Chapters If anyone says that being a statue is a bad thing they haven’t tried it. It’s oddly calming not in an insane way, kinda. So here I was, being a stone statue because two anthro winged ponies fired a rainbow beam at me and turned me into stone, the question I wanted to ask is why? Did I do something wrong? I didn’t eat anyone, was it because I was a dragon? No, that’s not it I was in more of a half human half dragon form, just flying around. I have to ask them why when I see them next time.
Now I was in some town or park somewhere. I couldn’t tell since I couldn’t see but from what I could hear and sense I could tell there were others around me at times, even when they ask what I was, they didn’t know but I didn’t blame then I was an odd sight, a human girl about the age of nineteen with dragon wings, tail and claws as a statute is a sight. I didn’t really care about the odd questions like ‘Mommy, what’s that?’ or ‘What in Equestria is this statue supposed to be?’ and my favorite ‘Ugg, why is this ugly thing here?’
Only one kid said that last one, I bet she’s a spoiled brat.
Now one might think that being a statue is bad for one’s mental state since your only see whatever is in front of you, well one; I can only see blackness in front of me. And two; there’s a neat trick called using your head to make a room for one’s mind. So that what I did, I made a nice room for me with a bed, a small kitchen, a wood stove, and bathroom. I had a couch in front of a tv and outside is what I could paint with the sounds from I could hear.
Now I wanted to say that today was a nice day but then I would be lying because I heard screaming from all around me. What was going on? Why is everyone screaming? My thoughts were interrupted by the feeling of someone picking me up and carrying me somewhere.
‘H-Hey! The hell are you doing?! Put me down!’ I yelled in my head. I then just realized that I was yelling to whoever is carrying me in my head and they can’t hear me. Great~.
I felt myself being put down on something, I couldn’t place what it was but so far it felt like grass.
“Now you stay right there, I don’t want you running off now.” a voice said in front of me.
‘Oh sure, now how am I supposed to run as is? I’m a flipping statue.’ I said mentally. I heard the being chuckle.
“Ahh Chaos, it’s a wonderful, wonderful thing.” he said.
“Not wonderful as friendship!” a female voice yelled out. If I could I would have facepalmed, that was so corny. I heard the being groan at this.
“This again?” he said as he drank something. I then heard something explode behind me and rocked me.
‘Oi! Watch it!’ I yelled again.
“That’s right, you couldn’t break our friendship for long.” a southern voice yelled out.
“Oh Applejack don’t lie to me, I’m the one who made you into a liar.” the being said. I then heard the sounds of some people struggling with something. I heard some popping sounds and the feeling of magic near me.
“I’ll tell you what we learned Discord,” Oh so the being is named Discord, that’s nice to know. “We learned that every friendship isn’t easy,”
No shit Sherlock. I mentally rolled my eyes at I block out the rest of this ‘friendship is great’ speech.
“Uggg, gag fine try to use the elements, ‘frenemies’ just make it quick.” Discord said as I felt his presence near me again. “I’m missing some excellent chaos here.”
“Alright ladies, let’s-”
“Ahahah, wait I forgot to mention something,” Discord said as I felt his hand, claw, paw, I don’t know on my shoulder. “I’m betting that you all wondering why there’s a statue next to me.”
‘Yay, someone’s going to say why I’m here. Please tell me why I’m here’ I thought. After a few moments of silence, I heard a groan from beside me.
“Well allow me to give you all a lesson on dragons,” again putting a paw, going with a paw, on my shoulder. “There are normal dragons, then there’s shadow dragons.”
“Shadow dragons?” one of the voices asked.
“Yes, give the smart one a prize.” Discord said as I heard some party noises go off. “Yes and right here trapped in stone is one of those shadow dragons, now do you think you can deal with me and a shadow dragon at the same time?”
There was a pause before I felt the same kind of magic that turned me into a statue. I heard Discord yawned a bit as the power was building. I then felt that magic start shooting pass my head.
“What’s this?” Discord said confused. More of those magic bolts shot past my head a few times. “No, this can’t be happening, I thought...”
‘Hey your big plan failed, good guys; one. Bad guys; zero.’ I thought as the power began to build in one spot.
