UGH! I'm so sorry I haven't updated. I accidentally deleted a chapter that was intended to be the Waterfall Cave part of the story. I got so discouraged that I decided to skip it altogether. Anyway, here's the next chapter, now skipping the part about the main team and the antagonist team competing to bring a special apple back to the guild master. Enjoy, and leave a review if you can!

---

That night, Octavia had a strange dream. She found herself at the peak of a tall, snowy mountain, where a beautiful lake sat before her. Multicolored crystals were everywhere, changing colors periodically. Octavia wasn't sure if it was the crystals, or something else, but the lake appeared to be glowing a slight red. Truly, the place was beautiful, but awfully cold.

Octavia took a few steps foward. Though she could not interact with her dreams, she could certainly move around and explore them. While coming closer to the lake, she discovered an Alicorn mare sitting at the edge of the water.

The Alicorn had a perfectly clean, bright cyan coat. Her mane was a wild mess of rainbow colors, and her outstretched wings were large and strong, full of feathers. Her horn was currently glowing, causing the crystals to change colors. Octavia noticed that her magenta eyes were wild, but full of pure truth, as if she was more loyal than a canine.

The words connected to Octavia. Loyalty, Guardian of Loyalty. The Alicorn was Rainbow Dash, no doubt about it.

Rainbow Dash was pleasing to the eyes in a wild, untamed way, like a cheetah, but she radiated the pure, unconditional loyalty that was hard to come by. Even being around her made Octavia want to stay completely loyal to her recent friends at the Guild.

Rainbow suddenly seemed to sense a prescense, as her ears pricked and she whipped around. Luckily, it wasn't Octavia that she sensed, but a different pony, who had just come into the area. There was a shadowy figure of a stallion just standing there a few feet away from Rainbow Dash, his head down in a sorry way.

"Who are you?" Growled the Alicorn, seeming to sense that the stallion was here to cause harm.

He did not reply.

"Don't just not-answer!" Rainbow snarled, now standing tall, "Who are you and what do you want?"

The stallion looked up, showing his light blue eyes. Octavia wasn't sure if she was imaging things, or if the stallion was crying.

"I'm sorry." He said in a gruff voice with an accent that the brown mare couldn't place. He pulled out a small gadget that began to glow blue. Suddenly, an ear-piercing shriek filled the area, sounding like nails against a chalkboard; only ten times worse.

The horrible noise was so loud, it forced Rainbow to her knees. She cried in pain as the stallion jumped over the Alicorn and into the lake. The noise stopped, and Rainbow could finally stand again, only now the stallion was gone. Very unexpectedly, the gentle red glow from under the lake had stopped completely, leaving the clear blue water now as black as night.

Panic could clearly be seen in Rainbow Dash, as the area around her suddenly began to turn gray, lifeless, and cold. She shrieked in terror, flying away from the mountain before the gray could get her. It was probably the most horrible scene that Octavia had ever witnessed. The beautiful multicolored crystals were drained of their colors. The evergreen trees lost their leaves as their trunks became weak and spindly. Even the air seemed to lose its once clean scent, and became dank and lifeless.

"No!" Cried Rainbow Dash, "No! No no no! Oh no! No! This can't happen! This can't happen! This can't happen!"

"WHERE IS MY ZAP APPLE?!" A familiar voice ripped through Octavia's dream, waking her, and almost giving her a heartattack in the process. She shot up, discovering that she was still in her chambers. Vinyl laid a few feet away from her, her eyes the size of dots from being woken up so suddenly.

"Was that Lyra?" She asked.

"I think so," Octavia replied, her face twisting a little from confusion, "Why is she screaming about an apple?"

"Well, let's go find out."

The two mares walked out of their room and into the team room. They discovered Lyra pacing the floor with pure anger on her usually happy face. Bonbon stood next to her, looking sulky as usual.

"Lyra, it's an apple," She growled, "We have plenty more in the storage."

"I don't want a normal apple!" Argued Lyra, stomping a hoof in frustration, "I want my Zap Apple, and only my Zap Apple! No less!"

