You don't need to do PoF to get your first mount, you just need to own an expansion, then you unlock the raptor at level 10. It only lasts for like 10 hours, it's gone afterwards. That has changed now, it perma unlocks now with level 10 (if you have the pof expac). Its on the guildwars 2 wiki.
You do it by doing events/killing stuff. You can get the first 2 mounts relatively fast (under 3 hours, even faster if you have a friend teleporting you around, i did it in less on my alt accs). I recommend you to check guildjen.com for the HOW to unlock the first 2 mounts, and do it right after getting the gliding mastery. (Spoiler: you unlockPosted February 19, 2021. @Jukhy.2431 said:Left Shift = Mount key (I use Skyscale here)F1 = GriffonF2 = RaptorF3 = SpringerF4 = JackalF5 = SkimmerF6 = Beetle. Sidenote: 1,2,3,4,Q,E,R,C,X,Z + alt combos of these keys I use for combat skills cause I want them to be close to the movement keys (AWSD).Dismounting from a mount than didn't spawn is sometimes possible (I imagine it's just that the mount spawned and I dismounted before I saw it) but this occasionally drops you through the floor (luckily the sea in Istan extends under the island, but I've also been trapped inside scenery as I spawn below what I was on, but above the ground). One of the most memorable moments for me was flying normally on the temporary griffon over the Desolation. With a guide, it took me probably about 4 hours. I imagine it can be done faster. Not including the time spent getting the money or completing the story, it just took a few hours without guides. Do regular daily, buy fractal keys (first 30), get some cheap boxes from tp (i'm trying to pay 22s MAX - not always possible, just keep keys for next day), if you can, do t4 fractal dailes AND if you still have some time, do TD+AB meta. Doing this allowed me to buy all 30 mount skins, while playing 2-3hours a day (new job, can't play more). UPOE.