//------------------------------// // Preparations // Story: Forever Roaming // by Yuki Harima //------------------------------// Forever Roaming Chapter 6 Preparations The three walked down the endless hallways, heading towards where they needed to be. They talked about a multitude of things, ranging from Chris’ stories, Ricks tales, and even some side stories about William. They all took note of a split off point, all needing to go the other way. Before they could say goodbye to each other they were bumped, or shoved, out of the way by a pink alicorn, saying something along the lines of ‘out of the way’. Rick had his hand on his chest, near the center of his chest, his eyes following her as he was shaking slightly. “Well, that was unique.” William looked at Chris and smiled. “I’ll see ya around, better report in to get my rotations started,” he leaned in and whispered into his ear, “Just stay safe, and keep your gruff exterior, that’ll keep you safe during the wedding.” He began to walk down the hallway leading to where the Royal Guards would congregate. Chris followed suit, heading down the other hallway to figure out the layout and key locations for pictures, already fully gone. Rick seemed distracted, no longer moving, as he stared down where she had walked off to. His arm still near the center of his chest as he slowly turned away, starting the walk down another hallway, the main halls direction. Slowly he removed his shaky arm from his chest, looking to the underside of his forearm to notice something off... His veins took on a dull grey shade. William looked behind him with a little worry. “that,” he took a deep breath, “was close.” He shook his head and continued on his way. “Okay, first things first, contact Luna, Warn Luna, second follow her orders, third, ask Rick if he was okay as it looked like he saw a ghost.” he paused as he looked up as he saw two Solar Guards approaching him. Only they had a little Crystal Heart shaped emblem. “Hello.” he called out. “Greetings,” The guard on the left spoke and William noticed something off, a little bit of fidgeting. “We know you are needing to report to your station, however Princess Mi Amore Cadenza wishes to speak with you on some placings she wishes for the Lunar Guard.” William slowly nodded his head having a feeling already that this was not so. “I am sorry, but I must-” “Princess Mi Amore Cadenza has already cleared it with the Lunar Commander.” The other guard replied. “In fact she wishes you and Twilight to help plan so that the guards do not interfere with the setting up of her wedding.” William blinked but finally nodded his head. “Very well. Lead the way my good Stallions.” He saw them turn around and began to walk him back down the same way he had just come from. As they continued on he saw that Princess Cadenza was leaving the main hall with Twilight trailing behind her. “Uh, can you give me one moment? I need to check on a friend real quick just to make sure that a mutual snoop stays out of my stuff?” Princess Mi Amore Cadenza actually paused and turned around. “I do not see why not. One does like their privacy.” She gave a nod, “Nector, can you follow him to keep him safe?” “Of course your highness.” The Unicorn guard replied with a bow of his head, following William into the Main Hall where Pinkie Pie was working with Rick. William blinked as he had gone on heightened alert blinked with worry as he saw Rick was shaking with a hand on his chest. “Rick? are, are you okay?” William asked as he steps picked up speed to be of help if he falls. Rick, slightly offset, looked up to William. “Y-yes, just... not feeling well.” He said dismissively waving his arm. William nodded his head as he stepped forward and shook his head a little moving his arm a little. “I hope that isn’t infected.” He muttered as he looked down at the skin. “Look, I need you to keep an eye on my stuff if the guard duties keep me away for the next couple of days, do not worry if I do not show up, and by golly keep Chris taking photos, he will like this wedding I think.” The entire time his voice was low, and he hoped Rick caught the worry in his voice. “Just stay safe, and keep an eye on the others for me okay?” “I shall, but I wish, to tell you something. Remember how I came here right?” He said, in a low voice, he seemed very weak. William only nodded his head as he helped to guide Rick to a chair that Pinkie Pie had, gotten from somewhere. William wasn’t going to question where it came from, nor the glass of clear liquid she was balancing on the top of her head not spilling a drop. “Alright, had to check. You are going, to be outside right?” He questioned. “I think so, maybe later today, but I can see some sunshine in my future.” William responded with a smile as he did his best to quell the butterflies in his chest. Rick reached up slowly, grasping his goggles. “Here, it is a bit windy, dirt and such...” He said, reaching out. William slowly reached out to take the goggles