“Mouse? Spark? Where in Equestria am I?”
>Echo got up off of the ground and found herself in a large, grassy field surrounded by trees on all sides.
>Her head was fuzzy and her eyes blurry, but as she looked around, Echo noticed that the field was completely devoid of anything; except for a large oak tree in the distance.
>Echo was confused.
>How did she get here? The last thing that she could remember was sitting at Mouse’s dining room table and falling asleep.
>Had Stone changed her mind about letting Echo go and had come to kidnap her?
>Echo screamed for her friends once more but was only greeted by a shriek of wind and the distant creaking of the oak tree.
>She put her head down and sighed.
>Still not having a clue where she was or what to do, Echo chose what seemed like the only option she had and began to walk towards the tree.


>As she walked, Echo noticed that the sky was completely empty of stars and the crisp wind that was blowing on her face slowly grew stronger and stronger.
>Frightened, her walk turned into a trot, and her trot eventually changed to a gallop.
>Before she knew it, Echo was frantic and running full speed at the tree.
>The terrified bat p0ny constantly turned her head around, half-expecting to see the menacing figure of Stone chasing after her.
>Of course, she saw no such thing and before she knew it, Echo was nearing the large tree.
>The tree’s canopy seemed unnaturally long and thick.
>So thick in fact, that the small amount of light that was shining into the field was all but lost underneath of it.
>The grass around the tree turned to dirt with tangled roots protruding from the earth.
>Echo slowed down back to a walk as she reached her destination.
>Breathing heavily, she began to ascend mound of dirt up to the base of the tree.
>Echo noticed that the wind had died down completely.
>It was so unnaturally quiet that she could hear the sound of her heart beating and her hooves crunching in the dirt.
>However, the next thing that she heard made those hooves stop dead in their tracks.
>Echo was about five feet away from the tree now, and from the other side of it she heard what sounded like the distinctive shrieks of a small bat p0ny.
>As she slowly walked around the tree, Echo could see a small crib and a female bat p0ny hunched over it, whispering something incoherent.
>The stunned Echo opened her mouth to say something, but when she caught a quick glance of the adult’s cutie mark, her knees buckled and she almost collapsed on the dirt.
>Echo could recognize that distinctive pink flower cutie mark anywhere and was suddenly hit with a wave of nostalgia.
>The cutie mark that she saw belonged to none other than her mother.
>Echo didn’t know what to think, or even what to feel.
>She slowly walked closer and could make out what her mother was saying.


>“It’s for the best, honey. I know it’ll be hard and I…I might not make it, but I always promised Dad I would take you to Canterlot, no matter the cost. I always promised him that I would get you out of Hollow Shades.”
>Her mother sighed,
>“It sure would be different there. The hustle-bustle of the city, the bright lights, all of the sounds and events… I know we aren’t used to things like that, but we’ll make it work.”
>“Besides, I hear Canterlot has some of the best ice cream parlors this side of Manehattan.” She chuckled, “And yes, I’ll get you chocolate this time.”
>Echo couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
>For as long as she could remember, Echo had desperately wanted to move to Canterlot.
>Is this where she had gotten that desire from?
>But her mother mentioned nothing about the Royal Guard.
>Where had Echo gotten that strange desire from?
>Could it have been from her mother as well?
>Echo shook her head and laughed.
>She felt a fool. Why was she sitting there thinking when her mother was right there before her?
>Echo was felt a wave of happiness pouring through her.
>She could finally speak to her mother again!
>Echo was so happy she could barely make out any words.
“Mom I’m here! Your daughter is right here! We can go now! We can finally move to Canterlot!”
>Echo’s mother let out an irritated grunt.
>Echo was confused but not any less excited.
“I-I finally left the Order and Stone behind! I’m not tied down anymore; we can leave everything and go right now!”
>Her mother mumbled something softly this time, but Echo could not understand what she was saying.
“Mom! Mom?”
>“WHAT DO YOU WANT?!”
>Echo’s mother quickly whipped her head around to face her daughter.
>What Echo saw made her melt in terror.
>Her mother’s face had many scars, almost identical to Stone’s, but that was not nearly the worst part. Her eyes…
>Echo was frozen in pure fear.
>In place of her mother’s eyes were two black, empty sockets.
>Echo covered her face in her hooves, whimpering.
“No no no no no no”,
>was all that she could muster up.
>Echo then heard another, more familiar voice shouting her name.


>“Echo! Come on Echo, it’s already 1 A.M.!” 
>Echo quickly pulled her hooves from in front of her eyes and was immediately greeted by the bright, and cheery face of Spark.
>Echo swung her head around and looked to look at her surroundings.
>She let out a huge sigh of relief when she saw that she was in Mouse’s small home once more.
>Warm sights and smells filled the air and Echo was immediately calmed down and comforted.
>She was lying in a small bed on the other side of the room from the dining room table that she had passed out on.
>“Come on, Echo!” Echo’s sandy headed friend said with a huge grin, “I made you some breakfast.”
>Within a matter of minutes, Echo was sitting at the dining room table with Spark and Mouse.
>Mouse looked up from the table.
>“I must apologize for last night; I really shouldn’t have brought all of that on you so quickly.”
“Don’t be sorry, Mouse. You just told me what I asked for, and I’m grateful for it. It really does clear up so much.”
>Echo looked down at her uneaten food.
“But I guess I still have one more question.”
>“What’s that, dear?”
“I know you and my mother were very close and all, but how exactly did you know about all of this? I mean, those seemed like huge secrets, who told you them?”
>Mouse sighed and got up from her seat.
>“Come, and I’ll tell you all about it.”
>She glanced over at a curious Spark.
>“You can come too, sweetheart.”
>Spark and Echo got up from their seats when Spark stopped abruptly in her tracks, looking annoyed.
>“Echo, you didn’t like my breakfast? What was wrong with it?”
>She took a sniff and hesitantly bit down on the food.
>Her nose wrinkled and she struggled to get it down her throat.
>“I knew I should have added salt instead of the sugar. Hey guys, wait!”
>Spark hurried to meet the others at the door and the three bat p0nies went outside into the cool night air.