I flew high in the sky, thousands of feet from the ground as I flapped my wings. The sight of me would scare anyone from below which caused me to fly higher than most beings can go. The air was thin and cold, making me use some magic so the cold doesn’t bother me and enhanced the newly applied enchantments on my eyes.

Looking down I saw the forest zoom past me as I scanned the land below of anything of interest. As I do enjoy treasure and gold, nothing is better than ancient lore, priceless history, and knowledge of the forgotten. Back in the Shadowfell, I used to have a large collection of said items of the land. Kinda sad that I left it all there for all these years but I’m really no rush to go back there and get them. I planned to go get them but not now, later… way later.

Using my magic I soon saw something of flying around; a series of tunnels underground that didn’t look natural. Folding my wings, I shot down towards the area like birds of prey. As I did this my body shrank down to my human form. About a hundred and fifty feet in the air I spread my wings, slowing my descent down to the ground. Floating down I smiled at the fact I gotten better with my landings in forested places after being freed.

That is until my wing clipped a tree, causing me to crash on the forest floor. I grumbled a bit as I gave my wing a few flaps. “Sore but not broken. Damn tree, who put you there?”

Staring at said tree as if it was either judging me or quietly laughing. I glared at it before moving off toward the entrance. I made my way through the trees and saw a few numbers of graves scattered around randomly, part of me twitched there was no organization to it like normal graveyards.

“Well, maybe they buried them in the forest, kinda hard to do that in a line with all the trees here,” I muttered to myself as I made my way to what looked like the entrance to a crypt. Vines wrapped around the old cracked marble, images of knights and warriors were shown on the sides as there was a symbol of a blazing sun adorned on a shield. Runes of the arcane were etched into the marble and I sensed small traces of magic in it. Whoever did this did a beautiful work as it looked like the magic was sown into the ground as well?

Kinda sad that someone came and used the magic version of a battering ram to open the door. I frowned at the savage and forceful entry of a place as I took steps into the crypt. The crypt was dark from sixty feet away from the light behind me if I had normal sight, but I don’t. Being blind and have to use magical means to see had it plus sides.

I followed the path before me, welcoming the warm darkness as I went deeper into the crypt. As the darkness surrounded me, my vision became more clear as I saw small rooms along the path. I didn’t sense any traps which were odd as I stepped into one of the small rooms to see a set of four coffins with their tops open. I tilted my head as I went to expect them. Each one was empty of a body other than some priceless items such as jewelry, a dagger, and some old ragged scraps of clothing. I even found an old book that was in one of the four. I took it out and began to skim through it.

“Hmm, so this is a crypt of a group of knights called… the Knights of the Rising Sun. Sounds like it almost belongs to an eastern land.” I muttered as I continued on into the crypt. More and more small rooms I visited, more and more empty graves. All was left were items of worth such as gold, jewels, even a magical weapon or two. None of them were taken, only the bodies. “But why… why just the bodies?”

I continued down until I found a sealed door. Marks of damage were shown on it by magical means but it held firm, it’s magic were strong enough to hold from this body snatching battering ram. I looked around at the symbols and saw that it speaks of a way in but to grant entry I needed to answer a question. There was a magical image of the sun above the land. The darkness of the sky was standing still around the sun as it began to rise, casting the dark away. Okay, the answer is simple it was Sunrise.

But as I was going to say it something caught my eye, there were images of animals with their heads down and eyes closed. As I saw that I saw other detail as well. The darkness seemed to try to overtake the sun, the land seemed lighter than before and the slim image of the moon over the sun’s light. This wasn’t a sunrise, this was a sunset!

I spoke the word and the door shuttered and a symbol of a sun of red and yellow filled the center of the door before opening for me. I walked inside. The room was large and circular, around me were royal tombs that seem to haven’t been open. In the center of the room was a tomb with a stallion on top with a shield carved into it. I used my magic to remove the top and saw the corpse of a stallion in there, a shield with the same symbol that was on the door was on the shield and it radiated with holy magic. Decided to get my answers I used some of my magic to allow me to speak with the dead. I hummed out a little death song as the magic in me started to flow into my hands. As I cast the spell over it the skeletal remains took in a breath before creaking to look at me.

“Who are you?” I asked it.

“I’m… Daybreak Shimmer… first captain of the… Knights of the Rising Sun…” the dead stallion answered. I thought on this, the spell I used can allow me five questions, now I have four.

“What’s this order you lead?” I asked. The body didn’t say anything for a few moments.

“An order of knights… That serves the Princess.” he answered. I frown at this, I knew the spell only allows me to ask questions, but the body can choose not to tell me the answer. I looked down at the shield he was holding.

