The Dark Echoes Series

Echoes of the Past.

By Sabrina Alexinia Berk.

Parts of this book happen before and during the events in "A World Of Echoes"

Prologue.

Today the sky rained down the last rain I would ever see in this world. But far be it for me to know this until it was already too late.

Jumping from lilly pad to rock and back again, I watched a frog. He sat alone on the surface of the lake. And silently I wondered to myself... "Where are his family......and does he even care that they're gone?" How so alike he and I are in retrospect...now that it is all over... I can see myself as clearly as I could see that frog...

"Where is my family.....and should I even care that they are gone?"

Chapter 1. One Sunny Day.

Rising from my afternoon nap, I opened my eyes only to see the focused stare of Pinkie Pie.

"Whoa!!!" I shouted as I fell off of my cloud bed and crashed into the ground.

I quickly looked around to make sure nopony had seen that and began to pick myself up. All I would need is for another jerk to start calling me Rainbow Crash. Pinkie did her usual snorty laugh and untied the balloons holding her suspended in the air before bouncing down the closest trees limbs and sliding to a stop in front of me.

"Oh Dashie! You always were the best at crash landings." She snickered.

"Hey! If you had been startled awake and fell out of bed you wouldn't have landed any better!" I said before jumping into the air. "Why are you here anyways?" I said as I began rubbing the knot that had begun to swell on my head.

"Why; don't you remember silly? Today is the day of the Summer Sun Celebration Party! And I have just the perfect way to spend it! Didn't you get my invitation? Oh wait, I didn't know where to send it so I decided to hand deliver it. But then there was cake and-"

"PINKIE!!! Just tell me why you're here!?" I shouted in irritation at the flighty mare's incessant rambling.

"I want to show you guys how I do it!" She exclaimed in excitement.

"Do what? be annoying in 10 seconds flat?" I muttered exasperatedly.

"No silly! I want to show you guys-....oh but thats supposed to be a secret....listen Dashie its crazy amazingly fun and I really think you would enjoy it. There is so much amazingness that I'm getting nervouscited just thinking about it!" She said as she began hyperventilating. I had never seen Pinkie this excited in all my years of knowing her.

"All right Pinkie. But when does this party of yours start?" I asked.

"Well that depends on you Dashie! Don't you remember that the weather factory said you need to create a rain storm to account for the extra sunlight?"

This had completely slipped my mind and my face surely must have shown it as I bolted up into the sky racing towards the cloud dispensary.

Chapter 2. Making It Rain.

In order to account for the extra sun I would need to post up and interconnect over 100 clouds all which would activate simultaneously and bring down a torrent of rain which would account for the massive amount of heat brought on by the sun not only lasting longer but being brought closer to the surface than most days.

I would need at least an hour and a half to do this properly at my usual pace of flight. I had only 10 minutes until the rain was supposed to begin.

Kicking it into overdrive I launched myself through the sky, even reaching the barrier of sound at times but never going any faster lest I blow the clouds away with my awesomeness.

5 Minutes in I realized that some of my clouds were drifting away as they had not been interlaced enough. "Oh Celestia please help me!"

10 minutes, 9 seconds. I complete the weave and launch the storm. Just not fast enough.

Chapter 3. The Frog and The Weather Mare.

Standing underneath the clouds now I admired my work. Even for a rush job like this one there were only a few misfiring clouds, very little wind, and I had still managed to keep the splitter clouds from causing any electrical discharge. The fastest weather pony in all of ponyville! And possibly Equestria as well.

"Ribbit"

What in the name of Luna was that? I wondered to myself as I began to survey my surroundings.

"Ribbit"

Turning to face the nearby pond I saw him, A big green bull frog sat on a lily pad staring at me almost as if he was angry.

"Oh yeah? You think you're a tough guy huhn?" I said to the bull frog before I rushed over to him, frightening him into jumping into the water.

"Yeah! Not so tough now are you?" I said before sitting down next to the pond.

Eventually the frog would return to his lily pad and stare at me some more before relaxing and returning to his normal froggy behaviour.

I looked towards the sky, the only real home I had ever known. And I wondered aloud. "I wonder if this frog feels the same way about his pond?"

Jumping from lilly pad to rock and back again, I watched the frog. He sat alone on the surface of the lake. And silently I wondered to myself... "Where are his family......and does he even care that they're gone?"

Chapter 4. The Warning.

Suddenly Pinkie Pie, slammed into me hugging me as tight as she could without breaking bones.

"Pink...ie....you're....strangling-"

"Oh! I'm sorry Dashie. But you had lost track of time and the rain should have ended 30 minutes ago.

"Oh my gosh!" I shouted before bolting off once again to return the clouds to the dispensary.

When I finished collecting the clouds I began to head towards Sugarcube Corner. But on the way there I stopped by Twilights place in order to see if she was going to go as well. Much to my dismay she said that no she would not be present as she and Princess Celestia had detected something strange happening in the atmosphere and that Zecora may be able to help them in some manner.

I didn't really pay much attention. something about the temporal vortex of time and space becoming rigid and brittle. In any case she warned me not to do anything that may upset the balance, and she made me promise to tell anyone that I found about this issue as well before she ran off to the everfree forest in order to speak with Zecora

I agreed that i would tell everypony at Pinkies party seeing as almost everypony was going to be there. Even Fluttershy would be coming and she NEVER attended these kinds of events.

Chapter 5. Breaking The Fourth Wall.

"Fillies and Gentlecolts! Stallions and Mares! Thank you for coming to my Summer Sun ExtravaganzParty!" Shouted Pinkie to the audience, enticing a mighty roar from the crowd.

This was amazing! Pinkie had gone all out with this party. Applejack was catering. There were streamers hanging from the streamers even! Pinkie sure knew how to party.

