Warbrony

(OOC:(alrighty. good night)

Echo settled down and tried falling asleep.

"Stay safe, Cloud." He said.

Echo looked at Cloud.

"Thank you, Cloud. The bedrolls are in the box next to my tent."

Echo let Insanity leave his embrace. He simply sat there and looked at her.

"If you have to leave." He said. "please be careful. I can't live with myself if they come after you and I can't help."

Echo smiled at her as tears continued to pour from his eyes. He turned to Cloud.

"If they come back." he told him. "Leave me. They're after me. Not you."

Echo looks at Insanity deeply in the eyes.

"Yeah.... It does." Echo said with tears in his eyes. "It feels a lot better. I can't thank you enough for this."

Echo embraced Insanity to himself, weeping. He motioned to Cloud for him to join them. His breathing began to improve after Insanity's remedies. His back stopped burning. He felt weak, but better now that he had somepony to hold, for the first time in his life.

Echo woke up momentarily to a strange tasting liquid running down his throat. He inhaled deeply and was able to weakly talk to his friends who were standing over him.

"My rib is broken bad." he uttered in a feeble tone.

Echo extended his wing to the two ponies, giving them a greatful and thanking smile. A single tear ran down Echo's face as Insanity finished giving him the rest of the potion.

Echo layed broken on the ground. He regained consciousness briefly as Insanity collected him. His back felt as though it was burning. His chest felt destroyed. He could barely breath while he layed helplessly on the ground. He heard Insanity talking to Cloud in the distance. He tried rolling over, snapping a twig beneath himself. Before passing back out, he managed to mutter out: "Please don't let me die."

Echo stood in the forest. Alone. He heard a voice address him.

"Long time no see good buddy." Said the voice in a very smug tone. "Did you think you'd be safe out here?"

Echo stood tall as multiple ponies encircled him. He took off into the air, only to be knocked straight down by one of the mysterious attackers. He fell to the ground holding his stomach. His rib was broken. He couldn't get up. He felt a sharp pain to his back, causing a deep cut. Echo passed out moments later, as four ponies walked away from him.

Echo smiled.

"I can understand that." He said. "I never liked taking off my battle fatigues in the air force."

Echo started to sweat as another anomaly from the forest cought his attention.

"Wait here you two. Something isn't right." he said.

Echo flew high overhead before diving right back into the forest's thick brush, completely out of sight.

Echo walked with the ponies in silence for a while. His leg began to give him pain and he started limping. He noticed Insanity's red bracers on her legs.

"What's with your bracers?" He asked her. "You haven't taken them off the whole time you've been here."

A chill went through Echo's body as they went through the forest, but he didn't show it. He knew something was watching them, but he couldn't tell what.

Echo blushed as well. He saw she was looking at his leg.

"I can't say I blame you." Echo chuckled. "A pony living in some tiny little camp in he middle of nowhere and stashing away armor and weapons. I'd be pretty scared too. I'm surprised you stayed this long. Every pony else leaves after I say a word to them."

Echo smiled contently. Walking along the trail with ponies he could call his friends felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of him.

Echo smiled and walked towards the trail. He looked at Insanity.

"So why we're you so nervous around us?" Echo asked her. "And are you still nervous around us?"

Echo got up and paced back and forth a bit. Then looked at Insanity.

"You look a bit restless." Echo observed. "Would you care to walk for a bit?"

Echo looked over at Insanity.

"So why do you find fire so enigmatic?" He asked her.

Echo frowned and looked at the ground.

"Let's just say..." Echo said with sorrow. "The past catches up to you."

Echo sat down near the fire and began humming to himself, looking nowhere but the ground.

Echo returned from the forest out of breath and with a minor leg wound. He limped over to a small white box and pulled out a bandage and wrapped it around his leg.

"Sorry for the delay guys. Just some buisiness I needed to take care of. Echo said, tryin not to draw attention to his wound." So what have you been talking about out here?"

Echo released Insanity as he pulled out some apples and cinnamon . He cut the apples and put some cinnamon on them and grilled them.

"I figured you may like something sweet." Echo said happily. "should be done so-"

Echo stopped as he heard something russeling in the bushes. It didnt sound like wolves. It was to big and too fast. It sounded like a pony.

"Stay here." Echo told his friends as he flew off to the source of the noise. He disappeared into the thick brush and could faintly be heard muttering to somepony.

Echo yelled over to Cloud, "What would you like for breakfast?"

Echo looked in the food storage and began sorting through the vegetables and MREs.

Echo grabbed the blanket in his teeth and pulled it off of Insanity, pulling her a bit closer on his wing.

"Haha. I think Cloud summed it up pretty good. " Echo told her. "I feel like an idiot for not offering you one. You're welcome to take one with you of you'd like."

Echo blushed from not offering his friends bedrolls. It had been so long since anyone stayed the night at his camp, he was a bit rusty on his manners. He hummed a little tune as he walked with Insanity to the food storage to find something to eat.

Echo giggled a bit and put his wing around Insanity.

"Yep." He said reassuringly. "It's just me. Have a good night? I would've let you use a bedroll you know?"

Echo was starting to worry about Cloud, who hadn't budged since he was shaken.

Morning came and Echo was looking through his food supply. He looked at Insanity, who he knew was not asleep,

"What would you like for breakfast, Insanity?" He asked with a smile.

Echo started a fresh fire and took out an old beat up frying pan. He wondered if he should try to wake Cloud or just let him sleep. After upsetting him like that, Echo wasn't sure if he'd want to hang around much longer.

The wolves had gone, Echo didn't know why, but they only circled his camp. Never coming in close. It was a strange phenomenon he had never experienced before as wolves usually would have been all over two sleeping ponies and a very distracted one.

But Echo decided not to worry about it and just start the day. He walked over to Cloud and very lightly shook him to try to wake him. He then went over to Insanity and shook her a bit too.

Echo paced back and forth through the camp. He flapped his wings every so often. The wolves continued howling in the distance, getting closer and closer. Echo grew nervous as the howling grew louder.

"What are they up to?" Echo whispered to himself. "There's so many of them."

Sweat ran down Echo's face as he listened to the wolves and looked at his friends sleeping next to the smoldered fire pit. He went over to the fire pit and tried lighting another fire to keep the wolves at bay. Echo couldn't get over making Cloud upset. He decided to give him a few of his old pieces of air force equipment. After the wolf pack was dealt with, of course.

"I can deal with my discharge. I was going to leave soon anyway." Echo said with sorrow. "I was upset for you. Nopony should have to deal witht that. Have a nice rest you two. I'll stay up a while longer."

Echo sat on a log and looked out at the trail. He heard wolves howling in the distance. He stood up and looked at his friends. He smiled lightly and prepared for a night with the wolves.

Echo was dead silent. He was locked in a thousand yard stare.

"I knew him. He was a squadron leader. He was a good soldier, but wasn't all there. He did what he was told and only that." Echo said with anger in his voice. "He was in charge of my court marshalling. He got me discharged."

Echo's head hang low. Obvious signs of regret, guilt, and anger were apparent on his face.

"I'm sorry he left you."

Echo's face swelled with tears. He swung his head away from his friends. He couldn't let them see him like this.

He smiled at Insanity and got her a blanket. His vision blurred, he tried to change the subject.

"So was everypony's soup good?" Echo said, trying to hide his emotions.

"Oh really?" Echo asked intently. "what was his name?"

Echo looked at Cloud.

"Those claws saved my hide several times. I couldn't be happier that I got these issued to me."