Counterclockwise

by AdrianJNovelle

Soliloquy

"So, did you ever hear back from this Rarity you speak of?" he asked, taking another sip of the piping-hot beverage he was holding.

"We did," I said, glancing down to the liquid I hesitated to ingest. "She wrote to us, pratically every day, and I- we could tell she was both happy to be there, and also resentful of leaving us behind. Ultimately, she did. She was unable to compromise with Hoity Toity about his business plan, and she remained in Manehattan for...well, for as long as I've seen."

"What a pity," he mumbled, a glaze look in his eyes. "You didn't visit one moment in time in which Rarity was with you again?"

"I was escaping from the law enforcement, Doc- I mean, Luis...I wasn't exactly looking around for her."

He made no immediate reply. "What about the other girls? You said there were four others, correct?"

"Right."

"What happened to them?"

"Rainbow Dash joined the Wonderbolts, and, well, pretty much the same thing happened to her. She got caught up in all her glory as the newest Wonderbolt that she forgot who we were, and then, the next thing we know, the only way we were able to see her at all was if we bought tickets and attended a Wonderbolts show...in Cloudsdale. Some 'loyal' friend she turned out to be! Oh, sure if the Shadowbolts offer her a gig - screw them! But the Wonderbolts, well," I pretended to chuckle. "That changes everything!

"Then there's what happened to Applejack. She invented a great, new apple cider which not only put her previous recipe to shame, but was even easier to produce. It became so popular, ponies from every corner of Equestria and beyond were coming in for a serving."

"Then what happened?"

"The Apple Family became so rich, their fortune overwhelmed even Filthy Rich. And that guy was loaded back when he existed. I bet his great, great, great granddaughters are still up to their ears in wealth. Granny Smith, being that her time in Equestria was limited due to her age, decided to celebrate her granddaughter's success by taking the entire Apple Family on a trip around Equestria - just for the heck of it!"

"And they were gone for twenty-five years?"

I shook my head.

"No. They returned after a few months, but by then, I had already gotten used to her absence. When she got back...I don't know...things just didn't feel the same anymore because she had been away for so long. I tried to rekindle our friendship, try to restore the spark which I thought still lingered in the depths of my beating heart, but, apparently, I had overestimated everything. Part of me wanted nothing to do with her, Rainbow Dash, or Rarity. And that was that. She moved on, and even though we grew distant, I knew I hadn't."

"What about um...Pinkie Pie?"

"Celebrity cake designer and party planner."

"Fluttershy!"

"Animal guru. She travels the world helping animals, healing them, and violently protesting against animal cruelty, thanks to that monster Iron Will, giving her some balls."

"Well, it's no wonder you came to the future, miss. You certainly had a lot to cry about, and I could easily see anypony wanting to escape: find someplace they can call home and live gaily, instead of being surrounded by misery."

"My explanation exactly...but I cannot help but miss my friends."

"I'm sure you do," Dr. Zimmermare uttered softly. "Sounds like you did a lot together as friends. And don't get me started about that spark you mentioned!"

I failed to acknowledge Dr. Zimmermare's latest retort as I glanced down to the cooled beverage in my hooves. He must've noticed the ever-so-gentle movement of my eyes.

"Aren't you gonna drink your tea, madame?" he asked quite cautiously.

I scrutinized it. "What exactly is this again?"

"I told you: it's that hay stuff you said you liked. Just oblitherated into a drinkable beverage, and then microwaved."

"So it's hay juice?"

"I believe you mean hay tea," said Dr. Zimmermare, trying to make his hoofiwork more formidable than it was.

I actually did the devil's due and sipped it. Although he was accurate in its ingredients, I have to admit that Dr. Zimmermare, sadly, is no cook. Which is ironic since he's more scientific than I am. "What happened then?" he asked as I gagged the rest of my drink down my throat.

"Well...that's actually when my life started to turn around for the better...before I got caught up in all this and got the TMS after me."

"I'm listening."

I sighed. "Well, with all the extra time I had on my hooves, I studied magic like crazy. I dove right in to every book on magic I could find, and I finished them in record times because I didn't have the magic of friendship to distract me. Then I got permission to enter the Star Swirl the Bearded suite in the Canterlot Archives, and found that damn time-travel spell again, memorized it, and then mastered it in a matter of days.

"I found - and still do - temporal manuipulation and time-travel fascinating. It amazes me how you could send someone into the past a thousand years and have them return to you a thousand years later in just a single second. It just blows my mind!" I threw my hooves up in the air, tossing the cup I was holding and causing it to crash-land on the carpeting. "Oops," I uttered, blushing.

"It's alright," Dr. Zimmermare set his cup down on the end table next to his large armchair. "You were saying?"

"I was...intrigued by these sciences which nopony has hardly touched upon, and that tore me apart. There was so much to this world that we can learn and discover - right in front of our faces - and we don't even realize it!"

"True," Dr. Zimmermare nodded once. "But there are reasons why pony civilization took so long to technologically advance. And there are reasons why the TMS exists and why they're after you."

"Really?" I leaned my chin against my hoof. "Why is that?"

Dr. Zimmermare gave a devilish grin.

Comments

[MachiMachi]

:o Rainbow ditched them for the Wonderboltz and Applejack became rich and didn't speak to Twilight. No wonder she left!

[Squirrelloid]

Sudden switch to first person is jarring.

Also having a hard time believing Pinkie Pie ever abandoned anypony. I was almost expecting an angry Pinkie Pie to break the 4th wall in the middle of Twilight's speech and protest her innocence. Okay, not actually, but it would have been funny.