Hey guys! Thanks for sticking with the story so far! I have another chapter, two in one week, so lucky you! Enjoy, and leave a review if you can!

---

Upon returning to the Guild, the group of ponies were greeted by happy Guild members. Seeing that they had a knocked-out Whooves with them made the others cheer wildly as they came into the team room.

"You got Whooves!" Derpy cheered, skipping next to Vinyl and Octavia.

"We didn't really do anything," Vinyl replied, shrugging a little, "It was all Rarity and Black Thunder. We just beat him up a little."

"Well, he won't be stealing any more Gears now that he's been captured," Carrot Top added, "I'm proud of you for finding the Cavern of Generosity at the least. If it wasn't for you, Rarity probably couldn't have stopped Whooves and Thunder wouldn't have found the cavern without you."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Vinyl eventually agreed. Derpy and Carrot Top looked as they were going to say more, but Black Thunder interrupted them.

"Members of Lyra's Guild for Rescuers," He annouced to the group, "I owe my full gratitude to you, for you have helped me capture one of the most dangerous criminals in Equestria. I especially thank Octavia and Vinyl Scratch for finding the Cavern of Generosity and holding Whooves back until I could come and take control," He turned to the two mares in question, "Thank you."

Vinyl and Octavia nodded solemnly.

Whooves had woken up and was now sitting next to Thunder, his ankles tied together and his arms tied to his sides. A gag was also tied around his mouth to keep him from talking. Since he couldn't do anything, he simply stared at the ground with a shamed look on his face.

"As for Whooves, he will never again steal the Harmony Gears," Thunder continued, gesturing to the brown stallion, "I will make sure to take care of him properly so that Equestria will never be in danger of losing its only protection again." A bittersweet smile appeared on his face, "This may be farewell. Since I have completed my task, I have no need to stay here anymore than I have to."

The Guild members seemed slightly surprised that Thunder was going to leave them. Especially Lyra, who looked like she was going to cry.

"I have certainly enjoyed my stay here," Thunder said, smiling a little, "So many friendly faces I have seen and loyal allies I have made. I will miss all of you-"

The group was surprised when Lyra suddenly flung herself at Thunder and gave him a pythonic hug.

"I'll miss you too, good buddy!" She cried, hugging the stallion tighter.

Thunder wasn't sure how to reply, "Um... You do realize I'll be happy to come and visit again, right my dear?"

Lyra pulled herself away, her face flushing crimson red, "Uh. Yeah of course! Ha. Silly me."

Thunder chuckled, "Well, I must leave you now. Whooves will be locked up for a long time to come, so hopefully we won't have to go through this again. I bid each and everyone of you farewell."

With that, the stallion picked up Whooves who didn't even attempt to struggle against him and climbed up the ladder. He was gone just as quickly as he had appeared. The other members carried on their day when he had left, but Lyra and Bonbon quickly made their way over to Vinyl and Octavia.

"Somepony very important wanted to speak to you two," Bonbon explained, "They are in Lyra's chambers, waiting on you."

"They?" Vinyl asked, "Who's they?"

Bonbon rolled her eyes as if Vinyl's question was stupid, "Go and see."

Octavia and Vinyl exchanged glances. They then trotted over to Lyra's chambers, opening the mint-green doors and entering inside. The caught their breath, seeing a group of ponies they weren't expecting.

The Guardians Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Fluttershy were gathered around, chatting among themselves. A purple Alicorn that Octavia did not recognize was wrapping up Rarity's broken wing. There was also a pink Alicorn that Octavia didn't recognize either.

"Oh!" The purple Alicorn exclaimed, taking a moment from Rarity's wing to look up at the two. She had a dark purple mane with a stripe of pink and darker purple running through it. She had a cutie mark of a sparkly, six-pointed pink star, and she wore a golden necklace with said cutie mark encrusted on it.

"You're Twilight Sparkle, Guardian of Magic." Vinyl guessed.

Twilight nodded, "That's me. You've already met most of my companions, right?"

"We haven't met Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash personally, but we know them." Vinyl replied.

However, the pink Alicorn suddenly leapt foward and randomly began shaking Vinyl's hoof. She had a mess of dark pink curls for a mane. Her cutie mark was of three balloons, and she wore a golden necklace encrusted with the same cutie mark.

"Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie!" She greeted, "What's your name? Do you like cake? I like cake! Do want me to bake you a cake? Because I'll bake you a cake if you want me-!"

A mare with a multicolored mane -presumably Rainbow Dash- pulled Pinkie Pie back by her tail.

"Quit talking so much!" The cyan mare growled with Pinkie's tail in between her teeth, "You're scaring them, for crying outloud!"

Twilight cleared her throat, "Anyways, we wanted to thank each and every Guild member personally for helping us stop Whooves. Without your help, we might as well said goodbye to Equestria's peace and prosperity."

"We're especially thankful for you two," Applejack added, "Y'all went everywhere Whooves went, attempting to stop him with all your might."

"Thank you for your help," Rarity said with a smile, "Without it, I might as well have given that ruffian Whooves the Generosity Gear."

"We owe our gratitude to you and the rest of the Guild," Twilight concluded, "Over one thousand times, thank you."

"You're welcome," Vinyl replied with a kind smile, "It was very nice to meet you. You guys are awesome at what you do for Equestria!"

With that, the two mares exited Lyra's chambers, heading to their own chambers to sleep for the night.

---

As Octavia laid in bed, she thought about the events of the day. She should have been happy for the capture of Whooves, but something was throwing it off. It was almost as if she felt guilty for capturing a sociopathic villain.

But the way he had always apologized to the Guardians before he beat them up and took their Gear... It wasn't like a sarcastic oh I'm so sorry, but I'm taking that Gear 'cause I want to, but it was truly honest.

Something wasn't right with that. He wasn't stealing the Gears to destroy Equestria, but as if he was trying to save it instead...

"Octavia?" Vinyl's voice cut in, interrupting Octavia thoughts for the millionth time this week.

"Yes...?" The cello-player yawned, clearly very drowsy still.

"There's been something on my mind since we captured Whooves... And I want to see if you have the same opinion." Vinyl began.

Octavia was shocked. Did Vinyl have the same conflicting feelings about the capture of Whooves as she did? She began to carefully listen to her friend's question.

"Do..." Vinyl hesitated, "Do you think Lyra's got the hots for Black Thunder?"

Octavia was so disappointed in this question, she almost felt like kicking Vinyl in the face for deceiving her. She however, gave her honest opinion.

"I guess so. She's definitely giving signs... Like when she wanted to go with Thunder back at the Jewel Cave, or when she threw herself at him when he was leaving. He's not that bad looking of a stallion, so it doesn't surprise me."

Vinyl chuckled, "Yeah, Lyra's definitely got the hots for him. There's no denying it!"

"Why don't we get some sleep instead of worrying about Lyra's crush?" Octavia suggested, "I can't remember the last time I got a full night sleep."

Vinyl coughed, "Yeah, you're right. Sorry for talking so much."

"It's okay." Though Octavia was starting get very frustrated that Vinyl wouldn't shut up.

"Well, good night." Vinyl said before finally closing her eyes and rolling onto her side with her back facing her friend.

Octavia yawned, even though she didn't feel tired. Her confused thoughts only added insult to the injury.

If there's a Guardian that guards sleep, Octavia prayed, Please, for goodness sake, let me have a sound sleep.

---

When Octavia awoke the next morning, she was proud to say she indeed did have a sound sleep with no Dimesional Screams invading them. It was still early enough that Trixie wouldn't come in to wake them up until later. She glanced over, expecting to see Vinyl sleeping a few feet away from her. Instead, a note had been placed on her hay bed.

Octavia raised an eyebrow. Usually Vinyl didn't get up without waking her, though she was kind of glad that she didn't. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Octavia grabbed the note and read it.

Octavia, I've got a surprise for you. Meet me at the beach as soon as you get up.

-VS

Octavia was now even more confused. What was Vinyl planning at the beach that was worth a surprise? She found it slightly fishy though, for Vinyl would never get up this early for something so... Seemingly pointless. Octavia knew that she couldn't leave her friend hanging, so she shoved the note in her mane and headed out the door.

The mare came into the team room and glanced around. No one was up yet, signaling it was the perfect time to sneak out before anyone noticed. As quiet as a mouse, she darted over to the ladder and climbed up as fast as her limbs would allow her. However, she didn't notice the white mare trot in from the kitchen, levitating a glass of water before she left.

"Jeez, it's early," Vinyl said to herself quietly, "Better get back to bed."