Bonbon shook her head sorrily, "Lyra, it's all the way out in the deepest parts of Sweet Apple Acres. Nopony wants to go all the way out there for one apple."

Lyra noticed the Musical Mares on the other side of the room. A smile that looked almost sinister crossed her face.

"I know somepony who does!" The mare replied, happily skipping over to the two mares, "Musical Mares! Won't you do me the favor of getting a Zap Apple from the deepest parts of Sweet Apple Acres?"

Vinyl and Octavia exchanged unsure glances.

"Sure." Said the white unicorn.

"Oh excellent!" Cheered Lyra, hugging the two mares with the strength of a python, "Please don't fail me. This is more important than anything!"

"Lyra... You're choking us..." Whimpered Vinyl.

"Oh," The mint-green mare reluctantly let go of Vinyl and Octavia, "Sorry. Just don't fail."

The two mares saluted, before turning and making their way to the ladder. However, Octavia didn't see where she was going and bumped into another pony.

"Watch where you're going, Music Butt." A snooty female voice growled; a voice that Octavia dreaded hearing again.

Standing before her and Vinyl was an orange unicorn with a fiery mane, a mint-green pegasus with a yellow mane, and a gryphon, all staring smugly at the two mares.

"Team Vengeance!" Roared Bonbon, immediately looking as though she wanted to violently attack the team, "You bother to show your faces around here after what you did to us?! Why I oughta..." She stopped herself, "What are you doing here?"

"To accepted your apple mission, of course." Sunset Shimmer sneered. She turned the Musical Mares, noticing that Octavia looked a little queasy, "What's wrong, 'Tavia dear? Does the thought of someone taking your mission make you feel bad?"

"Leave her alone!" Vinyl shot back. She looked at her friend, who now appeared to be staring into space, not even paying attention to the conversation.

"Why would you even want to accept the mission?" Asked Bonbon, scowling at the three, "You're not even apart of the Guild anymore!"

"That's none of your business," Growled Sunset, "And also, whoever accepts the mission first takes the mission. The mission giver has no say in it. That's the biggest rule in rescue teams."

"Actually, Musical Mares accepted it first." Bonbon said with a smirk.

Sunset scowled, "Then we'll fight them for it."

"Didn't you three learn anything from last time?" Vinyl reminded, "Not to mention, I just got a new bass cannon, so I'll be able to blast you into oblivion!"

"No!" Screamed Lyra, stepping between the two in order to make peace, "I will not have fighting in my Guild! We are supposed to work together as a team!"

"How do we settle this then?" Asked Bonbon. She glared at Team Vengeance, "Since some two ponies and one gryphon refuse to realize their place..."

Lyra rubbed her chin, "I know! We'll make it a friendly competition! Whoever can get the apple first will be rewarded! How about it, Vengeance? Musicals?"

Sunset, Lightning, and Gilda all shared the same smug smirk as they each nodded in agreement.

"That's no fair!" Cried Vinyl, "We accepted it first! Right Octavia?"

Octavia didn't reply. She continued to stare off into space.

"Then it's settled!" Lyra concluded, "The team that gets that apple first and brings it back here will be the team that wins!"

"Easy as pie," Said Sunset, "But first... Let's get rid of the competition!"

Faster than any of them could react, the orange unicorn fired a beam of magic at Vinyl and Octavia, blasting them into the wall. Before anyone could object, the three were gone, leaving Octavia and Vinyl nearly knocked out from the hit.

"Scratch and Octavia!" Screamed Bonbon as she trotted over, "Don't just stand there! Go get that stinkin' apple!"

"Bonbon, there's something wrong with Octavia!" Vinyl shot back, "She's not responding to anything I'm doing! I can't just drag her out into the wild!"

Indeed, Octavia was just laying there, her only movement being her breathing.

"I don't care!" Snarled Bonbon, "You can't let Vengeance get that apple! I can't stand the sight of them winning!"

