What's your excuse THIS time, Lucres?

I know it's been a while since I said anything here, but I figured I needed to let you guys know where I've been.

I lost my job a little while ago- the owner decided he'd rather sell a bunch of pre-made frozen crap than employ professional bakers, so that was me and two of my coworkers out on our asses. If I sound pissed off, it's because I am. It was a job I enjoyed and was doing well at, and now I'm stuck looking for work over the holidays.

But you guys don't want to hear about that. My point is, I haven't had much time to work on D&D ponies lately, though I have dedicated whatever free time I've had available to it. Act four is about 75-80% finished, and I just need to nail down the climax and ending before I can post it. It's turning out to be a bit longer than previous chapters, and I've run into some pacing problems I still need to work out before I'm satisfied.

I know this is the forth chapter in a row delayed by my personal crap, and once again I'm sorry. However, I'm still committed to seeing this thing through to the end, no matter how long it takes me. Just so you don't leave empty handed (and to prove I HAVE been working on it for the past few months), here is a little preview of the chapter to come, with some space for those wishing to avoid spoilers. As always, thanks so much to everyone for reading my stupid little pony stories and for all of your support, and I hope you have a happy holidays and a great new year.

spoilers below

Pinkie Pie wasn't sure what she had expected the inside of Trixie's trailer to look like, but this certainly wasn't it. In stark contrast to its brightly painted exterior, the walls inside were built out of plain, unvarnished wood with sloppy-looking gaps between the panels. It was also much less spacious than it appeared from outside, with a narrow corridor down the center barely wide enough for two ponies to stand side-by-side. Pinkie looked around in confusion. Aside from a full-length mirror centered on one of the walls, there didn’t seem to be any furniture or decorations of any kind.
“Do we have to do this, AJ? It’s creepy in here.” she whispered, “And it smells like old socks.”
“You heard what that windbag was sayin’!” Applejack whispered back, “Ain’t no way I’m gonna back down now!”
Trixie walked just ahead of them. “Hold on just a moment, I’ll get us set up.” She slid back a wooden panel in the wall that looked identical to the ones around it. Underneath it were a series of levers, which she briefly fiddled with before sliding the panel back in place. She shot a smirk at her guests. “I’d take a step back if I were you.”
A series of dull clacks and thumps came from all directions as the walls around them split, folded and spun like a puzzle box, allowing brief glimpses of the cogs and mechanisms powering the transformation before they were hidden by new features. Pinkie and Applejack stumbled backwards as a table with a green felt surface descended from the ceiling above where they had just been standing. Parts of the walls which had previously been blank now sported dart boards, racks of billiards cues, and cabinets full of other gaming supplies. One end of the trailer reconfigured into a stone-facade fireplace, complete with a crepe-paper fire rustling over a hidden fan. A hatch on the other side dropped open and inflated into a plush, red-velvet chair which Trixie immediately plopped herself into. Getting comfortable, she gestured to a wooden bench that was rising out of the floor on the opposite side of the table. “Welcome to my game room.” she said, “Go ahead and take a seat. And do try not to drool.”
Pinkie realized that her mouth was hanging open. She pulled herself together. “Uh, yeah. It’s a pretty nice trailer, I guess. If you’re into that sorta thing.”
“I built it myself,” said Trixie. She narrowed her eyes. “... twice.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Applejack dismissed her as she sat down, “Real fancy-schmancy. Can we get on with it already?”
“Oh, eager to lose, are we?”
“Fat chance, loudmouth. You’re goin’ down hard!”
“Yeah, um, how is that going to work, exactly?” Pinkie said, sitting down next to Applejack, “This is supposed to be a cooperative game. How do we decide who wins and loses?”
“Well, we just... we... uh...” Applejack stumbled, apparently having never considered that. Trixie rolled her eyes.
