Counterclockwise

by AdrianJNovelle

Out There

"Who are you?" Twilight inquired innocently.

"That is none of your concern," replied the stallion. "But I am head of the Temporal Manipulation Squad, and don't think we aren't aware of all of your jumps through time, Twilight."

"I know you're aware."

The stallion scoffed. "Good. Now...I know I have encountered you before, and when I did, I told you that you don't want to see me again. And now here I am."

Twilight gulped.

"I think you know what that entitles, Miss Twilight."

"Um...you're gonna let me go off with a warning?"

The stallion faked a hearty laugh, and then shot a red-hot laser beam at Twilight's hooves, making her jump back, and hit her backside against her plaque, almost knocking the magnificent statue of herself over.

"My previous visit was a warning," he said. "Since then, you have jumped several times, hid from us for thirty-six hours, and even irradicated an alternate timeline."

Twilight's ears dropped, and her heart sank like a stone.

"We warned you." The red aura of the stallion's horn glowed bright with a deadly anticipation.

"Hold on there, Captain," said one of the two stallions who had appeared with this so-called Captain stallion but who had not said a word. "We can't convict her."

The Captain turned around.

"What in the sweet Equestria do you ever mean, Private?"

"She may have disobeyed our orders, but according to Squadron Law, she is unable to be convicted of temporal abuse."

"Elaborate!"

"The Law clearly states that if she has repaired all the damage she has done, she cannot be prosecuted. I know you know that I am paraphrasing, but-"

A flash of light.

"What the hell was-"

The Captain turned around to find the lavender mare had disappeared.

"Son of a bitch!" he roared. "She teleported!"

"Perhaps back to her own time?" asked the Private.

"No; are you crazy? She would never do that! She's trying to change reality - her reality - at our expense - and she will do nothing to stop herself until she has what she desires!" he abated his demeanor. "Nevertheless, we should not be troubling ourselves too much over the matter - whatever damage that brat causes will not be of too much trouble. After all, we have temporal scanners until the end of time. She will have to travel far, far away into the distant future to even remotely escape us, and I doubt even that is possible. We'll track her, find her, hunt her down again, and then kill her."

"Kill her, Captain?"

An unnoticeable flash of light.

"Kill her! That little wretch has crossed the line! I was even thinking about being merciful, and letting her go this time if she promises to repair all the damage she has caused to the space-time continuum, and never to use her magic to manipulate the fabric of causality again. But hoh, no, she had to disobey my direct order, and jump again - behind my own back - in an effort to escape me! That little brat will be sorry if I ever get my hooves on her!"

"Didn't the Colonel say to anticipate all this, Captain?"

"This what, Private? BE SPECIFIC!"

"This anxiety - this hesitation - this fear, that Twilight Sparkle is having towards us. We're like temporal police officers to her: a pony who grew up without such thing as law enforcement because, back in her day, there was no such thing as a criminal."

"For a pony who grew up without there being such a thing as a criminal, she sure has a way with being one herself," mumbled the Captain.

"Are we sure we should not worry about her trying to erase us from time?" asked the third stallion, also a unicorn.

"Of course, you fool! Her abuse of the space-time continuum is what formed this stupid commune! The only way for her to erase us would be to go back in time to prevent herself from jumping in the first place, which is impossible since she would have to make at least one jump to tell herself not to jump. You see?"

"My brain hurts," said the third stallion, putting his hoof to his head.

"Silence, you imbecile!" barked the Captain.

"I think Twilight might have a way to erase us, Captain," said the Private.

"Impossible."

"Not necessairly. It is under her circumstances, yes, but in theory, it wouldn't be. If she were to go back in time to before any of our founding fathers and mothers were born, she would be executing the foundation of the Squad, and thus, prevent our existence - at least as members of the Squad."

"Hmm..." pondered the Captain. "Perhaps. But, as smart as the little bitch has proven herself to be, she is obviously inferior in her intelligence to not attempt that. Therefore, we have no fear of our own termination, no matter how much she fucks up the rest of time."

---

Twilight had overheard part of the stallions' conversation. She had initially teleported out of sight of the law enforcement, but was still within earshot until the second flash of light. Was there a way to jump out of reach of the TMS? If so, how far would she have to go? Twilight could only wonder.

Her headache returned after a few jumps, but she kept trudging on, her pain going ever the more severe with each jump she made and step she took. It would all be worth it to escape those crazy cops.

5,000,000...10,000,000...15,000,000...20,000,000...25,000,000...nope. Equestria looks different - very different - but the TMS were all too aware of her.

35,000,000...50,000,000...65,000,000...80,000,000...100,000,000...nope. In fact, they might've gotten stronger over the millions of years.

Twilight's splitting headache made each jump more and more painful and harsh than the last. If she kept this up much longer, she could really hurt herself. All this physical exertion also was beginning to pay its toll on her body, which began to grow weak.

She remembered that one big, continuous jump she made to reach Dr. Zimmermare. It was a single jump: she just rode the temporal highway to a random point in time. It didn't hurt then. Granted, her head felt a little better then than it does now, but the principle is the same. So she took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and braced herself for seering head pain as she took a giant leap forward through time.

She kept her streak going for many minutes. Until finally, she felt too weak to go on.

She almost couldn't make it to her hooves.

But she was in luck.

The TMS no longer existed here.

In fact, nothing did.

As Twilight looked around, she saw nothing but wasteland, desert, and nothingness. What year was this? Based on how long it took her to get here, Twilight imagined this must at least be the year one billion. For all she knew, she could be in the year one trillion, but her head hurt too much to think. She would be stuck here for a while, until she could gather the strength to make another jump back in time.

At least the Temporal Manipulation Squad was no longer able to find her. She must be so far into the future that she's no longer visible on their temporal radar, to put it simply.

Exhausted and in pain, she wandered around, looking for any sight of any kind other than the bright Equestria sun which shined just ahead or the barren rock beneath her hooves. She finally collapsed, and lost consciousness. The interminable heat of the relentless sun kept her warm.