These chapters will come fast up to chapter four. I already had four chapters, plus the prologue written out in advance.

To sgil3692: Thank you for sticking with the story. Also, I only played Explorers of Time (never got the chance to play Sky!), so this is more based on that, unless the storyline is still the exact same in Sky.

On with the story...

---

Before Octavia even knew it, the two were standing before the mint-green tent on the hill. They were standing right by the grate, staring intently at it.

"I don't know why, but I can never make it past the grate," Vinyl said, "That voice that calls out what species you are and tells your talent... It gives me the creeps," She looked at Octavia, "Maybe I can finally do it with a buddy by my side."

Octavia smiled, "I bet you can."

Vinyl swallowed her fear. Taking a step foward, she shut her dark red eyes tightly. Just as she expected, a deep voice emitted from the hole, making her freeze in place.

"Species identified! Unicorn, mare! Talent of music making! Please proceed to the Guild!"

Vinyl stood there for a moment, stunned that she had just done what she couldn't do before.

"Ahem," The voice interrupted Vinyl's thoughts, "Please proceed to the Guild!"

"Oh! Sorry!" Vinyl quickly apologized. She jumped off the grate, now in the doorway of the mint-green tent.

"S'okay." The voice replied.

Octavia proceeded, stepping on the grate. The loud, deep voice called out again.

"Species identified! Earth pony mare! Talent of music making! Please proceed to the Guild!"

Octavia stepped off the grate, joining Vinyl on the other side.

"I can't believe it..." Vinyl gasped, "I did it! I conquered that grate!" She jumped around, cheering and giggling like a little school girl.

Octavia smiled at the happy unicorn. Vinyl Scratch was certainly excitable about the smallest things.

Inside the tent was a ladder, leading down to a dug out hole. Two signs were on either side of the hole, one read "WELCOME TO LYRA'S GUILD FOR RESCUERS!" in big, mint-green letters. Another had posters and notes for upcoming events pinned on it.

"Oh jeez! This is so exciting!" Vinyl cheered, still jumping up and down with glee.

Octavia chuckled a little, "Yup."

Vinyl quickly jumped onto the ladder and slid down in, like a fireman's pole. Octavia had no choice but to follow, and slid down the ladder. The two emerged into a room, gouged out into the ground, lit with bright torches hanging up on the wall, and laterns hanging from the ceiling. All sorts of ponies were milling about, mares, stallions, fillies, and colts alike. On two different walls were corkboards, filled with letters and notes. Another ladder going deeper underground was right beside them. A cream-colored mare with a pink and dark blue mane stood in front of this ladder. Her blue eyes seemed to be staring disapprovingly at everyone.

"Uh, hi?" Vinyl said to the mare, "You're Bonbon, right?"

The mare fixed her disapproving gaze on Vinyl, "Yes."

"Well... I was wondering... Can we sign up for the rescue team?"

Bonbon's gaze narrowed, "You do not simply 'sign up' for the rescue team. You have to complete a simple rescue mission first. Then, me and Lyra will decide if you can join."

Vinyl nodded, "Sounds fair."

A small smirk appeared on Bonbon's features, "Good. Why don't I introduce you to Lyra? She can probably find a pretty simple mission for you."

Vinyl and Octavia nodded.

"Excellent," Said Bonbon, "May I ask, what are your names?"

"I'm Vinyl Scratch." Vinyl said, pointing at her chest. She snaked an arm around Octavia's shoulders, "This is my awesome buddy, Octavia."

Bonbon cocked an eyebrow, "Where are you both from?"

"I'm from Ponyville." Vinyl answered. She paused as she looked at Octavia, "Um... The thing is, Octavia has amnesia. She can't remember anything. She doesn't even remember where she came from."

Bonbon seemed strangely amused, as if she had seen this before, "Amnesia, huh? So should I pencil you down as a handicap?"

"Oh no no no!" Vinyl quickly interrupted, "She's anything but handicapped! You should have seen her fight! She's amazing with that cello bow!"

Bonbon cocked her eyebrow again, "Cello bow?"

Octavia pulled her cello bow out from her mane, showing it to Bonbon. The cream mare carefully ran a hoof over the scratched wood and felt the string. Her eyes widened, and her smile grew.

"My my! You're certainly rescue team fit!" She said, handing the mare her cello bow back.

"How?" Vinyl asked, "You just looked at her cello bow."

