Literally Snails

Why do I keep getting mentioned in posts about the Lich? None of my characters are near there.

She's not going to pull this off on her own is she? XD

she'd better. Tricis isn't going to train a slacker

Jade had to fight the urge to laugh at Mni's show of utter rage. Now that he was unfocused, she could read him like a book.

 

"You love using ponies' moves against them," she taunted as he neared, "let's see how you like it!"

 

She leaped up in attempt to dodge his swing, and if it worked, she could roundhouse kick him in the back of the head, using her wings to keep her elevated.

Mni jolted a bit as the back of his head was struck with the mare's hoof. It felt like she had a new power behind her attacks even though they should have been weaker.

 

Turning quickly, Mni began to make wild swings at Jade as he backed up further and further.

Mni started teeming with anger, shaking with uncontrollable rage at his humiliation. "You... STUPID CHILD!" He screamed, eyes unevenly dilated. His aura became like an unpredictable green fire all around him rather than an even layer.

 

He leapt at her with ferocity, swinging his energy blade at her joints with intent to dismantle her.

 

Jade smirked as her strike hit home, causing Mni to shoot backwards into the air. He landed in front of her, looking no less than horrified that she had been able to even duck his attack, let alone counter.

 

Her smirk grew at the thought. "It seems, with all of your shapeshifting, that you'll still just be nothing more than a cheap knockoff, demon."

 

She rose her head, standing much straighter than she had been just moments before. Her strength was somehow, but indeed, returning!

Jade snarled quietly at Mni's taunting, but at the same time, she could swear the strain in her body was getting better. Or were her muscles simply numbing up from the pressure?

 

...no, she could feel some form of energy returning to her. Standing up was becoming much less of a chore, and she could manage a fleeter step.

 

Mni sped toward her with a scalpel-like energy sword, but she was more ready for it than moments before. She attempted to duck down just moments before the potential impact and to drive her hoof just below his ribcage.

 

You want to use Tricis's moves against her? Let's see how you like it.

Mni's eyes widened with confusion after Jade managed to duck, showing vulnerability for the first time. He had been so focused on her head and so sure that Jade wouldn't be able to move that her sudden duck made it seem like she'd.managed to disappear from thin air.

 

As Mni swing his blade at thin air, he felt a sharp, hard pain in his lower chest, far harder than any of Jade's previous strikes. Instinctively, he flapped his wings backwards to slightly decrease the internal damage from the kick, making him fly into the air for a brief moment before landing in a huttled over position. He slowly looked over at Jade while huffing to regain his breath, a look of disbelief in his eyes.

 

"B-but the Mark of Death..."

 

@@Literally Snails,

All that would answer Snowstorm would be a very eerie plane of ambient forest noises. Frogs, crickets, birds, and even squirrels could all be heard amongst the soft, and seemingly innocent viewpoint of the forest. Sederia's plan was beginning to take effect. Suddenly, Snowstorm would smell a very toxic substance...

Snowstorm's nose wrinkled up as he smelled the toxic stench. Was it some hind of gas? Assuming this might be the case, he held his breath for as long as he could while searching with his eyes for the source of the smell.

Jade eventually could barely move from the sheer weight of her muscles - it was as if Mni's strikes had been sucking the energy right out of her.

 

She flinched as his blood gushed onto her, and watched as it congealed into black symbols. Within moments, she felt ready to collapse onto the floor.

 

Mark of Death... no, I can't let this beat me...

 

She could already imagine it - Mni gaining Tricis's knowledge, and then taking her life and using her body for who knows what kind of evil. Not to mention her own body was at stake.

 

She could already hear Master Xiang's voice in her head, reprimanding her for even looking ready to give up. This wasn't how he trained her.

 

She was too strong to be beaten like this.

 

She took a laboured step forward, panting heavily and her vision blurring in and out of focus. It felt like Tartarus just standing up, but she had to prove she wasn't weak.

 

She got closer and closer to Mni, and even attempted to raise her hoof for a strike.

