Out in the shadow of Canterlot in Equestria, surrounded in mystery, lies an orphanage.
This orphanage doesn't look like a normal orphanage in the slightest. The building itself looks abandoned. Not a sound issues forth from the black stone walls of the building. All the little orphaned foals are locked inside the building, hiding and cowering in fear and silence.
But it's not the outside world that frightens these poor young ponies. In truth, these foals would like nothing more than to leave this cruel orphanage. Why, you may ask? The answer is simple: the owners of this orphanage are completely and utterly insane.
I know what you're thinking: why in all of Equestria would there be such an orphanage going completely unnoticed? Well, like I said, the foals here are locked inside; they are forbidden from leaving the orphanage. And Echoing Shadow is one of the most hated of all the little ponies in this orphanage. She's a teen unicorn with a dark indigo coat and a midnight blue mane and tail. Her eyes are a purplish-silver hue; her cutie mark is a black candle, with a small flame that's the same color as her eyes. All the young ponies wear a thick cloth to cover their cutie marks; hers is dark blue, a few shades lighter than her mane.
Echo never knew how she came to be there, of all places. She never even knew where or who her parents were. All she knows is that she's been there as long as she can remember. She's spent her entire life under the evil ponies that own the place: Velvet Tear and Crimson Ice. Velvet Tear is an ocean blue Pegasus with a darker blue mane and tail; her eyes are a sickly poison-green and she has a teardrop for a cutie mark that's the same color. Crimson Ice is a pure white Pegasus with a dark red mane and tail; his eyes are blood red and he has a bright red snowflake for a cutie mark. The one thing those two Pegasi had in common was that their eyes were always bloodshot, screaming with hatred.
Scars cover all of the bodies of the young ones from punishments they are told that they deserve. They are punished cruelly for the pettiest reasons, some of which are hardly considered misdoings. During these punishment rituals, one of the owners comes at the targeted foal with a knife, a whip, or a switch. And there were many punishing weapons in the basement of the building. Most of which were whips, and branches that were acquired from the surrounding forests used as switches. The owners also drank a good deal, and each always carried a switchblade with which to harass the children.
But all the young fillies and colts had was Echo for a role model. She was the most mature out of all the little ponies. Unlike the owners, she had a good heart, and cared deeply for all the young ones like any mother could. She tirelessly practiced her magic under the cover of night. Her magic was especially powerful at night, and was an all-around kind of magic.
But, despite living not far from Canterlot, the ponies, owners and orphans alike, live totally cut off from the world. They know nothing of the Elements of Harmony, the ponies that wield them, the return of Princess Luna, or anything that happens in Equestria. However, it will only be a matter of time before the Nightmare Orphanage, and the scarred ponies within it, are discovered; and – pray be it so – rescued.