//------------------------------//
// Meglosmania 
// Story: The Clock with Three Faces 
// by Sixes_And_Sevens 
//------------------------------//

The Doctor was pounding across the ground, throwing up dirt as he ran along. Rarity ran parallel to him, being very careful to avoid getting struck by the flying soil. “Doctor,” she gasped, “Not to— question the— severity— of the situation— but— perhaps we— could slow down— a tad?”
The Doctor shook his head, not slowing. “Rarity, this is Time Lord tech. Properly speaking, it shouldn’t exist, not in this universe or any other.”
“But darling— you exist— the TARDIS exists— as does— your screwdriver— and everything else— you carry,” the unicorn replied.
Moments later, she crashed into the back of the Time Lord, who had suddenly stopped moving. “I never told you, did I?” he asked. “About my planet, my people?”
Rarity frowned, thoughtful. “...No. No, I don’t believe you did. Why?”
The Doctor turned to face her, his eyes downcast. “A long time ago, there was… there was a war. Between my people and the Daleks. Er, nasty genocidal squids in pepperpots. Wasn’t fought with pies, either.” He looked up at her, a fierce intensity in his eyes. “We fought with time. Reality itself was weaponized, and innocent planets, even galaxies, were wiped out easy as blinking.”
Rarity listened, dumbstruck and more than a tad fearful of the glint of fire reflected in the stallion’s eyes. “Eventually, it all got to be too much. It had to end, someone had to do something. That someone was me. I wiped both sides completely out of time and space. Time Lords and Daleks never existed. Only me.”
He took in a deep, shuddering breath and let it back out slowly. “That’s what it’s like, travelling with me. It isn’t safe. People get hurt. Sometimes, they even die. Think about that.”
Rarity looked off into the distance, digesting this. Then, coming to a conclusion, she set her jaw and nodded. “Right. Let’s get to the dentist, shall we?”
“Eh?” The Doctor’s jaw dropped. “But— but—”
“I am hardly a stranger to danger, Doctor,” Rarity said firmly, though a smile graced her lips. “Nopony in town is. Why did you think the Apples, Thunderlane, Tender Care, Romane Holiday and Lofty Ideal, and I allowed our respective Crusaders to keep returning to your home after that adventure in Timbucktoo, hm? We’ve all been through much more unusual situations here, often of our own devising. Ponyville, as you may have noticed, tends to attract the unusual. We have, to put it succinctly, seen a few things. We all trust you to keep our loved ones safe. Now, come along, Doctor— we mustn’t dawdle around here all day.” She smirked, and broke into a gallop toward the dentist’s office. 
After a few seconds spent standing in shock, the Doctor slowly grinned. “Well, well,” he chuckled. “And here, I thought it was just my natural aptitude for trouble. Wait up, Rarity!”


***

Caramel peered down a hallway. He was uncomfortably aware of the fact that he had walked down more corridors than the rather tiny dental office could possibly contain, and still had yet to see another pony. He still, for that matter, had yet to see anything other than the unrelenting maze of corridors that seemed to stretch out into an infinity of beige walls and green carpeting. At one point, he had taken to tipping over the tables that occasionally appeared in the hallway, but stopped once he’d realized that he’d not seen any of them again. He wasn’t wandering in circles. He didn’t know what was going on, but he knew he wasn’t walking in circles. This was discomforting. He could handle being lost. He couldn’t handle… whatever this was, especially not in isolation. He wandered alone through the labyrinth of hallways, the monotony only broken by the occasional poster about flossing. Caramel shuddered at that— the notion that this was still a dentist’s office was terrifyingly surreal.
Just when he was certain that he was fated to wander these halls for eternity, there was a faint clattering. The confectioner froze. He slowly peered around the corner, looking down the hall from whence the noise had come. On one hoof, it might be something dangerous and deadly. On the other hoof, it might be a way out, or another pony, or some sort of friendly being. Or, it might be somepony in trouble— maybe Colgate. Eventually, his desire to escape the deadly monotony, combined with his curiosity, outweighed his fear, and he trotted down the corridor at a rapid clip, glancing nervously about him as though expecting an attack at any moment. Catching sight of a prone figure ahead, Caramel instinctively reared back in alarm, but when no obvious threat made itself known, he crept forwards, though still wary. He reached the body. Seeing that it was the receptionist from before, he hesitated briefly, but then checked for a pulse. Upon finding one, he carefully backed away, only to hear another crash right next to him. Caramel screamed and leapt away.
Once he had ascertained that he was not, in fact, dead, he looked about for the source of the noise. His eyes fell on a door marked “Dr. Colgate, DDS”. 
Colgate was in trouble. Caramel, trembling, nevertheless stood up straight and trotted to the door. He could hear the growls and faint cries from the other side. He took a deep breath, screwed up his eyes, and threw open the door. “Let Dr. Colgate go!” he cried, his confidence belied by the tremor in his tone.
“Ah’m tryin’,” a voice responded. “But this mare won’t budge!”
Caramel opened his eyes. The office was in disarray, objects scattered everywhere. The chair was overturned, the drawers gaped wide open. In the center of the room, a certain blue unicorn lay unconscious atop an angrily struggling orange mare. Caramel’s jaw dropped for a few seconds, taking in the disaster. Then, he grinned. “Why, Cousin Applejack. Is this a bad time?”
“Don’t you start! Ah don’t—” the mare growled. “Well. Ah do, but this ain’t what it— Oh, jest get this mare off me!”
“I thought you lifted trees all the time on the farm,” Caramel pointed out, trotting over to help nonetheless.
“Yes, but th’ tree didn’t knock me flank over fetlocks first!” Applejack snapped as her cousin pulled the unconscious dentist to one side. “An’ trees don’t try to cuddle ya!”
“Fair,” Caramel nodded. “So, what happened in here?”
“Oh, well, Ah ain’t too sure— what happened to yer eye?”
“The receptionist knocked me out and shoved me in a cupboard,” Caramel replied.
Applejack frowned. “An’ he had Doc Minuette trussed up like a rodeo calf when Ah got here… Best we find out what-all he knows, huh?”
“Guess we’d better,” Caramel agreed. “You knock him out?”
Applejack smirked. “Ah don’t like bein’ lied to,” she said simply. “Should be enough time t’ get him tied up nice’n’tight afore he wakes up.”
But when Caramel opened the door, the receptionist was gone. So, it turned out, was the hallway.


