Surprisingly, no dreams came to Octavia that night, mainly because she couldn't sleep. Her mind kept wandering to Sunset Shimmer, her dream the night before last, and the fact that Minuette and Lucky would be so kind as to give them a bucket of apples. It seemed like hours before Trixie came to wake them up. When she did, Octavia was no longer startled by it. As Vinyl awoke from her deep sleep, Octavia struck up a conversation with the blue unicorn.

"Trixie, I have a question." She began, stopping the unicorn from leaving.

"What do you need to ask the Great and Powerful Trixie?" Questioned Trixie with her usual condescending air.

"There's... Something weird that's been going on with me..." Stated Octavia, looking down at her scarred hoof, "Remember that time I passed out in Lyra's chambers?"

"Trixie remembers it well."

"Well, it happened again when I bumped into Sunset Shimmer. I had a vision that told the past. My one in Lyra's chambers... I think predicted the future or the present, I'm not sure which."

Trixie rubbed her chin, "Well, Trixie has read about something similar. She reads about certain ponies that are gifted with the powers to see the future; seers, as they are called. It's said that only unicorns and some certain other creatures can inherit the power, since they are magical," She looked quizzically at the brown mare, "But never has Trixie heard of an earth pony inheriting such powers! Are you sure that it is visions of the past and future you are seeing?"

"Positive."

Vinyl had finally sat up and joined in on the conversation. She had been fake-sleeping and heard every word of Trixie and Octavia's conversation.

"So Octavia's like this some sort of future-past seer or something?" Asked the white unicorn.

"There's no guarantee," Said Trixie, "It could just be a fluke or some crazy dream. Even the oh-so-very wise Trixie may not be the best one to ask."

Octavia and Vinyl exchanged confused glances before Trixie turned and left. They followed her out before turning and heading to the mess hall. Everyone apart of the Guild was there, crowed into the giant table as best as they could. In fact, it was so crowded that Vinyl and Octavia were forced to stand on the sides. Derpy apparently was as well, for she approached them, a blissful smile across her face. The crowded mess hall was unusual, since most of the ponies trickled in and out from time to time until breakfast hours were over.

"What's going on, Derps?" Asked Vinyl with curiosity.

"Oh, Lyra's making a big huge announcement!" The gray mare announced with excitement, "She says she wants everypony to be in the mess hall for it!"

"What's the announcement?"

"Nopony knows yet! But we're all really excited because she said we're all going to like it!"

As soon as she said this, Lyra slammed her hoof on the table, quieting the ponies in the mess hall. She stood up to full height, clearly showing Zap Apple stains on her chest.

"Members of Lyra's Guild for Rescuers!" She announced in a loud, clear voice so that all the others may hear, "As you have already been told, I have a very special announcement to make. I have just got a letter from the greatest solo explorer in all of Equestria, telling us that he's coming to visit us later today. Rescuers, the legendary Black Thunder is coming to the Guild!"

Immediately, excited murmuring broke out in the mess hall. Lyra was forced to quiet them again.

"I expect all of you to be on your best behavior! The utmost maturity and respect must be shown to Black Thunder; for he expects to see well-trained professionals here, not a bunch of psycho fangirls and fanboys. Are we clear?"

All of the mess hall agreed, except for three little fillies at the end of the table, who broke out into a high-pitched fangirl scream.

"Can you believe it?!" Said the the yellow earth pony filly with a heavy country voice, "Black Thunder is coming here to the Guild!"

"I'm going to get his autograph!" Said the white unicorn filly in a squeaky voice.

"He's the awesomest!" Said the orange pegasus filly in a boyish voice, "Almost as awesome as Rainbow Dash!"

Lyra could clearly be seen rolling her eyes, "With exception to the Cutie Mark Crusaders. But other than that, does everypony understand?"

All of the mares and stallions agreed once again.

"Good! You are free to eat your breakfast burrito!"

Octavia glanced at Vinyl, who had the widest smile on her face, almost to where it went up to her ears. Her eyes were glowing with pure excitement before she grabbed Octavia by the shoulders and shook her violently.

"Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh!" Vinyl screeched, "Black Thunder, Octavia! He's coming here to see us! My idol! He's coming here!"

"I don't mean to sound clueless," Octavia interrupted, pushing her excited friend away, "But um... Who is this Black Thunder?"

"The greatest solo explorer in all of Equestria!" Explained Vinyl, her smile refusing to fade, "Remember? I told you back in Horseshoe Bluff! He's the stallion who held back the whole-!"

"Yes, I remember now," Recalled Octavia, "He held back the entire changeling army while another team rescued some captives. Is that all he's famous for?"

"No!" Objected Vinyl, seeming rather offended, "That's just his most legendary act! He also took out a giant, mutated cockatrice and saved Canterlot from destruction! And he saved an entire school from a hungry dragon! And-"

"Okay, I get it," Octavia interrupted, "It sounds as though he's quite the hero."

"And I can't believe it!" The white mare shrieked again, "He's coming! Today! Here! Oh I'm so excited I could just explode!"

"You realize what today is, right?" Asked Octavia, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

"Saturday. Why?"

"Gretchen? The baby gryphons? The deal we struck up with her so she wouldn't kill us?"

"But Octavia!" Vinyl objected, her smile falling considerably, "What if we're not here to greet Black Thunder? He-!"

"He's coming later today," Octavia recalled, "I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to help Gretchen, then be back here to meet Black Thunder."

"But... But..." Whimpered Vinyl, "Black Thunder..."

"Come on," The brown mare insisted, "Let's grab a breakfast burrito and we'll head out to Mount Hoofington."

"But... But..." Vinyl repeated, looking as though she was about to break down into tears, "We won't see Black Thunder..."

---

Vinyl was still talking about the disappointment of not getting to greet Black Thunder when they reached Mount Hoofington. Unfortunately for her, Octavia just ignored her complaints. Upon entering Hoofington, they were greeted by the same, oversized, ugly gryphon that had tried to kill them for breaking her eggs.

"Started to think you weren't coming!" Gretchen said in broken English that was a bit difficult to understand, "Glad you did! Lots of eggs, not enough claws!"

"We would never break a promise." Octavia said with true sincerity. She glared at the unicorn beside her, "Even though somepony wants to..."

"Octavia, it's Black Thunder for crying out loud!" Vinyl objected.

Gretchen scrunched her beak at the mention of Black Thunder, as if his name offended her. Octavia noticed this immediately, seeming slightly confused that the mention of such a "legendary hero" would disgust a gryphon.

"Well, you need to keep gryphon eggs warm," Interrupted the oversized lion-bird, "Or they will die. Okay?"

Vinyl and Octavia nodded in agreement before Gretchen assigned Vinyl to a certain nest. She explained to her how ponies can take care of the eggs without crushing them. She then came back over to Octavia, also assigning her to a nest.

"We gryphons usual sit on eggs to keep them warm," Gretchen explained, "But since you ponies are so clumsy, you can rub them and breathe on them instead. Don't crush! They're very weak!"

"Got it." Replied Octavia before crawling into the large nest. Her assigned nest was filled with an assorted number of red and blue eggs, three red and four blue. Gretchen retired to a nest a few feet to the left of her. She carefully situated her back end on the eggs before sitting down fully and sighing with relief.

Octavia decided to get closer to Gretchen so she could chat with her. With more caution than she had ever used before, she carefully moved the nest over to the oversized gryphon. When it was moved to the spot she wanted, Octavia set the nest down and once again climbed back in.

"May I ask you something, Gretchen?" She started.

"Of course." The gryphon replied.

"Why did you make a face when Vinyl mentioned Black Thunder?"

Gretchen made another face, "He's bad pony. Bad bad!"

Octavia scowled in confusion, "How so? Everypony keeps talking about how he's such a legendary hero."

Gretchen glanced over at Vinyl, making sure she wasn't listening, "He hates the Guardians. Only bad ponies hate the Guardians!"

