Literally Snails

The two captains stopped across from each other with Topaz in the center, staring over her to look in one another's eyes. Rokata finally broke through the silence, saying, "We'll fight one on one. Best of three wins. That means two of your teammates will need to be strong enough to win before you can face me. I will not win this tournament without fighting you."

@Unicorncob @Dynamo Pad @reader8363 @dragon4111 @DwhitetheGamer @Arid_Blitz Topaz enthusiastically announced, "Now let me introduce once more the team you all know and love... the unchanging, the unbelievable, the unbeatable, Team Rokata!" The doors across from team Lotus opened, and silhouetted against the back of the interior light of the arena, they saw team Rokata. It may have occurred to them that this was only the second time they saw all five members of Team Rokata assembled together. The last time they saw them like this was on the second day of the tournament after they fought against Tatterhoof's team. That time they were at a distance, and it seemed like they gathered to intimidate Jade. Every fight Team Rokata participated in so far, they only used a partial team, but it seemed like Team Lotus was the only opponent they bothered to gather for. Perhaps they even had some respect for them. This was different from the last time they were together. The last time Team Rokata gathered, there was an ominous tension in the air, but it was also mysterious. There was something hidden away tin that tense sensation hanging in the air. But this time they could feel it. Team Rokata wasn't hiding their strength any more. The five fighters approached the ring with Rail walking in behind them. They could hear the sounds of Onyx's heavy hoofsteps while the opponents approached, the constant roar of the crowd, but those sounds where dulled when compared to the overpowering sense they got from being in the presence of Rokata's crew. The crowd didnt seem bothered by it, but for those with keen magical awareness, they felt like there was a physical weight pulling down on his heart. Cumulus broke into a sweat a tensed his hooves on the edge of his seat. Tatterhoof stared at him and asked, "Are you alright?" "How didnt we feel it before? They've been here this whole time hiding right under out bloody noses!" He takes in a deep breath almost dry heaving as he bends down and rests his head in his hooves. "Now I get it. We're the lucky ones! We're lucky that Lotus gave us what for in the early rounds. How the hell couldn't I feel it before?" "As is customary, the team captains will now enter the ring and agree on the terms for the match!" Topaz said. Rokata stepped up on the ring.

@Dynamo Pad @dragon4111 @reader8363 @DwhitetheGamer @Arid_Blitz The clock ticked down, fast approaching the deadline for the fight. All of team Lotus approached the mechanical double doors leading to the arena grounds when the deadline approached. They'd been in this waiting area before, but it felt different. They knew now what to expect from the nature of these fights, and in a way, they knew more about their opponents than ever before, but the things they didn't know now carried a greater weight than before. "Five days of non-stop action!" Topaz announced over the loudspeakers, "Sixteen teams to two! Eighty fighters to ten! Fourty one fatalities and it's not over yet. We still need one champion and there's plenty of bloosdhed to go!" Topaz spun around in the ring and gestured to the double doors on her right. "We'll begin by introducing the newcomers. You've grown to know them so well over the week, a team that always suprises and never disappoints, it's the out-of-nowhere team Lotus!" The mechanical doors swung open. Team lotus had experienced this before, but this time, the sudden rush of light they expected didn't come. It was a cloudy, overcast day, and the outdoors was as dark and gloomy as the interior of the arena. Most of the crowd broke into a fit of boos. A few pieces of trash were hurled while they took their places at the ring side, but there were some ponies cheering for them. Mostly betters who had staked a fair amount of money on them, but they also had some unlikely fans in the area of the stands where the remainders of teams Lockdown, Tatterhoof and Crimos were sitting. "Come on... You've got this..." Cumulus muttered, tensing his hooves. Ray blew on a tiny trumpet that made enough noise Lotus' team to hear. The doors on the others side of the arena were still closed, but they could feel something beyond it. There was something inside each of the fighters on team Lotus that yearned to know what was behind those doors, an itch to see them opened. A whole week of brutalities, cheats, deaths, and all of it was mastermined by the titanic fighters that were standing somehere behind those doors. "And now are you ready... for the home team?" Topaz asked, purposefully keeping up the suspence. The crowd began to cheer. "Ro-Ka-Ta! Ro-Ka-Ta!"

