>“Hey! Give her some space!” 
>Echo’s ears were ringing as she slowly opened her eyes. 
>Through blurred vision she could see a large group of ponies crowding around her, chatting loudly.
”What? What happened?”
>Echo could hardly even speak.
>”I’m don’t know dear; you just seemed to fall from the sky. Are you alright?”
>Echo looked up and saw an elderly, well groomed pony at the front of the group.
“I…I think so”
>Echo brushed her dark blue mane from in front of her eyes and tried to stand up on wobbly hooves.
>The other ponies were eyeing her curiously
>”Be careful dear, your wing is badly injured.”
>Echo looked back and winced in pain.
>On her left wing was a huge rip, from the center of it all the way down to the bottom.
>The wing was badly bloodied and it hurt worse than any pain she had felt before.
>”Tell me what happened to you, we need to get you to a doctor.” Said another pony, stepping out from the crowd.
>Echo was suddenly hit with a pang of worry.
”My satchel! Where’s my satchel?!”
>Her worry quickly turned to panic as she desperately searched the ground for her satchel.
“It…It has to be here!”
 >“Calm down dear, we’ll help you find it. Just relax; I don’t want you to hurt yourself even more.”
>Echo was frantic at this point
“No,no,no,no you don’t understand! I just had it! Where is it?!”
>Echo was frantically shuffling along the ground, and through the group of spectators that were still gathered around her.
>It was at that moment that she noticed a group of soldiers, heading towards the direction of the crowd.
>She bolted upright and began sprinting in the opposite direction the soldiers were approaching from.
>Members of the crowd that had gathered around Echo were obviously confused, and they were yelling at her to come back.
>Luckily, there was an abandoned house nearby, and Echo plunged through one of the open windows.


>The house was damp and musky and the smell made Echo’s nose crinkle, but she had other things to worry about.
>She sat peering out the window, half disguised by a pair of tattered blinds.
>She began to see the soldiers pass by one by one.
>This didn’t just look like a search party; it looked like an escort.
>Sure enough, in the center of the group of soldiers was none other than Princess Luna herself.
>On top of Luna’s head sat the golden helmet, and the soldier closest to the Princess held Echo’s lost satchel in his mouth.
>Echo’s heart dropped.
>There was no way that she was going to get that back.
>Just when she was working out in her mind a possible solution to the problem, Echo heard a crash in another room of the abandoned house.
>Echo looked to her left and saw that the front door of the house had been kicked in and the soldier ponies were marching inside.
>Must be the search party.
>Echo ran deeper into the house and spotted a backdoor.
>She quickly used it and found herself in a run-down alley way.
>There was no way that she could get the helmet back when she was probably the most wanted pony in Canterlot.
>Besides, her wing desperately needed medical attention.
>She needed to get out of this city, and fast.


>Echo quickly made her way to the Canterlot train station.
>She jumped into one of the empty cargo cars furthest back, the same method she used to get into the city.
>As she sat there, looking out over the vast Canterlot landscape, she began to think about her failed mission and the consequences.
“What will the Order do to me when they find out that I failed my most important mission?”
“They’ll have me disbanded out for sure.”
>She cringed at the thought of Stone and the other members scolding her and telling her to leave.
>On second thought, that wouldn’t have seemed all too bad for Echo if it wasn’t for the fact that being kicked out of the Order would also mean that she would be without a home.
>That was almost the only home that she had ever known.
“I was stupid to believe that I could ever do a job like this.”
>Echo sighed and leaned back against the wall of the car.
>She let out a small screech of pain because of the pressure on her wing.
>Echo turned to examine the deep gash in her left wing.
>The area around the gash was beginning to swell significantly.
>She knew just the place to get it taken care of; it was just a matter of getting there that worried her.



>Echo had gotten off the train in the fields about fifteen miles west of Fillydelphia.
>Her journey to the forest that held Hollow Shades was largely uneventful but nonetheless arduous because of the worsening condition of her wing.
>She walked for two nights across the vast fields until she came to the edge of the Shades forest.
>Echo felt warmness and comfort in her heart now that she was finally home.
>However, she still needed her wing to be attended to.
>It became much worse the past two days and the gash was starting to develop a filmy layer of puss around it.
>Echo knew the forest like the back of her hoof and about an hour after entering it, she came across the house of Mouse.
>Mouse was a recluse that lived on the very outskirts of Hollow Shades and had been something of a god-mother to Echo ever since her real mother had passed away.
>Echo walked through an overgrown garden and up to a dilapidated shack.
>She knocked on the door three times.
>Immediately after the third knock, the door opened to reveal an old, haggard looking bat pony.
>Her mane was a dark grey color and she wore an oversized, tattered cloak.
>”Yes? What do you want?” her hoarse voice practically shouted.
>Mouse’s wrinkled face immediately lit up.
>”Oh, Echo sweetie! I hardly recognized you! Do come in, I’ve just finished making tea.”
>Echo followed Mouse into her small house.
>”I haven’t seen you in ages, how have you been?”
>An air of worry came over Mouse’s frail body as she spotted Echo’s wounded wing.
>”Oh my, how did that happen? Never mind, I need to tend to that right away.”
>The next thing she knew, Echo was sipping tea and eating mangoes, her left wing in a large pot of warm water and other mysterious, gooey substances that Mouse had added to it.
>Echo took a look around the small, one room house.
>It was a cozy little place even if it was in disrepair.
>Mouse had just finished preparing fruit soup and was joining Echo at the table.
>“So”, Mouse said, sitting down “Tell me what happened to you.”
>Echo told the details of her mission, how she injured her wing, and her trip to Mouse’s house, without sparing a detail.
>“You’re part of the Order, huh? I never would’ve guessed. But I reckon that IS the point now, isn’t it?”
>Mouse chuckled and took a sip from her tea.
>Her demeanor suddenly became graver and she leaned in towards Echo.
>“You do realize that they’ll have your hide for this, correct?”
>Echo nodded,
“Yes, I know. Actually, part of the reason for me coming here was to ask you just exactly what I should do.”
>“You mean you’re thinking of running away from this problem?”
>Echo wasn’t really sure.
“It just feels like I have two different ways to get to the same place. If I run away, where would I run off to? When I get disbanded, where do I run off to?”
>“It’s never good to run away from a problem Echo, no matter how large. A situation like this, two different paths that can lead you to the same place, should give you even more incentive to face your problem.”
“It could lead me to the same place, but how do you know that it would lead to the same outcome?” I don’t know what the Order would do to me when they find out that I failed my mission.”
>“Trust me Echo, the Order won’t do anything to hurt you.” She smiled, “Not permanently, at least.”
>Echo laughed, Mouse’s personality never failed to cheer her up.
>Echo hadn’t been in Mouse’s home in years and it comforted her and reminded her of her childhood.
>”Echo?”
“Mhm?”
>”You’re not happy with your life in the Order, are you?”
>Echo was shocked, how did Mouse know? She didn’t think of herself as that transparent.
>”I could see it in your eyes.”
“I guess I am”, she thought.
>Echo turned to Mouse.
“To tell you the truth, no, but it’s practically the only life I’ve ever known.”
>”That just seems like an excuse for you to stay comfortable with the life that you have and not chase after the life that you REALLY want.”
>Wow, she was good at this.
>However, Echo was too ashamed to tell Mouse of her dream of one day being a member of the Royal Guard. 
>Hell, she was usually too ashamed to tell HERSELF of it.
>Mouse smiled once more and took the empty plates to her makeshift kitchen.
>“You and me Echo, we aren’t as different as you may think. In fact, I think with time you’ll find us to be quite similar.”



>The next week at Mouse’s home was one of the best that Echo could remember.
>She hadn’t been that carefree and comfortable in a long time.
>On the eighth day, Echo knew that it was time to leave and Mouse sent her on her way with a new satchel filled with fruit and water.
>It was only a short walk from Mouse’s home to Hollow Shades and Echo was there by midnight.
>As she walked through the dense forest she felt eager to get home, despite what might await her when she arrived.
>Echo’s heart raced in excitement as she began to see dim, scattered lights through the dark trees.
>She crossed the bridge over a small river to the land on which the town was situated.
>In front of Echo was a large circle of land cleared from all vegetation.
>On the opposite side of the clearing, wrapping along the edge of the trees all the way to the entrance of the town, was a series of purple-tinted buildings.
>These buildings primarily served as the homes to the bat ponies of the town, but were also used as shops.
>In the center of the clearing was a large fountain, and surrounding the fountain was a circle of small produce stands that were brought out every night by the citizens.
>The main source of light in the town was the natural light of the stars and moon; however, there were a small number of lanterns spread about the town.
>Since it was midnight, the town was as busy as ever but, of course, not nearly as busy as a city like Canterlot.
>As Echo walked into the clearing she could hear the din of the marketplace and smell the fresh fruit.
>She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and the humid night air filled her lungs.
>She had finally reached the heart of the forest, and her home.
>When Echo opened her eyes, she could see a blonde headed bat pony bounding towards her out of the marketplace.
>“Echo! You’re back!”
>The pony embraced Echo.
“Spark”, Echo laughed “It’s good to see you again.”
>Spark was a fellow member of the Order and one of Echo’s only friends.
>“So,” Spark said, lowering her voice but still excited, “How did it go?”
>Echo sighed.
“Not too well, Spark. I’ll spare you the details, but long story short, I didn’t get the helmet.”
>“You WHAT? But that was your most important mission! It was even one of the Orders most important missions! How could you fail that? What is Stone going to do to you?!”
>Spark was practically shouting.
>Echo quickly turned around to see other ponies eyeing them suspiciously.
>Echo gave them a nervous grin and pulled Spark to the side.
 “Calm down. I’ll tell you more about it on the way to the Order.”
>“What?! You’re actually going back there?”
“Yes. Now come on.”



>Echo urged the reluctant Spark across the town and into the forest.
>The Order’s hideaway could be accessed by a small pathway that led through the woods.
>After twenty minutes of walking, the two bat ponies came across swampland.
>They walked on narrow, rotting beams of wood that crossed the treacherous swamp, and came upon a small, broken down shack, not unlike the one Mouse used as her home.
>However, this shack was much less homely.
>“Are you sure you want to go through with this, Echo?”
>Spark’s tone was solemn.
“Yes, Spark.”
>“You know that if you get disbanded,” Spark said with her head down, her voice pushing through a knot in her throat, “We won’t ever be able to see each other again.”
“Don’t talk like that Spark.”
>Echo pushed up Spark’s head with her hoof.
“We’re best friends. You know that we can make it work somehow.”
>Spark closed her eyes and Echo saw a tear stream down her face.
“We’ve been through worse before. Hey, remember that time when you dropped the prince’s amulet into the swamp? Stone was furious and made you go out and search for it.”
>A small smile came across Spark’s face.
>“And then I fell in? How could I forget that? You came at the last minute and saved my life.”
“I think you forgot the part where the swamp was only two feet deep.”
>Spark let out a small chuckle.
>“Oh yeah. Well thanks again anyway.”
>They were both silent for a while and could hear nothing but the sounds natural sounds of the swamp and forest that surrounded them.
>Echo was finally the one to speak up.
“Come on Spark, let’s go”, she said simply.
>Spark turned without a word and the two of them entered the small shack.