Octavia wasn't sure whether to believe Gretchen or not. But then again, she remembered gryphons were a lot like Seaponies in their way of being truthful; maybe even more so. They had a regal nature to uphold, and even the not-so-pleasing to the eye Gretchen probably had to uphold it as well.

"Not to mention, I hear he's very racist," The gryphon added with resentment, "Especially to those sparkly ponies up north!"

"Sparkly ponies?" Questioned Octavia.

"Crystal Ponies I mean," Gretchen corrected herself, "Very racist. Insults even the mention of those perfectly innocent ponies!"

This seemed to confuse Octavia further. If Black Thunder was such an amazing hero, shouldn't he love every race of ponies? Unless he kept his dislike of the Crystal Ponies a secret, or Gretchen was lying, she couldn't see how that was possible.

"Hey Gretch!" Vinyl called, interrupting Octavia's thoughts, "Can you tell which are boys and which are girls yet?"

"Reds are girls, blues are boys, greens are undecided." Gretchen answered, situating herself again.

"Oh cool! I've got two guys, four girls, and one undecided then!" Vinyl immediately went back to warming the eggs.

"Anything else about Black Thunder I should know?" Octavia questioned, averting the subject of gryphon genders.

"That's all I know," Replied Gretchen, "Black Thunder is jerk for hating the Guardians too! They protect out land!"

Octavia had to agree that Black Thunder's supposed hate of the Guardians was even stranger than the racism towards Crystal Ponies. Only an enemy to Equestria would hate the Guardians.

She decided to push her suspicions away and focus on keeping the eggs warm instead.

---

About an hour and a half passed before Gretchen told the two mares it was okay for them to leave. Vinyl rushed out of there like her tail was on fire. Even Octavia had a difficult time keeping up with her as she sprinted back to the Guild. Vinyl turned the corner, rushed up the hill to the Guild, slid down the ladder and emerged in the team room. She was panting heavily, causing all of the Guild members to turn and stare at her.

"Did I miss him?!" The white unicorn questioned anxiously, "Did I miss Black Thunder?!"

"Sorry Vinyl," Minuette apologized, approaching the mare, "He's not here yet. Lucky's watching for him so we can greet him when he comes in."

"Please tell me he'll be here soon!" Begged Vinyl, hopping up and down as though she needed to empty her bladder.

Just then, Lyra and Bonbon walked up. For some strange reason, their manes looked like they had been styled slightly nicer than their usual appearance.

"Oh, it won't be much longer!" Assured Lyra with a wide smile, "He said he would be here around noon or so. He isn't one to be fashionably late!"

Octavia was still unsure about the whole "Black Thunder, the greatest solo rescuer in all of Equestria". What Gretchen had told her kept nagging in the back of her mind like an embarrassing memory. But who was she to judge? She had never even seen the guy, much less met him.

"He's here!" Cried a voice from the floor above. The gray stallion Lucky Clover suddenly slid down the ladder coming from the top floor, "Black Thunder's just turning on our road! He'll be here in a few seconds!"

Immediately, the Guild members gathered at the ladder, waiting for the "greatest solo rescuer". Heavy hooves could be heard on the floor above as anticipation shot through all the Guild members. Just then, a stallion climbed down the ladder before turning around to face them.

What struck Octavia first was that the stallion looked incredibly strong and was quite larger than the average stallion. He had dark gray fur, a jet-black mane, and jade-green eyes. A horn could barely be seen peeking through his wild, tangled mane.

"Black Thunder!" Lyra greeted, pushing through the crowd in order to shake the stallion's large hoof, "It's a pleasure for you to stop by! We're honored to have you here!"

"Please, just Thunder is fine," Said the stallion in a deep, silky voice as if he had spent all his time acting as a narrator on an overdramatic soap opera, "And please, don't treat me like I'm some monarch. I am no different than the rest of you."

"How was your trip here?" Carrot Top's voice asked from the back.

Thunder turned to the orange mare, "Rather smooth, my dear. I ran into some problems with a hydra, but he wasn't too big of a nuisance-"

Just then, three, high pitched squeals broke through the crowd as three fillies tackled their way through the other ponies in order to get to Black Thunder.

