Conquest of the Mark of the Dragon

by Fateful Pony

A Path Chosen

The morning sun beamed upon the group as they ventured down a dirt path towards the start of the mountain. Things were starting to warm up on the clear day.

The mountain itself was close to a shore, so everypony got a spectacular view of the seas, but as they looked on, they saw a fiery creature on a wooden raft, floating to the shore then coming to a stop.

“Who’s that?” Derpibra asked. “Kinda looks like a griffon…”

The griffon exited the raft and walked over to the travellers. He was a bright red and yellow griffon, though his colored seemed to be dulled in some areas. He wore a suit much like his colors, but it was battered and worn and was riddled with a peculiar scent of saltwater.

“Who’re you?” Optix asked.

“I’m Gilligan, a griffon hailing from Equestria.” He seemed to refuse eye contact.

“Are you?” Twilight examined him closely. “You look like someone I know… And that suit…”

“Think nothing of it.” He dismissed. “I just sailed from Equestria to here. I was looking for the closest land mass I could find. And here I am. Do any of you know of a town or village around here where I can eat and clean myself up?”

“Dragon Isle Town is that way.”

“Thanks.”

The short encounter situated, he watched the group leave as he walked for the nearest tree.
He gathered branches and other tinder to use to start a campfire. He sat around it to dry up for some minutes before he reached for his red-orange top hat- as battered and worn as it was. He tossed it into the flames and watched a part of himself burn away. Sitting on a log, he reviewed his recollections of his past.

“I… Am not Gilligan as I say… I simply mask my past with a new identity, one I could not escape…”

Once the hat turned to ashes, he proceeded to take off his torn suit, and placed it in the fire in such a way so it wouldn’t put it out. Once he seen the suit- a suit that costed him thousands of bits, turn to ashes, he muttered: “I’m not as what I seem to be...” Looking off into the distance, he continued. “A new future awaits me. And the Princess of Friendship may be able to help. But what is she doing here…? Is this just mere coincidence?”

The group made it to a forked road, with two signs: The left was the Trial of the Pony, and the right The Trial of the Dragon.

“Which path?” Sanctus asked.

“You know more about this than I do.”

“But this is your adventure, not mines. You lead us on.”

Derpibra looked back. “Thoughts anyone?”

“We should probably take the least problematic path.” Twilight said. Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rarity agreed with her.

“But Twilight!” Rainbow Dash started. “There’s no point! Nothing about this is gonna be easy, and besides, we can prove how awesome we are to the dragon! Maybe he likes tough ponies?” Sanctus and Optix approved of this.

“It’s your choice.” Sanctus said.

“Hmmm…” He noticed a smaller amount of text on the signs. The left read “The Path of the Pony is easier. There is a much lower chance of discovering items, but there is also a lower risk of attack. The Path of the Dragon is much harder. Much higher chances of finding items, but you will be more prone to attack. But, it all depends on how well skilled you are at scavenging.”

“The Path of the Pony sounds more convincing. I mean, we gotta make sure we’re actually alive by the time we get up there right?”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes then grunted. “Ah, fine.”

Taking the left path, they progressed up the mountain at a steady pace. The path itself was so lengthy and seemingly endless that they thought for sure that they may need to camp for a night or so before they arrive. The path itself began to grow very arid and nigh lifeless- except for the occasional cactus dotting the landscape.

As the group ventured forth, an extremely deep, royal voice erupted from the top of the peak almost as if the voice was next to them. “Young mortals…”

The party winced with a small yelp coming from Fluttershy.

“You chose what was meant to be the ultimate challenge for pony kind…”

Derpibra looked around before calling out to the inconspicuous voice, with seemingly no source of origin. “Are you the King or something?”

The voice spoke with a slow but royal tone. “You are indeed speaking with the King of these lands… I will be expecting you… Derpibra. Farewell…”

“Wait! How do you know my name?” He inquired in vain as the voice spoke no longer.
“Huh, guess that’s for me to figure out… c’mon everypony, let’s keep going.”

Beginning their trek through the lifeless path again, Pinkie Pie shot a look at him. “What was that all about?”

He cocked his brows and shrugged. “Dunno. Guess he wanted us to know he was up here somewhere.”

“I guess. Hey!”

He jumped. “What?”

“Do you have even the teeniest tiniest idea what we’ll find up there?”

“Besides a dragon? No idea.”

She became unusually jittery. “Maybe we’ll find candy! Or more chocolate rain clouds!”

“Uh, what?”

“Pinkie’s referring to… an ability that a friend of ours has.” Twilight explained. “Honestly, I don't know how she can ingest that much chocolate at once…”

“I’m confused.”

“I’ll tell you the story when we get home. We must not get distracted.”

“Alright.” Sounding only slightly disappointed, he refocused onto the trail ahead, watching for any dangers.

Many hours have passed, and the party reached closer to the top. Being just at midday, the sun seemed to be right next to them. The air grew stuffier and much more heated. Cool breezes that once came through occasionally now ceased, only causing the group more heat induced anguish.

Optix seemed to be sweating the most since she was wearing a military grade ballistic vest and desert camouflage cargo pants.

“You okay back there?” Sanctus asked. “You're sweating buckets.”

“Didn't know you cared so much.” She lightly scoffed. “Just kidding. Ey, doing fine. I’m trained to sustain myself under extreme conditions like this. But really, you should be worried about Rarity.”

Rarity seemed to be close to passing out. “This sweltering heat is driving me mad… and perhaps to bad health as well…”

“Keep it together everypony. We’re almost there.” Sanctus said.

Only moments later, Fluttershy collapsed. The group turned their heads, and spotted her only feet away.

“Flutters…!” Derpibra called out to her. “You okay?”

No response was heard from her.

He galloped to her and shook her still body in vain. “Hey, wake up! You can't be…?”

“She isn't.” Twilight finished. “She’s not the most enduring of any of us. I can tell what's happening from here.” She kneeled over her yellow friend and inspected her closely. “She's having a heat stroke!”

“What? She just drank water not too long ago.” Rainbow Dash said.

“Yes, but the temperature keeps getting worse. Who knows if we’ll even make it up all the way.”

“Can't we just turn back? I don't want us to die up here. Maybe we ain’t cut out for this journey.”

“Applejack, dear,” Rarity responded. “I we have made it this far, and we said we would do something for these dragons. We should stick by it.”

“I thought this path was the easiest!” Derpibra sighed.

“Doesn't mean it's actually easy- just easier than the rest.” Sanctus explained.

“I guess. Glad I didn't choose the Dragon Path, this is terrible!” He used his muzzle to scoop up Fluttershy and hung her over his back. “C’mon, we’re in this together, conscious or not.” His hooves bent from her weight. “Geez…! What have you been eating…!?”

“She’s barely over a hundred pounds.” Rainbow Dash remarked.

“You forget I’m not really that physically strong…!”

“I would just barely be learning about that now since you seem to be pretty tough otherwise. Ha!”

“...Right. C’mon. Hopefully we aren’t pony toast by the time we get up there.” His cheeks expanded with air as he tried not to fall over from his supposedly overweight friend. Perhaps it was his equipment contributing to the burden as well?