Literally Snails

((Sorrysorrysorry)) The treasure hunter crossed his dagger extensions as Jade's blade swung. There was a flash of sparks and blue light. The dagger on his right hoof broke off and flipped into the air where it disappeared into a fading cloud of blue energy. The treasure hunter grunted angrily and stabbed toward her chest with his remaining weapon. @Arid_Blitz @Dynamo Pad @reader8363 @DwhitetheGamer Topaz was still standing over Arid and Snow's motionless bodies. "Eight! ... Nine and ten!" She announced. "It's all over! The winner of this double match is team Lotus! But since it appears that Snow Frostflame has died, only one point will be awarded." Staff ponies in white uniforms made their way to the stage, carrying white gurneys to carry the bodies off on. Even though team Lotus had won, a portion of the audience was cheering. "Four more to go! Four more to go!" They cried.

ooooops. I kind of just forgot. I'm sorry!

"Five! ... Six! ... Seven!" Topaz counted, followed by boos from the crowd, fans ordering Virdi to get back up.

Topaz shielded her eyes from the sunlight reflecting against the monolith of ice. "It's... so beautiful." She said, seeing the two fighters encased in the white structure, blood trickling from both their bodies. Simultaneous death. The highest honor one fighter can give another. @Dynamo Pad @DwhitetheGamer @dragon4111 @reader8363 Snow's eyes shut as his light flickered away. The ice covering the stadium suddenly turned to water, washing out onto the grass in front of the ring. The ring was left covered in water, blood, and broken spikes from Virdi's attack. Snow, Virdi and Arid were all lying on the ground. "It looks like we have three fighters down thanks to a sudden explosive display by team Lotus! I'll start the countdown!" Topaz announced, stepping closer to the center of the ring where she could observe all three bodies. "One! ... Two! ... Three! ... Four!"

that's cool! I was just commenting on previous things.

Arid's sword might be useful in these fights. She was beginning to sense more dangerous presences in the cave, and something told her anything could happen in this bizarre trial. The treasure hunter crossed his legs and ran at her, dragging the blades against the stone floor and creating sparks that lit up the cave in bright flickers. Once he neared her, he lashed out with his bladed legs, aiming for her neck.

@Arid_Blitz @dragon4111 Topaz squealed and covered her head as the monolithic spikes shot up around her. She slowly opened her eyes and looked at the ruined stadium around her. "Virdi has turned the stadium into a pincushion!" She declared. "It looks like we might even have some friendly fire." Snow felt the ground around him shift and jumped instinctively, but one of the spikes was almost directly beneath him, and its jagged edge scraped against his belly, leaving a nasty laceration in his chest. He balanced himself on one of the protruding spikes, dripping blood and breathing heavily. His garment was soaked in crimson red. He clenched his side, feeling the warm blood soaking into his fur. You couldn't be more wrong about how safe that amulet makes you, Arid. Snow thought, looking at his opponent with hazy vision, remembering the first time his ice broke through and cut his hoof, and the time his sword managed to hit his ear. An attack with sufficient energy could propel past your defenses. And any mundane object can break your defenses as well. He looked down at the spikes covering the stadium floor. Those could be used to his advantage. The only problem was, in order to do what he had planned. He'd have to use a lot of life energy. All of it in fact. Well. It was fun while it lasted. @dragon4111 Snow took his blade and pressed it against the wound on his chest, cutting it even deeper and coating his sword in blood. The blood that held the only way to access his new powers. "Draco," He called out. He pulled the hat off his head and tossed it at him like a Frisby. It was the only clothing he had left that wasn't soaked in his blood. "Try not to mess this up okay? I'm trusting you to finish this now." He pulled his sword all the way across his chest, splattering blood on the spikes below and earning a pained expression on his face. Take out Arid. Weaken Verdi. Snow's blade was suddenly encased in a sleek coat of glowing ice, but that was only the start of it. An ice wall encased his entire lower body, originating at his wound. Before his hind legs were completely covered, he sprung at Arid with his blade poised forward, but while he was in midair, he tilted his blade down as if he wasn't aiming to hit Arid at all. A mound of ice materialized beneath his sword, splitting open seams in the already damaged ring. The ice rose beneath him in a uniform mass, uprooting several of the massive spikes and carrying them inside the gigantic glacier he was creating. The wall of pointed spikes encased in ice followed him like a tidal wave. At the same time, the original mass of ice he created when he started his charge rose up and suddenly blasted out at Virdi like a shotgun blast, shooting out shards of enchanted ice mixed with pieces of the spikes she created. He was propelled by the massive energy created by the attack like a bullet toward Arid, his sword pointed directly at his chest. Meanwhile, spikes encased in ice rose beneath them and shot out at Arid as well. The two clashed with an explosion of energy, shards of ice shooting out across the ring, but disintegrating when they got too far away from him. The blue ice became red as he poured out all of his life energy to ensure the assault would be at its maximum effectiveness. He could only hope to feel the sensation of his blade sinking into flesh because his consciousness was already fading. He'd given too much up.