@dragon4111 @Dynamo Pad @dragon4111 @DwhitetheGamer @reader8363 With the whole team gathered, Shining Armor lead them to their locker room in the restricted section of the arena grounds. The room had six tall lockers that none of them had ever had a reason to use and a metal table in the center with a bench under the window. There was also a thick tension in the air. Past the insulated walls, they could hear the faint sound of cheering from the gathering crowds and Topaz's voice over the loudspeakers. @Arid_Blitz Dai, Ray, Tatterhoof, and Cumulus all sat in a row in one of the middle columns of the arena stands, surrounded on all sides by fans who occassionally looked at them. There were seats on Cumulus' side for team Crimos to sit at. "Isn't that pegasus supposed to be in prison?" One mare murmored. There was still time before the finals started, but nearly every seat in the arena was already filled. "Welcome back, fans!" the referree announced. "Can you feel it yet? This just isn't like any other fight we've seen! The teams haven't even entered the ring yet, and all our seats are already filled, but the most surprising part is who's fighting! After five days of absolutely insane fighting, The underdog Team Lotus has not only made it to the finals, but according to the betting odd's they're actually favored to win six to five!" The majority of the arena errupted in boos at that news, and Topaz responded by saying, "Yes, but it seems like the less afluent fans don't share that sentiment. The opinion polls from the common fan are still firmly in favor of Rokata."

@Unicorncob @Arid_Blitz @reader8363 @dragon4111 @DwhitetheGamer @Dynamo Pad Shining Armor stepped up to the arena entrance with his assitant Quill at his side. He saw the whole team gathered there, except for Copper, who still hadn't shown. "I hope you all slept well," he said in a matter-of-fact tone, "I'm going to be joining you all at the ring-side like I did with the semi-finals. I don't see any point in standing up in a booth for something this important. Do any of you know where Copper is?"

"Geez, it's like all the losers want to come in at once!" The guard complained, I already told these guys so I'll tell you. No tickets means no seats!" The guard stepped back when he saw the dagger fly, bit he didn't react until a second after it already landed. "Hey! What's the big-" He stopped when he saw Draco approach. "Hey, you're competing today..." He looked visibly nervous when Draco started threatening him. "Hey, what do you want with these guys anyway? - I mean it doesn't matter! We were just messing around! Of course anyone who competed in the tournament has a seat in the finals! Eheh..." The guard stepped aside allowing everyone to go through. Dai smiled at Draco when she walked past and giggled at his outfit. "Good look for you." She muttered before entering the arena with her team. @reader8363 The lounge of the hotel was empty since everyone was heading to the arena.

@DwhitetheGamer @dragon4111 @reader8363 Fans started to fill the ring even though it was hours before the fight was scheduled to begin. Topaz walked through the inner ring, preparing for her last show. @Unicorncob @Dynamo Pad @Arid_Blitz Near where Dynamo and Jade had exited the Cumulus from team Lockdown, and Tattehoof, Dai and Ray from Tatterhoof's Traveling Circus were outside of the arena stadium near one of the side entrances. The former Team Lotus rivals seemed to be having trouble getting into the arena as other early fans walked in, because Cumulus and Tatterhoof were flanking a massive earth pony security guard who didn't seem amused by them in the slightest. "I told ya already, we're contestants in this tournament, now let us inside before I lose my temper!" Cumulus warned. The guard had a club hooked in the fetlock of his right front hoof, resting over his shoulder. He switched the shoulder that the club was resting on by swinging it, causing Cumulus and Tatterhoof to back away. "Well you're not in the tournament any more!" The guard retorted. "No one gets in here without a ticket! There's no seats for you, so why don't you just take your-" He stopped and looked past Tatterhoof's shoulder at Dai, tapping the club on his shoulder. "Hmmm, well, maybe we can work something out with her, huh?" Daisquinted at the guard and angrilly puffed out her cheeks while he looked over Tatterhoof. "Eh, the rest of you should just go."