Bonbon sniffed, "Since the disasters, the Guardians have given certain ponies, especially ones apart of rescue teams, special powers based on their talents to fight enemies and creatures that have been affected with the disasters. For example, my talent is making candies, as represented by my cutie mark," Bonbon pointed at her flank, marked with three, wrapped candies, "Since the disasters, I've been able to make candies that can do anything. Healing lollipops, poisoning jawbreakers. Heck, even chocolate that can turn a pony's coat rainbow-colored!"

Vinyl laughed a little.

"In Octavia's case, her talent is music making, mostly the cello. She can use that cello to take down baddies and get rabid creatures under control. Only... She appears to be missing the cello... She only has the bow..."

"But it can still do heck of a lot of damage!" Vinyl added, "You should have seen her take down a pack of thieves! She's amazing!"

Bonbon chuckled slightly, "Sounds like it."

"Can we go meet Lyra?" Asked Vinyl impatiently.

Bonbon sighed, "Alright you two, follow me."

So the cream mare climbed down the ladder, going deeper into the earth. Vinyl and Octavia followed. They emerged into another room, much like the one above, except this one seemed quieter. One corridor was on the right wall, leading to what looked like a dining room. Another on the opposite wall led to doors, marked "Team Quarters". Two wooden, mint-green doors were on the right wall, currently closed. There was what appeared to be a stand on the left, manned by a blue unicorn mare with a white mane.

"This is the team floor," Bonbon explained, "It's exclusively for rescue teams only. We live down here, and eat too."

"Don't you get claustrophobic, living in such a small room underground?" Asked Octavia.

"Nah," Bonbon said, "Lyra's over here, in this room. Follow me."

The cream mare led the other two mares to the mint-green doors. She knocked on it first, and called: "Lyra! It's Bonbon! Got some new recruits here!"

"Great! Send 'em in!" Replied a voice from inside.

Bonbon pushed the doors open. Inside was a small room. A carpet led to a simple looking mare, sitting on a cushion.

"Jeez... I didn't know this was a monarch..." Muttered Vinyl.

"It's not," Bonbon explained quietly, "Lyra's just full of herself."

The mare that must have been Lyra, had a mint-green coat. Her mane was white, streaked with the same mint-green. Her eyes were yellow-orange, and her cutie mark was of a golden lyre. She smiled when she saw the two.

"Hello!" She greeted happily, "What might your names be?"

"Lyra, this is Octavia and Vinyl Scratch," Bonbon explained, "They've told me that they wish to join the Guild. Octavia has amnesia, but was gifted by the Guardians. Vinyl's a unicorn, which means she should be able to handle magic."

Lyra suddenly seemed much more interested, "Oh! Have they completed a rescue mission yet?"

"Not that I know of," Bonbon said, "At least, not officially."

Lyra rubbed her chin, as if deep in thought. Her yellow-orange eyes lit up excitedly.

"There was a mare asking us to retrieve her pearl necklace from Horseshoe Bluff..." She said, turning to the two mares, "That should be a pretty simple task. If you can complete that, you'll prove that you can join the Guild. How about it?"

Vinyl and Octavia exchanged glances. In unison, they turned back to Lyra and nodded.

The mint-green unicorn clapped her hooves, "Excellent! I believe she was back on the second floor, waiting for someone to take her mission. Don't fail me!"

Vinyl nodded, "We won't!" She turned to Octavia, "Right?"

Octavia wasn't paying attention. She suddenly felt dizzy, and sick to her stomach, but managed to answer her friend.

"Huh? Oh, yes."

"Good luck you two," Said Bonbon, "You probably will make a good rescue team."

Vinyl smiled, as she started to exit the room. But Octavia stayed put.

"Octavia?" The white unicorn asked, trotting back to her friend.

Bonbon and Lyra stared curiously at the brown mare, who was breathing heavily.

"Is there something wrong?" Asked Bonbon, waving a hoof in front of Octavia's face.

"I don't... I don't feel too..." She started to say. But very suddenly, her eyes rolled into the back of her head. She toppled over and landed with a thud.

"Octavia!" Screamed Vinyl. She rushed back over to her friend, feeling her chest. Luckily, it was still rising and falling. Lyra and Bonbon rushed over. Lyra felt the mare's forehead.

"She's warm," The unicorn mare said, "Too warm. Bonbon! Quick! Get Trixie in here!"

"How is she going to help us?" Asked a skeptical Bonbon.

"Just do it!"

The cream mare obeyed without a second word, running out of the room as fast as her hooves could carry her.

"What's wrong with her?" Vinyl asked anxiously, dramatically running her hooves through her spikey mane.

"I don't know," Answered Lyra, "Does this happen often?"