Octavia groaned and shifted as her purple eyes slowly slid open.

"What happened?" She asked.

"Sweet Apple Acres. Zap Apple. Beat Team Vegeance. NOW!" Screamed the cream mare, causing both Octavia and Vinyl to bolt towards the ladder in fear.

---

"What happened back there, 'Tavia?" Vinyl asked as the two made their way through town, heading to Sweet Apple Acres, "You blanked out. Was it because Sunset Shimmer hit you?"

"No," Answered Octavia, "When I bumped into her, I got that dizzy feeling again, like when I walked into Lyra's chamber. I saw something that I'm certain happened in the past, or will happen soon."

"What did you see?"

Octavia hesitated, "It was Sunset. She was talking to someone, but I couldn't see who. The other pony said something like... You're not deserving to be my apprentice. You want to use your teachings for evil purposes."

"Anything else?"

"Sunset said back to it: Well forget you! I didn't want to be your apprentice anyway!"

"That other pony is Princess Celestia," Vinyl concluded, "I'm sure of it. Sunset was once Celestia's student, but she was dismissed. That's why she's so bitter to everypony."

"How did you know?"

"Minuette and Lucky told me." Vinyl paused, suddenly deep in thought, "What I don't understand, is how you were able to see that when you weren't even there when it happened."

"It's almost like what happened in Lyra's chamber," Octavia explained, "I felt really dizzy and sick to my stomach before everything went black. Then I saw or heard events that happened in other times."

"Maybe we should talk to Trixie about it? Since she is the Guild's supposed 'Medic'."

"I doubt she can help."

"It's worth a shot."

The two stopped talking when they came upon a huge apple orchard. A large red barn sat upon the hill overlooking the acres and acres of apple trees. Said trees were filled with red delicious, golden delicious, Granny Smith, and many other apples that sparkled in the afternoon sun.

"Wow," Breathed Vinyl, "That's a lot of apples."

"It ain't half as many as we usually have!" A familiar voice yelled from behind.

Vinyl and Octavia turned, discovering an elder, green mare approaching them slowly.

"Oh, hi Granny Smith," Vinyl greeted, "What do you mean?"

"I done told ya not two days ago!" The elder mare said, "Thanks to all them weird disasters, apples have been hard to grow! Not to mention, we lost our best apple bucker when she went to guard that dang Element of Honesty!"

"Don't you still have Big Macintosh?" Asked Vinyl with a cock of her head.

"Yeah! But he's gotta work for that... Uh... Uh... What's that human-obsessed gal's name?"

"Lyra?"

"Lyra! Yeah! He works underground in that uh... The hoofprint reader thing."

Vinyl and Octavia remembered. Big Mac must have been the pony under the grate at the Guild that could tell a pony's talent and race just by looking at their hoofprints.

"You didn't happen to see a unicorn, pegasus, and a gryphon run by here, did you?" Octavia asked, derailing the subject.

"You mean Team Vengeance?" Smith questioned, her mood becoming grave, "Darn tootin' I did! I couldn't stop 'em, and I was just coming to the Guild to tell you about it! I don't trust 'em with my apples, and I bet my hip that they went back there steal some! Well, I hope them Timberwolves tear 'em to shreds for doing so!"

Vinyl gulped, "Timberwolves?"

"Ya bet your magic there is! They don't come up here to the parts we own, but in the parts that Sweet Apple joins the Everfree Forest, that's where they are."

"That's where the Zap Apples are too, right?" Questioned Octavia.

"Yup!" Smith paused, narrowing her eyes at the cello-player, "Wait. Who wants to know?"

"No reason!" Octavia quickly answered before she grabbed Vinyl's hoof and ran off towards the back of the orchard.

"But Octavia!" Cried Vinyl, looking quite scared, "There's Timberwolves back there..."

"Well, we have my cello bow and your bass cannon," Octavia assured the frightened unicorn, "Those wood demons won't know what hit them."

