Literally Snails

@Dynamo Pad@DwhitetheGamer @dragon4111 @Canteen_the_unstable @reader8363 (It's been real, and I'm still open to doing a sequel, but I've clearly lost steam on this one. I appreciate you all for sticking around till we got to an end!) "Were it so simple," was all Tricis said, still gazing out the window. __________________________________________________________________________ Ray and Tatterhoof met up outside of the arena beside the hotel pool, watching fans clear out from the nearly obliterated stadium. "Dai said thomething about thtaying in Equethtria a while. Said she... needed to learn more about them." "Then I guess my debt is solely to you." Tatterhoof said leaning on his Cane. Tatterhoof and Ray stayed together after the tournament, but under Ray's leadership, they formed an actual circus act. Having been proven a less than capable fighter, Tattehoof's talents were used for what they always should have been for: entertainment. Dai left the arena with Draco, but with little more than a vague promise to return to him, she parted ways with him to live amongst ponies. For what reason? She doesn't know. ___________________________________________________________________________ "Maybe Rokata thought it was some kind of penance, like he was guilty for feeling vulnerable and he never wanted to be vulnerable again, so he became the one thing he knew was invulnerable," Shining Armor theorised. "Maybe he admired the power Thuum had and really did become him. Maybe that's what made him feel so guilty. Maybe he was afraid of the way Tricis dealt with the tragedy, and took the extreme road so he wouldn't have to look back. Maybe he was just afraid of growing old." ___________________________________________________________________________ Onyx walked on foot for days with Selene's body before finally ariving at the ruined desert site that was his village. Amongst the husks of charred huts, a boulder was errected in its center, where a well once was, carved by hands with the names of the deceased. Behind the boulder was a cave carved in limestone. Onyx placed Selene's body at the foot of the boulder, resting her head against it like a pillow. Onyx trained in solitude at his village, some nights confusing nearby travelers with sounds of earthquakes and tumbling rubble, but his efforts were directed at nothing. With Rokata dead, he would never know if he was even capable of reaching his goal. ___________________________________________________________________________ "Rokata isn't a pretty picture. He's a scattered puzzle. Every time you find a piece that fits you realize two others are in the wrong place, and he's willing to attack anyone trying to solve it, including himself." Shining Armor added. ___________________________________________________________________________ Topaz sat behind her fathers desk with a phone to her ear. The shades on the window behind her shrowded the room in moody darkness. "Yes, there's plenty of money from the proceeds for the repairs.... I don't care how long you say it's gonna take. It's getting done in a year." She leaned back in her chair. "The chairpony?" She paused and brought the phone away to take a deep breath before pulling it back. "You're talking to her." Rail's plans were burried with the last of his fortune, leaving his daughter with only his tournament as inheritance. Though she'd never attempt the evils that he sought, she would continue his legacy through the dark tournament. ___________________________________________________________________________ Tricis and Rokata locked eyes, then Tricis turned to Jade and Dynamo. "I'm... tired. Let's go home," she said, a tear of joy, relief, and sadness crossing her cheek. Cumulus was already perched in the open window on the farside of the room, tipping an invisible hat to Jade. "Right as rain! We'll fight again when you're better Jade!" He promised. Shining Armor suddenly snapped into action. "Wait! You're a fugitive from justice!" He cried, dashing toward the window. Cumulus jumped out and flew away, leaving a trail of smoke. Shining Armor jumped through the ground floor window and could be heard barking orders at royal guards outside to pursue. _____________________________________________________________________________ . . . . A week passed and the stadium was empty. Reconstruction wouldn't begin for another month and the ruins of the arena were left to crumble in the rain. A lone dark blue unicorn mare trudged through the muddy sod toward a pile of rubble beside a collapsed stadium wall and put up an umbrella. "I was planning to wait here for years, but who is this?" Mason's haunting voice echoed from the very earth. A small shadow-like orb stretched from between two rocks, with a single red eye blinking up at her. "I haven't recovered yet. I can't see you." "It's a pity to waste something that's survived for so long, laughing one," the mare said. She knelt beside the rocks, getting eye level with what remained of Tenebris. "You're going to love what I have in store for you."

