Gotta make it through.
With the intense heat of the scorching sun on her back and the sting of harsh and undulating rocks beneath her claws, Gilda was crawling her way to the top of the massive mountain that encompassed the largest dragon population in Equestria. Her left wing was tied tightly to her body, having been injured from a bad fall an hour ago. She let out an audible grunt through her teeth as she poked herself on a particularly sharp rock, but didn’t stop - she was a griffon on a mission.
She couldn’t fail.
Beads of sweat dripped from her skull. Her fur was absolutely soaked by this point. She was completely at the mercy of the elements, having made this trip on short notice with very little preparations.
As she slammed her claws into the rocks, one by one, breathing heavily through her teeth as her face contorted into a furious scowl, she cursed herself a bit for doing this.
Was this really the only way?
She crushed her eyes shut, a lone tear dripping down as a sob escaped her. One claw in front of the other.
Yes. It was the only way. If she didn’t…
She let out an audible shriek, leaping forward with a great deal of strength, crashing hard into the next set of rocks.
...Equestria would fall.
She opened her eyes, her head shaking as she stared up towards the sun, tears and sweat mixing together as they fell from her face, splashing against the rocks as she let out one final shriek to the sky, echoing across the mountain. The summit was in sight.
Almost there.
About half a mile away, Garble was hanging out with his friend at the sludge pits.
“This is the life,” sighed Garble, relaxing as he began to let his scales sink into the sludge.
“Nothing better for a sore dragon after a long day!” agreed Hectate, the purple dragon to his left.
“For sure. I’m always down for a day where we just terrorize like we used to. But because of Ember’s new laws, we don’t get them as often. Just makes me sore and out of practice,” replied Garble, kicking his feet back and throwing his arms back behind his head to relax.
“You know what I miss? Fighting,” said Hectate, “Like, really fighting. It feels like there’s no threats anymore. It’s no fun just scaring sheep.”
“Heh, yeah,” chuckled Garble, “Some days, I just wish some creature would give me a challenge. That’s what I get for being the best, I guess.”
Hectate blinked and looked up as he began to hear something odd.
“Hey, what’s that scraping sound?”
As a mighty claw suddenly swung in front of his face and covering his mouth, Garble barely had a moment to even scream. Gilda gave Hectate a death stare, growling at him as she dragged Garble backwards out of the sludge. As a rather cowardly dragon at heart, Hectate quickly scrambled to escape, stumbling a bit out of the bath before flying as fast as he could away. Garble whimpered, reaching out for his friend, but Gilda quickly jerked her arms down, smashing Garble’s head into the rocks.
“Yoh’r Ruk!” she growled as Garble moaned in pain from the impact. After a few moments of no response, she furiously raised the poor dragon’s head again and slammed it down into the rocks a second time.
“Where is he?” she spoke at nearly a shriek now, moving her furious face close to Garble’s trembling visage as close as she could.
“I don’t know!” exclaimed Garble, as helplessly as he could, “I don’t know who that is, I don’t-“
Gilda cut him off with a shriek, raising his head again. He protested with another agonizing wail, cut off by his skull hitting the rocks again and again. If he had been any creature other than a dragon, his head would have likely cracked open by now. Still, blood oozed from his scales, his battered and bruised face trembling in sheer terror. Gilda, breathing heavily, got close to his face again, waiting for him to slowly look up at her with his terrified eyes.
“Last chance,” she whispered, “Tell me about Yoh’r Ruk.”
Garble gulped.
“Dragon Lord said we can’t-“
This time, Garble cut himself off with a loud shriek as Gilda raised his head once more.
“Wait! Wait!” he squealed before she had a chance to mash his head into the rocks. He coughed blood, before gulping, clearing his throat.
“Dragon Lord…said we can’t….speak of him…” he barely managed to get out. Gilda began shaking with rage.
“Why?” she growled through her teeth.
“He’s…too strong…stronger than any dragon…ever born.”
Gilda squinted at the dragon. She raised up a claw, pointing a digit at him and bringing it close to his face like a knife.
“Tell me where he is.”
Garble’s eyes widened with fear. He began to stammer, saying half sentences and pleading. Mercifully, Gilda only grabbed his shoulder and slammed him against the rocks again, sparing his head this time. It was enough to get him to speak clearly, though.
“East…east from here. For a few m…miles. Past the Burning Spots…”
Gilda stared at the helpless dragon for a few more moments before tossing him down, walking off angrily, leaving him bleeding and bruised.
“It’s…suicide…you know….” he managed to cough. Gilda didn’t respond, continuing forward in complete determination.
I’ll save Equestria or die trying.
If the heat was bad before, the Burning Spots were the surface of the sun. Gilda was now in complete agony, trudging through a massive open basin miles from the dragon lands, littered with large pools of magma that shot up into massive pillars at seemingly random times.
For Equestria.
She recalled what she knew about Yoh’r Ruk. A legendary monster dragon, he was banished from the dragon lands for his insane, psychotic breakdowsn, banished to the furthest corner of the unknown to live out the rest of his days in solitude. And soon, he would be coming for Equestria.