“What’s so special about this shield?” I asked.

“The shield… of the first Dawn...is a beacon to us. A beacon in the darkest night.” he explained. I raised an eyebrow at this.

“So it’s some sort of great defense. Is there any other artifacts in your order that’s as great as this shield?” I asked.

“No… the shield is the only… artifact that’s of great power…” I frowned at this but nodded, if any grave robbers came in here they would have taken it and ran. “But it’s paired… with the artifact of the knights… of the Shifting Moon.”

I hummed in thought, there’s another order of knights. I had one question left and I could ask the location of this order. But he could not know where it is or refuse to answer, same goes for the artifact. I looked at the shield for a moment.

“Can I take the shield?” I asked.

“I… have no need of the Shield of the First Dawn… only one of my blood could use such a gift…” with that the air left the skeleton and returned the as a corpse. I reacted down and carefully picked the shield up and strapped it or my back. Even though it was sitting in the hands of a cold dead corpse it was oddly warm to the touch. I resealed the captain's coffin and sent a prayer to any god that he and anyone that still or used to find their way to a better place. I turned to go, the door resealing as I made my way outside.

Once I was out of the crypt I stashed the shield into my bag of holding and turned into my dragon form and flew off towards my cave. Even in the bag I still felt the hum of magic emanating from the shield.

After an hour of flying, I landed down in front of my cave and shifted back to normal and walked inside, the smell of King’s brew as he was experimenting with one of his brews.

“Hey King, what are you working on this time?” I asked him. He turned and smiled.

“Chocolate and pineapple brew! A sweet brew for one’s tastes!” he said happily, though I gave him an odd look. Pineapple and chocolate? “Say, what’s in the bag Dragon friend? Powerful magic coming off it.”

So King could feel it as well, I don’t know his history of magic but it would be an interesting discussion for later. I pulled out the shield I got and showed it to him, “It’s called the Shield of the First Dawn, a so-called powerful artifact. I don’t know what it does and I’m going into further study on it when I get into my study.”

“Hmm, interesting…” he hummed in thought about it as his tail stirred the brew. “I have no idea what it is friend.”

I let out a chuckle as I put the shield back. “I don’t know much about it other than what I was told, but I’ll figure out what it is soon enough.”

“Alright, come back out if you want to taste test Kings new brew.” he said.

“I’ll think about it.” I said as I moved further down the cave. When I entered my study I lit a candle that was near my desk, almost being smothered by the surrounding darkness. I could read my books in the darkness just fine, I just like the feeling of the candle light. It sets a calming mood for me.

I pulled every book on magical items and artifacts from the shelves and starting to read through them. Hours passed as I finished through the last of the books and I got nothing on the shield, only passing. Some say that the shield admits a light as strong as the sun while others say it could absorb dragon fire. Nothing actually talking about the shield itself or the order it’s from. With a heavy sigh I closed the book and looked at the shield. It was giving off a small glow of light, the same as the candle that’s now no more than a burnt out stump. I tapped on the shield, tempting it to do something but it just sits there, not doing anything then glow softly. Letting out a groan I got up and headed out to where King is at and sitting down on one of the logs there.

“So… anything new about the shield?” he asked, stirring his brew. Was it the same one as before? I can’t smell it.

“Sadly no, all that’s mention about the shield is only in passing. No hard information on it in all my books.” I said as King handed me a mug. “None of my books tell me anything about it and it’s frustrating.”

I took a sip out of the mug and almost gagged at the taste, “Ah! Too sweet, too sweet!”

King frowned before taking a sip as well, making a face after it. “Maybe I should work on dialing the sweet down of the brew… so what are you going to do now?”

“I don’t know, maybe go around and look for more ruins. See if there are any books that are in good condition to read.” I answered him. He hummed in thought as he tossed some leaves into his pot.

“Why not go to one of the towns nearby? They have place with books you can read.” he asked. I gave him a look as I put the mug down.

“I don’t know if it’s your brew king but that plan isn’t a good one.” I leaned forward a bit. “For one, the ponies here would be down right scared of me for, oh I don’t know a dragon coming flying in from the sky.”

“Don’t you have a spell or an item that could disguise you while you’re there?” he asked.

“Well… yeah, there are few spells that could do that but it would only last an hour…” I thought about it some more. “Though there’s a magical item that would last longer, I don’t have one but making it would be simple and only take a month or two…”

As I was thinking it over I noticed King was smirking at me. I gave him a look and stuck my tongue at him. Sure it was childish but hey, it was needed.