The unicorn silently trotted down the hall to her and Octavia's chamber. She carefully opened the door, hoping to not wake her roommate. However, said roommate was gone.

"Huh," Vinyl huffed to herself, "That's weird. She's was just here when I left to get some water... Maybe she went out on a morning walk or something..." Her vivid imagination started running wild, "Or maybe somepony foalnapped her... Better check with some of the locals..."

As fast as lightning, Vinyl sprinted out of her room and up the ladder, not really caring about who she woke up in the process.

---

Upon arriving at the beach, Octavia noticed that it was empty, as expected. Vinyl was nowhere to be seen. The sun was just starting to break through the morning fog, creating colorful clouds of orange and red.

Octavia trotted right at the shoreline so that she could feel the warm water on her hooves. Sand was sticking to her, but she didn't care. She always enjoyed coming to the beach to get away from the chaos of being a rescue team member.

Through the fog, Octavia noticed another pony sitting at the end of the shore. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a familiar gray stallion she knew all too well.

"Black Thunder?" The mare questioned, approaching the stallion cautiously.

Thunder turned his large head, smiling kindly as he did, "Octavia. I see you got my note."

"You wrote that note?" Octavia inquired, suddenly feeling anger boil inside her, "Why did you use my friend's name?"

Thunder nervously glanced around, "So that I may talk to you in private. If I signed my name, you would have brought your friend along with you. No offense to you or her... But she can be very annoying."

Octavia chuckled, "Maybe a little. She's not so bad once you get to know her." She plopped herself down next to the stallion, "I thought you had left?"

"-to put Whooves in jail," Thunder finished, "Yes. But there's something I need to tell you."

Octavia cocked a skeptical eyebrow, "If it has anything to do with Lyra's love life, I want nothing to do with it."

"Pardon?" Thunder questioned, completely lost with the subject.

Octavia blushed crimson, "Nothing. Carry on with whatever you were saying."

Thunder cleared his throat, "There's something I've been keeping from you, my dear. Something that has to do with your past life."

Octavia's hair stood on end, "You know about my past life? Before I washed up on the beach?"

Thunder nodded, "You aren't from here."

"Well, I know that. That's pretty obvious."

"No, I mean," Thunder hesitated, "You aren't from this time period. You came from the future."

Octavia was very skeptical, "Yeah right. And I'm a gryphon-changeling hybrid from the Horsehead Nebula!"

"I'm dead serious," Thunder growled a little, "Whooves isn't from this time period either. He traveled back in time in hopes of ruining the future. You are slightly at fault for this."

"Me?" Asked Octavia, clearly shocked, "How is this my fault?"

"Because you accidentally sent yourself back in time, allowing Whooves to come in right after you. You are not at fault completely, for Whooves forced you to make a time portal for him."

"But I'm not a unicorn! I can't even levitate things, much less create a time portal!"

"Your ability. Whooves fused it with a dark magic in order to return to the past. You just got sucked in at the last moment."

Octavia scowled, "Unless you can create a portal to the future, I'm not believing this!"

Thunder did just this. His horn glowed a bright green before a small hole appeared in the air behind him. It grew to a considerable size, showing that it was a black and purple hole, leading to who-knows-where.

Octavia gulped, "I believe you now."

"There's a reason I came back," Thunder began to explain, the portal behind him swirling and spinning, "I recently sent Whooves back to the future. Unfortunately, it won't keep him from the past for long. That is, unless you return to the future."

Octavia just about kicked sand into the stallion face, "Why me?"

Thunder hesitated, "Your Dimensional Scream provides an open window to travel from the future to the past. If Whooves can get dark magic in his possession again, he might just be able to return to the past again! You must come back with me!"

"Are you insane?!" Octavia screamed, "I refuse to go to somewhere I've never been before! Even if I did have a life in the future, I enjoy my life now! I have friends, a best friend who cares about me! I have a team!" She scowled at the stallion, "I don't believe a word you say, Black Thunder. This portal is probably just some overdone magic trick to convince me to do something I'll regret later. Forget it. I'm going back the Guild!"

As Octavia turned around, she was suddenly stopped when Thunder appeared in her pathway, trapping her between himself and the portal. He was not happy about being rejected, so much so that his eyes started glowing an unatural green.

"You are coming with me," He snarled in a voice that was much deeper than his own, "Whether you like it or not! I will not disappoint my mistress!"