A burst of magma erupted inches from her face as she lost focus. Frazzled but not deterred, she course corrected and kept going. With one more deep breath of determination, she finally recalled the very exact reason she was really doing all of this.
For Dash.
For another full mile of bason, the griffon made her way past hundreds of these sporadically discharging magma pillars, traveling further than many a dragon would ever reach in their lives.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she finally arrived at the mouth of a massive cave, far larger than most she had ever seen. From deep within, she could hear loud, intense breathing, a moaning that shook the ground beneath her as smoke poured out. She took a deep breath and cleared her throat.
“Yoh’r Ruk!” she shouted as loud as she could, echoing into the cave. After a moment of silence, the earth shook even harder, the rumbling and growling approaching, before suddenly the figure of a dragon larger than she had ever seen in her life emerged slowly from the shadows, its nose alone larger than a small house.
The dragon had a peculiar, yet intimidating shape.- winding, like a snake, but large bat wings spreading from its spine. Its mouth was full of sharp, misshapen fangs, and most notably, as it opened its mouth to roar, staring down at the puny ant of a griffon before it, it let a long, snake-like tounge slip from its mouth, reaching dozens of feet down to the ground, and smashing against the rocks in front of Gilda with its sheer weight alone.
Gilda was not stirred.
“I know what you plan to do with Equestria.”
The dragon squinted at her. With the weight of Equestria’s fate on her shoulders, Gilda dug her claws as hard as she could into the ground, assuming a brave, defensive stance.
“I’m not going to let it happen.”
In response, the mighty beast opened its eyes in fury, before letting out a deep, wrenching roar that shook the land.
Save Equestria. Save Dash.
Or die trying.
Garble was sobbing back at home. Nobody was really taking him seriously.
“Seriously, Garble, you got beat up by a pathetic griffon?”
“He probably just tripped and fell. The klutz.”
“Why don’t you write some poetry about it, loser?”
Garble stuttered and stammered, unsure of how to speak, but the sun suddenly caught his eye and he looked up to the cliffside. He began breathing faster and faster as he saw the familiar shape of Gilda on the horizon. Gilda…bloodied, bruised, and beaten…
…Dragging behind her, in her mouth, a massive, snake like tongue. She spit it down to the ground, staring down at the dragons who stared in shock and awe.
“Yoh’r Ruk won’t be bothering you anymore,” she spoke coldly.
Back in Ponyville, Dash was enjoying a spa day with Rarity. She’d never tell anypony, but these were her favorite.
“Darling, you must try the mud bath sometime,” Rarity said, “It’s one of the few R&R activities appreciated by all species. Why, the dragon lands have quite the ‘sludge bath’, as they call it, and-“
“Nooo, thank you,” Dash interrupted, “I’m here to feel nice and clean, not dress myself in sludge.”
“Oh, but it’s so good for one’s complexion!” Rarity tried to explain.
“Look, I’m already embarrassed enough that I enjoy this stupid girly stuff. I don’t need everypony knowing-“
“It’s done, Rainbow Dash,” came the cold, dark voice of Gilda.
Rainbow Dash nearly jumped out of her skin as she turned her face to realize Gilda had appeared next to her - less startled by the appearance itself than how her “cool” friend had just seen her getting a pony pedicure.
“How…how did you…get…” Dash stammered.
“What? The staff wasn’t going to stop me getting in here,” growled Gilda.
Dash blinked.
“What, uh…what do you mean, it’s done?”
“Yoh’r Ruk,” Gilda spoke dryly, “Will no longer be a threat to Equestria.”
Dash blinked again. Rarity looked awkwardly at the staff, then back at Gilda.
“Yoh’r…who?”
This time, Gilda blinked, before continuing in her cold, dry tone.
“The dragon. Yoh’r Ruk. Yesterday, I heard you…”
“Heard me say…what?”
“You said it. Yesterday. Yoh’r Ruk is going to take the Queen. Meaning…Celestia? I heard you and Pinkie talking. I wasn’t going to let that happen. Not on my watch.”
After another short, silent beat, Rainbow Dash’s expression couldn’t have shifted to disbelief faster if she tried. She spoke immediately, with a deadpan tone.
“Gilda, I said ‘your rook’.”
Gilda blinked. “What?” Dash let out a huge, gutteral sigh.
“You heard me and Pinkie. I said, ‘Ugh, your rook is going to take the queen!”
Gilda still didn’t get it, staring at Dash with the same resolute expression.
“Chess, Gilda! We were talking about a game of chess! Her rook - the piece - was gonna take my queen! You took it literal!? Like a name? I didn’t even know there was a dragon named Yoh’r Ruk!”
“Chess….?” Gilda said, only the slightest twinge of confusion in her voice. Dash sighed a second time.
“Nevermind, Gilda. It’s fine.”
“Uh, yeah. Sure.”
“That’s pretty awesome, really. So it was like, a big dragon?”
“Yeah. Like a mountain.”
“Huh. Well, at least Equestria is just a little safer.”
Gilda smiled.
“Anything for you, Dash.”
Anything.
Author's Note
For Bean’s writing group.
The prompts were a game of chess and you took it literal?!