@Unicorncob @Dynamo Pad @DwhitetheGamer @Arid_Blitz @reader8363 @dragon4111 When Jade went to check on her master, she found her peaceful and lifeless in her bed. Copper had not lied about what he saw. With a dead teammate and trainer, the steaks were now raised to a point that none of the remaining members of team Lotus could back out. In less than a week, they'd fought through some of the strongest and most notorious fighters Equestria had to offer, all to appease a system they had no investment in, but now, as the final day of the tournament dawns, they have a new purpose as they fight their strongest opponents yet, survival, honor, and revenge. The alarm in team Lotus' hotel room went off at 6AM on the dot, just as the sun rose over the horizon. Their match would begin in four hours. Before the first match could begin, Rail was sitting at his head table in the tournament committee board room, surrounded by four board members who were clearly distressed. Rail had just told them about the same plan he revealed to Dynamo the day before. Their reactions weren't as calm as his. "You what!?" an elderly donkey cried, yelling so close to Rail that he had to tilt his head to protect his ears. "All that money and you want to create some kind of appocalypse?" "You must be screwing with us!" Another board member, the only female, an elderly pegasus mare, said. "I thought you might react poorly," Rail commented. Rokata stepped into the board room, but the others hardly noticed. "You've been playing us this whole time!" An earth pony with a southern accent yelled. "You're the one who insisted on the picks for team Lotus. You musta been helping them along this whole time! Makin' folks like us think they were winning so we'd bet on them in the finals instead of Rokata!" The board members circled around him, and Rail took a sip of his drink before opening his eyes and answering, "Jade and her team made it this far on their own. You have no love for the sport, so I understand why you'd think I rigged the game, but that just wouldn't do. I haven't done a thing to help them." Rail looked up at the stallion directly in front of him, making direct eye contact. "The only thing I did was kill Big Shot." "What!?" He cried. The donkey started backing away, only to run into Rokata. "Oh, and cheap shot as well." "Sorry to inform you so late." Rail used a handkerchief to shield himself from the light splatters of blood that followed as Rokata killed every member of the tournament committee. One more loose end taken care of. "If any of you have placed any bets. I'm more than happy to still collect."

@Unicorncob @Dynamo Pad Shining Armor had remained mostly silent while Dynamo revealed the details of Frostflame's death. He almost felt complacent in it the same way Dynamo did, because he knew what was happening and chose not to stop it. This whole tournament seemed like it was designed to cause them pain. When Dynamo finally ended his speech in a defated posture, Shining Armor put a hoof on his shoulder and said, "There's no one here, or anywhere, who doesn't carry pain with them, Dynamo. And if you ever find a pony like that, they would have a shallow soul." @Arid_Blitz @reader8363 @dragon4111 @DwhitetheGamer He took his hoof off Dynamo's shoulder and addressed the whole room. "You've all grown a lot this week. You've won battles that no one expected you to win. But you'll have to fight one more, and you'll never trully know you're ready until you get in the ring. Train more if you think you can, but the finals start in about twelve hours, and you'll all need rest." Across the tree line from team Lotus' hotel room, the members of team Rokata and their owner Rail were together in a private suite overlooking the arena. Rail and Rokata were sitting in opposite chairs next to the window where droplets of rain were beginning to trickle down. Selene was sat closest to the door with her legs crossed over her torso, still draped in her robe. Beside her, Nin was leaning against the wall, and in the center of the room, Onyx stood, nearly as high as the ceiling, with Mason perched on his shoulder. "You should get some rest. I'll need you at peak preformance tommorrow." Rail said to his team. "Team Lotus has suffered a great deal of loss. It will make them dangerous," Selene commented. That earned a stiffled chuckle from Nin, who turned his head from her. She glared up at Nin during the silence that followed. "You would do well not to blind yourself to them." "Oh, I fully expect a challenge," Nin said with confidence in his voice. "For once, I won't be the only one having fun," Said Mason. There was another period of silence before Rokata broke through it by saying, "I only hope that this isn't a wasted effort." "Yes, I thought you'd say something like that. Something tells me it won't be," Rail said with a smile while taking a sip of his scotch. The time until the final clash with team Rokata was no longer measured in days, but hours. A long journey of impossible odds has brought them here, but with no knowledge of team Rokata's true strength, can they really hope to survive?