Vinyl's nerves seemed to ease a little, as the trees around them became thicker. There were almost no apple trees around, as gnarled, creepy-looking trees grew in their place. The area seemed to get darker, for the branches above were so thick, they almost blocked out the sun.

"I'm guessing we're in the Everfree Forest now." Said Octavia with a hint of doubt.

"Meep...!" Vinyl whimpered.

"Vinyl, what are you so afraid of? We've fought Seaponies, a gryphon, and a changeling, and you're scared of trees?"

"I'm not scared of the trees," Vinyl explained, looking up at the trees around them, "I'm scared of what's in them! Granny Smith already mentioned Timberwolves, but there's even worse creatures out here then them!"

"Oh really?" Octavia replied with heavy sarcasm.

"Like cockatrices!" Vinyl continued, "Just one glances into their beady red eyes turns you into stone! Or the hydra! It has multiple heads that all try to eat you or stun you with poisonous bites!"

"Okay Vinyl, that's-" Octavia started to interrupt, but Vinyl was on a roll and kept going.

"Or Cerberus, the three-headed dog from Hades! One time, he got into Ponyville and nearly destroyed everything! I bet he likes to come here and eat alive ponies so he can eat them again in the underworld!"

"Vinyl!" Octavia objected.

"Or the worst of them all..." Vinyl paused with horror.

"Vinyl, you're not helping!"

"Bus drivers!" Exclaimed the white unicorn, her eyes shrinking with fear.

"Vinyl! Will you please just stop?" Begged a distressed Octavia, "Now you've got me scared!"

Vinyl looked down, "Sorry."

The two walked on, now more nervous than ever. Vinyl wouldn't stop assuring herself, saying things like "Don't be scared! There's no Timberwolves!" or "I've got a bass cannon. No cockatrice is going to make me a lawn ornament!"

Octavia however, couldn't stop scrunching her nose. There was an awful stench in the air, much like sulfur that made her almost gag. Vinyl had just picked up on the scent too and was starting to cough violently from it.

"What is that smell?" The unicorn questioned.

A distant memory suddenly came to Octavia; the scent was actually familiar. The sounds of blood-curdling howls suddenly echoed through the woods, freezing both mares in place.

"Oh Celestia..." Vinyl cursed, "Please tell me that's not what I think it is?"

"Timberwolves..." Octavia breathed, her eyes widening in pure fear.

As soon as she said this, three, dark figures jumped from the bushes beside them. They were like wolves in body, but they were completely made out of wood. Their glowing green eyes looked murderous as they licked their wooden chops in anticipation.

"Run!" Octavia screamed.

The two mares took off in the opposite direction as the Timberwolves gave chase, barking and howling eerily. The wolves could cover more ground, for they had longer legs than Octavia and Vinyl. They started closing the distance between theirselves and the two panicky mares.

"Should we blast them?" Vinyl huffed, ready to take out her bass cannon.

"No!" Objected Octavia, "By the time we turn around to attack them, they'll already be on us! Keep running!"

---

Meanwhile, deeper in the woods, Sunset Shimmer, Gilda, and Lightning Dust were busy picking rainbow colored apples from one lone tree in a small clearing.

"I can't believe this is the only one left," Lightning stated as she picked the apples from the tree and placed them in the bucket below, "Back before the disasters, there were tons of these Zap Apple trees. Now there's only one left in all of Equestria."

"That's the Apple family's problem," Said Gilda with little concern, "They shouldn't put their apple trees all the way out in the middle of the Everfree Forest. Good gosh, it's common sense! I guess those hillbillies have none."

"Will you two quit talking and pick faster?" Snarled Sunset, "Those Music Butts will be on us anyday now! We have to show them up!"

Lightning and Gilda rolled their eyes and picked more apples. They picked as many as they could before the bucket overflowed and could no longer fit anymore. Immediately, Sunset picked up the bucket and galloped off, her two friends close behind.

"Ha! I knew this would be easy!" Laughed the orange unicorn, "Those rookies are so inexperienced, they probably don't even know where to look for the Zap Apples! Don't you agree that I am so clever?"

