//------------------------------//
// Prelude to Tara 
// Story: The Clock with Three Faces 
// by Sixes_And_Sevens 
//------------------------------//

A pretty, youthful blonde sat in the center of a room, surrounded by the last group of survivors of her race. She wore a beautiful, flowing violet gown, a delicate golden tiara, and an air of absolute authority.
“Wynne, you are in charge of repairing the communicators. Derek, you are to be our diplomat to Zeos, on the off chance that any of its natives are still extant. Merak, darling, keep up the good work in the medical bay. Shada, I am assigning you to adjudicate the case of Atrios v. Marshal— yes?”
The last was in response to a noise from the doorway, a quiet sort of shuffling. A head poked into view. “Hello? Are you the Princess Astra?”
The princess made a subtle hand signal for her guards to stand down for the moment. “I am. Who are you?”
The girl sighed in relief and stepped into view. “Well, that’s the difficulty. I’m not quite sure, you see. I knew who I was a few days ago— or, I think I did— but I’ve changed since then, so many times.”
“I see,” said Astra, who did not.
“Anyway, it all comes back to you,” the stranger said, scratching her blue hair. “Astra. I can almost remember you. You were the key. Or, part of the key.”
Astra stiffened. “Who are you?” she demanded. “How do you know about that?”
“Once,” the stranger said thoughtfully, “I'm told I was called… Romana?”
“Romana?” repeated Merak in astonishment. “But that’s impossible! You don’t look a thing like her.”
“No. Nor the other one,” the strange woman agreed. “As I say, I’ve changed.”
Astra had not moved a muscle. “Leave us,” she said, gesturing her guards away. “You too, Merak.”
“But my love—”
“‘Your highness’, when I’m in the throne, Merak. That means that I am your ruler yet, and I command you to leave me alone with this woman.”
There was some shuffling of feet and distressed muttering. Astra’s face hardened. “Leave us!” she thundered.
‘Romana’ looked rather impressed. “Excellent use of the Royal Canterlot Voice,” she observed.
Astra turned to frown at her as her advisors and subjects filed from the room. “The what?”
“Never mind,” the blue-haired woman sighed. “So. How goes the reconstruction of Atrios now that the war is over?”
Astra smiled slightly. “Rather well, I think. It helps that there aren’t really any more Zanians in the star system.” She frowned. “Zanites? Zanomeres? Hm. At any rate, we’re trying the Marshal for war crimes, and without the constant threat of bombing, patients are finally beginning to recover from their various ailments.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
“So. Assuming you are Romana, despite all appearances, what are you doing here?”
The blue-haired woman sighed. “I’m not certain,” she admitted. “I just know that you’re important, somehow. A clue.”
“A key?” the princess suggested drily.
“Something like that, I think. Don’t worry, I don’t think you’ll have to be turned into a piece of crystal again.”
“Imagine my relief.”
“I just…” she trailed off, staring at the princess. “I don’t know. I keep having strange flashes of memory. You’re in them often, you and another princess. Strella.” She paused. “Do you have a sister?” she asked hopefully.
“No.”
“Pity. That would’ve explained a lot.”
Astra studied the stranger. “Do you know, I think you might be Romana,” she said slowly. “I didn’t have time to really get to know her, but… there’s something in your eyes. Something very, very Romana in your eyes.”
Suddenly, there was a commotion out in the hall. “Look, let me through, my friend is in there!”
“Oi! Get off, I once saved this planet.”
“How dare you touch a lady in that manner!”
A large, leonine man stepped through the doorway, flanked by a blonde in a loose, outdoorsy flannel shirt and a fairly average-looking man in an old-timey apron. “Colgate,” the man in the apron shouted. “We’re ready to leave now. Have you got everything you needed?”
Colgate/Romana looked back at the princess for a long moment. Then, she nodded. “Yes. I think I have. Thank you, Astra.” She ran toward the trio.
A tall, gangly man with wild hair and a long coat swooped into the room, a pale woman in a blue dress close on his heels. “Hello Astra!” the man called. “Sorry, can’t stay and chat.” He grabbed the shoulder of the one in the apron, and the other strangers followed suit. There was a brief flash, and they were gone.
Astra stared thoughtfully at the spot where they had stood as her subjects rushed back into the room. “Changed… Goodbye again, Doctor,” she murmured. Then, she frowned. “But which one was the little robot dog, I wonder?”


