You’ll pay for that.”

I stared it down and waited for its next attack. Its body expanded like an enormous mouth and loomed over me. It grabbed me and then wrestled me inwards. I’ve come face to face with its noxious radula. A small tentacle-like appendage emerged from the side and stabbed me, injecting a paralyzing poison into me. But before it could take over me, I teleported one bag of salt into my hooves and pushed it straight into its feeding hole. Its radula pulled the bag inside, the rows of teeth sliced the bag open and the salt poured right down its esophagus.

A torrent of salinated saliva erupted into my face and the creature spat me out against the cave’s walls. It retreated, gurgling in agony, leaving behind a trail of foam. Its bubbling eyestalk retracted into its shell, the pupils inside vibrating in painful confusion. It tried to buy some time, as the poison took control of my body. But before the paralysis could fully set in, I sliced open several other bags of salt and I levitated all of it behind me, like tall menacing snakes ready to strike. I hobbled towards it, faster than it could crawl away and in a last surge of strength I forced its mouth open and directed the streams of salt straight at its wounded radula.

It gurgled, as the salt poured down into its body, crumpling up its insides. A putrid mix of slimy blood, salt and gastric acid exploded out from its esophagus. The burning flood threw me on the ground, as the paralyzing poison finally took over. I lied in the growing puddle of acid, covered in chunks of dried up organs. I could do nothing but watch as the once fearsome monster squirmed in agony, as its body slowly shrivelled up, its eyes no longer forming, only unforming. The horrid gurgling echoed through the caves.

With time, the monster’s suffering ended and it was nothing but a formless unrecognizable mess, leaning against the cave’s wall. The acidic solution that used to be its internal anatomy made a fizzing lake, of which I was lying in the middle. I could feel the acid dissolve my fur and burn at my skin. The last thing I could hear was the echoes of Lyra’s voice screaming my name over and over.

...

Epilogue

I woke up thinking another time loop has began. I was in that state, where you are waking up, but your mind is still dreaming. I tried reassuring the patient, that I just remembered something important, the same way I have done four times already, but I realized he wasn’t there. Then the confusion set in, as I realized I was lying down and I could hear the beeping of a heart monitor. Suddenly, excruciating pain flashed through all of my skin. I could feel it folding and pulling with every tiny move I took. I tried screaming in pain, but every bit of air burned at my throat. Three doctors rushed up to me to try and calm me down and keep me from moving too much.

Eventually, my mind cleared up and there was no doubt, time has stopped looping. This was, in fact, the present, after everything went down and time has not been reversed again. Finally I remembered what happened and why I was in the hospital. Although part of me wishes I didn’t.

I could hear Lyra’s voice in the distance somewhere. “Is she okay?” She kept repeating, with a doctor trying to reassure her after each time. I glanced to the side and could vaguely make out the colours of my friends, through my dried eyes; even blinking was painful, so I had to be mindful about that as well.

With time, I got used to the pain. I no longer needed to put effort into maintaining basic functions like blinking. Several hours must have gone by, because I could see the light of the sun turn red and fade away. At night, the doctors deemed me stable enough to visit, so I finally got to have some words with my friends.

I could see that Lyra had burn marks scattered all over herself. They did not wait at the cave’s entrance, like I told them to. They went in and followed the sound of my struggles with the Mogalon. When they found me, I was lying motionless, in the middle of a big puddle of acid, created by the creature’s blood, mixing with the salt and its powerful gastric acid. And Lyra, without hesitation, ran straight in to get me out. A decision she says she didn’t regret, because I could have gotten into a much worse condition if they waited for Lemon Hearts to get a rescue team.

The thing that made me the most happy, was Hooves confirming, that the Mogalon was, in fact, dead. The salt has drained all moisture from inside its body and all of its internal organs shrivelled up and mummified. He even showed me a piece of its body, which he preserved in a glass jar as a sort of harrowing souvenir. It looked like a piece of ancient driftwood.

The others took to cancelling all my appointments for the time being. They hung a message on the door of my clinic, notifying my patients, that I am in the hospital and unable to operate. I felt somewhat disappointed, but I allowed myself this small bit of “selfishness.”

Most importantly however, news of the incident spread far across all of Equestria, especially in the wizard community. For a long time, both the Mogalon and the fable of the chronomancers were considered nothing but legends. Tales with basis in reality, but distorted through exaggerations and the myth turned larger than the truth. But now there was proof of the Mogalon’s existence, which might mean that the tales of both the chronomancer order and Grogar could be true. Large-scale investigations began, finding the truth about Grogar’s creations and long forgotten wizard orders. And time magic has gained a huge following, of which Hooves have become an important figure.

Even the princesses got involved. Twilight Sparkle herself became a leader of the movement, which lead to ponies dubbing her as “the princess of science.” She and Moondancer ended up reuniting in the midst of it, as Twilight’s extensive knowledge of objective history paired well with Moondancer’s fascination with the obscure. Even Lyra’s anthropology got swept up in it, as ponies’ minds opened up to the mysteries of the very distant past.

My déjà vu has not gone away. In fact, it only got stronger. At least, now I know that it’s not just a miniature seizure. I decided to explore the capabilities of Twilight’s memory spell with the help of Lemon Hearts and Twinkleshine, hoping that it would help in some way. No more spontaneous amnesia however and Dr. Hooves said that his condition has healed completely, which makes me happy.

However, I want to keep to my humble life as a dentist. I had one time related adventure and that was way enough for me. Saving all of Equestria is a kind of responsibility that I will save for those who can handle it. A waste of potential? Perhaps. But saving foals from a crippling fear of the dentist is enough adventure for me.

But if chronomancer duty ever calls again, I must heed it.

I can’t believe it... Is it truly over? I haven’t had another déjà vu or spontaneous amnesia for months. I still can’t believe that Minuette managed to destroy my tormentor all by herself. I will continue my research into chronomancy, now knowing what forces not to mess with. Hopefully, I can give this responsibility back to those who were meant to deal with it... Because I’m clearly not one of them anymore. That is a huge weight lifted off my shoulders.

But most importantly: I am finally free!