and stopped for a second as Ricks magic seemed to flash, a dark black, his grey veins seemed to pulse with it. “I, won’t need these for awhile, the lenses are strong so no worry of damage... Some things added as well.” Rick said as he drank some of the water, a small nod to William as he turned his focus elsewhere. William nodded his head as he took them and wore them around his neck. He turned around to the guard. “I am ready now.” For a moment there was a hitch in his voice. But it was so small one might mistake it for having some dust in the air. William slowly moved up to stand next to Twilight as they both were being led towards a part of the Castle that was where she was staying for the time being. “So, William?” Twilight spoke as no one else was speaking for the most part. “What is, what is the other Equestrian like?” William shrugged a little, before answering in Ancient Equestrian, “Well, it is very much like this place.” He paused, “However the Luna here,” he paused. “To be honest this timeline is behind the one I came from.” “What?” Twilight yelped using the same language as William was speaking, before a grin formed on her muzzle. “Thank you for letting me practice the spoken part of Ancient Equestrian.” “No problem.” William replied.  He slowly counted down and sure enough Twilight blinked and prodded his hand with her horn. “What do you mean timeline? That you are from?” She trailed off as William chuckled. “An alternate timeline Dimension that is in the future as well.” He paused as they turned into a small meeting room. The two were silent as they walked into the room. One of the Guards only smiled and closed the door before closing his eyes and suddenly the Unicorn Guard vanished in a burst of green flames. Twilight gasped in horror. “A, A,” “Why Twilight I knew you could see who we are.” Another voice came from the small elevated sitting area used for important guest. Twilight spun around ignoring William who was standing there as he appraised the situation. What Twilight saw was horrifying her. Cadence her foal sitter had her horn glowing. “I felt that you would be a problem.” “So,” A new voice spoke, one that was very familiar to all the ears in the room. Twilight spun around and came snout to snout with herself. “We decided to take you out of the equation.” William seemed to move to act only to have the other unicorn now in its normal form of a changeling attack him and wrapping him up in a sticky goo. “Don’t think we would let you try anything.” Twilight growled and lowered her head ready to also use magic only to have a circle of green flames erupted around them both as the fake Princess Cadence laughed as they began to sink into the floor. Both of them covered in the icker of a Changelings. Rick looked around, the decorations for what seemed to be a party were strung up and about in what seemed to be a blink of an eye. Then again, he could hardly stand let alone work at the moment. William had just left towards wherever he had to be at, though Rick knew otherwise, too much emphasis on things lead him to the conclusion. Pinkie seemed to be gone, something about checking up on someone or something, so Rick seemed to be by himself. He didn’t like the situation Pinkie and he were in, having to rework the decorations because they were not good enough, too ‘childish’ as Cadenza would say. He shook his head at the name, she held no respect in his book at the moment, though other matters made him very cautious. Lifting his arm he looked once more at the underside of his arm, the dull grey still remaining.He had given William his goggles for more than one reason, though it was actually windy outside. He lit his hand, the magic hue was entirely different from his typical blue. It was a dark black flame. He stood up, shaking his hand clear, and started to head to their room, he felt too weak to continue work. He walked slowly, near the exit of the door. As he walked out of the room, what felt like a pulse had hit him, causing him to stumble, less than five feet away from the door frame, to a kneeling position, his left hand on the ground. He looked around, his eyes slightly glazed, he wasn’t ready at the moment. He needed rest, he could feel his energy sapped out. After walking so far he finally got to the hallway the room was located in. He walked slowly, until finally, he reached his door, leaning on it for a moment before he finally opened it, taking a wobbly step in, closing it after himself. From afar two guards with the crest of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza smiled and looked back at each other. “That is the other warrior going to bed, he looks like he caught something from the Ponies.” “Yeah, I hope he stays ill till after the wedding.” the other whispered back. “report this back to her majesty, this is good news.” Chris was walking down the hallway in the Canterlot Castle. He noticed many things, the sights, the way things were made down to the simple etching on stone, and even the animals themselves seemed to be more cheerful. He didn’t like it. Cautiously he looked, William had told him to act tough, but this was just too... Good. He glanced over his shoulder. “It’s a bit quiet, and nice... A bit too nice.”  