Roll for Initiative
Roll for Initiative
Week 1
“You’re going to die if you keep going,” said the ghost of Star Swirl the Bearded.
“As if. There’s nothing in this musty old temple that can stop me,” Daring Do replied, moments before her hoof tripped yet another pressure plate. A rapid series of clicks was her only warning before the low, narrow hallway was filled with a rain of arrows.
Wincing and swearing every time a projectile perforated her leather armor, Daring darted back and forth as she made her way through the passage. When she reached the other side of the trap and the firing mechanism disengaged, she stopped and looked back. Still panting, she struck a confident pose and bowed theatrically to her companions.
“You see? Nothing can stop Daring Do, the Mistress of Advent—”
Her monologue was cut short as the trap door beneath her hooves fell open, but her quick reactions saved her once again as her arrow-riddled wings popped open and held her aloft. Beneath her, the flickering torchlight reflected off sharp metal edges.
“Ahem. As I was saying, nothing can stop—”
The ceiling collapsed, and Daring Do was pushed down into the pit.
Rainbow Dash’s hooves dug deep into her mane as she screamed. Again. “What the hay, Twi? A falling ceiling? You just put that in there to get me killed!”
“Yes, of course I did,” Twilight said, rolling her eyes as she lowered her DM screen. “I only set it up that way to kill you in particular. It couldn’t possibly have anything to do with the fact that the temple's builders would have wanted to make sure it was safe from all kinds of creatures, including pegasi and griffons. It's really nopony's fault but your own. Star Swirl even told you there was danger ahead.”
“Whatever," muttered Rainbow. "I can just erase the numbers and roll new ones again, right?”
“Yes, Rainbow. Your new character can catch up to the group when you finish.”
“Okay, y’all, let’s hurry up and make some progress while there ain’t nothing slowing us down,” Applejack said, smirking.
“Agreed, but you’ll need to lead the way," said Rarity. "None of us can detect traps, and you’re the most likely to survive them.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Rarity, bards can find traps too, you know.”
“I suppose we can, but my dexterity is woefully low, and I wasn't willing to sacrifice points from performance and persuasion.”
With a sigh and a shake of her head, Twilight set her DM screen back up and resumed the game.
“I guess I’ll be taking the lead from here, y’all,” the paladin announced. She took her time to prod every stone along the way, scribbling marks on the ones that wiggled.
The group soon passed the arrow trap and hopped across the spike pit, not even bothering to spare a glance downward at the carcass of their short-lived rogue. After all, there was no way to recover her gear from the pit.
Before long, the path opened into a larger chamber, and the group moved into a defensive formation. At the front were the two earth ponies: the paladin, whose white coat was barely visible beneath her heavy armor, and a solid black stallion named Crusher, whose only armor was the heavy scabbard across his back. Behind them stood the two unicorns: the maroon-coated bard, Noble Gem, and the pink sorceress, Swirly Sparks.
The chamber had once been a hall of worship, but it had been transformed into a den of horrors. The walls were lined with torture devices and tools. Tables with leather straps had recently been installed in the center of the room.
And there were the obligatory half-rotted corpses laying around the room, of course.
As the group took a few steps inside, the door slammed shut behind them. A disembodied bass voice assaulted their ears and shook the tools from the walls. They clattered on the blood-stained floor as the voice said, “So you have made it this far, heroes? Well done. Though I see that not all of you have been so fortunate.”
“Don’t y’all be worrying about us none," said the paladin. "Even without Daring, we’re plenty capable of beating your zombie ponies. Not to mention, a new rogue should be getting here any time now.”
“Wait, wait, wait," Twilight said, slapping her screen down onto the table again. "AJ, your character doesn’t know that a new one will be arriving soon. Besides, what makes you think there are zombies?”
Applejack raised an eyebrow and smirked. “Uh... Twi, you said there are corpses on the floor. That means they’re gonna get up and we’re gonna fight 'em.”