***

Minuette’s eyes popped open. “Strella!” she cried. “Find Strella!”
Twilight just looked at her old friend with mixed confusion and resignation. Starlight sat in a corner, staring in silent terror. “Mind and body,” Minuette whispered. “We were never meant to separate like this. I am so, so, sorry, Minuette.”
“What is she talking about?” Starlight whispered. “What does she mean?”
Twilight stared. “Mind and body…” she repeated slowly. “The two sets of auras…”
“You have an idea?”
“Yes. Maybe. You won’t like it.”
“I don’t like any of this,” Starlight said flatly. “What’s happened to my friend?”
Twilight nibbled her lower lip. “I think somepony else is in there with her.”


***

“The garden,” Colgate murmured, wandering aimlessly. “I looked under the statue for the key…”
Applejack stared at the dentist. “Ah don’t like this,” she muttered.
“None of us do,” Calco agreed, his face grimmer than usual.
The Doctor looked around in confusion. “I don’t remember being here,” he said slowly. “It feels a bit familiar, but I’m certain I’ve never been in this garden before.”
“You were like Beowulf,” Colgate said dreamily. “You defeated Grendel.”
Rarity frowned. “Come again, darling?”
“Beowulf,” the Doctor explained. “Earth story. Great hero, slew the ravening beast Grendel. Hold on, how do I know that name?”
“Halt, trespassers, in the name of Count Grendel!”
“Oh, yes,” the Doctor said, snapping his fingers. “That was it. He tried to have me killed.” His face fell. “Oh.”
He turned, only to find a very angry-looking soldier holding a sparking sword near his face. “Ah. We seem to have arrived just a tad early,” the Doctor said.