@Unicorncob "An important distinction should be made," Quill said to Dynamo's question. "The other members of Team Rokata are not posessed in the traditional sense like Mason is. Rokata has demonic powers, it's true, but there's no reason to believe there's a demonic entity inside of him. And as for your question, Dynamo, I don't pretend to know Mason's motivations. Only that he seems to enjoy the type of work Rokata's gang is hired to do." Dai was nowhere to be seen after that. Maybe she was still watching, but she did a good job at hiding herself if she was. For once, Draco was allowed to walk through the forest without being ambushed by any hired thugs or apocaliptic warriors with a grudge. It gave him a chance to appreciate the reason the tournament was held in this forest. The place truly was serene and beutiful under the cover of night, and there was an overbearing sense of isolation, like nothing that happened here could affect the rest of the world.

"If I were to speculate, and I don't like doing that, I'd say Mason was drawn to Rokata. A tenebris demon would be attracted to the demonic energy Rokata gives off." Quill answered. @reader8363 "The only problem with that is that it would be a risky stragy," Quill explained. "Perhaps Rose would be harder to see when she's weaker, but she'd also be easier to kill, And Mason would still be able to see her using his own eyes." Quill shook her head. "No, unfortunately. I doubt the bison even knew what he was. Quill adjusted her glasses and stacked her files back together. "Obviously I am." She said. @dragon4111 @Dynamo Pad @Unicorncob @reader8363 @DwhitetheGamer "Those were all the files I have," Quill said, "But I can answer any questions you have if you think there's any other way I can help."

"I-uh-Yes I actually do!" Quill said, taken slightly off gurad by Rose's request. "Tenebris isn't actually the creature's name, Tenebris is the name of the class of demon it is. Tenebris means Enthralling One. As a matter of fact, Mason may be Tenebris' name, and the true name of the pony it occupies may be lost to time." She turned the page on the file. "Anyway, a Tenebris feeds on the wicked parts of a pony's soul until nothing of the original host is left aside from malice and hatred. Over the course of five hundred years, there will be nothing left of what Mason used to be. The good news is that a Tenabris' connection to this world is fragile. It can only enter this world if it's intentionally summoned, and it's existance is tied to its host. If Mason dies, the demon will be destroyed or at the least, forced to flee. That's why it protects Mason so vigorously." She said, assuming Rose didn't already know that. Then she remembered one more useful piece of information. "Ah! One more thing I read in a bestiary. A tenebris demon has rudimentry eyes, and relies on sensing energy to see." Dai stood up and smirked at Draco. "Yes, we shall go. But I'm not going to follow you to your hotel room." She leaned back, ready to jump. "I'll... see you tommorrow." She said before jumping back into the trees, practically vanishing.

"Close, but unlike Nin, there's a debate as to whether Mason is alive at all." Quill explained. "Good guess, but that isn't the case. These photographs I'm showing you aren't nearly as old as he is." Said Quill, "Though you're right that Tenebris, the shadow creature that uses his body as a host, is the key to his survival, as well as his corrupt personality." @DwhitetheGamer @reader8363 Quill turned the page to another image, this time it was hoof drawn in a symplistic style like a fairy tale book. There was a grey earth pony with an unnatural smile and black tendrils extending from his body. "This is from a story book that's over four hundred years old. The creature drawn in this picture is called Dakongwi Sagwu or The Singing One in old bison folktales. He represented the worst evils ponies were capable of and tortured and killed for fun. The stories said he'd get you if you strayed too far from your herd. I believe this is an early description of Mason after Tenbris infected him." Quill turned to another page showing Mason's modern day dealings with Rokata and his gang. "I can't trace his origins back any further than that, but I can say that Mason is Rokata's earliest known associate, before Nin, Selene or Onyx." Dai looked at her leg, the wound had already healed aside from the part where she cut the deepest, which still had a thin scab. Her anatomy allowed her to heal quickly. "It's fine." She said, sitting back, she turned to Draco and smiled. "Thanks..." she said.