“I know I said there are corpses, but it doesn’t always mean there’s going to be a fight.”
“Darling, I’m afraid the scenario is rather transparent," Rarity said between taking sips of soda from a teacup. "That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, though. After all, there’s nothing else to do in this room but fight, so it’s not like some big surprise was ruined.”
“Yeah, Twilight, it’s totally obvious that the zombies are gonna get up and be all ‘Growwr’"—Pinkie hopped up and, standing on her hind legs, threw a series of punches at the air in front of her—"and we’re gonna be like ‘Whap’ and ‘Pow’ and ‘Zowie’ until we beat them all." She froze in mid-punch. "Oh wait, we don’t have any bat-ponies in the party.”
Twilight's eyes glazed over as Pinkie sat down, but she quickly shook her head and returned to lucidity. “Um... close enough. Now, can I get back to finishing Sombra’s monologue so we can get this apparently obvious fight started?”
“Sombra?” Rainbow Dash yelled. “Seriously? That’s your villain? King Sombra?”
“Enough! Yes, Sombra is the villain, and if you don’t like it, make sure you kill him. That way, you'll never have to see him again!” Twilight's magic snapped the DM screen back into position.
“Now where was I…” mused Sombra. “Oh yes. I remember now. I don’t care how many of you there are. You will all serve me in death, just like them.”
“About time,” the paladin said as the party drew their weapons. Meanwhile, the zombie ponies around the room stood up and silently decided the order they would attack in.
The first to act was Swirly Sparks, who fired a spread of magic missiles into the chest of the nearest undead, staggering it momentarily, but failing to kill it.
Crusher made the next move, charging ahead and cleaving through two zombies with his over-sized ax. Several more moved in to flank him, but he hardly noticed them as they gnawed ineffectually on his hide.
The paladin channeled her holy powers at the enemies surrounding Crusher and reduced several of them to dust, which gave the barbarian a way to escape, if necessary. A few of the shambling monstrosities responded by lurching in her direction, but she held back their flailing hooves and snapping jaws with her shield.
Noble Gem pulled out her lute and plucked at the strings with her magic, singing along with the melody. Star Swirl’s ghost joined in and made it a duet.
The door was splintered by a mighty buck as the fourth Daring Do made her entrance. “Don’t worry, guys. I got this,” she said, taking a moment to strike a heroic pose before charging toward a group of zombies. As she reached the closest one, she spun around and aimed for its head.
Applejack and Pinkie roared with laughter while Rarity and Fluttershy giggled, and Twilight and Rainbow facehoofed. The result on the attack die was a one: an automatic failure and, depending on the whims of Twilight’s dice, possibly something much worse.
Daring Do’s poorly aimed buck sent her tumbling past her intended target, right into the middle of the crowd. As the zombies fell upon her to take advantage of her disorientation, the heroes with especially sensitive ears could make out her last words: “This game is stupid.”
With the zombies clustered around the pegasus’ remains, Swirly took advantage of the opportunity by launching a fireball into their midst. Although she destroyed every undead in the blast radius, she had forgotten about the zombie her magic missile failed to kill; it closed the gap and mauled her with the sharp fragments of its shattered hooves.
Crusher swung his ax again and killed a few more undead, but the remaining zombies bit into his legs and battered his sides with their hooves. The paladin tried to position herself to assist, but couldn’t move far without leaving Noble Gem vulnerable. The bard continued to play her song.
The sorceress put another magic missile into the chest of her attacker, dropping it for good. Then, she moved to a safer location and called for the bard to follow. At that moment, several dozen extra zombies dropped through trapdoors in the ceiling.
“Um…I think I need to go into a rage now,” said Crusher. “If it’s okay with all of you, that is.” After a chorus of hasty agreements, the barbarian looked down at the bracelet above his hoof. On it, five letters were engraved: WWIWD. “When zombies attack…” he whispered.
