ECH

Chapter One

ECH

The sun rose over the hill tops, giving the first signs of daylight to the residents of Equestria. In a small cottage, near the Everfree forest, lay a sleeping Fluttershy, nustled in her bed. Rays of sunlight shone in through her window, birds singing to rouse her from her sleep. She sat up from her bed , wiping away the sleep from her eyes with her fore hoof. Angel Bunny was still sleeping in his rabbit hole, and the birds were beginning to rise from their nests. Chipmunks and Squirrels each scurried from their little hidey holes out into the open of the cottage.

"Good morning everypony." Fluttershy said as she rose out of bed and walked down the stairs. Birds had began brushing her hair, tending to the cream yellow matron while all manner of rodent hurriedly rushed to prepare her breakfast on the table. Fluttershy loved her job. She didn't need much compensation, all she needed was the knowledge that she was caring for her animal friends, and that alone brought a smile to her face. A pair of ferrets had readied a bowl of oatmeal and a spoon on the living room table. "Oh thank you my little ferrets." she said, grabbing the spoon with her hoof and chowing down into the bowl. Half way through her second bite Angel had appeared on the table hopping furiously, rattling her breakfast.

"Oh Angel, what's wrong?" She asked, the bunny pointing outside and franticly trying to portray something with... wings? She hurriedly finished the last spoonfuls of her oatmeal and followed Angel outside. Outside the cottage was beautiful day. Not a cloud in the -ech- sky, Ponyville off in the -ech- distance, Pegasi in the -ech- sky sorting out the weather. All was right the world...

EEECH

"EEEP!!" Squeaked Fluttershy, leaping behind a fence post. The fence post was shivering more than a fur-less Polar Bear, till Fluttershy mustered up the courage to look out from behind the post. She looked right, then -ech- left. Up and down, nothing out of place save for a -ech- fat brown feathered bird on the fence... wait. She looked at the bird, and it stared back down at her down it's long beak. It tilted its head, 'Ech-ing' at her and then preening its wing. She stood from her hiding place,

"Aww, was that you who made that noise?" She asked the bird. It simply continued staring at her with beady black eyes. It was rotund in shape, almost as if it had eaten too much, it's feathers a slight, barkish brown. It simply tilting its head in every which direction. She awaited an answer, but to no avail, being met with silence. She sighed.

"You're a very pretty bird..." she tried complimenting it. -BLAAGH- it yipped, its eyes somehow becoming smaller every time it cried and then reverting back to normal size.

"Would you like to-" Fluttershy was cut off by the bird dashing straight past her and into her cottage through the door she had left open. "...come in." she smiled to herself and briskly trotted back inside. She arrived in the doorway, the plump looking bird on her table, still darting its head in every direction, giving off the occasional ECH. She trotted inside, smiling and humming to herself. "Would you like something to eat, little birdie?" She asked the full-bodied bird. Again, another guttural -ech- and more preening. "I'll take that as a yes." she said to no one in particular, flapping her own wings to reach the bird seed cabinet. Something was off though... she couldn't place it...

All her other animal friends were gone, and when she grabbed her bird seed, she found a family off mice, trembling behind it, scared and squeaking. "Oh, now don't be afraid little mice, what's wrong?" She tried to reassure them. But soon it had dawned on her. The cottage was dead silent. No chirping or squeaking from any animal. Mr. Bear had managed to hide himself behind her couch, staring into space as if he had seen something traumatic. She looked back at the bird she had let into her home.

It simply stood there on its avian three taloned feet, gazing off into the distance, through her kitchen window off at the green hills. It turned its head slowly, its neck creaking as it did and tilted slightly to look at the equine. She saw in its eye, its black never ending maze of an eye, the birth and death of billions of civilizations. The creation and destruction of trillions of galaxies. All of this wrought by its hand.

At least that's what was in its eye. Fluttershy couldn't see any of this and simply scrunched her face at the bird. "Come to think of it, I've never seen a bird like you before! I should get you to Twilight!" She scooped up the bird in her hooves and rushed out the still open door. She flu as quick as she could to Golden Oaks Library, hoping to find Twilight inside.

The door to the library swung open, with Fluttershy flying inside to a surprised Twilight. "Twilight!" she "yelled" out. "Fluttershy? What's wrong? Did something happen?" asked Twilight, her OCD ready to kick in at any moment."I found this!" she replied, opening her hooves and revealing the fat-bodied bird.

"Fluttershy... what is this?" Asked Twilight examining the birds brown tree-bark like feathers. "I found him out on a fence post outside my cottage! Isn't he so~ cute?" She said, nuzzling the bird and ruffling his feathers, a small -ech- escaping its beak as she did.

"He is cute, but... I don't think I've ever seen a bird like this before... and you said you found him on your fence post?"