“It’s simple,” said Trixie. She gave a wall panel next to her a kick and it rotated around to reveal a bookshelf. Looking through the volumes, she found an old, dog-eared notebook and set it on the table. “This is my dungeon. The ULTIMATE dungeon.” she said, “Every encounter, every challenge, every slightest detail is mapped out in advance, and it all strictly adheres to the core rulebook. Any time you think I’m improvising something for an advantage you can feel free look it up in the notes.” She briefly showed them a page. It was densely packed with text and absurdly detailed, but seemed legitimate.
“Likewise, you can only use characters you’ve previously created; nothing made specifically for this dungeon. If you can make it to the center and beat my character in single combat you’ll be declared the winner.” She leaned back in her comfy chair, stretching. “And pigs will fly and Tartarus will freeze over, but I’m getting ahead of myself.”
Applejack thought over the proposal, deciding to ignore the insult. “Okay.” she said, “So what’re the stakes?”
“Honor and glory, nothing more.” said Trixie, “... And nothing less. Deal?” She extended a hoof across the table.
Applejack eyed the hoof warily, then shrugged and reached out to shake it. “Deal.” she said, “Let’s do this.”
“Wait a second,” said Trixie, flipping through the notebook, “I just remembered that I designed this dungeon for a minimum of three players. You’ll need to find somepony else.”
“Whoops, too bad!” said Pinkie, “Guess we’ll have to do this some other time! Later!” She stood up to leave.
Applejack grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and yanked her back into her seat. “Sit down, Pinkie!”
“B... but... all our friends are busy! Twilight is working with Zecora, Fluttershy and Big Macintosh are moving that bear, and Rarity...” she rubbed her neck anxiously, “I, uh, don’t think she’ll want to play with us anymore today.”
Trixie cocked an eyebrow. “What about that blue pegasus you two are always hanging around with? The one with the ridiculously ostentatious mane?”
“Dash?” said Pinkie, “Well, knowing her, she’s probably taking a nap on a cloud somewhere.”
“Perfect.” said Trixie, “Let’s wake her up, shall we?”
Trixie’s horn took on an aura that filled the trailer with a pale blue glow. She gritted her teeth, and the glow intensified. There was a loud pop and a whiff of ozone, and a sphere of blue light crackled into being in the air just behind where Pinkie and Applejack were sitting. A final thunderclap sounded, and it disappeared.
In its place there was now a perfect hemisphere of cloud, looking like it had been dug out of a larger cloud with an ice cream scoop. Rainbow Dash was stretched out on top of it, snoring obliviously. As she shifted in her sleep, the cloud began to drift apart, sublimating against the walls of the trailer and dumping her unceremoniously onto the floor.
“Whuh... !?” She shot to her feet in a fighting stance. “Whozat? Where’m I?”
Pinkie’s jaw dropped again. “Trixie!” she gasped, “You can’t just teleport somepony without their permission!”
“Maybe MOST unicorns can’t,” Trixie scoffed, “But the Great and Powerful Trixie is far more skilled than most unicorns.”
“No, I mean...”
“Pinkie? AJ?” Rainbow Dash said groggily, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, “What’s going on?”
“Short answer?” said Applejack, “Trixie here thinks she’s hot stuff at Dungeons and Dragons, and we’re about to show her up.”
“Wait, we have a chance to humiliate Trixie?” said Dash, snapping awake, “I’m in!” She joined them on the bench, barely able to squeeze into the tight space.
“Do you have your characters ready?” Trixie asked.
“Heck yeah!” said Dash, “I have Killthrust’s stats memorized.”
Pinkie gave a defeated sigh. “I still have my sheet from earlier.”
“How about you?” Trixie said to Applejack, “What sad excuse for a warrior will you be sending to their inglorious end tonight?”
Applejack remained uncowed. “Don’t you worry, Trixie. I’ve come prepared.” she said, grinning. She lifted her hat, reaching inside to pull out a folded piece of paper tucked into the brim. “I’ve been saving this character for somethin’ special. Now, are we doin’ this or ain’t we?”
“Of course.” said Trixie, “I’ll put on my robe and wizard hat.”

To be concluded...

Comments

[Psykosis]

As wonderful as ponies are, personal issues come first. Make sure you've got your own stuff together before you go worrying about us. I think I speak for most of us here when I say that we're willing to wait.
Merry Christmas, and good luck!