Mni responded by just taking one step backward to avoid the pathetic swing. "Ha ha ha!" He began to laugh before lifting his snout to the sky and letting out a hearty jeer. "HA HA HAHA! Look, Master Tricis! A comedian thought she could receive your training! Look at her impression of a shriveled old mare! Not as good as yours, I'm afraid!" Mni taunted, insulting both Jade and Tricis.

 

"Master, please end this fight!" Feather begged to Tricis. "Mni has already won. There's no reason she has to die!"

 

Tricis calmly extinguished her cigarette and gave Feather a passing glance. "Mni hasn't won this fight, boy. Right now, he's losing." She said, shocking feather.

 

"But what do you mean?"

 

"Take a closer look at both fighters. What do you really see?" Tricis instructed. When Feather looked back at the fighters, he saw how large Jades aura had become, swirling with power from her emotions and turmoil.

 

"The dimwit doesn't know how to unlock her potential, so Mni accidentally did it for her. That mark of death isn't going to hold her back for long."

 

Mni focused his energy into a scalpel-like energy blade at the tip of his hoof as he charged at Jade, poised to swing at her neck. "I hope you aren't too attached to your head! Ha ha!"

@@Literally Snails,

The trail would lead deeper and deeper into the forest. It would only get darker, scarier, and damper as time went on. The trail itself that was leading him there in the first place was even becoming more and more scarce now. It would be long, however, before he would be fully within the Woods...

After the trail actually began getting difficult to follow, snowstorm slowly stopped, his ears still twitching around like a bugs antenae. He puckered his lips and let out a sharp, loud whistle into the trees, startling a few birds. "Far enough, yet?" He called out, obviously expecting to be heard. "I don't expect you're just doing this to be cute, are you?"

Welp... RIP Jade XD

Rest in RIP (maybe o0o)

@@J.R.,

Once the trail started to get more sparse, Snowstorm's ears perked up and twitched as he listened for obvious signs of an ambush or the sound of Sederia's voice. Still, he followed the trail. 

 

 

 

@@Unicorncob, (He's still using Ember's body, but I'm using masculine pronouns from now on.)

Mni hopped back after landing his fourth hit, pushing backwards with his crimson wings to create plenty of distance. He'd managed to make one on each of Jade's front legs, one on her lower chest, and one to the neck. The muscle soreness only seemed like a minor issue at first, but "Ember" started to giggle as Jade's muscles started to tense up and cramp horribly, eventually feeling like unmoving stone!

 

"You know, I gave myself a challenge." Mni said, no longer speaking with Ember's feminine voice. "I wanted to see if I could beat you without having to use my true form." He bragged. The tip of his right hoof started to glow as he did something strange. He pressed his hoof to his own wrist and sliced it carelessly. Hot, red blood began to gush out at an alarming rate. "This fight is already over. Observe." He said before flinging his leg forward, sloshing a blanket of blood onto Jade while her muscles were too rigid and weak to dodge. The blood started to congeal at the spots where she'd been stricken, creating four, identical, red runes on her chest, front legs, and neck.

 

The runes glowed brightly before becoming opaque black symbols. It felt like all the strength in Jade's muscles was being taken away, making her feel labored just to remain standing.

 

As Mni finished wrapping up his self-inflicted wound, he gave a hearty laugh and explained, "Ember strider's dirty little trick: The Mark of Death!"

@@Literally Snails,​If the Pegasus looked around, he would find a small trail of the same plants from before that he found on the ground earlier. They would all be spaced out about 5 feet from each other until they would stop near the Arena's exit towards the outermost portions of the city.

At this, Cumulusnwas convinced the trail was left on purpose for him to follow. But all that he knew was that she wanted him to follow and not why. The five foot spacing behind the plants made the trail rather obvious and it was possible others may follow as well. He convinced himself that she likely wanted to take him up on his offer.

 

He discreetly stuck out a long, thin tongue to taste the blood inside his wound to test for obvious poison first. Although he didn't know the taste of poison, he knew the taste of his own purple blood well and would notice if there was an obvious additive. Afterward, he stood tall and casually followed the trail.