“…make their skulls crack!” Fluttershy screamed. With her eyes wide and pupils narrowed to pinpricks, she picked up her dice and slammed them down onto the table. The result was a critical hit and an obliterated monster. She rolled again.
“Was that really one of Iron Will’s slogans?” Twilight asked as the body count continued to rise.
Rarity grinned back at her. “Does it really matter?”
When the whirlwind of spinning metal came to an end, the panting black barbarian stood amid a pile of bloody, half-rotted bodies.
Across the room, the paladin shrugged and ran away from the group she had been fighting. The bard was hot on her hooves, still playing her lute and singing. Star Swirl remained behind and distracted the undead by making funny faces.
Crusher’s turn soon arrived again, and he charged into the remaining cluster of zombies.
* * * * *
Two hours, a few encounters, and ten ill-fated Daring Dos later, the party of intrepid adventurers, guided by Star Swirl’s ghost, finally reached the necromancer’s inner sanctum. Upon a throne of bones sat King Sombra, flanked by figures wearing black, hooded robes, seven on each side.
“Your reign of terror ends here, you beast,” Noble Gem said.
“Ah yes, the bard," Sombra said without looking at her, instead keeping his attention on the wine glass levitating in front of him. "I have been watching you. Your confidence would be cause for concern if you had so much as scratched any of my minions. I don’t believe you drew your blade even once, did you?”
“Hey, just because she didn’t do any fighting doesn’t mean she didn’t help, you mean mister necromancypants!” Swirly yelled.
Sombra's gaze flicked over to her briefly before returning to the liquid in his glass. “Swirly Sparks, was it? Your power is impressive. It will serve me well when you belong to me.”
The paladin drew her sword and held it at the ready. “I reckon you won’t be owning any of us, Sombra. We’re gonna show you what’s what.
“I know of you as well: Celestia’s faithful paladin, Light Hooves.”
A round of snickers went across the table. Even Twilight failed to keep a straight face.
Applejack scoffed and stamped a hoof on the table. “Again with the laughing? I keep tellin' you, Light Hooves is a perfectly fine name for a paladin. I don’t get why y’all think it’s so funny.”
“Light Hooves,” Sombra said with a bit of a snicker, “Celestia’s light may protect you from being turned into one of the undead, but you can still die. And after I strike you down, I will make your friends eat the remaining flesh from your bones.”
“Yeah, yeah. We hear lots of big talk, but not much action," Daring Do said, stepping forward with her wings flared. "Are your goons just there for show, or are we gonna fight anytime soon?”
“Yes, Miss Do, we will fight. Before we do, however, you might want to pick up your robe.” Sombra motioned to a black cloth lying beside his throne.
“What the hay are you tal—” Daring’s words died in her mouth as the robed figures dropped their hoods. A row of bloody faces stared at her through glassy eyes under battered pith helmets.
“It’s a Daring Doozy!” Swirly shouted.
Sombra chuckled and said, “You’ll be needing it very soon.” He flicked the glass aside and stood up as it shattered on the floor.
“Not cool, Twilight. Not cool,” said Rainbow Dash.
Twilight leaned over her screen and grinned mischievously at her friends. “Roll for initiative.”
Stats
Page generated in 0.023 seconds
Total duration
1,124 users online
2,104,125 hits today, 1,872,792 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
This... I like this.
A very nice, quick read. The humor was solid, and I found myself laughing on more than one occasion. I saw two instances of repeated words in back-to-back sentences, but nothing serious. The only thing I found wanting was the pacing. It felt a tad fast and off-kilter. We never really got a pay-off for the Bard's lute-playing, and Pinkie's sorceress didn't really get to shine.
Oh, and it's always refreshing to find a writer with a solid sense of grammar. Good job, Mr. Mook. I look forward to reading more of your work.
3413371
Thanks for the feedback. I normally do a lot more editing than I did this time, so it isn't a surprise that some repeating words could have slipped through. I'll go through and do some edits later, but if you could send me a PM pointing out exactly where that happened, I'd appreciate it.