***

The Great and Powerful Trixie studied the monitor closely. “It is a faint signal,” she warned. “Trixie is unsure as to how confident we should be about this.”
Sunset waved a hoof. “Just cut to the chase, Trix. Where is it?”
Trixie coughed into a hoof. “It is… in town,” she said.
Sunset nodded. “Right, right, we knew that, but WHERE specifically in town?”
“No, that’s all that Trixie can tell. This is a wide-range scanner. Actually, there’s a good chance that the energy trace might be coming from the Everfree Forest.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Yes, Trixie is kidding. This is a technological marvel, of course it can find the source. Help Trixie adjust the monitor.”
Sunset gave a snort of laughter. “Right. What knob do I need to turn—?”
Sunset gaped, staring at the TARDIS’s monitor once more. “Look! Trixie!” she gasped. “Look at the size of that!”
The stage magician glanced away from her study of the strange device to see what Sunset was gesturing at. “Yes, it is a big one, isn’t it?” she agreed, peering at the screen. “And it looks to be in about the same position as the last one, too.”
Sunset cocked her head. “Yeah. Hey, why isn’t it fading? The last one was here and gone in a flash.”
Trixie frowned. “Trixie does not know. Perhaps it would be wise to investigate?”
Sunset grinned. “Sweet. Let’s go.” She made for the door.
Trixie raised an eyebrow. “You realize we have a time machine,” she pointed out. “Trixie does not know how everything works, but a hop across town to a source which is already lit up like a candle should be of little consequence.” 
Sunset paused, one hoof on the door. “Uh, you sure about that, Trixie? I mean, this is really advanced. Even I’m not quite sure how it works.”
Trixie sniffed. “That,” she said, “is because you have no concept of the finer things in life. This console is a masterpiece, not merely of engineering but of creativity. You may have brilliance in the fields of science, that is for certain, and you have obvious power. That is undeniable as your beauty.” Sunset, slightly taken aback by the compliment about her appearance, took her hoof off the door and cantered closer.
“You lack, however, the artistic flair,” Trixie continued. “This console was not meant to be studied and pored over, but intuited. Trixie knows these things” she concluded, setting a few coordinates and pulling a lever. With a whoosh and a thud, the TARDIS dematerialized.


***

Cat’s Paw trotted away from the office door, his head pounding. Things had gotten badly out of control. As if it hadn’t been enough with the watch to worry about, the stallion was still a concern, and now that mare had seen Colgate. Still, he thought as he trotted back to the front desk, he could handle things, or at least put them on hold for a moment. Taking in a deep breath, the stallion closed his eyes and focused on moving— not through space, but through time. The universe slowed gradually, like a windup toy running down until it finally stopped. The walls and floor behind Cat’s Paw grew steadily paler and paler, until all that remained was a blank white void. 
He peeped one eye open, sighing in relief when he saw what he had done. This was tricky to do away from his home. The trio could stay locked for a time between universes, at least until he figured out how to best deal with them. All things considered, Cat’s Paw thought, trotting toward the front desk, it could be worse. At least all the interference was trapped now. Faintly, the sound of a bell tickled at the back of his brain, a chime repeated over and over again. Somepony at the desk, perhaps? Well, he could send them away easily enough. He had gotten rather good at that. “I’m terribly sorry,” he began, rounding the corner, “but the Doctor—”
“Is in,” a cold male voice interrupted. 
Cat’s Paw stared, horrorstruck. The Doctor raised an eyebrow. “I’d recommend you cancel all your appointments,” he said.