@dragon4111 @Dynamo Pad @DwhitetheGamer @reader8363 Tricis put a hoof on Jade's shoulder and turned to Shining Armor. "And Rokata is...?" Shining Armor nodded. "Help me up," Tricis said to Jade and Dynamo. She needed them to help her stand, and when she was able to stand, she walked over to the window by her bedside. "Well, if that's all done with, I'm gonna leave," Dai said to Draco. "I don't think it'll be hard for either of us to find the other, when we need to." Quill tugged on Shining Armor's elbow and spoke to him loudly enough that Jade and Dynamo could hear, but Tricis was already across the room. "There's something I was trying to find out, the reason I went to grab my notes when Rokata transformed. I was looking for this." She pulled out a black and white picture of Thuum, the Gryphon warlord who attacked the dojo Tricis and Rokata's father used to teach at, who killed his father and slaughtered his students when tricis and Rokata where away. Tricis had told Jade that Rokata left to confront Thuum alone, and came back victorious, but forever changed. The picture bore a striking resemblance. The structure of the monstorous gryphon's muscles, the claws, and shape of his head and jagged teeth, it looked like Rokata in his final transformation. Thuum wasn't a supernatural being, he couldn't have posessed Rokata or become him somehow, yet Rokata's transformation seemed to be designed after him. Whatever Rokata did to become what he was, he designed it after that monster. "Why would he choose to look like something he hated so much?"

Onyx stopped for a moment, hearing Dynamo's request. He turned his head slightly to let Dynamo know he heard him, then he walked away without a word. The vial Rail provided was placed near Tricis and Shining Armor opened the cap. The purple lifeforce shot out and immediately seeked Tricis out, returning to her in the same way that Rokata had taken it less than a day earlier. A lifelike glow returned to her skin and Jade could see her distinctive aura return, like she could see the life return to her. Her aura was still weak, having given nearly all of her energy to Jade, but she was alive. Shining Armor stepped back, making sure Jade would be the first to see her as Tricis opened her eyes. She rose from the bed, smiling at her apprentice with a soft, knowing gaze. She barely had enough strength to talk at first, and her voice was raspier and weaker than usual, but she seemed to be recovering quickly. "You look terrible," she said.

@DwhitetheGamer Then I have my answer straight from her. Exactly what he said he wanted from me, but it was all a lie. I was never meant to beat him. I was used. Onyx hoised Selene's body over his shoulder and walked away, passing by Copper as he exited through what remained of the west gates. He didn't say anything to the combatant, but gave him a passing look in his stoic expression, still with a hint of respect. Cumulus and Shining Armor lead Jade back to the medical ward with the aid of Dynamo. It was far from a fully fledged hospital, and the treatment rooms were all full of fans injured from watching the finals, so many that their numbers spilled out into the halls and into lounges usually left for gambling and spectating. The room Tricis' body was housed in was still off by itself. The staff had kept it undisturbed under direct orders from Rail. Tricis was right where they left her, laying on her back with her legs crossed over her chest and her eyes peacefully closed. Only a small sliver of sunlight shone through the curtains, illuminating the room. "I doubt she wants a job, considering," Dai said, displaying more understanding of ponies than Draco. "You should join your friends."

"No." Topaz shook her head, wiping the expression from her face. "I've had enough of this. For this year at least." She said.

The lighter landed in the cracked ground, slightly dug into the dirt. The brass cover that once hid the button was pushed back over it when it dropped, safely preventing it from being pressed. Topaz silently watched as Rail fell as well, landing next to his lighter. She gulped, swallowing down the shock without showing any other emotion. Rail always had a plan- a scheme- a backup. She couldn't be sad or angry. The surprise of realizing that this really was the end overwhelmed what little feelings she still had for him. When she looked back up, Draco was already walking away. She picked her mic back up while the last of Rokata's ashes blew away and Rail's blood sank into the earth. "Don't go out on me now. We haven't even botha'd your gran yet." She heard Cumulus' voice say as her eyes closed. He used a wing to prop Jade up on the opposite side of Dynamo. Tatterhoof had walked down through the thinning crowd as well, standing in the rubble of the ring next to Cumulus and Dynamo. "So the show's finally over," Tatterhoof said before being startled into a jump when a massive hoof slammed onto the ground behind him. Onyx stood towering over them all after stomping on the lighter next to Rail's corpse. In his arms, he had the body of Selene. The last living member of Team Rokata looked down at Jade, barely conscious, being helped by her friends. "Before you go," He said, "How? How where you able to beat him?" There was an accusatory sting to his voice, the culmination of a decade of hatred. "What did you have that I never did?"