Jade couldn't help but feel the smallest amusement at Mni's comment. "I suppose that makes sense that you both hate me equally... after all, you fight just as well as each other." She smirked.

 

She quickly got into a defensive position as 'Ember' sped toward her, and blocked as many strikes as she could while trying to get some of her own in.

 

A close ranged winged fighter, just like me... but she never had Master Xiang's teachings on her side. Neither does he.

Mni was aiming for the "soft spots" of Jades body: the chest bellow the rib cage, neck, kidneys, large muscles, anything that wasn't protected by bone. As Ember, his strikes were very particular about the way they damaged tissue. The punches weren't especially hard when they landed, but they created violent shockwaves through the flesh that tore muscle tissue and could rupture organs on the inside. One good strike to a leg would cause enough internal damage to the muscle tissue to make Jade start limping.

_snip_

have you gotten my private messages? .3.

Raze couldn't help but overhear the mare's pompous complaint and proceeded to head back inside.

"Yeah?" he called out to the crystal pony, adjusting his katana. "Well, then what the hell do you think you're doing here? Did you lose your way to the Miss Equestria competition?" he said in a somewhat mocking tone.

  

@@Literally Snails  @@Fractured  @

 

Being before the crowd earlier had energized the noble.  Confused as they were, the attention and applause satisfied her needs.  She would have liked more, but good deeds spread like molasses.  A donation here, a financing there, sprinkle on a few subsidies, and she would own this town.  Contrary to popular belief, money really did buy everything, and Carnelian had plenty to spare.

 

Finally, the group arrived at the lobby.  The baroness took a long time looking about at her surroundings and scoffed.  So spartan, so dreary.  Where was all the pomp and circumstance of glorious competition?  Perhaps if she donated to add a few banners and fountains, she'd be able to convince the proprietors to name this building after her, or maybe just a room.  A ballroom, for sure.  With plenty plenty of crystal.

 

 

"Well this is certainly pitiful.  Surely the proprietors could have spared some expense towards frivolity.  Instead, I'm left with the impression of solemnity and boredom."

Topaz continued on from the loby to the arena in relative silence. As the referee, she was going into the empty stadium before the fight began to get set up and test equipment. Her zeal from earlier was gone as certain aspects of Carnelian's personality had reminded her of her best friend's father, Big Shot, and the horrible thing that her own father had done.

 

She still had to retain her professional demeanor, however. She may not have been a fighter, but she was a performer. Even though fans never went to the arena to see the referees, she was relatively well known among fans of the sport. She also wasn't without controversy. The negative reputation of the Dark Tournament combined with rumors about her mental health had made it difficult to land this job.

@@Fractured @@Literally Snails

 is about time."  Turning towards the announcer, she gave warmer smile.  "Come along, dear.  Destiny awaits!"  Without waiting for further comment, off she trotted towards the arena.

 

@Literally Snails, 

"Ummm... yes. I can do that, too. Ma'am." Bowing once, more out of embarrassment than respect or obligation, the guard quickly nodded to the mare in front of him. Only taking an extra second to adjust his armor, he set off at a followable pace, heading dead straight for the arena.

Topaz nodded her head happily and followed the guard to the arena while she configured the settings on her mic. She was ready to get right into things as soon as the situation allowed, she felt butterflies in her stomach as the thrill of going on stage again overwhelmed her.

Jade smirked as she kicked the orb out of Mni's hoof, and was wary as the smoke coated him again. However, the red hoof shooting out caught her off guard, and she was knocked back, saving herself with a somersault onto her hooves.

 

She narrowed her eyes as Ember Strider - or at least, Mni becoming her - walked out of the smoke.

 

"Funny," she panted, stretching her hooves and neck, "I could say the same thing about your shapeshifting."

"Now that I can see I inside of Ember Striders head, I know she hated you just as much as I do." Mni said as "she" tapped the side of "her" temple. A red aura started to swirl around Mni as he prepared to use Ember Strider's fighting technique. "I can see other things about her too!" Mni said, eyes dilated and psychotic. "Like where her family lives! Maybe I'll pay your family a visit after I steal your body!" She threatened as she lunged forward, gliding through the air without the aid of her wings.