He mumbled incoherently. He pulled out his camera, fumbling through some features it had, now it wasn’t very expensive or fancy but it did what it did, though he started to wish he had gotten more film before heading to Equestria. While searching through the hallway he every now and then took pictures of the scenery, the landscape, through a window of course, he had even got some ponies to pose for pictures as well. Needless to say, he got lost.         Very lost... “Oh come on...” He grumpily mumbled, looking around the area, attempting to find some area that he could recognize. That’s when the second thing hit him. He was alone. With several looks around him, through hallways and such, he realized something important that he would never forget again. “This castle is huge! Where’s the map of this damn place?!” He shouted, looking up towards the ceiling, fists in the air with as much fake fury as he could muster. “Ahem...” His eyes snapped open, slowly looking down he noticed a Solar Unicorn Guard in front of him. “I can help you if you need a guide till you learn the layout of the castle.” he replied with a smile. “You seem very friendly for a guard...too friendly.” Chris stated, oversuspisously. “Because we are ordered to help you, and you look like you need a friendly face to talk to.“ the guard replied cheerfully and with a smile to Chris in a friendly tone. “We are only serious in actually guarding duty, in areas outside of the public eye we can be more relaxed.” Chris start to stare at the guard squint his eyes as if to see if the guard was lying. The guard started to sweat under the watchful eyes of the human. “Works for me.” Chris just shrugs his shoulders. The guard let out a sigh of relief. The guard started taken Chris on the tour of the castle. The first stop was the gardens. “Here we have the royal Canterlot Gardens filled with some plants and statues of important figures. The guard stated. “Well who's that weird looking figure over there?” Chris pointed to a statute which resembled a creature of mismatched proportions. “Oh him. He isn’t worth talking about. Moving on.” The guard said, not caring about what Chris said. Chris stared at the statue since he never saw anything like this before. He looked at the eyes of the statue. For some reason the eyes were staring back at Chris. Chris moved to the left of the statue and then to the right and the eyes still followed. “Are you coming or what?” The guard shouted impatiently at Chris falling behind. “Yea, Yea, hold your...”Chris stopped himself before saying something that either might offend the pony or make him look like a fool. “I’ll be there soon.” Chris took a picture of Discord and ran back to the guard, cackling like a madman. The guard shrugged off a little, why would he laugh at the - “Moving on.” the Guard quickly spoke to try and shake the scared feeling in his gut. The guard took Chris around the castle show off the many features it had. He showed Chris the different gardens, the throne room, the main hall, the dining area, and the library. “Uhg...a library. Too many words! I liked the picture books. I can at least look at the pretty pictures than those giant books filled with boring stuff like history or physics.” Chris said, rolling his eyes and waving his hand dismissively. ----------------------------------------------- Somewhere, in a certain cave system, Twilight looked up as she woke up, a feeling of anger slightly rising as she pushed herself to her hooves. “Who dares belittle the Canterlot Archives?” Her anger allows herself to break out of the bonds of Changeling Icor. To William who was also waking up he thought for a second he had a Rapidash in the same room as him. ------------------ Cadence in her beat up state sealed away in her own small cave looked up. “Oh my, Twilight isn’t happy.” She shivered a little at memories of when she was younger. ------------------- Celestia shook her mane. “it can’t be.” She whispered, “She got better with her anger.” -------------------- Rick, even in his weakened state sat up, his tired eyes looking across the room. His eyes squinted slightly as he looked to the corners of the rooms. Something had bothered him, ever so slightly. With a ‘hmph’ he fell back onto his pillow. -------------------------------------------  They ended tour after showing Chris the library and are back to where Chris first met the guard. “Well that is the end of the tour. If you have any questions, please withhold yourself from asking them.” The guard told Chris. Chris was unhappy with the way the guard said and had a ton of question to ask the guard but can be saved for a later time. “Now I needed to be heading off. I have to go work at my shift in the royal chambers.” The