***


She could not remember her name. It was too long, too short, too wrong, and not important anyway.
She could not remember where she was. It was… a planet. Probably a planet. Perhaps a city? It was full of metal and sharp edges and cold, smooth surfaces. Maybe a city. Maybe something else. That was not important.
She could not remember how she got there.
She couldn’t remember what she was doing there.
Hello?
She could not remember who she was with.
She could not remember why she was dying, or who was cradling her head, crying, crying, crying
Can you hear us?
“Don’t cry,” she whispered. She didn’t remember their name, but she remembered a smile, a beautiful smile.
“Why not?” they asked.
Please, let us help you!
She had no answer. She had no breath to answer with. She had nothing, nothing except a beat, fading into silence as her blood flowed from her body.



***

There was a dull pounding in her head when she awoke. An orange pony stood over her, looking on in concern. “Y’all right, sugarcube?”
Colgate looked up at her. “I think I’m going mad,” she whispered as the drums continued to beat out their nightmarish rhythm.
Applejack didn’t really have a response for that. Caramel, however, let out a light snort of laughter. “Wouldn’t be surprised,” he said. “After today, I’m not sure I’m feeling myself either.”
“At least,” Colgate said, “you are only feeling one self.”
Applejack frowned. “Now, what d’ya mean by that, Sugarcube?”
“I wish I knew,” the dentist replied mournfully. 
“Well, if you think you’re feeling bad now, take a look at this,” Caramel said, swinging open the door to reveal… nothing.
Miles and miles of… nothing at all. The dentist gazed in bewildered wonder at the white void that seemed to extend forever. “Where are we?”
Her voice didn’t echo. That would have required something for it to bounce off. “Yeah,” Caramel said. “Not a great day for sanity in general.”


***

Trixie smirked at Sunset as the wheezing groan of the TARDIS settled. “Well, now that that’s over with,” she said with obvious pleasure. “Let’s take a look around, shall we?”
Trixie opened the doors to the TARDIS and stepped out into a bleak, dark cavern. She looked to her left. Strange runic writings covered a wall. She looked to her right. There was a dead wolf-like being, its blood spattering the walls. Trixie nodded slowly. “Trixie thinks she may have taken an ever-so-slightly wrong turning…”
“Ya think?” Sunset deadpanned. “Oh, look. Natives. And what beautifully polished spears…”


***

Rarity had gently but firmly maneuvered the receptionist into one of the comfortable waiting room chairs. He hadn’t resisted terribly much— one look at them, and he sat down on the floor, all his fight gone. The Doctor was more than a tad uncomfortable with this development. His face was lined with concern for the stallion, but anger and simple confusion warred for dominance behind his eyes.
Rarity, on the other hoof, was quite in her element. “There, there, darling,” she crooned. “Just calm down a tad and tell us all about it. We’ll be glad to help, won’t we, Doctor?”
“Well…”
“Won’t we, Doctor?” she repeated, a tad more force in her tone.
“Right, fine. Go on, then, tell us the tale.”
The stallion sighed. “You’d never believe me,” he said morosely.
“Try us,” the Doctor said, a little drily.
The receptionist licked his lips. “Very well,” he said. “This may shock you, but— I am an alien!”
The Doctor nodded. Rarity looked him over, her muzzle wrinkled in faint disapproval. “Do all aliens look like ponies?” she asked the Doctor.
“Nah. There’s the Satyrs, the Centaurs, whole bunch of ‘em.”
The receptionist looked to be at a loss for words. “Uh…”
“So!” the Doctor said. “What’re you, then?”
“I— I am Calco, of the Tharils,” the receptionist stuttered. “Not of this universe!” he added, a bit of pomp returning.
The Doctor raised an eyebrow. “How did E-Space get connected to this universe?” he wondered.
Calco drooped. “E-Space?” Rarity questioned, looking at the Doctor askance.
“Sort of a… pocket universe, if you like. A universe that holds onto another, separate one. Except, it looks like E-Space got stitched onto two other universes, mine and yours. And that’s… well. Not actually impossible, but not really common, either.”
“Dangerous?” Rarity asked. “On a scale of one to ten, let us say. One being a new draconequus and ten being a stain on a client’s ballgown.”
The Doctor opened his mouth, but paused. “I’m not sure which end of that scale is the maximum,” he answered carefully. “Which says rather a lot about your lifestyle, if I'm being honest. But no, not really dangerous. Might be rather useful, really. I might actually be able get back to my own universe through it…” He trailed off thoughtfully. "Yes, there might be a bit of a loophole there."
“Indeed. Follow up question, what exactly is a Tharil?”
“Hm? Oh, quite. Tharils are— um. Well, picture a lion, right, standing on its hind legs. And they can control time, a bit. That’s more or less a Tharil. Except he doesn’t look like that now because apparently your universe has a rule about everything being more pony-shaped.”
“I see,” Rarity nodded.
"You do?"
"No, not really, but do go on."
“Right. Back to the matter at hoof,” the Doctor said, turning to glare into Calco’s eyes. “Where’s Caramel? Come to that, where are Applejack and Colgate?”
The Tharil took a deep breath and let it out. “I suppose I had better start from the beginning,” he sighed.