Conquest of the Mark of the Dragon

by Fateful Pony

Hidden Strength

The sun shined brightly onto the pale brown dirt that covered the Training Grounds. Exotic pink and purple hawks soared the skies along with their dragon companions. Dummies made from potato sacks and hay stood tall on wooden platforms ready to be striked at any moment. Other hay stacks were used as targets for archery: some placed further from others to more adequately test accuracy.

Derpibra and Sanctus stood parallel from each other, keeping their eyesights adamant on their opponents.

“You all stand back. Derpibra is the only one I want to fight.”

They did as instructed, and she withdrew her black iron greatsword, and Derpibra his gift from Twilight, a purple broadsword. He used his knowledge from video games he played when he was far younger- holding his shield in front while keeping his blade as straight as an arrow just above neck level. He knew not if this would work, but it was worth a try in his eyes.

“Interesting posture. Alright, you know the drill.”

Total silence fell upon both opposing sides as they charged in for their attacks. Sanctus charged at his shield with her greatsword much like one wielding a lance. Once they collided, she broke his guard, and attempted at another swing, but scarcely missed. As he dodged, he kicked up both of his hooves and landed a relatively devastating hit in her chest.

“Derpibra is pretty good.” Twilight observed him as he raised his shield, readying his surprisingly sturdy defense again. “Where did he learn to use a shield?”

Sanctus was panting heavily and with haste. She was taken aback by his performance. “Well, looks like you aren’t the scrawny stallion I thought you were.”

His face became riddled with a menacing frown. He already didn’t very much like Sanctus at all, so anything she would say would garner her an aggressive response. He shouted at her, teeth and all: “You knew nothing about me, and you still don’t!”

She staggered from his unexpected outburst. (What was that…!? His voice, it held power! Could it be…?) She charged at him again, but with a different strategy in mind. The unicorn leaped over him, and attempted to run him through from behind, but he perceived her plan almost too perfectly.

He went prone on the ground before sliding himself between her hooves and smirked as he appeared behind her. He then landed a powerful shield bash, sending her a good distance from himself.

“Heh…!” She scoffed. “Alright, you’re better than I expected. But, you gotta realize that I’m not fighting at my best!” She charged her horn, bright with colorless magic, and proceeded to launch a devastating salvo of magical bolts in his direction.

His frown only intensified as the bolts seized him. Having very little time to react, he sheathed his sword and locked both hooves into his shield handle, hoping he could muster a better defense. The attack assaulted his wall of defense fiercely. Unable to sustain his guard, his shield was pushed aside, allowing the bolts to explode on impact, causing severe damage. He stood, panting, body aching.

“What’s wrong? Can’t stand a bit of burning?” Her horn glowed again, but this time with a brilliant blue. “Aqua Blast!” She shouted as a blue orb, twice the size as him, was set on it’s course.

Unable to move, he stood, hoping he would live after the attack, but before it hit, he saw a flash of orange before everything went white in a destructive explosion. Once his environment became visible again, he noticed Applejack lying on the ground, burns covering her chest and hooves, but still alive.

“Applejack…?” He said feebly as he stared at her, panting with silent moans of injury. His head whipped in Sanctus’ direction, now more angry than before. “You… You…!”

“Talk about a cheap shot.” Sanctus said tauntingly.

“Now you’ve crossed the line…” He muttered before shouting, once again with all his might: “You bitch!”

“Such spicy vocabulary for a half-skilled weakling eh?”

He threw his weapon and shield upon the ground and screamed into the air. His mane seemed to spike upwards as a light gray aura encased him. He felt different, but he was far too enraged to even care about what it may be. His eyes settled back onto Sanctus with a fearsome look that even she might find intimidating. Now, he was out for blood.

(His power…! He is a Warrior of Magnus! A gift from our king! But he doesn’t know it yet…!)

Out of bleak rage, he pursued her almost instantly, landing a powerful combo of ten hits. Launching her into the air above, he stripped her of her blade and shoved it into the ground with enough force to shake its very construction. He then kicked her away, and flew after her.

Recovering quickly, she stopped in the air, staying afloat by her magic’s doing. Extending her horn forwards, she fired another salvo of bolts in a vain attempt at stopping his rampage.

He shrugged off her attacks and slammed her into the ground with one swift swing.

Sanctus laid in the dirt below for some seconds before lifting herself and disposing of her mouthful of dirt. “Man, he’s something else…!” She looked above to spot him readying himself to smash his hoof into the ground, presumably some form of a shockwave attack. She dashed away, narrowly escaping as he impacted the rubble below their hooves.

He stood still, his red mane still standing tall from the current of his magic. “You’ll pay…!” His words became whispers as he fainted, body crashing upon the ground.

“Glad that’s over…” She looked at his friends across the Training Grounds and saw them all scowling at her. “What?”

Twilight stepped forward. “What you did to Derpibra and Applejack… You know that was wrong!”

“What? The orange one? Nopony told her to jump in, and what about Derpibra? Hey, he wanted to take the risk. But you can’t ignore that he’s a pegasus who can cast magic. That’s… rare.”

“I suppose, but you can’t be acting like this. This is insane.”

“Yeah yeah. Look, I’ll do something nice if it keeps you from killing me in my sleep.”

“Well I advise you start speaking now darling.” Rarity demanded with her usual elegance.

“I patch up Derpibra and Applejack and I’ll look into this magic he has so you all can stop the Darkness. Normally I would test everypony individually to get into the Inquisition, but I’ll make a pass since he is pretty tough. That means you all get in, but you better not cause trouble. Deal?”

“Fine.” Twilight said unenthusiastically.

The group made their way into the castle, along with Sanctus who had Applejack and Derpibra in her magical grasp.