guard leaves Chris and heads towards north of the room. “Well thanks for the tour.” Chris thanked the pony who just ignored him. “Well he seemed pretty rude. Now I need to go...” Chris stopped mid-step due to a realization. “I forgot to pay attention to the tour and I am lost again!” A creaking snapped Chris out of his trance, turning quickly he noticed a certain man standing in a doorway. “Could you go to sleep, please...” Chris raised a brow. “What are you talking about it’s the middle of the-” Chris turned his head looking out the window to notice it wasn’t very bright out, in fact, it was night. Turning back to Rick with a sheepish smile he replied. “Eheh, sorry.” Rick rolled his eyes, his hand on the side of his head. “Just, please get some rest. I feel you might need it for the wedding tomorrow.” With a sigh Chris entered the room, quickly heading to the bed, and placed his camera on the bedside table, drifting to sleep quickly. William sat up. “Oh dear,” he shook his head. “I saw Twilight become a fire pony.” He blinked as Twilight walked over to him and her horn lit up. “Be calm,” She paused as they all heard laughter echoing and Cadence’s face appeared over all the crystal surfaces. “Oh, did somepony upset the bookworm?” “How-” Twilight growled. “I have been with your brother for a long time, I know you well enough I can replace you with one of my underlings.” The fake Cadence cackled again. “Enjoy your stay in the Canterlot Caverns, You will never get out in time. Soon all of Canterlot shall be mine. All mine.” William tuned out the rest of the conversation to try and ascertain the situation. First he saw about twenty royal guards missing armor and their weapons. He saw the still living forms of the Secretary of Defense, the Deputy of Castle Security, their wives, and their small foals. Upon seeing the last group William’s face contracted with anger. “Oh, this is so on.” Suddenly the noise of shattering crystals snapped all eyes and heads to Twilight who was huffing and puffing. There was a giant hole in the wall and- “Cadence?” Twilight asked softly her voice ringing through the now silent chambers. Twilight’s eyes were focused on a beat up and very unpampered pink Alicorn who had raised her head up at the words, the first emotion William saw was pain and fear. However Cadence shakingly got to her hooves and began to do the Sunshine, Sunshine rhyme. Well half of it as Twilight was still too stunned to move from her spot in the caverns. Twilight smiled as she sat down while she tried to use some of her magic, but it only flickered before fading. “What? But I just busted all these Crystals to nothing.” Cadence looked down. “The caves here soak up the magic. You will have to be more careful and slower in freeing the others, I can, I will help where I can.” The two went to work on freeing the others in the cave but they knew it would take time, much precious time in freeing up the others in the room. The sun shined into the room, slowly waking the two humans, one by one. Chris woke up in a typical form. On the floor. “Son of a-” Chris started, then closed his mouth and let his head drop to the floor. Rick was still asleep. Chris slowly pushed himself up. With a crack of his back he relaxed. He looked out the window to his right to see a giant, what looked to be a bubble, surrounding the castle. “Uhh, note to self... Question that later.” He mumbled to himself. Chris shook his head and headed to the bathroom to get ready for the day. With a smile he exit the bathroom, prepared to take pictures and having to shove other paparazzi out of the way. He reached for the door handle but stopped short when a sound caught his ear. He looked to his right to see Rick asleep still, but he seemed to be mumbling in his sleep, shaking slightly. “He is probably having a nightmare about something.” Chris said to himself. “I still get nightmares of that slender man game...” Chris shutter at the thought of it. “Why did I play it to impress some chick my friend introduced to me.” Ricks mumbling became slightly louder as he turned his head to the left. Chris rolled his eyes. “I wonder how long you will-” He stopped, noticing something on the right side of Ricks neck. His veins seemed grey, traveling up to his head. “What the hell...” Chris trailed off. He walked closer to Rick to scan what was going on with his body. When he reached Rick he noticed more than just his neck had the grey veins, in fact they seemed to be on his arms as well. “Damn...Rick has some body issues.” Chris takes out his camera, turning off the flash so he doesn’t wake up Rick, and takes a couple of photos of him. “Rick has some explaining to do when he gets up.” Chris walks away from Rick and leaves the room. It was hours later when all the unicorns and the earth pony ministers were freed. “Okay,” Twilight muttered. “We cannot teleport through the rock, but hopefully we can find a way out, all we have to do is follow the caves up to an exit.” William