"He was just sitting there, making that noise, and he startled me. He looked lonely so I let him inside." Twilight continued to examine the odd bark-like-bird, looking at it from every conceivable angle. "I have to check my books for any documentation of this species! Hold on, Fluttershy." With that, Twilight turned about and put on a focused look, channeling magic through her horn. Books on Birds from A to Z were enveloped in a lavender glow, floating down to Twilight, who flipped them open and torn through the pages, trying to find something nearly close to this round-belly bird.

"No... no.... no..." she muttered as she flipped through the books, Fluttershy coddling the bird behind her as it continued to -ech-. Before long there was a mountain of books stacked to her right, all yielding no results, "Fluttershy. I can't find any information on this bird! I think you may have discovered a new species!" Her eyes grew wide in excitement at the prospect of a new discovery.

"Really? Oh that's wonderful!" Fluttershy exclaimed, the bird still in her hooves, ech-ing as it flew off and perched itself on the same branch as Owlowiscious, who turned his head, his eyes going wide and hooting. The bird -eched- in response, a conversation beginning in hoots and -echs-. Owlowiscious seemed to ponder something for a moment, rubbing a wing upon his beak before turning back to the guttural sounding bird.

The two friends looked at the conversation between the avians and turned to each other, shrugging before they continued their own conversation. "So, have you given it a name yet?" Asked Twilight.

"A name? Oh no, not yet... I was thinking maybe... Alfred?" Fluttershy suggested to her librarian friend.

"Well, I suppose. But I was thinking of a name for the species, so as to further catalogue it!" Twilight responded, her eyes lighting up with an unnatural glow, showing her eagerness and hunger to know more of the bird. "For the species? Well... he does make that strange noise..."

"And it seems to camouflage perfectly with the library's bark..."

"And it makes that sound..."

"It's feathers look like bark..."

"I found it outside my shed..."

Twilight's eyes lit up at the realization of the name, "The Equestrian Wood Ech!" she exclaimed, quickly levitating a quill and dipping it in ink, writing down the name. "Quick! We've got to head straight for the Canterlot Environmental Science Bureau to report this new discovery! Fluttershy, grab the bird!"

"Right! Here Alfred, we're going to discover your-" Fluttershy turns around, only to see that the bird had disappeared, leaving Owlowiscious with a grim look in his two wide eyes, "species?" She looked and saw one of the windows were open, and flying outside towards an ominous looking mountain. Fluttershy and Twilight gasped in unison

"Alfred!" Fluttershy exclaimed, quickly rushing out the door to follow her newly discovered bird friend. "Fluttershy! Wait!" Twilight called out, chasing her friend outside before stopping, "I have to get everyone else!"

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It couldn't remember how long it had been. This stony prison seemed to be one of the several things immune to the sands of time, forever whittling down the undeserving lives of those mortals. Those same undeserving and conniving mortals who had turned him against him, who twisted his brother with their falsities and deceits. It could have been a few years, centuries, millenia, eons... but one thing was for sure, this prison, like so many others before it, could not hold him.

This particular prison was several thousand miles below ground. His own personal chamber exceeding temperatures that would incinerate normal ponies without proper protection, as per the lava that made up the floor.. His cage was a number of cages each within each other, all strung up and hung from warded and magical chains, precautions taken by the most ancient of sorcerers. The confine itself was located in a cavernous chamber, the walls being thousands of tons of stone save for the entrance. As was said before, should the chains ever break, the cages would fall into the lava floor, sinking him further into the core of the earth.

The cages were also layered atop each other, each layer starting from the outside and getting stronger and more durable the closer you got to the center. Each cage protected by writings and protections of only the highest quality, all of these updated once every thousand years. How many layers of cages were there? In total, fifty or so.

Within the last layer was him. Wrapped in ancient runic cloth to prevent him from moving even a single nerve. The real marvel here was how his muscles hadn't atrophied in the time he had been kept here. The prison, like the cages, were also layered. his chamber being at the bottom. Above were a couple hundred other chambers, each home to thousands of guards who had been assigned to keeping him there. Traps lined the walls and floors of each and every corridor, all either deadly of stunning.

The guards themselves were the best of the best. Veterans who had proven themselves steadfast against demons and horrors too terrible to speak of, seen friends and family be devoured by the machine that is War. There were no words for what these brave individuals had faced. They had signed themselves to a warriors death.

He would give it to them.

He didn't ache to be free, for he knew it was inevitable. He had been responsible for the death of countless civilizations, the knowledge of the ancients and the strength of the gods at his whim. This civilization would be no different. It would feel the full front of his wrath for turning his brother against him, for keeping him confined for countless ages.

Nothing would deny him.

Author's Note:

To those of you who want to know where this came from...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=an9USVRBAN4#t=13

Though what I will NOT do is reveal is the villain! Can't give it away JUST yet!
Enjoy. Also, I want your guy's opinion... should I or should I NOT continue my other story?
For those of you who haven't read it, please do, and inform me of your opinions.

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