Those are important. Imperative, in fact.
I lost it,
I cried, I learned how to love again.tinyurl.com/mbho6go
This, this I like. I wish to see more, and I will favorite to ensure so.
3413371
I just figured the bard was using bard song for a party buff of some sort. +1 to attack rolls or somesuch. Not something that we would see on our end, though if I am right might I suggest that to Mook that it be added that the bards song raised the party's spirits or similar. Though yeah, the sorcerer didn't get to do near enough bending of reality to her whims(i see why Pinkie is the sorcerer.)
Ha! Dash is terrible at D&D or whatever the equestrian equivalent is called.
3413488
Regardless of what we assume, it isn't mentioned at all in the text. In fact, he makes a point of pointing out how much not-fighting she does, and it has no real pay-off beyond a weak-as-water rebuke by the villain in the final scene.
So is Rainbow/Daring going to be one of those accident prone characters who keeps getting killed and coming back to life just to die all over again? Because that would be pretty cool.
That moment when you have the exact same dice as are in the story cover image O.O
Rule number one of GMing. The rolls are only as good as you want them to be. MUHAHHAHAAHA!
Rule number two: If what the player proposes sounds crazy/stupid/fun, what the hell, let them try it.
This was awesome!
Big ol' fave and like from me.
3413454
Of course. Any room in a dungeon which is of sufficient size to host a battle must do so. And if the room is a torture chamber, it must be undead.
3413459
I hoped someone was gonna get that one.
3413478
I'll consider continuing it if I'm so inspired.
3413488
You're right about that. I really should have given Pinkie more to do. The lack of bard activity was mostly a subtle commentary on how useless they tend to be unless played by an absolute master. Alas, the lack of a payoff is an issue, in retrospect. Perhaps I'll fix it in a revision.
3413638
I was drawn to them because I have that set also.
3413676
Gotta be careful with that concept. I've let my group go too far before, which culminated in one of my end-game bosses being eaten by the party's mascot. Long and hilarious story. Maybe I'll tell it someday.
3413694
Thanks for that.
3413476
Wow. Didn't even have to ask this time. Thanks, amigo.
It has been way too long since I've sat down and played a tabletop RPG.
That aside great story, definitely adding this to my favorites.
3413770
Mostly my group did epic things or got themselves maimed/killed. There wasn't an inbetween.
3413772
Thanks. If you're interested in discussing tabletop games and/or helping organize an online group, you should consider joining the Tabletop Gaming group.
3413781
I know that feeling. My group tend to be geniuses most of the time, but when they screw up, it's cataclysmic.
3413770
it comes with being an admin; I see something I like, I add it to Twilight's Library. But if it doesn't get noticed by someone like me right away, that's what the submission process is for.
Good lord, Rainbow Dash goes through characters faster than the people at my D&D group. I thought going through three characters was a lot but jesus...
Oh your fic? I liked it. Very good.
/10
Continuation man you just gotta
3414504
That's why writing/reading about cartoon characters is so much fun. You can exaggerate past the bounds of what reality would allow. I've personally only seen someone die twice in a single session.
3414580
I figure I will add in new stories from time to time, but the majority of my attention will be on There Goes the Neighborhood.
Damn it Rainbow, you keep failing your saving throws.
Ah the curse that is running in thoughtlessly, Dash would be dead that often. I had an Elven ranger never died doing that. I really didn't roll good HP, so I spent a lot of time unconscious.
Hey Mook, is it ok if I link a similar story in the comments? It's pretty much more of the same, it's just that Anon is involved as the DM instead.
3415669
Knock yourself out.
Alright. If you guys want to read a similar story, please check this bunch of one-shots out. They're pretty hilarious: http://pastebin.com/i3Bg2kiQ
God damn Dashie, I don't even know the basic rules and I know you either suck at this game, have the worst luck of all time, or most likely both.
This... Is... Wow. I can be that cruel to my players?