"Can we get your autograph?!" The yellow filly asked, holding up a pad of paper and a pencil.

"Can you teach me magic tricks?!" The white filly asked, her eyes sparkling with admiration.

"Can you beat up some bad guys?!" The orange filly asked, her excitement growing to the max.

"Apple Bloom! Scootaloo! Sweetie Belle!" Bonbon objected, pulling the three fillies away by their tails, "For goodness sake, give the guy some space!"

"Don't worry about it," Said Thunder with a slight chuckle. He patted each of the fillies on their heads, causing them to giggle, "I love kids! There's no replacement to hear the laughter of children everyday; truly bundles of joy!"

The only thing that Octavia saw wrong with the stallion was that he was slightly corny.

"Well, we have some new faces from the last time you visited." Lyra explained. She turned to Vinyl and Octavia, "Our newest members are the Musical Mares, Vinyl Scratch and Octavia."

Vinyl came up to the stallion and promptly shook his hoof, "Hi! I'm Vinyl Scratch, and I'm a huge fan of yours! I'm honored to meet you and-!"

Thunder didn't even reply to Vinyl as he gently pushed by her to get to Octavia. Comparing her own size to his, Octavia only came up to his neck. He was freakishly large, even for a stallion.

"I've heard your name before." He said. The heavy curiosity in his voice concerned Octavia greatly, "Have you done anything to be known? Or have I confused you for somepony else?"

"I... I don't know," The brown mare replied, seeming incredibly confused, "I'm sure you've probably confused me for somepony else. I'm not famous for anything."

"But we hope to be!" Vinyl butted in, snaking an arm around her friend's neck, "We want to become as great as you, Black Thunder!"

"Ah... That's great." The stallion said nonchalantly.

Octavia found that slightly rude. Vinyl was very excited to see him and he was being a jerk about it, completely ignoring her.

Unfortunately, Thunder immediately averted the subject before Octavia could say anything, "Oh, Lyra, would you please show me to my quarters? I have a few things I need to put down."

What things? Octavia wondered, seeing Thunder's empty hooves.

Lyra nodded, "Sure thing!" She clapped a hoof on the unamused Bonbon's back, "Bonbon, show Thunder to his room please!"

Bonbon muttered something under her breath before she reluctantly led Thunder down the hall to the team quarters. As soon as he was gone, excited murmuring broke out through the Guild members.

"Why do you think he's here?" Asked Derpy.

"He just wants to visit us, Derps." Carrot replied.

"Or maybe he needs us to go on a super secret mission with him!" Lucky suggested.

"Lucky, quit fantasizing." Minuette scolded.

"Thunder did say something about needing us for something," Lyra recalled, "I'm not entirely clear as to what it may be. In the meantime, carry on with your normal everyday lives. Don't continue to bother Thunder though; treat him as though he's a Guild member like us."

The group of ponies broke off, leaving only Octavia. Vinyl had gone off to try and talk to Black Thunder again.

"May I tell you something?" The brown mare asked, approaching the overly happy Lyra.

"What's on your mind?" The green mare replied.

"Black Thunder," Octavia began, "I've never seen him before, but he seems so familiar."

"Duh. He's practically a celebrity here in Equestria."

"That's not what I meant. I mean, I think I've seen him before... Before I lost my memory."

"It's possible. He's not easily forgotten after all."

"But... My memory of him is like him, but at the same time it isn't. Do you get what I'm saying?"

Lyra raised an eyebrow, "You're talking nonsense again. Look, I've got some things to attend to. Go talk to Trixie or someone."

"But she can't help!" Octavia objected, attempting to get Lyra to talk to her.

"Octavia, I'm a very busy mare and I can't waste my time listening to your strange feelings," Explained Lyra, her expression suddenly becoming serious, "I'm sorry, but that's how it has to be."

Octavia was about to object again, but Lyra left too quickly for her to do so. Just then, the brown mare felt a freezing-cold hoof lay on her shoulder, causing her to jump and yelp. She turned, discovering Black Thunder and Vinyl standing at his side.

