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// Chapter 1: I Looked Through the Window and Saw. . . 
// Story: Echo and the Mango Curse 
// by Matthais Unidostres 
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A car sat parked beneath a large tree. On the front passenger's seat of the car was a large, ripe mango. Up above, on one of the large boughs of the tree, stood a grey bat pony with copper colored eyes and black slit pupils, and a tail and mane made up of hair that was a smooth mirage bluish-black. Echo the bat pony looked down from where she was perched, which happened to be directly above the vehicle's sunroof. Echo's eyes lit up and she smiled eagerly, as she could clearly see the mango through the sunroof.

Echo promptly jumped off of the bough and dived straight down towards the car with her forelegs outstretched. However, at the last moment her smile turned into a look of fear, and she brought her forelegs back and gave her violet bat wings a desperate flap right before she hit the closed sunroof.

Echo opened her eyes as her right hind leg twitched. With the left side of her face flat against the glass, she could see the mango still on the front passenger side seat. This brought a smile back to her face, and she quickly got back up on her hooves and jumped off the top of the car.

At the passenger's side window, Echo's head rose up and her big eyes looked in at the fruit. She sniffed at the window a bit, and then pushed her nose right against the glass as her eyes remained fixated on the mango inside the car. Echo pulled her head back and lifted her forehooves, placing them flat against the window. She pushed against the glass, then she pouted as she pawed at the window with her hooves. Soon her pouting gave way to impatient huffing as she began slamming her hooves against the window.

When that yielded no results, Echo gave her wings a few flaps and hovered back a few feet from the car. Echo tilted her head in curiosity as she studied the car door. A cute smile popped onto her face when her eyes fell upon the car door handle. She flew back to the door and landed on the ground, but frowned when she  got a closer look at the device for opening the door.

Echo leaned forward towards the handle and made an attempt at biting it. She had to tilt her head at an awkward angle in order to get her mouth on the handle, and her fangs made it all the more difficult. Before long, Echo had to let go and back off. She lifted her right foreleg and rubbed the back of her neck with her fetlock. Then she massaged her jaw a bit with her right forehoof. She then paused and took a long look at her hoof. 

Echo smiled and shoved her right forehoof under the car door handle. She made a face as she twisted her hoof and pulled. A look of shock overcame her as she realized her hoof was stuck fast under the handle. She rested her left forehoof against the door and gave her right hoof a tug. With her wings flapping hard, Echo pushed hard with her left forehoof and pulled her right hoof harder. Echo suddenly flew backwards as her hoof came free without warning. She landed on her back a few feet away, and she sat up and looked at the car with a disappointed look on her face. But then, Echo looked at each of her wings, and her eyes widened as she had a little a-ha moment.

Echo trotted back to the car door and reached out with her right wing tip. It hooked under the handle and pulled it, and Echo's tufted ears perked at the sound of the door opening with a pop. She smiled eagerly as she pulled open the door, stepping backwards to see the mango resting on the car seat. However, at that very instant, the car's alarm went off.

Echo's eyes went wide as her ears shot up in response to the screeching alarm. She reared up on her hind legs and covered her sensitive ears with her forehooves. Echo clenched her teeth as the car alarm wreaked havoc with her powerful sense of hearing. She screeched out in pain as she stumbled backwards and sideways. As she began to fall backwards, Echo flapped her wings in an attempt to recover. Echo ended up flying backwards and headfirst into the thick, hard, solid trunk of the tree.

Echo slid down to the base of the tree, knocked out and in blissful unconsciousness as the car alarm continued to go off.

Some time later, Echo's eyes slowly opened. The car alarm had long since stopped, and the car door was wide open. Echo's eyes snapped open and she sat up straight. To her horror, the mango was gone.

Echo blinked her eyes, and then closed them as she let out a moan and knocked the back of her head against the trunk of the tree before resting it against the tree and letting her body and wings go limp.