Two Months Later

I finished etching the final rune into the silver band. I put down my tools and held the item in my hands. It was a simple metal band that wraps around one head with ruby and sapphire gems in it. The runes ran along the band and, now that I finished it, hummed with energy. Any other being would take longer to finish such a spell, but I had talent with me.

I put the band on my head and felt it adjust to my head size. I looked into a mirror I had nearby, so far it looked alright on me. Not too tight or loose and it’s comfortable.

“Alright, the moment of truth,” with that I took a deep breath and let it out before saying the trigger. “Fade sari ehis.”

I felt a tingle that went down my body and ended at my feet before coming back up to my head. After a minute of that, I looked at the mirror again. I saw a midnight blue mare with clouded eyes. Her mane was that of a silver black colour with sharp features. I rolled my head a bit and stretched my hands, even they looked like a pair that a mare would have but there was this nagging feeling in my head. The looked of everything seem out of place like I put on a costume and didn’t put it on right.

“Well, that’s going be annoying.” I muttered to myself as I reach for the band and took it off. With that, the spell wore off and I was back to my old self. Perfect.

I took the band and headed towards the entrance. King wasn’t around, meant he had something to do or he was getting more ingredients for his brews. I tilted my head a bit, odd that I never asked him what he does when he’s not here.

With a shrug, I walked out of the cave and let my wings out without going full dragon. I took off into the air but keep low near the trees. I flew towards where I came from after I was freed from being a statue. Sure it wasn’t a good idea but hey, it was literally chaos there.

I continue until I got close enough to the town. I flew down to the ground, without crashing! Ha! I got a bit closer until I was right on the border of the forest and saw a cottage nearby with a number of animals. Curious, I put the band on my head and said the activation phrase before heading over to the cottage. The animals around the building looked over at me with ones of curiosity. I sensed no hostility from the animals other than one really grumpy looking bunny. I swear he was giving me a death glare even though I never seen that bunny before.

I knocked on the door and waited to see if anyone answers. As I did I couldn’t help but sense magic around the home, mostly nature and wild magic. Was a being here a Druid?

As I thought on this the door opened and I saw a cream yellow coloured mare with wings standing there wearing a green sweater and blue pants.

“Umm, hello?” the mare said, looking at me.

“Hi, sorry to bother you but I seem to have gotten myself lost in the woods and came across your home.” I lied to her. Sure lying is bad but I’m wearing a headband that masks my appearance, so really I’m lying just by standing in front of her.

“Oh my… you came out of the Everfree?” she asked, looking behind me. “That place is full of monsters, it’s dangerous!”

“Yet you live so close.” I pointed out with a raised eyebrow. She blushed a bit.

“Well… I… um,” she fumbled with her words for a bit, making me roll my eyes.

“How about we skip that, I’m…” I blinked at this, I didn’t come up with a name! Quick! Come up something! “Uhh, Kane, yes… my name is Kane.”

“Kane?” the mare asked. “That’s an odd name.”

“My parents were odd ponies.” I pointed out. “Anyway, where’s the nearest town?”

“Oh, the nearest town is Ponyville… it’s about a ten-minute walk from here.” the Mare said before blushing more. “Oh my, I forgot to tell you my name… it’s umm… Fluttershy…”

“Charms.” I said with a kind smile. “Thank you for the directions.”

“It’s my pleasure, oh! Say if you don’t mind me asking, um… can you do something for me please?... If you don’t mind me asking…” she asked timidly.

“Uh, sure… what is it?” I asked her.

“Well, there’s a library in town that’s ran by a close friend of mine…” a library?! Score! “And uh… I don’t have time to take some books back, and today is the last day until I get late fees… mind taking them over?... If that’s alright with you?” she asked.

“I don’t mind.” I answered with a smile. I walked inside of her cottage and looked around. Different homes for animals along with bowls, cups, equipment and… wait is that a bear on the couch reading?

“Here you go.” Fluttershy’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I saw her with a few books in hand. Not only that I sensed a constant sense of Druidic magic. Sorta like the smell of woodland trees and animals.

I smiled and took the books, “I’ll get these over to the library.”

“Thank you… Um, you sure you don’t need help with… you know.” she gestured to her eyes, which in turn I rolled mine.

“I’ll be fine, thanks.” I said. After some talk I walked out of the druids home and headed closer to the town.

Author's Note

Spells:
Speak with Dead

Hat of Disguise
(Or in this case, Band of Disguise :P)
So yeah, this is something I thought would be cool, giving you guys links to the spells and/or magical items that Telyn uses throughout her travels. Sure for those who played a lot of the game will point out that she can’t use some spells due to reasons but hey, I got my reasons xD