Dai let the two dwell in the moment for a few seconds, Draco getting closer to her as she spoke. She then raised the hoof of her free leg and placed it on Draco's snout, pushing his head back. Though she didn't pull back with her wounded leg. "We aren't there yet. I'm taking a big kiss here, and I'm not gonna kiss you until I know you won't waste it." @Dynamo Pad Shining Armor shrugged at Dynamo's question. "Obviously I haven't studdied it, so I don't know. I've only fought one blood mage before and she wasn't on the same level as Nin. There's presumably endless demonic abilities that could be achieved through blood magic. Maybe even summoning." @Unicorncob @DwhitetheGamer "We were about to start talking about Mason. I thought you might want to know about it." Quill said with a sense of judgement in her voice. It seemed she didn't approve of others not taking her information gathering seriously. She placed Mason's folder onto the table ontop of all of the previous ones and said, "Mason was the most difficult to run research on. He's far older than anyone else on team Rokata, and finding a complete account of his life is nearly impossible." She opened the folder showing a series of photographs and print outs of paintings. They showed major events, grand galloping Galas, the opening of Canterlot, festivals, some of them predating the camera where only paintings remained. There were six images that Quill was able to find, four black and white pictures and two paintings, and in each of them, Mason was circled in a red marker. He was wearing different outfits and hair lengths in each image, but his face was unmistakable. "These are the oldest images we can find of him, but I've traced accounts of him back over five hundred years!" Quill explained. "As you can see from these images, there was a period in his history when he intermingled with Canterlot's elite, but he's since fallen out of those habits."

Dai huffed and looked away from Draco. "Don't be silly! I only did this because I've been alive for so long that I don't particularly care to see anything more, and that Nin character rubs me the wrong way. This was just an easy way to solve both of those problems at once. I still haven't fallen for you." She flicks Draco's snout with her tail. @Unicorncob @dragon4111 @reader8363 @DwhitetheGamer "I believe you were told about the different sources of magic, correct?" Quill asked as Shining Armor sat down beside her. He was sitting inches away from where Rose was sleeping. "Magical Well, Magical Aptitude, Magical Potential, Magical Power and Life Energy." "Blood magic is about taking life energy and turning it into those other four forms." Shining Armor said, speaking with the authority of someone who's dealt with this before. "Technically any pony can use life energy in a desperate situation, but life energy is just that, and if anypony else uses it, it would likely result in their death. Blood mages are able to use life energy without dying by sacrificing blood, and the worst part is that it doesn't need to be their own blood. They can steal it from others. Life Energy is incredibly powerful, which is why this art is so tempting, but it's so difficult and dangerous to learn that blood mages are rare." (Rail didn't say that. Mason said it in a gloat. So it may or may not be true.) @reader8363 Quill looked at Rose with her brow furrowed. This wouldn't do. Rose could wait a little longer before she needed to sleep and this information was important! Quill took Mason's folder, rolled it up, and then smacked Rose over the head with it to wake her up.

"I'm gonna go join with the others then. You'll be able to use that resolve tomorrow." Shining Armor said before he opened the door to the balcony and walked back to the others. @DwhitetheGamer @reader8363 "He's most likely responsible for that, yes," Quill agreed as Shining Armor walked back into the room, "Blood magic has unnaturable abilities. And it's incredibly dangerous. It's not an ability that ponies are supposed to posess, and there's no way to learn it without consorting with demons." She turned to Rose who was still sleeping on the couch. Should she even bother with showing what she had on Mason? Dai stepped back and let Draco stand back up. They had been through an agonizing experience, but now that they lived through it, they felt more or less like normal. "Well, I'm surprised you didn't really take much time to think about this decision, but at least we don't have to worry about your lifespan any more. I'll just have to star thinking like you." She explained, revealing that this pact had the same effect on her lifespan as his, if Draco could read between the lines.