@dragon4111 I will agree with Arid that you have been avoiding too much damage. Rp fights are more fun if you get hurt a little, trust me. You're still probably gonna win, but it's more fun if you struggle, and theres a point where it looks like you'll fail. =

I think we'll have to move past that for now. Too much new has happened. Sorry about that.

@dragon4111 please wait for my next post before your reply, alrighty?

My powers are all there. And I know I have enough to defeat Arid. I just can't reach it. If I can't reach it then it must be sealed inside of me. Snow dashed at Arid with his blade trailing behind. And if it's sealed inside of me then it must be in my blood! Snow swung at Arid with an upward strike, the bloody bandana on the hilt of his sword glowed purple while he attacked and the blade was coated again in a slick layer of enchanted ice. @Arid_Blitz @Dynamo Pad "Are you two having fun?" Shining Armor asked, walking behind Dynamo and glaring at Canteen. "Shouldn't you be somewhere else?" These two would probably not be a problem. She'd improved a lot since she fought them and even with the magic cuffs on, she was far stronger than them. She'd just need to find an efficient way to do it, being outnumbered. Her wing hooked the bounty hunter's leg and he stood up on his other three legs, trying to muscle through, but he was overpowered and sent back toward the treasure hunter. The treasure hunter instinctively held out his hooves and the bounty hunter was stabbed in the back by his bronze knives. The two crashed into the cave wall, but soon after, the bounty hunter disappeared in a flash of blue light, leaving behind no blood or trace.

If Jade couldn't remember their names, then their names didn't exist. These assailants were being conjured by only what remained in her memories. The treasure hunters knives struck against the cave floor, creating a flash of sparks. The bounty hunter redirected his momentum and lunged at Jade's leg, trying to get a grip on it.

No, I don't think that's right. Or that can't be all of it. It still feels like my magic is being sealed away. That must be why I can't even teleport! Whatever this new power is, my body is still locking my magic off to develop it. Load of good that's doing me now. I'd be much better off with my normal powers if I could at least use them! Damn it! The kick to the chin connected while Snow was still trying to recover from the pain his own magic had caused him. He was sent back a few feet but managed to recover on three legs. Blood trickled on the ring from his chin and Snow's eyes wandered down to the crimson puddle. Wait a second. Snow wiped the blood from his chin with his bandana and then wrapped the soaked bandana around the hilt of his blade.

There was something different about the ice surrounding Snow's blade. It was hard as steel and glowed with a faint blue shimmer. This ice was imbued with magic, created directly from his essence. Finally! The new ability Tricis said I was creating! Just in time. The Tonfa wasn't enough to block the swing, but it did slow his momentum. Snow closed his eyes and concentrated, then the ice surrounding his sword suddenly shot out in broken shards like a blue shotgun spray. "Eyes up people! It looks like Snow has a new move! let's hope it's as deadly as it is pretty!" Topaz announced. Snow pulled his blade back, now feeling renewed confidence. Before he even surveyed the damage of his last attack, he tried to coat his sword in a new layer of the enchanted ice. His blade was slowly coated in a new layer, starting at the hilt, but it only traveled halfway down before the ice stopped growing and suddenly shattered. Snow cried out in pain and hunched down as a shockwave of agony traveled through his body. What the hell is wrong with me? "Yes, and it seems like team Crimos just made the mistake of using a wind attack against an aeromancer. Look out, everypony. This could get painful!" Topaz commented.

The earth pony took a step forward, always keeping his glowing blue eyes on Jade. His voice echoed in the cave. "You proved yourself against us with luck on your side." *Click!* *Clank!* The bounty hunter boomed, "You were never worthy to have Tricis' training! You'll never leave this cave!" He charged at her with his right hoof ready to strike. From behind, another assailant attacked. The purple earth pony treasure hunter, the second enemy she fought to win Tricis' approval. He had two metallic devices strapped to his hooves that extended into bronze knives that expanded when he struck. His eyes too were glowing bright blue.

gotcha

@Unicorncob Wooooow, the site just censored my last post for racist language because it had the word chi +nk in it, but I was using it as a sound effect.