“Well, I was hoping to not use this but,” I then felt my stone form began to crack and break. The room I made started to make cracks in the walls.
I was getting out, I was being freed! For once I was excited to be free from being a statue. The cracks became bigger and my room started to break down. I frowned sadly that I’m losing my mental home but I knew that it was the price to pay for freedom. After a few moments, I felt my magic return to me, which made me explode into my dragon form.
I let out a loud roar that shook the ground. As I closed my mouth I ate… something, it tasted like cotton candy. I blinked a few times at this as I began to look around. At first I didn’t see anything, only blackness. I clicked my tongue a few times until I started to see shapes, well that’s helpful, kinda. I then heard the sound of Discord laughing.
“HaHA! There, now with you out, they have to deal with us!” I felt Discord floated up to me into my face. “Now, how about it, want to create mass chaos together?”
I simply stared at him for a moment before raising my claw up to him and flicked him back to the ground. Looking up I unfurled my wings and took off into the sky. The felling of the rushing air was welcoming as I flapped my wings and soared in the air. I smiled as I flew away from all the craziness and into the open sky.
~Ω~
I sat in the throne room drumming my fingers on my throne nervously. It’s been a few hours since I sent all of Twilights letters on her lessons back to her. I hope they helped her in her task.
But… what if they didn’t? What if Discord beat them? Without Twilight and her friends, there’s no way to stop Discord rule.
“Sister, are you alright?” I heard Luna ask me. I looked at her with a smile.
“Just… Nervous.” I told her. She came up to me and put a hand on my shoulder.
“Tia, have faith in your student and her friends, they’ll win.” she said. I smiled at her as I put my hand on hers.
“Thank you Lu, thank you.” I said to her. She was about to say something but then we heard a loud roar and the presence of something dark. I ran to the window that faces towards Ponyville. Even from this distance I saw a large black shape flying up into the sky and away from the town.
“Tia, do you think-” Luna said but stopped as I looked at her.
“Yes, sister I think it is.” I said as I looked back towards the window. “A shadow dragon has been freed.”
~Ω~
I groaned as I pushed myself up from the ground. I looked around to see my friends lying on the ground, groaning a bit. I looked over to see Discord standing up from his small crater that he made when he fell. He looked up at the sky with a confused look.
“I… I don’t understand. That dragon should be insane, why isn’t it?” he asked himself. I stared at him for a moment before I heard my friends slowly come to.
“Well… that sure was annoying.” Applejack said as she pushed herself up.
“Is everyone alright?” I asked them. I heard some groans from my friends and a complaint from Rarity that her outfit is now dirty, so everyone’s fine. My eyes went on Rainbow as she looked over at Discord then to me. With a head nod to him was her way of saying that this was a good time to deal with him. We all gathered and redo the spell, a rainbow shot into the sky and arched down to Discord. He looked up at this and stared at it for a moment.
“Oh… great.” he groaned as he pulled a small umbrella out of nowhere and opened it. The rainbow slammed into the chaos being and petrify him.
After the rainbow dimmed and returned the town back to normal I saw Discord as a statue holding a small umbrella and wearing a shirt that says ‘I went to Equestria and all I got is this lousy t-shirt!’
With a sigh I smiled, with all that happened everything ended up alright in the end. I looked over and saw Fluttershy still looking up at the sky with a look of concern and worry.
“Fluttershy, are you alright?” I asked her. She looked over at me for a moment then back to the sky.
“The way Discord was talking about the shadow dragon that they were evil or insane,” she said thoughtfully.
“I don’t know Fluttershy, but if shadow dragons are like any other dragon,” I winced a bit as I said that since not all dragons are greedy and mean.
“Well, I saw the dragons face I saw a face of joy that its free, also did you see its eyes?” she asked. I frowned in confusion.
“What do you mean its eyes?” I asked her.
“They were somewhat clouded over, I saw something like this from one of my mouse friends,” She looked at me. “I think that dragon is blind.”
~Ω~
I flown over the land for a bit just so I can get a bit of my sight back, didn’t realized that being a trap in stone would mess with my eyes but flying was helping a bit, that and I also just wanted to fly through the sky.