Lightning and Gilda stayed silent, not agreeing with Sunset mentally.

"Don't you?" The unicorn growled intimidatingly.

"Oh! Yeah yeah! Of course you are!" The two cronies agreed, nodding their heads nervously.

"Oh, I am, aren't I-?"

Luckily, Sunset's self-worshipping was cut off when something tackled her, knocking her clean into the bushes and spilling the apples all over the forest floor. Gilda and Lightning Dust looked up, discovering Vinyl and Octavia standing there with panicky looks on their faces. There was something closing in on them a few hundred yards away, though the gryphon and the pegasus couldn't make it out.

"Timberwolves!" Exclaimed Octavia, "Leave the apples! Run! I'll hold them off as long as I can!"

"I'll help too!" Vinyl volunteered.

Octavia didn't argue as Gilda and Lightning took off into the bushes, attempting to backtrack without meeting the wolves. The brown mare and Vinyl stood bravely against the three wolves, who were barely a few yards away. Octavia drew her bow and Vinyl expanded her bass cannon as the Timberwolves approached very quickly. As the first wolf lunged, Octavia slashed it across the face, then used all the power in her hind legs to buck its head. The wolf's head exploded into millions of wood shards before the rest of the body fell apart with it.

The other two wolves lunged at Vinyl, expecting to get a mouthful of delicious pony flesh. Instead, they received a face full of loud electronic music, blasting them into the bushes. Unfortunately, it did not shatter their body and they immediately recovered, attempting to charge at Vinyl again. Even more unfortunate was that Vinyl's bass cannon needed to recharge for about a minute before it could be used again.

Octavia covered for her, kicking one of the Timberwolves in the side. It was launched a few feet before landing and skittering. The hit must have damaged it quite a bit, for it ran off into the woods, limping slightly.

While this went on, Sunset Shimmer quietly sneaked behind them where she had dropped the apples. She quickly gathered them back up and placed the bucket on her back before galloping away from the scene, leaving Octavia and Vinyl to fend for themselves.

Finally, Vinyl's bass cannon had charged up again. She released a powerful electronic blast into the last Timberwolf, throwing it into a tree and shattering it into many wooden pieces. The two mares breathed a sigh of relief, turning to each other and smiling blissfully.

"Nice job." Vinyl spoke, panting hard from the fight.

"You too." Octavia replied with a solemn nod. Her ears pricked again as she turned in the direction of a dark patch of woods. She caught a glance of a fiery orange and yellow mane that she knew all too well.

"Sunset Shimmer!" Vinyl exclaimed, saying it before Octavia could realize it, "I knew she wasn't going to give up that easily! C'mon 'Tavia! Let's go get her and teach her a lesson!"

Octavia grabbed her anxious friend by the tail before she could take off, jerking her back and knocking them both over.

"Vinyl, let her take them to Lyra," She insisted, "She may be a jerk, but I feel kind of sorry for her after you told me what had happened to her."

Vinyl's anger simmered down a little, "But Bonbon-!"

"Forget Bonbon," The brown mare insisted, "Karma always comes back to bite a pony's back ends for their bad deeds. Sunset will get what she deserves in the future. In the meantime, we shouldn't be the ones to deliver that bite into the back end."

"But-" Vinyl objected. Octavia gave her an intimadating glare that ended the argument immediately.

"Let's head back to the Guild," The brown mare suggested, "Maybe Bonbon won't be too angry with us."

---

As soon as the Musical Mares returned, they were greeted with the sight of Vengeance presenting Lyra a bucket of Zap Apples. A huge smile was on the mint-green mare's face as she picked an apple and bit into it, purring with delight. Vinyl glanced over at Bonbon, who was giving them the most disapproving glare that she had ever seen her give.

"Thank you!" Lyra acknowledged, "You guys are the best!"

"Where's our money?" Snarled Sunset, "We didn't go through all that for nothing."