Unfortunately Fluttershy wasn't around so I just huddled next to Rarity and Spike during the opening part of the party. But before I began enjoying myself I decided to get the whole warning ponies thing over with so I approached the stage only to watch Pinkie Pie bounce into the spotlight and announce to everyone that she was going to teach them something amazing.

Rarity and Spike decided that they would rather go outside for a bit of fresh air then they would come back and ask Pinkie in private what it was she wanted to show them. I however figured it was worth waiting for so I stood back.

"Oh I'm so nervouscited my hooves are tingling! Anyways today I am going to show you all how to experience something so awesome, so amazing, so incredibly superduperific that you wont be able to stop doing it!" She exclaimed before standing on her back hooves and waving her left front hoof in the air in a circle.

"Watch closely now!" She said as the circle in the air that she was drawing started to glow. she then made a horizontal slash through the circle and then put a dot above the line and below the line.

Suddenly a bright light started emitting from the circle and it opened up into a world we had never seen before, there were these strange creatures dressed in odd clothing with barely any hair on their bodies.

"Its like watching a play only in your own home!" squealed Pinkie. "And the best part is-" She said as she stuck her hoof into this strange new portal and her hoof emerged in the world of that portal, shaped like on of these creatures high hooves. "You can go inside of it and have fun like you're a part of the play yourself!"

All of the crowd sat astonished yet amazed at this new magic portal. But something in my head said I had better tell everyone what was happening.

"Pinkie, are you sure this is safe? Twilight said something about-"

"Twilight is a big chicken! Even more so than I was on Nightmare Night!" Pinkie interrupted me by saying. "Why don't you try it Rainbow?"

"I don't know Pinkie, it seems kind of dangerous."

"Are you afraid? I didnt know you and Fluttershy were going to start acting like each other." Mocked Pinkie Pie.

"I'm not scared! I just....i don't know how to do it..."

"Alright then watch me!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie.

She then closed her original portal and began rotating her left hoof in the air like a circle and as before it started glowing. But this time everypony in the audience was mimicking her. And at that very moment, I knew something bad was going to happen.

Chapter 6. Dual Reality Implosion.

I jumped away from the stage and started flying as fast as I could to get away but the vortex behind me had begun to pull me ever closer to it.

Chairs went flying behind me I could hear everypony screaming, bones snapping, blood splattering as the shrieks of death became ever more evident.

Whatever this was it was pulling us into a small ball inside of us and crushing everything it grabbed. I could feel my feathers starting to pull themselves off one by one and I knew that I had to get away...somehow... I streaked through the air. a rainbow of colors behind me as I broke the sound barrier and a sonic boom was created......but it still wasn't enough.....

I had barely moved 50 feet away from the vortex when the brightest light I had ever seen erupted behind me. Even breaking the sound barrier was nothing compared to the speed I encountered now. I knew where I needed to head to now...the everfree forest....maybe the princesses could do something about this?

20 minutes away.

Faster and faster I flew, closer and closer I saw it coming. I could feel the fur on my body begin to catch fire but it didn't matter as long as I got there in time.

10 minutes away.

"I LOOKED BACK! OH CELESTIA WHY DID I LOOK BACK!? MY EYES! THEY FEEL LIKE THEY"RE MELTING RIGHT OUT OF THE SOCKETS!!!!"

5 Minutes away.

"I CAN'T SEE! OH SWEET MOTHER OF CELESTIA I CAN'T SEE!!!!"

1.9 Minutes away....

I slam into a tree. I can feel my skin burning and bubbling, I think I'm starting to rot away, at least the part that isn't below the tree line.

"MUST GET FURTHER INTO THE FOREST!"

My wings....oh my poor wings....I know already that one of them is broken... My head feels like its on fire and I cant feel much of my skin or fur left on my upper torso. I begin pulling myself further into the forest. I feel a large chunk of skin rip off of my body and I hear the snap of bone as the wing I couldn't feel is ripped from my body as I fall from the top of the tree, entangling myself in vines. I then black out.

Chapter 7. The Frog and The Broken Mare.

I feel myself drifting...I dont know where I am...someone is screaming....

Today the sky rained down the last rain I would ever see in this world. But far be it for me to know that until it was already too late.

Jumping from lilly pad to rock and back again, I watched a frog. He sat alone on the surface of a lake. And silently I wondered to myself...

"Where are his family......and does he even care that they're gone?" How so alike he and I are in retrospect...now that it is all over... I can see myself as clearly as I could see that frog...

"Where is my family.....and should I even care that they are gone?"

The screaming has stopped...

"R-Rainbow?"

Fluttershy...It was fluttershy....

The vines ensnaring me snap and I slam into the ground...my body I can feel is physically on fire now but I almost feel numb to it.

"No, it can't be you! You could escape anything! IT CAN'T BE YOU!" She screamed in terror.

"Fl...Fluttershy..." I start to say as I began to stand up. "Fl...Fluttershy....Listen-

Fluttershy screamed in terror and kicked her legs outwardly as she realized who I was. And that I was still alive.

"L....Listen...Flutter..shy.....It wasn't Pinkie's fault we all...should have been more careful...we-"

My body stopped me mid sentence, I began hurling up blood and the liquefied remains of vital organs, my bowels then emptied as shit and piss began pouring out of me....It was then that I knew I was dying.....and that it wouldnt be much longer now.....

"It..It doesnt matter now I guess.... I may be the fastest flyer in Equestria.....But I just....wasnt....fast enough........I'm sorry Fluttershy..........I love you."

And then all was dark.......

Until I opened my eyes....

And saw the focused eyes of Pinkie Pie.....

...........and fell out of my bed......