As I soar through the sky I slowly began to see again, sorta. I started to get a sense of what’s around me and able get out of the way from it. I slightly curse myself for the fact that I’m not used seeing during the day, being in the Shadowfell for a long time can do a number on one’s eyesight. So far I can sense stuff about thirty feet away from me but well I’m feeling a bit better than now it will become a bit easier.
I flew around in the sky until I felt a familiar source of magic. It was subtle, something any mage would miss at first viewing. I glided down towards it and landed on the ground. I looked over to the small cave in a large mountain.
I slowly walked into the cave, my eyes adjusting to the low light of the cave. I saw random piles of gems and gold on the ground.
‘Someone been using this place to store their horde,’ I thought as I looked at the piles, seeing that some coins and gems laid on the ground towards the exit. ‘Thieves, it seems that whoever was here isn’t anymore.’
After being here for a few moments my presence began to change the surroundings; the light began to dim as the spells began to fall.
The cave opened up a bit more revealing a large cavern with nooks and crannies. I saw the shapes and somewhat shine of my own horde in different places of the cavern, unlike most dragons I like to have everything neat, tidy and organized.
My sight became much better here as I moved into the cavern, giving a quick glance back to the small piles. They started to float in the air and went over to the piles they’re supposed to go. I walked over to a tunnel which opens up to space for me to sleep in, I saw that in the walls were some grooves big enough for books, which were filled with that. There were books on ever school of magic which I read and practice every spell that they hold.
I went and laid down in the middle of the room and let out a sigh. My eyelids slowly started to fall even though I was free from being a statue. I closed my eyes and fell asleep in my cave with a smile.
a few hours later
I was awoken to an odd smell. I groggily lifted my head and sniffed the air, I smiled alcohol and something else, banana? Curious, I stood up and walked out towards the smell was coming from.
As I got closer to the smell I heard noises from the entrance of my cave. What I saw made my head tilt. I saw what looked like a human but with fur instead of skin, a monkey’s tail stirring something in a pot.
I watched this creature as it was making something in a pot. It sprinkled something into the pot and the smell became stronger. More curious I walked over to this creature and what ever it was doing. It turned to me with wide eyes.
“Ahhh! Dragon!” It, who I can tell was a he, screamed as he grabbed what looks like a frying pan. “Don’t eat me, I taste awful! Trust me I know.”
“I’m not going to eat you,” I said looking at what he was doing. “What are you doing in my home?”
“This is your home? That’s clears up why all the shiny stuff is all gone.” he said as he through the pan away, going back to stirring.
“What are you making?” I asked. The monkey looked at me and smiled.
“Monkey King Brew, want to taste it doesn’t taste like a shoe.” he asked. Looking at the pot I raised an eyebrow and laid down, I gave him a nod as he pulled out a large bowl and poured me some of his brew. Taking it in my claw and looking at it before I drank it.
“So, how do you like?” he asked me. I tasted it and blinked, it was odd in a good way. It was fruity and sweet yet strong, I tasted bananas with some other fruits in it.
“It’s interesting, it’s fruity and strong,” I said as I lick my lips. “You have some more?”
“Yes I do,” he said as he stirred the mixture. As I set the bowl down I looked over at the monkey man.
“If I can ask who are you?” I asked.
“I’m known by many names but mostly every monkey calls me Monkey King!” he said with a smile. I tilted my head that him.
“So, your name is Sun Wukong?”
“No no that’s someone else, friends call me King.” he said. He poured me some more and some for himself. “Now friend-”
“You just met me, why call me a friend?” I asked him. He just shrugged.
“You’re a dragon that didn’t eat me so we’re friends.” he said simply as he downed his drink. “So friend, got a name?”
I thought about it as I drink the beer. “I’m Telyn Gwynn.” I said and for the rest of that day we talked and drank beer, laughed at silly stories and having a good time.
Author's Note
Soooo... Dragon story, I like them because... dragons... I got nothing :P
1.5: Intermission: The Shadowfell
After encasing Discord in stone we were brought to Canterlot for a celebration for saving Equestria. Again.
Everypony cheered at us, making Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie more existed from the attraction or… Pinkie. Rarity and Applejack took it with some modesty, even though Rarity did get a little giddy from the attraction. Fluttershy simply hid behind AJ out of fear of everypony looking at her.