***

All things considered, the cells were not a terrible place to be imprisoned. They were reasonably clean, and decently furnished. Unfortunately, they were also too far apart for the travelers to touch Caramel, and the Doctor’s sonic had been confiscated. He was still sulking about that. Colgate was staring blankly at the wall. Calco was watching her carefully, and Caramel was trying to get her to talk again. “Hey, uh Colgate, any thoughts about that candy you wanted?” he tried. “Chewy, fruity, all that?”
“Jelly babies,” Colgate muttered.
Caramel nodded gamely. “Well, okay then,” he replied. “You want jelly babies. Where can I get them?”
“The Doctor’s pockets,”
Meanwhile, Applejack leaned in a corner, staring into space. “Ah jes’ realized,” she said slowly. “We’re on another planet.”
Rarity glanced over at her. “Well, quite,” she said. “We’ve been jumping from planet to planet for some time now, darling.”
“Yeah, yeah, Ah know. ‘S jes’, it didn’t really sink in ‘til now. We were movin' too quick t' think about it too much. Sure, th’ void was weird, but it was jes’ empty. Alzarius was jes’ a swamp. Paris was like Canterlot, an’ on Atrios Ah was too worried ‘bout Colgate t’ really think ‘bout it. But now…” she trailed off. “T’day, Ah woke up in a swamp on another world, lit by another sun. It weren’t raised by Celestia, an’ there weren’t nopony else there, so who did it? We turned into talkin’ monkeys. Ah ordered cake in Prench. We met a princess in an underground bunker, and now we got captured by fellas with magic swords.”
“I think they’re just electric,” Rarity put in. “You know, like a toaster.”
“Toasters don’t shoot lightnin’ Rares. Or, Ah dunno, mebbe they can. Mebbe they can shoot lightnin’, somewhere out there, an Ah just ain’t never seen ‘em.” She sat, pulling her knees into her chest. “An’ where does that leave me? Ah ain’t nothin’ special. Just a farmer. How come Ah can see all this?”
“Applejack…”
“Ah don’t know none o’ this stuff! Ah don’t understand a thing. Ah’d be better off back on the farm.”
“Applejack. Darling. Listen to me. You are not ‘nothing special’. You are far more than just a farmer. You are the Element of Honesty!”
“Not anymore.”
Rarity rolled her eyes. “You’re a living polygraph, darling. Title or no, you are the Element of Honesty. You have more common sense than anypony else I know of. You are stubborn, and fiercely loyal to your friends and family. Where did all of this come from?”
Applejack shrugged helplessly. “Ah dunno. Ah jes’ feel so… small, compared t’ everything Ah saw today."
The Doctor looked at her. "D'you really feel that way?"
She raised a brow.
"Right, embodiment of Honesty." The Doctor gave her a slight smile. "The universe is a big place, Applejack. We're all gnats in comparison. But small has never meant unimportant. The littlest things can sometimes have massive effects."
Applejack opened her mouth to reply, but the rattling of a doorknob made her look round. A guard opened the door. “Stand to, maggots,” she growled. “The Count wants to meet you.”
Caramel turned to the Doctor, lightly touching the Vortex Manipulator. The Doctor shook his head. “Wait,” he mouthed.
One by one, the cells were unlocked. “Follow,” the guard said shortly, marching out through the door.
The Doctor spied his sonic on a table nearby. Thinking quickly, he shoved Calco. The behemoth barely stumbled, but shoved the Doctor back in surprise, sending him sprawling into a wall. “No fighting!” the guard shouted, turning around, eyes fierce. The Doctor levered himself up with the table, struggling briefly to rise. When he stepped away from the table, he held a small metal cylinder. 
As the party marched out of the room, the Doctor flashed a thumbs-up to Carmel, who responded with a blank look. No hands. Right. The Doctor tapped at his wrist, nodding at Caramel’s arm. The confectioner looked down at the Vortex Manipulator, and he gave a quick nod. He held onto Rarity's arm, and reached slowly for the device with his other hand, but he froze when Colgate let out a shout of recognition. “Strella!” she called. “Princess Strella! Down here!” She waved her arms frantically. The guard reached for her electric sword, but a quick kick from Applejack put her out of commission.
A dark-haired woman peered out of the window. “Who are you?” she asked, startled.
“I don’t know!” Colgate shouted back. “I keep changing, you see.”
The dark haired woman stared down blankly. “Are… are you here to rescue me?” she asked doubtfully.
Applejack opened her mouth to reply, but the Doctor cut in. “Sorry, love to, but can’t,” he said brusquely. “Don’t worry, help is on the way. Come ON Colgate,” he said, tugging her away from the tower.
“Doctor, whyever can’t we help the poor girl?” Rarity asked, looking up at the high window and the princess trapped within.
“Because I’ve already done it,” the Doctor replied. “Long story, but basically, this planet has a lot of androids.”
“Androids?” Applejack repeated.
“Robots that look like people,” the Doctor explained. “Anyway, there was an android Strella, and they both looked exactly like… Romana…” He slowed to a halt. “And… Astra. Romana based her second body on Astra, they could’ve been twins. Doppelgangers…” He looked at Colgate thoughtfully.
“Ah don’t understand any of this,” Applejack muttered.
“I’m told that most generally pick it up as they go along,” Rarity replied in an undertone. “Frankly, I’m not certain that he knows what he’s doing either.”
The farmer studied the Time Lord for a second. “Eeyup. That would explain a lot,” she agreed.
The Doctor himself had begun to pace up and down the cobblestones, rubbing his chin and gesturing with his hands. He was saying things that were probably words, but the meaning was unclear and he was muttering. Then, in midstride, he froze. “Oh. Oh that is good. That is— well, it’s terrible, actually, and it seems like it shouldn’t even work but, hey, who knows?”
“Doctor?” Caramel asked.
The Time Lord turned to Colgate. “Canterlot! You said you were from Canterlot. Where did you live, what did you do there?”
She sputtered. “Wha-huh?”
“Please, Colgate, Romana, Minuette, whatever your name is, this is important! Try to remember!”
“Doctor?” Caramel repeated, a little louder this time.
Colgate scrunched up her forehead in concentration. “I was… a student. At Celestia’s Academy for Gifted Unicorns. I was studying… Philosophy? Philosophy and natural law. Why would I do that? I’m a dentist!”
“Doctor!” Caramel shouted. “The guards are here!”
The Doctor blinked and spun about. Angry looking soldiers surrounded them, swords held at the right level to impale a person like a marshmallow on a stick. “Ah,” said the Doctor, taking Colgate’s hand and backing away. “You know, I think we may have overstayed our welcome…”
“Get them!” snarled a rather bruised guard. The Doctor recognized her as the one that Applejack had knocked over.
“Right, time to go,” he said, dragging Caramel’s arm into view and pushing the travel button as the group charged them. Then, he caught sight of the destination. His eyes bulged and his mouth dropped open. In the next instant, they were gone. The guards, unable to stop in time, fell on each other. The air was filled with pained yelps and the smell of burning and ozone.