 

Feather started to evaluate what Embers fighting style was. Her Aura is one of the strongest I've ever seen, but it doesn't extend far from her body. Clearly built for close range attacks with little reach.

She's not Robo Twilight though. It's only looks wise. The personality and what she can do is entirely different.

then why take the likeness of a character? Why not... anything else?

Then again--OP OCs are allowed as clearly stated in the rules, only against other OP OCs.

And to be fair, Tricis is technically OP, its just that she's going to die in a few months at the most and doesn't fight. My problem with robo twilight is that it's a robo twilight .3.

@@J.R., 

 

Bronislav recommended that I throw my OC into the mix

 

https://mlpforums.com/page/roleplay-characters/_/luster-r9582

robo twilight .3.

@@Unicorncob, Mni had already started inhaling the smoke before the kick connected, making the orb fly out of his hoof and drop into a bog. Mni covered his mouth as the gas still swelled around him and shrouded his transformation, but without the orb, he wouldn't be able to transform again.

 

When the smoke began to clear, a crimson red hoof extended to strike jade in the chest. Out flew a very red pegasus, Ember Strider. She landed across from jade and started to pop her neck.

 

"The kicks are getting old, Jade." She said. "Maybe if I get you a little closer to death you can show me that pretty sword of yours." She added as she took a few steps toward Jade. The orb had likely settled at the bottom of the murky bog by then.

@@Fractured, 

 

Topaz got a bit closer to the guard, pressing a hoof to his collar piece and wagging her over-poofed tail. "Oh, and can you escort me to where I need to be, too? I'd like to make sure she's the one I ref. Pretty please?" she added with a sultry wink. Her referee badge was in clear view.

@@J.R., I hope youre running a clever gambit with this flower thing. I'm assuming you expected me to follow o3o

@@J.R., He, um... he dropped the cactus leaf in the bar... .3.

The flower was nothing more than a wilting cactus flower. As he picked it, the pricklers from the small bit of cactus that it grew from would stick into his hoof and hurt. Apparently, this was some kind of trick. Or was it a threat? Who knows. That's all there was to it.

Snowstorm dropped the flower after inspecting the thorn sticking into his hoof. He stomped on it nonchalantly afterwards as he inspected the single drop of blood that came from the small wound. His ears began to twitch, looking for signs of the mare, but she was outside of the range of his enhanced hearing. He slowly, casually exited the bar and looked around to see for signs of which direction she'd gone. Imps were excellent trackers in the wild, and though he was far removed from his roots, he possessed many of the same skills. On a hunch, he looked around with his eyes for signs of plant life emanating magical energy.

 

 

Jade continued to parry and weave by Mni's slashes, and her repeating blocks helped her catch on to his pattern.

 

He's making it look random to put me off, but there is a rhythm. Nice try.

 

She played along for a bit longer, playing oblivious to get him all cocky, and as soon as she front an opening, she locked blades with him and used the momentum for a roundhouse kick toward the back of his head.

The hoof landed on the back of his head, flattening down part of his hair before the earth pony lost his balance and rolled onto the ground. He managed to continue the roll to land back on his hooves, but he quickly reached into his pocket to take out the orb once again.

@@Literally Snails,

Sederia had by now, already left the Pegasus behind. It was as if she was never there in the first place. The only thing left was a small flower on the ground outside of the bar that wasn't there before. Maybe it was suspicious....maybe not. Only thing that was certain, was that she had apparently lost interest in him...

Snowstorm bent down and picked up the flower in one hoof, holding it up to the dim light so he could identify it.

 

 

Jade was ready the moment Mni leaped into action. His swings with that scythe were more eccentric and harder to dodge. Definitely more focused this time around.

 

She deflected as much of his swings as she could with her sword, and used her legs and wings to dodge and float around most of his attacks, though she would get frequently nicked and scratched.