"Oh, I'm sorry my dear," The stallion apologized, "I didn't mean to scare you."

"That's okay," Replied Octavia, "I... Guess I'm a bit jumpy."

"Thunder says he wants to talk to us in private," Vinyl explained, "He's got something really important to tell us! Do you know anywhere private we can go to?"

Octavia raised an eyebrow, "The beach is a good place. But why private?"

Thunder hesitated, "I'll tell you when we get there." He started to walk to the ladder, Vinyl flanking him happily. But when Octavia refused to come, the stallion turned and looked at her quizzically.

"Are you coming?" He asked.

"Uh..." Octavia hesitated, "Yeah, sure. Sorry."

As the three climbed up the ladder, Octavia's thoughts begin to race again. Why did she have mixed feelings about this stallion? It wasn't like he had done anything exceptional rude, other than push Vinyl away and act uninterested in her. She couldn't blame him for that though, for Vinyl was pretty clingy and annoying. And what was up with his ice-hooves? Octavia had felt some cold hooves before (mostly when Vinyl hugged her), but Thunder's hooves were unaturally cold. It was as if he soaked his hooves in ice water every morning.

Octavia shook the thought out of her head. Why was she concerned about the temperature of someone's hooves? She had to admit that the thought was weird, even for her. Maybe she was just too concerned about small things that bothered her and she was letting them get to her.

But why did this paticular stallion make her subconscious want to implode? There was just something... Something about this supposed hero that bothered her beyond relief.

---

Luckily, Octavia's thoughts stopped swarming by the time they reached the beach. Feeling the cool sand on her hooves soothed her nerves about the paticular stallion who stood before her. Unfortunately, as soon as the stallion spoke, her nerves returned.

"I love Ponyville," Thunder commented, feeling the sea breeze blow through his jet-black mane, "It's so much better than some places I've visited and been forced to live in. It only needs a few changes in order to feel like home..."

Vinyl harrumphed.

"Oh, oh!" Thunder turned to face the two mares, "Yes. Sorry for getting off track; I had a bit of a nostalgic feeling there. I only wished to have a little chat with you both."

"'bout what?" Asked Vinyl.

Thunder turned to Octavia, "I wanted to ask you about something. Where might you be from?"

"I don't know." Octavia said, careful to watch what she said around the stallion.

"She washed up on the beach a few days ago," Vinyl explained, "She had amnesia, so I decided to take her in as my best friend! We just became a rescue team not too long ago, and... Here we are!"

Thunder nodded, "I see. So may I ask you, have you been having... Visions recently?"

Octavia's blood ran cold, "How did you..."

"Trixie told me while I was setting my stuff down," Thunder answered quickly, "She thought that maybe I could answer some of your questions. Indeed, you are in someway, a seer. One that can see the past, present, and future."

"Cool!" Vinyl exclaimed.

"Your visions trigger when you touch something, or when you hear a certain word," Thunder explained, "I once had a... Friend who had your abilities. It can be a gift and a curse at the same time. You must be careful when telling others though, for some believe it is a form of dark magic. You could get in serious trouble if you disclose it to the wrong pony."

"Understood," Octavia replied with nod, "Is it possible to know what my visions mean?"

"Some visions are very vague," Thunder continued, "Offering little to no information of the past, present, or future. Some however, can be very informative."

Octavia nodded again, "Thank you for the info." She started to turn away again, but Thunder stopped her again by grabbing her shoulder. Octavia once again was bothered by how very cold his hoof was.

"You must use your powers for good," Insisted Thunder, "Help your friends at the Guild. Your visions could possibly determine the safety of your friends."

"I doubt that."

"You shouldn't doubt what you could be capable of."

"Oh oh!" Vinyl interrupted, "Do you have anything to tell me?"

Thunder raised his eyebrow, "No? Why?"

Vinyl's smile fell.

"Also, I have another question," Thunder began again, "I was going to ask the entire Guild this, but I wanted to ask you personally."