Octavia drew her cello bow, sensing severe hostility in the stallion. However, she found her joints going numb from sudden cold that hit her right in the chest, freezing her heart with fear. She couldn't move, allowing Thunder to easily pick her up with his magic.

"You have no say in this," He growled in the same, incredibly deep voice, "You are coming with me without another complain-!"

The stallion was cut off when a beam of heavy dubstep music blasted him into the seafoam. Octavia was released, the feeling in her joints returning. A familiar white mare jumped down from the sandstone wall, running to her friend's side.

"What the heck had gotten into you, Black Thunder?" Vinyl questioned, standing in front of her friend. She noticed the portal, causing her eyes to dilate, "Um... What's with the black hole thingy?"

"No time to explain!" Octavia yelled, grabbing her friend's hoof and dashing down the shoreline, "Run!"

However, Thunder recovered soon after, standing up and shaking his mane of ocean water. His horn started to glow bright green, causing the cold feeling to shoot through Vinyl and Octavia, paralyzing them on the spot. He approached them, eyes filled with fury.

"You... Are coming... With me!" The stallion hissed. He grabbed them by the scruff of their necks and pulled them into the portal against their will. With a sputter, the portal closed, leaving the beach peaceful as if nothing had ever happened in the first place.

Fortunately, the event had not gone completely unwitnessed. Three blank flank fillies were standing at the mouth of the beach, where it joined with the path to the Guild. Their mouths were wide open in shock, their eyes dilated to full size. The yellow filly turned to her friends, her mouth still open agape.

"The Guild, tell Lyra," Apple Bloom stuttered out, "Now!"

---

Upon being dragged into the portal, Octavia felt the cold feeling melt away, allowing her to move. It didn't do much good though, for both she and Vinyl were being plunged downward in a gaping hole of swirling, rainbow colors. She couldn't feel anything except for Vinyl's hoof holding onto her's.

Through violent jerks and nauseating, flashing colors, Octavia thought she was going to be sick. She thought she heard both herself and Vinyl scream, but it was lost over the rush of wind.

Then the deep ocean-like pressure came. Octavia's thoughts were scrambled, her breath was crushed right out of her. The pressure of moving at what felt like light speed was unbearable, as if it was crushing her limbs into dust. She still refused to lose her grip on Vinyl's hoof, or at least who she thought was Vinyl.

There was a light up ahead, what Octavia hoped was the end of this wormhole. She was thrown foward into solid ground and ended up hitting her head on a cold stone. The heavy blowvto the head caused her vision blurr before blacking out. However, she managed to catch a glimpse of a familiar brown stallion before she completely fell into darkness.

---

Octavia awoke to someone gently stroking her hot forehead. She coughed, tasting the familiar taste of a revival seed. Her vision was still severely blurred.

"Swallow," An accented voice commanded her, "Don't spit."

Octavia swallowed. The splitting pain in her head faded, as did her blurred vision. It appeared that she was in a dungeon made of gray stone. There was a heavy steal door that appeared to be the only way out of the room. Octavia shook her head and looked up at her healer. Upon seeing him, she shrieked and pushed him away, drawing her cello bow while staring the stallion down.

"You..." Octavia growled, trying to make herself sound as intimadating as possible, "You have five seconds to explain yourself before I-"

Whooves held up his hooves defensively, "I just revived you from a concussion. I'm not that bad, now am I?"

Octavia didn't listen. She kicked the stallion in the chest, launching him backwards into the wall. She grabbed the fur on his chest and yanked him foward, forcing him to stare straight into her eyes.

"What's going on?" Octavia barked, "Why did Black Thunder do this? Where's my friend?"

Whooves chuckled, as if Octavia's questions were amusing, "Smooth-talking Black Thunder still has you fooled, doesn't he?"

"Do you really want me to punch you in the face right now? Because I'm freaking out enough to do it!"

Whooves rolled his eyes. He pointed to the white unicorn napping in the corner, "Your buddy's over there. She went back to sleep after I gave her a revival seed. As for why you're here... Let go of me and I'll tell you why."

Octavia reluctantly let the stallion go. He stood up and brushed himself off.

"Don't start yet," The mare commanded, "I have to wake my friend up."

Octavia trotted over to Vinyl, gently prodding her in the shoulder. She moaned and turned over, her back facing Octavia. This caused the cello-player to shake the unicorn violently.