"I don't feel size really matters when you're fighting at this level. Tricis taught us that." Shining Armor said. He looked down and slowly scratched the deck with his hoof. "Tricis... actually spoke to me before Rokata attacked her after your test. I think she expected to die that day and not today." Shining Armor vividly remembered the moment Tricis came to his room. She looked as stern and resolute as always, but something about the way she carried herself betrayed that she was she was apprehensive about something. "I hope you already know that I'm not going to be around as long as you will," The elderly mare said to him before adding a snarky, "Please, try not to act too surprised." "Jade will do fine without me. She already has another teacher. But if I'm not there for her in the finals for any reason, tell her something for me." Shining Armor said to Jade, "She said to tell you that Rokata can't weigh you down with his crap. And try not to die tommorrow because she finally has some time for peace and quiet and she wants a few years before she has to answer more of your and Dynamo's constant questions. That sound like something she would say?" Mason and Nin were alone in their private hotel room situated across from the feild where Draco and Dai were, separated only by a line of trees. They both looked up from their seats when they heard the tornado whirling in the distance, rattling the glasses on their coffee table. Nin squinted at the display, knowing exactly who it was thatcreated that surge he was feeling. "They're finally ready to play," Mason said with a smile. "You aren't nervous, are you?" Dai's eyes slowly opened. She held the side of her head like she was having a throbbing headache and didn't realize yet that Draco was unconscious on top of her. "What? Why can't I feel my hind legs?" She asked before looking down at Draco laying on her. She blinked, paused for a moment, and then flung him off of her. "You jerk!" She shouted. "Don't act like you didn't land on me like that on purpose! I don't care if you are dead!" She stood up over Draco and then her expression softened. "Oh... Are you okay? Please tell me you aren't dead!" @reader8363 @DwhitetheGamer "That's a good theory Dynamo, but unfortunately the answer is a bit more macabre." Quill replied. "Ninasi did not work at the school for long. Three years into his tenure, Nin was fired from his position and banished from practicing magic by Celestia herself, though he's clearly broken that second order. This punishment was given because he was descovered secretly using his position to research blood magic. He believed he could use the dark art to unnaturally extend his life and power. Though it was believed that his plot was foiled, it seems he did find the secrets he was looking for."

"I..." Shining Armor stopped for a moment. He hadn't expected Jade to ask him for that kind of advice, he was so used to Tricis answering those questions. He paused to think about how to answer. He knew the best he could do was just to tell her what he would do fi he was going to fight Rokata. "I'd go for him hard and fast," he adivsed. "Rokata is acting like he's been waiting for this his whole life. I bet he's gonna try to drag the fight out. You should try to end it early." @reader8363 @dragon4111 @DwhitetheGamer "Well I suppose we'll talk about Nin next. We do have the most complete records on him," Quill explained. She flipped the two folders left in the stack and opened Nin's. The first page of the folder had a photograph of Nin that looked similar to the one of Selene in her folder. It was a professional headshot. He looked to be the same age that he is today, but the square rimmed glasses and plaid button down he was wearing looked outdated. He had a slick haircut and a wide, innocent smile. He looked like a farcry from the aloof, all-serious bloodmage they saw today. The most surprising thing on his info sheet was his age listed at 72 years old. "Ninasi Ray. Goes by Nin now." Quill explained. "He was a tenured transfiguration professor at Celestia's school for gifted unicorns, and before you ask, he was not with the academy when Selene studied. As far as we know, the two never met one another at the university." Quill flipped the page to another image of Nin in a penguintail suit posing with other faculty at the university, including Celestia herself. The image was black and white and looked like something that would be hanging in a university hallway. "Ninasi was the youngest transfiguration professor in the school's history, and that record still hasn't been surpassed. This photo was taken fifty years ago."