I, on the other hand, had other things on my mind. Mostly the Shadow dragon that Discord unleashed before the elements turned him into stone. I know a little on dragons from raising Spike and some things that I heard from others, but nothing about Shadow dragons.
Even at the celebration party, I couldn’t stop thinking about it, what was a Shadow dragon? What’s so different from it to a normal dragon? Where they worse than dragons since this one was encased in stone? I groaned as I stood outside as the party went on. I can’t stop thinking about it as I took a sip from my cream soda. Sure there were other fancy drinks there but I never really liked drinking alcohol. Applejacks cider sure but only a little bit.
I looked out to the gardens, now held a bad memory thanks to Discord, as I thought on what’s bugging me. I could go talk to my teacher, Princess Celestia about it. Surely she would know about it, but the more I thought about it the more I think it was a bad idea. I remembered the way she told me never go into the section on dark magic, it gave me nightmares from the tone alone… also, I couldn’t really go in since there are so many spells to the door into that section that even if I was an Alicorn I couldn’t go in.
I snorted at the thought, like that we ever happen.
I sighed as I looked up to the sky, seeing some birds fly by as I noticed Princess Luna’s tower.
“Maybe Princess Luna knows?” I muttered to myself. She lived as long as Celestia so maybe…
I nodded to myself and headed out towards the tower. Before I even left, Pinkie appeared in front of me.
“Hey Twi, where you goin?” she asked. I blinked at the fact she simply appeared in front of me as I shook my head.
“Hey Pinkie, I’m just… heading out,” I told her.
“Really, you’re not going to stay for the party?” she asked, cocking her head to the side.
“Sorry Pinkie, I’m just… not into parties,” I told her.
“Oh, okay!” Pinkie said with a smile.
“Really?” I asked her.
“Really really!” she answered. “Like, why would I force someone to stay at a party they don’t like? That would be super duper mean and sad.”
“Thanks Pinkie, for understanding me,” I told her. She simply smiled and skipped back to the party. I sighed as I went out and headed to Princess Luna’s room. I walked along the marble floors, through the clean white hallway in silent. There weren’t any guards around patrolling the halls so no one stopped me as I soon came to princess Luna’s door. It was a large dark blue double door with her cutie mark on it; a crescent moon on a black back drop. I took a deep breath and knocked on the door.
“Yes?” a young female voice called out. I let the breath out before I spoke.
“Princess Luna, it’s me Twilight Sparkle,” I said through the door.
“Ah, Miss Sparkle,” Luna said. I waited a few moments, a minute I think until one of the doors open. Out stepped a young woman no older than me. She was about the same height as me, give or take a few inches, as her fur was a light blue colour with her much lighter mane. She wore a simple night gown with a pair of headphones around her neck. “What can I help you with?”
“Oh, well, umm… how are you?” I stuttered. I don’t know why I’m not having trouble with speaking.
“Good, I guess,” Luna said plainly. I blinked at her. She was… different from Princess Celestia, while Celestia was nice and friendly, Luna was… awkward to talk to. “Do you need something miss Twilight?”
“Huh, oh yes please,” I said as I remembered why I came here. “Well, I wanted to ask you something.”
She seemed to smile at this, “of course, what do you need to know?”
“Well… it’s about dragons, mostly Shadow dragons,” I replied. Her expression changed to a sour one. I flinched at this. “If you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine. I can fine-”
“No, it’s find,” Luna cut me off. “I do know about them, not a lot but maybe I can answer some of your questions.”
“Oh… thank you,” I said with a smile. Luna moved so I could walk into her room, to which I saw that it was… very neat and simple. Dark blue walls, a balcony, a large bed, a carpet rug. The only two things that stood out was that one; the roof of the place was really a large skylight. I could see the night’s sky through it. The second thing was her entertainment center. It was a large plasma screen with all of the gaming consoles that I know of. I even saw a lot of games for each console. I even saw a gaming computer on a desk that was built into her closet. It glowed with a silver dark blue colour as the princess went to her book case. “You uhh… adjusting to the times well?”
“I believe so, I can now, as some of the guards say ‘able to talk normally’, I never understood why but… it has been a thousand years,” Luna pulled a large dark book from her shelf. “You know, if I had these games back then I mayhaps never turned into the Nightmare.”