"Ooh really?!" Vinyl asked excitedly, jumping in front of the large stallion.

Thunder suddenly dropped his gaze, seeming slightly annoyed, "Never mind, I'll ask tomorrow. You can head back if you like." Without another word, he gently pushed past the two mares and headed up the beach.

"He's so epic!" Exclaimed Vinyl, "Don't you think so?"

Octavia didn't answer. She wondered how Black Thunder knew so much about her visions. He stated offhandedly about a friend he used to have that had the same powers, but he couldn't possibly know that much just from a friend.

"'Tavia?" Vinyl questioned, snapping Octavia from her thoughts.

"Oh, sorry Vinyl," The brown mare apologized, "Let's do like Thunder suggested and head back."

---

The rest of the night was rather uneventful. The Guild had dinner with Black Thunder, which Octavia didn't enjoy very much. For the whole entire time, the stallion spoke about his adventures and stories; adventures and stories Octavia found as another way to brag on Black Thunder's part. Vinyl was interested though, refusing to even eat while Black Thunder spoke.

After dinner, Octavia headed back outside for a walk through the town; and to clear her thoughts without Vinyl constantly interrupting her. She was still unsure about Black Thunder, for all the strange things she had seen him do had made her feel... Well, Strange. The problem was that she couldn't dislike him just for the strange feeling he gave her. Black Thunder had not done anything horribly wrong, he just made Octavia feel weird.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a familiar snooty voice.

"Hey Music Bu-... Octavia."

Octavia turned, discovering a familiar orange unicorn.

"What do you want, Sunset Shimmer?" The brown mare snarled intimidatingly.

"I came to apologize." Sunset replied. Why Lightning Dust nor Gilda were not beside her puzzled Octavia greatly, "For what I did the other day."

"Why do you even care?" Octavia questioned, "I thought your life goal was to get revenge on the ponies who wronged you."

"Yes, but you're not that pony," Sunset explained, the sound of sincerity in her voice, "In fact, for stealing your mission, I've come to make up for it."

"And just how are you going to do that?" Octavia refused to let up on her scowl.

"You see, me and my team recently found an unexplored area," Began Sunset, "Not even that 'big hero' Black Thunder has explored it yet. Unfortunately, the place was too tough for us, so I suggested that we tell you about it. Just to make up for what we did to you with the Zap Apple thing."

"Well, what is the place?"

Sunset glanced around before leaning in to whisper to the brown mare, "Toxic Fields."

"Toxic Fields? Sounds... Deadly."

"But there has to be tons of cool things there if it hasn't been explored," Insited Sunset, "Right? And you get a chance to show up Black Thunder."

"Why would I do that?"

"Hasn't he been a jerk to you and Vinyl? I know he was a jerk to us when we met him."

"Well, he's been kind of rude to Vinyl, but it isn't that big of a deal. Vinyl can be kind of annoying."

"I wouldn't stand for some jerk pushing my friends around though. I would expect that neither would you."

Octavia had to agree. Black Thunder had been rude to Vinyl, and seemed pretty full of himself. If she could show the Guild her mission of exploring an unexplored area...

"I'll leave it to you," Sunset interrupted Octavia's thoughts, "The Toxic Fields lie a few miles north of Ponyville. You'll know you're there by the smell."

"The smell?"

"Oh. I advise you bring a gas mask or something to plug your nose if you do go." Said the unicorn with an innocent smile before she turned tail and calmly walked away.

Since when does she like to help others? Octavia asked herself. Oh well, it couldn't hurt to go. So the place was beyond smelly? Then she and Vinyl wouldn't have to worry about dealing with any hostile creatures there.

With that in her mind, Octavia headed back to the Guild, completely unaware of the two mares and one gryphon snickering to themselves in a cluster of nearby bushes.

---

I apologize if this seems rushed. It only took me a few days to type it up so... I'm also sorry of the excessive amount of OCs (Black Thunder technically isn't an OC. You'll see what I mean in later chapters), but they're needed in order for the story to work. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed!