In the Space of a Year

It was a night like every other. Echo’s mind sat as still as ever. Sitting, waiting; something that she was very used to. Of course her senses would not pick up on a thing. They never did. At least they hadn’t for a while. How long has it been now? Echo gave up trying to remember almost as soon as that thought entered her brain. As she sat there she let her thoughts wander to stories of her past. But that’s all the past felt like – just stories. Echo could never tell if these broken thoughts were truly her own or if they were merely fragmented pieces of a past that she had made up herself. Almost out of habit, she reminded herself not to dwell on trying to recall those forgotten memories. But what else was she to do? Though one thing was for certain - this now strange land had once been extremely familiar to Echo. She chuckled at that thought. She did not know why. As the night drew on, Echo became increasingly lost in her own mind, slowly weaving in and out of it until it was almost morning. When the first rays of sunlight hit her sensitive eyes, she instinctively crawled over to a corner of the dilapidated building, curled up, and immediately fell asleep.

This night, just like every other night, Echo’s mind would play over those past events that she tried so hard in the daytime to remember. And the next morning, just like every other morning, her dreams would be forever lost in her broken mind.

Echo could practically feel the cheer in the air as she entered Hollow Shades. One year was a long time to be away from her home town and she was beaming at the thought of her return. As she crossed the small bridge and entered into the town square she was immediately met by a vast array of familiar sights, sounds, and smells; all of which put an even bigger smile on her already bright face. She knew that she had come home in time for the Festival of the Night, Hollow Shades most cherished festival. The bat ponies of Hollow Shades always went all out with the decorations and festivities and this year was no different. Walking into the town square, Echo noticed the familiar circle of food stands atop the neatly paved circle of stone bricks. With the festivities just starting, the town was absolutely brimming with life. She was glad to see that nothing had changed a bit during her absence. Echo passed by some of the citizens of the town gathered around the large fountain; a common meeting place amongst the ponies of Hollow Shades. Echo reached up her
hoof and waved happily at the ponies.

Echo continued on through the town, being sure to take everything in. This kind of liveliness only came to Hollow Shades once a year; and although Echo always felt rather strange being around so many ponies, she had always enjoyed the change in atmosphere. The shops were closing up now and soon the bat ponies would be leaving their houses in order to partake in the festival. Soon every pony in the town would be there. Everything felt so strange, like her life was just beginning.

Walking against the flow of bat ponies, Echo began to approach the edge of the town. The further away from the town square that she walked the younger she seemed to feel. So many memories were made in this town and Echo felt that if she closed her eyes, she could relive each and every one of them. Her heart began to sputter when Echo noticed that she had entered into the area the town where she had grown up. She paused for a moment to get a bearing on her surroundings. There was her old school house, the shop her aunt had owned, the small clearing where she used to play with her friends. The nostalgia was close to overwhelming. Echo’s eyes finally rested upon her own home and she began to trot towards the front door with enthusiasm written across her countenance.

“Mom? Mom I’m home!” Echo called as she pushed open the door. “Mom!”

Echo glanced around at the room in which she stood. It was a large, vaulted hallway with the only two doors being at the very end of the hall. On the walls hung many pictures of Echo and her mother as well as old and crude, but beautiful paintings. Many small trinkets were scattered among the shelves and floor as if they had been recently knocked out of place. In fact, the whole room seemed much dirtier than when Echo had last seen it; and it felt oddly dark too, almost as if the lights hadn’t been turned on in months.

With her eyes closed she took a deep breath of air, encompassing herself in the sweet aroma of her dearly missed home. Even though they mostly ran together, the memories of her time spent here were still very fresh in Echo’s mind. She was immediately met with a longing to go and pay a visit to her friends; to catch up and find what they had been up to this past year. Echo’s thoughts were interrupted when she heard a bump on the other side of one of the doors. It quickly swung open and her heart was filled with joy at the sight of her mother.

“Mom!”

Echo ran into her mother’s hooves and the two embraced. Echo’s mother spoke.

“Echo dear, I missed you. To be honest, I was starting to doubt whether or not you would make it home in time.”

“Well, here I am!” Echo practically shouted; a stately grin plastered on her face.

“That I see,” said her mother, “So, how was it?”

Echo and her mother walked through the doorway and entered into a small dining area. Echo spent the next hour giving her mother a brief summary of the past year. It was surprisingly cathartic for her to finally tell another pony of the events that she bore witness to. Her mother sat listening with wide eyes. Suddenly, glancing at a broken clock in the corner of the room, Echo’s mother stood up.

“You should go on ahead to the festival; we’ll have plenty of time to talk later.” She blurted out.

“Are you sure? I was just getting to the good part!”

“Yes, I’m sure. Now go and have fun with your friends.”

Echo made her way towards the door but stopped abruptly.

“You’re coming, right mom?”

Her mother gave her a sympathetic look.

“Sorry, sweetie I’m going to have to sit out this year.”

“You aren’t coming? I don’t think you’ve ever missed a festival!” Echo said with her voice almost to the point of pleading.

“Go on, Echo. You have a year of festivities to make up for, remember? I wouldn’t want to get in the way.”

Feeling defeated, Echo turned and left the house.

As midnight drew nearer, Hollow Shades became colder. Echo was greeted by a strong northward wind as she stepped out of her house and onto the pavement, eager to get to the festival. With a relatively long walk to go, entertainment found its way to Echo in the form of whistling. Shapes of familiar houses and shops, each with their own
individual memories attached to them, took Echo’s mind away from the present.

She continued down the road, noticing that the sounds from the festival sounded surprisingly distant. The air felt dense. Even the rattle of wind chimes combined with the scurry of a small rodent was enough to make Echo jump. The dark buildings around her were starting to make Echo feel claustrophobic. She began to trot at a faster pace, feeling the need to get away from the buildings that were staring down at her. Within moments, her hooves transitioned into a full gallop. Echo focused her gaze straight ahead; trying to estimate the time it would take for her to get to the festival. Upon her approach to the clearing in which the festival was held, Echo heard a loud thump and a pony calling her name.

“Echo! Echo come here!”

Echo quickly turned her head, noticing that the voice belonged to her friend, Mobi.

“Mobi! I was hoping to see you tonight!” Echo sang happily, snapping out of her trancelike state, “Where are the - ?”

Echo was cut off by the urgent look on her friend’s face.

“Get over here.” He grumbled.

Echo slowly approached him, taken aback by his fatigued presence. His disheveled appearance was not to be expected. Mobi had always been one of the most carefree and innocent ponies that Echo had the pleasure of knowing. But now, as Echo slowly glanced over his features, it felt like she was looking at a completely different pony. His mane was unkempt and small chunks were missing from it. His eyes were bagged in from exhaustion and looked slightly red, as if he had just recently finished crying.

“Mobi, what happened to you?” Echo asked her friend.

Mobi ignored her question.

“Why did you come back, Echo?”

“What do you mean?”

“What I mean is why. Why. did. you. come. back?” Mobi looked as if he were getting angry.

“I-I’m sorry… I don’t…”

“Come inside. Quickly.”

Echo followed Mobi into his small house. The first thing that she noticed was how similar it looked to her own. Not the structure of the house - no - it was the strange destruction and overall messiness of its contents.

“What is going on?” Echo whispered to herself.

Mobi led Echo to a small, dark room in the corner of his house. Once the two ponies were inside, Mobi turned and half closed the wooden door.

“You… shouldn’t be here Echo.”

“Why on Equestria shouldn’t I? Hollow Shades is my home, isn’t it?”

Mobi’s demeanor immediately changed and his eyes looked like they were staring at something far off. His body stayed this way for what felt like minutes. It was the loudest silence Echo had ever felt. She couldn’t take her gaze off of her friend’s haunting expression and she began to breathe heavily as her body was suddenly hit with an intense, anxious fear.

“What’s going on?! Mobi, tell me what’s happening!”

Mobi swiftly turned his head to stare into Echo’s eyes.

“You didn’t notice yourself?” He snapped, “You placed one hoof into Hollow Shades and didn’t even take notice?!”

“N-No I didn’t…” Echo stuttered, “Why aren’t you at the festival?”

“The festival?!” Mobi shouted, “There is no ‘festival’!”

The disturbed pony shifted, bringing his voice down.

“How would you feel…if everything you loved…was taken away from you?”

Silence.

“Answer me!” He screamed, his voice cracking.

Echo closed her eyes tightly; tears began to stream down her face.

“Whatever is happening Mobi, just tell me and we can get through it together… just like we always have…p-please stop staring at me like that.”

“Just go, Echo. Just go to the festival.”

In the time it took for Echo to blink, Mobi pulled out a large lantern from a nearby drawer, lit it with a match, and smashed it on a table.

Flames rapidly engulfed the room in which Echo stood. She felt encumbered by an intense feeling of fear and confusion that only doubled when the black smoke that was filling the room entered her lungs with every panicked gasp of air. The tears that were pouring out of her eyes and flowing down her face only proved an even bigger obstacle for her escape. Her leathery wings tried desperately to flap but it felt as if the force of the smoke was holding her to the floor. She had to get out of this. She needed to find help. Sluggishly, the terrified pony eventually found her way to the door. Her achievement was met by an earth shattering sound from behind her; the sound of the ceiling caving in. Like a tidal wave of wood, the roof fell closer and closer to where Echo stood. Tonight was the night she was going to die; she was sure of it.

III

….

“Echo!”

Echo awoke with a start at the sound of a nearby voice but the ash in her lungs did not allow her to answer it. When she looked around she found herself lying in the town square, struggling to piece together anything that had just happened. She had just entered Hollow Shades, walked into the town square, and noticed that everything seemed so…different? Echo picked herself up uttering only a low moan. Pain shot through her head with pinpoint precision and she was almost, once again, rendered unconscious. Although she was awake, she found it very hard to focus. Her mind felt detached from her body and Echo had a hard time processing even the simplest of thoughts or emotions. Stumbling, straining, she slowly walked across the empty town square. Where the other ponies were, or whether there even existed any but her, was not of importance. Like a faint whisper, Echo thought that she heard the sound of ponies stomping their hooves and chanting her name coming from behind her. The sound grew louder and louder until Echo was almost certain it really existed. Only out of annoyance, Echo turned around. With a violent screech it stopped.

Hoof steps fell like bricks as she exited the town square and made her way down one of the many narrow streets. She slowly passed by and glanced at a small ruined shack that looked as if it had just been burned to the ground. The bat pony felt a pang of some distant emotion but could not be bothered to decipher its meaning. More houses were passed, each with a strange, watchful air about them that Echo had never felt before. She pursed her lips to whistle but could not think of a tune.

An indistinguishable amount of time passed before Echo found herself in front of another ruined shack. Guttural sobs passed out of her mouth as half of her mind recognized the building that had once stood there. Taking a few steps forward, memories surged through her brain in an instant, only to be lost again in the corners of her mind. Echo made her way up a series of broken stairs and into a destroyed hallway. It was there that she settled, allowing the darkness of sleep to overwhelm her.