Vinyl shook her head, "I just met her this morning. She was washed up on the beach when I came down for a walk."

Just then, Bonbon ran back in, the blue unicorn mare who was manning the stand back in the room was flanking her.

"Here," Bonbon said, pointing to Octavia, "You think you know what's wrong with her?"

The blue mare rubbed her chin, observing the mare curiously.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie does know what is wrong with her!" She announced loudly, "The mare is out cold."

Bonbon facehoofed, "We know that. WHY is she out cold?"

"How should Trixie know?" Questioned Trixie

"Because you're the Guild's best medic..." Said Bonbon.

"Trixie is not a medic. She simply works a trade booth of medical herbs and berries that can heal ponies and other creatures."

"That basically IS a medic..."

"Fine, if that is what you think, then Trixie is a medic."

"Do you have anything that might could wake her up though?"

"Trixie does have some revival seeds!" Trixie announced even louder than before. The mare pulled out a small, golden-colored seed from out of nowhere, "This will revive her from her faint!"

All of the time, Octavia was in a completely different world. A world of darkness, caught between night and day.

---

Octavia couldn't see anything. It was just black. But she could sense the presence of someone.

"Where am I?" She asked.

Something replied back with an angry growl.

"Yes," Another voice replied to the growl, a deep male voice that seemed to shake the nonexistence that Octavia was suspended in, "I shall do as you wish, for I only serve the Night."

The thing growled again.

"The time portal is ready. I will return to the past to prevent this chaos from happening."

Another growl.

"Do not worry, my queen. The ones who caused this will be destroyed, along with Whooves."

Instead of a growl, a dark chuckle echoed through the darkness.

"Right away, your majesty. Your wish shall be fulfilled."

But just as quickly as Octavia had fallen into darkness, she surfaced to the light again. She shot up, to discover she was still in Lyra's chamber. Vinyl, Bonbon, Lyra, and a blue unicorn mare all looked at her, quite surprised. Octavia spat. A horrible taste was in her mouth, something very bitter and crunchy.

"Do not spit it out, fool!" The blue mare said loudly, "Swallow! It will help you!"

Against her will, Octavia swallowed the bitter, crunchy thing down.

"How long was I out?" She asked.

"About three minutes," Answered Vinyl, "You okay?"

Octavia felt her forehead, "I think so. I heard someone talking while I was out, but I couldn't see who it was. Or what it was."

Lyra cocked an eyebrow, "We were talking while you were out."

"It wasn't any of you. It was somepony totally different."

"It probably had something to do with the faint," Bonbon suggested, "Ponies do sometimes have strange visions when out cold."

"You sure you're okay?" Asked a concerned Vinyl, helping Octavia stand up again.

"Yeah, I'm fine," She said, "Could I please get some-?"

But before she could even finish, Trixie pulled out a glass of fresh water, handing it to Octavia.

"Here is your glass of water," Said Trixie, "The Great and Powerful Trixie is happy to oblige!"

Vinyl leaned over and whispered to Bonbon, "Does she always talk in third pony?"

"Yeah," Bonbon quietly replied back, "We've grown used to it."

"So!" Lyra interrupted, clapping her hooves together, "Are you two ready to take the mission to Horseshoe Bluff?"

Vinyl looked uncertainly at Octavia, who was still drinking her glass of water.

"You sure you're okay?" Vinyl repeated, "I don't want to force you into something if you're not feeling up to it."

Octavia shook her head, "No, I'm fine. I drank this water, and ate that... Whatever it was. I feel fine."

Vinyl gave a small smile, "Okay." The white unicorn turned back to Lyra, "We'll get this done, and become a rescue team. I can promise that!"

Lyra nodded, "Good! That's the kind of attitude I want to see!"

"Don't disappoint us," Bonbon growled, "We've been having a lot of disappointment recently."

Vinyl shivered a little from Bonbon's remark. She turned back to Octavia, now looking even more scared than she did while standing on the grate.

"Let's go, Octavia," The unicorn said, leading the mare out of the room, "Let's go impress these guys. We'll show them!"

Octavia smiled in reply. She wasn't completely confident, but she wasn't completely discouraged either. She guessed as long as she and Vinyl worked as a team, this mission would be a piece of cake.

Or so she hoped.

---

Lyra and Bonbon seemed like a good choice for Wigglytuff and Chatot Wigglytuff always seemed eccentric, like Lyra. Though Chatot was always kind of easy to anger and really bossy, he always seemed more levelheaded than his companion, so Bonbon fit this part pretty well.

Anyways, please take the time to review. Until next time.