"Because I think you're right," Shining Armor said. "I don't know what Rokata and Rail are trying to get out of all this, but it's not gonna work when you wipe the floor with them tommorrow." He smiled at Jade. "Our psychological files on Onyx are unfortunately incomplete, as are the details of what happened that day with his tribe." Quill said, straighening the papers in Onyx's file. "For all we know, Onyx aided Rokata in the attack. I don't have any information that can indicate if your plan will be successful or not. Unfortunately I'm no good at speculation." "I um... I can't comment on that as well..." Quill said, appearing to recede behind her files. @reader8363 Quill looked to her right and noticed Rose was already sleeping. She turned to Dynamo and Copper. "Well, I already assembled a file for Nin and Mason, but Rose and Draco aren't here. Would the two of you like to see what I found on them?"

The supposed demon posession wasn't in Quill's notes. Then again, as Copper was a late addition to the team, so she didn't know too much about him. "The best way to save everyone is to make sure you're all prepared for your fights." She said, "Speaking of which, it looks like you're going to be the one to fight Onyx. Were you paying attention to what I had to say about him?"

Kind of feels like that's what they both wanted from this... But Rokata doesn't need to go through all this just for a fight. I might never know what's going on between those two. Shining Armour looked back at her, matching her gaze. "I don't doubt that. He chose to make this about you, but that's going to be a mistake." Dai slowly woke up, the pain she was feeling wouldn't allow her to stay unconscious for long. She inched closer to Draco with each shallow breath she was able to take. It was impossible for the two to tell how long they were in that agonizing state. The sun set above them, robbing them of any sense of time.

Shining Armor looked at Jade and then gazed at the setting sun with her. "I don't think that's true. She's been preparing you to be the best you can be, to allow her techniques to live on and preserve her knowledge. But this thing with Rokata started before any of us even knew her. Rokata came to this tournament knowing he was going to kill her, and Tricis came here knowing she was going to die. She didn't tell us about it because she didn't want us to know." "Yeah... That's more up to..." Dai said through labored breaths as she saw Draco fall to the ground. Her vision split into doubles, then quadrouples. Colors split into blurry blobs, like an painting drenched in water. She fell face down in front of Draco, completely unconscious before she even hit the ground. @DwhitetheGamer @Dynamo Pad Quill Weave adjusted her glasses. "Well, if no one here cares about the order, I'll go with Onyx next since we've already talked about him." She placed another folder on the table, opening it up to an image of Onyx along with his weight, height, and age. They seemed to have only a bare amount of information on him. "Onyx Kolak. Age 32. 9 foot, 4 inches. Six hundred and seventeen pounds. He was born into the Qey tribe, a traditionalist, nomadic tribe of Minotaurs of which he is now the only surviving member. The Qey tribe used to operate as mercenaries, using their berserker technique to serve anyone who could afford their services." She flipped the page to another image of what looked like a smoldering ruin. The remains of tents and farming plots could be seen sunken beneath ash on the scorched earth. "Rokata's gang was hired to eliminate the tribe. We haven't been able to find out why, but we do know that Rokata did the deed alone, even though Mason, Nin, and Selene were already associated with him at this point. This was one of the things that cemented Rokata's reputation as an unstopable fighter. Every adult in the Qey warrior was a warrior trained in the berserker art, and he slaughtered the entire tribe in a day. Equally as mysterious as Rokata's decision to attack the tribe alone was his decision to keep Onyx alive. We don't know why, but Onyx has been loyally serving Rokata ever since."

@dragon4111 "Tough one aren't you?" Dai asked, wiping sweat off her brow. She pulled her other leg away, but the pain didn't stop. "Now we'll have to find out if your body... will accept the change..." Her posture slumped and she elevated her bleeding leg. "My hope is that you want to speak with me. You were the only one here who knew Tricis." Shining Armor said. He looked out over the balcony at the setting sun. It was quickly getting dark. "I saw this all coming. Tricis warned me about it. She never actually told me she would be killed, but she still made it clear in her own way. You know how she's never direct... but I really thought it wasn't going to happen - when you and the others brought her back alive I thought it was over- that she escaped it." "From what you said, that makes plenty of sense. They aren't posessed by demons, it's more like she's been transformed into some kind of hybrid, but to what extent we will never know until we see the full extent of her abilities." Quill answered. "And as for what I said about her unnatural abilities. She always had an aptitude for illusion even before her transformation. She pioneered techniques to explore and influence dreams. She advanced techniques of astral projection, materialization, and mind control. Though the latter was research not funded by the university." @DwhitetheGamer @reader8363 She flipped through her folders, putting the ones for Nin, Onyx, and Mason at the top. "Who do you want to know about next?" She asked.