Lyra's smile immediately fell, "Now I remember why I kicked you three out," She pulled out a pouch of bits and gave it to Sunset, "Enjoy your smelly money. At least I got my apples!"

Sunset smirked at her two companions before she turned her nose up and left the scene, Gilda and Lightning trailing close behind her.

"C'mon everypony!" Lyra called to the Guild members, "Let's have a celebration dinner with the return of my apples!"

None of the Guild members objected to this. They all followed Lyra into the mess hall, cheering for the rather pointless reason of Lyra's apples. Vinyl and Octavia started to follow, but someone yanked back on their tails, forcing them to stop.

"I don't think so." A familiar voice growled with resentment.

The Musical Mares turned, discovering a scowling Bonbon. She stamped her hoof in frustration, looking as though she was about to blow a fuse.

"I am very disappointed in you two!" She yelled, poking Octavia then Vinyl in the chest, "I gave you a mission to retrieve those apples and you failed! You let... Sunset Shimmer get them instead! You... You... No dinner tonight! Straight to your chambers, now!"

Both looked as though they wanted to object, but Bonbon stopped them by screaming.

"NOW!"

They ran off with their legs tucked between their legs. Octavia could hear Vinyl cursing under her breath as they entered their room.

"Octavia, I don't mean to be rude," The unicorn started, "But what in Celestia's name were you thinking? Sunset's going to get what she deserves, yeah right!"

A loud rumbling interrupted Vinyl's rant. She gripped her stomach in pain.

"Oh man... I'm starving after the fight with those Timberwolves." She groaned.

Octavia looked down with a saddened expression, "I'm sorry."

Vinyl ignored her, "Whatever. Let's just try to get some sleep. That is, if my stomach doesn't try to eat me in my sleep."

The unicorn flopped down on her bed without another word. Octavia followed her example and carefully laid on her bed. She tossed and turned, having a difficult time getting comfortable with her aching stomach. It seemed like an hour passed before she heard Vinyl speak up.

"You asleep yet?"

Octavia shook her head, even though Vinyl couldn't see her, "No. Not at all."

"What I wouldn't give to have one of Lyra's Zap Apples right now."

"Don't talk about food. I'm about to break down and eat my bedding."

Vinyl looked at her bed, "Well, it is hay. We ponies eat hay, so..."

"It's been on the floor. It's probably stale."

"Let's eat it anyway."

Just as the two mares were about to dig into their beds, a knock was heard at their door. Octavia and Vinyl immediately stopped themselves from eating the beds and sat, trying to look as normal as possible.

"Come in!" Vinyl called.

As soon as she said this, the door slowly creaked open. Two distinctive ponies trotted in, a bucket of apples on one of the ponies' back.

"Hey," Said Minuette, "Me and Lucky brought you something."

Lucky set the bucket of apples down on the floor. Vinyl's eyes lit up as she suddenly dashed to the bucket and began downing the apples. Octavia quickly followed as they began chowing down on the delicious apples.

"You guys are life savers!" Vinyl said, "Thank you so much!"

"We saw what happened between you and Bonbon," Lucky explained, "We felt so bad for you that we couldn't let you starve. So here's a gift from us to you."

"You guys... I don't know what to say," Vinyl replied, taking a break from eating the apples, "You're truly the best ever!"

"It's no trouble," Lucky dismissed, "You're both cool to us. Bonbon shouldn't have been so hard on you. Sunset is tricky, and so are her cronies. They should be the ones without dinner, not your guys."

"Well said!" Octavia agreed with a mouthful of apples.

After the Musical Mares finished their apples and finally had full stomachs, Minuette and Lucky left quickly and quietly.

"Don't tell anyone we did this," Warned Minuette before she left, "They'll likely tattle to Bonbon, then we'll all be in trouble."

Once they had left, Vinyl burped and turned to Octavia, a large, sleepy smile on her face.

"Whaddaya know? We're making friends after all."

That was all the words they exchanged before Vinyl passed out, sleeping soundly. Octavia followed her friend's example and quickly passed out herself.