Snow wasn't too seriously injured by the combinations of strikes. He'd lost his powers but not his physical conditioning. Still, it looked quite painful having his head slammed into the tiled ground and being flung out of the ring. He concentrated on stopping himself with an ice wall. No use. Instead he had to sink his blade into the ring to keep himself from being outed. "That was an impressive save by Snow, but also an early beating," Topaz announced. "Frostflame looks battered and bloodied already!" As the crowds cheered, snow concentrated on his foe. Arid had already shifted his concentration to Draco. An opportunity. He curved his blade in the concrete hold and used it to launch himself forward for extra speed, poising it to swing at Arid's back. As the unicorn swung his blade, the sword was coated in a layer of magical ice. *Click* *Click* Jade heard metallic noises coming from the shadows behind them. Something about the sound was familiar, but the memory was distant. Just then, a large green Earth pony stepped into the candlelight from the opposite direction of the metal sounds. This was someone she recognized. It was that bounty hunter she fought years ago, one of the other ponies who competed for Tricis training. He looked exactly the same as the day ahe fought him, except his eyes were solid blue, lacking pupils or iris. Could she even remember his name?

Jade's vision split almost instantly. Tricis walked up to her and it looked like there were two of her. Her voice echoed in her head. The sound of her voice sounded hollow like it wasn't really there. "Now Now lay lay down down." Jade didn't realize when it happened, but she was laying on the cold stone floor of the cave. The chill touch of the stone was dull and it felt like the wet rock was pressing all over her body. Tricis laid her hooves on her back but she didn't feel it. There was a dull blue light reflecting off the walls around her, gradually intensifying until she was blinded by the light. Her ears picked up a dull ringing sound, followed by Tricis' voice again, even more distant than before. "Be Be strong strong." . . . She woke on the stone floor of the cave. Her vision and hearing recovered. Tricis was nowhere to be seen and the candle lighting the cave was still flickering in an orange glow.

Snow had his eyes on Virdi, ready to attack her while she was distracted. First he'd need to defend against Arid. He saw Arid disappear and guessed he'd be attacking from behind. That's what he would do. Snow tried to blink forward to gain back some distance, but his horn didn't do as he commanded. No use. Still can't teleport. At the last second, he tried to whirl around to face his opponent, but it wasn't quick enough. This would have been trivial if he still had his powers, but since they were locked away, the strike connected with his back.

. 3.

@dragon4111 Snow eyed Draco and then looked back at Virdi as she walked to the ring. Arid was quick to offer a two on two fight and he already knew exactly what he wanted. Draco was injured and he still had his powers locked away. Arid and Virdi would work perfectly together and Snow and Draco were quite the opposite. This was either a great way to get both of them killed, or the only way either of them would survive. Snow grabbed his sword's hilt in his mouth and unsheathed it slowly, whipping the serrated blade to an offensive pose. "If that's not an acceptance of Arid's invite, I don't know what is!" Topaz announced, "The first fight of the first matchup of this year's semi finals: Snow and Draco versus Arid and Virdi!" She raised her front left leg. "Fighters, ready? Begin!"

@Arid_Blitz Snow reached out with his sword, still in its sheath, and tapped Draco on the shoulder without saying anything. He jumped onto the ring in front of him and stood across from Arid. "You can get the next one, Draco. I wont be long." Topaz stared at Snow and Draco, then back to Arid. "There... seems to be some confusion here, but I'm sure things will be worked out." Tricis nodded while shuffling through her pack. "Obviously, the process is very dangerous. I have a potion that will help prepare your body for the joining." She lifted out a red vial tied in brown twine with a black wax stamp. She floated it toward Jade. "Take this and wake up successful... if you wake up at all."

@dragon4111 I may have snow interrupt you. I'm discussing some last minute things with Arid. Stay posted.

Topaz nodded and turned around to the crowd. Dynamo was still on the ring for the time being. "This is yet another first, ponies. It looks like Arid Blitz, the team owner turned team captain, is going to be the first to challenge Team Lotus. Is he out to prove he's more than a simple alternate?" Snow Frostflame uncurled his leg and the ice crystals on it melted into water vapor. The only thing he could think to do now to get his abilities back was a trial by fire.