Dai closed her eyes and gritted her teeth when his blood dripped onto her foreleg, seeping into her wound and mixxing with her own. It looked like it was painful. In fact, this had similar consiquences for Dai as it would for Draco, but she didn't feel he needed to know that. She opened her eyes once she got enough blood on herself and evened out her expression. Without a word, she reached out and wrapped her fetlock around Draco's bleeding foreleg, smearing her blood into his until they mixed into a dark red, almost black color. It started to burn, like hot fire was being poured down his veins. It stung like his insides were being jabbed by sharp poison barbs, spreading down his legs along his circulatory system and spready to his organs, making his heart rate jump and his stomach churn. Shining Armor stood up and stretched his front legs, making eye contact with Jade while Quill spoke to the others. "Jade, I'll talk to you about this before the night is through. I do have a few words for you. But for now we should share what we've learned." He walked to the far wall of the room, near the door to the balcony, and leaned while still looking at Jade. "And if you really need to talk, step onto the balcony now. You probably know more than we do about Rokata at this point anyway." @Dynamo Pad @DwhitetheGamer @reader8363 "Thank you for sharing what you've learned, Dynamo." Said Quill, "That does put some of our information into perspective. Especially what we know about onyx. But since you asked, I'll start with what we know about Selene." Quill stood between Rose, Copper, and Dynamo and put an opened folder on the coffee table. It had an image of what Selene must look like under the robe. A middle aged blue unicorn mare with dark blue eyes and white hair. She was smiling in the picture, and it looked like a headshot taken for a professional portfolio. "Aria Selene Trailfeather. Known by her colleagues as Dr. Selene. She was one of Equestria's most prominant archeologists, as well as a suma cum laude graduate of Equestria's school for Gifted Unicorns. Widely regarded for her skill in the Illusion school of magic, she's widely published several studies on ancient archane technique." She flipped the folder to a page showing Selene with Rokata, Nin and Mason. Selene was wearing her signature robe in the next image, only her distinct left eye was visible, and her iris was purple instead of blue. The image looked like it was taken from a great distance away due to the blurriness of the details, but it looked like they were runing somewhere in a dense forest. The background was too blurred to make any sense of. "She disappeared ten years ago on an expedition to Griffonstone. She was presumed dead until several eye witnesses placed a robed unicorn with a similar height, voice, and unnatural illusion magic skill with Rokata's criminal gang. This unicorn publicly identifed herself as Selene, and Canterlot intelligence says there's little dispute that the two are one in the same. But that's where things get confusing. She had no criminal background. No background of violence of any kind. Colleagues described her as reserved, distant, but also insisted she followed high ethical standards. The Selene we see now doesn't match her background in any way. You said she admires Rokata? That may give some light to the situation. She was always an idealist."

"For you, that's all," Dai explained. She lifted her right front leg cut a long gash into it with her sharp snaggletooth, coaxing out a steady dribble of thick, purple blood. "Now all you need to do is make yourself bleed." @reader8363 @DwhitetheGamer @Unicorncob "Ego is a fairly common theme among all of Team Rokata's members, could explain that behavior, but you should tell us what he told you." Quill Weave said. Then she turned to Copper and Rose. "And for you, we've found informations on the opponent's you'll be fighting. I can share that now if-" Shining Armor tapped Quill on the shoulder to let her know that it wasn't the right time. He looked at Rose, who remained strangely silent. "Rose, do you want to talk first? You've been quiet."