Counterclockwise

by AdrianJNovelle

Explanation

Thunder boomed and lightning crackled.

I hissed and rubbed my forehead with my hoof.

"Oh, right - your headache! Would you like me to get you some medicine, Ms. Sparkle?" Dr. Zimmermare asked.

"No, please..." I flinched. "That's quite alright. It'll be fine in the morning, I'm sure. I just need a break from jumping around - it's starting to take a toll on my body."

"WeIl, I doubt that will be a problem, ma'am. You're stuck here still the storm passes...well, unless you want to venture out into that hellhole, but I don't personally recommend it."

"Don't kid yourself," I said, flinching from my sheering head-pain. "Now, back to what you were saying about technology and the TMS?"

"Hmm? Ooh! Yes! Right!" Dr. Zimmermare cleared his throat. "Technology, Ms. Sparkle...it's a very sophisticated and dangerous tool to play with. It allows us to advance in our understanding of the world around us, but also inhibits on the purity of life. The ponies of my time are unfortunate to be living in this realm of time - as well as every pony from now until the end of time and the universe itself. Technology will only continuously advance - never decline - and life for us will only decline - never advance. Are you with me so far?"

"Yeah...I am."

"You came from when? One million, eight hundred thousand-something?"

"Yeah."

"The ponies of your native timeline are of the luckiest ponies in history. They are residing their entire lives in a time of ponity in which technology, purity, and harmony are one. Harmony still dominates our society here - for the most part - but the introduction of more advanced machinery and the industrialization of superior technology has only desecrated all the remaining purity of the world. Hoovesville used to be a peaceful, harmonious wonderland; but now stands as a tragic, disgraceful place of sadness and doubt. Technology has allowed us to expand our knowledge of the world. Too much, in my humble opinion. We know everything that the ponies of your time know, and tons more. We know how to travel through time and how to grow a plethora of crops with a fraction of the effort ponies in your era require. It's outstanding! But it's also horrible.

"There is now an imbalance of technology and purity, technology possessing the upper hand. We do more than power our homes so we can see at night and use helpful contraptions to harvest our farms: we use robots, androids, nanoprobes, weaponry beyond your wildest imagination - partially because in your time, all the weaponry which existed was only in possession of the Royal Guard, if I'm not utterly mistaken. Most of any other form of weaponry came from your magic. Magic is used less than machinery now. And, as the years pass, it will only worsen."

"How do you know anything about the ponies of my era?"

"I'm a bibliophile. I've always loved books - partically historical ones - so I could learn about how fascinating the past is, instead of this crummy wasteland ponies call Hoovesville."

"I'm a bibliophile, too!" I exclaimed.

"I know, Ms. Sparkle," Dr. Zimmermare chuckled. "You mentioned so a few times in your story."

"So...why were you so interested in historical books in particular?"

"Because," he began. "I'm miserable here. After reading countless books - both fiction and nonfiction - about the past, I began to grow beyond a fascination, and more of a desire to be in the past, and thus, become a time-traveler, such as yourself. I did travel around a few times for mere moments - until the TMS caught up with me, and brought me back to this gloomy hellhole. I started building a time machine of my own - one in which I could use to outsmart the TMS by living in the past, but not changing anything of the future or time itself. All the TMS really care about is change. But, sadly, even your very presence can change a timeline, and so they strictly prohibit the use of time-travel magic. I believe that with a few modifications, I can have my time machine bring me to the past without creating any paradoxes or temporal displacements or anything - so I may live in a time where life was worth living."

"Has anyone ever tried to go back in time to prevent the TMS from forming? That could easily be done."

"Sadly, no. Believe me: many ponies have considered such an act: even those who agreed to only manipulate the fabric of time by this single event: if it means to rid ourselves of the dreaded TMS. But we are unsure of who or what exactly caused the TMS to form. So no one who even attempted it have been successful. That is...until now."

My eyes widened.

I'm the reason the Temporal Manipulation Squad formed!

My first travel through time forty-something years ago with that spell that I used to warn myself not to panic had no effect on space-time, so the TMS had no reason to form - since there was no distruption of the space-time contiuum. But, twenty-five or so years later, having mastered the art of time-travel, I now stand as an obstacle for the TMS, and it was my initial jump from the time of Princess Cadence's Great Disaster (1,849,292) which set the TMS in motion: because I had tampered with the fabric of time, and was now listed as Equestria's Hoovesville's Most Wanted.

Buck.

Lightning sparked in the distance, shortly followed by a roar of thunder. The storm appeared to be receding.

"You look tired, Ms. Sparkle," Dr. Zimmermare said. "Why don't I show you to your bedroom? You can rest, give your headache some time to go away, and contemplate on what you want to do for after you leave this year."

I stared up at the huge windows of Dr. Zimmermare's parlor. I did not wish to rest, but between my exhaustion, my headache, and the violent but abating storm, I had no choice but to sleep the rest of this night away.

"After you," I said.