only nodded. “As well as avoid any Changelings that might be patrolling the corridors.” he looked at the others. “What? I am sure she wouldn’t have just left the cave system empty for in case we got loose from our bounds.” The others only nodded and they began their slow track forward through the cave system. Their pace was as quick as they could make it. Meanwhile, above them in the castle, guarded by her changeling guards, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza began to sing. “This day is going to be perfect-” The kind of day of which I dreamed since I was small Somewhere in the castle Chris looked up, feeling as though he should be yelling at something ridiculous. William glared down the two Changelings that were circling him and the guards while ahead of them Cadence and Twilight were struggling with a mine cart while Cadence continued to sing. A smile spreading across William’s lips in joy before he ducked under one of the Changelings swings before punching the Changeling with the improvised knife he created. “Haha!” he crowed as he saw the mine cart launch into the air and the two continued on their way. “This way.” A guard yelled, “I think this cave leads up as well.” William only nods his head with a grin. Thinking and hoping that Luna was already at work. He hoped so, unless she delegated to one of her guards. Once the Changelings were taken care of. William wiped his face as he hand brushed on the goggles over his eyes to protect them from the Changelings attack. Doing so finally moved the outer rim of one of the lenses. William blinked in shock and confusion and took them off and turned them back to normal. “Hold... We, we got time, let me figure this out.” William sat down on an old bolder that came from the ceiling and began to fiddle a little bit with the goggles, wondering if their was something else. Williams hand paused as he began to think, while doing so his finger began to tap out a tune on the top of the goggles, but before he could get past the first tap he was blinded by a light shining in his eyes. “GAH!” he taped it again and the light shut off. “Oh, okay.” he stood up. “Let’s go.” He put on the goggles, tapped the top and he smiled at the brighter surroundings, He was grinning a little. “Ponies, move out.” Rick woke up with a gasp. He went to rub his eyes only to reveal his shaking hands. Trailing down his arms he noticed his veins, in which were still grey. Slowly he pushed himself up, holding his head as he started walking. He felt much better that what he did the day before. With a sigh he reached over to his sword before he stopped, his eyes trailing over to the other one, still fully covered. With a shake of his head he turned back and grabbed his steel blade. He headed out the door, looking both ways. He had his satchel at his left side and the sword sheath at his right, his typical clothes, he didn’t have a suit really. He reached for his neck only to stop short when he realized he gave his goggles to William. With a small nod he continued his walk to the throne room, he was going to stick with Celestia so he couldn’t get lost really. He had never really been to a wedding before. He stopped, his mind racing with thoughts, and with a heavy sigh turned around.         At the Wedding that was taking place in the main hall. All the guests were gathered together, there were guards around the edges of the palace keeping watch. Inside the hall the six elements of harmony were standing there. Twilight looking proud and happy next to her big brother. The others on the side of Cadence, and all was ready to begin. Celestia looked out upon the crowd and cleared her throat a proud look in her eyes and voice. “Mares and gentlecolts, we are gathered here today to witness the union of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Shining Armor.”  Chris starts to take pictures of the happy couple. “Damn, this wedding is big...and colorful. If didn’’t know these ponies came in so many colors.” Chris continues to take picture of the wedding and the other guest in there.          Twilight and Cadence raced through the streets of the city causing confused looks of when they blinked into existence and out of existence as they raced towards the castle. The Guards at the front were utterly confused as the two disheveled and bruised ponies, one an Alicorn and the other a normal unicorn raced into the castle towards the doors. Princess Celestia: Princess Cadance and Shining Armor, it is my great pleasure to pronounce you... Twilight barges in to the gasps and confusion of all the ponies around as their on the stand was also Twilight Sparkle who was standing right next to Rainbow Dash. Chris proceeds to take a picture of them in the same area. Behind Chris, William charged in with the guards from the caverns and took a knee and rose the rifle to his shoulder and aimed it at the Changeling Queen as Princess Cadence walked in. “Stop the Wedding!” her voice rang through the hall.