“R-right…” I said with a bit of a sweatdrop. “So… Shadow dragons.”
“Yes, I can understand why you came to me,” Luna said. I stared at her for a moment.
“Oh… Oh no, it’s not because you are the Princess of the Night Princess Luna, and also not the fact your magic maybe tied to more… dark and shadowy things…” I said, hoping that she doesn’t get mad at me. She simply stared at me.
“I was going to say she’s busy right now with the party,” she informed me. I blushed at the error of what I said. “Anyway, what can you tell me of the Multiverse?”
“It’s an existence of planes that, if I remember, are different from one another. Not only they have different yet same worlds, there are dimensions that formed and are governed by spiritual and elemental principles,” I explained. Luna seemed to smile at this.
“I heard you are one of my sister's most knowledgeable students,” she said, making me blush a bit. “But as you know, there’s a lot of subjects on it, but for right now let’s talk about the Material Plane and it’s echoes.”
“The Material Plane is, well, where we live…” I told her as I thought on the echoes part. “And I believe the echoes are the Feywild, a plane of nature and life, and-”
“The Shadowfell,” Luna answered, looking a bit grimm as she said that. I felt a chill as the room seemed to get a bit colder from the word. “Like the Feywild, the Shadowfell is a mirror of the Material Plane, but… it’s a plane of shadow and death. While the Feywild is lush and full of life, the Shadowfell is a dark gray and white landscape that’s devoid of colour, like it was leached out of the land. Everything there is a twisted and warped version of the Material Plane,” Luna began flipping through the tome, to which realized what it was made out of, which I had to cover my mouth to not throw up; it was made out of some sort of creature’s flesh. She stopped on the page that depicted a large dragon that looked like it was made out of shadow and darkness. “Creatures that shun the light live in these lands, it’s also a plane of undeath so undead roam it’s lands as well… as well as Shadow dragons.”
“I… see… but what are Shadow dragons?” I asked her.
“I was getting to that,” Luna said. “A Shadow Dragon are true dragons that, either born or spent many years that they were transformed, in the Shadowfell, they are crazed in the mind from spending so many years in that plane that they are dangerous to be in the area.Their breath can block out the light of the sun, turn into shadows at will and, most feared part, can raise fallen pray that they kill.”
I frowned at this, if they were so bad, then why… “Princess, if they are so dangerous then why did the one from Ponyville flew off before we dealt with Discord?”
“I do not know Miss. Twilight, maybe the dragon was weak for spending so long in it’s stone prison,” she answered in a way that she didn’t really know.
“Right… oh, are Shadow dragons blind?” I asked. “My friend told me that it’s eyes were clouded over that showed that it was blind.”
“Maybe… the Shadowfell is a place of darkness, there’s no light there as well as lost knowledge, it could be that dragons there are so used to the constant darkness that they can’t see in daylight,” Luna explained. I hummed in thought as I looked at the book. A plane of shadow and death, it’s a twisted version of my home and full of dangerous creatures.
But there’s also knowledge that, I think, has been lost for hundreds of thousands of years! Who knows what secrets lay dormant in there. If I could find a way…
“Twilight, I urge you to never, and I mean never ever, go to that plane,” Luna warned me. “It’s also filled with negative energy that, to a being like you, will make you lose your mind to darkness.”
“I… I understand Princess Luna,” I told her. We talked for a little why longer and she said that she’ll make a copy of the book that’s not made out of flesh. I knew that it was a bad idea… but the idea of a plane filled with knowledge, it’s almost a crime to leave alone. I knew that there’s no way I could ever find a way to the Shadowfell but I almost have the second best thing, a Shadow dragon that seemed different from what Luna told me. If I find that dragon then I can learn more about what it knows and more about the Shadowfell than what I know from Luna. If I can find it at least.
I sighed as I made my way back to the party. After talking about planes of shadow and death, I really wanted to spend time with my close friends.
Author's Note
So after my botched attempt of chapter two, I pulled the chapter and scrapped it. This is a start of sub chapters that'll follow the mane six that deals with Telyn, shadow dragons, and the Shadowfell.
Hope you all enjoy it :]
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