With each parry, Jade would see that the sickle blade was as hard as steel, but as the fighting went on, a pattern emerged from his attacks. It was interesting the way his attack formula was disguised to look random. Right hook, right hook, left hook, repeat, simple enough. However, the slices he used changed every four strikes instead of three. Upper cut, upper cut, lower cut, lower cut. So the pattern appeared to be a random string: Right upper cut, right upper cut, left lower cut, right lower cut, right upper cut, left upper cut, etc.

Sorry but...kinda had to sleep and stuff...

 

​What was it that was needed?

 

Ok, so I need to hear from D&T himself for confirmation.

this was way before you went to sleep. I mentioned you in a post

There was a crowd, here?  When did they show up?  How did she not notice?  Immediately, Carnelian turned her attention to them, smiling broadly and waving towards her audience.

 

 

"Beautiful citizens of Bangcolt, it is my honor to come to your great city to compete in these challenges!  It is my intention, no matter whether I win or lose, to keep in mind the culture that made this possible!  As such, I announce my motion to donate five million bits to Bangcolt's charity!"

 

Exactly what charity that was, Carnelian hadn't the darndest clue.  Tax write-offs and PR were the name of her game, but also intimidation.  What could be said of her after willingly dropping millions of bits without batting an eyelash?

 "A philanthropist and a fighter! What isn't this gal?" Topaz declared after the applause from the confused crowd dissapated. There were murmurs among the crowd about whether or not this interview was an official event or just some strange spontaneity.

 

Jade swallowed as she realised her sword was not glowing as it had been before. How had she gotten it to work before?!

 

She curled her lip at Mni's taunt, and covered her eyes as smoke engulfed the demon... to reveal a short earth pony. She had to admit, she didn't see that coming.

 

He's making fun of me. I'll show him...

 

She got into a battle position on all four hooves, the edge of her sword pointed at the smaller stallion as she awaited his move.

Mni leapt into action, taking initiative by swinging left and right with his strange leg blade. It seemed he now had a completely different fighting style than when he was Cumulus. This body favored fighting with exaggerated, sweeping motions in an unpredictable way that was difficult to dodge.

Jade's heart skipped a beat as she realised her kick had done next to nothing to Mni, and her inner dread only escalated as her leg was grabbed in his enormous hoof.

 

The air was beaten out of her with each blow, before she was tossed to the floor with some rough rolls before an abrupt stop.

 

"Urgh..." she managed to force herself up onto her hooves, and shook her head. She didn't want to admit it, but he was right - she needed her sword.

 

Her wing flexed to her back and curled around the brunt of her katana, unsheathing it and twirling it through her articulate feathertips before pointing the edge of the blade toward Mni.

Jade's worries would be worsened after she drew her sword to see a very mundane and non-glowing katana. How bad she made it work before?

 

Mni chose to increase her frustration with a taunt. "Can't quite get your powers to work, huh?" He said with a jaunty laugh. "Well then, let me try on something more your size."

 

He pulled the Orb of Mni out of its pouch again and started to inhale more fumes before the smoke surrounded him again. The smoke disappated to reveal a shorter, grey earth pony with a heavy looking green trench coat. The pony had slightly squinted eyes and a short black main that stood straight up on his head. He spoke with a gravely, accented voice.

 

"Let's see if you can even use that sword!" He said as he extended his right front leg to the side. A sickle blade grew out of his foreleg in one swift motion, the same color as his coat, but as hard as steel.

@@Literally Snails

 

The crystal baroness guffawed and settled back.  Flashing an enigmatic grin, she tossed her mane over her other shoulder.

 

 

"Why should I let you know what I'm capable of?  If you believe my wealth is my one and only power, then you are free to join the thousands of ponies who believe that, as well.  My abilities will be revealed in the arena, but I will leave you with this one hint: there will be blood."

Topaz twirled around over three hundred sixty degrees so that she was no longer facing her interviewee, instead she was facing a small crowd of mostly confused ponies that had gathered around. "IIIIIIIIIIIIIII LOVE IT!" She declared as her bushy red tail swayed side to side happily. "You heard it here, folks! We're gonna see some blood!" She announced, followed by some very hesitant and confused claps.