3415782
There's a player like that in just about every group; the one who thinks they can do everything all on their own and be the center of attention. The consequences may be a bit exaggerated here, but I always try to deter that behavior in my own games.
3415917
You can literally get away with (in-game) murder if everyone's still having fun. This isn't really a relevant example, but it's funny, so I'll tell it.
My group, as I've mentioned, are geniuses. They can find a way to do just about anything. When a new evil-centric game was started, the guy DM'ing took that into account and threw a spanner in the works by having one player be a virtually unkillable paladin. The evil characters had to give him the slip anytime they wanted to misbehave.
Eventually, they got tired of that and came up with a plan to turn the paladin evil. Using a convoluted combination of spells and artifacts, he was changed from Lawful Good to Neutral Evil and his paladin levels were converted to Blackguard. That gave them free reign to run amok... for a few minutes.
The blackguard promptly sold the entire party to a pit fiend. Game over. I don't think we've ever laughed quite so hard as we did that night.
Gods I love it! So much like my old group.
Also, because obvious reference is obvious.... "Hide behind the mound of dead rogues!"
3416659
Everyone should post a scene from that movie in their comments.
It might surprise you to hear that I didn't really reference that character directly. Dash's behavior was more closely based on some people I've actually gamed with. I blew it way out of proportion, of course, and I did have that movie in mind, so it obviously influenced me.
3416743
I think every group has a person like that in it. Back when we were still playing 2nd ed. we had a guy who just put Roman Numerals after his name and kept playing, until the DM kicked him out of the group.
The most recent guy in our group kept a stack of pre-rolled characters so he wouldn't have to keep delaying the game everytime he died. Our DM had to be very creative to keep introducing them in the middle of our questing.
POKEMON RPG GAME?
Futtershy as the psychotic barbarian.... and Twily really rubbing it in Dash's face how often she died, I like
Very nice read, especially with the multiple zombie daring doos.
Poor Rainbow Dash XD
Also proposed next game for the group to play, SHADOWRUN!
Pfffftttt.
Why did I wait so long to read this?
This is bloody brilliant!
~Skeeter The Lurker
3419567
Shadowrun might happen eventually, but I'll have to reacquaint myself with it first.
3421183
Always happy to entertain. I already have some ideas formed for a follow-up, so keep an eye out for it in a couple weeks or so. It'll probably take me that long to finish the new update for There Goes the Neighborhood and touch up (possibly rewrite) its prologue.
I love it! That part at the end with Dash's past characters was perfect. Great humor and character portrayal.
MORE! FLUTTERSHY DEMANDS IT!
3419567 yes with DMSO
Still needs another chapter.
World of Warcraft or Star Wars: The Old Republic. Maybe EVE Online?
3466233
I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I won't be doing any updates based on video games. There's enough possibilities in the realm of tabletop gaming to keep this going a good while, and I think it makes for better stories because the interactions between players can be shown.
If I ever decide to do something similar for video games, I'll post it as a separate story.
Ummm...if i may make a suggestion how about running the mane 6 through the bane warrens(kinda difficult but oh so rewarding especially once rainbow dash picks up the*spoiler* and uses it on *spoiler* and then she *major spoiler*)
3417668 Pokémon roleplaying game game? Yeah, it's called __ Version. You need to specify tabletop, silly.
Is Daring Do going to end up like the bard from Gamers II?
Well that was fun! Never actually played the real DnD, but I've read several comics inspired by it, played both Neverwinter Nights games, watched the The Gamers videos, and wrote two online choice-oriented adventure stories on another site.
Now onto the next chapter!
hahah, this is great. I used to love these kind of games and seeing them re-enacted by ponies makes it all the more hilarious. x3 welp, on to the next chap.
Poor Dashie!
You never charge in, especially as a Rogue, because the DM will kill you. (Assuming they're doing their job) Can't read more right now, but this is going to be good.
3780942 That's exactly what I was thinking of too!
Actually, I thought having a famous ghost guiding the group was a nice touch.