>Echo’s sleep was troubled to say the least.
>She and Spark had finally managed to find a way back to Mouse’s home after getting lost a number of times, leaving them to arrive at the small house late into the day.
>When they did finally arrive, Echo immediately collapsed onto her bed in the corner of the room, drifting in and out of anxiety ridden nightmares throughout her sleep.
>Dreams of her mother, Stone, and the mysterious journey ahead left her with hardly any sleep.
>Echo was awoken permanently by the sound of the old wooden door at the other side of the room creaking open.
>Through squinted eyes she could see Mouse entering and shaking excess water off of her fur.
>“What a marvelous day to start a perilous journey.” Mouse muttered under her breath.
>Mouse glanced across the room and noticed Echo staring back at her.
>“Ah good, you’re awake.” She said. “Come and help me fix breakfast.”

>Echo spent the rest of the morning preparing a large breakfast of fruit, while desperately trying to keep up with the pace of Mouse.
>She thought it to be rather therapeutic; at least it took her mind off of what was ahead.
>Just as the two p0nies were finishing putting the breakfast on the table, Spark emerged from the small closet that she had been sleeping in.
>Her eyes grew wide when she noticed the food on the table and soon all three p0nies were sitting at the table eating.
>Echo hardly said a word as she ate; her mind feeling like it was lost in a pool of emotions.
>Spark noticed something was wrong and turned to Echo.
>“Hey, what’s wrong?”
“Oh nothing,” Echo said flatly. “Just the fact that the two of us are mere hours away from embarking on some trip with the goal of saving all of Hollow Shades and maybe even all Equestria, not even knowing what we’ll face or even if we’ll make it back.”
>“Oh come on Echo stop that. You know that we’ll be fine. All we have to do is go out, find some p0nies, and bring them back. It’ll be easy. It’ll be fun!”
“ALL we have to do? Have you forgotten about the part where we then have to defeat the most powerful group of p0nies in Hollow Shades? Did you forget that we can’t even do any of that until we make it there, wherever ‘there’ is, alive and somehow convince the p0nies to join us?”
>Spark responded by slowly shaking her head, a look of sadness plastered on her face.
>“Stop it you two!” Mouse spoke sternly, “Hardly even past breakfast and you are already at each other’s throats! There’s no way that you’ll be able to accomplish anything if you keep acting like this.”
>Echo sunk back into her chair and the room was silent.
>Mouse was right, there was no reason to act the way that she was.
“Look, I’m sorry. I guess I’m just feeling a little anxious about all of this.”
>She turned to Mouse.
“We should probably just get going.” She said solemnly.

>Before they knew it, Echo and Spark were standing outside of the small shack being briefed by Mouse one final time.
>It wasn’t raining nearly as heavily as it had been hours before and the clouds were mostly gone, revealing a large, starry sky up above.
>“So, the food that I filled your satchels with should last you the journey there.” Mouse said, handing the bags over to the two friends.
>Spark raised her eyes.
>“Should?”
>“Well, yes.” Mouse replied hesitantly. “Remember – we do not know exactly where these p0nies will be. We only know the general location of where they may be.”
>Seeing the worried look on the two p0nies faces, she continued.
>“Don’t worry; there’s more than enough in there to keep you going. And oh, take this.”
>Mouse reached into a bag of her own and pulled out a rather old looking map, along with two small daggers.
>“I’ve taken the liberty to circle a few areas on the map where you are most likely to find the p0nies; and it’d be best for you to take these along with you, should you run into any trouble.”
>She handed Echo the map and each of them a dagger.
>“I trust your time in the Order has left you with some knowledge on how to use these?”
>The two nodded their heads.
>“Do either of you have any questions? Good. I’ll be awaiting your return; may Luna guide you.”
>Not long after, the two friends found themselves on their own.
“She never was very good at goodbyes.” Echo remarked.
>And with that they were on their way.