"If that's the case..." Rail hovered his lighter close, his aura surrounding the hidden red button, ready to press. "GAH!" Rail stiffened up and held his mouth agape with a shocked expression plastered on his face. He didn't seem to expect one of Jade's companions to actually attack him. Sweat dripped down his brow and the veins in his forehead bulged as the blood pressure in his body sharply dropped thanks to the hole Draco put in his chest. Topaz covered her mouth and dropped her mic. From Rose's interactions with her, she seemed disconnected with her father, like she cared more about the tournament, but the shock and distress was clear on her face. Rail slowly turned his head to his lighter as the aura holding it faded. Then the lighter fell and clanked on the ground.

@dragon4111 @reader8363 @Dynamo Pad @Canteen_the_unstable @DwhitetheGamer (I'm done dallying. Let's get a finale going.) Rail tilted his head down, keeping his eyes trained on Jade, then Dynamo when he came to aid her. Rose wasn't faring much better. Team Lotus was exhausted, but victorious. After all, the threat had subsided. "Do you really think that's wise?" He asked, the normally civil, businesslike tone to his voice suddenly dissolving into something more psychotic. Perhaps it was too much to expect a calm and peaceful resolution from someone who they found out had downright genocidal goals for Equestria. "You're not a threat without your money or your goons, Rail," Shining Armor replied, standing between him and Dynamo. "You and I are gonna have a long talk about how many lifetimes you'll serve after this, but we don't execute prisoners." "Are you sure about that? I could get my money again. I could escape." He said, speaking in a bizarrely playful tone, like he was entertaining the possibilities as a fun thought exercise. "Besides, what's the fun in a gamble if you know you can walk out on your bets?" Rail flipped his gold plated lighter upside down and popped off the latch to a hidden compartment at its base, revealing a tiny red button. He shot one glance at Topaz, his daughter, who was standing directly behind him, and said, "Best to leave now. I'd like to leave something behind."

"That's a ridiculous question," Dai said with the flick of an ear. "Of course I'd reclaim that if I could. Anyone would!" "I'm not about to turn this into a choice." Rail said, tossing the vial to Shining Armor, who caught it without taking an eye off of Rail. "And what are we supposed to do with you?" He asked. @Dynamo Pad @DwhitetheGamer @Canteen_the_unstable @reader8363 It seemed like everyone else was leaving the rubble filled stadium, but there was another matter to attend to. "Well, what happens with Tricis remains to be seen, but as for me, I've already lost my final bet." Rail explained, "You already agreed to the terms of the bet. Now, it's time for you to kill me." Rail wasn't a threat anymore without his team and his money, but he seemed almost insistent.

"I can't believe it, but it really looks like Rail is telling the truth!" Shining armor added, walking to Quill's side, but then she dampened the mood in her typical, tone-death way. "Indeed, you could use that to bring Tricis back," she said, "But do you think that's what she'd want? It seems to me that Tricis came here able and expecting to die. Would it not be wrong to change that?" She asked. "That's absurd," Shining Armor shot back. "Of course she would want to live, she trained Jade to win this, and her life is the very prize she won!" @dragon4111 As Draco left the arena, thinned by the crowd that was also leaving in slight trauma, Dai tugged on his tail, "Jade has a decision to make, maybe you could even help." She said, "I think Jade would want to come back, right? Years are so precious to you ponies since you get so few of them." She reasoned. "Then again, Tricis had already had more than most."

@dragon4111 @Dynamo Pad @Canteen_the_unstable @DwhitetheGamer @reader8363 Rail lifted his tie and held out a small glass vial in his hoof. There was a purple, nonsolid, crystalline structure in the vial, swirling within the glass and emitting a faint light. "We had a bet." He said, "High stakes as I recall." "What is that?" Quill asked, fascinated by the bizarre item. Rail tapped the glass, hearing the faint ring it made. "Of course I never expected to fail, but I ensured Tricis' body adequately protected, just in case." It certainly wasn't the first time Dai had been in that position, but it was her first time with a pony, and she wasn't expecting Draco to go for the kiss so suddenly, leaving her flustered. When Draco broke off from the kiss, she shook her head and rubbed her snout. "I... did owe you that." She said. "Draco? You're alive?" Shining Armor asked.