"I'm up I'm up!" Vinyl cried. She stood up carefully, glancing around her surroundings, "Hey, where are we?"

"Whooves was going to explain why we're here," Octavia replied. She glared at the stallion across the room, "And hopefully why he was stealing the Harmony Gears."

"Oh great," Vinyl moaned, "We're imprisoned with a crazed super villain."

Whooves sighed, looking quite shamed of the mention of his crime, "I have a good reason for stealing the Gears. Please, just hear me out. The reason why is-"

Whooves was cut off when the dungeon door slammed open. It looked as though their captor was one of the members of the popular pegasi flying team, the Wonderbolts. The strange thing was that instead of the brightly colored costume, this Wonderbolt wore dark clothing, black and purple instead of the blue and yellow. Her wind blown mane was dark purple and his coat was black. Her googles were pushed up on her forehead, showing unaturally slit pupils and bright blue iris.

"You three," The Wonderbolt snarled in a deep voice that was odd for a mare, "The boss wants to see you. Out!"

They didn't have much of a choice. More evil Wonderbolts filed into the dungeon, forcing them out into the open. The area was surrounded by a dark and dreary landscape. Trees had shriveled up and died, ruins of collapsed buildings littered the land, and huge voids cut through various parts of the dark gray ground. When Octavia looked over the side of one, a sense of vertigo filled her head because she could not see the bottom.

No birds sang. No wind blew. Everything was unnaturally quiet, the only noise being their hooves trotting against the gray stone walkway, precariously sitting between two voids. It was difficult to tell whether it was night or day, since it was bright enough to see, but the sky was completely black.

When they came to the end of the walkway, they were greeted by the sight of three pillars. Octavia and Vinyl got a sicken feeling about what they might be used for. Standing next to the pillars was a familiar gray stallion, who trotted over to them as calmly as possible.

Vinyl's eyes brightened, "Oh! There's Black Thunder! He'll save us!"

This actually caused Whooves to laugh uncontrollably, "Are you serious? He's the last guy that would save you!"

"Shut it!" One of the Wonderbolts barked, almost looking as though he wanted to slap Whooves, "Be respectful to the great king!"

"King?" Asked Octavia, now thoroughly confused.

"You don't know?" Black Thunder cut in, "Hmm... Perhaps it is time that I reveal who I truly am."

"What are you talking about?" Vinyl asked, anxiety rising in her voice, "What's going on? Where are we? Why are you doing this, Black Thunder? You're supposed to be the greatest solo rescuer in all of Equestria!"

Thunder chuckled, as if Vinyl's statement was amusing, "Black Thunder is simply a cover name. I am not the greatest solo rescuer in Equestria; not even close! I would never stoop so low to be called something so weak! You shall bear witness to my true form, puny ponies! Tremble in fear!"

On the last word, Thunder's voice dropped down so deep, it shook the cavern. He suddenly exploded in a shadowy cloud, causing Vinyl to hide behind Octavia.

"What... The... Heck?!" Cried the white mare.

What happened next surprised the Musical Mares. The shadows cleared, showing that Thunder had taken on a new form. His basic body shape and color were still the same, but it was the minor things that shocked them the most.

The stallion now wore armor on his legs and chest. A royal red cape draped over his back, symbolizing some kind of royalty. His horn was now curved, the base being red, fading into a black tip. He wore a crown of silver, pushing back a wild, tangled mess of jet-black hair. The most frightening thing was his eyes, which were now a demonic red, surrounded by a bright, neon green. Pure, dark magic constantly flowed from his eyes, causing the temperature to plumit about ten degrees.

Octavia now understood why she had such mixed feelings about Black Thunder. She knew why he had such cold hooves and could scare an army of changelings and their queen away. She understood why she had such strange, hateful feelings to her best friend, and why Angel Bunny and the animals had attacked him.

She now understood why she had always trusted Whooves more than she did Black Thunder.

"Oh... My... Celestia..." Vinyl squeaked, her mouth open agape, "You're... You're...!"

The stallion that now stood before them turned to Vinyl, eyes glowing with that fear-inducing dark magic. The poor white mare lost her voice, her knees growing weak and knocking against each other.

"I am not the greatest solo rescuer in Equestria," He said in a voice that was ten times deeper than his original voice, "For I am King Sombra, ruler of all hatred and fear."