@Unicorncob @Dynamo Pad @dragon4111 @reader8363 @DwhitetheGamer @Canteen_the_unstable Sorry again. I've been moving my house these last two weeks while working long hours. I think I'll be able to make time tommorrow.

@Dynamo Pad @Canteen_the_unstable @reader8363 @dragon4111 Topaz watched the dust fade away in the wind, lowering her mic with an expression of shock. Rail walked up behind her when it became clear that she wasn't going to make a call. "It's alright," he said to her before raising the mic to pick up his voice. "The winner of the Dark Tournament is Team Lotus!" He lowered the mic and walked closer to Jade. "Those of you who've remained in the audience will remember this for years to come." He looked at Jade and Shining Armor. "And I believe we had an arrangement as well." Dai shook her head softly. "I don't understand how someone like you has lasted this long," she whispered back.

@Dynamo Pad @Canteen_the_unstable @reader8363 @dragon4111 Rokata's claws glowed with an intense purple aura as he used all his strength to root himself in the ground and stop Jade's charge. After being pushed nearly to the opposite wall between where Onyx and Jade's teammate's were sitting, the movement stopped. Rokata was able to root himself firmly in the ground. Rokata stood tall, grasping the orb Jade was encapsulated in and slowly contorting it as his arms squeezed around it. His primal screams drowned out any sounds made by the remaining onlookers. "Only a few more moments now," Rail said with a confident demeanor. What Rail said was clearly true. Selene stood herself up and took a step closer to the two fighters, looking puzzled. He's right, but how is this nothing like I saw it? Total victory. That's what you were always destined for. You would show me the depths of true absolution, fulfill my final wish. What is it you want from this? "I've never seen him give it his all before, not like this," Onyx said behind her, which made her realize what she was missing. So this isn't about finding a worthy opponent at all. You aren't even the teacher. Rokata squeezed the aura around Jade, compressing it until his claws locked around the other side. The blazing heat turned the skin and scales on the front of his body black, but the he never even closed his eyes, keeping them locked on Jade. "IT WASN'T ENOUGH!" He cried, then, with an enormous surge of power, purple lights lit the stadium in streamers emitting from his muscles. He clenched hard around Jade, holding the ball of energy steadfast until finally it erupted with a thunderous, deafening BOOM! The loud eruption was followed by silence. Rokata stood in the same spot with his arms wrapped around Jade, claws clenching her hooves after breaking through her defenses. He had her wide open for a killing blow. Seeing an end, Shining Armor hung his head. No one could have asked more of Jade but Rokata had stood through her best. "No..." "Always such a messy business. I'll never have a game of chance like this again," Rail commented. Onyx held his head and sighed. "Even I thought there was a chance she could have won. But he did give her plenty of warning-huh?" As he spoke, Selene collapsed next to him, her demonic eyes fading from her body. Always so cryptic, Rokata. Is there a reason I had to wait this long? Rokata's grip on Jade stayed firm, but there was no driving force behind it. It was like she was being held by a statue, rooted in place. His unnatural face was twisted into a smile. He looked like he might say something, but instead he stared at her as his body chipped away. Like dust, his charred skin was wisped away by the wind. Jade was soon freed as his claws were washed away and within seconds, there was nothing standing before her but a cloud of white and black dust.

"COME OOON!!!" Rokata cried again. His muscles strained as his wide, trunk-like arms wrapped around the ball of flaming magical energy. His singed skin cracked from the proximity of the violent flames. His feet dragged on the floor, claws crashing through rubble and dirt while leaving a deep fissure in the earth. "I don't understand him. If he wants a fair fight, why isn't he dodging?" Rail asked with no one to answer. Selene was hunched against one of the still standing sections of wall beneath a chipped blotch of paint. He has to be waiting for something. He brought out everything from her, but there's still no way he can lose. "Today is the day everything comes together. And you'll get what you're waiting for." She remembered him saying to her. He would never break his word. But what is he waiting for? Jade was encapsulated by a sphere of light, her own aura protecting her from Rokata's touch as she pushed him back. The white light surrounding Jade gained a hint of red as Rokata's arms squeezed the mass of energy, slowly crushing it like a balloon ready to pop. He let out a primal roar.